The year 1326 is memorable in English annals because of the deposition
of Edward II. The Viceroy of Ireland, Thomas, second Earl of Kildare,
was appointed that year, the warrant stating that he represented Edward
III., then a boy of fourteen. The deposed monarch immediately looked
to Ireland for support, and to Dublin he came, having heard that the
English colony refused to acknowledge the authority of the Earl of
Kildare. He was misinformed, however, and he lost his throne without
being able to strike a blow for it.
[Sidenote: Prior Utlagh and witchcraft]
The Earl of Kildare gave way in 1328 to a remarkable ecclesiastic,
Prior Roger Utlagh, Chancellor and Prior of the Knights Hospitallers of
Kilmainham. He ruled as an autocrat, outwardly acknowledging Edward's
sovereignty, but in reality a combination of layman and priest, who
feared neither God nor man. When King Robert Bruce visited Ireland,
and invited the Prior to a conference, he was ordered to leave the
country, and he had to obey. Fellow-ecclesiastics plotted against him,
but he was more than their match. When the Bishop of Ossory openly
accused the viceroy of favouring heretics, Roger Utlagh made {29} it
the occasion of a great public demonstration of his virtuous qualities.
The charge was based on a rumour that the viceroy had shown kindness to
a man imprisoned in Dublin Castle because he was the patron of a
supposed witch's son. The position was serious enough, and the
viceroy, therefore, issued proclamations for three successive days,
calling upon his enemies to appear and prefer a charge against him. No
one came forward, as was only to be expected, the viceroy possessing
arbitrary punitive powers, and Utlagh thereupon nominated six
commissioners in Dublin Castle and examined witnesses provided by
himself. The complacent commissioners formally declared Prior Utlagh's
character to be spotless, and in return for this testimonial the worthy
ecclesiastic presided over a banquet in the Castle. Thus were his
enemies confounded.
The Prior retired for William de Burgh, Earl of Ulster, who was styled
Lieutenant, or locum tenens. De Burgh's reign was brief, and in 1332,
within a year of his appointment, he was replaced by Sir Jean d'Arcy,
an ex-viceroy. The Earl of Ulster was murdered in 1333, an act of
revenge inspired by an aunt whose husband the earl had starved to death
in one of his castles. The crime had its effect on English history, as
the Countess of Ulster fled to England with her only child, Elizabeth,
who married a son of Edward III. and became an ancestor of Edward IV.
Sir Jean d'Arcy was merely viceroy in name, the deputy, Sir Thomas de
Burgh, ruling in Dublin Castle until 1337, when Sir John de Cherlton,
who had been {30} appointed in place of the deputy--dismissed for
irregularities--occupied the post for a year. His successor was his
brother, the Bishop of Hereford, who also became Chancellor. Like most
ecclesiastics of the time, the Bishop of Hereford was a very zealous
politician, drawing a sharp line between his spiritual and his temporal
powers. He seized the cattle of the native Irish in large quantities,
frequently despoiling the whole countryside of every head of live
stock, and this so delighted the valorous Edward III. that he wrote a
long letter of commendation to his faithful representative, and ordered
the treasurer at Dublin Castle to pay the viceroy's salary before that
of any other official. The year 1340 witnessed the retirement of the
cattle-stealing Bishop, the reappointment and death of Prior Utlagh,
and the conferring for life of the viceroyalty upon Sir Jean d'Arcy,
who had covered himself with glory in the numerous wars of Edward III.
D'Arcy did not, of course, come to Ireland. The appointment was in
reality the king's way of rewarding his faithful warrior, and,
therefore, D'Arcy was content to share in the spoils and gains of his
deputy, Sir John Moriz.
[Sidenote: Rise of the Anglo-Irish]
By now, however, a new factor entered into the protracted struggle for
the possession of the rich lands of Ireland. During the centuries of
English occupation several great Anglo-Irish families had arisen, and,
fattening upon their spoils, gradually came to occupy positions more
powerful than the representatives of the king. The heads of the
Desmonds, the Geraldines, the De Burghs, and {31} others, resented the
intrusion of English warriors sent to Dublin to refill their treasure
chests. They wished to rule Ireland, and declined to bow the knee to
impecunious adventurers invested with royal powers by the King of
England. Slowly yet surely these powerful chieftains ranged themselves
on one side until hostilities in Ireland were not between the English
and the natives, but between the English by birth and the English by
blood, jealousy and greed of gain forming the motive.
[Illustration: The Viceregal lodge, Dublin]
When Sir John Moriz, D'Arcy's deputy, called a Parliament together at
Dublin to consider the state of the country and to promulgate new
Edwardian ordinances, the Earl of Desmond and other leaders of the
English by blood declined to attend. In their opinion Sir Jean d'Arcy
and his deputy were 'needy adventurers'--a description they applied to
them in a petition sent direct to Edward III. Desmond was a clever
man, who openly advocated peace and secretly prepared for war. His
diplomacy, however, gained a surer victory than all his legions were
capable of accomplishing, for in the petition already referred to he
asked politely why his Majesty did not receive larger revenues from
Ireland. This caused Edward to realize some of the disadvantages of
conferring the viceroyalty upon impecunious warriors, and he promptly
surrendered to the petitioners, removing Moriz, and appointing Sir
Raoul d'Ufford, who became viceroy in the early part of 1344.
D'Ufford was wealthy enough to be trusted with {32} the government of
Ireland, and Edward owed him something for his services in the French
and Flemish wars. It is more than likely, however, that he was
indebted for his viceroyalty to the fact that his wife was Maud
Plantagenet, widow of the murdered Earl of Ulster and also of Edward's
son. D'Ufford's commission authorized him to grant pardon to rebels on
their swearing allegiance to the king, and, furthermore, it enjoined
him to search for Irish mines of gold, silver, lead, and tin.
D'Ufford's appointment evoked no enthusiasm and some fear. The English
colony knew the temper of Maud Plantagenet, a proud, revengeful, and
ambitious woman, and greatly as they feared D'Ufford's reputation for
severity, they realized that, urged on by his wife, he might be guilty
of excesses exceeding those which had won for him the fear of his
enemies in France.
The entrance of the viceregal pair into Dublin in July, 1345,
foreshadowed the kingly state they maintained throughout their brief
reign. They resided in the Priory of the Knights Hospitallers of
Kilmainham, and Maud Plantagenet, Countess of Ulster, put into practice
the lessons she had learnt at the English court. She exacted homage
from her friends, maintained ladies-in-waiting, held courts of her own,
and, in fact, was Queen of Ireland. Letters were sent to Edward
describing the conduct of his ambitious representatives, and the king's
jealousy and fears were aroused. Action on his part, however, was
forestalled by the death of D'Ufford, who expired from a malignant
disease on Palm Sunday, 1346. Clergy and laity {33} combined to
celebrate the tyrant's death, and thanksgiving services were held
throughout the English colony. D'Ufford and his wife occupied the
viceroyalty for less than twelve months, but in that brief space of
time they committed many acts of oppression, torturing, robbing,
despoiling, and executing enemies and even friends to gratify a lust
for gain and exhibit to the world their vanity of power. Most of
D'Ufford's tyrannies were ascribed by the populace to the evil counsels
of his wife, and when he was no more they sought out the widow with the
intention of laying violent hands upon her. Tyrants have no friends
when they fall from power, and Maud Plantagenet suffered the usual
indignities of a changeable fate, though she managed to escape from
Ireland and carry her husband's body to England. She passed the
remainder of her life in retirement.
Since his dismissal Sir John Moriz had laboured to obtain his
restoration, and he succeeded in this three days before D'Ufford's
death. Meanwhile the council in Ireland had elected Roger, son of Sir
Jean d'Arcy, who, however, gave way to Moriz when the latter arrived.
[Sidenote: The profits of the post]
The new viceroy had been charged by the king to secure supplies of
money for him from out of Ireland. Indeed, the appointment was based
on a sort of co-partnership, the king insisting upon a large percentage
of the profits of the post. Moriz knew that conciliation was the only
means of obtaining the money, and he began by releasing the Earl of
Kildare from imprisonment in Dublin Castle, and showing similar
clemency to other {34} distinguished prisoners. The policy of Walter
de Bermingham (1348-49), John, Lord Carew (1349), and Sir Thomas de
Rokeby (1349-55), was in direct contrast. They favoured war where
Moriz had tried peace, and with the usual result. The native Irish had
by now the protection and assistance of the leading Anglo-Irish
families, who were influenced by the Irish blood in their veins, and
took common cause against the viceroy and his battalions. In almost
every encounter the English were defeated, and, finally, Dublin itself
was threatened. In alarm the English colony began to make hasty
preparations for flight to England. They sold what they could and
abandoned the rest, and it seemed as though the English in Ireland
would cease to exist when an order came from England declaring that any
English colonist deserting Ireland would be put to death. Compelled to
remain, they continued their miserable existence, threatened with
murder by their foes, and in continual danger of robbery by the very
men appointed to protect them. Dublin at this period was in a wretched
condition. There had been no attempt to build a city, and in reality
the place was a fort whereby England maintained its footing in Ireland.
In the country the native chiefs and the Anglo-Irish noblemen ruled,
administering justice in their crude fashion, and in some cases issuing
their own coinage. The Viceroy of Ireland was in reality Viceroy of
Dublin, and not always even that.
The next Lord-Deputy was Maurice, first Earl of Desmond, an
Anglo-Irishman. He died in 1356, {35} a year after his appointment,
and Sir Thomas de Rokeby, who succeeded him, succumbed the same year.
A return to the old condition of things was marked by the appointment
of Baron Almaric de St. Amaud, who was created Lord of Gormanstown, but
the baron did not care for Ireland, and he went back to England,
leaving Maurice, fourth Earl of Kildare, to act as his deputy. He gave
way to James le Botiller, second Earl of Ormonde, who was a
great-grandson of Edward I. The appointment won the allegiance of
Ormonde to the throne of England, and when, two years
later--1361--Prince Lionel, third son of Edward III., was appointed
viceroy and sent to Ireland with a large army, Ormonde promptly became
one of his Generals. In 1347, when the Prince was ten, he had been
married to Elizabeth, daughter of the murdered Earl of Ulster and Maud
Plantagenet, the girl being sixteen. The object was to secure for the
Royal Family the immense estates and vast wealth of the late Earl of
Ulster, and when in 1361 Prince Lionel and his wife travelled with
their army to Ireland, a considerable part of the expenditure was borne
by his wife's estate. Remembering the hostility of the Irish against
his wife's mother, Lionel issued a proclamation forbidding the natives
to approach his camp.
[Sidenote: English army defeated]
Having rested for a time, Prince Lionel began the march which was to
conquer the land, but again an English army, strong, well armed and
victualled, was outmatched and defeated by the Irish. Disaster after
disaster followed the prince, who could do nothing right. Edward, when
he {36} heard the news, was alarmed and astounded. The first thing he
did was to create the prince Duke of Clarence. His second step was
more practical, and consisted in raising another army, while he
increased his son's allowance from 6s. 8d. a day to 13s. 4d. Victory,
however, was denied the prince, and though he returned to Ireland with
increased forces in 1364, 1365, and 1366, he failed to improve upon his
previous attempts. In 1362 his wife had died, leaving an only child in
the person of Phillipa.
[Sidenote: The Statute of Kilkenny]
Prince Lionel's term of office is chiefly remarkable because it
witnessed the creation of the famous, or infamous, Statute of Kilkenny.
At a special Parliament held in Kilkenny in 1367, the viceroy
endeavoured to gain by legislation that which he and his soldiers had
lost in a dozen battles. It was therefore decreed that no English
settler could marry into an Irish family; the selling of horses,
armour, or victuals in peace or war was declared treason; English was
the only language to be spoken; the English style of horsemanship was
to be adopted; and no subject of the king's could be known except by an
English name, and the education of the Irish was forbidden, no colleges
or seminaries being permitted to receive them. There were also special
clauses dealing with ecclesiastics, who were ordered to expel any Irish
amongst them. The use of the English tongue was enjoined strictly, and
if anyone offended the profits of his benefice were to be seized by his
superior. The English colonists were likewise warned against admitting
itinerant {37} musicians into their houses, for these men were regarded
as spies, and therefore dangerous. The custom of calling the English
by birth 'English Hobbes,' or clowns, was forbidden, as well as the
nickname of 'Irish dogs' bestowed upon the English by blood. The
Government could not afford the luxury of schisms amongst its friends.
The common people were ordered not to play hurlings and quoitings,
'which had caused evils and maims,' but to accustom themselves 'to draw
bows and cast lances and other gentleman-like sports whereby the Irish
enemies might be better checked.' Constables of castles were forbidden
to take more than 5d. per day from any prisoner for maintenance, and
torture was vetoed. Not the least important enactment of the Statute
of Kilkenny was the 'one war one peace' declaration. This meant that
in the event of a rebellion or uprising all those who did not side with
the viceroy were to be regarded as the open enemies of the King of
England. Neutrality could not be acknowledged.
When this laborious and comprehensive statute had been drawn up the
viceroy requested the Archbishops of Dublin, Cashel, and Tuam, and the
Bishops of Lismore and Waterford, Killaloe, Leighlin, and Cloyne to
pronounce sentence of excommunication against all those who might by
'rebellion of heart' resist the Statute of Kilkenny.
This was Lionel's last act as viceroy, and he retired, being succeeded
by Gerald, fourth Earl of Desmond, known as 'The Poet' by reason of his
{38} writings. He was popular, witty, and just, and for two years he
ruled the English colony. In 1369, however, Sir William de Windsor,
who had been one of the leaders of Prince Lionel's army, was appointed
viceroy, and given an annuity of L1,000 until lands producing an equal
amount could be settled on him. De Windsor's time was occupied chiefly
in repelling attacks on the city of Dublin by the border Irish, but he
performed an heroic action by marching to the South of Ireland and
rescuing the preceding viceroy, whose poetical temperament and mild
manner had not saved him from the hostility of the Irish. In 1371 De
Windsor retired for over two years. The appointment of a successor
caused Edward great trouble. He was averse to sending a pauper,
because that would entail a diminution in the royal receipts from
Ireland, while the wealthy men about his court would not accept the
post at any price. Ireland to them was a savage country; a stay there
tantamount to punishment and exile. There was no prospect of military
glory, for they knew that many of the gallant victors of France,
Flanders, and Scotland had left their reputations behind them on many a
lost battlefield in Ireland. Edward thought that he could compel
anybody he chose to go to Ireland, and he selected Sir Richard de
Pembridge, who held several very profitable offices under the English
Crown. Naturally Pembridge declined the post, and Edward retorted by
depriving him of his offices. Pembridge, however, appealed to the
Council and to Parliament, and it was decided that it was not the {39}
king's prerogative to order anybody to leave the country. Magna Charta
distinctly stated that exile from England was the punishment for felony
or treason, and that Parliament alone had the power to expel a subject.
[Sidenote: The 'Lady of the Sun']
Prior to the return of Sir William de Windsor, the government was
undertaken for various short periods by Maurice Fitz-Thomas, Earl of
Kildare, Dean de Colton, of St. Patrick's, who secured the post by
undertaking to repel the O'Briens at his own expense, and William de
Taney, an ecclesiastic. De Windsor came back in April, 1374, having
come to an agreement with his royal master, whereby he was allowed 500
marks from the Exchequer and the sum of L11,213 6s. 8d. In return for
the money he guaranteed to maintain 200 men-at-arms and 40 archers. De
Windsor's object was obviously to make as much money as he could out of
the unfortunate country, which was already sending annually the
enormous sum for the period of L10,000. The viceroy came to regard all
surplus moneys above that sum to be his perquisites, and his efforts to
increase taxation and enrich himself were so unscrupulous and cynical
that reports and complaints soon reached Edward. The king immediately
appointed Sir Nicholas de Dagworth to proceed to Ireland, and
investigate the charges against De Windsor. But the enemies of the
viceroy reckoned without the famous Alice Perrers. She was the aged
king's favourite, and was clever and unscrupulous, a woman of humble
birth who had risen high without the aid of a pretty face. In love
with Sir William {40} de Windsor, she remained faithful to him during
his absence in Ireland, and although surrounded by his enemies, the
'Lady of the Sun,' as Edward styled her, outwitted them all, her
greatest achievement being the prevention of Dagworth's departure for
Ireland. Subsequently she married De Windsor, but as she belongs more
to the history of England than Ireland her career cannot be treated
here.
In 1376 De Windsor was ordered to come to Westminster, and confer with
the king on the state of his Irish dominions, but this was merely a
pretext to deprive him of his post, and he never returned. Maurice
Fitz-Thomas, Earl of Kildare, once more acted as deputy for a short
time, and then James le Botiller, Earl of Ormonde, carried on the
government from 1376 to 1378. Ormonde retired dissatisfied, and the
colony was governed by two members of the Council, Alexander de Balscot
and John de Bromwich, until in 1380 the king sent over Edmund de
Mortimer, Earl of March and Ulster, husband of Phillipa, daughter of
Lionel, Duke of Clarence, and therefore owner of vast estates and
commander of an army of his own. On his appointment the colonists
petitioned the king to compel De Mortimer to live in Dublin and protect
his property. The petitioners were successful, and the viceroy,
instead of appointing a deputy and sharing the profits, graciously
agreed to govern Ireland in person for a period of three years at a
salary of 2,000 marks. In princely splendour he entered the country,
and immediately inaugurated a campaign against the rebellious south.
Death, however, claimed him on {41} December 26, 1381, and he died at
Cork in a Dominican Abbey, being only thirty years of age.
The vacancy thus created was offered in turn to the Earls of Desmond
and Ormonde, but they declined on the ground that if they were in
Dublin they could not protect their own territories. Dean de Colton,
therefore, was appointed pending the pleasure of the king, who, when he
heard of De Mortimer's death, at once nominated the deceased viceroy's
son Roger to the post. Roger de Mortimer was only eleven, but the
viceroyalty was intended as a monetary compensation for the death of
his father, and the commission appointing him stated that he was to
receive all the profits of the office as well as a salary of 2,000
marks. Furthermore, as soon as he attained his majority he could
retire from the post. In pursuance of this convenient plan the boy's
uncle, Sir Thomas de Mortimer, was chosen as his deputy.
[Sidenote: A Parliament in Dublin]
The presence of a deputy, however, always had an irritating effect upon
the English colonists, and when in 1382 Richard II. ordered a
Parliament to meet in Dublin, its first act was to protest against the
absence of the viceroy. To satisfy the nobles and prelates the king
appointed Philip de Courtenay, a cousin of his, viceroy for life. The
commission was drawn up in 1385, but it was not until two years later
that de Courtenay landed in Ireland. His reign was brief and stormy.
The two great Anglo-Irish families, the Desmonds and the Ormondes, were
in conflict, and the Irish were besieging and harassing the colonists.
De Courte was not the man for the occasion. He was {42} charged with
oppression and extortion, and the king, who had already made up his
mind to make his favourite, de Vere, Earl of Oxford, Viceroy of
Ireland, gladly accepted the accusations against de Courtenay, and
ordered him to remain under arrest in Dublin until the arrival of his
successor, who would investigate the charges against his character. De
Courtenay appealed to the Council in Dublin, and they declared the
accusations to be unjust.
[Illustration: The Throne Room, Dublin Castle]
The appointment of de Vere to the viceroyalty was an outcome of the
struggle between Richard II. and his Barons. De Vere was the reigning
favourite, and when it was proposed that he should be sent to Ireland
as viceroy, the nobles enthusiastically endorsed the selection, and,
glad to be rid of him at any price, cheerfully voted supplies. Richard
created his creature Marquis of Dublin, and allowed him to nominate Sir
John de Stanley as his deputy. It was not de Vere's intention to
proceed to Ireland, and under various pretexts he avoided assuming
personal control of the Irish government. Meanwhile Richard had
created him Duke of Ireland, and entrusted him with powers almost
regal, at one time actually proposing to make him King of Ireland.
When the nobles rebelled against Richard, de Vere raised an army on
behalf of his king, but was defeated in his first encounter with the
barons. He died abroad after the five judges, who had supported
Richard in his attempt to make de Vere King of Ireland, were brought to
trial for having declared that the king was above the law, and were
punished by being {43} exiled to Ireland! Richard, weak-minded and
unreliable, was at least faithful to de Vere, and he had his
favourite's corpse brought from Louvain, and interred to the
accompaniment of magnificent ceremonies at Colne Priory in Essex.
[Sidenote: Richard II. arrives]
From 1387 to 1389 the government was again in the hands of Alexander de
Balscot, Bishop of Meath, who was assisted by Richard White, Prior of
Kilmainham. Then Sir John de Stanley came back until 1391, and was
succeeded by James le Botiller, third Earl of Ormonde. During
Ormonde's term of office the king's uncle, Thomas Plantagenet, Duke of
Gloucester, was nominated Viceroy of Ireland, but the commission was
quickly revoked. Richard had decided to visit Ireland in person, and
thus an English monarch again prepared a great army with which to
conquer Ireland. The king landed at Waterford on October 13, 1394,
accompanied by the Duke of Gloucester. Ormonde soon joined him, and
the Irish were engaged in battle. If the English king cherished any
hopes that his deeds in Ireland might secure his tottering throne in
England he was doomed to grievous disappointment. He was defeated
every time he joined battle with the natives, and in the end he was
compelled to withdraw to Dublin and pass Christmas there. A further
series of reverses followed, and Richard decided to have recourse to
arbitration and conciliation. The Irish chieftains and nobles
responded, and by means of various concessions Richard was enabled to
return to England with at least a remnant of his army.
The viceroy was now Roger de Mortimer, Earl {44} of March, cousin to
Richard and heir to the throne of England. De Mortimer had been
viceroy in his youth, but not until this appointment--in 1395--did he
rule in person. In 1398 de Mortimer was killed in battle while leading
his soldiers, a tragedy which paved the way for Richard's deposition
and the accession of Henry IV., and created the motive that led to the
Wars of the Roses. John de Colton, now Archbishop of Armagh, again
acted as temporary Governor while the Council proceeded to elect
Reginald Grey of Ruthyn, whose appointment, however, was vetoed by
Richard. His nominee was Thomas Holland, Duke of Surrey, who entered
Dublin in 1399. Surrey's chief object was to people Ireland with
English settlers, a plan that was to be tried again some 200 years
later. The viceroy could not carry out his plan for dispossessing the
Irish, and he appealed to Richard for help, and so the king came on
another Irish expedition, landing in Ireland in 1399. This time his
army was stronger and more experienced, but the result was a series of
defeats and the loss of the throne of England. While Henry was seizing
the crown his son, afterwards Henry V., was with Richard in Ireland,
but the king accepted the youth's explanation that he knew nothing of
his father's designs. As it was, Richard trusted to the fact that the
legal heir to the throne was Edmund, Earl of March, son of the late
viceroy. Henry's success to the exclusion of Edmund de Mortimer was
the cause of the Wars of the Roses.
[Sidenote: Viceregal poverty]
Sir John de Stanley, ever ready to step into a {45} breach, was again
deputy, and he reigned in Dublin Castle to November, 1402. In 1401
Henry IV., anxious to secure the allegiance of the English colony,
appointed his second son, Prince Thomas of Lancaster, viceroy. The
youthful prince--he was only thirteen when in November, 1402, he
arrived in Ireland--was provided with a specially selected Council, but
evidently not with the necessary money, as there is a letter extant
from the Council to King Henry which vividly describes the position of
the viceroy. Henry had been asked for supplies, but as his own coffers
were empty he could not send anything, and, realizing the seriousness
of their position, the Council addressed His Majesty in the following
terms:
'With heavy hearts we testify anew to your highness that our lord, your
son, is so destitute of money that he has not a penny in the world, nor
can borrow a single penny, because all his jewels and his plate that he
can spare of those which he must of necessity keep are pledged, and lie
in pawn. Also his soldiers have departed from him, and the people of
his household are on the point of leaving, and, however much they might
wish to remain, it is not in our lord's power to keep together, with a
view to his aid, twenty or a dozen persons with me, your humble
applicant of Dublin, and your humble liege, Janico, who has paid for
your use his very all, but we will render our entire duty to him so
long as we shall live, as we are bound by our sovereign obligation to
you. And the country is so weakened and impoverished by the long
nonpayment, as well in the time of our {46} lord, your son, as in the
time of other lieutenants before him, that the same land can no longer
bear such charge as they affirm, and on this account have they
importuned me. In good faith, our most sovereign lord, it is
marvellous that they have borne such a charge so long. Wherefore we
entreat, with all the humility and fulness that we may, that you will
please to ordain speedy remedy of these said dangers and
inconveniences, and to hold us excused also if any peril or
disaster--which may God avert--befall our lord, your son, by the said
causes. For the more full declaring of these matters to your highness
the three of us should have come to your high presence, but such is the
great danger on this side that not one of us dares depart from the
person of our lord.'
[Sidenote: Prince Thomas's tenure]
This eloquent appeal was unheeded, but the prince did not return to
England until November, 1403, appointing Sir Stephen le Scrope, his
deputy, and when that soldier retired in 1405 placing James, third Earl
of Ormonde, at the head of the Government. The death of the deputy in
the same year led to the advancement of Gerald, fifth Earl of Kildare,
whose rule was ended dramatically by the sudden reappearance of Prince
Thomas in 1408 and the imprisonment of his deputy. Two years earlier
the prince, having lost his indenture creating him Viceroy of Ireland,
was reappointed for twelve years at a salary of L7,000 a year.
Remembering his previous experiences, the prince had a clause inserted
which entitled him to leave Ireland if his salary was a month in
arrear. It was also agreed that in the event of the king or {47} the
Prince of Wales deciding to take over the government Prince Thomas was
to have six months' notice. The Earl of Kildare was released as soon
as he paid a fine of 300 marks for having interfered in an
ecclesiastical appointment. Prince Thomas remained two years at his
post, retiring from the country in 1410, and selecting a son of James,
third Earl of Ormonde, as his deputy. This was Prior Thomas le
Botiller.
But the colonists could endure the Prior for three years only, and they
succeeded in getting Sir John de Stanley reappointed. He was, however,
too old to be of much use, and at his death in 1414 the Archbishop of
Dublin, who was the author of the pathetic plea to Henry IV., assumed
the government for a few months.
{48}