king, a commission was appointed to carry it out, and Wentworth with the commissioners proceeded to Connaught.

What they did on arriving there we learn from himself. Writing to Mr. Secretary Coke on the 24th August, 1635, he says:

"I the Deputy and others of the Commissioners trusted by His Majesty in his intended design for the Plantation of Connaught, having taken our journey from Dublin for that service, on the last of June, we have hitherto, with some labour and pain, travelled therein. We began at the county of Roscommon, where we caused a jury to be impannelled, of the principal gentlemen and inhabitants of the said county, before whom His Majesty's evidence being fully laid open by his learned counsel, it was so manifest and clear that there was no place left for any contradiction, which so wrought on the judgment of the jurors, as howsoever their own interests were most nearly concerned therein, yet they chose rather to embrace the truth and to find for His Majesty, than in relation to their own private interests to prejudice their consciences by not finding the king's title. Which act of theirs they performed with so much cheerfulness as we must do them the right to value it to His Majesty accordingly. His Majesty's title being agreed to be found, we there continued for a time to reduce it into a formal and legal inquisition, which being done, we departed thence to the county of Sligo, and so to the county of Mayo, in every of which counties His Majesty's title was found in such manner, and with like freedom and forwardness of affection, as in the county of Roscommon.

"Our work in these three counties being ended, we came finally to this county of Gallway. When we came hither, we omitted nothing that we conceived might conduce to the clearing and manifestation of His Majesty's title. Yet the jury, two of them only excepted, remaining, as it seems, resolute in the averseness they had proposed to themselves, most obstinately and perversely refused to find for His Majesty, though we endeavoured to satisfy them several ways beyond any we had taken in any of the other counties.

"We then bethought us of a course to vindicate His Majesty's honour and justice, not only against the persons of the jurors, but also against the sheriff for returning so insufficient, indeed, as we conceived, a packed jury, to pass upon a business of such weight and consequence; and therefore, we fined the sheriff in a thousand pounds to His Majesty, and bound over the jury to appear in the Castle Chamber, where, we conceive, it is fit that their pertinacious carriage be followed with all just severity.

"The reasons which have been the occasion of the averseness which we have found here to His Majesty's designs are these

"1. That there is scarce a Protestant freeholder to be found to serve His Majesty on this or any other occasion in this county, being in a manner altogether compounded of Papists, with whom the priests and Jesuits (who abound here in far greater numbers than in other parts) have so much power as they do nothing of this nature without consulting them.

"2. The counsellors at law being all recusants, showed themselves over busy, even to faction, in this service against the king.

"3. Thirdly and lastly, the dependence which all this county in general have of the Earl of Clanricarde and St. Albans," &c., &c.1

'Strafford's Letters, Vol. I., p. 450.

Strafford's proceedings1 were approved of by the Crown, and Mr. Secretary Coke, writing to him in September, 1635, says: "The advice you give to pursue the plantation with intention and severity is very well accepted, and His Majesty requireth you accordingly to proceed," &c., &c.

Strafford's subsequent recall from Ireland, and disgrace, put an end to this project, but the bitter feeling connected with it remained; and although the Irish chieftains do not appear to have entertained any personal animosity against the king, yet it can scarcely be disputed that the penal laws against the Catholics, and the confiscations and plantations with which they were threatened, materially helped to bring about that rebellion, which, in its consequences, was nearly fatal to all the old Irish Catholic families. There can be little doubt that in having recourse to arms the Irish Catholics were also actuated by a desire to uphold the king's prerogative, which they saw endangered by the growing power and domination of the Puritan parliament of England. The existing laws, if strictly enforced, would accomplish their ruin, and they really subsisted on the generosity and forbearance of the monarch. With his power destroyed, and the Puritan parliament substituted for the king, their absolute destruction was inevitable. In fighting for the king's prerogative and authority, they were fighting for their lives and liberties; and from the very beginning to the end of the contest, their constant, reiterated, and neverceasing professions, were of loyalty to the Crown, and devotion to their sovereign. They repudiated in the most indignant way the charge of being "rebels;" and from communications made to them, ostensibly on behalf of the king, they had every reason to believe that, secretly at least, he favoured their enterprise.

The flame which lighted in Ulster towards the close of the year 1641, spread with rapidity through the rest of Ireland, and meetings were held and organizations formed to defend the royal prerogative, and to obtain freedom and recognition for the Catholic religion. Into this movement Charles O'Conor Don entered, with all the authority appertaining to the recognised head of the Irish chieftains of Connaught. His castle of Ballintober became the rendezvous at which the leading Catholic and Irish nobility of the province met to deliberate, and to arrange their plans; and the consequence was that most exaggerated and unfounded reports were spread abroad as to his intentions and the objects which the Confederation had in view. It

'Not satisfied with fining the sheriff £1,000, Strafford also fined one of the jurors £500 for pulling another juror by the sleeve.

was currently reported that he intended to make himself King of Connaught, that all the Protestants were to be massacred, that everyone except the Irish were to be driven out of the country, and that the Catholic religion was not only to be freed from the disabilities then resting on its profession, but that it was to be made the established religion of the land-everyone being forced to conform to it. In the depositions made at this time, and preserved in the Library of Trinity College, we find a record of these fears and rumours. One of the deponents says1: "It was an ordinary rumour and report amongst the rebels of the Co. Roscommon, that Charles O'Connor Dunne, of Ballyntober, was made King of Connaught;" and again, that deponent heard "that all the rebel souldiers were gone to Tulsk to make the said Charles O'Connor Dun King of Connaught."

Meetings were held in Ballintober, which resulted in the issuing of proclamations, the raising of troops, and the formation and organization of a regular army. Open rebellion against the Parliamentary forces quickly followed, and the President, Lord Ranelagh, soon found himself blocked up in Athlone. A commission was granted to him to raise 500 Protestants, nearest adjoining, for the defence of the province. His son, Arthur Jones, was made constable of the castle of Roscommon, and allowed thirty-one Protestant warders to defend the same, and Sir Robert King was appointed to the like command for the castle of Abbey Boyle. "Yet the rebels burned the town of Roscommon, and the bishop's town of Elphin, besides many other Englishmen's habitations, surprising also several castles of the Earl of Clanricarde, in Galway."

In January, 1642, an attack upon the chief stronghold of the English in the county of Roscommon was determined on, and Con O'Rourke, at the head of 1,200 men, besieged Castle Coote, at that time defended by Sir Charles Coote, jun. In this attack the Irish were repulsed, the siege raised, and amongst others, Hugh O'Conor, the eldest son of Charles O'Conor Don, was

'Deposition of Elizabeth Hollywell, MS., Trinity College Library.

One of the depositions preserved in Trinity College Library gives the following account of this:"Deposition of John Ridge, of the Abbey of Roscommon." Deponent sayeth, “that the chief strength of the rebel souldiers of the three counties of Leitrim, Roscommon, and Longford, were at the burning of deponent's said houseing, at the Abbey of Roscommon upon Christmas Eve, 1641; of which rebels, Con O'Rourke, of the County of Leitrim, was the reputed general; and there were associated in the same outrage, Col. Hugh O'Connor Dun, eldest son to Charles O'Connor Dun, reputed general of Roscommon, O'Beirne, Henry Dillon, Dowaltagh O'Hanly, and the eldest son of Hugh Oge O'Connor, of Castlereagh," &c., &c.

'Borlase's History of Irish Rebellion, p. 49.

taken prisoner.1 When in confinement, he was subjected to an examination taken before Sir Robert Meredith, Chancellor of the Court of Exchequer, a member of the Privy Council, and justice of the peace for several counties. In this examination Hugh O'Conor stated that "about Christmas, 1641, at a meeting held in Ballyntobber, at which were present Sir Lucas Dillon, Sir Ulick Bourke, Ffeochra O'Flynn, William O'Mulloy, Alexander Nugent, Hugh Oge O'Connor, Charles O'Connor Roe, Teige O'Connor, and Thomas Dillon, the said Sir Lucas Dillon assured the gentrie then present, that he well knew it to be the king's pleasure that the said gentrie should take up arms; for the Puritan parliament of England would otherwise destroy them; and further alleged, that they should, within one quarter of a year, see His Majesty himself and the said parliament in arms one against the other," upon which they all" took an oath, part of the contents whereof was for the maintenance of the king's prerogative, and for the establishment of the Romish religion throughout the kingdom of Ireland."

The prediction of Sir Lucas Dillon as to the open hostility between the king and the parliament was verified shortly after; but he himself, according to the statement of young O'Conor, was not acting in perfect good faith with his friends; for whilst, on the one hand, he persuaded the Irish Catholics to have recourse to arms, yet, on the other, he "repaired unto the Lord President of Connaught, and, professing his fidelity, obtained his lordship's protection, under colour whereof he the said Sir Lucas Dillon plaid on both hands."

The oath above referred to having been taken, Sir Lucas being the first to subscribe to it, an address was drawn up to Lord Clanricarde, offering him the command of the Irish forces; and Sir Lucas Dillon and Hugh Oge O'Conor, brother to Charles O'Conor Don, were selected to present it. At

The following account of the attack on Castle Coote is given in Borlase's History of Irish Rebellion, p. 49:

"However, Sir Charles Coote, junr. (vigilant in all concerns), so manned and guarded Castle Coote, as that being in January, 1641-42 besieged by Con O'Rourk with 1,200 men, he so notably encountered him, as within a week he raised the siege; as he did, Hugh O'Connor, son of O'Connor Dun, of Ballintober, titular prince of Connaught; lineally (as he would have it) descended from Roderick O'Connor, King of Connaught, and monarch of Ireland, never afterwards durst make any formal approach against that castle; inasmuch as Sir Charles Coote fetched in corn and cattle at liberty. Yet the 2nd of March following, O'Rourk came with all his forces to fetch away the prey of Roscommon before day, hurrying them almost to Molenterim, before our forces could come up to him, endeavouring to make good a pass against our men, who soon break their stoutest ranks, and (killing most of the rebels) recovered the prey, took many prisoners, and amongst the rest Con O'Rourk."

'See Examination of Col. Hugh O'Conor, MS. Depositions, Trinity College Library. A copy of this deposition is given in Appendix K.

the same meeting, Charles O'Conor Roe, Brian O'Kelly, and young Hugh O'Conor were appointed colonels, and Thomas Dillon, Philip M'Dowel, O'Flynn, O'Molloy, O'Beirne, and several others were named as captains of the Irish forces.

Lord Clanricarde having declined the command, a desultory warfare seems to have been carried on between the Irish and the forces under the command of Sir Charles Coote, who made many expeditions from his castle, laying waste the surrounding country. Eventually the Lord President himself appeared in the field, and in June, 1642, marched against O'Conor, who was entrenched in Ballintober. Borlase, in his History of the Rebellion, gives the following description of this march and the battle which followed :

"The next exploit of my Lord President was (with the remnant of the two English regiments, and what could be spared out of our garrisons thereabouts) a march towards Ballintober, to which he was provoked by the enemy and stimulated on by his own party, impatient of further delays. O'Conner Dun, of Ballintober, ever since his son was taken, till now (that is the middle of July, 1642), had acted nothing, though the tacit votes of the province did seem to own him as their king, prince, Roytelel, or what name of supremacy in that province could be greatest; who seeing that those forces which were sent from England, to the Lord President, to subdue that province, had done nothing of moment, through a supine negligence, if not worse, and were much less considerable than those forces which we had before, he began to awake and to call in subjects to help him out of all the parts of Connaught; but above all that came to join with him, none were more forward, or came in greater numbers, than the County Mayo men, and the rather, because in all the conflicts of Connaught with the English, few of that great county came to fight with us. They drew together 1,800 or 2,000 foot and

160 horse, and more had joined with them if we had deferred to visit them. It was therefore adjudged necessary by the Lord President, Sir Chas. Coote, Sir Michael Earnly, Sir Abraham Shipman, Sir Ed. Povey, Sir Bernard Ashly, and others of the council of war, that we should draw out all our men, sick or sound, that were able to march, and march to Ballintober. It was a wonder to see with what alacrity and courage our new-come English put themselves on this service, even they that were ready to die (as divers of them did on the way) rejoicing that they might expire, doing their country the best service they could, as soldiers, and not as dogs on a dunghill. Our march that day was from Roscommon through Molenterim, and over the hill of Oran, near Clalby,' which is little more than two miles from Ballintober; from thence we might see the enemy coming with all speed to meet us. The Lord President was of opinion that our forces should retreat, and commanded it; but the rest were otherwise resolved; and without his order drew on towards the rebels, whilst he washed his hands from what evil might accrue. Our commanders, as they marched, agreed how to order their men, and on what piece of ground; but the enemy came on so fast that they could not gain the ground desired, which made the work on our part more difficult; for all the way on that hill, till we came near Ballintober, is boggy, with great long heath on all places, very unfit for horse