The Viceroys of Ireland

by Charles Kingston O'Mahony

Sir John de Stanley, ever ready to step into a 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 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.'

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 £7,000 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 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.

CHAPTER III

The state of the English colony was now so precarious that Henry IV. decided to send one of his most trusted and capable military commanders to act as viceroy. This was Sir John Talbot, and his appointment was hailed with joy. Talbot was given a term of six years of office, and a salary of £2,666 13s. 4d. It was a large income, but as it was seldom paid, that was a detail which must have impressed Henry as being quite unimportant. During his occasional journeys to England, the Archbishop of Dublin acted as the deputy. Talbot soon intimated to the leading members of the English colony that as his salary was in arrear he intended leaving the country. This was tantamount to placing them at the mercy of the Irish, whom Talbot had repelled from Dublin many times. Thereupon the colonists petitioned the king, but without success, and Sir John departed in 1419, ostensibly recalled by the king, and leaving his brother, William Talbot, Archbishop of Dublin, to represent him. Sir John Talbot, however, was destined to renew his acquaintance with the viceroyalty.

The brief authority of the archbishop was succeeded by three years under James, fourth Earl of Ormonde; and then Edmund de Mortimer, fifth Earl of March and Ulster, began a viceroyalty which lasted for less than two years, although he was appointed for nine. Edmund de Mortimer was the legal heir to Richard II., but he was an unambitious man, and there was no guile in him. He appointed Edward Dantsey, Bishop of Meath, his deputy, but William Talbot, Archbishop of Dublin, declined to recognize the authority of his ecclesiastical inferior, and consequently the viceroy had to come to Dublin. This was in 1424, and the following year the plague carried him off. Sir John Talbot was then induced to accept the viceroyalty, but his services were wanted nearer home, and he agreed to the reappointment of the Earl of Ormonde, who acted for two years, and helped to maintain a sort of peace by conciliating the native Irish.