By Brian Igoe
By Brian Igoe
The last fifty years of the rule of the Geraldines had really been little better than anarchy. In consequence virtually no income had accrued to the English Crown from Ireland, and Henry VIII who notoriously had other troubles of his own, was disinterested. So long as no threat emerged, he was content to let sleeping dogs lie. A war of conquest in Ireland was indeed costed by the Earl of Surrey who reported that it could and should be undertaken, along with a policy of Plantations. But Henry rejected both conquest and Plantation outright, as being far too expensive. Instead he had instituted a policy of 'Surrender and re-Grant', under which tribal chieftains were given the opportunity of surrendering their titles and territories to the Crown and having them immediately re-granted to them with appropriate English style titles, which he hoped would have the same effect. Thus Burke became the Earl of Clanricard, O'Neill became the Earl of Tyrone, the O'Briens became Earls of Thomond, and so forth. It was not until later that most of the new Irish nobility realised that what the Crown could give, it could also take away, making their position more perilous than before. Not a welcome discovery, especially as the common people tended to scorn them for their English titles.
That is the first paragraph of the chapter, which then goes on to look at Puritanism, the Act of Supremacy, 'King of Ireland', 'Lord of Ireland', Pope Adrian, The O'Neill, the Earldom of Tyrone, Dissolution of the Monasteries, the Lords of the Pale, Gracedieu Convent, Dublin, Patrick Barnewall, James I, Edward VI, Duke of Somerset, Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, Jane Seymour, Edward Bellingham, Sir Anthony St. Leger, Lord Deputy of Ireland, Sir William Brabazon, the O'Connors, the O'Mores, Plantations, Laois, Offaly, 1548, Annals of the Four Masters, Maryborough, Dangan, Philipstown,. Brian O'Connor, 'loyal' Irish, Earl of Ormonde, Book of Common Prayer, Second Book of Common Prayer, 1552, Queen Mary, Catherine of Aragon, 'of old time used', 1558, Elizabeth Tudor, Queen Elizabeth I, Anne Boleyn, Lady Margaret Butler, "I have no desire to make windows into men's souls", "There is only one Christ, Jesus, one faith. All else is a dispute over trifles", 'exemplary plantations', Earl of Desmond, O'More, O'Connor, Pale of Dublin, Earl of Sussex, Thomas Radcliffe, Mullaghmast, Athy, Earl of Tyrone, Earl of Thomond, Sir Philip Sidney, son of Sir Henry Sidney, the 'Irish Hey', an early form of what is now called a reel; the Rinnce Fada, or 'long dance', the Trenchmore, Irish jigs in Galway in 1569, pilchard fishing in Munster, Ardmore to Ballinskelligs, Kerry, Cork, smoke houses, barrel makers, net makers, Scots, Antrim, 'Lord of the Isles' 1492., John MacDonnell, Viscount Fitzwalter, Kintyre, Carrickfergus, Shane O'Neill, Earl of Kildare, Earl of Tyrone, Conn O'Neill, 'O'Neill Mór', Ulster, 11th Earl Gerald Fitzgerald, Thomas the Silken Earl, Thomas Leverous, Lady Mary O'Connor, Lady Eleanor MacCarthy, at Kilbritton, Geraldine league, Shane O'Neill, Queen Elizabeth, Spanish Armada 'The Nine Years' War', 'Red' Hugh O'Donnell, Dublin Castle, O'Donnell Abu, Arney Ford near Enniskillen, 'Ford of the Biscuits' Battle of Yellow Ford in County Armagh, Philip of Spain, Spanish landed at Kinsale, Lord Mountjoy.
The Book is called 'The Story of Ireland'. It is available either as a paperback, an ebook, or a much smaller "pocket" sized paper back edition (4.2" x 6.8") for travellers.The printed books can be bought online here.
The E-book can be purchased directly from our site here.