IRELAND (HISTORY.) 



ill 



actually ruled included the four comities of Dublin, 

 Meuth, Louth, and Kiidare, and was called the pale. 

 In the rest of the island, the native chiefs still main- 

 tained their independence. In 1310, Edward Bruce, 

 brother of the king of Scotland, landed in Ireland, at 

 the head of a Scotch force, and caused himself to be 

 crowned king of the island ; but, not being vigorously 

 supported by the Irish, who had invited his assistance, 

 he was defeated by the English, and the Scotch were 

 obliged to return without accomplishing any thing. 

 There still remained one independent prince, in the 

 province of Ulster, whose daughter and heir having 

 been married to the duke of Clarence, son of Ed- 

 ward III., that province came into the hands of the 

 English in 1361. A parliament, held at Kilkenny in 

 1367, forbade intermarriages with the Irish, the use 

 of their language, &c. , under severe penalties, and 

 thus contributed to widen the distinction between the 

 two nations, which it should have been the policy of 

 the English government to amalgamate. In the 

 reign or Henry VI., Richard, duke of York, was ap- 

 pointed chief governor ; and an attachment to his 

 descendants continued to influence the Anglo-Irish 

 during the reign of Henry VII., as appears in the affair 

 of Lambert Simnel. In his reign (1495) was passed 

 Poyning's act (so called from Sir Edward Poyning, 

 lord-deputy of Ireland), which provided that all 

 former laws passed in England should be in force in 

 Ireland, and that no Irish parliament should be held 

 without previously stating the reasons on account of 

 which it was to be summoned, and the laws which it 

 was intended to enact. When Henry VIII., in the 

 sixteenth century, embraced the reformation, the 

 Irish continued to adhere to the Catholic religion. 

 But, in 1541, Henry received from the Irish parlia- 

 ment the title of king of Ireland, instead of lord, 

 which he had before borne, as a vassal of the pope. 

 The monasteries were suppressed, the tribute to the 

 papal see abolished, and, to reward the chieftains for 

 their submission, O'Neil, O'Brien, and De Burgo 

 were created earls ; they were the oldest peers of 

 Irish descent. Under Edward VI., the deputy pro- 

 posed to the Irish parliament the adoption of the 

 reformation. Three archbishops and seventeen 

 bishops left the assembly; most of the clergy fled 

 the country, and those of the lower clergy who 

 remained, being deprived of their incomes, lived on 

 the charity of their parishioners. Elizabeth, in 1560, 

 caused the measures adopted in the reign of Mary to 

 be abrogated, and replaced every thing on its former 

 footing. She endeavoured to improve the condition 

 of Ireland, and employed able men to effect her pur- 

 poses, yet her reign was marked by a series of 

 risings, which finally terminated in a general war 

 against England, usually called the rebellion. O'Neil, 

 earl of Tyrone, instigated by the pope, and supported 

 by the Spaniards, was the reader in this war, which, 

 though successfully begun, ended with the reduction 

 of the whole island (1603). In 1613, the first 

 national parliament was held in Ireland; but of 226 

 members of the house of commons, 125 were Protes- 

 tants, and the upper house consisted of twenty-five 

 Protestant bishops and twenty-five temppral lords, 

 of whom but few were Catholics. The reign of 

 James (1603 25) was, on the whole, favourable to 

 Ireland; the arbitrary power of some of the chieftains 

 was restrained, the administration of justice improved, 

 &c.; but religious troubles were occasioned by the 

 disabilities to which the Catholics were subjected. 

 On the accession of Charles I., Wentworth, after- 

 wards earl Strafford, was appointed lord-lieutenant; 

 and his administration was beneficial to the country. 

 But the republican inclinations of the English resi- 

 dents, the hate which existed between them and the 

 Irish Catholics, the influence of the Irish clergy, who 



were educated In foreign countries, with other cir- 

 cumstances, led to an attempt to shake off the English 

 yoke. Dr Lingard says of this insurrection, that it 

 has been usual for writers to paint the atrocities of 

 the natives and to omit those of their opponents, but 

 that revolting barbarities are equally recorded of 

 both, and that if among the one there were monsters 

 who thirsted for blood, there were among the other 

 those who had long been accustomed to deem the 

 life of a mere Irishman beneath their notice. After 

 the death of Charles, Cromwell was appointed lieu- 

 tenant of Ireland, and, with his usual energy and 

 promptitude, but with great cruelty, soon reduced 

 the whole country. All the possessions of the Ca- 

 tholics were confiscated, about 20,000 Irish were 

 sold as slaves in America, and 40,000 entered into 

 foreign service, to escape the severity of the con- 

 queror. Charles II. restored the fourth part of the 

 confiscated estates to the Irish, and James II. ap- 

 pointed Tyrconnel, a Catholic, lord-lieutenant of 

 Ireland, and filled the parliament with Catholics. 



But the sudden deposition of James from the Eng- 

 lish throne changed the face of matters. Almost at 

 the same time that information was received that 

 William had ascended the English throne, and meant 

 immediately to send troops and supplies into Ireland, 

 intelligence came that James had landed in Munster 

 with an army. On the 24th of March 1689, he 

 entered Dublin. His promises of protection to the 

 Protestants were rendered very suspicious, by the 

 solemn procession with which the Catholic clergy 

 welcomed him into Dublin, and, in a very short 

 time, were unequivocally proved to be insincere. 

 As the Protestant strength lay chiefly in the north of 

 Ireland, James resolved to direct his march thither. 

 Londonderry was to be first reduced. In this city 

 Lundy commanded, a man suspected of attachment 

 to James, but to whom William, in the midst of his 

 embarrassments, had been obliged to commit this im- 

 portant place. The suspicion that attached to him 

 was too well founded. He refused to defend the 

 town; and had it not been for the skill and intrepidity 

 of George Walker, a clergyman, James would in- 

 stantly have gained admittance into it. The inhabi- 

 tants, encouraged by him, resolved to defend the 

 town, and elected Walker, and a Major Baker, their 

 governors. The garrison consisted of 7361 men; 

 but there was not one well mounted cannon, no en- 

 gineer, no person who possessed any considerable 

 degree of military skill. The fortifications too, 

 originally not strong, were by no means in a good 

 state, the stores were few; and besides the garrison, 

 there were 30,000 people, who could be of little or 

 no use, to maintain. Under such circumstances, 

 they determined to defend their town against James's 

 army, consisting of 20,000 men, well equipped in 

 every respect, prepared for the siege, and led by him 

 in person. It is not to be supposed that Walker and 

 his brave associates were qualified to defend the town 

 according to the rules of military art. They depend- 

 ed solely on zeal, perseverance, and courage. Their 

 sallies were frequent, fierce, and destructive to the 

 besiegers; and so confident were they in themselves, 

 that they always kept the gates open, in order that 

 they might sally forth whenever an opportunity oc- 

 curred; and when James's army battered the walls, 

 they told them that was useless, as they might enter by 

 the gates if they were so disposed. The prospect of 

 reducing this place, so defended, appeared to James 

 so distant, that after having continued his assaults for 

 eleven days, he returned to Dublin, leaving his forces 

 with orders to continue the siege. From force, there 

 seemed now no chance of gaining the town. The 

 besiegers, therefore, resolved to wait patiently till 

 famine forced it to surrender. Of the approach of 



