[273] True and Perfect Journal. Clarke’s Life of James II., ii. 403, 406. According to De Sourches (May 20, 1690), a letter from Dublin seldom reached Paris under thirteen days; nine days was a ‘diligence surprenante.’ Both he and Dangeau complain that the truth about Ireland was hard to come by. A pair of gold sleeve-links are preserved at Castleboro’ by Lord Carew, whose ancestor is said to have met and assisted James at Aughnacoppal bridge, and to have received this keepsake from him. See Mahan’s Sea-power, chap. iv. Randall’s Narrative.
[274] Letter of Payen de la Fouleresse from Duleek, July 2. King William’s declarations of July 7 and August 1, 1690. True and Perfect Journal. The Full and True Account of the late Revolution in Dublin, dated August 15 and licensed September 15, is attributed in Harris’s Ware to Robert Fitzgerald, but was more probably written by another from facts furnished by him. The letter to William included in it, dated Dublin Castle, Thursday, August 3, 8 A.M., is signed by Lords Ross and Longford, the Bishops of Limerick and Meath, Dr. King, Fitzgerald himself, and three others. Eight of the eleven signed Fitzgerald’s commission as Governor.
[CHAPTER LV]
SOCIAL IRELAND FROM RESTORATION TO REVOLUTION
After the Civil War.
Macaulay thought that under the Protectorate Ireland was probably a more agreeable residence for the higher classes, as compared with England, than at any time before or since. This may be true if we understand by the higher classes the men whose property was granted or confirmed by the Settlement after the Civil War. People bought and sold with confidence and with little fear of coming change. Nor was this confidence altogether misplaced, for we have seen that Charles II., however unwillingly, was forced to leave most of the Protestant settlers in possession. A certain number of Roman Catholic royalists were restored more or less completely, but they were not enough to disturb the balance of power, and in the Parliament of 1661 the House of Commons was entirely composed of Protestants. The position of the re-established Church was unassailable, and the Presbyterians, though troublesome to bishops, could not seriously disturb social relations. The destruction of property during the war had been great, but from 1652 onwards much was done to repair the damage. Ireland is studded with ruined castles, but there are many modern houses where the thick old walls have been utilised, and the process of conversion may be readily traced.
Country houses. Portmore.
Civil war seeming unlikely to recur, it was natural that country houses should be built or improved. One of the finest was erected soon after the Restoration by the third Lord Conway at Portmore on the lake of the same name, not far from his town of Lisburn. His predecessor’s library had been burned by the rebels at Brookhill, which belonged to Sir George Rawdon. Rawdon, who acted as Conway’s agent and married his sister, built Moira on his own account. Portmore had every attraction that a great mansion could possess. A park of 2000 acres, well stocked with deer, magnificent oaks, a rabbit warren, a decoy, a glen specially planted for woodcock, flocks and herds, hawks and hounds, racehorses, vast stables, gardens, orchards, and fisheries are mentioned; and Rawdon is to be praised for providing the Lisburn district with the best roads in Ireland. Jeremy Taylor was brought over by Conway under the Protectorate and became Bishop of Down. He in turn brought over George Rust, who became Bishop of Dromore. Neither Conway nor Rawdon loved the Presbyterians, but Lady Conway became a Quaker, and her husband thought her circle would be too dull for Rawdon’s daughter, a lively girl who married Lord Granard’s son. Valentine Greatrakes, who was brought from the county of Waterford to treat Lady Conway’s headaches, was unsuccessful in her case, but successful in many others. He practised a kind of massage, which, of course, did not suit every patient, and Archbishop Boyle was inclined to call him an impostor; but Robert Boyle thought there was something in the matter. Greatrakes, who was not excessively modest, had more followers in England than in Ireland. Conway in later life was much involved in Court intrigues, but Rawdon remained generally in Ireland and continued his civilising work.[275]
Charleville.
The Boyle family were great builders, both in England and Ireland. In 1661 Orrery founded Charleville, abolishing what he called ‘the heathenish name of Rathgogan’ in honour of his master. This great house had an even shorter life than Portmore. Orrery had a patent for fortifying it and mounting eighteen guns, and he sought a similar privilege for Castlemartyr. Essex refused this request, and succeeded in getting the clause in the patent surrendered. He feared that other great men might arm in the same way, and then combine against the King like the barons of England in former times. Castlemartyr, with or without guns, made a faint attempt at resisting Tyrconnel in 1688. In 1690, when the owner of Charleville was a child and absent, the Duke of Berwick, having dined in the house, ordered it to be fired and stood by to see it consumed. According to Evelyn, it was a stately mansion and had cost 40,000l.[276]