Finibus Occiduis describitur optima Tellus,Nomine et AntiquisScotiascripta Libris——Insula dives Opum, Gemmarum, Vestis et Auri,Commoda Corporibus, Aere sole Solo;Melle fluit pulchris et lacteisScotiaCampisVestibus atque Armis, frugibus, arte viris.Ursorum Rabies, nulla est ibi; sæva LeonumSemina, nec unquamScoticaTerra tulitNulla Venena nocent, nec Serpens serpit in Herbâ,Nec conquesta canit Garula Rana Lacu;In quaScotorumGentes habitare merenturInclita Gens Hominum Milite, Pace, Fide.Thus Englished by the Ingenius and Reverend Mr.Dunkin:“Far Westward, lies an Isle of antient Fame,By Nature bless'd, andScotiais her Name;Enroll'd in Books: Exhaustless is her StoreOf veiny Silver, and of Golden Ore:Her fruitful Soil for ever teams with Wealth,With Gems her Waters, and her Air with Health:Her verdant Fields with Milk and Honey flow;Her woolly Fleeces vie with Virgin Snow:[pg 032]Her waving Furrows float with bearded Corn,And Arms and Arts her envy'd Sons adorn.No savage Bear, with lawless Fury, roves;No rav'nous Lion, thro' her peaceful Groves;No Poison there infects; no scaly SnakeCreeps thro' the Grass, nor Frog annoys the Lake:An Island worthy of its pious Race,In War triumphant, and unmatch'd in Peace.”ThisDonat, Bishop ofFesula, was anIrishman, of the antient and hospitable Family, afterwardsO Hogan; a Family which held ample and fair Possessions in the Province ofMunster, and which, in former Times, adorned the See ofKillaloe, with four very learned and exemplary Prelates; namely, withMatthew O Hogan, who succeeded to this Bishoprick, in the Reign ofHenrythe IIId, and in the Year of our Lord 1267; and who, having much enlarged his Diocese, and done many signal Acts of popular Charity, died in the Year, 1281, and was buried inLimerick, in a Convent ofDominicanFriars. To this Bishop succeededMaurice O Hogan, who governed this See with peculiar Zeal and Charity, upwards of sixteen Years, and died in 1298, or the Year following, and was buried in his own Church.Thomas O Hogan, Canon ofKillaloe, was consecrated in 1343, and died on the 30th ofOctober, 1354; five Days after which, he was buried among his worthy Ancestors atNenagh; as may be seen in the Annals of that Place.Richard O Hogansucceeded to the See ofKillaloe, in 1525, and was in 1539 translated toClon Mac Nois: He was a Prelate of great[pg 033]Learning and Capacity, in all spiritual and ecclesiastical Matters.This antient Family is, at this Time, represented byEdmund O Hogan, Esq; High Sheriff of the County ofClare, a Gentleman, who, by the whole Tenor of his Life, hath proved Generosity of Heart, Charity, and Hospitality, to be Qualities inherent.Dermod Mac Murchad, sovereign Prince ofHy-Kinsellagh, banished byRoderick O Connor, King ofIreland, for his various and high State Crimes, sought Sanctuary and Redress in the Court ofEngland; where, in the Absence ofHenry, then inNormandy, diverse adventurousNormans,Flemings,Saxons, and oldBritons, (being themselves unsettled, and unestablished) acceded to the Fate and Fortunes ofDermod, under the Conduct ofStrongbow, Earl ofPembroke; whose casual Success inIreland, againstRoderick(owingmoreto the general Defection, at that fatal Period, of theIrishChiefs against their lawful Sovereign, than to anysuperior Valouror Address of those Adventurers) inducedHenryto a deliberate and grand Invasion of a Kingdom, to which he could lay no Claim on the Score of Nature, Reason, or Right, and whither his pretended Mission, on the Score of collecting St.Peter's Dues, (which St.Peterhimself never once thought of, or imagined) was asridiculousasgroundless. TheSumma Dies, however, arrived: and the People ofIreland, wearied out with intestine Strife, acknowledgedHenryfor their Sovereign Lord; and a grand Charter of Rights and Covenants, mutual Protection and Allegiance, was entered into, anteriorly to that ofEngland. How well this Charter wasobservedon theprotectiveSide, the absolute Anarchy of[pg 034]near four Centuries, from its original Date and Perfection, to the Reign of QueenElizabeth, demonstrates: A whole Nation, that sought Protection, and thatagreedfor quiet, regular, and lawful Government, upon rationable Terms, deprived of the Power of ordaining Laws for its own Security and Well-being, and precluded (all to four or five great and favourite Families) from the Benefits and Advantages accruing from those of that Kingdom, to which it had voluntarily united itself; exposed, through such a Length of Time, to arbitary Depredations, and unpunished, unredressed, uncensured Rapine,Quis talia sando temperet a Lachrymis!KingHenrycalled back intoEngland, to lay the Storms raised by his rebellious Sons, with whom andThomas Becket, Archbishop ofCanterbury, he was so constantly embroiled to the End of his Life, that he could little attend to the Settlement of the Affairs of this new acquired Sovereignty.Richardthe First, his immediate Successor, called away to the Holy Wars against theSaracens, had as little Leisure as his Predecessor to promote the Quiet, or Happiness ofIreland.From the usurped Authority of KingJohn, a continued Series of Papal Animosity, Bloodshed, Calamities and Piracies, closed at last by Poison; little beside political Disasters of all Sorts, could be expected.Henrythe Third, through a Reign of Fifty-six Years, was continually involved in Troubles and Hostilities, with his inflexibleEnglishBarons.Edwardthe First, a great and warlike Prince, was, throughout his whole Reign, engaged in the Reduction of theWelchandScots, and so[pg 035]intent thereon, that he could turn his Thoughts to no other Object.Edwardthe Second, indeed, sentGavestonhither, more to screen him from the implacable Resentments of the stubbornEnglishNobility, than to render any good Offices to the Inhabitants of this Country; who, indiscriminately, (Strongbowniansas well asIrish) felt the Severity of that insolent Favourite's Measures.Richardthe Second visited this Kingdom in Person, with the good Intentions of establishing Peace, Order, and Harmony, in a valuable but long neglected Estate: Yet his own adverse Fate, conspiring with that of this Land, called him back, before he could carry his favourable Resolutions into Execution, to defend hisEnglishDominions from the hostile Attacks ofHenry, Earl ofHereford, who, with the Duke ofNorfolk, Son toJohnofGaunt, had some Years before been banished byRichard, to prevent a personal Combat: This King, worthy more propitious Stars, long agitated and afflicted by the Turbulence and irreconcilable Obstinacy of hisBritishSubjects, perished at last under the impious Hands of SirPierceofExton, who, at the Head of eight barbarous armed Assassins, rushed into his Chamber, and murdered him.The Reign ofHenrythe Fourth was short, tumultuous, and bloody; Deluges of noble Blood having been shed by the bare Hands of the common Executioner, to confirm a Throne acquired by abominable Crimes, and Violence! And no sooner had these dreadful Storms begun to abate, thanHenrywas forced to depart from a Scene he had more adorned, (for he was, without Question, a great and valiant Man)[pg 036]had not his Ambition blindly hurried him beyond the Bounds of Justice and Nature.Henrythe Fifth, his Son and Successor, and truly Inheritor of his Ambition and warlike Genius, imagining himself aggrieved by theSalique Law, which excluded his Great Great-Grandmother,Isabel, from the Monarchy ofFrance, turned his elevated Thoughts intirely to the Conquest of that Kingdom: Wherein, by his own vast Merit in martial Affairs, and the Co-operation of the Queen ofFrance, (Consort ofCharlesthe Sixth, then frantick,) and that of the Duke ofBurgundy, a great and powerful Prince, he so far succeeded, as, after his Marriage withCatharine de Valois, Daughter ofCharlesthe Sixth, to be crowned, and acknowledged King ofFrance.To this great and victorious Monarch succeededHenrythe Sixth, who, through a long, various, and constantly clouded Reign, seemed the very Play of Fortune! This Day a King, the next a Prisoner! One Day acknowleged by his Parliament, the next attainted! One Day a Conqueror, and the next a Captive!Fierce, frequent, and bloody, were the Conflicts between the Houses ofYorkandLancaster, theWhiteandRed Roses; the former endeavouring to recover its Loss, the latter to maintain its usurped Authority. In this dreadful Quarrel perished two hundred thousand of private Soldiers; ten thousand of the Nobility, Gentry, and Persons of Distinction; three Kings; and, at last, the entire Race ofPlantagenet.Edwardthe Fourth soon fell, by his natural Intemperance, or rather by the insatiable Cruelty ofGloucester; who had already sacrificed his BrotherClarence, to pave his Way to the Throne.[pg 037]Nor better fared it withEdwardthe Fifth, who, by all the Arts of Seduction and Delusion, which his unnatural Uncle and Guardian,Richard, practised on the Fears and Weakness of the Queen Dowager; was, with his Brother the Duke ofYork, conveyed with great Pomp to the Tower; where the bloody Tyrant, aided by the Duke ofBuckingham, soon sacrificed those young, innocent and hopeful Princes to his wicked and boundless Ambition. But he soon after lost his own flagitious Life, and a most cruelly-acquired Crown, on the Plains ofBosworth.To him succeededHenrythe Seventh, and the first of the Race ofTudor, a great, wise and valiant Prince, but rather too much inclined to Rigour, and Avarice; Imperfections which extremely blemished his other great Qualities.In the tenth Year of this Reign, the Parliamentary Constitution ofIrelandreceived a deeper Stab than had ever before, or since, been inflicted thereon, by a Statute Law, commonly calledPoynin's Act; by which a new, and, till that wretched Period, an unheard of Order, was added to the three established Ranks of the State. By this Law, theEnglishPrivy-Council may impose aNegativeon thefreeandunanimousParliamentary Ordinances of the representative Body of the Kingdom ofIreland; a manifest Injury to the Authority and Dignity of Parliament; and an equal Diminution of the Royal Prerogative, that only should include, and should alone exert, a Power so important.In Times dark, tumultuated and dangerous, no Wonder extraordinary Laws should pass:Desperate Diseasesrequiredesperate Remedies: But when theFeveris removed, it certainly is a[pg 038]horrid Management to leave the blistering Plaisterstill stickingto therecoveredPatient's Back.The Distempers of this Nation were heavy, complicated and chronic; and finally curable, only by the salutary all-healing Hands of our present King, and present Parliament.ToHenrythe Seventh succeededHenrythe Eighth, as consummate a Tyrant, in every Sense, as ever swayed theBritish, or any other Sceptre; whose whole Life was so continued a Scene of wanton Dissipation, Lust, Cruelty, Rapine, Bloodshed and Sacrilege, that it must have been a peculiar Happiness, to any Part of his Dominions, to have beenneglectedorforgottenby him: Nor could the two succeeding Reigns ofEdwardthe Sixth, and QueenMary, short, various, cloudy, and vastly agitated on the Score of Religion, (which, in those two Reigns, took Faces almost diametrically opposite,) afford this Kingdom much reflected Sunshine.To those ensued that of QueenElizabeth, a Princess of powerful Abilities, who, truly intent on the Peace and Welfare of her Subjects, caused her Laws to operate, and Justice to circulate in this Kingdom, abandoned, as hath been observed, to a State almost of Anarchy, thro' a dismal Series of seventeen Reigns: But the Reformation in Religion, which she established inEngland, and introduced inIreland, much obviated her Purposes for the latter Kingdom: For, theIrish, more tenacious of their Altars, than of their Fire-places, could not easily reconcile themselves to the Exchange of a Religion they deemed anew one, forthatthey had been in Possession of from the fourth, to[pg 039]the fifteenth Century: Which produced a rebellious Defection, in a few of the principal Chieftains of this Land, and gave Occasion to the greedy Provincial Precedents, of trumping upimaginary Rebellions, to pave the Way toreal Forfeitures; thereby to aggrandize their own Houses; what some of them effectually accomplished, to the Ruin and Extirpation of many honest Families.This great and illustrious Princess, (whose Reign had remained untarnished, had it not been for the Death of the ill-fated Queen ofScotland) was succeeded byJamesthe Sixth ofScotland, and the first of theStuartRace that governedEngland: From this Prince, descended ofIrishKings, the People ofIrelandmight have expected many Favours and Immunities; wherein, however, they were miserably disappointed: Which, with a Train of other Hardships and antiparental Severities, (particularly his alienating, atone Stroke, six of the best Counties in the Kingdom, on theprocuredTestimony of an obscure wretched Individual, oneTeige Lenane,) is too sufficient and too lasting a Proof of:Heu! tot Conquesta Annorum, hauserit una Dies!The Possession of at least twenty Centuries, of the great and good, the heroic and hospitableO Neils,O Donnels,Mac Guires,Mac Gennises,O Reillys,O Cahanes, &c. ravished away to gratify hungry Favourites, and indigent Relatives! the six Counties, however, as the Law Term has it,escheated. Had theHighlandsofScotland, at that unhappy Period, been more populated, probably six or eight Countiesmorehad been procured toescheat, and there had beena braa Clutch of bonny Traitors; theO Connors,Mac Carthys,O Briens,O Donnels,O Hares,[pg 040]O Malones, &c. had beenallin thesame Bottomwith the Families above mentioned; especially, as they could not, according toJamesthe First's own Phrase,look to the Pope, and row with him.ToJamesthe 6th ofScotland, and first ofEngland, succeededCharlesthe First; who, notwithstanding his eminent Possession of all the Virtues that adorn and illustrate human Nature, could neither divert the adverse Fate of Subjects, or prevent his own.The Disseisin of many honest Families in the County ofKilkenny, and elsewhere, by the Earl ofStrafford, on stale Pretences ofNon Performance of Covenantson their Part; his Attempt of confiscating twenty-five Parts in thirty of the whole Province ofConnaught, on a Claim of Descent, dormant 300 Years, andoriginally ill founded, with the arbitrary Steps by him taken to the Accomplishment of this wasteful Purpose; too clearly proved that Nobleman a secondVerres. The cruel and intoxicated Administration of the Rump Parliament; the insolent, licentious, and riotous Controul of the militaryIndependents; the abject Tyranny ofOliver Cromwell, who prostrated Constitution, Church and State, will always be recollected with the Contempt, Horror, and Detestation of every good Subject.The Calamities from 1641, to the happy Restoration of KingCharlesthe Second, in 1660, being common to all good Subjects, were the more tolerable,ferre quam sortem patiuntur omnes, nemo recusat: But now or never, surely, might his ever loyal, ever faithfulIrishSubjects have, with the most reasonable Assurance, hoped, if not for publick and lasting Rewards, the common[pg 041]Wages of uncommon Fidelity; at least, for a Restitution of what had been their own, through Ages immemorial.Will late Posteritybelieve, that, in Favour of mercenary Adventurers, who advanced Money to provide for a desperate regicide Army; in Favour of the Officers of this same Army, whom their RingleaderCromwell, seared as his Conscience was, indulged with no more thantemporaryGrants of the Estates belonging to the King's most faithful Subjects: Will Posterity, I say, believe, that, in special Favour of such Men, thoseidentical Subjects, the bravest Advocates, as well as the most affectionate undeviating Friends of the Monarchy and Constitution, werefor everdeprived of their Properties! To remunerate theothers, the mostinveterateandimplacableEnemies ofEITHER!Doing Good for Evilis a Divine Precept, and certainly includes a most sublime Moral; butrendering Evil for Good, is such a Principle as must carry Horror with it, among savage Nations!The King ofFrance's immediate Letter, on this Subject, to KingCharlesthe Second, as it reflects Honour on the Memory of those illustrious Sufferers, I therefore take Leave to transcribe in this Place.* * * * *His Most Christian Majesty's Letter to the King ofGreat Britain, in Favour of theRoman CatholicksofIreland.“Most High, Most Excellent, and Most Potent Prince, our dear and well-beloved Brother and Cousin! At the same Time that we have been told of your Majesty's great Goodness towards your Subjects, and the Precedent[pg 042]you have given of an extraordinary Clemency, in granting them your general Amnesty (some few only excepted, of those whom the Blood of their King, and that of his People, cry aloud to Heaven for Revenge against). We could not but let your Majesty know, that we were extremely surprized to hear, that theCatholicksofIrelandwereexcludedfrom that Act of Oblivion, and, by that Means, put into the Number of themost criminal! This News has so much the more excited our Compassion towards them, that we have been informed, that, inall the Changeswhich have hitherto happened in your Dominions, and in the almost generalDefection ofyour Subjects,nonestoodmore constantto their lawful Sovereign, even in the greatest Streights, than theCatholicks: So that, if they are now branded for their Religion, it may be said, for their Honour, that, in Times past, none could be foundreadier, or morecheerfully disposed, thanthey, to serve and assist their Prince; and that with so muchArdour, that their Zeal then for the Royal Family was reckoned a certain Mark of their true Religion. It is for that Reason that we now become their Intercessors to you: For, otherwise, had theyfailedin the Fidelity they owe you, instead of interceding for them, we would join with you in using them with all imaginable Rigour; and it would never come into our Thoughts to concern ourselves, as we do, for theCatholicksofIreland; though wewere obliged to it, by the last Treaty of Peace made with the Marquess ofOrmond, and which was granted them by our Mediation. And, as we are well assured,[pg 043]that, since the Conclusion of that Peace, they have done Nothing which can be called aFailure of their Duty to you, we find ourselves under so much the greater Obligation to conjure you, to make good that Treaty to them, in that theyreligiouslyobserved it ontheirSide, in all its Parts: And to beseech you not to suffer, that either the Hatred, which an immoderate Zeal swells some bigotted Sectaries with, nor the unlucky Spoils of these poor People, render criminal or miserable themost faithfulof your Subjects; to whom their lawful King, as you are, is notthe less dear, norless respected, because of adifferent Belieffromtheirs. We propose Nothing to ourselves in this, nor ask any Thing, but what we dailypractise(as you may know) towards those of our Subjects who are of thereformed Religion. And, as we have commanded the Sieur Marquisde Rouvignyto explain our Sentiments more amply on this Subject to you, be pleased to give him a favourable Audience: And, above all Things, be perswaded, that, in this Affair, we have no less your owntrue Interestin View, than whatnatural ReasonandEquityrequires; and that our sincere Friendship for you is the principal Motive of this Request. Dated atParis, the 7th ofSeptember, 1660.”ThegoodKingCharles, regardless of this important Solicitation, unattentive to the plain Suggestions ofcommon Right, and unaccountably forgetful of all theirpast signal Servicesand inviolate Zeal; observed indeed that those faithfulIrishSubjects had no Stock; consequently, that dispossessing the Adherents ofOliver, who, with[pg 044]the Land, had pirated the national Stock, would cause much Confusion. As for theformer, he hoped some Settlement might in Time be found for them; (in Truth, I believe, for aught his Majesty in Reality concerned himself, this might have been inTerra Australis Incognita). Their Want of Stock is the less to be admired at, it being well known, that, with their Pay in foreign Service, chiefly expended to contribute all in their Power to theRoyal Support, they even went so far as to sell their Plate, and valuable Moveables, to answer the samegenerous Purpose: But, when every known Acre in the Kingdom, that could be disposed of, was given away by Wholesale to the Duke ofYork, the Heir-apparent of the Crown, (partial Distribution!) to new-fangled Favourites, and the staunch old Enemies of Church and Crown; it was hoped some Lands might beyetdiscovered, to satisfy and compensate thoseIrishWorthies, who had Nothing left for their Support, beside an inalienable Sense of Honour and Loyalty, and a Character of invincible Fidelity (which all Nations admired and applauded). No such Discovery, however, was made, nor any relative to theIrish, under that Administration, but what tended to convince them, by the famous Act of Settlement,&c.of the extraordinary severe Peculiarity of their Fate! Yet, ordained to shew Posterity unprecedented Specimens of Loyalty and Zeal, they still adhered, with inflexible Constancy, to the Fortunes of KingJamesthe Second, not mindful of their Injuries byJamesthe First, their unexampled Sufferings by the excessive harsh Measures of KingCharlesthe First, his Ministers, and Deputies, or their unheard-of Treatment (I won't sayWrongs, it[pg 045]being a Maxim the King ofEnglandcan do none) by KingCharlesII. Little Wonder, a House, constantly sapping it's own best Pillars, should at length fall.KingJamesthe Second, constrained to abdicate the Throne ofEngland, endeavoured the Preservation of this his Kingdom ofIreland, where his faithful Subjects, (a Remnant of the various and manifold Wastes of foregoing Reigns) considering the thousand Disadvantages they laboured under, madesuch a Standas later Ages will look up to with Astonishment! A Parcel of Men, congregated in the utmost Hurry and Confusion, undisciplin'd, unarm'd, uncloathed, unpaid! Yet did those very Men, animated by the Example of their heroick Leaders, (I mean their immediate Lords and Countrymen) on the Plains ofAughrim, convince the best veteran Army that Day inEurope, superior in Numbers, excellently provided for in every Respect, and conducted by a Prince of singular Valour and Address, thatIrishmenwere deserving of more auspicious Stars.Never was a more gallant Defence than they, after this, made inLimerick; where, although abandoned by the Prince, (whose Cause they had so remarkably espoused) and his auxiliaryFrench, they obtained an honourableCapitulationfrom those in Commission under KingWilliamthe Third, whose strictObservancethereof, to the End of his glorious Life, reflects, among many other his great Atchievements, deserved Honour on his Memory.The distinguished Figure made by those Noblemen and Gentlemen, who, regardless ofPropertyorEase, followed the Destiny of that hard-fated Prince, KingJamesthe Second,[pg 046](namely, the LordsMount-Cashel,Tyrconnel,ClareandLucan, theDillons,Nugents,Rooths,Burkes,Lees,Fitz-Geralds,Cooks,Lacys,Browns,Wogans,Baggots,Sheridans,Creaghs,Plunkets,Barnewals,Neagles,Lallys,Mac Carthys,Mac Donnels,Mac Guires,Mac Namarras,Mac Mahons,Mac Gennis's,O Neils,O Connors,O Donnels,O Briens,O Dwyers,O Shaghnussys,O Mahonys,O Sullivans,O Kellys,O Ferralls,O Reillys,O Haras,O Hogans,O Byrnes,O Daes, &c. &c. &c. the military Annals ofGermany,France,Spain,Flanders,Italy,Naples, andRussia), must bear ample and authentic Testimony of, to future Ages.Those were they, of whom Dr.Mac en Crowgives the following concise, but just and happy Character.
Finibus Occiduis describitur optima Tellus,Nomine et AntiquisScotiascripta Libris——Insula dives Opum, Gemmarum, Vestis et Auri,Commoda Corporibus, Aere sole Solo;Melle fluit pulchris et lacteisScotiaCampisVestibus atque Armis, frugibus, arte viris.Ursorum Rabies, nulla est ibi; sæva LeonumSemina, nec unquamScoticaTerra tulitNulla Venena nocent, nec Serpens serpit in Herbâ,Nec conquesta canit Garula Rana Lacu;In quaScotorumGentes habitare merenturInclita Gens Hominum Milite, Pace, Fide.Thus Englished by the Ingenius and Reverend Mr.Dunkin:“Far Westward, lies an Isle of antient Fame,By Nature bless'd, andScotiais her Name;Enroll'd in Books: Exhaustless is her StoreOf veiny Silver, and of Golden Ore:Her fruitful Soil for ever teams with Wealth,With Gems her Waters, and her Air with Health:Her verdant Fields with Milk and Honey flow;Her woolly Fleeces vie with Virgin Snow:[pg 032]Her waving Furrows float with bearded Corn,And Arms and Arts her envy'd Sons adorn.No savage Bear, with lawless Fury, roves;No rav'nous Lion, thro' her peaceful Groves;No Poison there infects; no scaly SnakeCreeps thro' the Grass, nor Frog annoys the Lake:An Island worthy of its pious Race,In War triumphant, and unmatch'd in Peace.”ThisDonat, Bishop ofFesula, was anIrishman, of the antient and hospitable Family, afterwardsO Hogan; a Family which held ample and fair Possessions in the Province ofMunster, and which, in former Times, adorned the See ofKillaloe, with four very learned and exemplary Prelates; namely, withMatthew O Hogan, who succeeded to this Bishoprick, in the Reign ofHenrythe IIId, and in the Year of our Lord 1267; and who, having much enlarged his Diocese, and done many signal Acts of popular Charity, died in the Year, 1281, and was buried inLimerick, in a Convent ofDominicanFriars. To this Bishop succeededMaurice O Hogan, who governed this See with peculiar Zeal and Charity, upwards of sixteen Years, and died in 1298, or the Year following, and was buried in his own Church.Thomas O Hogan, Canon ofKillaloe, was consecrated in 1343, and died on the 30th ofOctober, 1354; five Days after which, he was buried among his worthy Ancestors atNenagh; as may be seen in the Annals of that Place.Richard O Hogansucceeded to the See ofKillaloe, in 1525, and was in 1539 translated toClon Mac Nois: He was a Prelate of great[pg 033]Learning and Capacity, in all spiritual and ecclesiastical Matters.This antient Family is, at this Time, represented byEdmund O Hogan, Esq; High Sheriff of the County ofClare, a Gentleman, who, by the whole Tenor of his Life, hath proved Generosity of Heart, Charity, and Hospitality, to be Qualities inherent.Dermod Mac Murchad, sovereign Prince ofHy-Kinsellagh, banished byRoderick O Connor, King ofIreland, for his various and high State Crimes, sought Sanctuary and Redress in the Court ofEngland; where, in the Absence ofHenry, then inNormandy, diverse adventurousNormans,Flemings,Saxons, and oldBritons, (being themselves unsettled, and unestablished) acceded to the Fate and Fortunes ofDermod, under the Conduct ofStrongbow, Earl ofPembroke; whose casual Success inIreland, againstRoderick(owingmoreto the general Defection, at that fatal Period, of theIrishChiefs against their lawful Sovereign, than to anysuperior Valouror Address of those Adventurers) inducedHenryto a deliberate and grand Invasion of a Kingdom, to which he could lay no Claim on the Score of Nature, Reason, or Right, and whither his pretended Mission, on the Score of collecting St.Peter's Dues, (which St.Peterhimself never once thought of, or imagined) was asridiculousasgroundless. TheSumma Dies, however, arrived: and the People ofIreland, wearied out with intestine Strife, acknowledgedHenryfor their Sovereign Lord; and a grand Charter of Rights and Covenants, mutual Protection and Allegiance, was entered into, anteriorly to that ofEngland. How well this Charter wasobservedon theprotectiveSide, the absolute Anarchy of[pg 034]near four Centuries, from its original Date and Perfection, to the Reign of QueenElizabeth, demonstrates: A whole Nation, that sought Protection, and thatagreedfor quiet, regular, and lawful Government, upon rationable Terms, deprived of the Power of ordaining Laws for its own Security and Well-being, and precluded (all to four or five great and favourite Families) from the Benefits and Advantages accruing from those of that Kingdom, to which it had voluntarily united itself; exposed, through such a Length of Time, to arbitary Depredations, and unpunished, unredressed, uncensured Rapine,Quis talia sando temperet a Lachrymis!KingHenrycalled back intoEngland, to lay the Storms raised by his rebellious Sons, with whom andThomas Becket, Archbishop ofCanterbury, he was so constantly embroiled to the End of his Life, that he could little attend to the Settlement of the Affairs of this new acquired Sovereignty.Richardthe First, his immediate Successor, called away to the Holy Wars against theSaracens, had as little Leisure as his Predecessor to promote the Quiet, or Happiness ofIreland.From the usurped Authority of KingJohn, a continued Series of Papal Animosity, Bloodshed, Calamities and Piracies, closed at last by Poison; little beside political Disasters of all Sorts, could be expected.Henrythe Third, through a Reign of Fifty-six Years, was continually involved in Troubles and Hostilities, with his inflexibleEnglishBarons.Edwardthe First, a great and warlike Prince, was, throughout his whole Reign, engaged in the Reduction of theWelchandScots, and so[pg 035]intent thereon, that he could turn his Thoughts to no other Object.Edwardthe Second, indeed, sentGavestonhither, more to screen him from the implacable Resentments of the stubbornEnglishNobility, than to render any good Offices to the Inhabitants of this Country; who, indiscriminately, (Strongbowniansas well asIrish) felt the Severity of that insolent Favourite's Measures.Richardthe Second visited this Kingdom in Person, with the good Intentions of establishing Peace, Order, and Harmony, in a valuable but long neglected Estate: Yet his own adverse Fate, conspiring with that of this Land, called him back, before he could carry his favourable Resolutions into Execution, to defend hisEnglishDominions from the hostile Attacks ofHenry, Earl ofHereford, who, with the Duke ofNorfolk, Son toJohnofGaunt, had some Years before been banished byRichard, to prevent a personal Combat: This King, worthy more propitious Stars, long agitated and afflicted by the Turbulence and irreconcilable Obstinacy of hisBritishSubjects, perished at last under the impious Hands of SirPierceofExton, who, at the Head of eight barbarous armed Assassins, rushed into his Chamber, and murdered him.The Reign ofHenrythe Fourth was short, tumultuous, and bloody; Deluges of noble Blood having been shed by the bare Hands of the common Executioner, to confirm a Throne acquired by abominable Crimes, and Violence! And no sooner had these dreadful Storms begun to abate, thanHenrywas forced to depart from a Scene he had more adorned, (for he was, without Question, a great and valiant Man)[pg 036]had not his Ambition blindly hurried him beyond the Bounds of Justice and Nature.Henrythe Fifth, his Son and Successor, and truly Inheritor of his Ambition and warlike Genius, imagining himself aggrieved by theSalique Law, which excluded his Great Great-Grandmother,Isabel, from the Monarchy ofFrance, turned his elevated Thoughts intirely to the Conquest of that Kingdom: Wherein, by his own vast Merit in martial Affairs, and the Co-operation of the Queen ofFrance, (Consort ofCharlesthe Sixth, then frantick,) and that of the Duke ofBurgundy, a great and powerful Prince, he so far succeeded, as, after his Marriage withCatharine de Valois, Daughter ofCharlesthe Sixth, to be crowned, and acknowledged King ofFrance.To this great and victorious Monarch succeededHenrythe Sixth, who, through a long, various, and constantly clouded Reign, seemed the very Play of Fortune! This Day a King, the next a Prisoner! One Day acknowleged by his Parliament, the next attainted! One Day a Conqueror, and the next a Captive!Fierce, frequent, and bloody, were the Conflicts between the Houses ofYorkandLancaster, theWhiteandRed Roses; the former endeavouring to recover its Loss, the latter to maintain its usurped Authority. In this dreadful Quarrel perished two hundred thousand of private Soldiers; ten thousand of the Nobility, Gentry, and Persons of Distinction; three Kings; and, at last, the entire Race ofPlantagenet.Edwardthe Fourth soon fell, by his natural Intemperance, or rather by the insatiable Cruelty ofGloucester; who had already sacrificed his BrotherClarence, to pave his Way to the Throne.[pg 037]Nor better fared it withEdwardthe Fifth, who, by all the Arts of Seduction and Delusion, which his unnatural Uncle and Guardian,Richard, practised on the Fears and Weakness of the Queen Dowager; was, with his Brother the Duke ofYork, conveyed with great Pomp to the Tower; where the bloody Tyrant, aided by the Duke ofBuckingham, soon sacrificed those young, innocent and hopeful Princes to his wicked and boundless Ambition. But he soon after lost his own flagitious Life, and a most cruelly-acquired Crown, on the Plains ofBosworth.To him succeededHenrythe Seventh, and the first of the Race ofTudor, a great, wise and valiant Prince, but rather too much inclined to Rigour, and Avarice; Imperfections which extremely blemished his other great Qualities.In the tenth Year of this Reign, the Parliamentary Constitution ofIrelandreceived a deeper Stab than had ever before, or since, been inflicted thereon, by a Statute Law, commonly calledPoynin's Act; by which a new, and, till that wretched Period, an unheard of Order, was added to the three established Ranks of the State. By this Law, theEnglishPrivy-Council may impose aNegativeon thefreeandunanimousParliamentary Ordinances of the representative Body of the Kingdom ofIreland; a manifest Injury to the Authority and Dignity of Parliament; and an equal Diminution of the Royal Prerogative, that only should include, and should alone exert, a Power so important.In Times dark, tumultuated and dangerous, no Wonder extraordinary Laws should pass:Desperate Diseasesrequiredesperate Remedies: But when theFeveris removed, it certainly is a[pg 038]horrid Management to leave the blistering Plaisterstill stickingto therecoveredPatient's Back.The Distempers of this Nation were heavy, complicated and chronic; and finally curable, only by the salutary all-healing Hands of our present King, and present Parliament.ToHenrythe Seventh succeededHenrythe Eighth, as consummate a Tyrant, in every Sense, as ever swayed theBritish, or any other Sceptre; whose whole Life was so continued a Scene of wanton Dissipation, Lust, Cruelty, Rapine, Bloodshed and Sacrilege, that it must have been a peculiar Happiness, to any Part of his Dominions, to have beenneglectedorforgottenby him: Nor could the two succeeding Reigns ofEdwardthe Sixth, and QueenMary, short, various, cloudy, and vastly agitated on the Score of Religion, (which, in those two Reigns, took Faces almost diametrically opposite,) afford this Kingdom much reflected Sunshine.To those ensued that of QueenElizabeth, a Princess of powerful Abilities, who, truly intent on the Peace and Welfare of her Subjects, caused her Laws to operate, and Justice to circulate in this Kingdom, abandoned, as hath been observed, to a State almost of Anarchy, thro' a dismal Series of seventeen Reigns: But the Reformation in Religion, which she established inEngland, and introduced inIreland, much obviated her Purposes for the latter Kingdom: For, theIrish, more tenacious of their Altars, than of their Fire-places, could not easily reconcile themselves to the Exchange of a Religion they deemed anew one, forthatthey had been in Possession of from the fourth, to[pg 039]the fifteenth Century: Which produced a rebellious Defection, in a few of the principal Chieftains of this Land, and gave Occasion to the greedy Provincial Precedents, of trumping upimaginary Rebellions, to pave the Way toreal Forfeitures; thereby to aggrandize their own Houses; what some of them effectually accomplished, to the Ruin and Extirpation of many honest Families.This great and illustrious Princess, (whose Reign had remained untarnished, had it not been for the Death of the ill-fated Queen ofScotland) was succeeded byJamesthe Sixth ofScotland, and the first of theStuartRace that governedEngland: From this Prince, descended ofIrishKings, the People ofIrelandmight have expected many Favours and Immunities; wherein, however, they were miserably disappointed: Which, with a Train of other Hardships and antiparental Severities, (particularly his alienating, atone Stroke, six of the best Counties in the Kingdom, on theprocuredTestimony of an obscure wretched Individual, oneTeige Lenane,) is too sufficient and too lasting a Proof of:Heu! tot Conquesta Annorum, hauserit una Dies!The Possession of at least twenty Centuries, of the great and good, the heroic and hospitableO Neils,O Donnels,Mac Guires,Mac Gennises,O Reillys,O Cahanes, &c. ravished away to gratify hungry Favourites, and indigent Relatives! the six Counties, however, as the Law Term has it,escheated. Had theHighlandsofScotland, at that unhappy Period, been more populated, probably six or eight Countiesmorehad been procured toescheat, and there had beena braa Clutch of bonny Traitors; theO Connors,Mac Carthys,O Briens,O Donnels,O Hares,[pg 040]O Malones, &c. had beenallin thesame Bottomwith the Families above mentioned; especially, as they could not, according toJamesthe First's own Phrase,look to the Pope, and row with him.ToJamesthe 6th ofScotland, and first ofEngland, succeededCharlesthe First; who, notwithstanding his eminent Possession of all the Virtues that adorn and illustrate human Nature, could neither divert the adverse Fate of Subjects, or prevent his own.The Disseisin of many honest Families in the County ofKilkenny, and elsewhere, by the Earl ofStrafford, on stale Pretences ofNon Performance of Covenantson their Part; his Attempt of confiscating twenty-five Parts in thirty of the whole Province ofConnaught, on a Claim of Descent, dormant 300 Years, andoriginally ill founded, with the arbitrary Steps by him taken to the Accomplishment of this wasteful Purpose; too clearly proved that Nobleman a secondVerres. The cruel and intoxicated Administration of the Rump Parliament; the insolent, licentious, and riotous Controul of the militaryIndependents; the abject Tyranny ofOliver Cromwell, who prostrated Constitution, Church and State, will always be recollected with the Contempt, Horror, and Detestation of every good Subject.The Calamities from 1641, to the happy Restoration of KingCharlesthe Second, in 1660, being common to all good Subjects, were the more tolerable,ferre quam sortem patiuntur omnes, nemo recusat: But now or never, surely, might his ever loyal, ever faithfulIrishSubjects have, with the most reasonable Assurance, hoped, if not for publick and lasting Rewards, the common[pg 041]Wages of uncommon Fidelity; at least, for a Restitution of what had been their own, through Ages immemorial.Will late Posteritybelieve, that, in Favour of mercenary Adventurers, who advanced Money to provide for a desperate regicide Army; in Favour of the Officers of this same Army, whom their RingleaderCromwell, seared as his Conscience was, indulged with no more thantemporaryGrants of the Estates belonging to the King's most faithful Subjects: Will Posterity, I say, believe, that, in special Favour of such Men, thoseidentical Subjects, the bravest Advocates, as well as the most affectionate undeviating Friends of the Monarchy and Constitution, werefor everdeprived of their Properties! To remunerate theothers, the mostinveterateandimplacableEnemies ofEITHER!Doing Good for Evilis a Divine Precept, and certainly includes a most sublime Moral; butrendering Evil for Good, is such a Principle as must carry Horror with it, among savage Nations!The King ofFrance's immediate Letter, on this Subject, to KingCharlesthe Second, as it reflects Honour on the Memory of those illustrious Sufferers, I therefore take Leave to transcribe in this Place.* * * * *His Most Christian Majesty's Letter to the King ofGreat Britain, in Favour of theRoman CatholicksofIreland.“Most High, Most Excellent, and Most Potent Prince, our dear and well-beloved Brother and Cousin! At the same Time that we have been told of your Majesty's great Goodness towards your Subjects, and the Precedent[pg 042]you have given of an extraordinary Clemency, in granting them your general Amnesty (some few only excepted, of those whom the Blood of their King, and that of his People, cry aloud to Heaven for Revenge against). We could not but let your Majesty know, that we were extremely surprized to hear, that theCatholicksofIrelandwereexcludedfrom that Act of Oblivion, and, by that Means, put into the Number of themost criminal! This News has so much the more excited our Compassion towards them, that we have been informed, that, inall the Changeswhich have hitherto happened in your Dominions, and in the almost generalDefection ofyour Subjects,nonestoodmore constantto their lawful Sovereign, even in the greatest Streights, than theCatholicks: So that, if they are now branded for their Religion, it may be said, for their Honour, that, in Times past, none could be foundreadier, or morecheerfully disposed, thanthey, to serve and assist their Prince; and that with so muchArdour, that their Zeal then for the Royal Family was reckoned a certain Mark of their true Religion. It is for that Reason that we now become their Intercessors to you: For, otherwise, had theyfailedin the Fidelity they owe you, instead of interceding for them, we would join with you in using them with all imaginable Rigour; and it would never come into our Thoughts to concern ourselves, as we do, for theCatholicksofIreland; though wewere obliged to it, by the last Treaty of Peace made with the Marquess ofOrmond, and which was granted them by our Mediation. And, as we are well assured,[pg 043]that, since the Conclusion of that Peace, they have done Nothing which can be called aFailure of their Duty to you, we find ourselves under so much the greater Obligation to conjure you, to make good that Treaty to them, in that theyreligiouslyobserved it ontheirSide, in all its Parts: And to beseech you not to suffer, that either the Hatred, which an immoderate Zeal swells some bigotted Sectaries with, nor the unlucky Spoils of these poor People, render criminal or miserable themost faithfulof your Subjects; to whom their lawful King, as you are, is notthe less dear, norless respected, because of adifferent Belieffromtheirs. We propose Nothing to ourselves in this, nor ask any Thing, but what we dailypractise(as you may know) towards those of our Subjects who are of thereformed Religion. And, as we have commanded the Sieur Marquisde Rouvignyto explain our Sentiments more amply on this Subject to you, be pleased to give him a favourable Audience: And, above all Things, be perswaded, that, in this Affair, we have no less your owntrue Interestin View, than whatnatural ReasonandEquityrequires; and that our sincere Friendship for you is the principal Motive of this Request. Dated atParis, the 7th ofSeptember, 1660.”ThegoodKingCharles, regardless of this important Solicitation, unattentive to the plain Suggestions ofcommon Right, and unaccountably forgetful of all theirpast signal Servicesand inviolate Zeal; observed indeed that those faithfulIrishSubjects had no Stock; consequently, that dispossessing the Adherents ofOliver, who, with[pg 044]the Land, had pirated the national Stock, would cause much Confusion. As for theformer, he hoped some Settlement might in Time be found for them; (in Truth, I believe, for aught his Majesty in Reality concerned himself, this might have been inTerra Australis Incognita). Their Want of Stock is the less to be admired at, it being well known, that, with their Pay in foreign Service, chiefly expended to contribute all in their Power to theRoyal Support, they even went so far as to sell their Plate, and valuable Moveables, to answer the samegenerous Purpose: But, when every known Acre in the Kingdom, that could be disposed of, was given away by Wholesale to the Duke ofYork, the Heir-apparent of the Crown, (partial Distribution!) to new-fangled Favourites, and the staunch old Enemies of Church and Crown; it was hoped some Lands might beyetdiscovered, to satisfy and compensate thoseIrishWorthies, who had Nothing left for their Support, beside an inalienable Sense of Honour and Loyalty, and a Character of invincible Fidelity (which all Nations admired and applauded). No such Discovery, however, was made, nor any relative to theIrish, under that Administration, but what tended to convince them, by the famous Act of Settlement,&c.of the extraordinary severe Peculiarity of their Fate! Yet, ordained to shew Posterity unprecedented Specimens of Loyalty and Zeal, they still adhered, with inflexible Constancy, to the Fortunes of KingJamesthe Second, not mindful of their Injuries byJamesthe First, their unexampled Sufferings by the excessive harsh Measures of KingCharlesthe First, his Ministers, and Deputies, or their unheard-of Treatment (I won't sayWrongs, it[pg 045]being a Maxim the King ofEnglandcan do none) by KingCharlesII. Little Wonder, a House, constantly sapping it's own best Pillars, should at length fall.KingJamesthe Second, constrained to abdicate the Throne ofEngland, endeavoured the Preservation of this his Kingdom ofIreland, where his faithful Subjects, (a Remnant of the various and manifold Wastes of foregoing Reigns) considering the thousand Disadvantages they laboured under, madesuch a Standas later Ages will look up to with Astonishment! A Parcel of Men, congregated in the utmost Hurry and Confusion, undisciplin'd, unarm'd, uncloathed, unpaid! Yet did those very Men, animated by the Example of their heroick Leaders, (I mean their immediate Lords and Countrymen) on the Plains ofAughrim, convince the best veteran Army that Day inEurope, superior in Numbers, excellently provided for in every Respect, and conducted by a Prince of singular Valour and Address, thatIrishmenwere deserving of more auspicious Stars.Never was a more gallant Defence than they, after this, made inLimerick; where, although abandoned by the Prince, (whose Cause they had so remarkably espoused) and his auxiliaryFrench, they obtained an honourableCapitulationfrom those in Commission under KingWilliamthe Third, whose strictObservancethereof, to the End of his glorious Life, reflects, among many other his great Atchievements, deserved Honour on his Memory.The distinguished Figure made by those Noblemen and Gentlemen, who, regardless ofPropertyorEase, followed the Destiny of that hard-fated Prince, KingJamesthe Second,[pg 046](namely, the LordsMount-Cashel,Tyrconnel,ClareandLucan, theDillons,Nugents,Rooths,Burkes,Lees,Fitz-Geralds,Cooks,Lacys,Browns,Wogans,Baggots,Sheridans,Creaghs,Plunkets,Barnewals,Neagles,Lallys,Mac Carthys,Mac Donnels,Mac Guires,Mac Namarras,Mac Mahons,Mac Gennis's,O Neils,O Connors,O Donnels,O Briens,O Dwyers,O Shaghnussys,O Mahonys,O Sullivans,O Kellys,O Ferralls,O Reillys,O Haras,O Hogans,O Byrnes,O Daes, &c. &c. &c. the military Annals ofGermany,France,Spain,Flanders,Italy,Naples, andRussia), must bear ample and authentic Testimony of, to future Ages.Those were they, of whom Dr.Mac en Crowgives the following concise, but just and happy Character.
Finibus Occiduis describitur optima Tellus,Nomine et AntiquisScotiascripta Libris——Insula dives Opum, Gemmarum, Vestis et Auri,Commoda Corporibus, Aere sole Solo;Melle fluit pulchris et lacteisScotiaCampisVestibus atque Armis, frugibus, arte viris.Ursorum Rabies, nulla est ibi; sæva LeonumSemina, nec unquamScoticaTerra tulitNulla Venena nocent, nec Serpens serpit in Herbâ,Nec conquesta canit Garula Rana Lacu;In quaScotorumGentes habitare merenturInclita Gens Hominum Milite, Pace, Fide.Thus Englished by the Ingenius and Reverend Mr.Dunkin:“Far Westward, lies an Isle of antient Fame,By Nature bless'd, andScotiais her Name;Enroll'd in Books: Exhaustless is her StoreOf veiny Silver, and of Golden Ore:Her fruitful Soil for ever teams with Wealth,With Gems her Waters, and her Air with Health:Her verdant Fields with Milk and Honey flow;Her woolly Fleeces vie with Virgin Snow:[pg 032]Her waving Furrows float with bearded Corn,And Arms and Arts her envy'd Sons adorn.No savage Bear, with lawless Fury, roves;No rav'nous Lion, thro' her peaceful Groves;No Poison there infects; no scaly SnakeCreeps thro' the Grass, nor Frog annoys the Lake:An Island worthy of its pious Race,In War triumphant, and unmatch'd in Peace.”ThisDonat, Bishop ofFesula, was anIrishman, of the antient and hospitable Family, afterwardsO Hogan; a Family which held ample and fair Possessions in the Province ofMunster, and which, in former Times, adorned the See ofKillaloe, with four very learned and exemplary Prelates; namely, withMatthew O Hogan, who succeeded to this Bishoprick, in the Reign ofHenrythe IIId, and in the Year of our Lord 1267; and who, having much enlarged his Diocese, and done many signal Acts of popular Charity, died in the Year, 1281, and was buried inLimerick, in a Convent ofDominicanFriars. To this Bishop succeededMaurice O Hogan, who governed this See with peculiar Zeal and Charity, upwards of sixteen Years, and died in 1298, or the Year following, and was buried in his own Church.Thomas O Hogan, Canon ofKillaloe, was consecrated in 1343, and died on the 30th ofOctober, 1354; five Days after which, he was buried among his worthy Ancestors atNenagh; as may be seen in the Annals of that Place.Richard O Hogansucceeded to the See ofKillaloe, in 1525, and was in 1539 translated toClon Mac Nois: He was a Prelate of great[pg 033]Learning and Capacity, in all spiritual and ecclesiastical Matters.This antient Family is, at this Time, represented byEdmund O Hogan, Esq; High Sheriff of the County ofClare, a Gentleman, who, by the whole Tenor of his Life, hath proved Generosity of Heart, Charity, and Hospitality, to be Qualities inherent.Dermod Mac Murchad, sovereign Prince ofHy-Kinsellagh, banished byRoderick O Connor, King ofIreland, for his various and high State Crimes, sought Sanctuary and Redress in the Court ofEngland; where, in the Absence ofHenry, then inNormandy, diverse adventurousNormans,Flemings,Saxons, and oldBritons, (being themselves unsettled, and unestablished) acceded to the Fate and Fortunes ofDermod, under the Conduct ofStrongbow, Earl ofPembroke; whose casual Success inIreland, againstRoderick(owingmoreto the general Defection, at that fatal Period, of theIrishChiefs against their lawful Sovereign, than to anysuperior Valouror Address of those Adventurers) inducedHenryto a deliberate and grand Invasion of a Kingdom, to which he could lay no Claim on the Score of Nature, Reason, or Right, and whither his pretended Mission, on the Score of collecting St.Peter's Dues, (which St.Peterhimself never once thought of, or imagined) was asridiculousasgroundless. TheSumma Dies, however, arrived: and the People ofIreland, wearied out with intestine Strife, acknowledgedHenryfor their Sovereign Lord; and a grand Charter of Rights and Covenants, mutual Protection and Allegiance, was entered into, anteriorly to that ofEngland. How well this Charter wasobservedon theprotectiveSide, the absolute Anarchy of[pg 034]near four Centuries, from its original Date and Perfection, to the Reign of QueenElizabeth, demonstrates: A whole Nation, that sought Protection, and thatagreedfor quiet, regular, and lawful Government, upon rationable Terms, deprived of the Power of ordaining Laws for its own Security and Well-being, and precluded (all to four or five great and favourite Families) from the Benefits and Advantages accruing from those of that Kingdom, to which it had voluntarily united itself; exposed, through such a Length of Time, to arbitary Depredations, and unpunished, unredressed, uncensured Rapine,Quis talia sando temperet a Lachrymis!KingHenrycalled back intoEngland, to lay the Storms raised by his rebellious Sons, with whom andThomas Becket, Archbishop ofCanterbury, he was so constantly embroiled to the End of his Life, that he could little attend to the Settlement of the Affairs of this new acquired Sovereignty.Richardthe First, his immediate Successor, called away to the Holy Wars against theSaracens, had as little Leisure as his Predecessor to promote the Quiet, or Happiness ofIreland.From the usurped Authority of KingJohn, a continued Series of Papal Animosity, Bloodshed, Calamities and Piracies, closed at last by Poison; little beside political Disasters of all Sorts, could be expected.Henrythe Third, through a Reign of Fifty-six Years, was continually involved in Troubles and Hostilities, with his inflexibleEnglishBarons.Edwardthe First, a great and warlike Prince, was, throughout his whole Reign, engaged in the Reduction of theWelchandScots, and so[pg 035]intent thereon, that he could turn his Thoughts to no other Object.Edwardthe Second, indeed, sentGavestonhither, more to screen him from the implacable Resentments of the stubbornEnglishNobility, than to render any good Offices to the Inhabitants of this Country; who, indiscriminately, (Strongbowniansas well asIrish) felt the Severity of that insolent Favourite's Measures.Richardthe Second visited this Kingdom in Person, with the good Intentions of establishing Peace, Order, and Harmony, in a valuable but long neglected Estate: Yet his own adverse Fate, conspiring with that of this Land, called him back, before he could carry his favourable Resolutions into Execution, to defend hisEnglishDominions from the hostile Attacks ofHenry, Earl ofHereford, who, with the Duke ofNorfolk, Son toJohnofGaunt, had some Years before been banished byRichard, to prevent a personal Combat: This King, worthy more propitious Stars, long agitated and afflicted by the Turbulence and irreconcilable Obstinacy of hisBritishSubjects, perished at last under the impious Hands of SirPierceofExton, who, at the Head of eight barbarous armed Assassins, rushed into his Chamber, and murdered him.The Reign ofHenrythe Fourth was short, tumultuous, and bloody; Deluges of noble Blood having been shed by the bare Hands of the common Executioner, to confirm a Throne acquired by abominable Crimes, and Violence! And no sooner had these dreadful Storms begun to abate, thanHenrywas forced to depart from a Scene he had more adorned, (for he was, without Question, a great and valiant Man)[pg 036]had not his Ambition blindly hurried him beyond the Bounds of Justice and Nature.Henrythe Fifth, his Son and Successor, and truly Inheritor of his Ambition and warlike Genius, imagining himself aggrieved by theSalique Law, which excluded his Great Great-Grandmother,Isabel, from the Monarchy ofFrance, turned his elevated Thoughts intirely to the Conquest of that Kingdom: Wherein, by his own vast Merit in martial Affairs, and the Co-operation of the Queen ofFrance, (Consort ofCharlesthe Sixth, then frantick,) and that of the Duke ofBurgundy, a great and powerful Prince, he so far succeeded, as, after his Marriage withCatharine de Valois, Daughter ofCharlesthe Sixth, to be crowned, and acknowledged King ofFrance.To this great and victorious Monarch succeededHenrythe Sixth, who, through a long, various, and constantly clouded Reign, seemed the very Play of Fortune! This Day a King, the next a Prisoner! One Day acknowleged by his Parliament, the next attainted! One Day a Conqueror, and the next a Captive!Fierce, frequent, and bloody, were the Conflicts between the Houses ofYorkandLancaster, theWhiteandRed Roses; the former endeavouring to recover its Loss, the latter to maintain its usurped Authority. In this dreadful Quarrel perished two hundred thousand of private Soldiers; ten thousand of the Nobility, Gentry, and Persons of Distinction; three Kings; and, at last, the entire Race ofPlantagenet.Edwardthe Fourth soon fell, by his natural Intemperance, or rather by the insatiable Cruelty ofGloucester; who had already sacrificed his BrotherClarence, to pave his Way to the Throne.[pg 037]Nor better fared it withEdwardthe Fifth, who, by all the Arts of Seduction and Delusion, which his unnatural Uncle and Guardian,Richard, practised on the Fears and Weakness of the Queen Dowager; was, with his Brother the Duke ofYork, conveyed with great Pomp to the Tower; where the bloody Tyrant, aided by the Duke ofBuckingham, soon sacrificed those young, innocent and hopeful Princes to his wicked and boundless Ambition. But he soon after lost his own flagitious Life, and a most cruelly-acquired Crown, on the Plains ofBosworth.To him succeededHenrythe Seventh, and the first of the Race ofTudor, a great, wise and valiant Prince, but rather too much inclined to Rigour, and Avarice; Imperfections which extremely blemished his other great Qualities.In the tenth Year of this Reign, the Parliamentary Constitution ofIrelandreceived a deeper Stab than had ever before, or since, been inflicted thereon, by a Statute Law, commonly calledPoynin's Act; by which a new, and, till that wretched Period, an unheard of Order, was added to the three established Ranks of the State. By this Law, theEnglishPrivy-Council may impose aNegativeon thefreeandunanimousParliamentary Ordinances of the representative Body of the Kingdom ofIreland; a manifest Injury to the Authority and Dignity of Parliament; and an equal Diminution of the Royal Prerogative, that only should include, and should alone exert, a Power so important.In Times dark, tumultuated and dangerous, no Wonder extraordinary Laws should pass:Desperate Diseasesrequiredesperate Remedies: But when theFeveris removed, it certainly is a[pg 038]horrid Management to leave the blistering Plaisterstill stickingto therecoveredPatient's Back.The Distempers of this Nation were heavy, complicated and chronic; and finally curable, only by the salutary all-healing Hands of our present King, and present Parliament.ToHenrythe Seventh succeededHenrythe Eighth, as consummate a Tyrant, in every Sense, as ever swayed theBritish, or any other Sceptre; whose whole Life was so continued a Scene of wanton Dissipation, Lust, Cruelty, Rapine, Bloodshed and Sacrilege, that it must have been a peculiar Happiness, to any Part of his Dominions, to have beenneglectedorforgottenby him: Nor could the two succeeding Reigns ofEdwardthe Sixth, and QueenMary, short, various, cloudy, and vastly agitated on the Score of Religion, (which, in those two Reigns, took Faces almost diametrically opposite,) afford this Kingdom much reflected Sunshine.To those ensued that of QueenElizabeth, a Princess of powerful Abilities, who, truly intent on the Peace and Welfare of her Subjects, caused her Laws to operate, and Justice to circulate in this Kingdom, abandoned, as hath been observed, to a State almost of Anarchy, thro' a dismal Series of seventeen Reigns: But the Reformation in Religion, which she established inEngland, and introduced inIreland, much obviated her Purposes for the latter Kingdom: For, theIrish, more tenacious of their Altars, than of their Fire-places, could not easily reconcile themselves to the Exchange of a Religion they deemed anew one, forthatthey had been in Possession of from the fourth, to[pg 039]the fifteenth Century: Which produced a rebellious Defection, in a few of the principal Chieftains of this Land, and gave Occasion to the greedy Provincial Precedents, of trumping upimaginary Rebellions, to pave the Way toreal Forfeitures; thereby to aggrandize their own Houses; what some of them effectually accomplished, to the Ruin and Extirpation of many honest Families.This great and illustrious Princess, (whose Reign had remained untarnished, had it not been for the Death of the ill-fated Queen ofScotland) was succeeded byJamesthe Sixth ofScotland, and the first of theStuartRace that governedEngland: From this Prince, descended ofIrishKings, the People ofIrelandmight have expected many Favours and Immunities; wherein, however, they were miserably disappointed: Which, with a Train of other Hardships and antiparental Severities, (particularly his alienating, atone Stroke, six of the best Counties in the Kingdom, on theprocuredTestimony of an obscure wretched Individual, oneTeige Lenane,) is too sufficient and too lasting a Proof of:Heu! tot Conquesta Annorum, hauserit una Dies!The Possession of at least twenty Centuries, of the great and good, the heroic and hospitableO Neils,O Donnels,Mac Guires,Mac Gennises,O Reillys,O Cahanes, &c. ravished away to gratify hungry Favourites, and indigent Relatives! the six Counties, however, as the Law Term has it,escheated. Had theHighlandsofScotland, at that unhappy Period, been more populated, probably six or eight Countiesmorehad been procured toescheat, and there had beena braa Clutch of bonny Traitors; theO Connors,Mac Carthys,O Briens,O Donnels,O Hares,[pg 040]O Malones, &c. had beenallin thesame Bottomwith the Families above mentioned; especially, as they could not, according toJamesthe First's own Phrase,look to the Pope, and row with him.ToJamesthe 6th ofScotland, and first ofEngland, succeededCharlesthe First; who, notwithstanding his eminent Possession of all the Virtues that adorn and illustrate human Nature, could neither divert the adverse Fate of Subjects, or prevent his own.The Disseisin of many honest Families in the County ofKilkenny, and elsewhere, by the Earl ofStrafford, on stale Pretences ofNon Performance of Covenantson their Part; his Attempt of confiscating twenty-five Parts in thirty of the whole Province ofConnaught, on a Claim of Descent, dormant 300 Years, andoriginally ill founded, with the arbitrary Steps by him taken to the Accomplishment of this wasteful Purpose; too clearly proved that Nobleman a secondVerres. The cruel and intoxicated Administration of the Rump Parliament; the insolent, licentious, and riotous Controul of the militaryIndependents; the abject Tyranny ofOliver Cromwell, who prostrated Constitution, Church and State, will always be recollected with the Contempt, Horror, and Detestation of every good Subject.The Calamities from 1641, to the happy Restoration of KingCharlesthe Second, in 1660, being common to all good Subjects, were the more tolerable,ferre quam sortem patiuntur omnes, nemo recusat: But now or never, surely, might his ever loyal, ever faithfulIrishSubjects have, with the most reasonable Assurance, hoped, if not for publick and lasting Rewards, the common[pg 041]Wages of uncommon Fidelity; at least, for a Restitution of what had been their own, through Ages immemorial.Will late Posteritybelieve, that, in Favour of mercenary Adventurers, who advanced Money to provide for a desperate regicide Army; in Favour of the Officers of this same Army, whom their RingleaderCromwell, seared as his Conscience was, indulged with no more thantemporaryGrants of the Estates belonging to the King's most faithful Subjects: Will Posterity, I say, believe, that, in special Favour of such Men, thoseidentical Subjects, the bravest Advocates, as well as the most affectionate undeviating Friends of the Monarchy and Constitution, werefor everdeprived of their Properties! To remunerate theothers, the mostinveterateandimplacableEnemies ofEITHER!Doing Good for Evilis a Divine Precept, and certainly includes a most sublime Moral; butrendering Evil for Good, is such a Principle as must carry Horror with it, among savage Nations!The King ofFrance's immediate Letter, on this Subject, to KingCharlesthe Second, as it reflects Honour on the Memory of those illustrious Sufferers, I therefore take Leave to transcribe in this Place.* * * * *His Most Christian Majesty's Letter to the King ofGreat Britain, in Favour of theRoman CatholicksofIreland.“Most High, Most Excellent, and Most Potent Prince, our dear and well-beloved Brother and Cousin! At the same Time that we have been told of your Majesty's great Goodness towards your Subjects, and the Precedent[pg 042]you have given of an extraordinary Clemency, in granting them your general Amnesty (some few only excepted, of those whom the Blood of their King, and that of his People, cry aloud to Heaven for Revenge against). We could not but let your Majesty know, that we were extremely surprized to hear, that theCatholicksofIrelandwereexcludedfrom that Act of Oblivion, and, by that Means, put into the Number of themost criminal! This News has so much the more excited our Compassion towards them, that we have been informed, that, inall the Changeswhich have hitherto happened in your Dominions, and in the almost generalDefection ofyour Subjects,nonestoodmore constantto their lawful Sovereign, even in the greatest Streights, than theCatholicks: So that, if they are now branded for their Religion, it may be said, for their Honour, that, in Times past, none could be foundreadier, or morecheerfully disposed, thanthey, to serve and assist their Prince; and that with so muchArdour, that their Zeal then for the Royal Family was reckoned a certain Mark of their true Religion. It is for that Reason that we now become their Intercessors to you: For, otherwise, had theyfailedin the Fidelity they owe you, instead of interceding for them, we would join with you in using them with all imaginable Rigour; and it would never come into our Thoughts to concern ourselves, as we do, for theCatholicksofIreland; though wewere obliged to it, by the last Treaty of Peace made with the Marquess ofOrmond, and which was granted them by our Mediation. And, as we are well assured,[pg 043]that, since the Conclusion of that Peace, they have done Nothing which can be called aFailure of their Duty to you, we find ourselves under so much the greater Obligation to conjure you, to make good that Treaty to them, in that theyreligiouslyobserved it ontheirSide, in all its Parts: And to beseech you not to suffer, that either the Hatred, which an immoderate Zeal swells some bigotted Sectaries with, nor the unlucky Spoils of these poor People, render criminal or miserable themost faithfulof your Subjects; to whom their lawful King, as you are, is notthe less dear, norless respected, because of adifferent Belieffromtheirs. We propose Nothing to ourselves in this, nor ask any Thing, but what we dailypractise(as you may know) towards those of our Subjects who are of thereformed Religion. And, as we have commanded the Sieur Marquisde Rouvignyto explain our Sentiments more amply on this Subject to you, be pleased to give him a favourable Audience: And, above all Things, be perswaded, that, in this Affair, we have no less your owntrue Interestin View, than whatnatural ReasonandEquityrequires; and that our sincere Friendship for you is the principal Motive of this Request. Dated atParis, the 7th ofSeptember, 1660.”ThegoodKingCharles, regardless of this important Solicitation, unattentive to the plain Suggestions ofcommon Right, and unaccountably forgetful of all theirpast signal Servicesand inviolate Zeal; observed indeed that those faithfulIrishSubjects had no Stock; consequently, that dispossessing the Adherents ofOliver, who, with[pg 044]the Land, had pirated the national Stock, would cause much Confusion. As for theformer, he hoped some Settlement might in Time be found for them; (in Truth, I believe, for aught his Majesty in Reality concerned himself, this might have been inTerra Australis Incognita). Their Want of Stock is the less to be admired at, it being well known, that, with their Pay in foreign Service, chiefly expended to contribute all in their Power to theRoyal Support, they even went so far as to sell their Plate, and valuable Moveables, to answer the samegenerous Purpose: But, when every known Acre in the Kingdom, that could be disposed of, was given away by Wholesale to the Duke ofYork, the Heir-apparent of the Crown, (partial Distribution!) to new-fangled Favourites, and the staunch old Enemies of Church and Crown; it was hoped some Lands might beyetdiscovered, to satisfy and compensate thoseIrishWorthies, who had Nothing left for their Support, beside an inalienable Sense of Honour and Loyalty, and a Character of invincible Fidelity (which all Nations admired and applauded). No such Discovery, however, was made, nor any relative to theIrish, under that Administration, but what tended to convince them, by the famous Act of Settlement,&c.of the extraordinary severe Peculiarity of their Fate! Yet, ordained to shew Posterity unprecedented Specimens of Loyalty and Zeal, they still adhered, with inflexible Constancy, to the Fortunes of KingJamesthe Second, not mindful of their Injuries byJamesthe First, their unexampled Sufferings by the excessive harsh Measures of KingCharlesthe First, his Ministers, and Deputies, or their unheard-of Treatment (I won't sayWrongs, it[pg 045]being a Maxim the King ofEnglandcan do none) by KingCharlesII. Little Wonder, a House, constantly sapping it's own best Pillars, should at length fall.KingJamesthe Second, constrained to abdicate the Throne ofEngland, endeavoured the Preservation of this his Kingdom ofIreland, where his faithful Subjects, (a Remnant of the various and manifold Wastes of foregoing Reigns) considering the thousand Disadvantages they laboured under, madesuch a Standas later Ages will look up to with Astonishment! A Parcel of Men, congregated in the utmost Hurry and Confusion, undisciplin'd, unarm'd, uncloathed, unpaid! Yet did those very Men, animated by the Example of their heroick Leaders, (I mean their immediate Lords and Countrymen) on the Plains ofAughrim, convince the best veteran Army that Day inEurope, superior in Numbers, excellently provided for in every Respect, and conducted by a Prince of singular Valour and Address, thatIrishmenwere deserving of more auspicious Stars.Never was a more gallant Defence than they, after this, made inLimerick; where, although abandoned by the Prince, (whose Cause they had so remarkably espoused) and his auxiliaryFrench, they obtained an honourableCapitulationfrom those in Commission under KingWilliamthe Third, whose strictObservancethereof, to the End of his glorious Life, reflects, among many other his great Atchievements, deserved Honour on his Memory.The distinguished Figure made by those Noblemen and Gentlemen, who, regardless ofPropertyorEase, followed the Destiny of that hard-fated Prince, KingJamesthe Second,[pg 046](namely, the LordsMount-Cashel,Tyrconnel,ClareandLucan, theDillons,Nugents,Rooths,Burkes,Lees,Fitz-Geralds,Cooks,Lacys,Browns,Wogans,Baggots,Sheridans,Creaghs,Plunkets,Barnewals,Neagles,Lallys,Mac Carthys,Mac Donnels,Mac Guires,Mac Namarras,Mac Mahons,Mac Gennis's,O Neils,O Connors,O Donnels,O Briens,O Dwyers,O Shaghnussys,O Mahonys,O Sullivans,O Kellys,O Ferralls,O Reillys,O Haras,O Hogans,O Byrnes,O Daes, &c. &c. &c. the military Annals ofGermany,France,Spain,Flanders,Italy,Naples, andRussia), must bear ample and authentic Testimony of, to future Ages.Those were they, of whom Dr.Mac en Crowgives the following concise, but just and happy Character.
Finibus Occiduis describitur optima Tellus,Nomine et AntiquisScotiascripta Libris——Insula dives Opum, Gemmarum, Vestis et Auri,Commoda Corporibus, Aere sole Solo;Melle fluit pulchris et lacteisScotiaCampisVestibus atque Armis, frugibus, arte viris.Ursorum Rabies, nulla est ibi; sæva LeonumSemina, nec unquamScoticaTerra tulitNulla Venena nocent, nec Serpens serpit in Herbâ,Nec conquesta canit Garula Rana Lacu;In quaScotorumGentes habitare merenturInclita Gens Hominum Milite, Pace, Fide.
Finibus Occiduis describitur optima Tellus,
Nomine et AntiquisScotiascripta Libris——
Insula dives Opum, Gemmarum, Vestis et Auri,
Commoda Corporibus, Aere sole Solo;
Melle fluit pulchris et lacteisScotiaCampis
Vestibus atque Armis, frugibus, arte viris.
Ursorum Rabies, nulla est ibi; sæva Leonum
Semina, nec unquamScoticaTerra tulit
Nulla Venena nocent, nec Serpens serpit in Herbâ,
Nec conquesta canit Garula Rana Lacu;
In quaScotorumGentes habitare merentur
Inclita Gens Hominum Milite, Pace, Fide.
Thus Englished by the Ingenius and Reverend Mr.Dunkin:
“Far Westward, lies an Isle of antient Fame,By Nature bless'd, andScotiais her Name;Enroll'd in Books: Exhaustless is her StoreOf veiny Silver, and of Golden Ore:Her fruitful Soil for ever teams with Wealth,With Gems her Waters, and her Air with Health:Her verdant Fields with Milk and Honey flow;Her woolly Fleeces vie with Virgin Snow:[pg 032]Her waving Furrows float with bearded Corn,And Arms and Arts her envy'd Sons adorn.No savage Bear, with lawless Fury, roves;No rav'nous Lion, thro' her peaceful Groves;No Poison there infects; no scaly SnakeCreeps thro' the Grass, nor Frog annoys the Lake:An Island worthy of its pious Race,In War triumphant, and unmatch'd in Peace.”
“Far Westward, lies an Isle of antient Fame,
By Nature bless'd, andScotiais her Name;
Enroll'd in Books: Exhaustless is her Store
Of veiny Silver, and of Golden Ore:
Her fruitful Soil for ever teams with Wealth,
With Gems her Waters, and her Air with Health:
Her verdant Fields with Milk and Honey flow;
Her woolly Fleeces vie with Virgin Snow:
Her waving Furrows float with bearded Corn,
And Arms and Arts her envy'd Sons adorn.
No savage Bear, with lawless Fury, roves;
No rav'nous Lion, thro' her peaceful Groves;
No Poison there infects; no scaly Snake
Creeps thro' the Grass, nor Frog annoys the Lake:
An Island worthy of its pious Race,
In War triumphant, and unmatch'd in Peace.”
ThisDonat, Bishop ofFesula, was anIrishman, of the antient and hospitable Family, afterwardsO Hogan; a Family which held ample and fair Possessions in the Province ofMunster, and which, in former Times, adorned the See ofKillaloe, with four very learned and exemplary Prelates; namely, withMatthew O Hogan, who succeeded to this Bishoprick, in the Reign ofHenrythe IIId, and in the Year of our Lord 1267; and who, having much enlarged his Diocese, and done many signal Acts of popular Charity, died in the Year, 1281, and was buried inLimerick, in a Convent ofDominicanFriars. To this Bishop succeededMaurice O Hogan, who governed this See with peculiar Zeal and Charity, upwards of sixteen Years, and died in 1298, or the Year following, and was buried in his own Church.Thomas O Hogan, Canon ofKillaloe, was consecrated in 1343, and died on the 30th ofOctober, 1354; five Days after which, he was buried among his worthy Ancestors atNenagh; as may be seen in the Annals of that Place.
Richard O Hogansucceeded to the See ofKillaloe, in 1525, and was in 1539 translated toClon Mac Nois: He was a Prelate of great[pg 033]Learning and Capacity, in all spiritual and ecclesiastical Matters.
This antient Family is, at this Time, represented byEdmund O Hogan, Esq; High Sheriff of the County ofClare, a Gentleman, who, by the whole Tenor of his Life, hath proved Generosity of Heart, Charity, and Hospitality, to be Qualities inherent.
Dermod Mac Murchad, sovereign Prince ofHy-Kinsellagh, banished byRoderick O Connor, King ofIreland, for his various and high State Crimes, sought Sanctuary and Redress in the Court ofEngland; where, in the Absence ofHenry, then inNormandy, diverse adventurousNormans,Flemings,Saxons, and oldBritons, (being themselves unsettled, and unestablished) acceded to the Fate and Fortunes ofDermod, under the Conduct ofStrongbow, Earl ofPembroke; whose casual Success inIreland, againstRoderick(owingmoreto the general Defection, at that fatal Period, of theIrishChiefs against their lawful Sovereign, than to anysuperior Valouror Address of those Adventurers) inducedHenryto a deliberate and grand Invasion of a Kingdom, to which he could lay no Claim on the Score of Nature, Reason, or Right, and whither his pretended Mission, on the Score of collecting St.Peter's Dues, (which St.Peterhimself never once thought of, or imagined) was asridiculousasgroundless. TheSumma Dies, however, arrived: and the People ofIreland, wearied out with intestine Strife, acknowledgedHenryfor their Sovereign Lord; and a grand Charter of Rights and Covenants, mutual Protection and Allegiance, was entered into, anteriorly to that ofEngland. How well this Charter wasobservedon theprotectiveSide, the absolute Anarchy of[pg 034]near four Centuries, from its original Date and Perfection, to the Reign of QueenElizabeth, demonstrates: A whole Nation, that sought Protection, and thatagreedfor quiet, regular, and lawful Government, upon rationable Terms, deprived of the Power of ordaining Laws for its own Security and Well-being, and precluded (all to four or five great and favourite Families) from the Benefits and Advantages accruing from those of that Kingdom, to which it had voluntarily united itself; exposed, through such a Length of Time, to arbitary Depredations, and unpunished, unredressed, uncensured Rapine,Quis talia sando temperet a Lachrymis!
KingHenrycalled back intoEngland, to lay the Storms raised by his rebellious Sons, with whom andThomas Becket, Archbishop ofCanterbury, he was so constantly embroiled to the End of his Life, that he could little attend to the Settlement of the Affairs of this new acquired Sovereignty.
Richardthe First, his immediate Successor, called away to the Holy Wars against theSaracens, had as little Leisure as his Predecessor to promote the Quiet, or Happiness ofIreland.
From the usurped Authority of KingJohn, a continued Series of Papal Animosity, Bloodshed, Calamities and Piracies, closed at last by Poison; little beside political Disasters of all Sorts, could be expected.
Henrythe Third, through a Reign of Fifty-six Years, was continually involved in Troubles and Hostilities, with his inflexibleEnglishBarons.
Edwardthe First, a great and warlike Prince, was, throughout his whole Reign, engaged in the Reduction of theWelchandScots, and so[pg 035]intent thereon, that he could turn his Thoughts to no other Object.
Edwardthe Second, indeed, sentGavestonhither, more to screen him from the implacable Resentments of the stubbornEnglishNobility, than to render any good Offices to the Inhabitants of this Country; who, indiscriminately, (Strongbowniansas well asIrish) felt the Severity of that insolent Favourite's Measures.
Richardthe Second visited this Kingdom in Person, with the good Intentions of establishing Peace, Order, and Harmony, in a valuable but long neglected Estate: Yet his own adverse Fate, conspiring with that of this Land, called him back, before he could carry his favourable Resolutions into Execution, to defend hisEnglishDominions from the hostile Attacks ofHenry, Earl ofHereford, who, with the Duke ofNorfolk, Son toJohnofGaunt, had some Years before been banished byRichard, to prevent a personal Combat: This King, worthy more propitious Stars, long agitated and afflicted by the Turbulence and irreconcilable Obstinacy of hisBritishSubjects, perished at last under the impious Hands of SirPierceofExton, who, at the Head of eight barbarous armed Assassins, rushed into his Chamber, and murdered him.
The Reign ofHenrythe Fourth was short, tumultuous, and bloody; Deluges of noble Blood having been shed by the bare Hands of the common Executioner, to confirm a Throne acquired by abominable Crimes, and Violence! And no sooner had these dreadful Storms begun to abate, thanHenrywas forced to depart from a Scene he had more adorned, (for he was, without Question, a great and valiant Man)[pg 036]had not his Ambition blindly hurried him beyond the Bounds of Justice and Nature.
Henrythe Fifth, his Son and Successor, and truly Inheritor of his Ambition and warlike Genius, imagining himself aggrieved by theSalique Law, which excluded his Great Great-Grandmother,Isabel, from the Monarchy ofFrance, turned his elevated Thoughts intirely to the Conquest of that Kingdom: Wherein, by his own vast Merit in martial Affairs, and the Co-operation of the Queen ofFrance, (Consort ofCharlesthe Sixth, then frantick,) and that of the Duke ofBurgundy, a great and powerful Prince, he so far succeeded, as, after his Marriage withCatharine de Valois, Daughter ofCharlesthe Sixth, to be crowned, and acknowledged King ofFrance.
To this great and victorious Monarch succeededHenrythe Sixth, who, through a long, various, and constantly clouded Reign, seemed the very Play of Fortune! This Day a King, the next a Prisoner! One Day acknowleged by his Parliament, the next attainted! One Day a Conqueror, and the next a Captive!
Fierce, frequent, and bloody, were the Conflicts between the Houses ofYorkandLancaster, theWhiteandRed Roses; the former endeavouring to recover its Loss, the latter to maintain its usurped Authority. In this dreadful Quarrel perished two hundred thousand of private Soldiers; ten thousand of the Nobility, Gentry, and Persons of Distinction; three Kings; and, at last, the entire Race ofPlantagenet.
Edwardthe Fourth soon fell, by his natural Intemperance, or rather by the insatiable Cruelty ofGloucester; who had already sacrificed his BrotherClarence, to pave his Way to the Throne.[pg 037]Nor better fared it withEdwardthe Fifth, who, by all the Arts of Seduction and Delusion, which his unnatural Uncle and Guardian,Richard, practised on the Fears and Weakness of the Queen Dowager; was, with his Brother the Duke ofYork, conveyed with great Pomp to the Tower; where the bloody Tyrant, aided by the Duke ofBuckingham, soon sacrificed those young, innocent and hopeful Princes to his wicked and boundless Ambition. But he soon after lost his own flagitious Life, and a most cruelly-acquired Crown, on the Plains ofBosworth.
To him succeededHenrythe Seventh, and the first of the Race ofTudor, a great, wise and valiant Prince, but rather too much inclined to Rigour, and Avarice; Imperfections which extremely blemished his other great Qualities.
In the tenth Year of this Reign, the Parliamentary Constitution ofIrelandreceived a deeper Stab than had ever before, or since, been inflicted thereon, by a Statute Law, commonly calledPoynin's Act; by which a new, and, till that wretched Period, an unheard of Order, was added to the three established Ranks of the State. By this Law, theEnglishPrivy-Council may impose aNegativeon thefreeandunanimousParliamentary Ordinances of the representative Body of the Kingdom ofIreland; a manifest Injury to the Authority and Dignity of Parliament; and an equal Diminution of the Royal Prerogative, that only should include, and should alone exert, a Power so important.
In Times dark, tumultuated and dangerous, no Wonder extraordinary Laws should pass:Desperate Diseasesrequiredesperate Remedies: But when theFeveris removed, it certainly is a[pg 038]horrid Management to leave the blistering Plaisterstill stickingto therecoveredPatient's Back.
The Distempers of this Nation were heavy, complicated and chronic; and finally curable, only by the salutary all-healing Hands of our present King, and present Parliament.
ToHenrythe Seventh succeededHenrythe Eighth, as consummate a Tyrant, in every Sense, as ever swayed theBritish, or any other Sceptre; whose whole Life was so continued a Scene of wanton Dissipation, Lust, Cruelty, Rapine, Bloodshed and Sacrilege, that it must have been a peculiar Happiness, to any Part of his Dominions, to have beenneglectedorforgottenby him: Nor could the two succeeding Reigns ofEdwardthe Sixth, and QueenMary, short, various, cloudy, and vastly agitated on the Score of Religion, (which, in those two Reigns, took Faces almost diametrically opposite,) afford this Kingdom much reflected Sunshine.
To those ensued that of QueenElizabeth, a Princess of powerful Abilities, who, truly intent on the Peace and Welfare of her Subjects, caused her Laws to operate, and Justice to circulate in this Kingdom, abandoned, as hath been observed, to a State almost of Anarchy, thro' a dismal Series of seventeen Reigns: But the Reformation in Religion, which she established inEngland, and introduced inIreland, much obviated her Purposes for the latter Kingdom: For, theIrish, more tenacious of their Altars, than of their Fire-places, could not easily reconcile themselves to the Exchange of a Religion they deemed anew one, forthatthey had been in Possession of from the fourth, to[pg 039]the fifteenth Century: Which produced a rebellious Defection, in a few of the principal Chieftains of this Land, and gave Occasion to the greedy Provincial Precedents, of trumping upimaginary Rebellions, to pave the Way toreal Forfeitures; thereby to aggrandize their own Houses; what some of them effectually accomplished, to the Ruin and Extirpation of many honest Families.
This great and illustrious Princess, (whose Reign had remained untarnished, had it not been for the Death of the ill-fated Queen ofScotland) was succeeded byJamesthe Sixth ofScotland, and the first of theStuartRace that governedEngland: From this Prince, descended ofIrishKings, the People ofIrelandmight have expected many Favours and Immunities; wherein, however, they were miserably disappointed: Which, with a Train of other Hardships and antiparental Severities, (particularly his alienating, atone Stroke, six of the best Counties in the Kingdom, on theprocuredTestimony of an obscure wretched Individual, oneTeige Lenane,) is too sufficient and too lasting a Proof of:Heu! tot Conquesta Annorum, hauserit una Dies!The Possession of at least twenty Centuries, of the great and good, the heroic and hospitableO Neils,O Donnels,Mac Guires,Mac Gennises,O Reillys,O Cahanes, &c. ravished away to gratify hungry Favourites, and indigent Relatives! the six Counties, however, as the Law Term has it,escheated. Had theHighlandsofScotland, at that unhappy Period, been more populated, probably six or eight Countiesmorehad been procured toescheat, and there had beena braa Clutch of bonny Traitors; theO Connors,Mac Carthys,O Briens,O Donnels,O Hares,[pg 040]O Malones, &c. had beenallin thesame Bottomwith the Families above mentioned; especially, as they could not, according toJamesthe First's own Phrase,look to the Pope, and row with him.
ToJamesthe 6th ofScotland, and first ofEngland, succeededCharlesthe First; who, notwithstanding his eminent Possession of all the Virtues that adorn and illustrate human Nature, could neither divert the adverse Fate of Subjects, or prevent his own.
The Disseisin of many honest Families in the County ofKilkenny, and elsewhere, by the Earl ofStrafford, on stale Pretences ofNon Performance of Covenantson their Part; his Attempt of confiscating twenty-five Parts in thirty of the whole Province ofConnaught, on a Claim of Descent, dormant 300 Years, andoriginally ill founded, with the arbitrary Steps by him taken to the Accomplishment of this wasteful Purpose; too clearly proved that Nobleman a secondVerres. The cruel and intoxicated Administration of the Rump Parliament; the insolent, licentious, and riotous Controul of the militaryIndependents; the abject Tyranny ofOliver Cromwell, who prostrated Constitution, Church and State, will always be recollected with the Contempt, Horror, and Detestation of every good Subject.
The Calamities from 1641, to the happy Restoration of KingCharlesthe Second, in 1660, being common to all good Subjects, were the more tolerable,ferre quam sortem patiuntur omnes, nemo recusat: But now or never, surely, might his ever loyal, ever faithfulIrishSubjects have, with the most reasonable Assurance, hoped, if not for publick and lasting Rewards, the common[pg 041]Wages of uncommon Fidelity; at least, for a Restitution of what had been their own, through Ages immemorial.
Will late Posteritybelieve, that, in Favour of mercenary Adventurers, who advanced Money to provide for a desperate regicide Army; in Favour of the Officers of this same Army, whom their RingleaderCromwell, seared as his Conscience was, indulged with no more thantemporaryGrants of the Estates belonging to the King's most faithful Subjects: Will Posterity, I say, believe, that, in special Favour of such Men, thoseidentical Subjects, the bravest Advocates, as well as the most affectionate undeviating Friends of the Monarchy and Constitution, werefor everdeprived of their Properties! To remunerate theothers, the mostinveterateandimplacableEnemies ofEITHER!Doing Good for Evilis a Divine Precept, and certainly includes a most sublime Moral; butrendering Evil for Good, is such a Principle as must carry Horror with it, among savage Nations!
The King ofFrance's immediate Letter, on this Subject, to KingCharlesthe Second, as it reflects Honour on the Memory of those illustrious Sufferers, I therefore take Leave to transcribe in this Place.
* * * * *
His Most Christian Majesty's Letter to the King ofGreat Britain, in Favour of theRoman CatholicksofIreland.
“Most High, Most Excellent, and Most Potent Prince, our dear and well-beloved Brother and Cousin! At the same Time that we have been told of your Majesty's great Goodness towards your Subjects, and the Precedent[pg 042]you have given of an extraordinary Clemency, in granting them your general Amnesty (some few only excepted, of those whom the Blood of their King, and that of his People, cry aloud to Heaven for Revenge against). We could not but let your Majesty know, that we were extremely surprized to hear, that theCatholicksofIrelandwereexcludedfrom that Act of Oblivion, and, by that Means, put into the Number of themost criminal! This News has so much the more excited our Compassion towards them, that we have been informed, that, inall the Changeswhich have hitherto happened in your Dominions, and in the almost generalDefection ofyour Subjects,nonestoodmore constantto their lawful Sovereign, even in the greatest Streights, than theCatholicks: So that, if they are now branded for their Religion, it may be said, for their Honour, that, in Times past, none could be foundreadier, or morecheerfully disposed, thanthey, to serve and assist their Prince; and that with so muchArdour, that their Zeal then for the Royal Family was reckoned a certain Mark of their true Religion. It is for that Reason that we now become their Intercessors to you: For, otherwise, had theyfailedin the Fidelity they owe you, instead of interceding for them, we would join with you in using them with all imaginable Rigour; and it would never come into our Thoughts to concern ourselves, as we do, for theCatholicksofIreland; though wewere obliged to it, by the last Treaty of Peace made with the Marquess ofOrmond, and which was granted them by our Mediation. And, as we are well assured,[pg 043]that, since the Conclusion of that Peace, they have done Nothing which can be called aFailure of their Duty to you, we find ourselves under so much the greater Obligation to conjure you, to make good that Treaty to them, in that theyreligiouslyobserved it ontheirSide, in all its Parts: And to beseech you not to suffer, that either the Hatred, which an immoderate Zeal swells some bigotted Sectaries with, nor the unlucky Spoils of these poor People, render criminal or miserable themost faithfulof your Subjects; to whom their lawful King, as you are, is notthe less dear, norless respected, because of adifferent Belieffromtheirs. We propose Nothing to ourselves in this, nor ask any Thing, but what we dailypractise(as you may know) towards those of our Subjects who are of thereformed Religion. And, as we have commanded the Sieur Marquisde Rouvignyto explain our Sentiments more amply on this Subject to you, be pleased to give him a favourable Audience: And, above all Things, be perswaded, that, in this Affair, we have no less your owntrue Interestin View, than whatnatural ReasonandEquityrequires; and that our sincere Friendship for you is the principal Motive of this Request. Dated atParis, the 7th ofSeptember, 1660.”
ThegoodKingCharles, regardless of this important Solicitation, unattentive to the plain Suggestions ofcommon Right, and unaccountably forgetful of all theirpast signal Servicesand inviolate Zeal; observed indeed that those faithfulIrishSubjects had no Stock; consequently, that dispossessing the Adherents ofOliver, who, with[pg 044]the Land, had pirated the national Stock, would cause much Confusion. As for theformer, he hoped some Settlement might in Time be found for them; (in Truth, I believe, for aught his Majesty in Reality concerned himself, this might have been inTerra Australis Incognita). Their Want of Stock is the less to be admired at, it being well known, that, with their Pay in foreign Service, chiefly expended to contribute all in their Power to theRoyal Support, they even went so far as to sell their Plate, and valuable Moveables, to answer the samegenerous Purpose: But, when every known Acre in the Kingdom, that could be disposed of, was given away by Wholesale to the Duke ofYork, the Heir-apparent of the Crown, (partial Distribution!) to new-fangled Favourites, and the staunch old Enemies of Church and Crown; it was hoped some Lands might beyetdiscovered, to satisfy and compensate thoseIrishWorthies, who had Nothing left for their Support, beside an inalienable Sense of Honour and Loyalty, and a Character of invincible Fidelity (which all Nations admired and applauded). No such Discovery, however, was made, nor any relative to theIrish, under that Administration, but what tended to convince them, by the famous Act of Settlement,&c.of the extraordinary severe Peculiarity of their Fate! Yet, ordained to shew Posterity unprecedented Specimens of Loyalty and Zeal, they still adhered, with inflexible Constancy, to the Fortunes of KingJamesthe Second, not mindful of their Injuries byJamesthe First, their unexampled Sufferings by the excessive harsh Measures of KingCharlesthe First, his Ministers, and Deputies, or their unheard-of Treatment (I won't sayWrongs, it[pg 045]being a Maxim the King ofEnglandcan do none) by KingCharlesII. Little Wonder, a House, constantly sapping it's own best Pillars, should at length fall.
KingJamesthe Second, constrained to abdicate the Throne ofEngland, endeavoured the Preservation of this his Kingdom ofIreland, where his faithful Subjects, (a Remnant of the various and manifold Wastes of foregoing Reigns) considering the thousand Disadvantages they laboured under, madesuch a Standas later Ages will look up to with Astonishment! A Parcel of Men, congregated in the utmost Hurry and Confusion, undisciplin'd, unarm'd, uncloathed, unpaid! Yet did those very Men, animated by the Example of their heroick Leaders, (I mean their immediate Lords and Countrymen) on the Plains ofAughrim, convince the best veteran Army that Day inEurope, superior in Numbers, excellently provided for in every Respect, and conducted by a Prince of singular Valour and Address, thatIrishmenwere deserving of more auspicious Stars.
Never was a more gallant Defence than they, after this, made inLimerick; where, although abandoned by the Prince, (whose Cause they had so remarkably espoused) and his auxiliaryFrench, they obtained an honourableCapitulationfrom those in Commission under KingWilliamthe Third, whose strictObservancethereof, to the End of his glorious Life, reflects, among many other his great Atchievements, deserved Honour on his Memory.
The distinguished Figure made by those Noblemen and Gentlemen, who, regardless ofPropertyorEase, followed the Destiny of that hard-fated Prince, KingJamesthe Second,[pg 046](namely, the LordsMount-Cashel,Tyrconnel,ClareandLucan, theDillons,Nugents,Rooths,Burkes,Lees,Fitz-Geralds,Cooks,Lacys,Browns,Wogans,Baggots,Sheridans,Creaghs,Plunkets,Barnewals,Neagles,Lallys,Mac Carthys,Mac Donnels,Mac Guires,Mac Namarras,Mac Mahons,Mac Gennis's,O Neils,O Connors,O Donnels,O Briens,O Dwyers,O Shaghnussys,O Mahonys,O Sullivans,O Kellys,O Ferralls,O Reillys,O Haras,O Hogans,O Byrnes,O Daes, &c. &c. &c. the military Annals ofGermany,France,Spain,Flanders,Italy,Naples, andRussia), must bear ample and authentic Testimony of, to future Ages.
Those were they, of whom Dr.Mac en Crowgives the following concise, but just and happy Character.