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The Crown defied by Shane
O'Neill - He claims the Sovereignty of all Ulster - He is visited by the
Lord Justice, Sir Henry Sidney - Shane's Claims considered by the Crown -
Elizabeth declares in his Favour - And alters her Decision - O'Neill
attacks and captures O'Donnell - He invades Breffny - Sussex, the
Lord-Lieutenant, invades Tyrone - His Forces defeated by Shane.
The history of Ulster
during the first ten years of the reign of Elizabeth was largely a record
of the doings of Shane O'Neill. Having assumed the chieftaincy on the
death of his father, and having set aside the claims of the young Baron of
Dungannon, he now proceeded to set the Government at defiance, and claimed
the sovereignty of all Ulster. For some years he had professed peaceable
intentions towards the Crown of England, and had been formally received as
an ally by the Lord Deputy, whom he had assisted on one or two occasions
to subdue the Scots. His assumption of the chieftainship of Tyrone was,
however, an act which flouted the power of the Crown which had created his
father a peer of the realm, vested him with his lands to be held by
English tenure, and determined the succession in favour of Ferdoragh and
his issue. His turbulence and arrogance were represented in such
exaggerated terms to Sir Henry Sidney, who as Lord Justice acted in the
absence of Sussex, that by the advice of the Council the Deputy marched
northwards to Dundalk, and summoned Shane to account for his proceedings
and give assurances of his loyalty.
O'Neill has been
represented as three-fourths of a savage, and as being addicted to every
vice. But subsequent events prove that, barbarian though he possibly was,
he was cautious, circumspect, and acute. The loyalty of his followers, he
was well aware, depended on their opinion of his power and dignity; and
that therefore his attendance on Sidney in his quarters would be
interpreted as an abject submission on his part, and an acknowledgment of
the power of the Government. He determined, in consequence, to evade the
Lord Justice's summons, and at the same time to impress upon his
countrymen how great was his own importance. Accordingly he replied to
Sidney's summons in terms which expressed un- swerving loyalty to the
Queen, and submission to her representative; at the same time requesting,
as an evidence of the friendly relations existing between the Government
and himself, that the Lord Justice should honour him with a visit, and
further that he should stand sponsor for a child lately born to him.
The insolence of this
overture was fully recognized; yet it was deemed politic to comply with
it, and Sidney accepted the invitation and the responsibilities it
entailed. O'Neill entertained him with rude magnificence, and when the
ceremonials were ended, and the real business of the meeting came to be
discussed, Shane was well prepared to conduct his own defence. With
firmness and composure he acknowledged that he had opposed the succession
of Ferdoragh's son to the sovereignty of Tyrone. It was well known, he
added, that Ferdoragh, whom Henry VIII had incautiously created Baron of
Dungannon, was not the son of Conn O'Neill, and he assured Sidney that
even if he himself were to resign his pretensions in favour of Ferdoragh,
more than one hundred members of the sept of O'Neill were ready to assert
the honour of their family against the usurpation of any spurious race. He
pointed out that the letters patent, on which the claim of Ferdoragh's son
were based, were, in effect, vain and frivolous, for Conn O'Neill, by the
ancient institutions of Ulster, could claim no right in Tyrone save during
his own life; nor was he empowered to surrender or exchange his tenure
without consent of all the chiefs and inhabitants of his territory. Or, if
the cause should be determined by the English law, it is the known order
and course of this law that no grants can be made by letters patent until
an "inquisition be previously held of the lands to be conveyed; but no
such inquisition had been held in Tirowen, which had not known the English
law, nor ever been reduced to an English county". Were it still determined
that the inheritance should descend in succession to the rightful heir,
he, Shane, was the rightful heir, as eldest of the legitimate sons of the
Earl of Tyrone. But his claim rested on a foundation which none in Ulster
dare gainsay on the unanimous and free election of his fellow-countrymen,
who on the death of his father had chosen him for their leader, as the
best and bravest of his family : an election ever practised in Ulster
without any application to the Government of England. And thus invested
with the chieftaincy of Tyrone, he claimed only those rights and
jurisdictions which a long line of his predecessors had enjoyed, of which
the proof could be produced so as to exclude all controversy and render
the interference of the Crown totally unnecessary.
The Lord Justice, who,
previous to this meeting with Shane, had deemed it "dishonourable that he
should be 'gossip' to a rebel before submission", was now so deeply
influenced by the arguments urged by O'Neill in support of his rights,
that he consulted the Council, and on their advice he informed Shane that
the points brought forward by him were of too great importance to receive
an immediate and hasty decision, and that he would therefore first submit
them to the Queen. In the meantime he advised O'Neill to persevere in a
loyal and peaceable demeanour, and to rest assured of receiving from the
throne whatever should be found right, meet, and equitable. Shane promised
to follow his advice, and Sidney withdrew his forces from Dundalk.
Elizabeth appears to have
been as much impressed as Sidney by the reasoning and firmness of O'Neill,
and after some consideration of the matter she declared that the late Earl
of Tyrone should be succeeded by his eldest legitimate son Shane, and not
by his illegitimate son Ferdoragh (or Matthew as he was called by the
English), and this especially for two reasons: first, because Shane was
the eldest legitimate son, and, secondly, because he was in quiet
possession of all his father died possessed of, so that justice as well as
expediency seemed to suggest that he should be permitted to succeed his
father.
In less than twelve months
this decision was reversed. The points raised by O'Neill had been debated
in a series of questions "to be considered against Shane O'Neill", and the
conclusion arrived at was that Henry VIII, being King of Ireland and Earl
of Ulster, and inheriting from Henry II, who had conquered all Ireland,
had supreme dominion over Ulster and could give the lands of Tyrone to
whomsoever he pleased; and that though Conn O'Neill had but a life
interest in these lands, he had rebelled, and had been joined by the
people, and thus his rights, and the rights of the people, were forfeited
to the Crown. From which it followed that Henry VIII was justified in
making Ferdoragh heir to Conn O'Neill. The objection that there had been
no previous inquisition was disposed of by the assertion that this form
was required only when the land was ruled by such officers as escheators
and sheriffs, and none such existed in Tyrone.
The speciousness of such
reasoning is evident. Henry II never conquered Ulster, nor did he ever get
any submission from the chiefs of the province. The Earldom of Ulster
which Henry VIII inherited was but an empty title, for it will be
remembered that Lionel, Duke of Clarence, failed in his efforts to recover
the lands which were his wife's property, and in consequence the lands of
Ulster were for centuries in the possession of the O'Neills. But the
arguments brought forward appeared to satisfy Elizabeth and Cecil, and in
1560 the Queen directed Sussex as Lord Deputy to reduce Shane O'Neill to
obedience, and she declared Brian, the son of Ferdoragh, to be the heir in
right, and gave instructions that he should be restored to those lands of
which Shane had dispossessed him.
Shane was prepared for any
adverse action by England, and he had therefore endeavoured to strengthen
his hands by making friendly advances to Calvagh O'Donnell, advances which
were so willingly met that O'Neill now married O'Donnell's sister. The
Government proceeded to show its distrust in the chief of Tirowen by
attempting to alienate the neighbouring chiefs from him, and with that
object in view honours were conferred on some and promises given to
others. O'Reilly was created Earl of Breffny and Baron of Cavan, and a
messenger was sent by a circuitous route to Calvagh O'Donnell, bearing
letters from the Queen offering to create him Earl of Tirconnell, together
with letters from the Earl of Sussex to O'Donnell's wife, a sister of the
Duke of Argyll, informing her that the Queen was sending her some costly
presents. The "presents" consisted of some old dresses of Queen Mary, and
they were stated to be "for a token of favour". It was hoped that "the
Countess of Argyll", as the lady was styled, might be the means of
introducing Protestantism into Ulster. James MacDonald of the Isles and
his two brothers, near kinsmen of the house of Argyll, who had settled in
Tirconnell, were also approached with the same object.
O'Neill, who fully
understood this indirect mode of showing enmity against himself, soon made
the recipients of English favours rue the friendship which was only
intended to wean them from the interests of their country. He invaded the
territory of the newly created Earl of Breffny, and, after laying it
waste, compelled O'Reilly to become his vassal. Against O'Donnell his
enmity was not of recent date, and he seized an opportunity which now
presented itself of gratifying all his vengeance. He learned that the
principal part of O'Donnell's army was absent on a hostile excursion to
Lough Veagh in Donegal, while Calvagh himself was almost unattended at the
monastery of Kilodonnell, near the upper end of Lough Swilly; and, making
a sudden descent, he surrounded the monastery, and carried off O'Donnell
and his wife prisoners. The former he incarcerated in a dungeon in one of
his castles, and the latter he made his mistress. It is stated that the
imprisonment of her father caused Mary, O'Neill's wife, to die "of horror,
loathing, grief, and deep anguish".
O'Neill now declared
himself chief of all Ulster. He no longer attempted to disguise his hatred
of England, but openly declared his determination to contend against
English power, not only in his own province of Ulster, but also in
Leinster and Munster. He led an army into Bregia, plundered the territory
of the Pale, and only returned to the north at the approach of winter,
when he had destroyed the corn and left no food in the country to support
a hostile force.
James MacDonald having been
heard in private to say that the Queen of Scots was rightful Queen of
England, and this saying being reported to Shane, he at once saw in
MacDonald an invaluable ally, and he succeeded in inducing James to give
him his daughter in marriage. By this alliance he made himself so
formidable a foe that the Government became very much alarmed. Elizabeth
had, at this time, designed to try the effect of a conciliatory policy
with O'Neill, and Sussex, when returning from England as Lord-Lieutenant
of Ireland, in June, 1561, received instructions to that effect; but for
some unknown reason the contrary course was pursued. The Viceroy had
brought reinforcements from England, and, with as powerful an army as he
could collect, including the forces of the Earl of Ormonde, he marched to
Armagh, where he threw up entrenchments round the cathedral with the view
of establishing a strong garrison there. He sent a large body of troops
into Tyrone, and these were returning laden with spoil when O'Neill set
upon them, defeated them with slaughter, and retook the booty. This defeat
produced intense alarm in the Pale, and created no slight uneasiness even
in England, while it proportionately increased the confidence of the
Irish. Sussex had recourse to negotiations, but O'Neill declared that he
would listen to no terms until the English troops were withdrawn from
Armagh. Fresh reinforcements were poured in from England, and the Earls of
Desmond, Kildare, Thomond, and Clanrickard are said to have assembled in
the Lord-Lieutenant's camp, on 1st June, 1551, in obedience to his call.
With a large and well-equipped army Sussex now advanced into Tyrone as far
as Lough Foyle and devastated the country; but O'Neill, adopting the
tactics which had always frustrated the English when their greatest
efforts were made in the way of preparation, withdrew beyond their reach
to his forests and mountains.
Sussex now stayed in Armagh
doing nothing till the end of the month, when his provisions began to run
short and necessity compelled him to move. Spies brought him word that in
the direction of Cavan there were certain herds of cattle which an active
party might cut off, and, the replenishment of his stores with a goodly
quantity of beef being desirable, Sussex made an effort to secure them. He
did not himself accompany the troops, for Ormonde being ill he stayed with
him ; and the men, led by false guides, who were really in the pay of
Shane, were at the additional disadvantage of being without their
commander. On the morning of the second day they were marching forward in
loose order; Sir William FitzWilliam, the Lord Deputy, with 100 horse, was
a mile in advance of the main body, which consisted of 500 men-at-arms
with a few hundred loyal Irish of the Pale; another hundred horse under
James Wingfield brought up the rear. Straggling along thus, Wingfield was
surprised by O'Neill, who attacked the rear-guard with a force of 600 men,
sending the English horse galloping forward upon the men-at-arms, creating
thereby confusion among the troops, the cavalry and infantry becoming
intermingled and at the mercy of Shane's troopers, who rode through the
broken ranks "cutting down the footmen on all sides". Fitz William,
learning of the attack from a flying horseman, immediately galloped back,
followed by a gentleman named Parkinson and ten or twelve of his own
servants, and flung himself into the melee. Sir George Stanley was close
behind him with the rest of the advanced horse, and "Shane, receiving such
a
charge of those few men and seeing more coming after", blew a recall note
and retreated unpursued. FitzWilliam's courage had saved the army from
being annihilated. Out of 500 English, 50 lay dead, and 50 more were badly
wounded; and the survivors fell back on Armagh.
The two reports made by
Sussex of the events of this disastrous day give diverse accounts. To the
Queen the Viceroy pretended that after a slight repulse he had gained a
brilliant victory, to Cecil he was candid and deplored his heavy losses.
"By the cowardice of some",
he wrote, "all was like to have been lost, and by the worthiness of two
men all was restored and the contrary part overthrown. It was by cowardice
the dreadfullest beginning that ever was seen in Ireland; and by the
valiantness of a few (thanks be given to God!) brought to a good end. Ah!
Mr. Secretary, what unfortunate star hung over me that day to draw me,
that never could be persuaded to be absent from the army at any time, to
be then absent for a little disease of another man? The rereward was the
best and picked soldiers in all this land. If I or any stout man had been
that day with them, we had made an end of Shane, which is now farther off
than ever it was. Never before durst Scot or Irishman look on Englishmen
in plain or wood since I was here; and now Shane, in a plain three miles
away from any wood, and where I would have asked of God to have had him,
hath with a hundred and twenty horse and a few Scots and galloglasse,
scarce half in numbers, charged our whole army, and by the cowardice of
one wretch whom I hold dear to me as my own brother, was like in one hour
to have left not one man of that army alive, and after to have taken me
and the rest at Armagh. The fame of the English army, so hardly gotten, is
now vanquished, and I wrecked and dishonoured by the vileness of other
men's deeds."
It was evident that the
Viceroy's army was not an effective fighting force, nor was the
self-styled King of Ulster to be easily crushed. |
