A remarkable conversation took place between Arnold and Hugh O’Reilly, whom he urged to take the government of the country on himself. Hugh answered that O’Donnell was evil spoken of for assuming the government while his father lived, and that he saw not those punished who killed the Queen’s subjects. Shane O’Neill murdered his father, and procured the murder of his brother, who was five times as valuable to the Crown as any O’Reilly could be. The politicians of the Pale would maintain his half brother against him, and perhaps seek his life. If O’Neill ceased to protect Cahir, ‘then,’ said Hugh, ‘I say for O’Reilly, your prisoner, and for his eldest son, if any of them receive men or meat from O’Reilly’s country, I will die but they shall be delivered to your governor, or all their hurts past be paid for presently.’ He was quite willing to give hostages, but not to undertake to give those beyond his reach. According to Fitzwilliam Hugh meant well, and in any case the original aggressor was not Cahir O’Reilly but Kildare himself. Any damage done to the Pale had been more than paid for already. ‘Arnold,’ he said, ‘means well, but Ireland, in my opinion, though it be brute and rude, is not known to every man for a year or two’s trial.’[109]
Mistakes of Arnold.
No doubt Arnold had a hard task, but it is clear that he was not the man to make it easier. The Queen’s best officers in Ireland were slighted daily. The Lord Justice treated Archbishop Loftus with marked rudeness at the Council Board. The Irish service had so completely bewitched him that no Englishman could look for favour. Everything was hoped for from Shane, whom he praised continually to the Queen, though obliged to remind O’Neill himself that his deeds were not so very laudable. Seeing that the men who opposed him favoured Ormonde, Arnold was in all things partial to Kildare, and to the Geraldine party generally. The irregularities which he found in every branch of the public service were really matters of long standing, hardly to be visited on individuals, and largely the fault of the Home Government. Arnold insinuated many things against Vice-Treasurer Fitzwilliam; but when Fitzwilliam’s accounts were produced they were found to be quite correct. Stanley was recalled less because of Arnold’s accusations than because he was disliked by Sidney, and the Queen particularly stated that she did not despise the Marshal’s service, nor credit the reports against him. The difficulty of finding out the exact truth was no doubt very great. Even Cecil was not always well served, for portions of a letter addressed by Fitzwilliam to him were copied out, and transmitted to Arnold. Excuses may be made for a man who with good intentions had raised a hornet’s nest about his ears; but he was evidently quarrelsome, arbitrary, credulous, and deficient in personal dignity, a quality which probably carries as much weight in Ireland as in any country in the world.[110]
FOOTNOTES:
[88] Cusack to the Privy Council, June 8, 1564; Clanricarde to the Queen, April 12, 1565; Lord Justice and Council to Desmond, July 1, 1564; to Thomond, July 2; Desmond to Winchester, July 26; to Cecil, July 27; Wrothe to Lord R. Dudley, Aug. 16; Orders taken by Sir Thomas Cusack and others between the Earls of Desmond and Thomond; Desmond, Dunboyne, Curraghmore, and others to Cusack, Sept. 11. Stanley’s letter is in the Arch. Journal of Ireland, 3rd series, i. 405; Four Masters, 1564, who say Corcomroe Abbey, with its church patronage, was given to Donnell O’Brien as an equivalent for surrendering his claims by tanistry.
[89] Earl of Ormonde’s proclamation, July 1, 1564. The copy in the R.O. is by Sir T. Wrothe’s clerk, and the signatures are not given.
[90] Ormonde to Cecil, Nov. 22, 1564; Cusack to same, Jan. 12, 1565; Desmond’s petition to the Queen, June 1, 1565 (No. 53), and Ormonde’s answer, June 6.
[91] The official correspondence about this affray is among the S.P., Ireland, Eliz., vol. xii. It is printed in the Irish Arch. Journal, 3rd series, i. 394. Russell, the Four Masters, O’Daly, and O’Sullivan Beare all say Desmond was outnumbered, and Ormonde treacherous. I see no reason to believe either statement. Desmond’s own account is certainly incorrect. Lord Power’s is unfortunately missing. The best is Sir George Stanley’s, who took the trouble to visit the place, and to make a sketch or plan; he is perhaps rather partial to Ormonde. The ‘ford’ of Affane was perhaps that over the tributary river Finisk. I have inspected the ground carefully. The Blackwater itself is mentioned by Desmond as being passable only by swimming or in boats. It is, on the other hand, generally believed that the ford in question was over the great river, and arms and spurs have been found near the bank. The Finisk, however, was on Ormonde’s direct road to Dromana, and the Blackwater was not.
[92] Sir George Stanley and Sir W. Fitzwilliam to Cecil, April 3, 1565; Cusack to same, April 22; Lord Justice and Council to the Privy Council, April 23; Captain Nicholas Heron to the same, April 27.
[93] Fitzwilliam to Cecil, May 17, 1565. The fight was on May 2.