Ireland under the Tudors, with a Succinct Account of the Earlier History. Vol. 1 (of 3)

Recriminations. Great disorders

Sir Piers was further accused of illegally occupying Callan and other royal manors in Kilkenny and Tipperary, but these lands were soon afterwards specially granted to him and his wife, and to their heirs male. Kildare charged his rival with helping O’Carroll and lending him cannon to defend Leap Castle against him. The fact was hardly disputed, but it had occurred as far back as 1516, and it was alleged in answer that the attack on O’Carroll was wanton and unprovoked. There were also accusations of intriguing with the O’Mores, of spoiling a village in Kildare and slaughtering the people even at the altar, of using the Castle of Arklow to rob the lieges by land and sea, of levying illegal taxes, and, in short, of behaving as Anglo-Irish noblemen generally did. A far graver charge against Sir Piers was the not having punished certain of his servants who were present at the barbarous murder of Maurice Doran, Bishop of Leighlin. The murderer was Maurice Kavanagh, his own Archdeacon, whom the Bishop had reproved for his crimes. It was said, moreover, that the churches in Tipperary and Kilkenny were ruinous, and that Sir Piers was in all things under the influence of his wife, the Lord Deputy’s sister. It is satisfactory to know that the Bishop’s tonsured assassin did not escape, for Kildare had him hanged and disembowelled at the scene of the murder: he was a near relation of Sir Piers Butler, which may account for the Lord Deputy’s anxiety to do justice in this particular case.104

Kildare again in Ulster, 1524

Kildare never ceased to harass such Irish chiefs as he chose to consider his enemies. In the autumn of 1524 he led an army to help his kinsman O’Neill against O’Donnell, and encamped near Strabane. Manus O’Donnell, who had just returned from Scotland, wished to attack at once with his strong force of Macdonnells; but he was overruled by his father, who feared the Deputy’s artillery. Flights of arrows were directed against the intrenchments all night, and in the morning Kildare thought it prudent to make peace and to depart without fighting. His old enemy Hugh O’Neill attempted to intercept him, but was killed in the skirmish which ensued. After this Kildare seems to have kept quiet for some months, and to have endeavoured to make peace among the Ulster clans. O’Neill and O’Donnell, or O’Donnell’s son Manus, visited Dublin; but all efforts to reconcile them were ineffectual, ‘so that they returned to their homes in strife, and the war continued as before.’105

Butler goes to England, 1526. Kildare sent for the next year

In September 1526 Sir Piers Butler went to England to press his various suits, and to complain of Kildare’s conduct. At Bristol he was in great danger of his life, the citizens having quarrelled with his retinue, who were probably for the most part Irish in speech and habits. According to Sir Piers the townsmen were the aggressors, and no provocation was given to the 600 men who surrounded his lodgings and threatened to set the house on fire. In spite of the interposition of the mayor and of some of the King’s officers, Sir Piers was obliged to surrender certain of his men and to find securities for the rest. A grant of considerable possessions in Ireland rewarded him for the troubles and dangers of the journey to Court. He accused Kildare of conspiring with Irish enemies to help Desmond in the foreign intrigues which he was undoubtedly carrying on, and of neglecting to arrest him when ordered to do so by special letters from the King. It was said that he entered Munster for the ostensible purpose of effecting this arrest, but sent private word to Desmond to avoid him, and to plead his privilege not to attend Parliament or enter walled towns. It was scarcely fair to expect that the head of one branch of the Geraldines should willingly imprison the head of the other; but Kildare was also accused of employing Irish enemies to oppress the Butlers, was summoned to London, and was at once committed to the Tower. He was soon brought before the Council, and Wolsey is said to have assailed him in a violent speech, calling him King of Ireland, a king who was able to bring back his own from the furthest edge of Ulster, but who would do nothing against a rebellious lord who had defied the Crown of England. After a time Kildare interrupted the Cardinal, saying that he was no orator, and that if he did not answer each charge in detail as it was uttered, his memory would fail him and his case would thus be prejudiced. This was considered reasonable, and the Earl hastened to ridicule the notion that Desmond’s liberty depended on him. ‘Cannot,’ he asked, ‘the Earl of Desmond shift, but I must be of counsel? Cannot he hide him except I wink?’ Then he turned round upon Wolsey, whom he averred to be quite as much king in England as he was in Ireland. Indeed, he would willingly change places for one month, and would engage to pick up more crumbs in that time than could be bought with all the revenues of his Irish earldom. ‘I slumber,’ he continued, ‘in a hard cabin, when you sleep in a soft bed of down; I serve under the King his cope of heaven, when you are served under a canopy; I drink water out of my skull, when you drink wine out of golden cups; my courser is trained to the field, when your genet is taught to amble; when you are begraced and belorded, and crouched and kneeled unto, then find I small grace with our Irish borderers, except I cut them off by the knees.’ Wolsey broke up the Council in high dudgeon, and sent the Earl back to the Tower until further evidence should arrive from Ireland. Before leaving Dublin, Kildare had taken the precaution of seeing each Councillor separately and binding him by oath to write in his favour.106

Wolsey accused of plotting Kildare’s death

Wolsey is said to have taken it upon himself to send a death-warrant to the Governor of the Tower, which arrived while that officer was playing shovel-board with his prisoner. On reading it the Lieutenant sighed, and Kildare remarked, ‘By St. Bride, there is some mad game in that scroll, but fall how it will this throw is for a huddle.’ On learning the contents of the paper he begged his gaoler to go straight to the King and ask his real pleasure. Unwilling to offend Wolsey, but still more unwilling to obey him, the Lieutenant repaired to Whitehall and was at once admitted, though it was ten o’clock at night. The King immediately respited the execution, and is said to have used strong language, calling Wolsey a saucy, over-officious priest, and threatening him with unpleasant consequences.107

But the Cardinal has perhaps been misrepresented

Such is the received story. Yet Wolsey, who is represented as thirsting for Kildare’s blood, was not even disposed to remove him from the viceroyalty. This forbearance arose from no love for the troublesome Earl, but it was thought that if he were detained in England and treated with some show of favour, his Irish adherents would be afraid to move. In case the King should nevertheless resolve to remove Kildare, then Wolsey advised that Sir Piers should again be made Deputy, the real government being in the hands of his son. Henry, however, thought that James Butler was too young for so great a charge, and that the noblemen of Ireland would disdain to be led by one who was junior to them all.108

The Earldom of Ormonde

While Kildare’s fortunes were thus clouded, his rival was at Court looking after his own interests. The Earldom of Ormonde, to which he was the true heir male, had been conferred, together with that of Wiltshire, on Sir Thomas Boleyn, grandson, through his mother, of the late Earl. Sir Piers, who was too prudent to oppose the father of Anne and Mary Boleyn, and who perhaps thought one earldom nearly as good as another, was content to accept the title of Ossory. Five years before, Henry had thought to reconcile the rival claimants by marrying James Butler to Anne Boleyn, but the negotiation had come to nothing, and the King now destined the lady for himself.109

Sir Piers Butler is created Earl of Ossory

The new creation was made at Windsor with great pomp. Arriving late in the evening from London, Sir Piers, who was in delicate health, lay at his own lodgings in the town, as being warmer and more comfortable than the rooms of the Lord Chamberlain, with whom he breakfasted next morning. We are particularly told that good fires were lit after mass. The Marquis of Exeter and the Earl of Oxford led the new peer into the presence chamber, the Earl of Rutland bearing the sword. The grandees dined together at the King’s expense after the investiture, and then, having changed his dress, the Earl was again conducted into the royal presence by the Marquis of Exeter. Having taken leave of Henry and of the Queen and Princess, and having duly feed the waiters, Ossory returned to London, where he paid a parting visit to Wolsey, and then returned into his own country.110

The Vice-Deputy Delvin is captured by the O’Connors, 1528

Leaving Kildare in the Tower, we must now go back to Ireland, where Richard Nugent, seventh Baron of Delvin, had been acting as Vice-Deputy, Sir James Fitzgerald, whom Kildare had left in charge, having been superseded by the Irish Council. When Archbishop Inge and Chief Justice Bermingham heard of Kildare’s imprisonment, they wrote to Wolsey regretting the Earl’s absence, and expressing their doubts as to whether he was guilty of any such practices as were charged against him. They considered Delvin incompetent, for he had no great fortune of his own to eke out the scanty revenue of Ireland. The people were more heavily taxed than ever, and they were not defended; for the armed bands which were always at Kildare’s beck and call would serve no one else. As the Pale was desolated by the absence of one Earl, so were Tipperary and Kilkenny by the absence of another; and the worst was to be feared unless they both speedily returned. These gloomy forebodings were soon fulfilled; for Delvin, against the advice of the Council, withheld the black-rent which O’Connor, Kildare’s son-in-law, had been used to receive from Meath. The aggrieved chief surprised the Vice-Deputy on the march, killed most of his men, and took him prisoner. Lord Butler, who was present, had prudently provided himself with a safe-conduct; he lodged that night with the victorious O’Connor, and was allowed to have an interview with his distinguished prisoner. The chief and his brothers were present, and the two noblemen were not allowed to speak English nor to confer in private. Speaking in Irish, O’Connor insisted on having his black-rent again, or being paid a ransom for the Vice-Deputy, and on receiving a distinct promise that the men of the Pale should not avenge his overthrow. But Butler’s diplomacy was not yet exhausted. By the advice of a Mr. White, who was among O’Connor’s guests, he sought a private interview with Cahir, the chief’s brother, who of course had a party of his own among the clansmen. Cahir readily agreed to escort Lord Butler out of his brother’s country, and was afterwards persuaded to visit Lord Ossory at Kilkenny. He professed loyalty and was ready to prove it by his actions, if only he could be sure that Kildare would not sooner or later return and have his revenge – that was his only fear.111

The Geraldines still in the ascendant

While his son was thus by policy undermining the Irish enemies of his house, Ossory was busy looking about for Irish allies. Hard pressed by the Desmonds and O’Briens, he wished to avoid a rupture with the O’Connors, and tried the efficacy of smooth speeches. As the price of an alliance against this possible foe O’Carroll demanded 40l., besides anything that the King or Deputy might give. O’More claimed the help of the Butlers against Kildare, and a money reward also. MacGilpatrick stipulated that Ossory should release him from debts amounting to 400 marks. The Earl agreed to these terms; but his immediate object was not attained, for Delvin remained a prisoner until early in the following year. In the meanwhile Sir Thomas Fitzgerald, Kildare’s brother, acted as Deputy, and the Geraldine policy was practically successful.112

Kildare is accused by Cowley and others, 1528

The late Lord-Lieutenant, now Duke of Norfolk, attributed all the woes of Ireland to the quarrel between Butlers and Geraldines, and he was on the whole in favour of maintaining the latter faction in power. Ossory and his son were loyal enough, but they could scarcely hold their own against the Desmonds and O’Briens, and could do nothing in the Pale, where they had no natural authority and where public opinion was against them. They would be entirely dependent on their own followers, who would eat more than their services were worth. On the other hand, Robert Cowley, Ossory’s faithful agent, was always at hand to prevent Henry and Wolsey from yielding too completely to Norfolk’s advice. It is said that on one occasion he complained of Kildare to the Council, and that he shed tears in the course of his speech ‘for pity,’ as he said, ‘upon his father’s son.’ ‘He is,’ retorted the Earl, ‘like the plover taken in setting his snares, and waiting for his desired purpose, his eyes being against the wind and the water dropping out. So many plovers as he taketh he knocketh their brains out with his thumb, notwithstanding his watery tears of contemplation. Even like doth Mr. Cowley with me; his tears cometh down; he layeth shrewd matters or articles to my charge.’113

The Duke of Richmond Lord-Lieutenant, 1529. His Deputy, Sir William Skeffington

If this story be true we must assign it to the autumn of 1528, when Cowley was certainly in London. O’Connor had just invaded the Pale, and evidence afterwards came to light which connected Kildare with his son-in-law’s proceedings. Early in August, Kildare’s daughter Alice, the wife of Lord Slane, came to Ireland and went straight to O’Connor’s house. Sir Gerald MacShane Fitzgerald afterwards swore before the Irish Council that Melour Faye had revealed to him a secret agreement between himself and Kildare, and that Lady Slane’s arrival was the preconcerted signal that her father was detained in England. Ossory was at war with Desmond when O’Connor made his attack, but abandoned his expedition and hurried off to defend the Pale. He took occasion to remind Wolsey of the hereditary policy of the house of Kildare. By stirring up rebellion in Ireland when he was detained at Court the late Earl had made himself chief governor for life; his son had followed suit, and the Pale had practically transferred its allegiance from the King of England to the Earl of Kildare. Henry thought it prudent to give the Earl his liberty, but resolved to have a Viceroy who should hold Ireland for the Crown only. He made his son, the Duke of Richmond, Lord-Lieutenant, thereby giving the Emperor great offence, and assigned him as Deputy Sir William Skeffington, a Leicestershire man, who had been long in the public service. Meanwhile the sovereign had frowned. In the month following that in which Skeffington was appointed, Wolsey saw Henry at Grafton for the last time, and three weeks later he was indicted in the King’s Bench. Kildare remained in London, for he was one of those who signed the famous letter to Clement VII., in which the English notables reproached the Pope for his partiality, and laid upon him the responsibility of a disputed succession, with all its terrors and troubles.114

Skeffington’s instructions

Skeffington had long served as Master of the Ordnance, whence the Irish, who may have been offended at the appointment of a commoner, gave him the name of ‘the gunner.’ He was accompanied by Edward Staples, a Lincolnshire man, whom the King had appointed Bishop of Meath, and brought with him 200 horse and a sum of money. He was instructed in the first place to reconcile, if possible, the conflicting interests of the Earls of Kildare, Ossory, and Desmond. He was not to make any serious attack on the wild Irish without the consent of the majority of the Council, especially when it would involve charging the country with the support of an army. The established custom of taking provisions for the ordinary movements of troops was, however, allowed. Skeffington was to hold a Parliament, but was to get all the money he could by way of subsidy before it met, and to pay the gross levy into the Vice-Treasurer’s hands. Kildare’s loyal promises were to be taken as sincere, and the Deputy was enjoined to help him in his enterprises as if they were undertaken in the King’s name. The Earl might retain half the proceeds, provided the remainder were handed over to the Vice-Treasurer.115

The O’Tooles chastised, 1530. Ulster invaded, 1531. Submission of O’Donnell

Kildare returned to Ireland some months after Skeffington’s arrival, and his first exploit was to chastise the O’Tooles, with the help of 200 archers supplied by the city of Dublin. Next year Ulster was invaded. A treaty had already been concluded at Drogheda, by which O’Donnell promised the King allegiance, and bound himself to assist Skeffington against all his Majesty’s enemies. He covenanted for O’Reilly, Maguire, and MacQuillin, as well as for himself, and Skeffington bound himself to give them such help and protection as was due to the King’s subjects. In pursuance of this agreement Skeffington, accompanied by Kildare and Ossory, ravaged Tyrone on both sides of the Blackwater, from Clogher to Caledon, and penetrated to Monaghan, which was undefended. There O’Donnell and some malcontent O’Neills met them, but they did not venture to meet the tyrant of the North in the field, a measure of the weakness of government at that time.116

Skeffington is overshadowed by Kildare

It clearly appeared that the Lord Deputy was in a false position as regards Kildare. When the Butlers were out on a foray, the Geraldines attacked their camp, killed the officer on guard, and carried off horses, arms, and provisions. It was even said that the Earl of Kildare displayed his banner openly, and led his men to the attack. With great difficulty and at Skeffington’s earnest request, Ossory prevented his followers from retaliating, but he poured complaints into Cromwell’s attentive ears. Kildare allowed his adherents to seize the titular Baron of Burntchurch in Kilkenny, while passing through Castledermot, on his way to attend Parliament. The Baron was a Fitzgerald, but on friendly terms with Ossory, who would have rescued him in spite of Kildare but for the Lord Deputy’s express prohibition; as it was, the poor man lost his horse, money, and apparel without redress. ‘This,’ said Ossory, ‘is a good encouragement to malefactors to commit spoils, having the advantage thereof without punishment or restitution.’ It was not the first nor the last time in Ireland that the friends of law and order have been less safe than its enemies, and that the Government has hampered those whom it could not protect. Indeed, the Kilkenny borough members fared no better than their neighbours, for they were seized at the gate of Athy by Murtagh MacOwney, who wished that he had the King in the end of a handlock, and the Deputy in the other end, as surely as he had the worthy burgesses. In fact, Skeffington had scarcely any power. Kildare detained the hostages of the natives, in spite of direct orders to send them to Dublin, and thus let it be clearly seen that the King’s representative was a mere instrument in his hands.117

Kildare goes to England, 1532, and regains favour

It was commonly said in Ireland that all the parchment and wax in England would not bring the Earl of Kildare thither again; but this saying turned out not to be true. So well had the Earl managed his affairs, that he ventured across the Channel early in 1532, and, after a six months’ residence at Court, returned with the legal as well as the real power of a Chief Governor. Sir John Rawson, Prior of Kilmainham, and Chief Justice Bermingham, supported Kildare’s counter-charges against Ossory, and accused Skeffington of partiality in his favour. There was an attempt to show that Ossory’s hostility arose from the fear that Kildare would support Wiltshire’s claims upon the Ormonde estates. But Ossory maintained that he had long since compromised all claims against his property, that Kildare’s advocacy of Wiltshire’s pretensions was collusive and fraudulent, and that the King would be the real loser of the possession, if such castles as Arklow and Tullow were given to the too powerful Geraldine under colour of another man’s sham title. Anne Boleyn’s star was now at its zenith; her father was fond of money, and perhaps saw a chance of extorting it from opposite quarters. It is clear that any claim of his was likely at this time to be favourably regarded, and it may be in this way that the lately waning influence of Kildare was restored.

Kildare again Deputy

Having secured the much-coveted patent, Kildare hastened to Dublin and relieved Skeffington, who, having arrears of business to transact, was allowed to dance attendance among other suitors in his successor’s ante-chamber. On the very day of his arrival, the new Lord Deputy took the Great Seal from his enemy Archbishop Alen, and gave it to the Primate Cromer. As a sop to the opposite faction, Lord Butler was made Lord Treasurer by the King; but the Deputy was supreme in the Council, and those who were not his friends thought only of saving themselves from his anger. Thus relieved from all restraint, and perhaps thinking himself indispensable, as indeed he well might, the Earl turned upon his hereditary enemy. While his brother Sir John Fitzgerald was helping O’Neill to ravage Louth, the lawful guardian of the Pale devastated Kilkenny; his men were allowed to plunder the peaceable folk resorting to Castledermot Fair, and to murder a due proportion. He used the sword which the King had committed to him ‘utterly to extinguish the fame and honour of any other noble man within that land … shadowed with that authority, so that, whatever he did, it should not be repugned at.’118

The O’Carrolls

There was at this time a fierce dispute as to who should succeed Mulrony O’Carroll, who among southern chiefs in his time ‘destroyed most in regard to foreigners and improved most in regard to Gaedhill.’ A brother would in the usual course have succeeded to these glories; but there was always a strong tendency to substitute the hereditary for the elective principle, and a claim was advanced on behalf of Mulrony’s son Fergananim, to whom Kildare, choosing his time, had just given his daughter. Ossory of course espoused the cause of the brothers, but was defeated with the loss of several small pieces of cannon. On the same day the old chief died, and, as he favoured his son’s pretensions, this was numbered among his victories. Having been a man of blood, and having lavished some of his plunder upon the clergy, he was rewarded after death with hyperbolical praises. ‘He was,’ the ‘Four Masters’ inform us, ‘a protecting hero to all; the guiding firm helm of his tribe; a triumphant traverser of tribes; a jocund and majestic Munster champion; a precious stone; a carbuncle gem; the anvil of the solidity, and the golden pillar of the Elyans.’ Fergananim was at first acknowledged as chief, but his uncle soon occupied Birr and other castles, and ravaged the country from thence. The Lord Deputy came in person before Birr, and received a bullet wound in the side. As he groaned with the pain, a kerne is reported to have encouraged him by saying that he himself had three bullets in him, and felt none the worse. ‘I wish,’ replied the Earl, ‘you had this one along with the others.’119 He was less fortunate than his follower, for the bullet, which came out of itself some months later, lamed him for life, and affected his speech. Birr Castle was, however, taken.120

Parliament of 1533. Miserable state of the country

Kildare held a Parliament in Dublin in 1533, but we know nearly as little about it as about that held by Surrey. The most important law passed appears to have been one for the punishment of those who stole corn under colour of taking wages for harvest work in kind. This meeting of Parliament gave rise to a renewal of the old dispute about precedency between Armagh and Dublin. Alen could no longer rely upon the patronage of Wolsey, and it is certain that Kildare’s influence would be exerted against him. But the Deputy had been making so many enemies, that the increased hostility of Alen would not count for much. A heavy reckoning had been scored up; and John Dethyke, or Derrick, a prebendary of St. Patrick, gave voice to the prevailing discontent. With bitter irony he assured Cromwell that the people were excellently disposed and full of abstinence. Their accustomed ceremony was to abstain from flesh on Wednesday, but their devotion had so much increased that they now abstained likewise on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. ‘I trust to Jesu,’ he continued. ‘Ye shall hear that there shall be many saints among them; but they play the fox’s part, shy of hens when he could not reach them.’ All the butchers in Dublin had not as much meat between them as would make a mess of broth, and those who owned no cattle were driven to dry bread. Marauders entered the suburbs of Dublin, and one butcher had lost 220 beasts. No one could safely ride a mile out of town, and it was useless to complain; for the Deputy was visited with that distressing form of deafness which affects those who do not wish to hear. The poor butchers had accordingly shut up their shops, and taken to making leather breeches, as if it were perpetual Lent. And not only did the Viceroy do nothing, but he took the opportunity of removing the King’s artillery from Dublin to his own castles. Meanwhile, the O’Byrnes actually entered Dublin Castle, and carried off prisoners and cattle, ‘insomuch as nightly since great watch is in the city of Dublin, fearing that the same should be pilfered, prostrate, and destroyed, whereof they never dreaded so much.’ Even Sir James Fitzgerald complained that his brother oppressed him cruelly for having done good service under Skeffington, and Norfolk’s tenants in Carlow were in no better plight.121