The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.

IRELAND UNDER THE STUARTS
Vol. II.

By the same Author

IRELAND UNDER THE TUDORS

Vols. I. and II.—From the First Invasion of the

Northmen to the year 1578.

8vo. 32s.

Vol. III.—1578-1603. 8vo. 18s.

LONGMANS, GREEN, & CO.

London, New York, Bombay, and Calcutta

IRELAND

UNDER THE STUARTS

AND

DURING THE INTERREGNUM

BY

RICHARD BAGWELL, M.A.

AUTHOR OF ‘IRELAND UNDER THE TUDORS’

Vol. II. 1642-1660

WITH MAP

LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.

39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON

NEW YORK, BOMBAY, AND CALCUTTA

1909

All rights reserved

[CONTENTS]
OF
THE SECOND VOLUME

CHAPTER XXI
MUNSTER AND CONNAUGHT, 1641-1642
PAGE
The rebellion spreads to Munster[1]
The King’s proclamation[3]
St. Leger, Cork, and Inchiquin[3]
State of Connaught[5]
Massacre at Shrule[6]
Clanricarde at Galway[7]
Weakness of the English party[8]
State of Clare—Ballyallia[10]
Cork and St. Leger[12]
CHAPTER XXII
THE WAR TO THE BATTLE OF ROSS, 1642-1643
Scots army in Ulster—Monro[14]
Strongholds preserved in Ulster[16]
Ormonde in the Pale[17]
Battle of Kilrush[18]
The Catholic Confederation[19]
Owen Roe O’Neill[20]
Thomas Preston[21]
Loss of Limerick, St. Leger dies[22]
Battle of Liscarrol[23]
Fighting in Ulster[23]
General Assembly at Kilkenny[25]
The Supreme Council—foreign support[27]
Fighting in Leinster—Timahoe[29]
Parliamentary agents in Dublin[29]
Siege of New Ross[31]
Battle of Ross[32]
A papal nuncio talked of[34]
CHAPTER XXIII
THE WAR TO THE FIRST CESSATION, 1642-1643
The Adventurers for land—Lord Forbes[36]
Forbes at Galway and elsewhere[38]
A pragmatic chaplain, Hugh Peters[40]
Forbes repulsed from Galway[41]
A useless expedition[42]
Siege and capture of Galway fort[43]
O’Neill, Leven, and Monro[44]
The King will negotiate[46]
Dismissal of Parsons[47]
Vavasour and Castlehaven[48]
The King presses for a truce[48]
Scarampi and Bellings[49]
A cessation of arms, but no peace[50]
Ormonde made Lord Lieutenant[51]
CHAPTER XXIV
AFTER THE CESSATION, 1643-1644
The cessation condemned by Parliament[53]
The rout at Nantwich[54]
Monck advises the King[55]
The Solemn League and Covenant[55]
The Covenant taken in Ulster[57]
Monro seizes Belfast[59]
Dissensions between Leinster and Ulster[60]
Failure of Castlehaven’s expedition[60]
Antrim and Montrose[61]
The Irish under Montrose—Alaster MacDonnell[62]
Rival diplomatists at Oxford[64]
Violence of both parties[66]
Failure of the Oxford negotiations[68]
Inchiquin supports the Parliament[69]
CHAPTER XXV
INCHIQUIN, ORMONDE, AND GLAMORGAN, 1644-1645
The no quarter ordinance[72]
Roman Catholics expelled from Cork, Youghal, and Kinsale[73]
The Covenant in Munster[74]
Negotiations for peace[75]
Bellings at Paris and Rome[76]
Recruits for France and Spain[77]
Irish appeals for foreign help[78]
Siege of Duncannon Fort[80]
Mission of Glamorgan with extraordinary powers[84]
Glamorgan in Ireland[87]
The Glamorgan treaty[88]
CHAPTER XXVI
FIGHTING NORTH AND SOUTH—RINUCCINI, 1645
Castlehaven in Munster[90]
Fall of Lismore, Youghal besieged[93]
Relief of Youghal[94]
Coote in Connaught[95]
Rinuccini appointed nuncio[96]
Scope of his mission[97]
King and Queen distrusted at Rome[98]
Rinuccini at Paris[99]
His voyage to Ireland[100]
Arrival in Kerry and welcome at Kilkenny[102]
CHAPTER XXVII
THE ORMONDE PEACE, 1646
Glamorgan and Rinuccini[103]
Arrest of Glamorgan[104]
Charles repudiates him[106]
Mission of Sir Kenelm Digby[107]
Ireland must be sacrificed[108]
Sir Kenelm Digby’s treaty[109]
Glamorgan swears fealty to the nuncio[111]
Ormonde’s peace with the Confederacy[112]
Lord Digby’s adventures[114]
The peace proclaimed at Dublin[115]
Siege of Bunratty[115]
Battle of Benburb[117]
Scots power in Ulster broken[120]
Rejoicings in Ireland and at Rome[121]
Rinuccini opposes the peace[122]
Which the clergy reject[123]
Riot at Limerick[125]
Ormonde at Kilkenny[126]
Triumph of Rinuccini[129]
Quarrels of O’Neill and Preston[130]
Lord Digby’s intrigues[134]
Rinuccini loses his popularity[136]
Discords among the Confederates[137]
CHAPTER XXVIII
SURRENDER OF DUBLIN AND AFTER, 1647
Dublin between two fires[140]
Mission of George Leyburn[141]
Ormonde’s reasons for surrendering to Parliament[143]
Digby’s last plots in Ireland[144]
Glamorgan as general[145]
His army adheres to Muskerry[146]
Preston routed at Dungan Hill[148]
Parliamentary neglect[149]
Victories of Inchiquin[150]
Lord Lisle’s abortive viceroyalty [151]
Sack of Cashel[153]
Mahony’s Disputatio Apologetica[154]
Rinuccini and O’Neill[155]
Battle of Knocknanuss[157]
Declining fortunes of the Confederacy[158]
Fresh appeals for foreign aid[159]
Inchiquin distrusted by Parliament[161]
Ormonde goes to England and France[162]
CHAPTER XXIX
INCHIQUIN, RINUCCINI, AND ORMONDE, 1648
Inchiquin deserts the Parliament[164]
His truce with the Confederacy[165]
Rinuccini dependent on O’Neill[166]
Who threatens Kilkenny[168]
O’Neill, Inchiquin, and Michael Jones[170]
O’Neill proclaimed traitor at Kilkenny[170]
Ormonde returns to Ireland[171]
His reception at Kilkenny[172]
Monck master in Ulster[173]
The Prince of Wales expected[174]
The Confederacy dissolved[175]
Rinuccini driven from Ireland[176]
CHAPTER XXX
RINUCCINI TO CROMWELL, 1649
Ormonde’s commanding position[179]
Charles II. proclaimed[180]
Milton and the Ulster Presbyterians[180]
Monck, O’Neill, and Coote in Ulster[182]
Inchiquin takes Drogheda[183]
Ormonde defeated by Jones at Rathmines[184]
Charles II. has thoughts of Ireland[186]
Prince Rupert at Kinsale[187]
Broghill consents to serve Parliament[189]
Cromwell leaves London[189]
CHAPTER XXXI
CROMWELL IN IRELAND, 1649
Cromwell restores discipline in Dublin[191]
Storm of Drogheda[193]
Ormonde’s treaty with O’Neill[196]
Death and character of Owen Roe O’Neill[197]
Cromwell at Wexford[198]
Storm of Wexford[200]
Cromwell takes New Ross[201]
Cork, Kinsale, and Youghal join Cromwell[203]
Operations after New Ross[204]
Siege of Waterford[205]
Siege raised[206]
Death of Michael Jones[206]
Cromwell winters at Youghal[208]
Broghill’s campaign[208]
Carrickfergus taken[209]
The Clonmacnoise decrees[210]
CHAPTER XXXII
CROMWELL IN IRELAND, 1650
Cromwell’s declaration[212]
A lady’s experience at Cork[213]
Cromwell’s southern campaign[214]
Operations in Leinster—Castlehaven[216]
Cromwell takes Kilkenny[218]
Siege of Clonmel, assault repulsed[220]
The town capitulates[222]
Battle of Macroom, Cromwell leaves Ireland[223]
Submission of Protestant Royalists[225]
CHAPTER XXXIII
ORMONDE’S LAST STRUGGLES, 1650
Dissensions among Irish Royalists[226]
O’Neill succeeded by Bishop Macmahon[227]
Englishmen turned out of the army[228]
Battle of Scariffhollis[230]
Assembly summoned to meet at Loughrea[232]
Ormonde excluded from Limerick[232]
Clanricarde excluded from Galway[233]
Surrender of Tecroghan and Carlow[234]
Waterford capitulates[235]
Charlemont taken[236]
Meeting of bishops at Jamestown[237]
Ormonde’s adherents excommunicated[238]
Charles II. repudiates the Irish[239]
A conference at Galway[241]
The excommunication maintained—no Protestant governor[242]
The Loughrea assembly can do little[243]
Ormonde leaves Ireland, Clanricarde Deputy[243]
CHAPTER XXXIV
CLANRICARDE AND IRETON, 1651
Plague and famine[245]
A regicide government[246]
Hugh O’Neill at Limerick[247]
Charles IV., Duke of Lorraine[249]
Taaffe’s mission to Charles II.[251]
A Lorraine envoy in Ireland[253]
Extent of Lorraine succours[254]
Terms of agreement with the Duke[256]
Condemned by Ormonde and Clanricarde[257]
No help after Worcester[258]
Ireton passes the Shannon[261]
Coote and Reynolds elude Clanricarde[262]
Desperate defence of Gort—Ludlow[263]
Siege of Limerick[263]
Ludlow in Clare[266]
Broghill’s victory at Knockbrack[268]
Capitulation of Limerick[271]
Treatment of the besieged[273]
Death and character of Ireton[277]
CHAPTER XXXV
LAST PHASE OF THE WAR, 1652
Galway holds out[278]
The Irish in Scilly[279]
Meeting of officers at Kilkenny[280]
Horrors of guerrilla warfare[280]
Capitulation of Galway[283]
“Tame Tories”[284]
Clanricarde’s last struggle[285]
Castlehaven leaves Ireland—his memoirs[286]
Clanricarde goes to England—his character[287]
Submission of Irish leaders[289]
Siege of Ross Castle[290]
The Parliament an avenger of blood[292]
The Leinster articles[293]
Richard Grace[294]
Ludlow’s last service in the field[295]
Arrival of Fleetwood[298]
CHAPTER XXXVI
END OF THE WAR, AND ITS PRICE
Last stand at Innisbofin[298]
Last stand in Ulster[299]
Exhaustion of the country[300]
Treatment of priests[301]
Swordsmen sent abroad[303]
Fleetwood commander-in-chief[304]
Sir Phelim O’Neill tried and executed[305]
Alleged commission from Charles I.[307]
Lord Muskerry acquitted[308]
Primate O’Reilly pardoned[310]
Lord Mayo tried and shot[311]
The Crown bound by the Adventurers’ Act[312]
CHAPTER XXXVII
PEACE, SETTLEMENT, AND TRANSPLANTATION, 1652-1654
Magnitude of the problem[315]
Effect of the 1641 evidence[317]
The Act of Settlement[317]
Lambert’s abortive appointment as Deputy[319]
Expulsion of the Long Parliament[320]
Barebone’s Parliament—Irish members[321]
Casting lots for Ireland[322]
Claims of the army[322]
The Act of Satisfaction[324]
Transplantation proceeds slowly[325]
The Protectorate established[326]
Fleetwood Deputy[327]
Cromwell’s first Parliament—Irish members[328]
Transplantation—Gookin and Lawrence[329]
Tories, name and thing[330]
The Waldensian massacre[332]
Difficulties of transplantation, Loughrea and Athlone[333]
Worsley and Petty—the Down survey[334]
Clarendon on the settlement[338]
Desolation of the towns[339]
Proposed transplantation of Presbyterians[341]
CHAPTER XXXVIII
HENRY CROMWELL, 1655-1659
Henry Cromwell supersedes Fleetwood[343]
Deportation to the West Indies[344]
Henry and the sectaries[346]
Reduction of the army[347]
Oliver and his son[348]
Cromwell’s second Parliament—Irish members[349]
The oath of abjuration[350]
Henry Lord Deputy[352]
Henry made Lord Lieutenant by his brother[354]
Ireland in the Parliament of 1659[355]
Petty and his detractors[356]
Henry recalled by the restored Rump[359]
Attempted estimate of Henry Cromwell[360]
CHAPTER XXXIX
THE RESTORATION
Provisional government, John Jones and Ludlow[362]
Monck interferes[363]
End of the revolutionary government[364]
The Irish army proves Royalist[365]
Monck gains Coote and Broghill[366]
Ludlow’s last efforts[366]
Impeachment of Ludlow and others[368]
New commissioners of Government appointed[369]
General convention and declarations of officers[370]
Charles II. proclaimed in Dublin[371]

[MAP]

Ireland, to illustrate the Cromwellian settlementto face p. 1

IRELAND UNDER THE STUARTS

[CHAPTER XXI]
MUNSTER AND CONNAUGHT, 1641-1642

The rebellion spreads to Munster, December, 1641.

St. Leger’s raid.

There was no outbreak in Munster during November, but Lord President St. Leger knew that he had no real means of resisting one. The Lords Justices had drawn off most of the soldiers, the rest were occupied as garrisons, and practically he had only his own troop of horse to depend on. Before the end of the month the Leinster rebels had come nearly to the Suir, and he repaired with what men he could collect to Clonmel lest Lady Ormonde, who was at Carrick, should fall into the invaders’ hands. The gentlemen of Tipperary came to meet him, but could or would do nothing. ‘Every man stands at gaze, and suffers the rascals to rob and pillage all the English about them.’ Ormonde’s own cattle were driven off. St. Leger’s brother-in-law having been pillaged, he took indiscriminate vengeance, and some innocent men were probably killed. He as good as told the Tipperary magnates that they were all rebels. In the meantime the Leinster insurgents had crossed the estuary of the Suir in boats, and ravaged the eastern part of Waterford. St. Leger rode rapidly through the intervening mountains, though there was snow on the ground, and fell upon a party of plunderers at Mothel, near Carrick. The main body were pursued to the river, and for the most part killed. About seventy prisoners were taken to Waterford and there hanged. He returned to Clonmel and thence back to Doneraile, for he could do no more. ‘My horses,’ he told Ormonde, ‘are quite spent; their saddles have been scarce off these fourteen days; nor myself nor my friends have not had leisure to shift our shirts ... the like war was never heard of—no man makes head, one parish robs another, go home and share the goods, and there is an end of it, and this by a company of naked rogues.’[1]

Mountgarret invades Munster.

Another mock commission.

St. Leger’s rough ways might furnish an excuse, but had no real effect upon events. The flame steadily spread over the whole island, and the contest fell more and more into the hands of extreme men. The Tipperary insurgents were soon enrolled in companies, the leading part being taken by Theobald Purcell, titular baron of Loughmoe, and Patrick Purcell, who rose to distinction during the war. At the end of January Mountgarret, who acted as general, invaded Munster with a heterogeneous force. He was assisted by Michael Wall, a professional soldier, and accompanied by Viscount Ikerrin, Lords Dunboyne and Cahir, all three Butlers, and the Baron of Loughmoe. Kilmallock was easily taken, and the Irish encamped at Redshard, near Kildorrery, at the entry to the county of Cork. Broghill reckoned them at 10,000, of whom half were unarmed. The President, who had 900 foot and 300 horse, thought it impossible to dispute the passage, and preferred to parley. Mountgarret demanded freedom of conscience, the preservation of the royal prerogative, and equal privileges for natives with the English. St. Leger answered that they had liberty of conscience already, that he was not likely to do anything against the Crown, from whom he held everything, and that he himself was a native. At last, on February 10, articles were agreed upon by which the President agreed to abstain from all further hostilities, both sides covenanting to do each other no harm for one month. St. Leger was induced to grant these terms mainly by the sight of a commission from Charles with the Great Seal attached, but Broghill believed that this was a mere trick, and the document fabricated. The President withdrew to Cork and Mountgarret into Tipperary. The armistice was ill kept by the Irish, who were under the influence of Patrick Purcell. Mountgarret never showed any military ability.[2]

Muskerry joins the Irish.

The King’s proclamation.

Cork beleaguered by the Irish.

Inchiquin’s first exploit, April 13, 1642.

St. Leger had long cherished the belief that Donough MacCarthy, Viscount Muskerry, would remain staunch. Muskerry, who had great possessions, and who was married to Ormonde’s sister, seems to have tried the impossible part of neutral, but was soon drawn into the vortex, and it was to him that the supposed commission to raise 4000 men had been made out. He tried to stop plundering, and even hanged a few thieves, but the open country soon became untenable for English settlers. Many flocked to Bandon, which was held by Cork’s son Lord Kinalmeaky. Others fled to Cork, Kinsale, and Youghal, to which latter place Sir Charles Vavasour brought the first reinforcement of 1000 men. Vavasour carried over the King’s proclamation of January 1 against the rebels, of which only forty copies had been printed, and Cork immediately forwarded it to the Lord President. ‘I like it exceedingly well in all parts of it,’ said St. Leger, ‘save only that it is come so late to light ... it were very good that we had some store of them to disperse abroad, for of this one little notice can be taken.’ Cork maintained himself at Youghal and his sons in other places. St. Leger, as soon as he had received reinforcements, relieved Broghill at Lismore, and took Dungarvan from the Irish. Of all the old nobility Lord Barrymore, who had married Cork’s daughter, alone stood firm and refused all offers from the Irish. On March 12 St. Leger wrote that he was practically besieged in Cork by a ‘vast body of the enemy lying within four miles of the town, under my Lord of Muskerry, O’Sullivan Roe, MacCarthy Reagh, and all the western gentry and forces to the number of about 5000.’ The nominal chief of this army was Colonel Garret Barry, an experienced soldier, but without originality, and more fit for a subordinate than for a chief command. On April 13, two days before Ormonde’s victory at Kilrush, Inchiquin—who was married to St. Leger’s daughter, and had studied war in the Spanish service—persuaded his father-in-law to let him make a sally. With only 300 foot and two troops of horse he surprised the Irish camp at Rochfordstown, routed the ill-disciplined host completely, and pursued them for some miles towards Ballincollig and Kilcrea. Muskerry’s own luggage fell into the victor’s hands, and a great stock of corn, which was very welcome. The only serious fighting was in the attack of a small enclosure desperately defended by Florence McDonnell, called Captain Sougane, perhaps in memory of the last Desmond rebel. Inchiquin’s loss was little or nothing, and he was soon able to ship guns and take castles which obstructed the navigation of Cork harbour. The southern capital was relieved from all immediate danger.[3]

Limerick.

Waterford.

Limerick did not at first take any decided part, but stood upon its defence. Clonmel and Dungarvan admitted the Leinster insurgents in December, a few days after St. Leger’s raid. A party commanded by Ormonde’s brother Richard came to the gate of Waterford on the day after Christmas, but the mayor, Francis Briver, refused to let him in. Two other attempts were made before Twelfth Day. The mob of the town and a majority of the corporation were opposed to the mayor, but he held his own for some time, received English fugitives within the walls, and kept them there till shipping could be had for themselves and such property as they had been able to carry away. His own life was frequently in danger, and his hand was badly bitten by a rioter who resisted arrest. On another day, says Mrs. Briver, who took an active part, ‘when I heard so many swords were drawn at the market cross against my poor husband, I ran into the streets without either hat or mantle and laid my hands about his neck and brought him in whether he would or no ... This and much more the mayor has suffered seeking to let their goods go with the English.’ Mountgarret was excluded, but in April his son Edmund was admitted with 300 men, and the townsmen gave up their cannon.[4]

State of Connaught. Ranelagh and Clanricarde.

Events at Galway.

Hesitation of the Galway gentry.

Roger Jones, created Viscount Ranelagh, was Lord President of Connaught, and lay at Athlone with only a troop of horse and two companies of foot. The government of the county of Galway was vested by special patent in the Earl of Clanricarde, who positively refused the request of the Roscommon gentlemen to take command of their county, and thus ignore the Lord President’s authority. Mayo was entrusted by the Lords Justices to Lord Mayo and to Dillon, Viscount Costello, who were both at this time professing Protestants. Sir Francis Willoughby, the governor of Galway fort, was in Dublin when the rebellion broke out, and his son Anthony, who was young and violent, commanded in his absence. Clanricarde was at Portumna when he heard of the outbreak, and he at once warned the mayor of Galway to be on his guard. The Lords Justices refused to send arms from Dublin on the ground that the passage was not safe, but told him to take what he could find at Galway. A hundred calivers, many of them unserviceable, and as many pikes were all that could be had. His own castles of Portumna, Loughrea, and Oranmore were in a defensible state, and he came to Galway on November 6. Richard Boyle, Archbishop of Tuam, took refuge in the fort, and Clanricarde’s castle of Aghenure, on the western shore of Lough Corrib, was seized by the O’Flahertys. On the 11th a town-meeting was held, and the citizens resolved to hold Galway for the King. During the next three months there were frequent acts of violence on both sides, Willoughby treating the citizens as conquered, and they retorting by capturing and confining his stray soldiers. On December 29 the lords of the Pale invited the nobility and gentry of the county of Galway to join them, urging the legal grievances under which Roman Catholics laboured, and the severe measures of Coote and others. This did not make Clanricarde’s task easier, but he came to Galway on February 5, and patched up an accommodation. On the 11th he left the town for a fortnight, and during the interval an outrage was committed in the neighbourhood which rivalled the worst of the Ulster atrocities.[5]

The Shrule massacre, Feb. 1641-2.

Humanity of Walter Burke.

According to the Rev. John Goldsmith, there were about 1000 English and Scotch Protestants in Mayo, many of whom tried to save themselves by going to mass. He had a brother a priest, and it was owing to the Jesuit Malone and an unnamed friar that he escaped with his life. Several Protestants, including one Buchanan of Strade, and John Maxwell, Bishop of Killala, sought the protection of Sir Henry Bingham at Castlebar, but he refused to admit Goldsmith, who was a convert from Rome, lest his presence should increase the animosity of the Irish. Lord Mayo promised to convoy the whole party safely to Galway fort, and they set out on February 13, Malachy O’Queely, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Tuam, ‘faithfully promising the Lord of Mayo to accompany them with his lordship and several priests and friars, to see them safely conveyed and delivered in Galway, or at the Fort of Galway.’ The first night was spent at Ballycarra, the second at Ballinrobe, the third at the Neale, and the fourth at Shrule, where a bridge joins the counties of Mayo and Galway. Lord Mayo seems to have declined all responsibility outside of his own county, and on Sunday the 17th he dismissed his followers except one company commanded by Edmund Burke, who proposed to go with them a few miles, and hand them over to an escort of the county Galway. Burke’s men began to plunder the unarmed fugitives before they were out of Lord Mayo’s sight, and he sent his son Sir Theobald to keep order; according to Theobald’s own account he ran over the bridge with his sword drawn to help the English, but was fired at and afterwards ‘conveyed away for the safety of his life.’ The promised escort, consisting of two companies of the O’Flahertys, then came up and joined the Mayo people in an indiscriminate massacre of men, women, and children. The Bishop of Killala and a few others were saved by the exertions of Ulick Burke, of Castle Hacket, but those killed were not far short of a hundred, including Dean Forgie of Killala and five other clergymen, of whom John Corbet was one. Thomas Johnson, vicar of Turlough, escaped to the house of Walter Burke, who treated him kindly and defended him. Young priests and friars asked Stephen Lynch, prior of Strade, in his presence whether it was not lawful to kill him as a heretic, and Lynch answered that it was as lawful as to kill a sheep or a dog. The insurgents threatening to burn Burke’s house if he kept Johnson any longer, he managed to convey him to Clanricarde’s castle at Loughrea, and he ‘ever after that time lived by the noble and free charity of that good earl, until of late his lordship sent him and divers other Protestants away with a convoy.’[6]

Murders at Galway.

Clanricarde and the clergy.

Clanricarde returned to Galway on March 1. After a fortnight’s argument he succeeded in getting both town and fort to make declarations of loyalty and of peaceable intentions towards each other. As soon as his back was turned the flames fanned by the clergy broke out afresh. A party of armed townsmen disguised as boatmen seized an English ship, murdered some of the crew, and towed her off in spite of Willoughby’s fire. When Galway surrendered to Coote in 1652 the perpetrators of the outrage were specially excepted from pardon. The malcontents then closed the gates, disarmed all the English within the walls, took an oath of union, and invited the O’Flahertys and the Mayo insurgents to join them. Willoughby burned some of the suburbs to prevent the O’Flahertys from occupying them, and this military precaution still further exasperated the citizens. But Clanricarde collected a quantity of provisions at Oranmore and relieved the fort. His castle of Tirellan, which commanded the river, enabled him to blockade the town, the neighbourhood being constantly patrolled by cavalry. Supplies ceased to reach the market, and before the end of April the leading citizens were tired of resisting. While negotiations were proceeding a man of war arrived with powder and provisions, and Clanricarde then took high ground. In vain did the warden Walter Lynch, whom Rinuccini afterwards made a bishop, fulminate the greater excommunication against all who agreed to Clanricarde’s articles. The mayor signed them nevertheless, agreeing that all soldiers harboured in the town should be sent away, that access to the town should be free and open, that the Anglican clergy should enjoy their legal rights, and that no arms or powder should be sold without Clanricarde’s orders. The gates were accordingly thrown open on May 13, the young men of the town laid down their arms, and Clanricarde received the keys publicly from the mayor’s hands. Ormonde approved of these proceedings, but the Lords Justices thought the rebellious town had been too leniently treated.[7]

Order against intercourse with the Irish.

Sir James Dillon at Athlone.

Ormonde relieves Athlone.

An English party destroyed.

Contrary to Ormonde’s own judgment, though he signed with the rest, the Lords Justices issued an order against holding any intercourse with the Irish living near garrisons and against giving protection to any of them. The soldiers were to prosecute the rebels with fire and sword, and whenever Ormonde established a garrison the order in council was to be sent to the commanders with directions for ensuring its observance. This order bound both Ranelagh and Clanricarde, but neither of them approved of it, and indeed it involved a censure upon the latter’s pacification at Galway. Athlone had since Christmas been beset on the Leinster side by a mixed multitude under the general direction of Sir James Dillon, who had made a truce with the Lord President so far as to allow free access to the market. The castle, which stands on the Connaught side of the Shannon, was thus provisioned and made safe against assailants who had no battering train. After a time the garrison began to make incursions into Westmeath, and this was regarded by Dillon as a breach of faith. He had been distrusted by the Irish for his moderation, but without gaining him the confidence of the Government, and he thought it would be better to have at least one side heartily with him. He accordingly seized the town on the Leinster side, and threw up a work which prevented the garrison from crossing the bridge. When he heard that Ormonde was coming to relieve the castle he withdrew into the county of Longford. Ormonde left Dublin on June 14, Mullingar and Ballymore being burnt at his approach, and on the 20th he was at the village of Kilkenny, about seven English miles from Athlone. There Ranelagh met him and took charge of the 2000 foot and two troops of horse provided to reinforce him under Sir Michael Earnley. Ormonde then returned to Dublin at once, though Clanricarde was most anxious to meet him. Ranelagh put the new troops into various castles, three hundred of them, under Captain Bertie, being assigned to a convent of Poor Clares on Lough Ree. The nuns had been hurriedly conveyed away by Dillon to an island in the lake, but the vestments remained and the cellar was full. The soldiers drank the wine, and were masquerading in the vestments when they were attacked by a party sent by Dillon. Bertie fought bravely, but he and most of his men were killed. The Lord President then concentrated his forces at Athlone and the open country was left at the mercy of the Irish.[8]

Dissensions amongst the English.

Fight at Ballintober, July 1642.

The Irish grow stronger.

Ranelagh showed no energy, but he was in bad health and in want of money and supplies. He said Earnley’s men were rogues and gaol-birds, and that he longed for a commission to raise men of his own country. In the meantime he neglected to requisition the provisions available in the neighbourhood, and the soldiers died of want and neglect. Coote provided ten days’ bread, and pressed him to do something while a few men were left alive, whereupon he ordered an attack on Ballagh, which was not taken without loss, and which Earnley says was quite useless. Afterwards he joined his forces to those of Coote at Roscommon, and Sir James Dillon attacked Athlone in his absence with 1500 men, but was beaten off by the remnant left behind. A considerable Irish force under O’Connor Roe and others assembled after some skirmishing at Ballintober, where they were routed with a loss of six hundred men. Coote and Earnley were not allowed to follow up the victory, and Ranelagh refused to feed the latter’s men any longer. They were therefore dispersed among the garrisons which Coote commanded. Ranelagh made no further attempt to keep the field, and in October he made a truce for three months with the Irish. Clanricarde approved of this, and would have been glad to have its operation extended, for vengeance ‘need not be so sharp here, as where blood doth call for deserved punishment.’ But the Lords Justices were all for war to the knife, though they had not the means to wage it successfully, while Lord Forbes and Captain Willoughby did their best to prevent peace. The English Parliament were too busy at home to do much, while arms and ammunition from the Continent poured in through Wexford and the Ulster ports, with ‘most of the colonels, officers, and engineers that have served beyond seas for many years past ... which furnish all parts of the kingdom but those few that adhere to me for his Majesty’s service.’[9]

The rebellion in Clare, 1641-2.

Defence of Ballyallia, Feb.-Sept. 1642.

Strafford’s proposed settlement of Clare was never carried out, but the Earls of Thomond were Protestants, and encouraged English tenants, so that a considerable colony had in fact been established. Inchiquin, who had agreed to the abortive plantation, threw his influence in the same direction; but the great mass of O’Briens, Macnamaras, and others favoured the insurgents. The outbreak in the north and the attempt on Dublin were known at the fair of Clare on November 1, but it was not till the end of the month that certain news came of the insurrection having spread to the part of Tipperary near the Shannon. Barnabas Earl of Thomond, who had an English wife, tried to keep the peace, and adopted a trimming policy, but soon lost all control over the country, though he held Bunratty and some other places. Robberies of the Protestants’ cattle soon began, and by Christmas the owners were generally on their guard in castles, of which thirty-one were in friendly hands. Three weeks later the troops raised by Thomond were siding openly with the rebels. Ballyallia Castle, on a lake near Ennis, belonged to Sir Valentine Blake, of Galway, who was a noted member of the Catholic confederacy, but was leased to a merchant named Maurice Cuffe, and became a place of refuge for at least a hundred Protestants. Others from the neighbourhood escaped to England in a Dutch vessel. About a thousand of the Irish encamped near the castle and built cabins, but without coming to close quarters. They captured Abraham Baker, an English carpenter apparently, and with his aid constructed a ‘sow,’ such as was frequently used during the war. It was a house 35 feet by 9 feet, built of beams upon four wheels, strengthened with iron and covered by a sharp ridge roof, and was moved by levers worked from inside. The whole was kept together by huge spike-nails, which cost 5l., ‘being intended for a house of correction which should have been built at Ennis.’ Captain Henry O’Grady summoned the castle, pretending to have his Majesty’s commission to banish all Protestants out of Ireland. Whereupon ‘a bullet was sent to examine his commission, which went through his thigh, but he made a shift to rumbel [sic] to the bushes and there fell down, but only lay by it sixteen weeks, in which time unhappily it was cured.’ A girl who fell into the hands of the besiegers was tortured until she confessed that the shot was fired by the Rev. Andrew Chaplin. The Irish had no artillery, but devised a cannon made of half-tanned leather with a three-pound charge. The breech was blown out at the first fire, and the ball remained inside. The sow was soon taken and those within killed. A kind of loose blockade lasted from the beginning of February until near midsummer. The besieged often suffered much from want of water, but sometimes they ventured to skirmish in the open, joining with the garrison of Clare Castle and capturing cattle. Baker, who was taken in the sow, joined his captors, whereupon ‘the Irish immediately hewed in pieces his son, Thomas Baker, a proper young man, who was with them in their camp.’ After the fall of Limerick Castle one piece of artillery was brought against Ballyallia, but the gunner was at once shot, and little was done. After this the siege was much closer, famine and sickness reducing the garrison by one half. They got horseflesh at times, but were driven to eat salted hides, dried sheepskins and cats, all fried in tallow. At last they were forced to capitulate, and the terms were ill-kept, but in the end the survivors escaped to Bunratty, nearly all ill and stripped of everything.[10]

Cork and St. Leger, 1642.

Youghal, Lismore and Bandon.

Cromwell is reported to have said that if there had been an Earl of Cork in every county the Irish could never have raised a rebellion. All his resources were expended in resisting it, and St. Leger, though he co-operated with him, could not but feel bitterly the inferiority of his own position. The Lords Justices never communicated with him, and though they allowed him to levy forces, sent no money to pay them; and indeed they had none to send. Earnest applications for cannon, ‘six drakes and two curtoes,’ were made in vain, and to take the field without guns was impossible. ‘If they have not wholly deserted me,’ he wrote to Ormonde, ‘and bestowed the government on my Lord of Cork, persuade them to disburden themselves of so much artillery as they cannot themselves employ.’ He died a few weeks later, leaving the presidential authority in Inchiquin’s hands. In the meantime Cork himself had held Youghal, securing a landing-place for all succours from England. His son Broghill defended Lismore, and Kinalmeaky was governor of Bandon, which his father had walled and supplied with artillery. Clonakilty was an open place, and the Protestant settlers there and in the country round about escaped to Bandon, where the townsmen made them pay well for their quarters. ‘They were compelled,’ said Cork, ‘to give more rent for their chamber or corner than my tenants paid me for the whole house.’ After Kinalmeaky’s death at Liscarrol Sir Charles Vavasour became governor, and the town was never taken; the Bandonians making frequent sallies, like the Enniskilleners in a later age. Lord Cork, who had enjoyed a rental of 50l. a day, lost it all for the time, and was often in difficulties, but he saved the English interest in Munster from total destruction.[11]