Robert Dunlop

“ Fighting obstinately and only yielding inch by inch, the Irish at length broke and fled. A horrible carnage ensued, and one who was present tells us that from the top of a neighbouring hill he saw the country to the distance of near four miles white with the naked bodies of the slain. After a few days' rest Ginkel moved towards Galway. According to the ‘Memoirs of King James,’ he might have finished the war at one blow had he marched straight on Limerick; as it was, he gave the Irish time to rally their scattered forces and complete their fortifications. ”

“ The commercial distress prevalent in the north, consequent on the war with the American colonies, convinced Hope that the fundamental question of the time was social rather than political, and only to be solved by restoring to the people ‘their natural right of deriving a subsistence from the soil on which their labour was expended.’ But it was the religious feuds between the Peep-o'-Day Boys and the Defenders, nowhere more bitter than in his own neighbourhood, that first seriously attracted his attention to politics. ”

“ He wrote too much and too superficially to become an authority of first rank on either military or Irish history. He had no personal experience of military affairs, and except in the case of Ireland of his own day his knowledge of Irish history was largely second-hand. His style was that of an accomplished journalist, content for the most part to build on other men's foundations; but such writings as his 'Napoleon' and 'Ireland from '98 to '98' possess permanent interest from their strongly personal character and independent judgment. ”

“ He was a man of large and even robust stature, and in later years his abundant grey hair gave him a commanding and venerable appearance. He had great natural abilities, a sound judgment, an even temper, and a very tenacious memory, but was not remarkable either for learning or extensive reading, and in private affairs, to judge from his will, a man of very unpractical habits. As a lawyer he held the foremost place in his profession. ”

“ In the autumn of 1863 Stephens founded a newspaper for the propagation of his ideas. Under the editorship of Luby, Kickham, and O'Leary the 'Irish People' proved a great success both financially and as an organ of the party. In America, on the other hand, the agitation, owing to the quarrel between O'Mahony and the party of action, was stagnating, and in March 1864 Stephens recrossed the Atlantic. Though his intervention was at first resented by O'Mahony he was on the whole well received, and during his five months' visit he did much to restore order and to extend the organisation. ”

“ The Baron of Dromana, however, being anxious to liberate himself from his feudal superior, had meanwhile enlisted the support of the Earl of Ormonde who, nothing loth, under this plausible pretext of maintaining the peace to revenge himself on his rival, immediately assembled his men and marched southwards. The two armies met at the ford of Affane on the Blackwater; a bloody skirmish followed, in which Desmond was wounded in the thigh with a bullet and taken prisoner. The queen, enraged at this fresh outbreak, summoned both earls to appear before her. ”

“ Force having failed, Ormonde and Kildare were sent to try what could be effected by diplomacy; but Shane stoutly refused to abate one jot of his pretensions as O'Neill, and the negotiations were broken off. But for the shame of it, Elizabeth would have consented to purchase peace even at his own price. She knew that to yield to his demands would touch Sussex to the quick; but she implored him to further Sir Thomas Cusack's proposals for an agreement rather than to force her to grant Shane an unqualified pardon. ”

“ In June 1542 he visited England, where, being admitted to the presence of the king, he was by him graciously received, his title acknowledged, and the king himself wrote to the Irish council 'that the Earl of Desmond hath here submitted himself in so honest, lowly, and humble a sort towards us, as we have conceived a very great hope that he will prove a man of great honour, truth, and good service.' Nor did he, during the rest of his life, fail to justify this opinion. ”

“ In the midst of the struggle old Turlough Luineach died, and Tyrone assumed the title, as he had for some time past possessed the authority, of O'Neill. ‘The coming to the place of O'Neill,’ wrote Norris, ‘hath made the rebel much prouder and harder to yield to his duty, and he flattereth himself much with the hope of foreign assistance.’ As if to confirm Norris's statement, letters were shortly afterwards intercepted from him and O'Donnell to Philip II and Don John d'Aquila, soliciting speedy assistance. ”

“ Boasting of the victory he had obtained over Elizabeth, he soon made it apparent what value he attached to the concessions extorted from him in England by breaking them in every single particular. When Sussex landed about the end of July, he had a long story to tell of Shane's lawless behaviour in harrying Maguire and the Scots, and in levying forces against Con O'Donnell. Determined to catch him by fair means or foul, he reminded him of his promise to submit his grievances to arbitration, and sent him an ambiguously worded safe-conduct, appointing a meeting at Dundalk. ”

“ It was afterwards urged by Tyrone's eldest legitimate son, Shane, that, in surrendering his lands and consenting to hold them by English tenure, Tyrone exceeded his rights as chief of his clan; and it was doubtless true that, in theory at least, an Irish chief possessed merely a life interest in the lands of his tribe. But it pleased Shane to forget that the arrangement was one established at the point of the sword, and that Tyrone's submission implied the submission likewise not only of his immediate followers, but of his urraghs as well. ”

“ The scheme failed, for O'Neill by a cleverly contrived stratagem succeeded in getting hold of O'Donnell, and though Sussex proclaimed him a traitor, and harried his country with fire and sword, he managed not only to avoid capture, but also to keep a tight hold of his prisoner. Feigning an air of injured innocence, he charged Sussex with hindering his approach to the queen by beginning ‘an unjust war’ against him, and swore roundly that until the garrison Sussex had placed in Armagh Cathedral was withdrawn he would not go near Elizabeth. ”

“ Edward VI, who continued to take a kindly interest in him, sent him the same year into France in order to perfect his education, sagely advising him to ‘behave himself honestly, more following the company of gentlemen, than pressing into the company of the ladies there.’ Introduced by the lord admiral, Lord Clinton, to Henry II, he was by him appointed a gentleman of his chamber, in which position he had favourable opportunities for observing the course of French politics. ”

“ In vain Pelham implored her, ‘If you will not ease me of my debts, pray take my poor living into your possession, and give order for their payment, and imprest me some convenient sum to set me forward.’ Elizabeth was inexorable; but the remonstrances of Leicester and Burghley induced her so far to relent as to accept a mortgage on his property, and in July 1586 he joined Leicester in the Netherlands. ”

“ His overtures to the Earl of Ossory were rejected with scorn by that astute and prudent nobleman, who, shortly after his return from England in August, created a diversion by invading and devastating Carlow and Kildare. But an attempt made by his son, Lord James Butler, to surprise Offaly recoiled on his own head, and he was only rescued from his dilemma by the news that the citizens of Dublin had turned on the besiegers of the castle and made prisoners of them. Having concluded a short truce with him, Offaly marched rapidly on Dublin. ”

“ Though more of a party pamphlet than an impartial history, it is a powerful vindication of the principles of the revolution, and was, as Bishop Burnet described it, ‘not only the best book that hath been written for the service of the government, but without any figure it is worth all the rest put together, and will do more than all our scribblings for settling the minds of the nation.’ Three editions were at once exhausted. ”

“ After several months had been spent in a fruitless attempt to reduce Drogheda, Sir Phelim was compelled in April, by the approach of Ormonde, to raise the siege. In one of the numerous sallies made by the garrison at this time, he narrowly escaped capture by creeping into a fir bush. Retiring to Armagh, he was about the beginning of May forced by Monro to set fire to the place, and to beat a hasty retreat to Charlemont, while the greater part of his troops betook themselves to the fastnesses of the bogs and mountains of Tyrone. ”

“ In May the garrison at Derry was withdrawn, and Shane at once seized the opportunity to invade Tyrconnel. He was defeated, and his army almost annihilated by the O'Donnells in the neighbourhood of Letterkenny. Riding for his very life, he managed, ‘under the guidance of a party of the O'Gallaghers,’ to reach his own country in safety. For a moment he thought of appealing to Sidney for mercy with a rope round his neck, but was ultimately persuaded to appeal to the MacDonnells for assistance. ”

“ Only the Baron of Dungannon held out against him, and he, by his own account, was compelled to betake himself to the woods for safety. But with the south of Ireland in a blaze, it was impossible to do other than temporise with him. He petitioned to have the benefit of his letters as Earl of Clanconnell; to be re-established in the rights and privileges of his ancestors; to have one hundred soldiers in the pay of the state, together with the command of the fort on the Blackwater and a grant of lands in the English Pale. ”

“ Considering the general conviction that the days of English rule in Ireland were numbered, it is not surprising that Florence, who was naturally of an irresolute disposition, and knew better than most Irishmen the resources of the crown, should have tried to trim his conduct with a view to his own safety in either case. Having secured the good opinion of the authorities at Cork, his first step was to visit the Sugan Earl of Desmond, who, with his followers, was quartered on his estate in Carbery. ”

“ In 1788 and 1789 he acted as inspector of recruiting in Ireland, and in the latter year succeeded William Orde as secretary to Buckingham, the lord-lieutenant, and was made an Irish privy councillor. Contrary to the usual custom, he continued to hold the secretaryship under Buckingham's successor, John Fane, tenth earl of Westmorland [q. v.] Hobart was a man of excellent manners, which rendered him popular even with his political opponents. He was not without ability, but his views were narrow, and his influence on Irish affairs at a very critical period was extremely mischievous. ”

“ Arran exerted himself as much as his weak nature was able; but, deserted by the nobles, many of whom had privately made their peace with England, he was unable to work to much purpose, and the reins of government gradually slipped into the stronger hands of the queen-dowager. By her advice a council was convened at Stirling, when it was resolved to appeal to France for assistance against England. The proposal was warmly supported by the French ambassador D'Oysel, and a suggestion was made that the young Queen Mary should be removed to France for safety. ”

“ He had always been much interested in agriculture, and having made the acquaintance of a Mr. Begbie, who was also a geologist as well as a large landowner, he became through him thoroughly conversant with the agricultural system prevailing in the Lothians and with the method of land valuation there pursued, which he afterwards introduced with so much success into Ireland. In 1808 he returned to Ireland and began his professional career there by making a survey of the coalfields of Leinster for the Royal Dublin Society. ”

“ Though professedly a supporter of government, he was one of the most independent politicians in the Irish House of Commons.
At an early period he formed a friendship with Burke, and his intimacy with him no doubt coloured his political opinions. He consistently opposed every effort to reform the Irish parliament, but indignantly rebutted the charge that in doing so he was actuated by mercenary motives. His advocacy of the catholic claims at a time when the penal laws were in full force entitles him to remembrance. In 1766 he supported Flood's proposal to establish a militia. ”

“ He was appointed governor of the castle of Athlone, and, though a Roman catholic, treated the protestants so fairly as to merit a severe reprimand from the government of Lord Tyrconnel. Although as an officer he maintained severity of discipline, contrasting strongly with the prevailing licentiousness of the Irish army, he was beloved as well as trusted by his soldiers (Strean, Athlone) . He was one of the first to join the standard of James II upon the revolution. ”

“ His house at Lyons was noted for its hospitality; he was a generous landlord, a lover of the fine arts, and wherever he recognised talent in his countrymen he did his best to cultivate and reward it. He was, to quote O'Connell, 'the poor man's justice of the peace, the friend of reform, in private society — in the bosom of his family — the model of virtue, in public life worthy of the admiration and affection of the people.' By his first wife Cloncurry had a son, Valentine Anne (his godmother was Anne, duchess of Cumberland) , who was born in 1805, and died unmarried in 1825 ”

“ Early in September Pelham arrived in Dublin; but hardly had Grey received from him the sword of state when the news arrived that a foreign force had landed in Kerry, and were entrenching themselves in the Fort del Ore. Fortunately the north was quiet, and Grey hoped with a butt or two of sack to confirm Turlough O'Neill in his allegiance. Accordingly, leaving the Earl of Kildare to prosecute the war against Lord Baltinglas and the rebels of the Pale, he took his way, accompanied by Captains Rawley and Zouche, at the head of eight hundred men, towards Limerick. ”