Book of Ryans - Declining Influence
Chapter Five:
The Change Years
I will stitch my mouth up with a twisted string
and say no word about their mean complaining,
merely condemn the herd of narrow censors
and the hate they bear my people, O my God.
Padraigin Haicead (c. 1600 - 1654)
The 17th century was a period of great political and social change in Ireland. It was also a time when the great lordships of the mediaeval period ended. This erosion of Gaelic influence helped usher in English common law which England extended to all quarters of Ireland. As England tightened its grip on Ireland, she also mandated new laws that restricted the influence of the Catholic church and Catholic landowners, both of which the monarchy saw as security threats. These laws would burden the Irish social and economic structure even into the 20th century. England viewed the Catholic church as a powerful roadblock to total conquest, so she took immediate steps to make 'Popery' illegal and enacted statues against priests making them common criminals. In their attempt to minimize opposition, England authorized the expropriation of private property from Catholic landlords and farmers, and later would create laws limiting Catholic's ownership of property. These laws would be collectively known as the Penal Laws, and would become responsible for the problems which ultimately climaxed in the rebellion of 1652.
The struggle, between those who clung to their Catholic faith and the Protestant Ascendancy that advocated the exclusion of Catholics from public office, to convert the heathens to the Episcopalian faith would play a significant role in the development of events during the 17th century. Catholics became dispossessed citizens with no rights; and they found themselves unwanted second class constituents in their homeland. These developments, which would have profound impact on Ireland's future, seemed improbable following the Tyrone rebellion. Ireland continued to house pockets of resistance in its interiors, even though O'Neill had surrendered a few years before. The Dublin Parliament petitioned England for their assistance in guarding the frontiers from these troublemakers, and consequently, they enlisted the aid of Sir George Carew to deliver the remaining insurgents to obedience. One of his first tasks was to pacify Florence McCarthy because he knew that he could not fight both McCarthy and James Fitzthomas, also known as the Sugane earl, simultaneously. Carew estimated that both of their armies approached 7000 men while he only possessed 1700 foot soldiers. Many years later Charles O'Conner from Ballingare wrote a letter to Brian O'Conner of Kerry describing that had they been able to overcome their differences, their coalition could have produced the most powerful Gaelic military force Ireland had ever seen:
McCarthy Rea of Carbery's followers were the O'Driscols of Baltimore, Barry Oge Roe, Barry 0ge-Oge, O'Mahon, O'Donovan, O'Crowley, O'Mulrian, and MacPatrick. He was subject in like manner to call on the earls of Desmond, he could raise 60 horsemen and 300 infantrymen. There was a spirit of rivalship among these ancient families which excited among them great enthusiasm on the day of battle, and no power of the English could send against them could have prevailed if they had not been totally split into different factions which prepared an easy conquest for a unified army and made a wide breach long before there was an attack.[1]
Carew was well aware of the strength of this union, but he also understood the petty jealousies that separated them as well. This knowledge drove his decision to create wedges into these tangled alliances and to uncover weaknesses among its various members. He had hired many well placed informers, and his soldiers were continuously on the lookout for messengers relaying information between McCarthy Rea and other members of this assemblage. Carew wrote of one interception in his "Pacata Hibernia" discussing how he seized a letter from Florence McCarthy to Cahir M. Shane Glasse O'Mulryan asking him for 600 men, and if he was not able to provide these soldiers, ask Redmond Burke to come to his aid with that number. During this time, Cahir's force consisted of 300 foot soldiers and 60 horsemen.[2] After quieting McCarthy he moved north into the Palatine to seek out other Gaelic chieftains whom he regarded as disloyal to England. In 1600 Carew took his army of 500 men into Owney 0'Mulryan which he called "a strong and fast country,"[3] describing the inhabitants as notorious traitors, perhaps written to justify his murder of many men, women, and children in the territory. His soldiers entered the camp, and :
found none but hurt and sick men, whose pains and lives they soon determined." And again that he having burnt all the houses and corn and taken great prey diverted his forces into another place, "and harrowing the country, killed all mankind that were found therein for a terror to those who would give relief to runagate traitors."[4]
He then proceeded into Arleigh Woods
"Where we did the like, not leaving behind us man or beast, corne or cattle."[5]
Such pacification methods in time brought Ireland under English control; however, the massive devastation left after Carew's foray was responsible for the great hunger which spread throughout Munster. The poet Spencer wrote an infamous and much often quoted statement which described the impoverished conditions in the Irish interior: "they did eat the dead carrion where they could find them, yea, and one another soon after."[6] As a result of this devastation, the O'Mulryans had no choice but to surrender to the Dublin government, and subsequently were offered pardons from Queen Elizabeth. While O'Neill was still fighting royal forces in the North, the Ryans began receiving pardons and submitting to English authority:[7]
1600 Pardon to:
Connell m, Shane gliss O'Mullrian
Cahir m. Shane gliss O'Mullrian
1601 Pardon to:
Donell Reogh 0'Mullrian of Down
Dermot m, Shane O'Mullrian of Collnemonie
Melaghlin 0'Mullrian of Keammery
Tho O'Mullrian of Keammery
Donell m, Shane O'Mullrian of Liskeen
DoneIllro 0'Mullrian of Liskeen
Tiege M Kenedy O'Mullrian of Liskeen
Tiege m. Donogh O'Mullrian of Kilcoger
Melaghlin reogh O'Mullrian of Down
Donell m, Cahir O'Mullrian of the Glan
Shane m, Teige O'Mullrian of Killcoger
Connor Teigh O'Mullrian of Keilmurrie
Philip oge O'Mulrian of Cellenehowe
Gilleduffe, alias Shane 0'Mulrian of Gellenehowe
Shane O'Mulrian of Cellenehowe, yoemen
Mahowene m Teige O'Mulrian of Cellenehowe
Mahoune, husband, and Murogh m Eo O'Mullrian
Dernmod 0'Mulryan of Tipperary
William Rian of Tipperary, gentlemen
Margaret Cantwell, wife of William Rian
1602 Pardon to
Connor O'Mullrian of Annagh, Esq, Chief of O'Mullrian
Anne O'Mullrian of Annagh, wife of Connor
O'Mullrians of Owney which include Edmond James,
William, Edmond, Tiege, James Donell, Dermod, Donell
Dermod Roe, Edmond, Dermod, Donell, Teig m, Donogh
Enchalle, Edmond, Shane, Owhin m, Rowrei, Dermod m,
0whin, Conchor, William m, Donell, Conchor, Donogh,
Donell, Dermod, Conchor, and others from Owney.
Donell O'Molrian of Killenelongerte
Hugh O'Mullrian of Lishneselle, husbandman
Dermot m, O'Mullrian
Mahown O'Mulryan of Ballim, Keogh, gentlemen
1602 Pardon to
Philip O'Mulrian of Glasderregan
Tieg, Connor and Edmond O'Mulrian of Glasderregan
Shane 0'Mulrian of Couline
Rorie of Bollebane
Hugh O'Mulreane of Curraghin, gentlman
Teig Mulrian
Shane glasse O'Mulrian of Lisanselle, gentlemen
Owny oge O'Mulryan of Cappoghchullin
William Mulryan
Connor Evalle O'Mullrian of Rath
John glasse fitz Daniel O'Mulrian of Kilnathlongart
O'Neill's coalition began to disintegrate as the Gaelic armies conceded one by one, and by 1602 most of the Irish lordships succumbed to English authority. Yet scattered armies continued roving defiantly throughout southern Ireland, and while George Carew had only a small army, his plan was quite simple: disarm the prominent lords and rebels, and once completed, solicit their support in defense of England. Carew considered his greatest prize the surrender of Edmond Fitgibbon, the Geraldine White Knight and cousin to William O'Mulrian, Lord of Owney. Although most Irish gentry such as Fitzgibbon eventually capitulated to Sir George Carew's demands, several proved elusive to Carew's capture. According to the Four Masters, O'Sullivan Beare tried to sneak his army across the Shannon without the earl of Thomond (O'Brien) taking notice. He marched his armies into northern Tipperary, and entered the demnse lands occupied by the Ryans surrounding Sulchoid and Borrisokane:
By the first day's march he went by Glen Garbh to Baile Muirne; on the second day he arrived on the borders of the counties of 0'Keeffe and McAulifffe (Cork), on the third night he arrived at Ard Patrick (Limerick); on the fourth night he reached Sulchoid; on the fifth and sixth nights he remained at Baile-na-Coilleadh; on the seventh night he reached Leathrach; on the eighth night Baile-Achaid-Caoin (Borrisokane); finally he reached Redwood byone Lorrha, where he crossed the Shannon.[8]
The Four Masters also mentioned that there was not a day or a night in which O'Sullivan Beare did not meet fierce assaults from the residents of Ormond and the Queen's own Irish levies. By the time he reached O'Rourke's castle at Leitrim castle, he had only 35 soldiers remaining of the original 1000 who set out with him. The chronicles regaled his heroism by responding that he met the challenges with "manliness and vigor."[9]
Carew was not only an astute soldier, but an extremely able politician as well. By masterfully negotiating from a position of weaknesss, he was able to gain the subordination of several major Irish leaders. What is more important, as a precondition for their surrender he was able to employ the newly compliant leaders to fight against their former allies. Carew's MSS inscribes that his greatest 'prize', the White Knight, assisted him in several campaigns after his surrender, nevertheless, Irish revolutionaries deceived Carew's men to inflict heavy losses upon the White Knight's garrison:
The treachery of a guide brought on a fight between troops of Carew's ally, the White Knight, and a party from his garrison of Kilmallock. The numbers were just 300, including 160 musketeers, on the Irish side, and under 100 on the English, but the Irish broke and ran after suffering heavy loss. The President was distressed that the combat should have taken place, but consoled himself by reflecting on the admirable bearing of his men.[10]
By 1603 the aggression in Munster was virtually over. The main Gaelic lords escaped Carew's armies, and fled to Spain where many joined the King of Spain's army as mercenary soldiers. O'Neill stayed and continued to press his demand for Gaelic liberties, though with each passing day of continued hostilities his followers perished more by famine than war. With the weakened state of O'Neill's armies and his allies now turned against him, O'Neill had no choice but to reconcile with England and hope for the best. O'Neill surrendered to the Queen's agents, and this surrender symbolically signalled the end of feudal Ireland. As Edmund Curtis wrote:
"There were to be no more `lords of countries' and `captains of their nation', no wide territory in which the poets, Brehons, and chroniclers could practice their art.[11]
Queen Elizabeth agreed to compromise and made peace with O'Neill on easy terms. Eventually an act for pacification was granted February 26th, 1603 to O'Donnel as well. In this patent the queen offered to O'Donnell and numerous other nobility a general amnesty and forgiveness. This was again certified through another act, the Act of Indemnity, which extinguished all "offenses against the Crown, and granted special charters of pardon to many thousands of those who had been engaged in the late insurrection."[12] Queen Elizabeth's victory over her Irish adversaries was short-lived as she died on March 24, 1603. The life of Queen Elizabeth, the sturdy virgin, was over, and upon her death was succeeded by James I. Elizabeth is remembered as a sinister figure in popular Irish traditions, and because she never married popular stories evolved claiming that she was promiscuous. Rumors of her amorous adventurers gained wide acceptance, and one 17th century poet referred to her as the "monstrous Elizabeth who did not marry but refrained from no man."[13] These stories probably were not true, and were perhaps created because she regularly met with male diplomats including Irish chieftains such as Sean O'Neill.
After her death, James began offering pardons to Gaelic leaders who voluntarily pledged their fealty to the crown; however, a gentlemen's pledge to surrender was no guarantee that their land would be seized from them by 'king's order'. Hundreds of farmlands were seized of which the bulk came from traitors slain in battle, and consequently, the crown could easily justify the acquisition of 'traitor' lands because they never submitted to English rule.[14]
1606 The lands of Ballibane and Colletomyn in the barony of Upper Ormond were confiscated. The owner, Laghlan Mc Teige O'Mulryan was slain in rebellion.
1607 The lands of Grenan, Gelinshinoye and Knockan in possession by Art McDermot Mc Shane glasse 0'Mulryan, slain in rebellion, was confiscated by the Crown.
1607 The lands of Garret Kenedie in the barony of Kilnalongurty, late in possession by Rory Mc Dermot and Shane Mc Dermot O'Mulryan, both slain in battle in the west of Ireland, were confiscated.
1607 The lands of Roskyn, currently in the possession of Donnell Duffe fitz Rowny O'Mulryan attained.
1607 The lands of Graigneskyn and Moher were confiscated by the Crown because Connogher Reogh Mc Mahown 0'Mulryan, participated and was slain in rebellion.
1607 The townland of Bealrohan in Owny, late possession by Teige fitz William O'Mulryan, slain in battle in the west, were confiscated
1607 The lands of Curraghduff and Downane, the possession of Dermot fitz Edmund fitz Teige and William fitz Edmund O'Mulryan, slain in battle, were confiscated.
1607 The lands of Ballycarnan, late possession of Donagh McEdmund O'Mulryan, slain in battle, received the same fate as the others mentioned.
Colonization
The court of High Commission in 1611 manufactured ideas for increasing crown revenues in Ireland. The commission determined that many of the land titles were insecure, and allowed the Crown to levy fines on disputed titles and, if they desired, increase rents. Lands found to have an insecure title were seized and redistributed to English plantation owners. This also helped increase the tax base to finance the revenue needs of the growing Dublin government. In many cases the local courts found the titles in favor of the present owner, but if the lands were shown to have been obtained at the expense of expelling an English colonist, the lands were then escheated to the Crown. It should be observed that much of the O'Mulryan lands, as with other sept lands, were held in capite from the Crown. The primary exception among the local 'countries' in northern Tipperary was the lordship of the O'Kennedys who leased their lands directly from the Earls of Ormond (Butlers).[15]
1615. December 21st, granted to Sir Henry Peerce the lands of Sanknocke the possession of Edmund Duffee Mc Shane O'Mullryan, attained.
1624. September 24th, an inquisition held in Clonmel found that Cornelius, als Cnogher O'Mullryan was seized in fee (his rents were increased). His land's were held by Knight's service an in capite.
1625. January 17th, an inquisition found that Edmund 0'Mullryan Mc Shane Iternane was seized in fee. His land's were held by King James by Knight's service and in capite.
1625. June 11th, an inquisition was held. The verdict of the court was "That Shane Glasse was son and heir of said Donald. How premises were held the jurors had no knowledge."
One person who profited by these seizures was the earl of Cork, Sir Richard Boyle, who made much of his wealth by disputing old titles of English and Gaelic alike. His meddling into old titles created a disaffection from the old Irish nobility which Boyle tried very hard to please. He spent much of his life trying to become a respected member of Ireland's upper class, and his diary was filled with many attempts to negotiate marriage contracts for his children into respectable families. His remembrances also show that one of his prized possessions was an Irish harp which he kept at Lismore Castle. Many of the planters enjoyed harp melodies, and a few provided patronage to harpists even though such actions were outlawed under the penal codes. This harp was later sent to the Lord Keeper of England as a gift from Boyle. The entries in his diary went on to say that he received this Irish harp in 1632 from his "cousin" William Ryan.
My cousin William Ryan sent me a fair new Irish harp, which I sent to the Lord Keeper of England by Mr. Pessley, or rather by Ed. Hunt who carried him my letters, and to his lady a runtlet of usquebah.[16]
A curious event occurred in 1617 when Peter Carew, who by then was President of Munster, sent a native poet, Angus O'Daly, to insult and satirize the Irish chieftains by describing them as "inhospitable persons, and too poor to give hospitality."[17] O'Daly had made his way through many of the northern parts of Tipperary until he entered the country of O'Meagher. O'Meagher had a violent temper, and became very angry after receiving O'Dell's insult. One his servants rushed forward, and after receiving only minor resistance, stabbed O'Daly in the heart. The death of O'Daly by O'Meagher's servant was an uncharacteristic treatment of Gaelic bards because the Irish were very superstitious and believed that poets possessed great magic. After the knife was thrust into his neck, tradition holds that O'Daly recanted the slurs he heaved on the gentry of Munster:
All the false judgments I have passed upon the men of Munster I recant them; the Meagre servant of the grey Meagher has passed as much of a false judgment upon me.[18]
The O'Dalys traced their heritage to generations of bards and composers of poetry; and ancient records show that family members were employed since the late mediaeval period under the patronage of various Irish noblemen. The O'Dalys descended from the 13th century satarist Angus O'Daly who had seven sons. One of these sons was Cearbhall (which would become a popular name among the O'Dalys), and he became the first of a long line of O'Daly poets to serve the Eoghanact kings. The most celebrated of O'Daly poets during the early 17th century was Cearbhall O'Daly of north Wexford. He remains immortalized because of his love for Eleanor Kavanagh, the daughter of Sir Morgan Kavanagh. Sir Kavanagh refused to let his daughter marry the poet, and rather than remain separated they opted for suicide so that they could remain together for all eternity.