IRELAND. 
«'f his martial exploits, and emphatically calling him to 
the field of glory. Whatever imprefiion had been made by 
the prudent exhortation of the prelate was totally effaced 
by this rhapfody. Lord Thomas immediately collected 
his forces, and laid liege to the caftle of Dublin, from 
which the archbifhop attempted to efcape to England ; 
but the vefiel,- which was conveying him, being ftranded 
near Clontarf, the unfortunate prelate, an opponent of 
.Kildare, was murdered, not by his diredl order, perhaps 
not according to his wifhes. The inhabitants of Dublin, 
having received a durances of aid from England, clofed 
their gates againft the infurgents, and made prifoners of 
thofe who were befieging the caftle. The city itfelf was 
then attacked, but the aflailants were repulfed. Their 
next attempt was to prevent the debarkation of troops 
from England. A detachment which had landed on the 
north fide of the harbour was cut off by lord Thomas, 
who planted artillery on the promontory of Howth, and 
began to cannonade the (hipping. One veffel laden with 
horfes was taken, and the reft were obliged to retire. 
The new deputy neverthelefs effected a landing with the 
expected fuccours, on which the partifans of Fitz-Gerald 
thought fit to withdraw, and for fome time remained in- 
aftive. 
The following fpring (1535) lioftilities recommenced, 
and the ftrong caftle of Maynooth was taken from the 
rebels, through the treachery of a fofter-brother of lord 
Thomas, who, having ftipulated merely for a pecuniary 
reward, was firft paid his price with punctuality, and then 
banged. This lofs fo difpirited the forces, with which, to 
the number of feven thoufand, he was advancing to meet 
the Englifh army, that many deferted ; and, in the en¬ 
counter of Naas, the reft fled on the firft difcharge of the 
royal artillery. In this unpromifing ftate of affairs, Fitz¬ 
Gerald accepted a treaty of fubmiflion propofed by his 
relative lord Leonard Grey. On a folemn covenant for 
pardon, lord Thomas difmiffed his troops, and accompa¬ 
nied lord Grey to Dublin, whence he was fent a prifoner 
to the Tower of London. Here he learned that his fa¬ 
ther had not been executed, but had died of a broken heart, 
in confequence of his rebellion. His five uncles, three of 
whom had oppofed the infurreftion, were treacheroufly 
feized at a banquet by lord Grey, now appointed deputy, 
and fent to London, where they were all executed, toge¬ 
ther with their nephew. The vengeance of Henry was 
to be appeafed only by the extirpation of the whole fa¬ 
mily, one of whom alone, a boy twelve years old, brother 
to lord Thomas, was, in defiance of the cruel monarch, 
referved by the vigilance of his guardians to regain the 
onours of his ill-fated predeceflbrs. 
Scarcely was this rebellion cruft)ed, when the new lord- 
deputy was embarraffed by the faction of the Butlers, 
now the paramount family; and the emiffaries of the 
pope, with whom Henry was at variance, fpared no pains 
to excite the Irifh lords againft his government. The 
northern clans were in 1539 feduced into a confederacy, 
at the head of which was O’Nial, who proclaimed himfelf 
the champion of the Roman pontiffs, and fondly hoped 
to reftore his family to its ancient importance. Advan¬ 
cing into Meath, he was ravaging the country within eigh¬ 
teen miles of Dublin, when the approach of the king’s 
troops induced him to retreat with his booty. After a 
vigorous purfuit, part of the infurgent army was found 
in a highly-advantageous pofition at Bellahoe, on the 
frontiers of Meath. Here they were boldly attacked by 
lord Grey, and, after an obflinate reftftanee, put to the 
rout. The fugitives communicated their panic to the 
main body, which difperfed with fuch celerity, that dur¬ 
ing the battle and purfuit, continued till night, only four 
hundred of the enemy were flain. This difafter left a 
deep imprefiion of dffmay on the minds of the northern 
Irifh. Grey, notwithstanding his eminent Cervices, in the 
performance of which he had facrificed his honour to his 
zeal, was deftined to experience the ingratitude of a ty¬ 
rant. Perfecuted by the Butlers and the bigots who were 
Vol.XI. No. 754. 
301 
enraged at his activity ifs furtherance of the king’s views 
in regard to religion, he was recalled, and committed to 
the Tower of London, on a variety of groundlefs and 
frivolous charges. Though valiant in the field, he was 
deftitute of the courage required on this occafion. Over¬ 
whelmed with the molt horrible apprehenlions of the. vio¬ 
lence and rigour of the king, he declined a trial, pleaded 
guilty, and was beheaded. 
Succeeding adminiftrations reaped the benefit of the 
vigorous conduct of Grey. His fucceffor, fir Anthony 
St. Leger, was for a confiderable time engaged in receiv¬ 
ing the fubmiflion of the Iriih chieftains; and, to forward 
this difpofition, the title of King, inftead of Lord, of Ire¬ 
land, was in 1541 conferred by the Irifti parliament 011 the 
Englifh monarch, who bellowed titles of nobility on fe- 
veral of thofe leaders. Thefe nobles engaged to hold 
their lands by military tenure in the feudal mode of Eng¬ 
land ; but, ignorant or regardlefs of fuch a fyftem, they 
had no idea that their new dignities could produce any 
diminution of their power, and continued to govern) their 
vaflais by a mixture of Englilh law and Iriih cuftotn. To 
extend the Englifh authority, it would have been necel- 
fary to receive under its protection the inferior chiefs in¬ 
dependently of their fuperiors ; but this policy was not 
confident with the views of thofe who pofielied the. 
chief influence in Ireland; fo that the petitions of fome 
fepts to be admitted into the Englilh jurifdiction, efpe- 
cially that of the O’Byrnes, who defired that their terri¬ 
tory might be converted into an Englifh county by the 
name of Wicklow, were either neglected or denied. 
The change of the eftablifhed religion, commenced by 
Henry VIII. and more vigoroully profecuted during the 
reign of his fon and fucceffor, produced, as might natu¬ 
rally be expeCled, a confiderable ferment in a nation bi- 
gotted to popery. The victory of lord Grey at Bellahoe, 
and the military operations of his fucceffors, damped the 
ardour of the Irifh for a time. The introduction ot the 
new liturgy in the Iriih tongue, in 155®) met with ftre- 
nuous oppofition; and the primate of Armagh chofe ra¬ 
ther to lofe his dignity than to fubmit to the innovation. 
Notwithftanding the attachment of the Irifti to the doc¬ 
trines of the Romifh church, this country, during the 
fhort reign of queen Mary, witneffed none of thofe perfer- 
cutions by which England was afflicted; but afforded an 
afylum to many of the victims of bigotry. Thefe re¬ 
fugees, however, I'eem to have narrowly efcaped its ri¬ 
gours; for we are told that Cole, dean of St. Paul’s, was 
lent over to Ireland, for the extermination of heretics, 
but, tlirough the dexterity of his hoftefs at Chefter, who 
was apprized by fome of his attendants of his errand, on 
producing his fuppofed commiflion in the council in Dub¬ 
lin, he found, to his utter confufion, that a pack of cards 
had been fubltituted in its ftead. The death of the queen 
prevented the receipt of a new commiflion. 
Among the traniaClions of Mary’s reign was the refto- 
ration of young Gerald, the furvivor of the family of Kil¬ 
dare, to the honours and eliates of his anceftors. An in- 
furreClion in Leix and Ofally was quelled with fuch ex¬ 
ecution as to threaten the extermination of the inhabi¬ 
tants; on which thofe diftriCts were in 1557 veiled by act 
of parliament in the crown, and converted into {hires. 
In compliment to the queen, the former was named 
Queen’s County, and its chief fortrefs Maryborough; 
and, with like attention to her confort, Ofally was called 
King’s County, and its chief poll Pliilipftown. In defi¬ 
ance of government, John O’Nial continued to embroil 
the north. Taking advantage of domeftic diflenfions in 
the O’Donnel family, he invaded their poffeflioris in Tyr- 
connel with a boll of followers. Here, however, he was 
furprifed at midnight in his camp by the inhabitants, his 
army was difperfed with terrible daughter, and the chief 
himfelf with difficulty efcaped. We have on this oc¬ 
cafion a ftriking exemplification of the Irifti notions re- 
fpefling hofpitality. Two fpies lent by O’Donnel into 
the enemy’s camp previoully to the attack were fo far 
4 H from 
