Book of Ryans - Late Medieval Period
Later Developments
Desmond's revolt was near an end, yet a few powerful chieftains such as Tirlogh Luineach O'Neill began promoting a revolution inspired by plantations of English settlers in north Ireland. He sent a messenger to the Munster lords urging them for assistance, but they had no intention of offering support while Perrott and Ormond's forces were still in the South. The Second Desmond Revolution finally concluded in 1585 when the Earl, after wandering the Irish wilderness, was captured and beheaded. At Elizabeth's request, his head was sent to London Tower and impaled on an iron cage. Tradition holds that the earl "mounted on a ghostly horse shod with silver, sometimes rose by night from the neighbouring waters of Lough Gur. And when in winter a gale from the Atlantic swept up the valleys, the folk of Kerry still called upon the traveller to listen to the famous and intimidating howl of the Desmond gallowglasses borne down the wind."[1]
After Desmond's defeat English adventurers and colonists settled the confiscated lands. Records moreover showed that Sir Walter Raleigh earned thousands of acres of land by providing the Queen financial support during the Desmond rebellion. Queen Elizabeth in 1586 divided Tipperary into four seignories, and the properties were divided among Sir Christopher Hatten, Sir Rowland Starley, and Sir Edward Phiton. Her petition allowed each of these gentlemen to colonise Tipperary and Limerick at their own discretion, and it also stated that "it is the pleasure of the Queen Elizabeth to grant estates of attained lands in free soccage, yielding for every 12,000 acres of Tipperary a yearly rent of 33 Pounds 6 Shillings 8 Pence."[2] The petition also stated that the head of each family must be born of English parents, and stipulated that a female heiress was only permitted to marry another of English descent if she wanted to retain her inheritance. By 1588 over 3000 English immigrants made their way to Munster. Within 10 years, an estimated 12,000 men, women and children moved to Munster making this the largest immigration of English people during Elizabeth's reign, and this movement of English speaking humanity would only be surpassed in the mid-17th century during the great migration to North America.
This distribution pleased Elizabeth, though the old Gaelic gentry in Ormond did everything in their power to frustrate this division of property. These tactics angered the English, and Sir Roger Wilbraham in his letters to the Crown complained that the officers of Ormond interfered with the Commissioners' intent to divide the land among the English. These officers included the Baron of Cahir, Mac J. Brien, Ara; and McBrien, O'Gonagh, Tipperary and Limerick, Donell Mullrean of Owney and O'Dwyer of Kilnamanagh. Without the support of these important families the colonization of Owney and Ara and Kilnamanagh was considered dangerous, and therefore, settlements in the mountainous region of north Munster was slowly populated by men of English birth.
Sir Pierce de Lacy
A union between Honora O'Mulrian, daughter of the lord of Owney, and Sir William de Lacy gave birth to the celebrated Sir Pierce de Lacy, Lord of Bruff, Ballygrennan, Ballycloghy, and Frankfort. Abbe MacGeoghan, historiographer, said this knight was "equally illustrious for his valour as for his birth, and one of the most zealous defenders of Catholicity"[3]. Pierce de Lacy also encouraged the rebellion of 1578 and after many years fighting the Queen's armies was slain July 28, 1601. Sir William de Lacy's mother, Honora, remarried after he died to Sir Richard de Burgh, Lord of Brittas, whose eldest son was Sir John de Burgh. Sir John was executed by Lord Mountjoy in Limerick in 1607 because he refused to take the Oath of Supremacy. This probably was the official version for this execution - it was widely known that he was also unwilling to surrender his chaplain, a Roman Catholic Priest, to English authorities, and this refusal to surrender his clergyman irritated them considerably.
Sir Pierce de Lacy was a well known military captain during the Elizabethan wars in Munster. Throughout this turbulent period, he was an ardent supporter of the House of Desmond, a House like de Lacy, so old as to seem without a beginning, and a House that was destined to rule Bruff indefinitely. The de Lacy's ties to Desmond were reinforced through marriage, and both shared similar traditions and adherence to the faith of their fathers, the holy Roman Catholic Church. Sir Pierce, also had his enemies such as Carew, Lord President of Munster, who described him as "a wise and malicious traitor."[4] Carew later described both de Lacy and the Lord of Glin as "sons of perdition, not to be admitted to any terms."[5]
Tyrone Rebellion
Gaelic Ireland was a demilitarized zone for most of the latter half of the 16th century, and Gaelic lords, such as the O'Mulryans, began to exhibit more independence which concerned the Butlers and the Burkes. Thomas Butler, Tenth earl of Ormond, feared their newly found autonomy, and erected a castle at Farneybridge on the bank of the river Kearnane "as a strength against the O'Dwyers, O'Mulryans, O'Kennedys and O'Meaghers who endeavored to take from him all his signories and duties therein."[6] The duke of Ormond's chronicler, Carte, later wrote of the earl's plans to fortify the Munster frontier, and he provided further details concerning the tense situation between himself and other ancient Gaelic lordships:
He built also the castle of Drehednefarney near the Holy Cross in Tipperary, as a strength to the country against the O'Mullrians, O'Dwyers, O'Meahers, and O'Kennedies, who bordered on that country, and endeavored to take from him all seignories and duties therein, and assisted Redmond Burke till he was drove from thence with the loss of most of his followers by Sir Walter Butler.[7]
Irish militants were stimulated by the continued colonization of the Irish interiors by English settlers, and Dublin's position seemed to reinforce their fears as settlers were given preferential treatment over land rights issues. Property titles were increasingly being contested, and many land-holders, particularly Gaelic Catholic landholders, lost their ancestral homes because of faulty titles or unsupported ownership claims. Settlers whom attempted to seize control from the ancient owner often found themselves ejected from the territory by friends and relatives who saw their seizures as a breech of the Brehon laws. Although many ancient septs united to evict English settlers from their farmlands in Ireland, many others remained loyal to the government sponsored by the English Crown:
The earls of Thomond and Ormond, and the Baron of Inchiquin, inclined always to the side that gave hopes to their ambition; and the desire of titles of honor and court favours prevented them from joining in any league against Elizabeth. The extensive influence of these noblemen marred the good intentions of the Mac-Mahons, Mac-Namaras, O'Connors, O'Loughlins of Thomond, O'Dwyers, O'Fogartys, O'Meaghers, O'Moel-Ryans, O'Kennedys, and other noblemen of Tipperary, and restrained them from uniting against the Queen of England.[8]
Due to these entangled alliances, the O'Mulrians most often allied themselves with their traditional friends, the O'Briens and Burkes. After the death of Fitzmaurice, the Burkes and O'Mulrians realigned themselves with the English Crown by fighting insurgent armies commanded by John of Desmond and the Sugane earl. The Ryans, after nearly 20 years of supporting Irish rebellion finally called it quits. Their lands were in ruins, famine covered the countryside, and the Ryan's numbers were devastated from the continual armed raids by English soldiers. Their desire to distance themselves from the ongoing conflict would be short-lived, however, because the annalists wrote of one struggle occurring late in the Desmond uprising where the O'Mulryans had suffered human losses at the hands of Irish rebels:
Sir Thomas Norris, President of Munster, was inadvertently killed and his troops routed by Richard, the third Lord Castleconnell; the Lord President's army had been mistaken for that of the Sugane Earl (O'Connor). Shortly after this event Richard assembled the Burkes to prevent Dermot O'Connor from linking with Desmond's (Sir Richard) army, but was disastrously defeated and killed; the O'Ryans of Owney were his allies, and many of them perished at the Battle of Bunbisty Bridge.[9]
Later the O'Ryans, along with the McBriens and O'Dwyers, assisted Ormond in defeating the O'Mores who were destroying Munster farmlands and killing English subjects.
The other important noblemen of Munster such as the Fitzgeralds and the de Lacys were less influenced by England, and looked with contempt upon Elizabeth's interferences with their religion or personal freedoms. Eventually, even the strongest influences these overlordships projected could no longer control the desires of the Irish, including the O'Mulryans, for independence from the English monarchy. The Irish were being squeezed out of their homes as the English commissions methodically stole lands and awarded them to newly planted English settlers. They also sought greater autonomy to worship as they pleased, and many wished for the return of the ancient Brehon laws.
The greater militancy of the Irish lords paved the way for another rebellion in 1598. The O'Neill, earl of Tyrone, amassed an army of 2000 men, and burned the colonists' lands in Westmeath, north Tipperary and Cork. As the "Clongowes manuscript" noted, Sir Pierce Lacy held great influence over this "gathering of the clans":
Toward the end of September O'Neill sent letters to Leinster requesting Burke, O'Moore, and Tyrrell, to trust the guarding of Leinster to some of their allies, and to proceed themselves to make conquests and to bring some of the adverse territories over to their cause, and particularly to go into Munster at the invitation of Thomas Ruadh, son of James, son of John, son of the Earl of Desmond. They were persuaded and encouraged to go by Sir Piers Lacy, a brave and eloquent gentleman of Munster; and O'Moore leaving the care of Leix to his brother Edmond, led eight hundred foot and about two hundred horse under Redmond Burke (Baron of Leitrin), and his brother William, Dermont O'Connor and his two brothers Cairbre and Con, and Captain Tyrrell. They did account that province to be the key of the kingdom, both by reason of the cities and walled towns (which are more than in all Ireland besides), the fruitfulness of the country, being reputed the garden of Ireland, and the commodious harbours lying open to both France and Spain. Early in October the O'Moores burst into upper and lower Ormond, and from them they sought neither peace nor friendship, but proceeded to plunder them at once on account of their enmity towards the Earl of Ormond <Butler>. They took five castles of Ormond, one of which, Druimaidhneach, on the margin of the Shannon, Burke kept to himself, for waging war on Clanrickard out of it. They remained for two or three weeks encamped in that country. Amongst those that joined there were 0'Dwyer of Killnamanach, i.e., Dermot, son of Turlough, son of Murtough; the Ryans about Connor-Na-Mainge, son of William Caech (blind), son of Dermot O'Mulrian; the race of Brian Oge of Duhara. All marched into the Geraldine territory, invited by the sons of Thomas Roe, son of the Earl of Desmond, and first came to the County of Limerick. The president, Sir Thomas Norris, who was at the time at Kilmallock, went to Cork to avoid them, not being able to cope with them. All went west across the Maigue into Connell and to the borders of Sliah Luachra and Gleann Corbraighe. About three thousand men came through Aherlow, and John, the second son above, was proclaimed Earl of Desmond...The rebels being then uniting betwixt Rathkeale and Ballingarrie. About which time the Vice-President had assembled the forces of the province with full purpose to encounter with the traitors, finding the said forces to be in shewe about equal to the strength of the enemy: but albeit divers of the noblemen and chief gentlemen of the province were then and there ready, as it seemed, to accompany the governor in this conflict, yet at the very instant the most part of the followers of the noblemen and gentlemen went to the enemy.[10]
The records of the Four Masters observed that after these armies razed the lands of the Geraldines, all the English left Munster. Within seventeen days, they attacked every Geraldine castle, house and estate; and placed the confiscated lands into the possession of the earl of Desmond. Once they had forced the English from their homes, the Irish rebels separated and returned home. It is likely that some English settlers resisted O'Neill's forces; however, rumors that floated back to England suggested that many Englishmen found safety either at Cork, Youghal or Waterford from the 'wild Irish'. As the displaced settlers found security in the walled cities, they began to tell stories of the atrocities committed by Desmond and the Sugane earl's followers. These stories were often exaggerated and untrue, but government officials continued spreading this hearsay to fuel the racial hatred against the Irish. One of their favorite examples was a quotation from Chief Justice Saxy whom described the horrors in Munster by saying that, "Infants were taken from the nurse's breast and the brains dashed against the walls; the heart plucked out of the body in the view of the wife, who was forced to yield the use of her apron to wipe the blood off from the murderer's fingers."[11] Saxy's comment was typical of the hysteria that was sweeping England at the time, and these falsehoods greatly exaggerated the devastation that this Gaelic alliance caused. Eventually castle after castle fell into the hands of the Irish either to be torn down or occupied by their forces. With these massive victories, the elaborate Munster plantations settled by English inhabitants collapsed, and the native Irish resumed possession of their original lands.
Tyrone was able to instill a remarkable degree of unity for an independent Catholic Ireland, and although he could not win over the traditionally loyal Old English, he was able to encourage a nationalist uprising against a foreign Protestant intruder. These nationalists demanded a return of their old laws and Irish customs, and directed that, "This island Ireland shall be at our direction and counsel as Irishmen."[12] One of the few indiscretions made by O'Neill was his demand of exacting a tribute from James Fitzgerald to protect his claim to the Desmond estates. He allowed Desmond to regain his ancient lands, but many resented his return, and with their native humor, called Fitzgerald the "earl of Straw". Tyrone set out a number of articles which he demanded of England. These included the right for the Roman Catholic faith to be preached openly, that cathedrals and churches be returned to the Catholics, and the right for the Church to elect its own officials. Tyrone realized that England would not grant these requests, and he believed that an official denouncement of these requests would galvanize the Gaelic population further in supporting revolutionary change.
The insurrection was universally felt throughout Ireland and beyond. O'Sullivan Beare determined that "upwards of seventy chiefs, Anglo-Irish as well as Irish, who rose in rebellion, while twenty-seven only adhered to the Queen."[13] The Pope also supported O'Neill, and sent him a message designating him Captain General of the Catholic Army of Ireland, and it asked him to continue the struggle with the anti-Papist English. O'Neill's intermediary was Bishop O'Mulryan, and it was through his efforts that the Pope provided his support to the revolution against England. Support for this confederation was also provided by Phillip II, the King of Spain, who saw himself as the "defender of Catholic Europe against the twin threats of Mohammedanism and Protestantism."[14] Future support for this confederacy with arms and ammunition continued flowing to Tyrone, and it was his hope that Spain would send an Armada to fight the Queen's armies. Spain's promise to send an Armada occurred early in the Desmond wars, and annalists wrote that in 1596 an Armada was sent from Spain but ended in dire consequences:
"a further expedition comprising of thirty-one vessels and 15,000 men was dispatched by Philip II of Spain to Ireland, but the fleet was wrecked off Cape Ministered. Among those on board and lost were Henry Mc Donnell O'Mulryan and Robert Lacy, chancellor of Limerick.[15]
Other records showed that Henry O'Mulryan, or O'Mulryane, actually returned safely to Spain, even though his ship was either lost or destroyed. Government documents showed that many Irishmen perished on these vessels, some as soldiers for Spain, but most, with names such as Desmond and Fitzgerald, died as exiles fleeing an ancient homeland that no longer wanted them.
As a consequence of the Ryans active participation in the Tyrone rebellion, many lost their lives over the next few years. In addition, several Ryans were captured, convicted of high treason, and executed:[16]
Donagh Mc Shane Glasse 0'Mullryan, executed for high treason, had his lands in Graignesky escheated to his majesty, James I in 1607.
Connor Mc Teige Ivally 0'Mullryan, late of Drombane entered into rebellion on 11th of January, 1598 with Coagh 0'Fogarty of Monroe. Connor was captured and immediately hanged at Balliraggan on March 12th in 1599.
1599 Geography
Tipperary County had by 1599 been well explored by English geographers, and their explanation also incorporates some sociological interpretations as well:
This county beinge divided into two, the one the crosse of Tipperary, the other the county Pallatyne, is a large circuite of lande and hath two shiriffes, that of the crosse is under the Archb: of Cossell, and hath large liberties, but not lyke the county Pallatyne belonginge to the erle of Ormond. In the crosse the Queene maketh the shriffe her head officer. The Pallatyne is gouerned by sceneshall Justice, a shriffe, and dyvers other meaner officers, which two countyes lye onelie by observation and custom. The whole cuntry conteineth all the landes in manner from the towne of Callane in the County of Kilkenny to Mac O'brien O'Gannoghs cuntry in the county of Lymrike O'Mulreans cuntrey Mac Bryan Ara, O'Downies cuntry, vpper and nether Ormond, Constinagh, Cosehi Muskry whirke, a great part of Harlow, and by ancient division O'Carralls cuntry Elye, thoughe he disclame from yt.
The 'State of Papers, Anno 1598' also described Tipperary in similar terms, and like other geographical references described the county by the by the inhabitants who possessed it rather than the geological features that formed it. The Papers said that it "contayneth of the Countries of Omulryans, Odwyers, upper and nether Ormond, a part of Conshelaghe, Cosheshany, Muskry Wheeke, a great part of Arlo, and all Onaught."[17]
It was during the reign of Edward III in which northern Tipperary was created as a Palatine of Ormond. This lordship allowed the Butlers many privileges, and in later years Ormond's neighbors would complain vigorously about the raiding of their country by bandits of the Palatine. Because of the semi-royal nature of this territory, many of these raiders were sheltered from justice. One of the more colorful assaults into northern Tipperary was led by the earl of Ormond to recover lands and property stolen by English settlers (or as they were commonly called - undertakers). The Desmond war disrupted authority in the Palatinate, and because of this, many ancient lands were seized by English profiteers; and owners were forcibly ejected from their birth right. Ormond was incensed as Richard Bagwell noted, and in 1598 he vented his anger at the undertaker's excesses and took the matter into his own hands.[18]
I pray God' said Ormonde, 'I may live to see the utter destruction of those wicked and unnatural traitors, upon all whom, by fire, sword, or any other extremity, there cannot light too great a plague.' He persuaded Owen MacRory and Redmond Burke, with a mixed multitude of Fitzpatricks, O'Carrols, O'Kennedys, and O'Ryans, into the woods of the northwest of Tipperary, and captured 100 horses laden with the spoils of the Munster undertakers. But not much could be done, and he complained bitterly that he was badly supported by the lord Justices.
One of the sheriffs in the Palatine was Conner O'Mulryan. The sheriff was one of the highest appointed offices within the Palatine, and one of his duties was to apportion the billeting and assessing of troops for the country. Conner most likely employed deputies to help him execute his office, particularly in receiving a portion of the allowances paid for non-existent soldiers. Historians have acknowledged that these officers must have become very rich in their assessments and collections of rents. In the 1584 Desmond Survey, it was mentioned that the earl's officers (which undoubtedly included O'Mulryan) increased their personal wealth particularly if there were an occasion to quarter galloglasses in a particular district. These officers would tax an equivalent sum from the captains of each 'country' and pocket the difference for themselves.