it pleased God we killed 600 of their men, and took nine foot colours and a cornett of horse. By these several defeats given the enemy within ten days, the whole force of the enemy was broken in that province, so that, had we then prosecuted these victories, as was earnestly pressed by Sir Chas. Coote, myself, and others, we had in all probability reduced that province. Immediately after this, my Lord President utterly renounced to have anything to do with my regiment, and affirmed that he neither could nor would give them bread any longer; upon which I pressed to be gone, to which his Lordship would not yield, neither permitting me to go away, and denying me any subsistence there. Sir Charles Coote, seeing this great distraction, through the necessities of my regiment, desired that the several companies thereof might be disposed into such garrisons as he had an interest in; unto which I condescended; and that he would, upon his reputation, undertake to provide for them, which, at his charge, and the hazard of his person, accordingly he performed to the preservation of that small number of men my regiment was reduced unto, through scarcity and want of food, which otherwise had perished, until our return to Dublin. Sir, whatsoever other relation may be made of these occurrences, this is the positive truth."

Lord Ranelagh, the President of Connaught, having retired, the Irish had time to rally; new troops were levied, and the strongholds put into a state of proper defence. It was also determined that the Catholic royalist party in Connaught should act with the general confederacy sitting at Kilkenny, which had then assumed all the forms of a regular government; and Hugh O'Conor was appointed as one of the representatives from the county of Roscommon with that body.

Meanwhile Clanricarde, who had thrown in his fortunes with Lord Ormonde, and had been appointed commander-in-chief in Connaught under that nobleman, endeavoured to open separate negotiations for a truce or cessation of arms with the portion of the confederacy belonging to the province of Connaught. With this view, in the summer of 1643, he made overtures to Lieutenant-General John Burke, who held high command amongst the Irish; and these overtures having been brought before the council of the confederacy in Connaught, the following reply was returned :REPLY OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CONFEDERATION IN CONNAUGHT TO THE OVERTURES OF THE EARL OF CLANRICARDE FOR A CESSATION OF HOSTILITIES IN THAT PROVINCE. DATED, 28TH AUGUST, 1643.

"RIGHT HONOURABLE,-Soon after the receipt of your Lordship's of the 26th of this present, so many of the prime gentry of these parts, as could conveniently, assembled, and having consulted of the contents of your Lordship's letter to the Lieutenant-General (John Bourke) about three days ago, concerning a truce or cessation of arms throughout this province,

This account is endorsed: Sir Michael Earnely's relation of the condition of his regiment in Connaught. MS., Trinity College Library, Dublin, F., 3, 11.

L L

until the general treaty for the whole kingdome, were concluded, to make this return to your Lordship, which we on behalf of them and ourselves represent, and humbly recommend to your favourable acceptance: That we and they are of His Majesty's most loyal and faithful subjects, and ready to expose our lives and fortunes in his service, and in the reducing of the distractions raging now in these parts, or in any other part of His Majesty's dominions, to such a settlement of peace and obedience, as may best conduce to His Majesty's most high advantage and the happy quiet of his people: for which purpose there is a general treaty in the behalf of the whole kingdom now on foot, or presently to commence, by virtue of His Majesty's commission; to attend which certain commissioners are appointed by the grand assembly of the nobility and gentry of the Confederate Catholicks of this kingdom; in which case, it is not conceived how this province, or any part of it, may with safety presume to entertain or conclude any other particular treaty of truce or cessation, without advising with the commissioners now attending, or presently to attend, the execution of His Majesty's Commission, to whom present address shall be made for advice. Upon return whereof, it is not to be doubted your Lordship shall receive such fair compliance, as may give your Lordship just satisfaction in those parts, which we, by the consent of the rest, make bold to give in assurance that we are

This reply not being satisfactory to Clanricarde, the struggle continued until 1648, when he appeared in open hostility to his Catholic fellow-countrymen, and took the field against them.

Leaving Athlone Castle in the hands of Lord Athenry, he marched into the county Roscommon, and besieged the castle of Molinaheny near Roscommon, then in the possession of Hugh O'Conor's son, who, on a previous occasion, had carried away twenty horse from Taaffe's party in Munster. The ammunition of the small garrison defending the castle having been destroyed by an accident, they offered to surrender on condition of their lives being spared. These terms were agreed to and duly signed by Clanricarde, upon which the garrison, sixteen in number, surrendered, and were taken to the camp, where, notwithstanding the terms of capitulation, they were, by Clanricarde's orders, all hanged, with the exception of one, who managed to escape from his captors.

'Carte Papers, xcix., p. 549. Gilbert's History of the Confederation and War in Ireland, Vol. II., Preface, p. civ.

History of Affairs in Ireland, by Gilbert, A.D. 1648, Vol. I., p. 236.

Clanricarde then marched towards Castlereagh, Hugh O'Conor's residence, and O'Conor, unable to resist him, offered to submit upon honourable terms of surrender, which were accepted. Confident of his safety, Hugh O'Conor went at once to Clanricarde's camp to salute him, when he was seized, placed under personal restraint, and committed as a prisoner to Roscommon Castle, no other reason being assigned for this breach of faith than that he should pay for the twenty horse which his son had carried away from the Munster camp.

About the same time, O'Conor Roe, who also had received letters of safe-conduct from Clanricarde, on presenting himself, was seized, and sent to join Hugh O'Conor as a prisoner in Roscommon Castle, where both were confined for upwards of half a year. Shortly after, the success of the parliamentary party became indisputable. Cromwell's veterans soon drove both Clanricarde's and Ormond's party, as well as that of the Irish Catholics, out of the field; and Hugh O'Conor, like his kinsman in Ballintober, saw all his property seized, and included in the decree for confiscation.

Preparatory to the execution of this decree, a formal investigation was held at Athlone, nominally for the purpose of inquiring into the conduct of the different proprietors of land in the county of Roscommon during the rebellion. The main object of this investigation was to furnish grounds for the forfeitures which it was the policy of the government to enforce. Depositions were taken, which are preserved amongst the "Commonwealth Series" of papers at the Record Office, Dublin, and, amongst them will be found two, in almost similar terms, relating to Hugh O'Conor of Castlereagh. The first of them is to the following effect :

"HUGH O'CONNOR OF CASTLEREAGH.

"Dudley O'Flynn of Ballintober, aged 34, being duly sworn and examined, deposeth that he knew the said Hugh, and further sayeth that the said Hugh lived in Ireland in the beginning of the said rebellion, at Castlereagh aforesaid, which was then, and since, the enemy's quarter during the rebellion, and furthur sayeth that the said Hugh was in arms at the beginning of the said rebellion against the English, and had the command of a lieutenant-colonel, to Colonel Hugh O'Connor his nephew, and furthur sayeth that the said lieutenant-colonel was at the battle of Ballintober in the said first year against the English. His range of knowledge being that he saw him in arms aforesaid. Dated July, 1655."

The second deposition, almost in identical words, was sworn to by one Dermot O'Connor of Kiltolmy, in the barony of Athlone; these two—O'Flynn of Ballintober, and Dermot O'Connor of Kiltolmy-being witnesses against a very large number of the Connaught proprietors.

In consequence of the part he took in the rebellion, the estates of Hugh O'Conor were all declared forfeited, and very shortly after the taking of these depositions he died, leaving his son Donnell, or Daniel, the inheritor of his name and misfortunes.

DONNELL, or DANIEL, O'CONOR, SON OF HUGH OGE O'CONOR, born 1612, died 1689.

Shortly after the accession of James I., when the Irish chieftains submitted to the English Crown, and took grants of their lands under the English tenure, the use of English Christian names became general, and these were substituted for the old Irish names hitherto borne by the natives. Thus Eoghan, or Owen, became Eugene; Cathal, Cahill, Calvagh, and Keadagh became Charles; Donnell became Daniel; Turlough was changed into Terence; Teige became Thadeus, or Thady, and so on with almost every one of the other Irish appellations. As the synonyms used in the English language for particular names were not always the same, the change often led to subsequent difficulty in identification. These perplexities have arisen in regard to more than one of Sir Hugh O'Conor's descendants. The son of Hugh O'Conor of Castlerea, for instance, is named in different documents and records, under no less than four different forms. He is called Donnell, Daniel, Donor, and Donogh; and were it not for other evidence, doubts might arise whether it was the same individual who was referred to in each case.

In the family pedigree drawn up by Charles O'Conor of Belanagare, more than 100 years ago, and at a time not very distant from the period at which Hugh O'Conor's son lived, he is styled Daniel, the recognised English form of Donnell, and under this name he certainly claimed, and had restored to him, after his father's death, a certain portion of his ancestral estates.

Daniel O'Conor, the eldest son of Hugh Oge O'Conor of Castlerea, was born about the year 1611 or 1612. He was married to Anne, second daughter of Edward Bermingham, seventeenth Lord Athenree, whose wife was Mary Burke, daughter of Sir Festus Burke of Glynsk. At the time of the breaking out of the rebellion he was a young man in possession of all the vigour and independence of character which distinguished most of the members of his family. Naturally he took the same side as his father, and joined the Irish He very soon attained high command in the Irish army, and his name is constantly mentioned in the records of the history of this period.

cause.

'Lodge's Peerage, Vol. III., p. 46.

He was one of those who, in 1642, signed the Oath of Association of the Irish Confederation, which was as follows:

successors.

"OATH OF ASSOCIATION OF IRISH CONFEDERATION.1

"I, A. B., doe promise, protest, and sweare, before God and His saints and His angells, that I will, during my life, bear true faith and allegiance to my Sovereign Lord, Charles, by the grace of God King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, and to his heirs and lawful And that I will, to my power, during my life, defend, uphold, and maintaine all his and their just prerogatives, estates, and rights, the power and privileges of parliament of this realme, the fundamentall laws of Ireland, and the free exercise of the Roman Catholic faith and religion throughout the land, and the lives, just liberties, possessions, estate, and right of all those that have taken or shall take this oath and perform the contents thereof. And that I will obey and ratifye all the orders and the decrees made and to be made by the Supreme Council of the Confederate Catholiques of this kingdom, concerning the said publick cause; and that I will not seek or receive, directly or indirectly, any pardon or protection for any act done, or to be done, touching this general cause without the consent of the major part of the said council: And that I will not, directly or indirectly, doe any act or acts that shall prejudice the said cause, but will, to the hazard of my life and estate, assist, prosecute, and maintain the same. Moreover, I doe further sweare that I will not accept of or submit unto any peace or accommodation to be made or concluded with the said Confederate Catholiques without the consent and approbation of the General Assembly of the said Confederate Catholiques; and for the preservation and strengthening of the Association and union of the Kingdom, that, upon any peace or accommodation to be made or concluded with the said Confederate Catholiques as aforesaid, I will, to the uttermost of my power, insist upon • and maintain the ensueing propositions until peace as aforesaid be made, and the matters to be agreed upon in the articles of peace be established and secured by parliament.

"So help me God, and this Holy Gospel."

The propositions here referred to were the following :—

"1. Free and public exercise of the Catholic religion in as full lustre and splendour as in the reign of King Henry VII. or any other Catholic king, his predecessor.'

"2. That the secular clergy of Ireland and their dignitaries should enjoy all jurisdictions, privileges, and immunities in as full and ample a manner as the same had been enjoyed in the said reign of Henry VII.

"3. That all laws placing restrictions on the Roman Catholic laity or clergy in the exercise of their religion, passed since the twentieth year of Henry VIII., should be repealed.

"4. That the Primates, Archbishops, and all other dignitaries and pastors of the Roman Catholic clergy should hold and occupy all the churches and church livings in as large and as ample a manner as the late Protestant clergy enjoyed the same on the 31st October, 1641, in all places now in possession of the Confederate Catholics, as also in all other places that shall be recovered by them, saving to the Catholic laity all their rights."

'Collection of Proceedings of Commissioners relating to the Settlement of Ireland. 1660. MS., Gilbert's History of the Confederation and War in Ireland, Vol. II., p. 210.