The late Lord-Lieutenant, now Duke of Norfolk, attributed all the woes of Ireland to the quarrel between Butlers and Geraldines, and he was on the whole in favour of maintaining the latter faction in power. Ossory and his son were loyal enough, but they could scarcely hold their own against the Desmonds and O’Briens, and could do nothing in the Pale, where they had no natural authority and where public opinion was against them. They would be entirely dependent on their own followers, who would eat more than their services were worth. On the other hand, Robert Cowley, Ossory’s faithful agent, was always at hand to prevent Henry and Wolsey from yielding too completely to Norfolk’s advice. It is said that on one occasion he complained of Kildare to the Council, and that he shed tears in the course of his speech ‘for pity,’ as he said, ‘upon his father’s son.’ ‘He is,’ retorted the Earl, ‘like the plover taken in setting his snares, and waiting for his desired purpose, his eyes being against the wind and the water dropping out. So many plovers as he taketh he knocketh their brains out with his thumb, notwithstanding his watery tears of contemplation. Even like doth Mr. Cowley with me; his tears cometh down; he layeth shrewd matters or articles to my charge.’113
The Duke of Richmond Lord-Lieutenant, 1529. His Deputy, Sir William Skeffington.
If this story be true we must assign it to the autumn of 1528, when Cowley was certainly in London. O’Connor had just invaded the Pale, and evidence afterwards came to light which connected Kildare with his son-in-law’s proceedings. Early in August, Kildare’s daughter Alice, the wife of Lord Slane, came to Ireland and went straight to O’Connor’s house. Sir Gerald MacShane Fitzgerald afterwards swore before the Irish Council that Melour Faye had revealed to him a secret agreement between himself and Kildare, and that Lady Slane’s arrival was the preconcerted signal that her father was detained in England. Ossory was at war with Desmond when O’Connor made his attack, but abandoned his expedition and hurried off to defend the Pale. He took occasion to remind Wolsey of the hereditary policy of the house of Kildare. By stirring up rebellion in Ireland when he was detained at Court the late Earl had made himself chief governor for life; his son had followed suit, and the Pale had practically transferred its allegiance from the King of England to the Earl of Kildare. Henry thought it prudent to give the Earl his liberty, but resolved to have a Viceroy who should hold Ireland for the Crown only. He made his son, the Duke of Richmond, Lord-Lieutenant, thereby giving the Emperor great offence, and assigned him as Deputy Sir William Skeffington, a Leicestershire man, who had been long in the public service. Meanwhile the sovereign had frowned. In the month following that in which Skeffington was appointed, Wolsey saw Henry at Grafton for the last time, and three weeks later he was indicted in the King’s Bench. Kildare remained in London, for he was one of those who signed the famous letter to Clement VII., in which the English notables reproached the Pope for his partiality, and laid upon him the responsibility of a disputed succession, with all its terrors and troubles.114
Skeffington’s instructions.
Skeffington had long served as Master of the Ordnance, whence the Irish, who may have been offended at the appointment of a commoner, gave him the name of ‘the gunner.’ He was accompanied by Edward Staples, a Lincolnshire man, whom the King had appointed Bishop of Meath, and brought with him 200 horse and a sum of money. He was instructed in the first place to reconcile, if possible, the conflicting interests of the Earls of Kildare, Ossory, and Desmond. He was not to make any serious attack on the wild Irish without the consent of the majority of the Council, especially when it would involve charging the country with the support of an army. The established custom of taking provisions for the ordinary movements of troops was, however, allowed. Skeffington was to hold a Parliament, but was to get all the money he could by way of subsidy before it met, and to pay the gross levy into the Vice-Treasurer’s hands. Kildare’s loyal promises were to be taken as sincere, and the Deputy was enjoined to help him in his enterprises as if they were undertaken in the King’s name. The Earl might retain half the proceeds, provided the remainder were handed over to the Vice-Treasurer.115
The O’Tooles chastised, 1530. Ulster invaded, 1531. Submission of O’Donnell.
Kildare returned to Ireland some months after Skeffington’s arrival, and his first exploit was to chastise the O’Tooles, with the help of 200 archers supplied by the city of Dublin. Next year Ulster was invaded. A treaty had already been concluded at Drogheda, by which O’Donnell promised the King allegiance, and bound himself to assist Skeffington against all his Majesty’s enemies. He covenanted for O’Reilly, Maguire, and MacQuillin, as well as for himself, and Skeffington bound himself to give them such help and protection as was due to the King’s subjects. In pursuance of this agreement Skeffington, accompanied by Kildare and Ossory, ravaged Tyrone on both sides of the Blackwater, from Clogher to Caledon, and penetrated to Monaghan, which was undefended. There O’Donnell and some malcontent O’Neills met them, but they did not venture to meet the tyrant of the North in the field, a measure of the weakness of government at that time.116
Skeffington is overshadowed by Kildare.
It clearly appeared that the Lord Deputy was in a false position as regards Kildare. When the Butlers were out on a foray, the Geraldines attacked their camp, killed the officer on guard, and carried off horses, arms, and provisions. It was even said that the Earl of Kildare displayed his banner openly, and led his men to the attack. With great difficulty and at Skeffington’s earnest request, Ossory prevented his followers from retaliating, but he poured complaints into Cromwell’s attentive ears. Kildare allowed his adherents to seize the titular Baron of Burntchurch in Kilkenny, while passing through Castledermot, on his way to attend Parliament. The Baron was a Fitzgerald, but on friendly terms with Ossory, who would have rescued him in spite of Kildare but for the Lord Deputy’s express prohibition; as it was, the poor man lost his horse, money, and apparel without redress. ‘This,’ said Ossory, ‘is a good encouragement to malefactors to commit spoils, having the advantage thereof without punishment or restitution.’ It was not the first nor the last time in Ireland that the friends of law and order have been less safe than its enemies, and that the Government has hampered those whom it could not protect. Indeed, the Kilkenny borough members fared no better than their neighbours, for they were seized at the gate of Athy by Murtagh MacOwney, who wished that he had the King in the end of a handlock, and the Deputy in the other end, as surely as he had the worthy burgesses. In fact, Skeffington had scarcely any power. Kildare detained the hostages of the natives, in spite of direct orders to send them to Dublin, and thus let it be clearly seen that the King’s representative was a mere instrument in his hands.117
Kildare goes to England, 1532, and regains favour.
It was commonly said in Ireland that all the parchment and wax in England would not bring the Earl of Kildare thither again; but this saying turned out not to be true. So well had the Earl managed his affairs, that he ventured across the Channel early in 1532, and, after a six months’ residence at Court, returned with the legal as well as the real power of a Chief Governor. Sir John Rawson, Prior of Kilmainham, and Chief Justice Bermingham, supported Kildare’s counter-charges against Ossory, and accused Skeffington of partiality in his favour. There was an attempt to show that Ossory’s hostility arose from the fear that Kildare would support Wiltshire’s claims upon the Ormonde estates. But Ossory maintained that he had long since compromised all claims against his property, that Kildare’s advocacy of Wiltshire’s pretensions was collusive and fraudulent, and that the King would be the real loser of the possession, if such castles as Arklow and Tullow were given to the too powerful Geraldine under colour of another man’s sham title. Anne Boleyn’s star was now at its zenith; her father was fond of money, and perhaps saw a chance of extorting it from opposite quarters. It is clear that any claim of his was likely at this time to be favourably regarded, and it may be in this way that the lately waning influence of Kildare was restored.
Kildare