When Sussex left Ireland Leix and Offaly were pretty quiet, but his departure had been the signal for disturbance. Arnold was accused of oppressing the remnant of the O’Connors, and by his own account he cared little for peace. Ormonde’s brother persecuted the O’Mores, who were reduced to a state not much above brigandage. He killed a dozen kerne near Castle-comer, and apologised for not doing more: ‘if we had any ground for horsemen we should have made a fair haul.’ Arnold praised Sir Edmund’s activity, but looked forward to general disorder as soon as the long nights, which are still dreaded in Ireland, should give better opportunities to the disaffected. By way of precaution he imprisoned Calvagh O’Connor, as some said, with little or no cause, but, as Arnold maintained, for intriguing with tribes on both sides the Shannon, and for engaging Scots mercenaries. Yet there is good ground for believing that this poor O’Connor tried to be a loyal subject, with the result of being mistrusted by both parties. ‘When I was a rebel,’ he said, ‘I had friends enough, but now I serve the Queen’s Majesty I am daily in fear of my life.’ Unable to get a hearing, Calvagh, though heavily ironed, managed to break prison, and having been treated as a rebel became one in earnest. Great preparations were made on the borders of the Pale. Arnold demanded help from all the Irish clans in the central parts of the island. The Earl of Kildare was ordered to assemble his people, and letters were sent to the gentlemen of the Pale and to the settlers in the King’s and Queen’s counties. Wexford and Carlow were not forgotten, and Ormonde, who received a special commission and pay for 200 kerne for three months, was directed to watch the rebels, who were proclaimed by name, and to attack them if they came near his border. These tremendous preparations for the hunt, for it was little more, were crowned with such success as was possible. Calvagh O’Connor was killed by a near kinsman, and his head presented to the Lord Justice. Sir Barnaby Fitzpatrick, Edward VI.’s old companion, dutifully attacked the O’Mores. But Sir Barnaby himself was little better off than an outlaw, for his father, the first Baron of Upper Ossory, had but imperfectly laid aside Celtic usages when he accepted an Anglo-Norman title; and under the influence of a wicked second wife, he persecuted his loyal and civilised heir. The O’Connors were dispersed into little parties of eight or ten, who lived as best they might in the bogs. The O’Mores had wider contiguous wastes, and managed to keep better together, but they were glad to sue for peace. It was an inglorious campaign, which only served to show how completely the settlement of the country had failed to reconcile the native population.87
CHAPTER XXIII.
1565
After his return from England, Desmond kept quiet for a time. The indefatigable Cusack visited Waterford for the purpose of settling his dispute with Ormonde, but had to leave his work unfinished so as to proceed with the more pressing business of O’Neill. But Desmond’s men were not idle, for they were allowed to interfere in the affairs of Thomond, taking part with Sir Donnell the tanist against the Earl. The help of Clanricarde, whose interests inclined him to the side of the latter, alone prevented him from being driven out of the country. Clanricarde expressly says that Desmond himself crossed the Shannon, and set on him by surprise, killing 30 men, and taking 800 cows, which helped to pay the intruder’s gallowglasses. They were indeed well paid, for they received more than half the cattle of Thomond. There was some talk of giving Clanricarde cannon to take the castle of Inchiquin, and Desmond was straightly charged by Arnold to abstain from further interference. Royal Commissioners, of whom Parker was one, visited Cork, and the gentlemen of the county appeared, offering to hold their lands by knight service, and to give security for good behaviour. Desmond described the proceedings in glowing language, but did not recall his gallowglasses from Thomond, whence the Earl continued to beg earnestly for help. Ormonde was directed to give such help as he could spare from pursuing the O’Mores, and Cusack, the general pacificator, again made his way to the South, when it was agreed that Manus Oge O’Sheehy, with his 400 gallowglasses and 200 musketeers and horsemen, should be withdrawn, and that those who ferried them over Shannon should be punished. Differences were to be settled by arbitration, and all were to live happily ever after. Thus, to borrow the contemptuous language of Sir George Stanley, ‘did Sir Thomas Cusack conclude according to his accustomed manner a fyckelede peace.’88
Ormonde had been brought up in England. He was a personal favourite with the Queen, and there can be no doubt that he was sincerely anxious to live the life of a civilised nobleman rather than that of a barbarous chief. Money rents, which he might spend at Court or at home in building such houses as Carrick, had a greater attraction for him than the ancient habit of eating up the country with turbulent soldiers and useless horse-boys, three or four to every horse. Perhaps too he longed to boast that, while an Earl of Desmond had been the first to bring in the curse of coyne and livery upon Ireland, an Earl of Ormonde had been the first to take it away. He accordingly issued a proclamation which throws much light on the state of the country. Reciting his right to regal power and jurisdiction in Tipperary, he confessed his obligation to see it properly governed. War and disorder had hitherto forced him and his ancestors to exact coyne and livery, necessarily showing a bad example to others who had not the excuse of responsibility. He spoke of ‘the poverty, misery, and calamity whereunto the poor subjects be brought by the licentious multitude of Irish rascals which be bred and maintained by the said coyne and livery.’ The Earl’s officers could not do their duty, the Queen was defrauded of her revenue, and it was therefore agreed ‘by the consent and assent of all the lords and gentlemen of the same county, that no coyne or livery or Irish exactions should be thenceforth levied.’ This extended to the possessions of all the Butlers, of the Prendergasts, and of the Archbishop of Cashel, north of the Suir, and within the bounds of Tipperary. Proclamation was to be made in all market towns that severe penalties would be incurred by levying the said exactions after August 1, every one being licensed to resist by force. But there was danger lest this godly victory over the horrible and devouring monster should leave the country defenceless, and therefore a quarterly muster of the able-bodied people was to be taken. Every landowner was to furnish a certain fixed quota of horses, harness, and men ready for any sudden emergency. It was hoped that the towns would then increase, and that their inhabitants would supply no mean force. In case it was absolutely necessary to bring strangers into the county, they were to be regularly waged, the Earl being authorised by the freeholders to exact a fixed sum of money for the purpose. Every strange soldier was to pay for all he had at the rate of 2d. a meal for himself and 1d. for his boy, and similar payments were to be made when it became necessary to move the local militia. The lords and gentlemen of Tipperary subscribed this treaty.89