Dr. O'Brien. August 31st, 1422, 1st Henry VI., the Earl of Desmond was appointed Constable of the Castle of Limerick, and in 1444 was appointed Governor of the counties of Limerick, Waterford, Cork, and Kerry, with a liberty to absent himself from Parliament for life,2 on condition of sending a sufficient proxy. He married a daughter of Ulick Burke MacWilliam Eighter, and he is said by some to have brought the MacSheehys into Munster as his life-guards. The MacSheehys, however, were in Munster before himself. They are given by O'Halloran as chiefs of Ballyhallinan, in the barony of Pobble Brien, county Limerick. During the wars of the Roses the attention of the English Government was so much taken up by their domestic quarrels that the Irish were all but left to their own devices. All the power of the Government was unable to keep the native chieftains from collecting their "black rent ;" and the Geraldines, especially the Desmond branch, soon adopted all the peculiar habits of the natives, and were designated by the English as "more Irish than the Irish themselves." In the reign of Queen Elizabeth and of the sixteenth Earl of Desmond, for the word "reign" is not inapplicable to this powerful chieftain's tenure of power, no less than one hundred thousand acres of his property were confiscated in the county of Limerick alone, and divided between the following English families :-the Annesleys, Barkleys, Billingsleys, Bourchiers, Carters, Courtenays, Fittons, Mannerings, Stroudes, Trenchards, Thorntons and Uthereds. Trinity College, Dublin, also owes much of its property to the Desmond confiscations.

A charter to the Mayor of Limerick was granted in 1433. In 1436, a trial was prohibited in Limerick by ecclesiastical authority. In 1442, Sir John Talbot was endowed with a grant out of the fee-farm of the city. In 1450, important improvements, which are more particularly noticed in the annals of Limerick, were effected. In 1453, John Cantwell, Archbishop of Cashel, held a provincial synod here, the canons of which are to this day extant (Wilkins' Concil. tom. iii). Teigh O'Brien, Lord of Thomond, in the year 1467, led a very great force southward, across the Shannon, in the summer; he plundered the Irish of Desmond and of West Munster (Cork and Kerry); the Irish of Leinster also paid him tribute, and he then returned home, after having taken possession of the territory of Clan William (in Tipperary), and of the county of Limerick, which were confirmed to him by the earl of Desmond, for obtaining peace for himself and his country. After obtaining security of sixty marks for him and his heirs for ever, from the people of Limerick, he died, and Conor, the son of Turlogh O'Brien, was appointed his successor.

1 The Annals for 1411 contain the following, amongst other entries :"Donnell, the son of Conor O'Brien, Tanist of Thomond, was slain by Barry More." "Thomas, the son of John, Earl of Desmond, was banished from Ireland by James, the son of Garrett."

Dermot, the son of Gilla-Isa Magrath, Ollav of Thomond in poetry, died."

The Thomas, son of John, Earl of Desmond, thus briefly alluded to as banished by his uncle James, son of Garrett or Gerald (the ward of the O'Briens of Thomond), is the hero of the romantic story immortalised in Moore's beautiful song, By the Feal's wave benighted."

The Earl of Desmond, who was ward or foster son to the O'Briens, and of whom we have spoken before, as conferring grants in land in the county Waterford on the descendants of Torlogh O'Brien the Bald, banished from Thomond about 1367, may be regarded as the first of that great house who held vast estates in Limerick, Cork, Kerry, and Waterford, and who assumed the regal or princely state, in virtue of which they conferred Knighthood on some of their relatives the Knight of Kerry, the Knight of Glyn, the White Knight, &c. He was the fifth in descent from Maurice Fitzgerald, the father-in-law of De Clare, who treacherously murdered Brian Roe O'Brien at Bunratty. He obtained Milo de Cogan's extensive property in Cork, by Royal license, which enabled him to purchase whatever lands he pleased, and by whatever service they were held under the king.

4 Annals of the Four Masters.

CHAPTER IX.

ANNALS OF THOMOND.-THE DESMONDS AND THE BUTLERS.

THE annals of these times startle us with strange and terrible incidents. In 1460 O'Brien, Bishop of Killaloe (Terence or Turlough O'Brien see Harris's Ware, p. 594, who refers to the Annals of Ulster for further particulars) was killed by Brian of the Fleet at Clonroad, on which the original town of Innis or Ennis stood. The site of the present town was a strath or green belonging to Clonroad, which was the principal seat of the O'Briens.' Constant wars between the natives marked the features of the times. In a maritime expedition of the O'Meallys of Mayo with the son of O'Brien, to Corca Bhaiscinn, the MacMahon's country, comprising the baronies of Moyarta and Clonderalaw, in the South West of the county Clare, against MacMahon, three of the party were slain before they could reach their ship; Donald O'Brien and Mahon O'Brien were taken prisoners on their way to their ship; their people were slaughtered; and subsequently O'Brien O'Meally was slain by his brother Hugh O'Meally, in a dispute which arose between them.2

It was on the 4th of March, in this year, that Edward IV. was made King of England. He granted a charter to Limerick in 1464. In 1462, the young Earl of Ormond came to Ireland with a large number of Saxons [i.e. Englishmen], a great war broke out between the Earls of Ormond and Desmond; Garrett, the son of the Earl of Desmond, was taken prisoner by the Butlers; in successive fights the Desmonds suffered several defeats; the Butlers in consequence rose to very great power.3 Mac Richard Butler, who is designated the most renowned and illustrious of the English of Ireland in his time, died soon afterwards-he was educated by Richard O'Hedigan, Archbishop of Cashel, according to a memorandum on folio 115 of the Psalter of Cashel. Not satisfied with the way in which Thomas, Earl of Desmond, who had been sent over in 1464, conducted the government of Ireland, John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester, was deputed to replace him-an occurrence, according to the annalists, which wrought the ruin of Ireland.

The Earl was invited to Drogheda to meet Tiptoft, when taking advantage of the occasion, his enemies accused him of making alliances with the Irish, "who were the king's enemies, and furnishing them with horses and arms against the king's subjects." He was beheaded on the 15th of February, 1467-8, by order of Tiptoft. But these were only the pretended reasons given for his destruction. A child of his kindred and name was appointed to be executed at the same time, who besought the executioner not to hurt a boil that was upon his neck; the putting of which child to death confirms the opinion that malice and revenge were the principal reasons why this Earl so unhappily lost his life. Edward Plunkett, Esq., was also attainted at the same time for the same alleged charge, and suffered. Tiptoft is said by Cox" to have been one of the most learned and eloquent men of Christendom. One of the articles of his Parliament of Drogheda was that "none shall purchase Bulls for Benefices from Rome under legal penalty." Between the Desmonds

Annals of the Four Masters.

2 Ibid.

3 Ibid.

It was in this year that a patent was passed to Lord Dunboyne of the prisage of wines in the Ports of Cork, Youghal, Ross, Galway, Limerick, Kinsale, Dungarvan, and Dingle, with £10 per annum for his services in taking Con O'Connor and delivering him to the Lord-Deputy, the Earl of Worcester.-Smith's History of Cork.

Smith's History of Cork, p. 28,-and Smith's History of Kerry, p. 251.

• Cox's Hibernica Anglicana.

and the MacCarthys, feelings of animosity prevailed-the young Earl of Desmond was taken prisoner by the MacCarthys; but he was soon afterwards released. The Prince of Thomond, in these wars between the Desmonds and the Butlers, took an active part with the latter. On the return of the Earl of Kildare to this country after triumphing over his enemies, he marched into North Munster, where he was met by Conor-na-Srona, at the head of the Dal-gais; battle was given to the Lord Justice, near the Castle of Ballyhicky, in Thomond, a desperate engagement took place, the Earl of Kildare was defeated; and Conor-na-Srona obtained possession of the Castle above named, and another stronghold belonging to Fineen Macnamara. Conor-na-Srona had two sons-the elder, Teige, killed in a fray by Desmond, son of the Bishop O'Brien, who was immediately put to death by the bereaved father in 1474;-the second, Donough, father of O'Brien, who was compelled to part with the fertile plain of Shallee, near Ennis, as a ransom when taken prisoner by the two sons of Murrough, ancestor of the Earls of Inchiquin, and of the O'Briens of Dromoland. Terence O'Brien, lord of Arra, died in 1487.1 In the same year, on the night of the Epiphany, a great tempest arose; it was a night of general destruction to all, by reason of the number of prostrated persons and cattle destroyed, and trees and houses, both on water and land, throughout Ireland. Strange that houses should have been built upon water, but the fact is so-the Irish chieftains had their residences thus protected, even during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and it was in one of those that O'Neill in that reign, kept his plate, many valuables, &c. In 1488, another dreadful tempest arose, and the summer of this year was so wet, it was as inclement as winter, and much of the crops decayed. In the same year, on the 7th of December, James, the ninth Earl of Desmond, was basely murdered at his house of Courtmatriss, near Rathkeale, in the county of Limerick, by his own servants, at the early age of twenty-eight years. The murderers did not escape with impunity; they were all apprehended and executed by Maurice, who was the tenth Earl, and who being usually carried in a litter, was named Claudus--he joined Perkin Warbeck, and besieged the city of Waterford; but receiving the king's pardon, he was granted all the customs, coquets, poundage, and prise wines in Limerick in 1497.

In 1485 Nicholas O'Grady, Abbot of Tuam Greine (now Tomgrany, in the barony of Upper Tullagh, Co. Clare) who is called a charitable and truly hospitable man, and the twelfth man who was free in Limerick, died."

On the 26th of June, 1489, Henry VII. granted a charter to Limerick. In 1492, Edward Poynuil, (Sir Edward Poynings) a Knight of the Garter and Privy Councillor, came from England with the Earl of Kildare, and the celebrated act, called Poyning's act, was passed, by which, among other things, it was enacted, that all the statutes made lately in England, concerning or belonging to the public weal, should be thenceforth good and effectual in Ireland. In the following year, Con, son of Hugh Roe O'Donnell, with his great little army," in his fight with the Glyns, never halted till he crossed the Shannon, and afterwards advanced into Munster, where he totally plundered Magh o'g Coinchinn, now Magunnihy, a barony in the South East of the county

"

1 O'Donoughue's History of the O'Briens.

Smith's History of Kerry-Smith's History of Waterford.

Annals of the Four Masters. Dr. O'Donovan, in a note, states that the twelfth man, who was free, means the twelfth mere Irishman who was free of the Corporation of Limerick. In Galway it was ordered, "that Lieutenant-Colonel O'Shaughnessy (in consideration of his allyance in blood to the whole towne, and for the good nature and affection that he and family doe bear it), and his posteritie shall be hereafter freemen of this Corporation.”—Hardiman's History of Galway.

of Kerry. In the next year Conor O'Brien, Lord of Thomond, died, and his brother Gilla Duv was inaugurated in his place.

On the 26th of August, 1496, the king (Henry VII.) granted a pardon to Maurice, Earl of Desmond, for all his offences--he had also a grant of the Customs of Limerick.'

In 1497 and 1498 a great famine prevailed through all Ireland, "so that people ate of food unbecoming to mention, and never before heard of as having been introduced on human dishes."2 Corn was so scarce that a peck of wheat in Meath was sold at five lesser ounces of silver, a gallon of ale sixpence, and a barrel of oats in Ulster was worth a cow. The century closes with wars between the O'Briens and the rightful head of the Butlers, who were jealous of the support which the O'Briens afforded to Sir James Ormond, already referred to as an illegitimate son. Turlough O'Brien defeated the Butlers at Moyaliff in Ormond, or rather in Tipperary, not far from Cashel, after a bloody engagement.

CHAPTER X.

LIMERICK UNDER THE TUDORS.

THE sixteenth century, so full of deep importance to the destinies of the country, so remarkable for the many religious, political and domestic incidents and changes which took place in it, teems with important and startling events.

1502. In the winter of this year Turlogh O'Brien, Lord of Thomond, burned the county of Limerick and Cord-Maighe [i.e. along the river Maigue in the Barony of Coshma, to Limerick]4

The death of Donough O'Brien, the descendant of Donough Carbraigh, Lord of the district from Adare to Limerick, and from Baile-nua (Newtown in the parish of Kilkeedy) to Monasteranenagh, Lord of Aherlagh and Coill-Beithne (Kilbeheny) "the fountain of the prosperity and affluence of Munster," occurred in 1502. In this year, according to the Annals of Ulster, there was such inclement weather that it killed most of the cattle of Ireland, and prevented the husbandmen from tilling the earth. In the next year (1503) the Earl of Kildare went to England, and returned home with success, bringing with him his son, who had been in the custody of the King of England. Edmond Knight of Glynn died; and Teige Boirneach of Burren, county Clare, and Murtogh O'Brien, who went with Owen O'Flaherty into West Connaught against his kinsmen, Rory Oge and Donnell an baid or of the Boat, two sons of O'Flaherty, attacked the camp and carried away prizes and spoils. The sons of Mahon O'Brien and Owen

1 Rymer's Fœdera. The Earl of Desmond made a submission to Thomas Radcliff, Earl of Essex, Lord Deputy of Ireland, at Limerick.

'What little was known in these times in Ireland of natural history is evident from the fact that a camel which was sent by the King of England to one of the O'Briens, was regarded with perfect wonder, even by the better educated, who did not know what to designate the animal. We find the camel thus described in the Annals of the Four Masters :

“A wonderful animal was sent to Ireland by the King of England. She resembled a mare, and was of yellow colour, with the hoofs of a cow, a long neck, a very large head, a large tail, which was ugly and scant of hair. She had a saddle of her own. Wheat and salt were here her usual food. She used to draw the largest sledge burden by her tail. It used to kneel when passing under any doorway, however high, and also let her rider mount."

MSS. Annals quoted in Smith's History of Cork.

4 Annals of the Four Masters.

O'Flaherty were slain by the O'Flahertys. The great battle of Knocktow, or the hill of the Battle-axes, in Clare Galway, about five miles north of Galway, between the Lord Justice Garrett, the son of Thomas Earl of Kildare, and Mac William of Clanrickarde, and which events had been maturing, as we have already seen, was fought in the next year (1504). It is described by the Annalists as one of the most remarkable battles on record since the invasion of Ireland. A description of it, copied nearly word for word, from the Annals of Ulster, is given by the Four Masters; which O'Donovan, in his note in reference to the account of the details of this sanguinary engagement, states that it is in bardic prose style, which sacrifices strength to sound, and sense to alliteration. The battle was occasioned by a private dispute between the Earl of Kildare and Ulick Burke, the MacWilliam, &c. of Clanrickarde, who was joined by O'Brien of Thomond, and the half of Munster. It is said that no Englishmen fell in the engagement; and Moore1 adopts this assertion as a fact; and in truth no English appeared in the battle-the belligerents at both sides were Irish-viz. those of the Pale, under Kildare, and those of Connaught, under Mac William. Sir John Davies expresses surprise that so late as the reign of Henry VII. a battle so terrible should be undertaken to decide a mere private quarrel-without charge of the King-as stated in the Book of Howth. Clanricarde and his forces were overthrown-the number of the slain was enormous. But as we proceed, we shall see that Ulick Burke and the "Irish" determined to strike another blow, and that Monabraher, within the liberties of the city of Limerick, was selected for the fight.

Our local annal of the next year, 1505, (21st Henry VII.) shows that the citizens reposed anything but safely within their walls, and that the means they took to protect themselves from pirates, who appear to have come up to the very watergates, were primitive indeed. William Harrold was Mayor for the second time; Nicholas Creagh and John Rochford were bailiffs; John White was Clerk of the Court of Limerick (quere? Town Clerk); James Butler, Earl of Ormond, was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland; when our authority, on the 13th of February, says, "a great tri-oared galley, fitted out with all things necessary, was built for the purpose of guarding our port, and protecting the public interests against the incursions of pirates." The next year (1506) the Bridge of Port-Croisi,-a name which is yet preserved in the townland of Portcrush, situated on the Shannon, in the north-west end of the parish of Castleconnell,--was built by Turlough O'Brien; and some few years afterwards, as we shall see, the Earl of Kildare marched with his army to this bridge, which he broke down, and encamped for the night, before the battle of Monabraher.-John Burke, son of Ulick, "the noblest of the English in Ireland, a vessel filled with hospitality and truth, a link of steel in sustaining the battle," died.-Henry VIII. now (1508) ascended the English throne; and events prove his anxiety to see more closely than any of his predecessors into the affairs of Ireland. In Limerick, we find that he laid the foundation of the Sexton family, which up to our own time, retain much of the lands which he gave to their ancestors. By new Letters Patent he constituted Garrett, Earl of Kildare, Lord Justice of Ireland, and intimated to him his father's decease and his own succession to his kingdoms.3 Always aggressive, and now, more than ever sustained by Royal favor, an army was led into Munster by the Lord Justice of Ireland,

Moore's History of Ireland, vol. iii. 221.

a Ware's Annals of Ireland ad. an. 1502, 1510.

2 Arthur MSS.