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shock: Gerald held fast by the roots, until his arms grew so weary that he could hold no longer: he then let himself down, little hoping to escape the fall; fortunately he had not far to go, and lighted safe on the dead carcase of his horse. The situation was still unpromising enough. There was no possibility of ascending; and he stood there, up to his ankles in water and in a hopeless condition, for about three hours. Providentially he had taken with him a dog, which, after hunting about for him a long time to no purpose, at last traced him to the chasm into which he had fallen. Stopping there, the faithful and sagacious creature set up a long howling, and never stopped until he drew the attention of some hunters of the same company. Being thus discovered, he was soon extricated by a rope and basket. Cox, who tells the story from Hollinshed, rejects it as "a little monkish.” It may be in a great measure fictitious, but has assuredly nothing otherwise monkish in its object or construction.

While such was the course of his life abroad, he seems to have been the object of continued anxiety and unremitting contention both among friends and foes at home. The O'Donells, Õ’Nialls, and other Irish chiefs, were loud in menace and expostulation; and a letter from John Allen to Cromwell, in 1539, mentions the threat of these chiefs, "that if the king's majestie will not restore young Gerald to all the possessions and pre-eminence that his father had in this land, they will do what they can, if they may have opportunity, to put him in by force."* By a letter from Brabazon, of the same date, it appears as if there then existed a suspicion that Gerald was actually in the kingdom, and consequently a strange ignorance as to his real place of abode; though, if we do not impute the same ignorance to nearly all Irish historians of this period, there is no reason to suppose that he returned to Ireland for many years from his first escape, until long after the death of king Henry. One thing is certain, that his capture was considered as an object of the first importance, not only, as Brabazon expresses it, "lest this said Gerald Fitz-Gerald may play the like part (with others of party and kinsmen) when he may," but also, on the ground that if he were once taken, their power would cease. These notices, and many other to the same effect, which from time to time occur through the correspondence of the chief Irish officers with the English court, indicate undeniably that an importance was attached to this young nobleman, which by no means appears in Ware, Cox, Leland, or any others of the various historical writers whom we have had occasion to consult.

his

In 1544, five years after the mention above referred to, this impression seems to be much augmented, and a long letter, exclusively on the subject, is written from the Irish lord justice and council to king Henry. It informs him, that by letters from Waterford, the council is informed that young Gerald is at Nantes, on his way from Italy to invade Ireland, and that he was there awaiting a navy and army, to be supplied for the purpose by the French king. This information evidently occasioned great alarm to the council, who express their conviction of the inadequacy of any means of resistance in their power, or that of

* State Papers, vol. iii.

the city of Waterford, against which the expedition was supposed to be directed. This report seems at the same time to have been transmitted to the English council, whose communication to the Irish council seems to have reached Ireland before the despatch here noticed had been sent off. The information appears to stand chiefly on the authority of W. de la Cluse, a person dwelling in "Bridges," whose father seems to have kept a house of entertainment for the Irish resorting thither; and also certain Wexford men, who being prisoners, were offered their freedom on the condition of joining in the service of Gerald Fitz-Gerald. The Irish council express their opinion that the invasion would be more likely to take place in the country of the Macarthies, near the city of Cork; not only of its being more directly in their course, but also on account of the circumstance of one of the Macarthys being son to his aunt Eleanor.*

From the whole tenor of the government correspondence, during the latter years of Henry VIII., it is certain that Gerald was for a considerable time the subject of much anxious fear, expectation, and vigilance both to his friends and enemies; but, notwithstanding a few doubtful affirmations to the contrary, we should infer that he prudently kept aloof, and avoided committing himself in any proceeding which must have had the sure effect of barring for ever the remotest possibility of his restoration to his family honours and possessions. The death of Henry VIII., in 1546, must have been felt to be the promise of better days to this young lord. But we cannot, with any certainty, trace the favourable turn which his affairs may have taken from this time till 1552, when he was taken into royal favour, and restored to very considerable portions of the estates of his father. In two years more he was created earl of Kildare and baron Offaly; and is from this date found taking an active part in the various measures of the English government for the reduction of rebellious chiefs, and the pacification of the country

In 1557 he is mentioned as having joined with the lord lieutenant, Sidney, in his campaign against Mac Donnell, a Scot, who had invaded the north of Ireland at the head of a strong party of his countrymen. Besides the earl of Kildare, the lord lieutenant was accompanied on this expedition by the lords Ormonde, Baltinglass, Delvin, Dunsany, and Dunboyne. There was no engagement, as the Scots scattered before them, and took refuge in the woods.

In 1561 he persuaded his kinsman O'Neale, then engaged in rebellious proceedings, to submit to the queen; and generally conducted himself with a prudent regard to the interests of the government. The events of the remainder of his life are, however, such as to fall more appropriately under other heads, as at this time the troubles of the pale rose to a dangerous height, and long continued, during the restless life of the celebrated Shane O'Neale, and the rebellion of the sixteenth earl of Desmond, both of whom we must notice at some length. Though Gerald's lands were restored, and his titles conferred anew by creation, yet it was not till 1568 that the act of attainder against his father's blood was repealed, in a parliament held in Dublin.

* Married to Macarthy of Carbery.

He was

at this period of his life frequently intrusted with the defence of the pale, especially in 1574. In 1579 he joined Sir William Drury against the Spanish force which landed in Kerry, to support the earl of Desmond's rebellion; notwithstanding which services, he was, in the following year, arrested on suspicion of corresponding with the Leinster rebels, and sent with his son, lord Henry Fitz-Gerald, to England, where they were thrown into the Tower. On trial, he was fully acquitted. He was one of the lords present in Sir John Perrot's parliament, in 1585, in which year his death took place. The following summary of his will is given by Lodge. "He left £100 to erect a monument over his grave, and the like sum to buy some jewels, to be given to the queen from him, as a token of his humble and dutiful loyalty to her highness. Bequeathes to his wife, as a token of goodwill and remembrance, a jewel, called an agate, which he bought lately, and a piece of black tuft taffaty, containing thirteen yards. To his brother, Edward, his best vest of gilt and graven bolls, with a cover. To his son and heir, Henry, all his gold buttons, hat, and capbands of gold, silver, and pearl; footclothes and horse furniture; gilt rapiers and daggers, with their girdles and hangers; shirtbodies, shirts of mail, armour, artillery; three of the best suits of hangings of tapestry, or cloth of arras; and all his stud, except three store mares, to his second son, William: leaves other legacies. Wills that his wife should take care of all his old servants that served him in Ireland, for some of whom he leaves a liberal provision; and appoints his son, Henry, and son-in-law, lord Delvin, executors."*

Sir Edmond Butler.

DIED ABOUT A. D. 1580.

SIR EDMOND BUTLER was the second son of James, ninth earl of Ormonde, and possessed the manors of Roscrea and Cloughgrenan. In 1562 he was intrusted with the government of the county of Carlow, while the lord deputy was engaged in the north against Shane O'Neile. In 1567, in consideration of his active and distinguished services, he was knighted, and had a grant for the return of all writs in the contracts of Oremon, Ely-ogerth, and Ely-ocarrol, in the county Tipperary. Notwithstanding this course of distinguished and honourable loyalty, by means not now to be discovered in the confusion of our annals and the want of private history, he was warped into a dangerous course, together with two of his brothers. With these he raised a rebellion in Munster, and was declared a traitor. Before matters had proceeded to a decisive length, his wonted prudence prevailed, and he submitted and surrendered his estates, on which he and his brothers received the queen's pardon. After this he distinguished himself, in the following year, 1574, against the O'Mores, then the principal native enemies of the pale. As no further mention of his name occurs, it cannot be ascertained, from any authentic docu

* Lodge.

ment, at what precise period his death took place. According to Lodge, he died at Inistioge, and was buried among his ancestors at St Canice, in Kilkenny.*

Captain Richard Browne.

KILLED A. d. 1570.

RICHARD BROWNE was a younger son to Anthony, first viscount Montague, in England. He came over to Ireland, in the service of queen Elizabeth, at the head of an independent company. When Connaught was pacified by Sir Henry Sidney, Browne settled at the Neale, in the county of Mayo, and was appointed high sheriff of the surrounding country. In this office his conduct, spirit, and useful activity soon became honourably distinguished: he exerted himself to the utmost to reclaim the degenerate English, as well as the natives, to order and civilization. His efforts exposed him to the dangers arising from the brawls and factions, which it was his constant study to put an end to, and he was slain by the natives while engaged in these arduous and dangerous duties. We cannot ascertain the year, but have ventured to put down 1570 as undoubtedly not far from the period. He was succeeded by his son, Josias, and was ancestor to the earls of Altamont.

Thomas, Sixteenth Earl of Kerry.

BORN A. D. 1502-DIED A. D. 1590.

THIS eminent lord succeeded his brother, Gerald, in the earldom. His youth was spent in Italy. He was bred in Milan, and early entered the German service. On his brother's death, the inheritance was seized by one of the family, who was next heir, on the failure of next of kin in the direct line. The matter might have remained thus, and the wrongful possessor allowed to obtain that protection which time must ever give to possession, but most of all in that age of unsettled rights; but fortunately for him, he was timely remembered by his nurse, Joan Harman, who was not prevented by the infirmities of old age from proceeding with her daughter in search of her foster-child. Having embarked at Dingle, she landed in France, and from thence to Italy. After overcoming the many difficulties of so long a journey, with her imperfect means and ignorance of the way, she found her noble foster-son; and, having given him the needful information concerning the state of his affairs, she died on her way home.

Lord Thomas came over to take possession of his estate and honours. For two years he had to contend with the resolute opposition of the intruder who relied on the circumstance of his being less known in

* Lodge.

The intruding

the country from having passed his life abroad. claimant was himself, it is likely, misled by the local character of his own acquaintance with society. In two years the claim of justice prevailed, and in or about the year 1550, in his forty-eighth year lord Thomas Fitz-Maurice obtained full possession of his rights.

He was treated with distinguishing honour and confidence by Philip and Mary; who, in a letter apprizing him of their marriage, desired his good offices in aid of the lord deputy, to assist in rectifying the disorders which had been suffered to increase for some years in their Irish dominions. His course for many years, was thus one of loyal duty, and honoured by the royal favour, although its incidents were not such as to call for our special notice. Among these it may be mentioned, that in the parliament of the third year of Philip and Mary, he sat as premier baron; but in that of the fourth year of the same reign, lord Trimleston was placed above him. But in 1581, when in his 79th year, he was led into rebellion, by the example of the times and the seeming weakness of the English. The lord deputy, supposing that the quiet of Munster was secured by the flight of the earl of Desmond and the death of John of Desmond, dismissed the larger proportion of his English forces. In consequence of this dangerous step, the earl of Kerry and his son, moved by their discontents against the deputy, broke into rebellion. They began by proceeding to dislodge the English from their garrisons, which they effected to some extent by the boldness and dexterity of their movements. First attacking the garrison of Adare, they slew the captain and most of the soldiers. They next marched to Lisconnel, in which there were only eight soldiers, as the place was supposed to be protected by its strength and difficulty of access. The entrance to this castle was secured by two gates, of which, upon the admission of any person, it was usual to make fast the outer before the inner was unbarred. Taking advantage of the circumstance, the earl bribed a woman who used every morning early to enter these gates, with a large basket of turf, wood, and other cumbrous necessaries, to let fall her basket in the outer gate, so as to prevent its being closed without delay. During the night he contrived to steal a strong party into a cabin which had very inconsiderately been allowed to stand close to the gate. All fell out favourably. The woman dropped her load, and, according to her instructions, uttered a loud cry; the men rushed in, and the porter was slain before he was aware of the nature of the incident, and in a few moments more not a man of the garrison was alive.'

Encouraged by this success, the earl marched to Adnagh, which he thought to win by another stratagem. He hired for the purpose a young girl of loose character, who was to obtain admission, and when admitted, to act according to the earl's contrivance, so as to betray the fort. The capture of Lisconnel had, however, the effect of putting the captain on his guard. He soon contrived to draw from the young woman a confession of her perfidious intent, after which he caused her to be thrown from the walls.†

From this the earl proceeded to range through the counties of

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