country all adherents of the Pope, or else to coerce and constrain them to submit to the King and his successors. He more than once asked to be made Earl of Sligo, and to have Parliament-robes as well as ‘that golden instrument or chain which noblemen wear on their necks.’ Henry was willing to create O’Donnell Earl of Tyrconnell, but the creation was deferred until the reign of James I.248
St. Leger chastises the O’Neills.
O’Neill still refused to come to Dundalk, or in any way to submit to the Lord Deputy. He was, he said, waiting to hear from the King, and he made the curious complaint that St. Leger would not let him send hawks as presents to his Majesty. Diplomacy failing, the Lord Deputy prepared for an invasion of Ulster. He was joined by O’Donnell, O’Hanlon, Magennis, MacMahon, who had lately made submission in the usual form, Phelim Roe O’Neill and Neill Connelagh O’Neill, nephews and opponents of the chief of Tyrone; by the Savages of Ards; and by many others, both English and Irish. Twenty-two days were spent in destroying corn and butter; but no enemy appeared, and the cattle had been driven off into the woods. Meanwhile O’Neill tried the bold but not uncommon experiment of attacking the Pale in the absence of its defenders. The new Lord Louth handled the local force so well that the invaders were ignominiously routed, while O’Donnell ravaged not only Tyrone but a great part of Fermanagh, the very islands in Lough Erne being ransacked by his flotilla.249
Success of a winter campaign.
After a month’s respite St. Leger made a second raid, and this time captured some hundreds of cows and horses. Another month elapsed, and then a third attack brought O’Neill to his knees. He sent letters to Armagh in which he threw himself on the King’s mercy, which he preferred to the Lord Deputy’s, gave a son as hostage, and offered to come in person not only to Dundalk but to Drogheda. O’Neill had never been known to give a hostage before, and great importance was attached to this. Three thousand kine besides horses and sheep were taken in spite of the natives, but not without much suffering on the part of the soldiers, who had to lie without tents on the wet ground. Many horses died, and many more were lamed. The pastime, as St. Leger called it, of a December campaign can never be very pleasant, but he proved, as Sidney proved afterwards, that it was the right way to subdue the O’Neills. There was not grass enough in the woods to keep the cattle alive, and when they came into the fields the soldiers easily captured them.250
Submission of O’Neill.
Ultimately O’Neill made a complete submission. He agreed to behave like the Earls of Ormonde and Desmond, praying only that he might not be forced to incur the danger and expense of attending any Parliament sitting to the west of the Barrow. He not only renounced the Pope, but promised to send back future bulls, if ecclesiastics already provided from Rome would do likewise.251
The Council advise the King to accept it.
The Council advised Henry to accept O’Neill’s submission, seeing that his country was wide and difficult, and now so wasted as to be incapable of supporting an army. It might perhaps be possible to expel Con, but he would certainly be succeeded by a pretender as bad as himself, and extreme courses might lead to despair, and to a universal rebellion. They admitted that the winter war had been proved to be ‘the destruction of any Irishmen,’ but the loss of men and horses was great, and might lead to risings in other places.252
Henry’s ideas about Ireland.
The King disliked the wholesale grants of land for small consideration, which were favoured by St. Leger. He rebuked his servants in Ireland for thinking too much of Irish submissions, and here he saw more clearly than they did. He was now King in Ireland, and required a revenue in proportion. For that purpose he divided Irishmen into two classes, those who were within easy reach of his arm, and those who were not. The former were to be treated sternly, but the latter tenderly, ‘lest by extreme demands they should revolt to their former beastliness.’ The near neighbours were to be brought to the same terms as Tirlogh O’Toole. A proper rent was to be exacted, and knight-service insisted on for the sake of the wardships and liveries. In the obedient districts monastic lands were to be let on lease for the best possible rent. In more distant quarters the chiefs were to be coaxed into suppressing the religious houses by promising them leases on easy terms.253
Ireland at peace, 1542. Submission of many chiefs.
At the beginning of the year 1542 the Council were able to make the strange announcement that Ireland was at peace. They praised St. Leger for his diligence, patience, and justice, and for his liberal entertainment of those on whom, for the public good, it was necessary to make favourable impression. Following up his Dublin success, he now met Parliament again at Limerick, where the principal business was to make terms with the O’Briens. Murrough agreed to give up all claims to the territory of Owney Beg, a poor district lying under Slieve Phelim, which retains its reputation for turbulence to the present day. The possession of this tract had made him master of the western part of Limerick, whence he exacted a black-rent of 80l., and of Tipperary as far as Cashel. The whole country was waste through plunder and extortion, and no one could travel peaceably from Limerick to Waterford through fear of a gang of robbers called the ‘old evil children,’ who held a castle near the Shannon. Desmond expelled these brigands and handed over their hold to MacBrien Coonagh, who held it at his own expense for two years. St. Leger’s observations during the session at Limerick led him to believe that little rent or tribute could be got out of the Irish. The sums promised to Grey were withheld on the ground that promises had been forcibly extorted. By holding out hopes of gentler treatment, St. Leger brought them to accept his own much easier terms. Tipperary was assessed at 40l. yearly, Kilkenny at 40l., and Waterford at 10l. MacBrien Arra agreed to pay sixpence a year for each ploughland, and to furnish sixty gallowglasses for a month. MacBrien of Coonagh promised 5l., O’Kennedy and MacEgan in Ormonde 10l. each, O’Mulryan forty shillings and sixty gallowglasses for a month, and O’Dwyer eightpence for each ploughland and forty gallowglasses for a month. These sums are small, but seem larger when we reflect that the Government gave no consideration, either by keeping the peace or administering justice, and that the people were extremely poor.254
Further submissions.
Several months passed in negotiations with Irish chiefs with the general object of inducing them to submit, to pay rent, and to hold their lands by knight-service; forswearing Irish uses and exactions, and promising to live in a more civilised manner. These terms were accepted by Rory O’More, who had become chief of Leix by the death of his brother Kedagh, by MacDonnell, captain of O’Neill’s gallowglasses, by O’Rourke, and by O’Byrne. All except the last named abjured the Pope, as did the MacQuillins, a family of Welsh extraction long settled in the Route, a district between the Bush and the Bann. The MacQuillins were always oppressed by the O’Cahans, who were supposed to be instigated by O’Donnell, and the valuable fishery of the Bann was a perennial source of dissension. Travers, who soon afterwards became lessee of Clandeboye, held this fishery on a Crown lease with the goodwill of the MacQuillins; but in spite of the O’Cahans, who annoyed his fishermen, St. Leger ordered him to help the weaker tribe. Coleraine was taken by Travers, and after a time the neighbours were reconciled, a pension of 10l. being given to each on condition of not molesting those who fished under royal licence. A curious submission was that of Hugh O’Kelly, who seems to have been chief of his sept as well as hereditary Abbot of the Cistercians at Knockmoy, near Tuam. He renounced the Pope, promised to aid the Lord Deputy with a considerable force in Connaught, and with a smaller one in more distant parts, and to bring certain of his kinsmen to similar
