IRELAND. 



235 



11 : -T. 



was the jealousy and ill-will that existed among the 

 h themselves. Inttend of uniting againit the 

 when any of them were attacked, they were su- 

 TH! inattentive spectators of the attack, and seem- 

 ther to rejoice than to grieve at the misfor- 

 tune of their countrymen and neighbours. The con- 

 duct of many of the English lords was proved to be 

 :, both towards their own vassals and towards the 

 the former they pressed down to the earth by 

 exactions the most oppressive, and the latter they fre- 

 quently attacked in defiance of the most solemn and 

 very recent treaties. Another proof that the English 

 settlements were retrograding into barbarism, e\ 

 in the circumstance, that the English were gradually 

 assuming the dress and manners of the Irish, instead of 

 using their endeavours to raise the Iri-h in the scale of 

 nations, by introducing their own among them ; and 

 the motive which-thus led the English to assimilate them- 

 selves to the Irish, spoke still more decidedly in proof 

 of their degeneration, for they thus hoped to free them- 

 selves from the wholesome and necessary severity of 

 the English laws, by passing themselves off as native 

 Utah, 



Such is the picture of Ireland, which the acts and 

 law* of the first regular parliament held here enables us 

 to draw ; but it was almost impossible to adminiejejr 

 any - remedy for the evils thus brought to 



light. The English government, at that period, did not 

 poo ess either sufficient intelligence or sufficient power 

 to remove these evils ; and, even when intelligent and 

 conscientious governor* wrrc appointed, they were so 

 thwarted in their plans, by the open opposition 

 chinations of the English lords, and so 

 occupied in defending the English settlement* 

 from the attack* of the Irish, that they could effect lit- 

 tle or nothing, before the jealousy of the sovereign, or 

 the influence of some favourite, produced their rccal. 



In the mean time, the Irish were naturally anxious 

 to throw off the English yoke. They had beheld their 

 country, to which they were devotedly attached, bc- 

 coi.ie the prey of foreign invaders, who, not content 

 with the conquest of great part of the island, seized 

 every opportunity to dispossess the Irish lords of their 

 possessions, and to oppress and destroy the common 

 people ; ami indeed, by every act. seemed to proceed on 

 a regular and fixed plan of repeopling the island with 

 FsWtish eotonist*. Towards the English, therefore, the 

 feeling t of the Irish were very naturally extremely ho*. 

 iulge tats* fe< lings with effect, to digest 

 any plan, and carry it into ntnttam for expelling the 

 Englub. seemed beyond their power. They were ,ii- 

 vkUd among themselves ; and that strength which they 

 ought to have reserved and nourished, tar the pan-pose 

 iring it down upon the rnmnum enemy, was al- 

 most always wasted in mutual quarrels. 



a long period of time there was no hope of a*. 

 UUnce from any foreign nation. At hut, about the 

 beginning of the 14th century, their eye* were turned 

 ITo. 1314 UfW4 f d * &**hwd "I** country, from it* hostile dis. 

 position towards England, in consequence of the inva. 

 ion of Edward I. they trusted would feel disposed to 

 assist them ; and, from the decisive battle of Bannock- 

 bura, which it had gained against Edward II. they ho- 

 ped it would be able to render that assistance effectual. 

 A* the north of Ireland, from it* local situation, seemed 

 more naturally connected with Scotland than any other 

 ' P*t, so it first applied to that country for assistance. 

 H*i|stsr the battle of Bannockbum, the Irish 



. the sovereignty of Ireland to Robert Bruce, 



KJ..M 

 Bnniit- 

 ndn lit- 



if he would expel the English. This he declined ; but History. 

 he sent his brother Edward with about 6000 troops to ""Y"" 

 the north of Ireland. Against such a force, joined as 

 they were by the Irish, breathing revenge, and acquaint. 

 ed with all the paths and resources of the country, the 

 English were totally unable to make any resistance. 

 The chief governor at this time was Lord Edmund 

 Butler. On him of course devolved the protection of 

 the English settlements ; but, besides the army which 

 he collected, one was formed, and headed by Richard 

 de Burgo. The latter nobleman had long been jealous 

 of the chief governor, and the jealousy now broke out 

 to the prejudice of their own cause; for, though the 

 Earl of Ulster had accepted the assistance of the Irish 

 under Fedliui, Prince of Connaught, he refused a rein- 

 forcement sent him by the governor. The effects of 

 this jealousy were soon apparent ; for the Earl sustain- Defeats the 

 ed a severe defeat from the Scotch, who were still lay- English. 

 ing waste the province over which he presided. As 

 Bruce was sensible, that without the co-operation of the 

 Irish he would be totally unnble to keep his ground, and 

 as ha had reason to believe that Fedlim BUM easily be 

 detached from the cause of the English, he turned all 

 his thoughts to effect this object ; and, at the same time, 

 carried on a secret negociation with Rodcric, who had 

 claims on the province of Connaught. As soon as Fed- 

 lim learnt that Hoderic was endeavouring to take ad- 

 vantage of his absence, he left the English, and return- 

 ed to Connaught ; and his rival being slain in an en- 

 gagement, he then openly deserted his allies, and turn- 

 ed his arms against them. As this circumstance might 

 have had a fatal effect on the cause of the English, a 

 strong force was sent against him, and, after a most des- g att ] e O f 

 persite resistance, he himself was killed, and his army Athcnree, 

 completely routed, at the battle of Athenree, in the A. D. 1316, 

 year 1310. 



The defection of Fedlim from the English cause, was 

 followed by that of several other Irish princes ; to that 

 tile Scotch were enabled to march from the north toward* 

 Dublin ; and having reduced the strong fortress of Car- 

 rickfergus, they invested the capital. But though Ed- 

 ward's army was now still further increased by a body of 

 troop* which hi* brother Robert brought from Scotland, 

 and by the junction even of some English families of 

 distinction, yet he found himself unable to make any 

 impression upon Dublin; and at the same time, he learnt 

 that very formidable measure* were taking to arrest his 

 further progress. In fact, an army amounting to nearly 

 30,000 troop*, most of them indeed ill disciplined and 

 ill equipped, was assembled at Kilkenny, and a new 

 governor, Roger Mortimer, was sent over. Retreat 

 now became absolutely necessary ; but Ulster, into 

 which the Scotch retreated, having been utterly devas- 

 tated by them on their first landing, could not support 

 them. Famine and pestilence attacked them so dread- 

 fully, that they were soon greatly reduced in numbers. 

 The new governor resolved to take advantage of this 

 circumstance ; but be did not entrust the attack to the 

 rabble assembled at Kilkenny. A regular army of 

 1600 men, under Sir John de Birmingham, was sent 

 against the Scotch, whom, though nearly double their 

 numbers, they defeated with great slaughter at Dundalk and Dun- 

 in 1318. In this battle Edward Bruce was slain. The d(U j<' 

 English government, after this great effort to preserve A> 

 their Irish territories, seem to have relapsed into their 

 accustomed indifference about them ; and the usual 

 consequences followed. Instead of the native Irish be- 

 ing stimulated or guided towards improvement by the 

 English, the latter in great number* renounced the 



