Book of Ryans - Declining Influence
Cromwell in Ireland
The 1641 revolution went unchecked by Dublin because of the serious civil turmoil occurring in England. During this turbulent decade England had two civil wars; the first concluded when King Charles was imprisoned by Oliver Cromwell and his Roundheads. In 1649 Charles had attempted to pacify the Irish Catholics by promising to restore their religious rights; however, Cromwell's Independents, many of whom were of the Puritan faith, wanted the Irish exterminated after hearing the tales of Protestant massacres in Ireland.
Cromwell selected members of the English parliament to prosecute Charles I for crimes against the state. In January 1649, he was brought before Cromwell's court, and Charles refused to answer the charges brought against him. Because the king refused to indict himself, Cromwell heavily persuaded other members of the court, which in some cases meant heavy arm-twisting, to issue a death warrant. By the end of January Charles was beheaded. This left Cromwell the strongest man in England, and he immediately established a representative form of government to replace the absolute monarchy. He had enthroned Charles II as England's new king to provide legitimacy for his changes, but the new reforms made the monarchy little more than a figure-head position.
After completing control of Parliament and the military, Cromwell moved quickly into Ireland to conclude the revolution which started in 1641. His hatred, fueled by religious fervor, sent him into Drogheda where his armies contained the rebel armies fortified inside the city, and when his troops entered the city they massacred 3500 men, women, and children. He justified his actions by claiming that all were enemies of England and the Protestant faith. He then took his army into Leinster and Munster, and wasted the countryside leaving in his path famine and slaughter. Even today the name 'Cromwell' invokes terror, and the curse of Cromwell is considered a slur of the worst kind. Yet for all the slaughter he was responsible for, very few fanciful legends surround his bloody adventures. It appears that the Irish clung to accounts which were being perpetrated by Cromwell's enemies in England, the Royalists. They were spreading tales that a "tapestry of the devil hung in the room where he was born"[1], and the Royalists expanded upon these stories to explain how his army could successfully overtake Ireland in only nine months. Dathi O hOgain compiled several legends, and among the more imaginative stories concocted was about a picture of the Devil supposedly hung at his gate. The story claimed that every time he passed the gate "the devil bowed to him."[2] Another fabricated story surrounded a seven year pact with the devil for his soul. The story gained credence because as Cromwell laid on his death bed a great storm raged in England, and the "Royalists interpreted this as the devil coming for the soul of his agent."[3]
Cromwell eventually left Ireland and delivered the control of his Roundheads to his son-in-law, Sir Ireton. Ireton continued fighting the insurgents for several more years until the last of the radicals surrendered at Galway in 1652. Although many mutineers continued holding their fortified positions in the mountains and woods of Ireland, England offered them amnesty if they agreed to permanently leave Ireland. Hundreds of soldiers surrendered to avoid punishment against them or their families, and rebel leaders hoping to find leniency found themselves at the 'executioner's table' instead.
Insurrection Aftermath
Warrants were issued for the apprehension of those who participated in the Protestant slayings in Cashel on May 12, 1652. This list included O'Dwyers, Butlers, O'Meaghers, and O'Mulryans. Upon the capture of these men, they were tried for the murders at Cashel, and sentenced to hang by the neck until dead. Among those who were executed, the names included Connor boy O'Mulryan who was executed with Richard O'Dwyer of Shevry and Teige Oge O'Meagher; and Hugh Ryan was executed along with Ulick Burke, Lieutenant Colonel Donogh O'Dwyer of Duridrum, and Theobald Butler of Ardmayle. The latter group, as the annals described, were executed "on a gibbet in the wall of the court house at Cashel".[4] The journals mentioned that Father Joseph Everard placed a curse on them because they allowed the massacre of innocent Protestants. This judicial hearing was considered to be the greatest trial held in the county of Tipperary under Cromwell's reign.
Confiscation of Land
The O'Mulryans played a prominent role during this revolution, and as a result, many had their lands confiscated by Thomas Cromwell's administration. These lands were distributed based upon the Adventurers Act of 1642, and the ancient proprietors of the land, such as the O'Mulryans, were sent west of the Shannon River into the wastelands of Clare and Connaught. The remaining inhabitants of Kilkenny, Westmeath, Longford, Kings County, and Tipperary were transplanted into the Baronies of Tullagh, Bunratty, Islands, Corcomroe, Clanderla, Moyfarta, and Ibrickan. The proclamation also forbade the transplanted Irish to cross the Shannon River either by boat, swimming, or by bridge. Irishmen above the rank of tradesman or laborer were to stay near their newly assigned homes until their applotments were assigned, or else face forfeiture of their old homes. These assigned lands west of the Shannon were in a desolate portion of Ireland as this description portrayed:
"There was a large tract of land, ever to the half of the province of Connaught, that was separated from the rest by a long a large river, and which by the plague and massacres remained almost desolate. Into this space and circuit of land they required all the Irish to retire by such a day, and under penalty of death. and who should after that time be found in any other part of the kingdom, man or woman, or child, should be killed by any body who saw or met them."[5]
The Adventurers Act stated that for all who brought in adventure money to help reduce Ireland to submission, they would be given the Irish rebels' lands in return. The process was simple: lots were drawn for the province, and second for the county. A Civil Survey of Tipperary began under the authority of the commission, June 2nd, 1654, with instructions to survey the territory for eventual distribution of land to soldiers and adventurers. Tipperary County had 60,000 Pounds of adventurers' money placed upon it with lands valued at 450 Pounds per acre. The allotments of Tipperary resulted in the following distribution: the baronies and territories of Kilnamanagh, Kilnalong, Upper and Lower Ormond, Owney and Arra, Owney-Mulrian, Slieveardagh and Comsy to be distributed to soldiers; and the baronies of Middlethird, Clanwilliam, Iffa and Offa, Eliogarty, Ikerrin and Ileagh to be distributed to adventurers. The granting of lands was part of a master plan which distributed lands four miles along the coast and border of the Shannon River to soldiers. This plan was designed to place a buffer between the displaced Irish and Adventurers with a band of soldiers between them.
The confiscation of property was one element that affected the Gaelic population; the recusants were also deported to the Continent because as the English believed "the chieftest and eminenst of the nobility, and many of the gentry, had taken conditions from the King of Spain, and had transported forty thousand of the most active, spirited men, most acquainted with the dangers and discipline of war."[6] The remainder of the landed proprietors were sent to Connaught where they were allocated parcels of land equal to one-third or two-thirds of their previous estates, according to their suspected participation in the rebellion. Later Cromwell's puppet, Charles II, handed Ireland another piece of legislation, the 'Act of Settlement', which declared that, "No Roman Catholic who had enjoyed his estate within the rebels' quarters should be regarded as innocent of the rebellion." This law ensured that the old proprietors would not obtain their ancient lands through the civil court system. Another element of the `Adventurers Act' forbade pardons to any rebels that participated in the insurrection, consequently, many native Irish lost their lands, even those who did not participate in the uprising. It was commonplace to find that lands were expropriated from innocent people, honest men were accused of criminal activity, honest men received no trial, and by decree Catholics were declared wicked and expelled of their possessions. One such confiscation involved Darby O'Mulryan of Garrane. In a statement made against him by Cornelia Fleming, it stated that:
Cornelia Fleming, relict of James Fleming, of near Silver-mines. She and her husband were robbed by their landlord Darby Mulryan, Esq., of Garrange, gentleman (!) Then they fled to Limerick Castle. Her husband, exposing himself on the walls, was shot in the side, and, after a miserable languishing, died, having also fallen down. Then two of her children died, "Of famine merely." Then she and another escaped to Dublin after the surrender, "where they remained in great misery."[7]
In the 'Civil and Down Surveys for Cromwell of Transplanted Irish', between 1655 and 1659, a number of Ryans were allotted land in Connaught and Clare. This list also showed the date when the certificates for land were issued:[8]
Name Date Acreage
Teige O'Mullrean of Attybricke Apr 05 1656 100
Philip Ryan of Cowne Apr 17 1656 100
Charles Ryan of Tipperary May 26 1656 50
Teig Ryan of Loughdowhy Nov 02 1656 130
Melaghlin McConnor Ryan of Tipper Apr 02 1656 35
Philip McMahon Ryan of Drombane Apr 02 1656 50
Donogh Ryan of Allingort 50
John Ryan of Cooeldoty Apr 28 1656 239
Rory McDaniel Ryan of Colebrack Sep 17 1655 480
Carles Ryan of Ballycahane May 83 1656 62
Gwen Ryan of Finihy Oct 24 1655 133
William Ryan of Glandar Apr 30 1656 50
Daniel Ryan of Beallaoughter Apr 30 1656 216
John Ryan of Glanishnavy als Moclan Apr 30 1656 141
Teig Ryan, County Tipperary Jun 12 1656 24
John Ryan of County Tipperary Jun 14 1656 25
John Ryan of Glan May 88 1656 1440
John Ryan Fitzwilliam May 12 1656 416
John Ryan Fitzwilliam of Craig May 27 1656 500
Dermott O'Ryan, County Tipperary Aug 30 1657 67
Rory McDaniell Ryan of Coolebrack Aug 17 1655 80
Edmond Ryan of Balliorgan May 83 1656 150
Diermott Ryan, County Tipperary Jun 21 1656 280
William Ryan of Tobber Ryan May 21 1656 310
John Ryan of Drombane Apr 02 1656 35
Connor McMahon Ryan of Turehine Apr 02 1656 50
Henry Ryan, County Tipperary Jun 18 1656 100
Melaghlin McConnor Ryan, Turehine Apr 02 1656 35
Teig McOwnhey Ryan of Tully May 23 1656 140
John Ryan of Clonesynure May 26 1656 160
The allotment of Tipperary lands was originally performed by John Ryan of the barony of Owney, though he was dismissed and replaced by either Teige O'Byrne or Captain Barrington. The documents were not specific as to why the discharge occurred, but it can be speculated that there may have been a perceived conflict of interest.
Following these massive seizures, few of the soldiers and adventurers to whom the lands were granted settled the lands themselves. This was particularly true in the lands of the O'Mulryans because as the mountains protected them from Norman advances, later these same rugged peaks would hold danger to anyone attempting to colonize O'Mulryan lands:
Few...entered into occupation, particularly in the mountainous districts of Ormond, Owney, Kilnamanagh and Kilnalongurty where no protection could be afforded against attack by the former proprietors who had escaped through the net, many of whom now converted into torys or rapparees were ever on the alert to wreak vengeance on the intruders.[9]
One of the more notable outcomes of this survey, Civil and Down Surveys for the Cromwellian government, was that the surname O'Mulryan became obsolete (this also included other derivatives of the name as well). The chief compiler of this survey, Dr. William Petty, substituted Ryan for all occurrences of Rien, Ryane, O'Ryan, Mulreane, and Mulryan.