Donegal Town : Site of the hallowed ruins o·f the Franciscan Abbey, and O'DonneU's Castle.
THE DONEGAL ANNUAL 10/,,e @ounl'I 0onegal f1Cislorical dociel'I. IRIS CUMANN SEANCAIS DUN NA 11GALL (FOUNiDED AT LIFFORD ON 20th DECEMBER, 1946). REV. RICHARD LAIRD, THE MANSE, ARDSTRAW. PRESIDENT 1953/54.
PRINCIPAL CONTENTS THE KIDN.AJPPING AND IMPRISONMENT OF RED HUGH ... 457 (MORWENNA DONNELLY, Ashdon Hall Saffron '¥alden. Essex). GLEANINGS ON O';oQNNELL HISTORY (FR. CANIOE MOONEY, O.F.M., Killiney) 463 COUNT o;DONNELL PROPOSES A COADJUTOR FOR THE SEE OF RAPHOE·. .. ....... .......... .............. .. .. .... .... 473 (FR. TERENCE O'DONNELL, O.F.M., Ros Nuala) ANCIENT ROADWAYS OF DONEGAL ........................ .... 478 (!PATRICK J. ·McGILL, F.R.S.A.I., Ardara). SEAGHAN MJac 1a'BHAIRD ....................... ........................ 485 (MICHEAL Og MacPHAIDIN). FOUR ANCIENT STONE FORTS IN CO. DONEGAL ..... ...... . 491 (R.F.G. ADAMS!, 1M.A., F.R.S.A.I.) THE NAME BEAL ATHA SEANAIGH .................... .. ...... 499 (T. S. O'MAILLE, !Ph.D.). HEARTH fMONEY ROLLS .. ... ....... . ..... ...... .. .. . .. .. ....... 501 (J. C. ,MacDONAGH, B.Comm.). ANCIENT CHURCH AT MALIN HEA.O. (ANONYMOUS) ... 503 RALLY OF THE CLANS. (C. A. CELKIN) . . ' .. . ' ... ... .. ' ...... ... ...... ' .. " ...... " ...... . 505 THE PLANTATION OF DONEGAL-A SURVEY ··············· 509 (V. W. TREADWELL, M.A, QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY, BELFAST)
The Kidnapping and lmpris_onment of Red Hugh (BY '.\'lORWENNA DONNELLY) THE kid~apping of Red Hugh was 1 his second son, I:ory, and the eldest the climax to a long struggle I sons of MacSwiney Doe and MacSwibetwe2n O'Donnell and Sir John Per- 1 ney. Fanad. Red Hugh . commented rot and was far from being an unher- I drily some years later that his fathe::: alded bolt from the blue. The fi::.·st act "haply (through extremity) consented in this struggle took place in Septem- t give more than he could perform.': ber, 1584, when O'Donnell signed an In fact, neither the pledges, nor the agreement with Perrot at Dunluce, un- delivery of the seven hundred "good,. de::taking to maintain a number of fatt and lardge" beeves materialised, footmen in Tirconnell for as long as either that year or the next (1587). the Queen's pleasure demanded. This Perrot had been deeply vc:xec1 b~ garriso,n turned out to be an undiscip- O'Donnell's hauteur over the removal fined rabble. The commander, a Cap- of the garrison and .he was affront.ed tain William Boyne, ·ransomed the by this failure to honour an-·admit.,. pledges gi·ven to him by O'Donnell and j tedly grossly unjust-agreement. When ~ent others to Dublin. He handed over I the alarm of a possible Spanish landing the four towns which O'Donnell had I made it necessary to ensure the quiesgiven him for the relief of his forces cence of the Ulster lords, he determinto Hugh MacDeaganach O'Donnell, ed to bring O'-Donnell to heel, not only O'Donnell's nephew and "utter enemy," by extracting pledges from him t·o p1rewith the result that Tirconnell was · vent him drawing in Scots, but by .en.,. soon in an uproar against O'Do11ne1l 1 <'ouraging .his enemies, n9t,~b}y. H}-1,gh and in danger of bejng wasted. To I M'Edegany. .. - make matters worse, Alexander 1 This iC·2gitimate son ()f Cal:v_a,gh MacDonnell, Ineendubh O'Donnell's l O'Donnell had always had the govern.,.. first cousin, was slain in an encounter ment's blessing and in March, 1587, he between the English and Hugh /was sent to court . with a special letter M'Edegany. of recommendation to the Q·ueen. He O'Donnell made strong ·reprcsenta- l returned to Ireland flaunting his favtions in Dublin and was finally allow- our and, tacitly backed by the governed to revoke his o:i;iginal indenture on ment, .proceeded to waste Tirconnell. condition that he paid seven hundred 1 By this policy Perrot hoped to get hi~ bes·ves a year and sent in as pledges [hands on Tirconnell, as Fitzwilliams
T1HE .KIDNAPPING OF RED HUGH was I.alter to apply the same tactics to his father was on the return journey Monaghan. It is perhaps a mistake to from Trydathe, for some years later think thtat Red Hugh's attitude to Eng- he stated that when his father was orland was determined by his abduction deired to send in Rory as a pledge, he and treatment in prison. He seems to would have done so "but before he have a~rived in Dublin Castle with an could be in his country, the Lord Dealready developed animus towards piuty sent one Skipper with a bark ..." them,, whiich was undoubtedly formed by his experience of theiir disintegr.at- ACCURACY AND BRILLIANCE inig tactics in Tfrconnell during these fo~mative years of his boyhood. Perrot had moved with telling In May Perrot wrote to Bul'lghley ,accuracy and brilliar.ce. In cne blow outling his famous plan to kidnap one he had collected four of the best of the O'DonneJls and announcing his pledges in Ulster and, by .the terms of intention of making a journey to the the land agreement between the Earl borders of the North. By the time he and O'Neill, drawn the claws of the left Dublin for tlfis journey at the end three most powerful men. The Ulster of the summer, the plans for the ab- chi·eftans had allowed themselves to be duction were complete 1and in charge hopelessly out-manoeuvred by a really ·of Nicholas Skipper, a Dublin mer- fluent stroke of statemanship. chant captain. The Earl sa\w the danger immediThe subsequent course of ·events ately. H O'Donnell went down before was curi·ous and from Perrot's des-his rivals, his own western flank paitdhes we can almost whittle down to would be menaced by ,an ,alliance bea day exactly when Red Hugh was cap- tween o Neill and Hugh M'Edegany. tured --. probably September 24th He addressed himself to the Queen, to (0.S.). Perrot was back in the capital Walsingham and to the Earl of Leicesby the 23rd, when he wrote to the ter, soliciting their aid in .the release of Queen, giving a report of the meetings Red Hugh. But the Government was at Tryda.the with O'Neill, O'Donnell determined that Tirconnell should pass .and t:he Earl of Tyrone. In this letter into the Queen's hands through the he .said nothing about the abduction, pliancy of Hugh M'Edegany. All the though he knew i: was then on foot ; appeals failed and the new Deputy, Sir presumably because he had no news William Fitzwilliams, was instructed yet of whether his venture had to continue Perrot's policy 1and to keep succeeded. But three d:ays later he was Red Hugh "in our Castle at Dublin". j1ubilantly writing to Elizabeth that he The Earl and o .Donnell tried bribe.ry. had Mr. Hugh Roe O'-Donnell under Perrot was ·offered £,2,000 for the liblock and key, Skipper having brought ·eration of Red Hugh aind it was not him, the two iMacSwineys, and Owny long before Fitzwilliams was approach- (.possib1y Orwen Oge) O'Gallagher to ed in the same manner. Dublin on the previous day- September 25rth, 1587. The abduction had been The Gcvernment were secretly eggcarried ·out ''without any stir at all." ing ·on 0 Neill and Hugh M'Edegany to Red Hugh was within a m<J1:!lth of his ·waste Tirconnell and by January 1588 fifthte2nth birthday and one of Perrot's old O'Don:r.ell had nearly been driven reasons for his abduction was that he out of his country. In May however, "ruled that 1e0<untry (Tirconnell) very Ineendubh settled her long score with much," mourished Sc0its and encourag- Hugh M'EdeganY. '!'here was a brush ed thz "strong and disordered" between them ~t ~ongavlin and her Whl'le ,scots despat.ched him. The next m·Jnth MracSwineys. He was kidnapped 4f>8.
THE KIDNAPPING OF RED HUGH she ic.ame calmly to Dublin with O'!Donnell to pay what must have been a somewhat equiv-0cal farewell to Perrot. As she was on the Government's black-list this wias a singularly audacious act. The circumstances :were such that it w.as probably the only occasfon in her life when it was reaspnably safe to Tisk an appearance in Dublin, and doubtlessly she seized the opportunity beeause it made possible a visit to her Benjamin. NOT DECEIVED O'Donnell rwas not deceived and '',returned home greatly disconrtented." L:n the meantime lneendubh was thundering in the background, stormily .asserting that she would maintain the Spanish refugees "and as many as she cam get to sitir up wair.s except she can get her son that is in rt;he Castle 1at the return of O'Donnell, her husband." Ait the beginning of 1589 the Earl once more ·applied to Walsingham and this proving fruitless, he made a last attempt at the end of the yeiar to win the DepUJty over by open means. Fitzwilliams rwaivered. Though he was an avaricious old man he' seems to have disliked ithe business of incarcerating youths .and children. 1In a letter to Burghley he added .a po.stcript advocating that, provided he accepted certain condiUons, Red Hugh should be set free. "I think his liberty would do better service to her Majesty than his imprisonment," he wrote, adding naively, "And upon my woorcl,, no re- . ward maketh me write thus much." O'Donnell offered Fitzwilliams through intermediaries £1:000 for the release of his son and to his intimates £300 "to labour it." Reporting these overtures to Walsingham, the Deputy refe1rred to Red Hugh 1as O'Donnell's "hairbrained and ungr:ado.us imp of son," and warned him against the danger of letting him loose to combine with his mother "a native Scot, enviious to this naUon." In the light of these. comments it seems probable that the hairbra~ned and ungracious imp was the originator of the prison 1rags mentioned by PhiU.p O'Sullivan. Certainly, Red Hugh's apparent refusal to dissemble his contempt and hostility was a contributory, if n'Ot the principal factor,, in his continued imprisonment. In September O'Donnell came to Dublin <to ilntercede in person for his son's liberation, bringing with him thirty iwretched Armada castaways with which he hoped to bargain for Red Hugh's freedom. The Council \vere p1aced in an embarrassing dilemma. As they did not wish to .alienate the old man altogether they concocted an elaborate letter for his benefit, duly signed, which grmited him his request. This letter they secretly followed up wirth another to the Privy Council, directing them t,o pay no attention to the first letter and to resist all representaticc1s from O'Donnell to release his son. "The young man." they w:rote, "is of so proud and stirring a disposition, as we.iuld no doubt be easily led to enterprise any disloyal intention." But the Privy Council remained adamant. Of Red Hugh's treatmen;t in prison, a vivid account is ·given by Captain Thomas Lee. Though Lee does not montion any names it is obvious-, f.rom his dose association with the Earl-who was in his mind when he wro.te: 1Where there has been a stratagem . used for the taking into your Majesty's hands ·3. young youth, hei1r of a great country, ihis manner and usage were most dishonour.able and disco.mmendable, and neither allowable before God nor man. My reasons are these: he being young, and being taken by this strata.gem, having never offended, was imprisoned with great severity, many i1rons laid upon him as if he had been a il1otable traitor and malefactor, and kept still amongst those who 1were ever nortori-O•us .traitors against your Majesty; having no other counsel or ad4f>9.
THE KIDNAPPING OF RED HUGH vice, or company, but theirs, what l Lord Delvin was imprisoned in one of good eould come of this young man I these towers, but unfortunately gives f0ir 1his educatioITT. amongst such, I no clue to the source of this informahumbly refer to your Highness. tion. Delvin, who was suspected of It has alwa!s b:en. as~umed t~at 1 rornp:icit~ in R~d Hugh's final escape, Red Hugh was impnsoned m the Bir- broke pnson himself in 1607, by a mingham Tower in Dublin Castle and 1 rope smuggled into him, and Sir Arthur seve:al w:it·ers have stated that he w.as 1 1 ~hichester, describing '.· this . feat as a conflllled m the '1gr1ate.,' that notoripus · desperate escape" added that it was quarter of the Castle prisons where I "an accident which has often happenthe captives had to rely on alms for I ed in this place." subsistence, like the wretched prison- I ers in the Newgate goal of the city. The THE FIRST ESCAPE grounds for this opinion are very de- There were o'!'lly two sally-ports in batable. We kinow that the grate was the ·old castle, the principal bei~g the deep underground-hventy-four feet I main entrance in Castle Street, with -and that the.re was a better prison in I its drawbridge, port-cullis and flanking t;he upp·er rooms to •which prisOiners Gate Towers. The other led to the out with any •wealth or influence aspired. j offices and was near-but not in-the The fact that on both escapes Hugh Bermingham Tower. It faced towards fled by means of a 1rope would scarce- Ship Street, -which would seem to inly accord with the theory of a subter- dicate ·that it opened interiorly into annean prison, and from a comparison I the Castle precincts'. These details aG:e of the details of the first escaP:e with 1 importc.ut becaus·e it is highly probable what we know about the Castle and that in his carefu~ description of the its prisons it would seem likely that he first escape O'Clery was writing from was imprisoned iin one of the Gate I first-hand knowledge. To1wers. 1 . About eighteen months after In 1685 a plan was made of Dub- Hugh's capture, a number of pledges lin Castle showing it in almost its , escaped from the g1rate, where they original form-at all events as it was 1 had been lodged either before, or shortin Red Hugh's time. Only eighty years ly after, Fitz:williams' arrival. It would after tihe making of this plan. while ,::.ee.m from Eitzwilliams' reports that there 1was still a consider.able amount all pledges were confined in this dunc f the old fabric of the Castle remain- geon or dungeons and most w~iters have ing, the antiquary HarlI'is wrote a de- ,assumed that Red Hugh was also conscripti'on of the builditng and its pre- I fined there, but, apart from the nature vious organisation. Both Hanis and of the escapes, _there is evidence to the also J. T. Gilbert, state that the Ber- contr•ary. Unfortunately within the mingh:am Tower and the Wardrobe (or scop·e of a short paper it is not posGunner's) Tower were used as prisons sib1e to examine . this evidence at -the latter C'0:1tinuing t.o be used for I length. One point must suffice.. Red this purp1ose to the end of the eight- Hugh's friends, Oweny O'Gallagher eent.h century. Ac.cording to Harris the I and Donnell Gorm 1Mac81winey were Gate Towers were al.so used as prisons, J among those who escaped-poor Donheing specially put aside for the Con- Inell Gorm.was recaptured ·a:ict .escapsitable's 1'odigings and ''the custody of i ed ·later v:it:h Hugh. At the time when State nris·o1ners and so late as ·the :Donnell first escaped he was-obvious- - ' I . . . year 1715, one of them together with· 1y not in the. same ,prison quarters as the adjoining buildings was applied to Hugh. otherwise hoiw could Hugh have the 1atter of those uses." He says that ,been isolated from a venture in which, 4GO.
THE .KIDNAPPING OF RElD HUGH 1J1ad he ~ad the remotest chance, he sox1s acted as_agents between -Red _Hugh would :certainly have been the ring- and his friends ou_tside. After Hugh's leader? esc;ape. Fergus sent messages to him It is highly unlikely that with the by his servant,, O'Hanley, to whom wealth and influence of the Earl be- Hugh presented a horse :which O'Hanhind him, Hugh would have been al- ley gallantly christened "O'Donnell." loiwed to suffer the semi-starvation of Other visitors were, a devoted servant, the g,rate if there was a "better prison" who visited him disguised as a horsein "the upper rooms" to which ·a little boy; Edwa1rd Eustace, and Richard gold w0<uld have admittted him. Indeed, Weston, a .man of a speeial trust with if O'Cler1y is to be 1relied upon., he the Earl and his chief aiuditor. These Jeav-es no shadow of doubt that Hugh visitors must greatly have enlivened was somewhere upstairs_- at least l:n tr.-e bleakness of the prisone·r's life and 'the day-and .that the first escape doubtless they brought him comforts was made boldly from the main gate of in the shape of extra food and clothes. the Castle. After describing the fosse, It was Richard Weston 1who was portC'ullis, drawbridge and the guard e_ntrusted with the task of sm1Uggling on the 1gate, he tells_ us tpat Hugh and in to Hugh "certain silk called Sairsinet his companions pianned to slide dciwn to make him a line to slide down by." from one of the windows above "until Another <probable visitor was a gentlethey alighted on the bridge outside the man from Athboy called Henry Dowddoor of the castle." To effect an esc·a.pe all, <who occupied a key position in the at this point the :prisoners mrust there- seeond escape, though what exact part fore have been in one or other of the he 1played is unfortunately very obGa1te Towers, which iwe have akeady scure. It is curious that this name seen-were used as pifisons. O'Clery's should have been connected again account is clear and closely d·etailed; with Red Hugh, as another Dowdall__, he .may have had it from a pa.rticipant, Geo:rge,, a fisherman of the Bann and even frcm Red Hugh himself. a hawk-fancier-had been clapped After the failure of the first esica.pe, into the Castle "for his knavery in the Hugh was returned to the Castle Qnce taking of Re.d Hugh" Standish O'Grady more. It is possible he was iconsigned assumed that the pa.rt played by Dowthis time to either the Bermingham or dall (or Dudall) <was a villainous Qne, the Gunner's Tower, foT in the final but it is clear that his sympathies were e.scape 'We know that he had t,0 man- Irish and violently anti-English. oeuvre the Castle ditch~actually a According to Walter Reagh Fitzmill race beyond the south curtain and gerald, Henry Dowdall was responsible not,, techni:cally, the fosse at all. He for Hugh's final escape and it is very 1was still permitted to receive visitors tantalising that at present we know and a.m,ong these was Fergus O'Farrell, so little about him. High Sheriff of Longford, •and his O'Sullivan also describes the rope sons, who were friends of ",great ac- used in the escape as silk and says that quaintance and familiarity" and who it was very long. Sp·e·aking of Delvin's not only visited him fr.equently. but escape, Chichester described the Castle wrote to him as well. Fergus was a wall as being "of g1reat height"-Deldose friend of O'Rourke, also of the vin's rope 1was thirty yards long. The Baron of Delvin; one of hi:s sons was perilous character of these eseapes bea .friend of Feagh MacHugh O'Byrn·e. comes vividly apparent when we re· Delvin and O'Byrne were both involv- member that the silk sarsnet can only ed in the plans for the escape and it have been smuggled in length by is not unlikely that Fergus and his ·length and then spliced tcgether-not 461.
THE .KIDNAPPING OF RED HUGH a very secure method of making a de- .scent of ·over ninety feet. There was a year's delay before the second escape was initiated. Unfortunately Hugh had been placed in prison with the half-brothers, Henry and Art. O'Neill and the Earl, according to Walter Reagh, would not put the escape on foot sooner because he "did not love Henry and Art O'Neill"-i.e. did no1t want them at liberty, since they represented dissident elements in his domains .. It has been repeatedly asserted that 'Durlough Buidhe O'Hagan was the guide· who conducted the fugitives flrom Dublin to Glenmal1ure. O'Clery plainly states that he was sent later by the Earl ito conduct Hugh northward and there is not a single mention of him being sent to Dublin in any contemporary source. Fr. Paul Walsh says the guide to Glenmalure was Edward Eustace,, but O'Clery iwrote that he wa;:; the faith:tiul servant who visited the captives in the Castle "as a horseboy." At Ballinacor, Hugh bought from an UlSJter man a horse which he rode north. Feagh MacHugh also gave him another horse "which was a white bobtail." The injuries to his feet, sustained in the escape, were so severe that he was 1unable to walk and had to be lifted on and off his horse. Both the Warrens of Drumcondra and the Mooires of Mellifont, respect-· able colonists, had been secret pa,rties to .1he escape plans and volunteered horses at one time. William Warren was half-brother to Garrett Moore and greatly devoted to the Earl. A SEE FOUNDED BY ST. EUNAN KILBARRON AN-D ROSSNOWLAGH Raphoe is .a small p.lace, but the The coast in the ntignnourhooa of See of a !bishop. It w<fs foundE.d by St. Kilbarron is considerably inaented Eunan aibout the cmiddle Of the 6th with coves, which are oftE.n the resm:t century and a CathE.dral was erected of seals, and it frequently occurs that on the ruins of St. Eunan in the elev- whales of a large sizE. make th~i.:: enth. Palacit ,MagonaiJ, Bishop of appearance in the bay. Just before Raphoe in 13&0, ibuilt three episcopal reaching Rossnowlagh (thE. promonhouses, and Bishop Dooley, by will be- tory of the plague .stone ?r We pass queathed £200 for repairing the Cath- Coolmore, "the great nook or inlE.t, a edra.!, such money was applied by his :p:ace much frequented by ·summer succt:•ssor. Within a few years, a round visitors. ThE. curious here may examine tower was standing on a hill in which the remains of a rath or fortress, sitthe bis•hops of Raphoe kept their uated like Dun· Angus or Aran, upon studies. A CE:.ile1brated cross, said to the E.dge of a cliff. Near the village, have been famous for the performanCE.· at a little distance from the roadside of miracles, stood in the' Cathed:al, are the remains of an enormous megbut was aibout the year 1438 removed alithic work of "the giant's bed ll/ to Armagh by Bishop O'Galchor. class." Th · h f h b' h W. F. Wakeman "Erne, ' 18'"'1 "'t e mansion ousE.· o t e is op is a castle and was 1built at the expe<nse of the.· Government in the reign of Charles I. It withstood a seige in the rebellion of 1641. It has bE:en repaired lately by Bishop Oswald and is now a handsome dwelling. "Post Chais-e Companion." JULY ASSIZES 1848 Jane Duddy, "a habitual poultry stealt-r," found guilty of stealing 5 chickens from Hugh Doherty, Ballyboiey, sentence.d to tr!'J.nsportation for seven years. 462.
Gleanings On O'Donnell History BY FR. CANICE MOONEY, O.F.~1. (1) Hugh O'Donnell, titular earl of lege of St. Anthony, where they were Tirconnel, 1608•42. placed under the jurisdiction of Father This Hugh O'Donnell was the son Aodh MacAingil, O..F.M., and their of Rory, the first earl, and of Bridget education continued. In October, 1621, Fitzgerald, his wife, who was daughter Hugh enrolled as a student at the of the earl of Kildare. He was less than University; a few years later we find • a year old at tlhe time of the flight of him in attendance at the court at the earls, and since his mother, partly Brussels; and before t~e end of 1625· for pe:·sonal reasons (she was ·<=xpect- he had entered on the military career in~ the birth of anotihe!' baby) . and which was to occupy him until his partly, perhaps, for diplomatic and pol- death in action sixteen years later. itical ·reasons (in an attempt to salvage King Philip IV of Spain and the some of the lands and rights forfeited An.:hduchess Isabela Clara at Brusseis by Rory's flight), did not follow rher continued towards him the benign favhusband i·nto exile, the baby remained our of their predecessors, by grants in charge of two Irish wetnurses. When and pensions, commissions in the army, the earls set out from Louvain on their and titles of honour. In January, 1632, journey to Rome in February, 1608, the he was mad;e Maestro de Campo of an infant was placed in charge of Anne Irish regiment like his friend and rival Madden, wife of Denis Kelly, who had John O'Neill, titular earl of Tyrone, replaced Sheila, wif.e of Hugh Gallagh- and the eyes of a11 patriotic exiles were er, as his nurse and fostermother. At turned towards those two :scions of the the request of the Archduke Albert, princely houses of O'Neiil and O'Dont~:e party was given quarters in the nell to lead them back some day to free convent of th.e Augustinian Canones- Ireiand once and for all from her an- ::2s, known .as The Wthite Ladies. Rory cient enemy. O'Donnell before departing had given t In order to ensure a lasting friendColonel Henry O'Neill and Fr. Donagh 'ship between them for the common Moo·:'l.ey, O.F.M., guardian of St. An- guod. Archbishop Florence Conry, thony's College, Louvain, a general O.F.M., had p::.-oposed a marriage be,.. right of :supervision ov€r his son. tween Sean and the famous Lady Mary In October, 1610, Hugh, with his Stuart O'Donnell, sister of Hugh, who three young companions, Sean and had been born in Irela.nd shortly after Brian O'Neill (sons of the earl of the flight of Rory, and who, allegedly, Tyrone by his third wife, Catherine to escape marrying a Protestant, had Magennnis) and a namesake (his own fled to Flanders from England about first cousin, t:he son of Cathbharr) March, 1626, disguised in man's clothwere remov·ed on the orders of the ing. Nothing came of the proposal, and Archduke to the Irish Franciscan Col- the eve of the rebellion of 1641 found 463.
GLEA:NINGS ON O'DONNELL HISTORY wise counsel:ors of the king of Spain 1 da bhrigh sin do iarr a ched le congadvising that both of these men should na.mh dfaghail, no gan a fhaghail, agus not be sent to Ireland together, as a Jeigen da dhuthaigh. Agus as amhtneir mutual jealousy might wreck the laigh do-conncas don righ agus da undertaking. Fate took a hand in the chomhairle gan a Jeigen go hEirinn game and neither one nor the other acht a chur ar cogadh na fairrge do but a greate::.· tihan both, the dauntless chathughadh re Frangcachaibh.' Eoghan Rua O'Neill, was "destined to English translation : b~come the leader of the Ulster army A.D. 1642. O'Donnell, who was of the Confederation. John died in caUed Earl of Til"connel, that is, Hugh Catalonia in Spain, 27th January, 1641, .son of Rory son of Hug1h son of Manus and Hugh was kiHed in action in the O'DonneU, was drowned in the sumsumme::.· of the following year during a mer of this year in the sea called the naval engagement against the French Mediterranean Sea helping the king in the Mediterranean. of Spain in the w.ar that occurred beFo:::- three centuries the O'Clerys tween himself and ·the king of France, had prov·ed thems.e!ves faithful and etc. It was in the month of October of efficient chroniclers to the O'Donnells. the previous year, namely in 1641, that ~en the sad news of the death of the O~d Irish and the Old English of Hugih reached St. Anthony's, Louvain, Ireland in general began an insurrectBrothcr Michael O'Clery, O.F.M., ion and war· against the heretics in lamenting the death of his hereditary Irf.land to free themselves from every clhieftain, sat down and penned his disability under which they' laboured. obituary notice on one of his manu- When the Earl O'Donnell, whom scripts, which is now preserved in the we have mentioned, heard about this Royal Library at Brussels. As far as I insurrection and war in Ireland, he am aware, this is the first occasion on went to the king of Spain and referred which it has been published. to his own service and the death of 'Aois Criost, 1642. 0 Domhnaill da O'Neil! before that and the many obligngoirthi Iarla Thire Chonaill, i. · Aodh ations under which the king of Spain M.ac Rudhraighe mhic Aodha mhic was to help the frish. For those reasMaghnasa 1 Domhnaill do bhadhadh ons, he besought his permission to sea Samhradh na bliadhn.a so ar an muir cure aid and return to his country, or da ngoirther Mari Mediterraneo ag e-ven to go without aid. But the king cuidiuighadih le: Ri na Spainne isin cco.g- and his council decided not to let him. adh tarl.a idir e fein agus RiF,rangc, 7c. go to Ireland, but ·sent him to war at A mf October na bliadhna roimh an sea to fight against the French.' bliadhain si mar ata 1641, do thionns- Reading between the lines, one gainsiod seruGhaoidhil agus senGhoill can discern Brother Michael O'Clery's Eireann d'urmh6r coimheirghe chog- enthusiastic support fo.r the rising of aidh in aghaidh na n-eitricedh in 1641, his joy at the union of Old Irish Erinn, da saoradh 6 gach broid da and Old English in the common cause, raibhe orra. a slight r~gret that not an O'Donnell Mar do-chualaidh an t-i.arla 0 but an O'Neill would now lead the Domhnaill adubhramur an coimheirghe forces of his native province, and' a cogaidh sin do bheith in Erinn do- hint of the old native pride in his way ·chuaidh do lathair rfgh na Spainne agus of saying that O'Donnell was helping do mhaoidh a shei1·bhis fein agus bas 1 the king of .Spain and not merely servNeill roimhe sin air agus gach obliog- ing under him. Notable too is the ready aid da raibhe ar righ na Sp.ainne fa acceptance of the English title of earl chuidiughadh le hEireannchoibh, agus ·side by side with refe:::ice to 6 Domh4H4.
GLEANINGS ON O'iDONNEL~ HISTORY naill, The O'Donnell. ,Bib1iog1·ap'hical note: The "'bituary note is from Brussels .Ms 463l:l (505), ff. 178v-179r, the MS which also ieontains the shorter recension of the Martyrology of Donegal. For Hugh O'Donnell, see B. Jennings, 'The career of Hu,gh, son of Rory O'Donnell, earl of Tirconnel, in the Low Countries, 16071642,' in Studtes, XXX (1941), 219-34; T. O Cianain, The Flight of the earls, ed. P. Wals'h, pp. 4-5, 18, 73; Analecta hib~:mica, VI, 116; Cal s. p. Ire., 162532, p. 1912; S. O'Brien, ed., Mea~gra i gcuimhne Mhichil Ui C.hleirigh, p. 78; Commentarius rinuccinianus, I 334. Archivo General de .Simancas, Estado, k.gajos 625, 989, 1749, 2025, 2300, etc. (See section 3 below). Note that while O'Clery says he was drowned,, the authors of the Commentarius put it rather differently: 'f.famma aliquot classis Hispanicae navibus a Gallis injecta, incendio luctuosum in modum periit.' There are se·vernl documents in the Franciscan Library, Killiney, which bear his signature, usually in some such fa.rm as 'OdoneJ, Comes de Tyrconell.' Two or three of them also bear his se.al. Cf. HMC, rep. on Franciscan MSS, pp. 28, 37, 98, 99, 100, 103. For interesting references to him in a letter of Archbishop F·lorence Conry to Fr. Luke Wadding, see id., pp. 104-6. For Ma1·y Stuart O'Donne! 1 see also 1:Yiac-Geoghegan, The history of Ireland, ancfomt and modern (Dublin, 1844), pp. 556-7 (whose account derives fro·m one written in Spanish by Albert Henriques and published at Brussels); O'Donovan in AFM, VI, appendix, 2380-4; Archivium hibernicum, IX, 275 XL!, 136-8; Cal. s. p. Ire., 1625-32 pp. 41, 43, 44, 55 108, 486. MacGeo.ghegan reproduces a lette1~" of praise and commendation addressed to. her •by Pope Urban V1NI on 13th February, 1627, after her memorable escape from England. On the other hand, there is a Spanish letter of ·Hugh O'Donnell in the Franciscan Library, Killiney, D 2, P. 532 complaining about a ·woman going around in man's clothes claiming to be his sister and defaming him and his people. This letter is dated 29th · July, 1630, Cf. HMC, rep. on Franciscan MSS, . p. 28. For ~ory's wife and her reactions to his sudden flight without informing · he::.·, see Cal. s. p. Ire., 1606-8, pp. 295300; C. P. Meehan, The fate and fortunes of Hugh O'Neill, earl of Tyrone, and Rory O'Don.21, earl of Tyrconnel (Dublin, 1868), pp. 230, 241-52. · I am indebted to the autho:.dties of t'he Royal Library o.t .Brusse·:s for permission to print the note by Michael O'C!ery from the :Ms in their charge; to Don Ricardo Magdaleno, director of the Spanish '5tate archives at Sim~ ancas for permission to utilise information from documents in his charge; and fo Dr. Richard Hayes·, 1.:.irector of the Naitonal Library of Ireland, .and the board of trustees for permission to consult their microfilm of the Brussels MS and to utilise information from the Simaneas documents. (2) Th.~ praises of Cineal Chonaill. MS A 14 in the Franciscan Library, Killiney, consists mainly of a copy of Ke.ating's history of · Ireland which once be1ongE:d to the Franciscan F1·iary, Donegal. Bound in at the beginning of the volume are miscellaneous pape:s which did not belong to it originally, and one of these, now m.arktd f. ix, contains two pages in Irish which might be caHed a summary of the glories of the O'Donnel1s and their kindrEd. The scribe has not so far been identified. He may have been ·one of the O'Clery fami:y, or a Franciscan admirer;·of the O'Donndls. At any rate, it would: appear to have emanated from some follower, client, or chronic1er of the O'Donnell chieftains. Owing to teq.rs, rubbing, and fraying at the margins, parts of the text are no longer le,gible. It has the appearance of. 465.
GLEANINGS ON O'DONNELL HISTORY being a rough draft or copy and. has a Domhnuill 6ig le brathraibh d'ord S. number of corrections and additions. Domenic, le ttug ordughadh doibh an The third and following paragraphs, obair do tionnsgnamh agus an mhainconstituting nearly haJf the first page, isder do dhE:namh san mheid do1budh have. been crossed out, but not to such ferrd' lea, agus go ttiobhradh fein na . a. degree as to make the text any more huile neithi do biadh d'uireasbhaidh illegible than it would otherwise be ortha, ionnus go ndernadar an mhainfrom the causes referred to above. i~ot isder do reir a ttoile. Do bhi an litir all the statements are historically de- sain .s. Domenic 'na monament a fen.si}?le, for instance, that St. Colum- ccoimhed san mainisder gusan n-aimcille. was . an Augustinian monk; that sir si ndeighennaigh ·si a ttanuig S~. D9minic wrote personally to armail go Doire gur sgriosadh an mainO'Donnell in regard to the founding of isde!', nachar fag'bhadh cloch ar cloich a Dominican priory at Derry; that innti. Agus 'nu dhiaigh so, se mainisAodh Rua O'Donnell (it really should drec.:ha don Treas Ord S. Proinseis, be Aodh. Dubh) took the .Franciscan mainisder na cCarmelfte, agus fa habit at Donegal; but the text is of in- dheiredh an aim.sir Neill Gairbh mic te:-est _as showing the beliefs and opin- Toirdeal,,_haigh an Fhiona, mainisder ions in historical matters of a learned oirderc an Uird Mionur a nDun na person of the early seventeenth cen- nGall, do bhi 'na blath ar mainisdrech-· tury. .uibh Ei!'enn o j_do-rinnedh f le foghT'he first paragraph ·.speaks of the luim, le erabhad}'l, agus leis an uile ni number of saints, (Colmcille, Adam- do biadh do ri&C}l.tanus ortha, agu~ ina nan, etc.), friars, and devout men and raibhe m6ran dQ dhapinibh naomhtha.' women produced by Cin~al Chonaill, English translation : and of those chieftains who having be- 'In the favours they conferred on queathed their E'._st(lt~s to their heirs, the church of God in the form of buildtook the religious habit. Thus, it says, ing.s, gifts and defending her from her Turlough of t'he Wine took the habit of enemies. In buildings such as the mona monk in Assaroe,_anq Aodh Ru.a took astery of St. Bernard, called the monthe habit of St. Franc.is in Donegal. astery of Assaroe, which Maolruanaidh The second pa:rng:raph treats of the Mor 6 Maoldoraigh built and to which religious houses founded by the Cineal he granted in mortmain a beautiful Chcnaill, the many gifts they confer- countryside along with other valuable red on them, and the way they defend- appurtenances relating to fish, sea, .and ed theh· inmates from their enemies. Jand: The monastery of St. Augustine ' ~sna ·comaoinibh do cui.redar ar at Derry in honour of St. Columdlle, egluis De le hoforechaibh, le tiodhluic- who was a monk and abhot. of the Orthibh, agus lena cosnamh ar escaird- der of St.Augustine. The priory of St. ibh. 'Sna hoibrechaibh mar 'ta maini.s- Domenic at Derry, which was be.gun in der S. Bernard da ngoirther mainisder the time' of St. Dominic himself, who Easa Ruaidli, do thogaibh Mao1ruan- wrote to Domhna11 Og by means of the aidh M61· 6 Maoldoraigh agus dar Dominican friars, as a result of which mharb duthaigh ro-aoihhinn maille re Domhnall ordered them to begin the socharaibh m6ra oile do thaobh eisg, work and to make the priory as large mara, agu.s tin.1• Mainisder S. Aibisdin as they wished and he would give them a nDoii:.e an anoir Ch'oluim Chille do bi everything ·they needed, so that they 'na manaeh agus 'na abuidh 4•ord S. built the priory according to their own· Aibisdin. Mainisder S. Domenic wishes. That letter of St. Dominic was a nDoire do tionnsgnadh an aimBir S. preserved as a monument in the priory Domenic, fein, do sgrfobh d'ionnsufd until these latter times when an arm-. 466.
GLEANINGS ON O'DONNELL HISTORY ed force came to Derry and destroyed estates of the O'Donnell chieftains and the priory so- that the:ce was not left 1 tneir wealth from sea and land, not to in it a stone upon a stone. -And along speak of their rents in1 Connaught and - with that, six houses of the Third Or- lJlster. It refers, among others, to tne der of St. Francis, _a Carmelite priory, rent of ~1oylurg which used to be paid and finally, in tlle time of Niall Garbh humbly even in the author's own time, son of Turlough of the Wine, the cele- and the black rent of Tirawley handed IJrated fria:::y of the Friars Miuor at over fr:eely by the Barrets in order to Donegal, which from the ·time of its be defended from the Burkes . foundation was the flower of Irish The verso of the folio mentions St. monasteries for !earning and sanctity Patrick's prophecy about Conall Guland every other requisite good quality, ban, son ·Of Niall and how well it was and in which lived many holy people.' fulfilled in himself and his descendFr. Ambrose Coleman in his edit- ants. IncidentaDy, it dates St. Pat~ ion of O'Heyne".s Irish Dominicans, p. rick's ardval in the year 423, during 5, says the first trace of the story the papacy of Celestine and the rei.gn about the letter of St. Dominic is to of the Emperor Theodosius. The rebe found in a report drawn up by Fr. maining few paragraphs deal briefly Hoss Mageoghegan in 1622. It is pos- with the e·xploits of early kings and sib!e that this text carries the tradit- chieftains of Tirconnell, Ruaidhri () ion back a stage further. It is an inter- Canannan, Maolruanaidh O Maoldore.sting coincidence that .part of this aigh, and Gofraidh O Domhnai!l. volume was written in the Franciscan (3) O'Donnell references at Simancas friary of Kilda1·e and that MacGeogh- It would be impossible to write a egan-had associ.ations-with that part of full history of the O'Donnells withont tht• country and became bishop of Kil- a thorough search through the vast dare in 1629. collection of documents in the Spanish The next paragraph begins by tell- state archives at Simancas. Whether ing that the O'Donnel!s defended the and when that complete history will be two episcopal cities of Derry and Ra- written is something hidden deep in phc,e, that were under them, from the the womb of the future. Here and now hHetiLs and permitted only bishops of the curious reader and those interested the Roman church chosen by the lords in the history of that illustrious famuntil the English armed force entered ily may be interested to learn in brief Lough Foyle, and the Earl of Tirconnel summary what a five months examinafled Ireland because of his faith, and tion of a cross-section of these archives Red Hugh died in Spain. The writer revealed in this regard. The informacontinues: 'If the ancient histories of tion is made available here by kind the world were consulted, it were dif- permission of Don Riccardo Magdaleno; ficult to find a people who preserved director 'Of the archives ·at Simancas,. their honour Jonger than Clann Mhil- and iDr. Richard Hayes, director cf the· idh and above all Sl.iocht Eiremoin National Library 'Of Ireland, and the who had so many kings of their blood board of trustees of the same library. both in pagan and Christian times, and As the ·.student of Iirish history even when they lost the kingship, they would rtaturalJy e'xpect, the material retained a good part of Ireland to this is most abundant in those legajos or very day, and especially the descend- bundles of documents which deal with ants of Niall of the Nine Hostages the period 1595-1608. from whom came forty-six kings since There· are originals ·of letters signthe introduction of Christianity.' ed by Red Hugh O'Donnell; his brother The next paragraph freats of the and successor, Rory, first earl of Tir4bl:
GLEANINGS ON O'DONNELL HISTORY connell; Rory's son and heir, Hugh; etc. lest he should become discontented. The usual subject-matter of these The Archduke Albert at Brussels le,tters is appeals for military aid for proved a staunch friend of theirs. Ireland or for private financial aid, w·.hen they arrived in Fiande:rs, the and recommendations of various Irish- English ambassador protested at their men for succour or promotion. There prss€nce and the honours they were a!re also memorials on be.half of Red being accorded. He demanded that Hugh, Rory, and other members of the they should be arrested and delivered family, \Yritten by Fr. (afte:i.iwards over to the king of England. The ArchArchibishop) F:l_orence Conry, O,.F.M. duke gave him a firm refusal, ·saying During the war waged against Flanders was a free country, and he En.gland by O'Donnell, O'Neill, and was. not awa:·e that the earls had done Maguire, the Spanish ambassador in anything wrong. The reports of the London and S,pani·sh .agents in En.gland Archduke to the king at this period garnered nEWS items from writteil re- make interesting rf\ading, because they ports and the -rumours that were fly- a.lso desc:-ibe the fu11 retinue that acing around about the progress of the c.ompanied the earls on their flight, Irish . campaign·. arnd sent them back their names, occupation, status, and t.o Spain for the information of the in.t€ntions for the future. .The list inking and his council. Many of these eludes· Tadhg 6 Cianain, who afterAvis.ns, . de Londres can still be read at wards wrote an Irish account of the . . Simancas, but as a n:atter of fact in flight (now preserved in the Francisthe light of the fuller knowledge now can Library, Killiney), Eoghan Rua available to us, we a:·e ahle to disce:·n Mac an Bhaird, the poet, the two that many of them had no more solid noblewomen who acted as wetnur;.;es of basis than the distorted propaganda the infant baron of Doneg&l (the Hugr. a11d the wild, unfounded rumours O'Donnell o.f whom we have treated which are always so p::.·evalent in time in section 1), as well as their two serof war. There were rumours that vants ,who were also in attendance on O'Neil! had sur:rendered, that the Span- the young baron and the husbands of iards had I anded at KiHybegs, even these two women, who were his custhat they had landed in T'yro.ne it~elf. todians and tutors. There a.re a few We can trace the whole sad, tragic diffe!"ent lists, namely, the number who pr.ogress of the earls and their retinue arrived, the number proposing to go frn·m their arrival on the continent to to Spain, the number intending to ·stay their death at Rome, the efforts of the in Flanders. One list contains about king of Spain to keep them fr.om going fifty names. to Spain lest he should offend his There is .frequent referern~e in friend, the king of England, the pope's tho.se d{}cuments to Nuala O'Donnell, proposal that the king of Spain should sister of Ro::.·y and Red Hugh, whose give them a pens.ion, and the king's me:mory has ·been pe:-petuated by proposal that a:s his coffers were empty James Clarence Mangan as 'the: the pope should try to support them. wc.m3.n ·of the piercin.g wail.' She went Finally, the pope housed them and the from ·Lo·uvain to Rome with the earls king of Spain supported them, but they but afterwards made severa1 petitions were sending in constant co.mplaints to th~ king of Spain to be allowed to that the amount aUQfwed them was too return to Flanders where she hoped to niggardly. On one occasion, · when en}oy better health and to be nea:- her O'Neill succeeded in wheedling an ex- nephew, the young Hugh O'Donnell, tra allowance out of the king, he warn- son of Rory, who since Ro.~:y's death ed that O'Donnell shou1d not be told, 1 had become titular earl o.f TirconnelL 468.
GLEANINGS ON O'DONNELL HISTORY The permission was granted, but on penings in the country, but in ".Such l1 condition that nobody else of the Irish way that, if there is bad news, while party at Rome accompanied her, '.so as letting him know he will keep the innot to offend the king of England' by formation from the Spaniards. He nathe prosximity of Irish rebels and plot- turally feared that if the position of ters to his domains. There is also men- the Irish deteriorated too much, the tion of this Hugh, her nephew, at dif- king would be reluctant to commit ferent later stages o.f .his caree.r. himself further. As bad luck would There are contemporary references have it, this letter was discovered by to the death of Red I-fugh at Simancas the English when they captured O'Suland of Rory at Rome. I have treated at livan's castle at Bearehaven. Astutely greater length elsewhere (in an article enough, they decided to use it to drive now with the printers which is due to a wedge between Spaniard and Irish. appear in a coming number of The An English soldier, Captain Harvey, Irish Ecclesiastical Record) of the re- had been befriended by a Spaniard, ference.s to the death of Red Hugh, so Pedro Lopez de Soto, and the lords of let it suffice on this occasion to state the council wrote to Carew, lord preonce again that there is no evidence at sident of Munster, instructing hi:ni ·w Simancas that he died of poison ad- get ~a.rvey as a pretended act of gratministered by an English agent. it,ude to :ti.and over, this letter to Lopez There were two documents to show 'how this traitor O'Donnell among the bundles examined by my I only tempers a· bait to deceive the colleague Doctor Joseph Healy which, king your ma~ter.' The letter was duly on his showing them to me, left a par- I fol'1Warded, as the English had foreticularly vivid impression. One was a seen, to the .king of Spain, :but the letter dated 24th April, 1600, which death of O'Donnell soon afterwards was sent from Donegal by the Spanish ~ook greatly from the effectiveness of Franciscan, Matthew of Oviedo, arch- the English ·.stratagem. It can now be bishop elect of Dublin at the time. It examined at Simancas with its ac::c-.:fmtold of a gathering there of sixty Irish panying 1ette:-s, a vivid reminder of a gentlemen to concert plans for a vigor- great epoch and an impressive memous prosecution of the war for homes ento of a great man. It is still ·.stained and altars. Nowhere, the writer assur- brown with the marks of the fray and ed the king, had his majesty more turmoil between English and Irish at ·" faithful or more valorous vassals than Bearehaven. . .. these. He praises O'Neill and O'Don- Bi:bliographicaJ note: Summaries nel: and says he delivered the chains of a large number of the documents at sent as a gift by the king. He vigor- Simancas relatil).g to Ireland for the ous1y rebuts the calumnies being period 1558-1603 will be found in spread about them that they arc mere Letters and state pap•fr.s relating to rnvages. On the contrary, they are English affairs preseh~.e.il principally mo·st prudent men. The other· docu- in the archiv.es cf Simancas, e~. M.A.S. ment was a letter sent to O'Connor Hume, I-IV (1892-99). Copies of some Kerry by Red Hugh shortly after he of the documents dealing with Red had gone to Spain to seek further aid Hugh O'Donnell wi11 be found in the for Ireland. It is an original signed by introduction to L. O'Clery, Beatha his own )land. He buoys O'Connor up Ao,dha Ruaidh Ui Dhc;.mhnaill, ed. . D. by assuring him of the king's strong ;\Iurphy. For an account of the capture dete:mination to help Ireland what- of Red Hugh's letter to O'Connor ever the cost, and asks him to keep Kerry and the use to which it was put · him, Red Hugh, fully informed of hap- see Pacata Hibernia, ed. S. O'Grady, 4B9.
GLEANINGS ON O'DONNELL HISTORY II, 236, 242-3, 246-7. The Sim3ncas documents consulted by me on whiCh the above summary is based are to be found in Estado, legajQs 611, 625, 840, 989, 993, 994, 1745, 1746, _1749, 1751, 1856, ~860, 2025, 2300. As has been 'Said, this represents a mere cross-section. Limitations of time and the le~ser promise of fruitfulness in Irish materials they held out, prevented an examination of other sections of this vast oo1lection, but it was clear from ~ven the printed catalogues that there ~as material available in them for the . . ~ careers of later members of the O'DC?nne ll family who settled in Spain. ADDITIONAL NOTE : For the fullest accouat in English to date on ·Ma["y Stuart O'Donnell and her flight from England see C. P. Curran., 'The notable career of Mary, Countess of Tirconnell', in ·Journal of the National Literary Society <>f Ireland, II (1916), 53-96. The Anti-Tithes War THE O'DONNELL · G:e.nties, Septeml:e!', 1838 Cattle belonging to the Rev: Mr Early, P.P., seizE.d and sold for th~ Mr. John O'tDonel, Monkstown, Dub-- sum of 12/ - tithes a protest mee.ting lin, acknowledged head of the O'Dor~ - neU Claa. held in Glentie.s, presided over by Mr. William Ba!'r~tt, Attorney, son of thE,1 RE.ctor of Inniskeel. Speake:-s included Attorney Boyle of Ballyshanno:i; Rev. 1 Daniel O'Donnell, of Ardara, and the, RE.vs. Stephenson and Coyle of Ballyshannon. RAP HOE. JUNE. 1848. Three hours rioting between Re.- peaie.rs and Orangemen at Raphoe fair. The Repealers were.•-led. by Maguire from Stranorlar and the Orangemen by Campbe.11 from Castlefin. It began in ARDARA, JANUARY, 18:J4 Hamilton's Inn. Maguire was arrested The.· detachment of the 27th regi- and broke away and he and his party inent, stationed at Ardara, under_ the drove the Orangeme.n to seek shelte-r command - of Captain McPherson, in Caher'·s house, where 'the.y got fire-- marched into Ballyshannon, thE.· bar- arms. The police, with fixed bayontts, racks in Ardara being unroofed in the eventually drove the· Rc.pealers from late storm. tr") town. 470~
Count For 0 Donel· The See BY FATHER TERENCE O'DONNELL, 0.F.M. I Proposes A Of Raphoe Coadjutor ( 1777) nefices or occupy sees in their !-tingdoms. Nor would a Norman - that is, an Anglo-Irish - cleric be anxious to live under the rule of a Gaelic rhiefJus patronatus, that is, the right tain. But when the tide of eff.ective of a Jay ruler to nominate clerics to English conquest began to reach out benefices i11 his territory, or ,at least to the four corners of the country; and the claim of a prince or chieftain to ex- when native ru)ers were engaged in a ercise some control ove.:: ecclesiastical life-and-death struggle for their anappointments, has long been tolerated cient liberties, the question of eccleshy the Ch~!ch. It is a privilege that iastical appointments assumed a ne.w has long survived the disappearance importance. For the Irish chieftain it of the peculiar circumstances that first was now, if never before, imperative gave rise to iL T?-day it is unknown that local prelates should share to the in l!"eiand; but in form~r times, espec- full his political views and aspirations. ially in pre-Refor~ation clays, jus Hugh O'Neill c.~nd Hugh Roe patronatus, or 'right of patronage/ was O'Donnell. the last native leaders to claimed and exercised in this country. make an :;ill-out effort to re-establish The Normans, familiar with the a free Gaelic state in Ireh::.::.~d, were: practice on the continent and in Eng- particularly anxious that none but land, certainly favoured it when they bishops whom they could trust ·shouid overran Ireland. In doing so their mo- fill th~ Sees of Ulster and Connacht--·· tives were purely political. The better the territories where their authority to spread their own Norman ways and was most firmly established. Accordinstitutions they sought to exclude ingly we find them petitioning the priests of purely Gaelic stock, and Holy See to ,gr3nt them the jus pat~ hence of Gaelic cultur:'. t~aditions andj ronatus, ·or rather to confirm th~t outlook, from the territories they had right previously possessed by their carved out for themselves. That was predecessors. In a long draft-instruc'": the spirit hehind the Statute Of Kil- tion prepared seemingly by Archkenny. bi~hop Peter Lombard about autumn, Native chieftains, on the other 1600, for submission to Pope Clement hand, so long as they remained the VIII, and containing recommendations · effective rulers of thel:.- territories, for the guidance of a nuncio to be apcan hardly have ·seen much point in pointed to Ireland, it is stated : 'The claiming for themselves a similar con- sa.me Prince O'Neill and Prince O'Doncession; for they would permit none but nell, and the other chie:!tains request· native priests and prelates to fill be- that, in order to obviate such abuses 471.
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