Book of Ryans - The Penal Years
Divorce in Ireland
Divorce was fairly common among the gentry and landowners of Ireland. Because the Roman Catholic Church disapproved of divorce, oftentimes the gentry were married in civil ceremonies; and in some cases a Roman Catholic clergyman was present. Since the Church did not recognize civil ceremonies, the Irish nobility married and divorced freely. There are several references to divorces among the Ryans, but the most interesting reference occurred about 1699:
Petition "for jactitation of marriage against William Ryan of Corbally, who . . . and threatened to murder his wife, and betakes himself to (--) whom he declared to have bewitched him, and gives yr Petitioner no subsistence."
Ordered, to sue in forma pauper is for jactitation, dissolving the marriage with this charming partner.[1]
Penal Laws
The bribed the flock; they bribed the son,
To sell the Priest; and rob the sire;
Their dogs were taught alike to run,
Upon the scent of wolf and friar.
Among the poor; or on the moor,
Where hid the pious and the true,
While traitor knave and recreant slave,
Had riches, rank and retinue.
Arid, exiled in those Penal Days
Our banners over Europe blaze
They're gone, they're gone, those Penal Days,
All creeds are equal in our Isle,
Then grant, 0 Lord, Thy plenteous grace
Our ancient feuds to reconcile.
Let all atone for blood and groan,
For dark revenge and open wrong;
Let all unite for Ireland's right
And drown our grief in Freedom's song,
Til time shall veil in twilight haze
The memory of the Penal Days.
Davis
England pledged that the Irish would receive protection of their liberties and their property from English usurpers if the Irish agreed to abide by the treaty. England also pledged that they should be protected in the free and unfettered exercise of their religion, however, this pledge would only be honored if the Irish were to lay down their arms and join in a peaceful coexistence with the British Commonwealth. The requirement to lay down their arms would begin a period where more ancient patrimonies would be stolen and persecution for adhering to the Catholic faith would become commonplace in this ancient kingdom.
The ink was still wet on the treaty when the Protestant Lord Bishop of Meath began preaching before his congregation about the sin of keeping faith with Papists. The proclamations of anti-Popery marriages and dissolutions of business arrangements were manifestations of revenge and hatred the Protestants held for the general Irish population, and with Sarsfield and his army escorted out of Ireland of which "there must have been amongst them numerous Ryans and O'Dwyers"[2], little opposition remained to prevent persecution and confiscation of Catholic property. Again ancient properties were scrutinized for proper credentials of ownership, and because many documents were lost or destroyed, an additional million acres of land were usurped which forced more Irish landowners into poverty. The British settlers determined not to lose their property, began presenting the English Parliament with petitions to restrict the commercial activities of Irish Catholics. Their petitions argued that if these people received their liberties, Ireland would be no decent place for the British people.
Three years after the treaty was signed, Parliament passed its "Act for the Better Securing of the Government against Papists." This act reinforced some of the earlier penal laws that the local justices ignored, and it also created several newer measures to restrict Catholic opportunities in Ireland. Under this policy, Catholics could no longer hold weapons, their participation in Parliament would be outlawed, and Catholics' rights to inherit land was severely restrained. The inheritance laws disallowed Catholics to hold property, and its measures were so restrictive that it forced Catholic heiresses to marry Protestant men to ensure that Protestants would control their marital property. These laws discriminated against Catholics whom the Irish Protestants believed were the cause of their misfortunes, in much the same way that 20th century American Ku Klux Klan members believe that Jews and Blacks caused their personal financial problems. How embedded the Protestant's belief that Papists caused their problems can be seen by narratives written during this period. When Irish Protestant farms produced less output it was because their Catholic farm laborers were too lazy. If the demand for cattle was low, it was because Catholic Europe was seeking other outlets to buy cattle. If England was at war, the English speculated that the Roman Catholic church inspired its genesis. If commerce fell onto bad times, it was because of Catholic anti-competitive activity that drove Protestants further into debt as this indictment showed:
A petition of one Edward Spragg and others in behalf of themselves and other Protestant porters in and about the city of Dublin, complains that one Darby Ryan, a captain under the late King James, and a Papist, buys up whole cargoes of coals and employs porter's of his own persuasion to carry the same to customers, by which the petitioners are hindered from their small trade and gains. The petition was referred to the Committee of Grievances to report upon it to the House.[3]
England enacted legislation to require all Irishmen who were living among the English of Dublin, Uriel, Meath, and Kildare to dress like Englishmen and to shave their beards "about the mouth." They were also required to assume an English surname of a town (Cork, Sutton, Chester, Trym), or color (Black, White, brown), and art or science (Smith), or an office (Cooke, Butler). These name changes were mandatory if the old Irish were to live among the English, and those who discarded these rules would "forfeit of his good, yearly, till all the premises be done."[4] This explains why ancient Gaelic names such as MacGowan became Smith after the introduction of the Penal Laws.
The Protestants, after having captured every political and judicial office worth securing, used their newly gained influence to uphold their personal interests by restricting the Catholic clergy's ministerial activities inside Ireland. Lord Sydney issued an order in 1693 for the arrest of all secular priests which was a departure from earlier attempts to deport only church leaders. Sydney's excessive actions had its supporters, as the earl of Ormond defended the exclusion of all priests including secular priests because he believed that Priests "did become incendiaries of rebellion."[5] In the same year, he commanded the military to remove all Catholics from its ranks and supplant these vacancies with Protestants. These policies met the approval of the Protestant Ascendancy because England was still at war with France, however, Dublin had to move cautiously to ensure that the Treaty of Limerick would never be officially sanctioned. This they accomplished by reassigning Sydney to dilute the severity of his edicts, yet by making Sydney the scape-goat, it provided a venue whereby the Protestants could dominate Ireland's infrastructure. There were also restrictions placed on how many and what type of priests could reside within the city walls; and although the Penal Laws were universally applied, the Priests in the rural areas were less affected. It was estimated that only 45 Catholic priests served the entire county of Tipperary and a like number was found in Limerick, and most of these were attending to their rural parishoner's needs.
The Dublin parliament passed a set of bills in 1703 with the intent of regulating the Catholic church's activities. Among these articles was a bill to register all 'Popish' priests. This legislation required all priests to appear before a judge, register themselves and their parish, and take out a license to practice their religious duties. Besides providing their name, age, parish and how they were ordained; each priest was required to pay a security bond of 50 pounds sterling as a promise of maintaining peaceful behavior. A priest that did not register by July 20, 1704, was subject to arrest and deportation, consequently, most priests registered because it gave them a certain amount of security before the law. It also permitted them free exercise of their religious duties. Among the priests that registered were the following from Limerick diocese which exemplifies how other priests throughout Ireland were forced to register with the authorities:[6]
William Ryan... aged forty-four years, registered for
St. Mary's parish and St. Munchin.
William Ryan lived at Ballycumin in the county of the
city; aged forty-eight years, registered at Mungret
Parish; was ordained in 1684.
Malachy Ryan lived at Kilonane in the liberties of
city (Limerick), fifty years of age, registered at
Kilmurry and St. Patrick's . . . ordained in 1687 by
James Phalen, Bishop of Ossory.
Within a year another act was created to make all priests take an Oath of Abjuration. This Oath of Abjuration required them to deny the Pope's authority, and the significant elements of the Catholic religion:
I ... abhor and abjure the authority of the Pope and well in regard of the Church in general, as in regard of myself in particular. I condemn and anathematize the tenet that any reward is due to good works. I firmly believe and avow that no reverence is due to the Virgin Mary, or to any other saint in heaven, and that no petition of adoration can be addressed to them without idolatry. I assert that no worship or reverence is due to the sacrament of the Lord's supper or to the elements of bread and wine after consecration may be made. I believe there is no purgatory but that it is a Popish invention, so is also the tenet that only the Pope can grant indulgences. I also firmly believe that neither the pope nor any other Priest can remit sins, as the papists rave. And all this I swear.
The majority of clergymen refused to take this oath, as records showed that only 33 of the 1089 registered priests in 1704 recited the oath. The oath was contrary to Roman Canon Law, and the recitation of the Oath of Abjuration was tantamount to denying the basic tenets ascribed by Church philosophy. Their refusal to take this oath forced many priests to find seclusion in the country where the local population would hide them from the county justices. A few who remained in the cities recited the oath so they could move without fear to continue their ministerial functions unhampered. The justices began prosecuting unregistered priests in 1711, and the government's rolls contain a lengthy list of 'papist priests' performing religious duties unlawfully. Among the names on the rolls includes Laurence Ryan which shows that on July 20th, 1717 "a true bill was found against Laurence Ryan for saying Mass."[7] The Dublin government suspected that the total number of unregistered priests was greater than officially acknowledged, and in their attempt to find these outlawed priests hired bounty hunters in 1724. The authorities needed to legitimize their activities, and therefore, they passed legislation declaring "prosecuting and informing against Papists was an honourable service to the Government."[8] This resolution made the trade of informer a respected and lucrative business, and history showed that many of these men came from another persecuted race - the Jewish race, especially Portuguese Jews "whose sufferings and degradation had made them fit instruments of persecution."[9]
A few years later additional penal regulations were added that made it difficult for the two 'races' to intermingle. A law passed in 1716 declared it illegal for a priest to marry a Protestant to a Catholic. Laws were already in place that discouraged such relationships, however, this was the first time that a priest could be sentenced to death for performing such a ceremony. One of the first cases involved a priest in the diocese of Limerick:[10]
...a victim was found in limerick to vindicate the law in the person of the Rev. Timothy Ryan who was committed to prison by Mayor Pierse for such a crime, and in the routine of legal machinery was found guilty by a Protestant jury and in due course executed at Gallows Green.
Economic Climate
For God's sake, let us stop, sir, for we've got no place to go!
I'm sure you wouldn't turn us out in all that blinding snow.
Ah, look at those poor children, sir, they'll soon be left alone;
For God's sake, don't evict us from our little Irish home!
'A New Song Entitled the Kerry Eviction'
Broadside, Nicholson, Belfast
The majority of Irish Catholics lived very simple lives, and after the 'Penal Laws' made it illegal to own a horse above five pounds or inherit land many of the Irish were driven into poverty. Their typical home was of crude proportions, and held together by finely heated mud. The roof was built of thatch that consisted of any material they could find. There were few windows, and the most important part of this home was the fireplace. This hearth provided heat during the winter, and it was used to prepare the Irish dinner that usually consisted of potatoes and milk. The fireside also provided household comfort as the family gathered around its fire, after work in the field was completed. The farmer produced all food from the lands he farmed, and the size of his crop depended upon the size of his family. Wheat, oats and potatoes were raised for the family's meals, while flax combined with wool was raised to produce yarn. Because the penal laws made it difficult for Catholics to accumulate wealth or own property, very few 'papists' lived openly among the ranks of the wealthy. Even the Irish gentry lived very simply in thatched cabins. In 1739, it was reported that "there are not twenty Papists in Ireland who possess each 1,000 pounds a year in land and the estates belonging to others of a less yearly value are proportionally few."[11]
This observation can be supported by analyzing the ownership of land before and after the rebellion of 1641. In 1640, the Catholics possessed nearly 60 percent of the land in Ireland; however, by 1690 ownership had been reduced to 22 percent. As more confiscations of disputed land titles continued, Irish Catholics could only claim 14 per cent ownership of land after the Williamite Wars. Even this figure slowly eroded because the Penal Codes forced many to become renters as the 18th century progressed. Many Irish peasants leased land from the landowners at set rentals, generally between one pound and two pounds per acre. One sample journal entry grants rental contracts to Patrick Ryan:
Patrick Ryan from Carrick-on-Suir in Tipperary
leased 22 acres from William Wall, in 1744, for
16.18 pounds a year.[12]
In Tipperary and other areas of the South, three classes of citizens evolved. The first class formed the landlords, sometimes referred to as the church lords because they were predominantly Protestant and preserved by the Protestant clergy. The landlords were often described as middlemen and responsible for setting high rents and collecting rents from their obedient tenants. The second class were the tenants of the land, much as Patrick Ryan mentioned above, and often referred to as "bog farmers." These 'bog farmers' including others of Gaelic descent were usually described as the 'mere Irish' by British documents, and they generally rented 20 to 40 acres. Finally the third class were the laborers, and this group encompassed many occupational types such as servants, general laborers to the landlord, and shopkeepers. Many in this class were descendants of farmers, but because the family holding could not be split into smaller segments, many ventured into other trades outside of farming. The latter two classes were predominantly Catholic in its composition.
Whatever their class, gentry or peasant, old or new, they all suffered the same hardships that resulted from the numerous famines which occurred later in the century. There were six famines by 1741, and starvation, disease and pestilence took over 400,000 lives during this time. The worst famine of this century occurred in 1740 which eventuated from a 1739 December frost that destroyed the planted potato crops. As the potato was the primary source of food for most of the population, unavoidable starvation swept through this island. It also brought along epidemics such as typhus, tuberculosis, bronchial and rheumatic conditions, and smallpox. Because of the extreme hardship caused by this situation, many of the young men fled to the new world, including both Protestant and Catholic men. America was one of their destinations, but they also went to fight European battles in which they had no real interest. They found great opportunity outside of Ireland and become administrators in foreign countries; they also developed a fascination for commerce, science and the arts. One Irishman who exemplified success outside of Ireland was Lacy Ryan who was born about 1694 to a tailor in Westminister, England.
Ryan initially studied for a career in law, but in 1710 he deserted this career for acting. His first major role was in Hamlet, and he quickly gained notoriety for the numerous dramatic roles he played. His dramatic performances were easily recognizable because he had a 'drawling, croaking accent'[13] which resulted from a bullet injury to his jaw while he was being robbed. Among the roles he played during his remarkable career included: Granius in 'Caius Marius', Valentine in the 'Wife's Relief, or the Husband's Cure', Astrolabe in 'Wife of Bath', Arcas in 'Victim', and countless other productions. Ryan never achieved 'super-stardom' as some of his peers had, yet he was still regarded as one of the finest actors of his day:
After his first success as Marcus in Addison's 'Cato,' Ryan enjoyed for nearly thirty years a claim rarely disputed to the lovers in tragedy and the fine gentlemen in comedy. Above the middle height, easy rather than graceful in action and deportment, and awkward in the management of the head, he appeared at times extravagantly ridiculous in characters such as Phocyas or Sir George Airy, yet for a long time he was highly esteemed.[14]
The White Boys
A crooked deal has robbed us of our claim
And all our rights in Ireland are swept away.
The Gaels are stripped in Ireland now at last
And now let the grave be dug of every man,
Or let them get their pass and cross the waves
And promise to stay gone to their dying day.
Seafra O'Donnchadha
A murrain broke out in Europe in 1758, but it was most noticeable in Germany, Holland, and Belgium. To prevent the spread of this disease to England, the English parliament stopped the import of cattle from these countries; consequently, the price of Irish-grown cattle increased significantly. This caused greedy Irish landowners to enclose their land with fences, and they evicted whole baronies of people in Ireland. These actions even shocked members of the Irish parliament, as Fitzgibbon, then the Attorney-General, was quoted as saying, "I am very well acquainted with the province of Munster, and I know that it is impossible for human wretchedness to exceed that of the miserable tenantry of that province. I know that the unhappy tenantry are ground to powder by relentless landlords."[15] The wholesale eviction of tenants forced the peasantry and Catholic middle class to organize against the excesses of the landlord, and in Tipperary the most influential of these informal opposition groups, the White Boys, was organized. The White Boy Association began in 1759, and grew out of a system of agrarian outrages which had been occurring in Munster. Tradition holds that this association originated after the local population gathered one evening to protest the enclosures surrounding the Commons in Kilmallock. After hearing heated arguments outside the square, the men entered the Commons and tore down the illegal fences. These stories encouraged others, whom were to become known as "levelers", to begin destroying fences built by middlemen trying to enclose their lands. The White Boys, themselves, drew their name from the white shirts they wore, and later the attire was adopted as part of their uniform.
The Irish parliament enacted legislation to suppress the White Boys' destruction. This legislation prevented the White Boys from assembling, and it also allowed a provision for the authorities to demolish any Roman Catholic church in which association meetings were held. The Dublin parliament believing that the White Boy's activities were encouraged by Catholic priests, never fully addressed the root causes for the development of these assemblages. As a result, the excesses of the Levelers increased, even though the authorities continued to arrest Catholics and their priests for their destructive appetites. One of the most celebrated cases involving the White Boys occurred in 1766 when Father Nicholas Sheehy was imprisoned on charges of conspiring with this outlawed organization. He was charged with inciting insurrection, and to ensure that he would not be released was also held responsible for the death of a White Boy informer. In addition to his arrest, others joined him in prison as well, including James Farrell, James Buxton, and Sir Edmund Sheehy (Father Nicholas Sheehy's cousin). Father Sheehy's friends and associates were targeted by the prosecution to strengthen the government's case against him, and they did so by issuing numerous indictments and forcing them to make up stories of Sheehy's responsibility. The prosecution's charges included adhering to the White Boy code, assembling illegally at Dromlemman, leveling fence lines of prominent farmers, agitating unrest among the peasant population and engaging in subversive activities.
Father Sheehy was sympathetic to the White Boy cause, and quite likely many of his parishoners belonged to this secret sect. He was quickly tried and found guilty of the charges leveled against him. He denounced the court's decision and pleaded for judicial equity, but the Court Justices wanted to make an example of Father Sheehy and executed him shortly after the trial. The indictment of murder left little doubt that his execution was judicial murder engineered by his enemies, and that the execution of this unassuming parish priest was simply an attempt to strike fear among the Munster populace. The government underestimated what affect his death would have on the local population, and for many years his grave became a pilgrimage for the Irish who turned him into a popular martyr. The unrest continued in the South, and rather than quieting further disturbances, Father Sheehy's conviction led to other arrests, most notably his cousin, Edmund Sheehy.
Edmund Sheehy was a gentleman with moderate wealth, and was connected by birth to the respectable Catholic families of Limerick and Tipperary. Both he and Father Sheehy traced their pedigrees to Catharine Ryan, grandmother to Father Nicholas Sheehy and great-grandmother to Sir Edmund. Their lineage has been described in genealogical records as follows:[16]
Morgan Sheehy Sir John Fitzgerald
John Sheehy Mathew Ryan.------.Catharine Fitzgerald
Charles Sheehy ----Catharine Ryan
William Sheehy John Sheehy
Nicholas Sheehy William Sheehy
Edmund Sheehy
The McSheehys traced their heritage to the Gallowglasses from Scotland. The Gallowglasses were a mercenary group that sold their sword and abilities to the highest bidder, and later the McSheehys settled into Limerick as landowners. The 16th century records showed that "Owne and Terlagh MacSheehy between them held in county Limerick nine quarters and twenty acres of land...in all 3,260 acres."[17] The McSheehys, like so many other descendants of Gallowglasses, found respectability and title in post-Norman Ireland.
Eventually, Edmund McSheehy was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of the White Boy informer, John Bridge. In his dying declaration he denied murduring John Bridge, and he vehemently denied any association with the White Boy organization. He declared his innocence by saying that he never intended "rebellion, high treason, or massacre, or heard any such wicked scheme mentioned or proposed,"[18] and after delivering his declaration of innocence, Sheehy was executed along with two other convicted White Boys by the name of Buxton and Farrell. One of the observers wrote, "That upon a signal given by Sheehy, who seemed in a sort of exultation, and sprung from the ear; he was dead immediately; and after the criminals had hung some time, they were cut down, and the executioner severed their heads from their respective bodies, which were delivered to their respective friends."[19] It had been observed that this was only true for Sheehy, the others were not beheaded.
As a final note, the primary leaders for this movement were not Catholic priests, but Protestants who associated with the Catholics of Munster. The Dublin parliament being so certain that only Catholics were committing these destructive acts, filtered out suggestions that Protestants were as dissatisfied with Dublin's policies as were Catholics. Dublin underestimated its citizen's complaints about the abusive actions of the middleman, and not recognizing the real problem surrounding agricultural discontent continued to pass anti-Papist legislation believing that added pressure upon Catholic farmers would quiet the unrest. The elected officials from the landed class, much like other elected officials who rarely visited their constituents, did not understand how their actions were the cause of this upheaval.