case. On the whole, it may be said of the reign of Edward III., that however brilliant it was in English history, it was most disastrous to the English interests in this country; and as far as Irish interests were concerned, Mr. Moore has well observed that during it were laid "the foundations of that monstrous system of misgovernment in Ireland to which no parallel exists in the history of the whole civilized world; its dark and towering iniquity having projected its shadow so far forward as even to the times immediately bordering upon our own."* * Hist. of Ireland, vol. iii., p. 118.--A curious entry on the Exchequer Issue Roll for the year 1376 refers to the close of this reign, and has often been quoted as singularly expressive; it is to the effect that Richard Dere and William Stapolyn came over to England to inform the king how very badly Ireland was governed; and that the king ordered them to be paid ten pounds for their trouble. aw against Absentees.-Events in Ireland at the Opening of the Reign.-Partition of Connaught between O'Conor Don and O'Conor Roe.-The Earl of Oxford made Duke of Ireland-His Fate.-Battles between the English and Irish.-Richard II. visits Ireland with a Powerful Army.-Submission of Irish Princes-Hard Conditions.-Henry Castide's Account of the Irish.Knighting of Four Irish Kings.-Departure of Richard II. and Rising of the Irish.-Second Visit of King Richard-His Attack on Art MacMurrough's Stronghold.-Disasters of the English Army.-MacMurrough's Heroism.Meeting of Art MacMurrough and the Earl of Gloucester.-Richard Arrives in Dublin.-Bad News from England.-The King's Departure from IrelandHis unhappy Fate.-Death of Niall More O'Neill, and Succession of Niall Oge. --Pilgrimages to Rome.-Events Illustrating the Social State of Ireland. COTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS. Popes: Urban VI., Boniface IX.-King of France, Charles VI.-King of Scotland, Robert III. -Emperor of the Turks, Bajazet I. R [A.D. 1877 TO A.D. 1399.] ICHARD II., only surviving child of Edward the Black Prince, succeeded his grandfather, Edward III., as king of England, when only in his eleventh year, and the government of the state was carried on by the young king's uncles. One of the first measures of his reign relating to Ireland was a stringent law against absenteeism, obliging all persons who possessed lands, rents, or other income in Ireland, to reside there, or to send proper persons to defend their possessions, or else to pay a tax to the amount of two-thirds of their Irish revenues; those who attended the English universities, or were absent by special licence being excepted. A.D. 1380.-Edmond, grandson of Roger Mortimer, earl of March, came to Ireland with extraordinary powers as lord lieutenant. Having married Philippa, the daughter of Lionel, duke of Clarence, and of Elizabeth, daughter of the dun earl, he became in her right earl of Ulster; and several of the native Irish princes paid court to him on his arrival; among others, Niall O'Neill, O'Hanlon, O'Farrell, O'Reilly, O'Molloy, Mageoghegan, and the Sinnagh or Fox. One of the Irish nobles who thus visited the earl was Art Magennis, lord of Iveagh, in Ulster, who, for some charge trumped up against him, while thus within the grasp of his enemies, was seized and cast into prison. This act destroyed the confidence not only of the Irish, but, as we are told, of many of the English, who consequently kept aloof from the deputy. Mortimer invaded Ulster shortly after, destroying much property, lay and ecclesiastical, and the following year he died in Cork.* A.D. 1383.-Roger Mortimer, the youthful son of the late earl, was nominated in his father's place, his uncle Sir Thomas Mortimer, chief justice of the common pleas in England, administering affairs for him as deputy. In so absurd a way was the office of lord justice of Ireland disposed of at that time, that a grant of it was next made for ten years to Philip de Courtney, a cousin of the king's, who abused his power by such gross peculation and injustice, that the council of regency had him taken into custody and punished for his crimes. An army was this year led by Niall O'Neill against the English of Antrim; and the following year that prince took and burned Carrickfergus, and, as the annals say, 66 gained great power over the English." At this period the country was desolated by plague as well as by war, the fourth great pestilence of the fourteenth century having broken out in 1382; and the ravages of the disease may be traced for some years in the numerous obituaries which our annalists record.† A.D. 1384.-A fresh source of disorder now arose in Connaught. Rory, son of Turlough O'Conor, and last king of that province, died, after a stormy reign of over sixteen years, and two rival chieftains were set up in his place. One of these, Turlough Oge, a nephew of the late chief, was inaugurated king by O'Kelly of Hy-Many, Clanrickard, and some of the O'Conors; and Turlough Roe, son of Hugh, son of Felim O'Conor, the other competitor, was, about the same time, installed by MacDermot, of Moylurg, the Clann Murtough, and all the chiefs of the In 1880, before the arrival of Edmond Mortimer, a number of French and Spanish galleys retired from the English fleet into the harbour of Kinsale, where they were attacked by the inhabitants, English and Irish, 400 of their men being killed, and their principal officers captured. Holinshed gives this statement on the authority of Thomas Walsingham, but it is not alluded to in the Irish or Anglo-Irish chronicles. †This pestilence Dr. Wilde suspects to have been a visitation of typhus fever.-See Report on Table of Deaths. KING RICHARD VISITS IRELAND. 305 il-Murray. The former was the ancestor of the sept of O'Conor Don the brown), and the latter of that of O'Conor Roe (the red); and etween these two branches of the O'Conor family and their respective dherents implacable hostility prevailed for many years after. The erritory of Connaught was divided between them, by which partition he ancient power of that province was crushed for ever, while the country was laid waste by feuds, which seldom allowed any interval of repose. A.D. 1385.—In a moment of puerile caprice, Richard, who had been leaping honors upon Robert de Vere, earl of Oxford, bestowed Ireland apon that young favorite. He created him marquis of Dublin and duke of Ireland, transferring to him for life the sovereignty of that kingdom, such as he possessed it himself; and the parliament, which confirmed this grant, also voted a sum of money for the favorite's intended expedition to Ireland. Having accompanied de Vere as far as Wales, the youthful monarch changed his mind, and sending Sir John Stanley to Ireland as his deputy, he kept his favorite near himself. Like that of all royal minions, the fate of the young duke of Ireland was unfortunate. The irritated nobles took up arms; the duke of Gloucester, one of the king's uncles, joined them, and de Vere, defeated in battle, was driven into exile, and died in Belgium, in 1396. A.D. 1392.-Our annals mention a victory gained by O'Conor, of Offaly, in 1385, over the English, at the tochar, or pass, near the hill of Croghan, in the King's county; and the Anglo-Irish chronicles record a battle, in which 600 of the Irish were slain, in the county of Kilkenny, in the year 1392. In this latter year Niall O'Neill led an army to Dundalk, where he defeated the English; he himself, although then far advanced in years, killing Seffin White in single combat. This year died O'Neill's eldest son, Henry, who was distinguished for his justice and munificence, but was surnamed, by antiphrasis, Avrey (Aimhreidh) or the Contentious. Henry's sons were warlike, and their names long occupy a conspicuous place in the annals of the northern province. A.D. 1394.—Richard, having suddenly formed a project of visiting Ireland in person, countermanded the preparations which the duke of Gloucester was making by his orders to come to this country. Ireland had become a perpetual drain on the royal exchequer. Notwithstanding the absentee laws, a great number of the Anglo-Irish proprietors resided in England, and the power and daring of the neighbouring Irish septs were daily increasing. The king was resolved to take into his own hands the subjugation of the country; but this was not the sole motive for his expedition. He had just suffered a mortifying repulse in Ger X many, where he hoped to be elected emperor, and had also lost his queen; and he sought by excitement and change of scene to heal his wounded feelings. Richard landed at Waterford, on the 2nd of October, with an army of 4,000 men-at-arms and 30,000 archers, which had been conveyed in a fleet of 200 ships. This was the largest force ever landed on the coast of Ireland; and the Irish, after retiring for awhile to their fastnesses, prudently judged that resistance to such an army was worse than useless, whereupon their chiefs came in considerable numbers to yield him homage. Beyond this show of submission, however, and a parade of his power which gratified his vanity, Richard, with his splendid and costly armament, effected nothing. No measure of justice or conciliation was thought of; nothing was done to gain the confidence and esteem of the Irish; the laws of England were not extended to them; in fact every law was framed against them; and there was no idea of treating them as subjects of the crown, on equal terms with the English, or of securing to them the possession of such portions of their ancient patrimonies as had not yet been wrested from them. O'Neill and other lords of Ulster met the king at Drogheda, and there did homage in the usual form. Mowbray, earl of Nottingham and lord marshal of England, was commissioned to receive the fealty and homage of the Irish of Leinster; and on an open plain at Balligorey near Carlow, he held an interview with the famous Art MacMurrough, heir of the ancient Leinster kings, who was at this time the most dreaded enemy of the English, and was accompanied at this meeting by several of the southern chiefs.* The terms exacted from these chieftains were that they should not only continue loyal subjects, but engage, for themselves and their swordsmen, that on a certain fixed day they would surrender to the king of England all their lands and possessions in Leinster, taking with them only their moveable goods, and that they would serve him in his wars against any others of their countrymen. In return for their hereditary rights and territories they were to receive pensions during their lives, and the inheritance of such lands as they could seize from the "rebels" in other parts of the realm, and for the fulfilment of these hard terms they were severally bound by indentures It must have been immediately before this that Art MacMurrough, according to the Irish annals, burned the town of New Ross (Ros-mic-Triuin) in Wexford, carried off a large quantity of valuable property, and slew a great number of the English. It was with difficulty this chief was pursuaded to offer his submission, and when the English had him in their hands there was some attempt made to detain him, O'Byrne, O'More, and O'Nolan being finally kept as hostages for him |