IRELAND. 



237 



Hi.io-7 



receiving revenues from the colonists, protected them 

 from their own countrymen. 



In the civil wan of the houses of York and Lancas- 

 ter, the English in Ireland took a decided part. The 

 mort powerful families were the Geraldines of Desmond 

 and Kildare, and the Butlers, or house of Ormond. 

 The former adhered to the house of York, and the lat- 

 ter to the house of I -ancaster. Soon after the accession 

 of Edward IV. the power, influence, and property of 



the Butler* were greatly reduced by the Irish parlia- 



Omxod merit, while the Geraldme faction increased in influ- 

 ence. In the year 1463, Thomas, who was the head of 

 this faction, was appointed lord deputy ; hut he was 

 rash and ill advised enough, to inarch into Meath 

 against the Irish chieftains, where his army was de- 

 fatted, and himself nude prisoner ; bat afterwards li- 

 berated, through the affection and gratitude of an Irish 

 chieftain. This lereise, however, had rendered him 

 unpopular at the English court, by which he was de- 

 prived of his government, and afterwards beheaded, on 

 the plea that he had contravened the statute of Kilken- 

 ny against forming connections with the Irish. The 

 Earl of Kildare was' accused at the same time of the 

 same crime, bat escaping into England, he not only 

 obtained his pardon from the King, but also the ap- 

 pointment of lord deputy. 



In the midst of" these events, the English settlements 

 were still feeble and ill protected ; and at last in 1474, 

 of arms was instituted by act of parl 

 hirteen of th 



J 



I4T4 



This i 



of thirteen 



i.uiant. 



the most 



powerful and well disposed persons in that district, 

 which was more immediately and completely under the 

 dominion of the Englith, vii the counties of Dublin, 

 Meath, Loath, and Kildare. By these persons was to 

 be elected annu.lly a captain, under whose command 

 were placed ISO archers on horseback, and 4O other 

 horseneo, DCSMCS one person to attend on each. Thus 

 a force of 213 men (far the fraternity were theimelvrs 

 to act as soldier*) was raised ; but it is evident, that 

 t hi* small fare* was inadequate to the defence of the 

 of the English settlements, and even 

 to 



lOSliatiju of tranquillity within their *ettle- 

 ln fact, the security of the Engh.h in their 

 nossesstoos, was regularly purchased by tribute to the 

 Irish chieftains. The pay assigned to each archer rais- 

 ed by the fraternity was sixpence per day. and five- 



_ far this poipuse was supplied by taxes, 

 and, though to a trifling amount, they were levied with 

 t difficulty. The family of the Butlers, though 

 1 in number* and in power, was not art. 



MtsBated; md the chief surviving member, by his ad. 

 dffwa, ootaiBjM fron Ussj KIBSJ toe rererssoo of the act 



LsviKO- 



fr.rn t'f-.l ' rtrTol lor.l 



was a struggle betwee 



for the King's fcvour. 



K.ldare 



had he obtainotJ this 



of the Earl of Kildare 

 Foe MOW ywn there 



Hid wM BffflM 

 At but, in 147**. (*ra1d Earl of 

 dtfwty. 9c.vc.rfj, however, 



MM -a- J L_ 



VH niprfvcoru oy 

 "ii< ppointromt hr 

 tad with 

 the duties of which be pafai 



' a '* TI - Lord Grey. Against 



" ' i nch elect, that he wa* reinstated in hi* office, 

 M of watch be performed with great prudence 

 and address, til) some yean after Henry VII. ascended 

 the throM of England His being continued deputy 



him, m m adherent of the boose of York, may partly 

 be ascribed to Henry's apprehension of disturbances 

 while he was yet unsettled on his throne ; but it proba- 

 bly also arose, in part, from hi* MOM of the good con. 



duct of Kildare. This nobleman, however, soon after- History.^ 

 wards swerved from the line of conduct he had hither. **" Hr"* 1 

 to pursued, and Henry's suspicions were excited against 

 him, and hia Irish subjects in general, among whom 

 the cause of the house of York had always been popu- 

 lar. Their attachment to this cause they openly ma- umbwt 

 nifested, by the encouragement they gave to Lambert simnd. 

 Simnel. This impoytor was sent, by those who support- \. D. I486. 

 ed him, to Ireland, where he was proclaimed by the 

 lord-deputy and the council by the title of Edward VI. 

 Having thus committed themselves, they prepared to 

 uphold the cause which they had espoused ; and the 

 \ orkists in England gladly co-operated with them ; 

 besides English troops, 2000 Germans were sent by 

 the Duchess of Burgundy, sister to Edward IV. into 

 Ireland, in the hopes that they would draw Henry 

 into that country, and thus leave England open to the 

 operations of the Yorki.-ts. But not succeeding in this, 

 the army was sent over to England. Before their arri- 

 val, however, the imposture of Simnel had been detect- 

 ed, and the people received them every where rather 

 as foes than as allies or friends. They still, however, B <t:le of 

 pushed on, and, as Henry was also advancing against Stake, 

 them from London, the hostile armies met at Stoke, in A D- 1*87. 

 Nottinghamshire 1 , on the Cth of June 1487. The bat- 

 tle was long and obstinate, but at length terminated 

 in the complete victory of the king. Henry, with his 

 uiual prudence, winch alwavi with him was superior 

 to mere feeling, pardoned, with scarcely one exception, 

 the supporters of Simnel. 



The state of Ireland, at this period, presents the 

 same picture of intrigue, domestic feuds, and poverty, 

 which we o frequently have had occasion to exhibit 

 before. Henry seems to have been fully sensible, that 

 territories in this state could be no source of power or 

 revenue to the monarch, but must rather tend to weaken 

 and diitract tho*e parts of his dominions which were 

 in a sounder and quieter condition : but it was very 

 difficult, in the fint place, to detect the causes of this 

 state of Ireland ; and it would have been still more dif- 

 ficult, had the causes been detected, to have removed 

 them by the effectual application of the proper remedy. 



After much inquiry and deliberation, Sir Edward 

 Poyning waa appointed lord-deputy, with instructions A.D. H!>*. 

 to prone the evil thoroughly, and to direct his whole 

 thought* to its removal ; and, in order that his measures 

 might he properly executed, and well supported, he 

 was attended by 1000 soldiers, and by a number of 

 Fnglith, who were qualified to fill the offices of lord 

 chancellor, lord treasurer, and judges in criminal and 

 civil cause*. Hi* adminiitration is particularly remark- 

 able for the acts passed by the Irish parliament, called p yning'* 

 after him Poyning'i Acts. set*. 



Some of these act* were evidently calculated and in- 

 tended to repress the power of the barons, and to pre- 

 vent the recurrence of their mutual quarrels. For this 

 purpose they were forbidden to have any followers, ex- 

 cept their household officers and servants ; and even 

 the lord* of the marches, who necessarily had a large 

 retinue, were obliged to give in the names of their at. 

 tendanu. In order that the sheriffs should execute, 

 their duties with effect and impartiality, they were te- 

 be henceforward appointed by the lord treasurer. None 

 but thoe of Englih birth were to command in the forts 

 and other strong places. These enactments were calcu- 

 lated to preserve tranquillity among the t>an>ns, and, if 

 possible, to inure their fidelity ; but thrre were also 

 enactments, the object of which was to relieve the mass 

 of the people from the oppressions under which they 



a 



