Ulster at rest—The Arrival of Balldearg O'Donnell—The
Ulster Militia march to assist in the Reduction of Sligo — Balldearg
O'Donnell joins the Forces of William in Flanders — Proclamation of
Peace—Cost of the War— Viscount Sidney appointed Lord-Lieutenant of
Ireland—The Irish Parliament of 1692 — Its Independence—Dissolved
September, 1693—The Ownership of Land — Its Chaotic State—Establishment
of a Court of Claims — William's Grants of Forfeited Estates—Sidney
recalled—Capel appointed Lord Deputy.
Ulster with the relief of Londonderry and the victory
of the Boyne brought to a close her "crowded hour of glorious life". The
most sanguine lover of heroic deeds could scarcely expect a never-ending
succession of them. Ulster had fulfilled herself, and had proved that
she could greatly dare and conquer, and now, having won freedom, she
could very gladly rest. Her record for over a hundred years from this
date does not, from the point of view of those who look for "moving
accidents" or blood-curdling episodes, rise above the level of "an Old
Bailey story". It must not be supposed, however, that she was supinely
lethargic. Ulster remained active in all that could conduce to the
welfare and advancement of her people. She did not become debased by the
freedom she had won. Retrogression remained to her an unknown term. But
she took life less strenuously, and by a well-earned period of rest
recuperated, and recovered the strength lost in the time of storm and
stress through which she had passed.
To the student of history this period is
unproductive. It is dull, stale, flat, and unprofitable, conveying no
gospel of glad movement to the mind. Ulster now resembles
a vast area in which great deeds had been done, but which was now given
over to commonplace pursuits:
There tiny pleasures occupy the place
Of glories and of duties, as the feet
Of fabled fairies, when the sun goes down,
Trip o'er the grass where wrestlers strove by day.
But, unheroic as the time must appear, it was
indicative of the introduction of law and order into Ulster, and that
the province was slowly but surely becoming "a land of settled
government".
Shortly after the Battle of the Boyne there arrived
from Spain a remarkable man named Balldearg O'Donnell, who claimed to be
a lineal descendant of the ancient chiefs of Tirconnel. He also claimed
to be the O'Donnell "with a red mark" (ball dearg) who, according to
ancient prophecy, was destined to lead his followers to victory. Of his
descent there is little doubt, for that great authority Dr. O'Donovan,
in his pedigree of the O'Donnells, states that Hugh, son of Hugh Boy,
son of Calvagh, an uncle of Roderick O'Donnell, first Earl of Tirconnel,
and of the famous Hugh Roe, was styled Earl of Tirconnel on the
Continent, and "was indubitably the very man called Balldearg O'Donnell,
who came from Spain to command the Irish in the war of James
II". That he appeared in fulfilment of
prophecy is, however, another matter; but nevertheless his claim appears
to have gained wide credence and his advent excited great enthusiasm,
especially among the humbler classes. Men flocked in thousands to his
standard; he set up as a kind of independent commander and soon had
enrolled under him an irregular force of eight regiments, which he
supported by levying heavy contributions wherever he went. The Duke of
Tyrconnell, who on account of the clash of claims for the title
entertained a strong aversion to him, deprived Balldearg of three
regiments of his best men under pretence of incorporating them with the
regular army, and made no provision for the support of his remaining
battalions.
It was now September, 1691. William's campaign in the
south had been carried on with vigour. The King himself, twelve months
earlier, having raised the siege of Limerick, had left Ireland, leaving
the command of the army to Count de Solmes, who later was succeeded by
Ginkell. The civil government of the country had been entrusted to Lord
Sidney, Sir Charles Porter, and Thomas Coningsby. On William's departure
Marlborough had arrived with fresh troops, and Cork and Kinsale had been
reduced, and Athlone taken; the Battle of Aughrim had resulted in the
death of St. Ruth and the defeat of the Jacobites; Galway also had been
captured.
During these events the militia on one side and the
rapparees on the other were not idle. The Dublin militia joined 800 of
the Ulster militia and marched to assist in the reduction of Sligo, the
only place of any importance, except Limerick, now in the hands of the
Jacobites. They were joined on the 9th of September, at Abbey Boyle, by
Balldearg O'Donnell, who, having been thwarted in every way by the Duke
of Tyrconnell, now joined the standard of William with about 1200 Irish.
These being placed under the command of Lord Granard, after taking
Ballymote, marched laboriously over the Curlieu Mountains, and sat down
before Sligo. The garrison surrendered on the 16th September, 1691, on
condition of being conveyed to Limerick. Balldearg later entered
William's service in Flanders, with those of his men whom he could
induce to follow him, and he received during the remainder of his life a
pension of £500 a year. With the capitulation of Limerick in the
beginning of October the last serious resistance to William in Ireland
came to an end.
On the 23rd of March, 1692, a proclamation, signed by
the King on the 3rd of the same month, was published in Dublin, by which
it was announced that the kingdom of Ireland was now reduced to
obedience, and that the war and rebellion were at an end. Thus closed a
struggle which had cost a greater expenditure of blood and money than
any former war in Ireland. The only approximate calculation of the loss
to both sides appears to be that given by Story, founded upon facts
within his own knowledge, and which appears to be rather under-estimated
than otherwise. He reckons the pay of the army under Schomberg in 1689,
with the Londonderry and Enniskillen troops then taken into pay, at
£869,410, 7s. 6d. The pay of the King's army in 1690 he estimates at
£1,287,630, 2s. That of the army under Ginkell, in 1691, he estimates at
£1,161,830, 12s. 10d. The pay of the general officers, which is not
included in the estimate just given, with the train, bread, wagons,
transports, and other contingencies, he reckons at as much more, making
thus a total of £6,637,742, 4s. 8d. "And the Irish [Jacobite] army," he
adds, "living for the most part upon the product of the country, could
not cost much less; besides the further destruction of the Protestant
interest in that kingdom, by cutting down improvements, burning of
houses, destroying of sheep and cattle, taking away of horses, with
infinite other extortions and robberies, as also the loss of people on
both sides, most of which, however disaffected, yet they were subjects
to the crown of England."
Story's estimate as to the losses on either side is
interesting. "As to the particulars of our and their losses of people in
both armies since the landing of Schomberg in Ireland," he says, "the
best computation I have been able to make by comparing accounts, and
conferring on both sides with those that have made some observations on
that matter, the thing runs thus: Irish officers killed, 617. Soldiers
killed, belonging to the Irish [Jacobite] army, 12,676. Rapparees killed
by the army and militia,
1928. Rapparees hanged by legal process or court
martial, 112. Rapparees killed and hanged by soldiers and others,
without any ceremony, 600. Officers killed in the English army, 140.
Soldiers killed in the field, 2037. Murdered privately, by the rapparees,
that we have no account where they died, 800. English and foreign
officers died during the three campaigns, 320. Soldiers dead in the
English army since our landing in Ireland, 7000. Though it is to be
observed that in the two last campaigns there died very few, except
recruits, and such as died of their wounds. Nor are we to believe that
the Irish did not lose a great many by sickness also, but no doubt the
destruction of the people in the country would be more than double all
these numbers, so that by the sword, famine, and all other accidents,
there has perished, since first the Irish began to play their mad
pranks, there have died, I say, in that kingdom, of one sort and
another, at least 100,000, young and old, besides treble the number that
are ruined and undone."
"All of which being considered," says Story, "it is
certainly most expedient to find out an eternal remedy, that the like
may never happen again. And this I humbly suppose, must not be any
endeavour to root out and destroy the Irish, but in the advancing the
English interest both in church and state, in that kingdom, so as to
make the Irish themselves in love with it." Such were the sentiments
expressed on the condition of Ireland, at a moment when much of the best
part of the native population was rushing into exile.
On the conclusion of the war the temporary government
of the Lords Justices was superseded, and Henry Sidney, now Viscount
Sidney, who had been appointed Viceroy in the spring, arrived to take up
office on the 25th of August, 1692. It was understood that one of his
first measures should be the calling of an Irish Parliament, and the
writs were issued for the 5th of October. The question of the
independence of the Irish Parliament at once excited a lively interest,
the feeling on the subject running so high that a Bill sent from England
for imposing certain duties was rejected by the Commons, without any
ground for the rejection being assigned save that "the said Bill had not
its rise in this House". This Resolution was passed on the 28th of
October, and on the 3rd of November the Lord-Lieutenant attended, and
unexpectedly and suddenly prorogued Parliament, pronouncing at the same
time a severe rebuke, and ordering the clerk to enter his protest
against the resolution of the Commons on the journal of the House, in
vindication of the prerogative of the Crown. The Parliament never met
again for business; after two prorogations, it was dissolved on the 5th
of September, 1693.
During the war the Acts of James's Parliament which
repealed the Acts of Settlement and Explanation had been to some extent
acted upon, and some of the original proprietors who had been
dispossessed recovered their former estates. This added to the confusion
already existing, so that the ownership of landed property in Ireland
immediately after the settling down of affairs at the end of the war was
in a chaotic state. To remedy this condition of things a Court of Claims
was established, various commissions of enquiry were appointed, and
writs issued out of the Courts of Chancery and Exchequer. Upon these
writs inquisitions were found and returned certifying the attainder of
divers persons, and consequently the right and title of the Crown to a
large extent of described territory. It was calculated that about 4000
resident and 57 absentee owners of property had rendered themselves
liable to forfeiture of their lands, amounting to over 1,100,000
plantation acres. Of the lands thus forfeited about a fourth had been
restored to the ancient proprietors in conformity with the civil
articles of the Treaty of Limerick, and about one-seventh of the
remaining three-fourths had been given back to unhappy families, who,
though they could not plead the letter of the Treaty, had been
considered fit objects of clemency. The rest was bestowed by the King
partly on persons whose services merited all, and possibly more than
all, that they had obtained, but chiefly on His Majesty's personal
friends. Among the recipients of William's bounty were: Bentinck,
afterwards Lord Portland, who received 130,000 acres; Henry de Ruvigny,
created Earl of Galway, 40,000 acres; Van Keppel, created Lord
Albemarle, 100,000 acres; Viscount Sidney, afterwards Earl of Romney,
50,000 acres; and on Elizabeth Villiers, whose husband, George Hamilton,
was created Earl of Orkney, the King bestowed the whole of the great
estate of the Duke of York (James II).