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Richard, Duke of York, Earl
of Ulster, Lord-Lieutenant - His Policy of Conciliation - O'Neill does him
Homage - Is attacked by MacGeoghegan - Ormonde invades Ulster - Richard
slain at Battle of St. Albans - Accession of Edward IV - The O'Donnells
and O'Doghertys - Thomas, Earl of Kildare, Lord-Lieutenant - His Sister
marries Henry O'Neill of Tirovven - Conn O'Neill marries Daughter of
Kildare, and becomes Liege Subject of the King.
One of the most popular
rulers of Ireland, and one who, had his tenure of office been longer by
but a few years, would have welded together the disjointed State of
Ireland into one harmonious whole, appeared in the person of Richard, Duke
of York, who was appointed Lord-Lieutenant in 1449. Descended from Lionel,
Duke of Clarence, third son of Edward III, he was looked on by the
Yorkists as having a claim to the throne of England superior to that of
any prince of Lancastrian blood. The Earl of Cambridge, his father, in
order to secure his claims, had, on the eve of Henry V's departure for
France in 1415, conspired with Lord Scrope and Sir Thomas Grey to
proclaim, as King, the Earl of March. This plot cost the conspirators
their lives.
Richard, at the time of his
father's death, was but a boy, and he remained for some years contentedly
in the wardship of the Crown. In those days men developed early. The
victor of Agincourt, at the early age of thirteen, headed an incursion
into Scotland, and at fifteen fought in the front of the royal army in the
desperate fight at Shrewsbury. It is not surprising, therefore, to find
Richard appointed, while yet a young man, to fill the arduous position of
Regent of France. There he supported the declining interests of England
with vigour and address, displaying the abilities both of a statesman and
of a general. During the short period of his regency the drooping fortunes
of England were revived, and towns and castles along the border were
recovered. But his political position was such that he could not be
without enemies. The jealous eyes of the Lancastrians followed his
successes and regarded his triumphs with looks of disapproval, and after
twelve months' rule he was recalled, to be dispatched with an honourable
banishment as Lieutenant of Ireland.
York proved himself a
"happy warrior" notwithstanding the fact that he was relegated from a
great to a somewhat obscure office. Contented, apparently, with a lineage
and wealth which placed him at the head of the English baronage his
possessions embracing the estates of the houses of York, Clarence, and
Mortimer, which were united in him and satisfied to remain faithful to the
Crown, he, when appointed ruler of Ireland, "turned his necessity to
glorious gain". In order that there might not appear to be too violent a
contrast between the Regency of France and the Lieutenancy of Ireland,
Richard was given the full powers of royalty. He stipulated to hold his
position for ten years, to receive the whole revenues of Ireland without
account, and he succeeded in getting, in addition, 4000 marks from the
English Treasury for the first year, and £2000 for each succeeding year of
his office. He could also farm the King's lands, dispose of all offices,
levy such forces as he should judge necessary, appoint his own deputy, and
return to England as often as he pleased.
Landing in Ireland in July,
1449, Richard immediately started on a policy of conciliation. He was
himself not unconnected with Ireland, being descended from the De Burghs
and also from the De Lacys, through whom he became invested with the
earldom of Ulster, the lordships of Connaught, Clare, Trim, and Meath, and
inherited a vast estate in the island. He had many qualities which
appealed to the Irish colonists, and to the "mere Irish", he was valiant,
prudent, and temperate; determined, but not precipitate; with a strongly
marked love of justice and a benignity of disposition which attracted the
affections of his followers. His methods of dealing with the disaffected
soon dispelled any feeling of hostility to the representatives of the
Crown, and so signally successful was he in his endeavours to establish
peace and unity in the country, that he won the support of many leading
chiefs before he had been in power more than a month. Nor was his rule
purely one of peace, for he marched against and defeated the O'Byrnes of
Wicklow, compelling them to pay tribute, to accept English law in their
territory, and to learn English. The great chieftains Ormonde and Desmond
did him homage, as did also O'Neill of Ulster, and it began to be rumoured
in England that in but a short time "the wildest Irishman in Ireland would
be sworn English". Richard's urbanity and diplomacy were such that,
notwithstanding the fact that Ormonde was warmly attached to the
Lancastrian cause, he invited the Earl, with the Earl of Desmond, to stand
sponsors for a son who was born to him in Dublin, thus bringing rivals
together in amity, while at the same time he revived the old Irish custom
of "gossipred".
One of the crying
grievances of Ireland was the long-standing and "damnable custom" of coyne
and livery, of which it was said in an ancient treatise, quoted by Sir
John Davies, "that though it were first invented in hell, yet if it had
been used and practised there as it hath been in Ireland, it had long
since destroyed the very kingdom of Beelzebub". Finding that this custom
was still adhered to, in violation of the Statute of Kilkenny, Richard
summoned, in October, 1450, a Parliament by which these abuses were
declared illegal by statute and punishable as felony. In another
Parliament, held at Drogheda, some further statutes were enacted, more
especially to prevent grievances in the proceedings of law.
That Richard was not
properly supported either with men or with money is proved by the fact
that when MacGeoghegan of Westmeath entered the duke's lands and committed
many depredations the Viceroy was, owing to his remittances not being duly
paid by the English Treasury, unable to cope with the Irish chief, and
had, therefore, to make a treaty with him to gain by it the peace he could
not obtain by force of arms. In a letter written to England, urging that
his stipulated allowance should be paid him, Richard declared that without
the money he could not hold the country for the King, and begged that the
money be forwarded speedily or he would leave the country, "for", he
wrote, "it shall never be chronicled nor remain in writing, by the Grace
of God, that Ireland was lost by my negligence". Rumours reaching him that
his enemies in England were misrepresenting him to the King, Richard left
Ireland in 1451, appointing, before he left, the newly created Earl of
Wiltshire, a son of the Earl of Ormonde, his deputy.
Ormonde himself, though now
old, was still wonderfully energetic, for at this time (1452) he marched
into Cavan and compelled the O'Reillys to submit to him, and also subdued
the MacMahons of Louth. Even the haughty O'Neill, when the old Earl
invaded Tirowen, and demanded of him that he should be reconciled to his
wife whom he had put away, consented to receive her. The Earl's interest
in this matter arose from the fact that he and O'Neill were married to
sisters, daughters of Donald McMurrough, King of Leinster. Having thus
settled these matters, Ormonde marched back to Ardee, where, a few months
later, he died. His son, as Earl of Wiltshire, had vast estates in
England, and, being allied by marriage with the Duke of Somerset, and
having in common with him a deep interest in the Lancastrian cause, he
repaired to London in 1453, leaving as his deputy John Mey, Archbishop of
Armagh.
The absence of the Duke of
York and the death of the fierce old Earl of Ormonde encouraged the chiefs
of the north to be more turbulent than they had been of late years. The
appointment of an ecclesiastic to be head of a government which required
military abilities in its leader was viewed by them with contempt, and
accordingly we find the chieftains of Tirconnell and Tirowen again engaged
in active hostilities. The sept of O'Neill in particular showed itself
jealous and impatient of English supremacy. They had won back by degrees
nearly all the territory of which they had been deprived by England, and
the claims of the Crown were regarded as a usurpation of that
over-lordship which O'Neill had never relinquished. While they had
gradually dispossessed the English colonists of several of the most
valuable settlements in Ulster, they had never succeeded in sufficiently
sinking their own differences to make a combined attack on them or form
any scheme for a general insurrection. Temporary excursions and marauding
expeditions they had frequently made; and now, having heard that some
English vessels were sailing from the port of Dublin, they fitted out a
strong fleet and attacking them in their passage, rifled them, took
prisoners the passengers, among whom was the Archbishop of Dublin, and
returned laden with spoil and exulting in their success. When news of this
adventure reached Dublin, a force was quickly raised to subdue the
audacious Northerners, and Ulster was invaded. O'Neill, supported by
several of the lesser chiefs of the province, boldly marched to meet the
invaders, and an engagement took place at Ardglass, in which, after an
obstinate and sanguinary struggle, the northern leader was defeated.
Meanwhile the Wars of the
Roses in England presented on a large scale a picture of all the horrors
of war which, in Ireland, we have seen in miniature. Richard, in his fight
for the crown, had at the battle of St. Albans (1455) defeated his
opponents and taken Henry VI prisoner. The King he released later, on
condition that he should himself be Protector of England and Viceroy of
Ireland. Four years later Richard was himself defeated at Ludlow (1459),
and, being declared a traitor by the Lancastrians, he fled with his son,
the Earl of Rutland, to Ireland, where his popularity ensured him a warm
welcome.
With remarkable astuteness
he summoned a Parliament in Dublin at which it was decreed that the Irish
Parliament was independent of that of England, that no laws enacted in
England could be enforced or were binding in Ireland, except such as had
been freely accepted by the Irish Parliament; that no writs could be
enforced in Ireland save those under the Great Seal of Ireland; and,
finally, that it should be deemed high treason for any person, under any
pretence whatever, to attack or disturb the Duke of York. This act was not
long to lie dormant, for an agent of the Earl of Ormonde being sent from
England with writs to apprehend York, the agent was seized, condemned, and
executed. The supporters of Richard in England, meanwhile, were active in
his interest, and his eldest son, the young Earl of March, aided by the
Earls of Salisbury and Warwick, defeated the royal army in a hard-fought
action at Northampton in July, 14607 and took the King prisoner. York now
returned to England with an army of nearly 5000 strong, composed chiefly
of Irishmen, and meeting a Lancastrian force of 20,000 at St. Albans was
defeated and slain. His death was quickly avenged by his son, Edward, who,
proving victorious at the battle of Towton Field a battle the like of
which had not been fought in England since that of Hastings ascended the
throne as Edward IV. At Towton (1461) the Earl of Wiltshire, son of the
old Earl of Ormonde, was taken and beheaded.
As England during the Wars
of the Roses continued to be a theatre of war, so Ireland remained the
scene of never ending conflict. In Ulster the constant waging of petty
wars, plunderings, and raidings confined the range of men's thoughts to
small issues. The enmity displayed by those who recognized one chief,
towards those who acknowledged another, precluded the possibility of any
adhesion or even the recognition of the fact of the unity of the race.
Ireland was not alone in this, for England was at the time divided into
two factions the north and the south. In Ulster, at this time (1452),
Naghtan O'Donnell, the powerful chief of Tirconnell, was killed by his
nephews, Donnell and Hugh, sons of his brother, Nial Garv, whose position
he had usurped, and Donnell usurped the lordship. His triumph was
shortlived, for he was attacked by O'Dogherty of Innishowen, taken
prisoner, and confined in a dungeon in the castle of Innis. Rory, son of
Naghtan, now assailed the castle, and set it on fire. O'Dogherty, in his
extremity, knowing the enmity existing between his prisoner and Rory,
released Donnell, who, ascending to the battlements of the castle, watched
his opportunity and flung a stone on the head of Rory, killing him
instantly. Two years later brothers of the murdered Rory attacked and slew
Donnell. From this total absence of law and order, it will be seen that
Ulster remained completely independent, and was wholly Irish.
The Duke of York was the
last royal Viceroy who actually held the sword. Others, though nominated,
never came over. The title of Lord-Lieutenant was, as a rule, only
bestowed upon royal personages. It was several times bestowed upon
children, and in one case upon an infant in arms. The power remained in
the hands of the various great nobles, who acted as Deputies or as Lords
Justices. Thus, when Edward IV conferred the title of Lord-Lieutenant on
his infant son, Richard, Duke of York; Gerald, Earl of Kildare, was Lord
Deputy. Kildare had greater weight and favour with the native Irish than
had even the Earl of Desmond or of Ormonde. His influence arose in a great
measure from the fact that his sister was married to Henry O'Neill of
Tirowen, and one of his daughters to Conn O'Neill, a son of the Chieftain
of Ulster. He had, besides, strengthened his position by other alliances,
his son being married to a daughter of King O'Conor of Offaly, and two
daughters wedded to Irish chiefs one to MacCarthy of Carbery, the other to
Burke of Clanrickard. Conn O'Neill was, through Kildare's influence,
declared by Act of Parliament to be a liege subject of the King, and was
completely invested with all the rights annexed to such a position a
triumph of diplomacy by which Ulster for a time became subject to the
King. |
