LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINQS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN Frwn the collection of Janes Collins^ Drumcondra, Ireland. Purchased, 1918 941,5 D173CI 3L.J w : . 'T^.v m- . ' • M^- #' ■m- 4| « 'V J*. t; '' *■ ■ ' ^ .-::■%. *# rf ^#:: „ ^^^>.^;^> JJITBOK, ?nce !c Subscribers //■iS)S>^ DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA RAILWAY. XXXllI "HU..'^ chequer in the time of Henry the Eighth, in his ' Breviate' recommends (inter alia), that the Lord Deputy shall appropriate eight days in every sum- mer, to cutting passes through the woods next ad- joining the king's subjects, which shall be thought most needful ; and amongst these he enumerates particularly the passes to Powerscourt and Glancree, that to Ballymore [Eustace], one towards Donegal, another by Faughart (necessarily, it would appear, through Drogheda), &c. About the same time, in a memorial drawn up, of the " State of Ireland with a Plan for its Reformation," it was suggested, "that every horseman, whatsoever condition he be of, dwelling within the Enghsh Pale, shall be charged to ride always in a saddle ; and that every gentle- man of lands shall be charged to have his hors&and his harness, and his spears, after the manner of the Welch spears, ready at all times to answer the king's deputy, when need shall require." Carts and car- riages, for the conveyance of provisions and muni- tion to the hostings, and for domestic uses, are often mentioned at this time ; there were even cessors ap- pointed to compel the attendance of the former within the Pale, while it was one of the charges against the Earl of Kildare, that he obliged " hus- bandmen to supply carts and men, to draw timber and stones to his manors three times in the year." 3ome more remarkable highways are, about this time, noted as existing within th e Pale , as one from Dunboyne through Trim to Athboy, another from VOL. I. c XXXIV INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE Ardbraccan, through Slane and Mellefont, into Drogheda. These lines of intercourse were, how- ever, few, even within the ' Pale, and in a despatch from Lord Leonard Grey to Lord Crumwell, in 1537, it is written : " A Friday we set forward from Maynooth to the Castle of Dangan, which was dis- tant but five miles or thereabouts, and all marsh ground betwixt, so that we must have made the way thither with fagots and hurdles, and came within half a mile of the said Castle, of Dangan by two of the clock at afternoon the same Friday, and there encamped in the field." " The season approaches," writes the same Viceroy, in October, to Henry the Eighth, " when Englishmen cannot well travel to do service in Lreland ;" when, to facilitate such service, it was recommended, " that castles and piles for de- fence should be made on the passes and streights of the country." How much they were required in the districts without the Pale, is suggested by Lord Deputy St. Leger, in a letter of state to Lord Crum- well. " Kilkenny, Tipperary, and Waterford," he writes, " being distant from the four shires that are obedient to the king's laws, the Justices for the ad- ministration thereof, could not conveniently repair to the said other three shires." In 1538, Lord Leo- nard Grey acquaints Henry the Eighth : " Sythens my last letters addressed imto your Highness, I have cut divers passes, and made such smooth ways, into your Grace's country of Oifaley, for carriage of horse- men and footmen, that the like was never seen DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA RAILWAY. XXXV there, and in like manner in the county of Famey." At the same time, Lord Grey reported, that the chieftain ofEly-O'Carrol (King's county) was "con- tented and agreed, that the Lord Deputy should cut at his pleasure, any passes in the said country of Ely-O'Carrol, after what sort and fashion the said Deputy should think good ; and that said chieftain was contented and agreed, to make one good and sufficient way through his country, for his High- ness's army and ordinance to pass without any let, on his own proper costs and charges." Of the 0' Toole's territories (in the county Wicklow), Lord Grey writes : " I repaired, the 29th of May, to the Castle of Powerscourt, and from thence removed into the country of the O'Tooles, from one strong pass to another, cutting the woods, as was thought best by the gentlemen and commons of the country, most for the annoyance of the said Tooles so coming to their stronghold of QJanmolaur, where they bick- ered with my men, at which time there were cer- tain slain of both parties. Notwithstanding, at that time, I caused two passes to be cut through, for the defence of my men, whereas, before my coming thi- ther, I think there was never Deputy with carts there." This nobleman's services herein were, in- deed, universally acknowledged in the State Papers of the period. When O'Neill submitted himself to EngUsh rule in 1541, he covenanted to cut down all the thickets, groves, and woods, growing between his country and the English frontiers, so that free c 2 XXXVl INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE access, ingress and egress, might be afforded to the Lord Deputy. It was also provided, that about Green-Castle and Mourne, " paths and ways should be cut and kept plain, as may help to bridle the Irishry of these parts, and to give passage into every quarter and comer of their country, if they would hereafter use themselves otherwise than appertain- eth." It may be here remarked, that, although by the common law of England, every parish was bound to keep its roads in repair, yet was it not until 1555 that, by an Act of the second and third years of the reign of Philip and Mary, statutable provisions were made for the mending of highways in that country; the same being, as the preamble of the Act states, " now both very noisome and tedious to travel in, and dangerous to all passengers and carriages." In Ireland, within a few years afterwards. Sir Henry Sidney speaks in terms of marked satisfaction of " the open highway" from Drogheda to Dundalk, and thence to Newry, and " the well-maniu-ed lands" through which it passed," His successor in the Vice- royalty, Arthur Lord Grey, Baron of Wilton, is said to have introduced the first coach into this country, being within a short interval after a similar vehicle had been seen in England. In 1596, the celebrated Edmund Spencer, in his able " View of the State of Ire- land," suggests, amongst other improvements which that country required, "that order should be taken for the cutting and opening of all places through woods, DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA RAILWAY. XXXVll idre so that a wide way, of the space of one hundred yards, might be laid open in every of them, for the safety of travellers, which use so often, in such peri- lous places, to be robbed, and sometimes murdered." Accordingly, Fynes Moryson, in his account of Lord Mountjoy's expedition into Ulster against O'Neill in 1601, takes occasion to make frequent mention of such extensive operations in cutting down the woods to open the passes. In 1612, the Irish legislature adopted, to a great extent, the Act of PhiUp and Mary, and with an equally significant preamble, " for as much as the highways and cashes, and paces, and passages, throughout the woods of this kingdom, are in many places both noisome and tedious to travel in, and dangerous to all passengers and carriages ;" and it was enacted, that throughout the several parishes, every person keeping therein a draught or plough, shall find, on a day appointed, " one wain or cart, furnished after the custom of the country, with oxen, horses, or other cattle, and all other necessa- ries meet to carry things convenient for that pur- pose." In England, coaches for private use became more general during this latter period. Sir Lewis Lew- wenor, Master of the Ceremonies to James the First, had, in 1610, an allowance of £22, partly "for the hire of divers coaches at sundry times, for the en- tertainment of the Ambassador of Swetheland this last summer ;" another sum of £112, " for the hire of sundry caroches and coaches for the Prince of XXXVlll INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE Anhalt, and Monsieur la Verdin, one of the Mar- shals of France ;" another sum of £125, " for the hire of coaches and caroches for the Emperor Pala- tine and his court, from the time of their arrival in England," &c. &c. " The Prince's coach horses" are also alluded to in similar records of the day ; and in 1616, is the entry of a payment of £10, to those who discovered the thieves " that robbed the king's coach, and her Majesty's rich litter." In more im- mediate reference to Ireland, and the first sugges- tion of mail communication thence with the sister country, John Francis, the post of Chester, had an allowance from the Treasury of 6d. per mile, for carrying a packet from the Lord Deputy of Ireland, from Chester to York, to Sir Thomas Lake, and Sir Humphrey May, Knights. In the Pell Records of four years afterwards appears a yet more pertinent entry: " For keeping a bark at Holyhead, with fur- niture, to transport the packet to Ireland, and serv- ing the post by land, at £10 per month, after twen- ty-eight days to the month, £130 yearly." Notwithstanding the above notices. King James's immediate successor was the first British Sovereign who rode in a state coach. While in Ireland, the work of clearance of passes, such as they were, so progressed, that Lord Strafibrd, in a letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, assigns the fact, in ex- cuse for not transmitting to that Prelate such a num- ber of martin skins as he had intended, " the truth is, that, as the woods decay, so do the hawks and DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA RAILWAY. XXXIX martins of this kingdom." The roads generally con- structed at the time, were of the class called toghers, being of loose shaking hurdles laid over the bogs and lowlands. These unsteady avenues are repeat- edly mentioned in the Earl of Castlehaven's Memoirs, one more particularly near Tecroghan, in Meath, " with a large ditch of water at each side," and at each end of which the Earl's horse " stood drawn up on firm land." It will be seen, however, in the General History of Drogheda, that a traveller in Ire- land, in 1634, describes the road from that town to Dublin, " as dainty a fine way as ever I rid, and a most pleasant country, greatest part corn, upon the very sea coast, and very good and well-reared corn." In 1641, when Galway was threatened with a siege, the Marquess of Clanrickarde gave orders, "that the ways and passages to that town should be cleared, so that the markets might reach it ;" while a travel- ler in Munster, in 1644, speaks of Cork as tiiree days' journey from Limerick. 1 In the time of the Commonwealth, an Irish ordi- nance of Cromwell, after reciting a parliamentary resolution in England, that the office of Postmaster, inland and foreign, ought to be in the sole power of Parhament, and an arrangement in pursuance there- of, whereby the offices of the postages of letters, both foreign and inland, were set to farm unto John Manly of London, under certain covenants for the benefit and advantage of the Commonwealth, it was thereby agreed, " that the said John Manly should xl INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE have the sole charge of the postage and carriage of all letters and packets, both foreign and inland, to and from all persons, and in all places of England, Scot- land, and Ireland, he the said John Manly receiving certain prescribed rates of postage for private letters, and carrying State letters free; and, to the end a weekly intercourse may be continued between England and Ireland, the said John Manly shall maintain one or more packet-boats, to pass and re-pass, if not hin- dered by wind and weather, weekly between Mil- ford and Waterford, and between Chester and Dub- lin, or to settle such other ways and means for a weekly correspondence between these places, as may be equivalent for speed and security with the ways aforesaid .... that for the more speedy and effec- tual dispatch of all of the said posts and premises, the said John Manly shall be, and is hereby, obliged to cause the said posts to run seven miles per hour, in summer, from the 1st of April to the 1st of No- vember, and five miles for the rest of the year; that for the more speedy despatch thereof, no other per- son, besides the post that carrieth the mail, shall be suffered to ride post with the mail, and that no per- son or persons warranted to ride post, shall ride above one stage upon the same post horses, to the wrong of such horses, and the prejudice of the posts." In the time of Charles the Second, as appears from the State letters of Arthur Earl of Essex, while the packet ships sailed as frequently as wea- ther permitted, the interval for the transmission of DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA RAILWAY. \ xU letters from Dublin to London, varied from seven to twelve days. The Earl of Orrery soon afterwards took an active part in establishing post barks be- tween Holyhead and Dublin, but the continuing difficulties of commumcation may be estimated by a notice, which occurs in a letter of his : " "We have now eight packets due out of England, so cross the winds have been for one month, to our no small trouble." The State correspondence of the same nobleman gives a curious illustration of the condi- tion of the roads in Munster, where, writing from Charleville to the Duke of Ormonde, he advises him to make his journey from Kilkenny to Cork through that town, as much more eligible than that by Clon- mel and Cappoquin, " for that not only would he find on the latter line but ill places to rest in, but, by the bridge of Cappoquin being broken, he would not get from Kilkenny to Cork by that way in three days' journey, which by Charleville he easily might;" he subsequently mentions Mallow, as having the only bridge over the Blackwater, " which, in winter time, and in rainy seasons in summer, is not passa- ble for above sixty miles." Later in the same reign, it may be here mentioned, viz., in 1678, the first stage coach was established in Scotland. During this reign, the use of private carriages had greatly advanced in Ireland, and, when the Earl of Claren- don landed at Dunleary in 1685, a s Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, he states himself, that he awaited there " till a committee of the Council came out, according xlii INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE to usual form, whereupon he went with the rest of the company (who were a great many, and many carriages), himself riding in the Lord Primate's coach, to the Council chamber." Soon after assum- ing the duties of his office, he communicated to the Earl of Sunderland his opinion, that an instruction which he had received, for estabUshing a packet boat between Ireland and Scotland, would be very useful ; " there being no way of corresponding with his Majesty's ministers in that kingdom but by the way of London, whereas, if there were a packet boat, all letters would be sooner at Edinburgh from Ireland, than they are at London. Besides, it is said," he adds, " it would bring on a trade between these kingdoms ; the charge to the king for two boats, will not be above fourscore pounds per annum," and for that he undertakes to have it effected. When Lord Tyrconnel landed at Dunleary, in June, 1686, Lord Clarendon sent his coach to meet him ; and such vehicles are repeatedly mentioned throughout Clarendon's Correspondence, as being of ordinary use in Ireland. King William, on his landing at Carrickfergus, was met by Duke Schomberg, in whose carriage he departed thence ; but his Majesty was not disposed to continue the indulgence of such a luxury, and his marches hence were on horseback. After the battle of the Boyne, however, Colonel Bellingham describes his taking his coach at Duleek. The road between Dundalk and Newry was defined by DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA RAILWAY. xliii Story, as at this time " only a causeway with a deep ditch over a bog," while the communication between Drogheda and Dundalk was through Ardee. The same historian describes a causeway as then running through the Bog of Allen, while he complains, how- ever, that all communication thereby was prevented by the rapparees having cut trenches across it. In the second year of Queen Anne's reign, by an Act of the Legislature, hackney coaches were first li- censed to ply within the ci ty of Dubl in, to a number not exceeding one hundred and fifty; while chairs, or sedans, were similarly authorized, to the number of eighty, and carts and cars were also thereby li- censed to ply for hire. Some idea of the state of intercourse between that metropolis and London, at this period, may be formed from a letter of Dean Swift, in 1710, where^jwriting to Stella of his ar- rival in London, at a period when he was but forty- three years old, he says : " I got here from Dublin last Thiirsday, after five days' travelling, weary the first, almost dead the second, tolerably the third, and well enough the rest, and am now glad of the fatigue, which has served for exercise." In the ensuing reign, the same authority suggests evidence of the tardiness of journeying in Ireland, when, being at Quilca, the seat of Doctor Sheridan, in the county Cavan, he intimates, that he will " set out to Dublin on Monday, and hope to sup at the deanery the next night." A stage coach was, at this period, running, but irregularly, between Dublin and Drogheda, as xliv INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE may be judged from the following advertisement in the Dublin Weekly Journal of 1726 : " This is to give notice to gentlemen and others, that the Drogh- eda stage, formerly kept by Jer. Greadon, is now kept by John Keating, coachmaker, in Capel-street, who has repaired the said coach, and provided a set of good horses, so that he hopes there shall be no complaints, as formerly, of their non-performance. N. B. The said stage coach sets out from Dublin on Tuesdays and Fridays, exactly at eight of the clock in the morning, from the sign of the 'White Hart,' the upper end of Capel-street, and returns on Wed- nesdays and Saturdays ; the said stage sets up at the sign of the ' Drogheda Arms,' in Deer-street, Drogheda. N. B. The said Drogheda stage baits at Ballough, at Mr.Huddleston's." A Kilkenny stage coach was run- ning at the same time, in relation to which another ad- vertisement appears in the same periodical : " Notice is hereby given, that Thomas Hall, keeper of the Kil- kenny stage coach, finding himself incapable of con- tinuing the same, unless the prices are augmented ; the badness of roads, the dearness of corn, obhge him to it. Any person, that goes in the said coach, from the eighth day of July, 1728, is to pay \bs., three half-crowns at entrance, both at Dublin and Kilkenny; no person to be allowed more than twenty pounds weight gratis." In the commencement of the reign of George the Second, when the turnpike system was intro- DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA RAILWAY. xlv duced into Ireland, one of the first to which its ad- vantages were extended, was nearly on the line of the present railway. The Act, by which this object was eflfected, was passed in the fifth year of that mo- narch's reign. It recites, " that whereas the high- way or road leading from the city of Dubhn through the town of Swords, Balrothery, Drogheda, and thence to Dunleer, by reason of several hollow ways, and of the many and heavy carriages frequently pass- ing through the same, is become so ruinous and bad, that in the winter season, many parts thereof are unpassable for waggons, carts, cars, and car- riages, and very dangerous for travelling, and can- not, by the ordinary course appointed by the laws and statutes of this realm, be eflfectually mended and kept in good repair, wherefore, and to the intent that the said highways and roads may, with conve- nient speed, be efiectually amended, and hereafter kept in good and sufficient repair, so that all persons may travel through the same with safety;" and after this preamble, it vests the management of the road in trustees, of whom, it is curious to observe, a very large number were the lineal ancestors of those, who have supported the present coast line of railway, as Lord Howth, Lord Bellew, Sir Thomas Taylor, Sir Compton Domville, James Hamilton, Thomas Tay- lor, James Somerville, Charles Hamilton, John Preston, Nathaniel Preston, Honourable Edward Brabazon, Thomas Fortescue, Faithful Fortescue, John Montgomery, Thomas Tennison, Henry Town- xlvi INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE ley, Benedict Arthur, Thomas Montgomery, Rich- ard Foster, George Pepper, John Coddington, Wil- liam Shepheard, Captain Hugh Montgomery, Alder- man Henry Ogle, Alderman John Leigh, Alderman Francis Leigh, the Rev. Mr. John Wynne, Jeremiah Smith, Henry BeUingham, senior, Henry Bellingham, jun., John Foster, Edward Belle w, William Ruxton, John Taaffe, Chapel Dawson, Hamilton Townley, Francis North, — Taylor of Swords, Alexander Ha- milton, William Ogle, Richard Jebb, William Graves, Thomas Aston, Anthony Dona, &c. &c. And the said trustees were thereby empowered to erect gates and turnpikes, and to take tolls, viz., " for every coach, berlin, chariot, calash, chaise, or chair, drawn by six horses, or more, one shilling; for every coach, berlin, &c., drawn by a less number than six, and more than one, sixpence ; for every waggon, wain, cart, or car- riage, with four wheels, one shilling; for every wain, cart, or carriage, with two wheels, having more than one horse, three pence; for every carriage, commonly called a chair or chaise, with one horse, mare, or gelding, three pence, &c. And the usual powers and duties were prescribed for the said trustees, and exemptions for any post horse carrying the mail, and for all coaches and passengers upon the days assigned for the elections of the parliamentary representatives of the counties of Dublin, Meath, and Louth, the city of Dublin, and the town of Drogheda. Various Acts of the same period de- scribe the leading roads through Ireland as in an DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA RAILWAY. xlvii equally ruinous and scarcely passable condition, and provide similar remedies by the establishment of tiuTipikes. The road thus appropriated, on this line, to more civilized intercourse, superseded the origi- nal direct horse road by Glasnevin, Ballyboghill, and the Naul. In 1735, the Archbishop of Cashel, in a letter to Dean Swift, gives a graphic sketch of the opportu- nities for travel southward, with the object of in- ducing the Dean to come down to Cashel. " You have to Kilkenny a turnpike, and good inns at every ten or twelve miles end. From Kilkenny hi- ther is twenty long miles, bad road, and no inn at all, but I have an expedient for you ; at the foot of a very high hill, just midway, there lives, in a neat thatched cabin, a parson, who is not poor, and his wife is allowed to be the best little woman in the world. Her chickens are the fattest, and her ale the best in all the country. Besides, the parson has a little cellar of his own, of which he keeps the key, where he always has a hogshead of the best wine that can be got, in bottles well corked upon their side, and he cleans and pulls out the cork better, I think, than Kobin. Here I design "to meet you with a coach. If you be tired, you shall stay all night ; if not, after dinner we will set off, about four, and be at Cashel by nine, and by going through fields and bye ways, which the parson will shew us, we shall escape all the rocky and stony roads that lie between this place and that, which are certs^nly xlviii INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE very bad." It must not be forgotten, tliat turnpike roads were rare even in England at this time. In 1739, the great northern turnpike extended only to Grantham, 111 miles from London. Goods were then more usually transported on pack horses, thirty or forty in a string, the leader carrying a bell, to give travellers in an opposite direction notice of their approach, and, as the track was generally a narrow causeway, with a soft road on either side, travellers who met these gangs of horses, and were obliged to give way, frequently found much diffi- culty in regaining their course; the transmission of goods in Ireland, by similar hnks of pack horses, is almost within the memory of living men. The stage progress on the Drogheda and northern line, in 1741, is evidenced, by advertisement of that year, in the following words : " The Belfast stage coach sets up with Alexander Kelly, at the ' Boot,' in Bol- ton-street, sets out at eight o'clock in the morning on Mondays, and returns to Dublin on Saturdays ; each passenger pays four EngUsh crowns, half in hand at taking the seat, which half is forfeited if the person does not come. Kate to Drogheda, where it stops the first night, 55. 5rf. ; Newry, the second night, 135., and so in proportion." This lumbering vehicle was kept in motion by " six able horses," and it may be remarked, that but in three other di- rections, viz., to Athlone, Eonnegad, and Kilkenny, respectively, was it attempted to propel stage coaches for public accommodation, and in each with similar ^'- c^^^m^mtf ?^>^" * ■'V''^^ ^ w»J5PE»^jp'^.4r'V^',vj !■ -r V ' ' '■9^^»lS*^^?!?™T?rt*'^ DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA RAILWAY. tUx celerity. The mails were entrusted to single horse- men or foot-boys, those to Drogheda going only twice in the week. At the close of this reign, in 1756, the first navigable canal, the Duke of Bridge water's, was opened in England ; but Drogheda had contemplated this mode of intercourse, by so early an anticipation as of 1715, in a navigation in aid of the course of the Boyne to Trim ; a project which was not, how- ever, accomplished until 1787, as more particularly set forth in " the History of Drogheda" hereafter ; and in 1765, the cutting of a grand canal, from the metropolis to Shannon Harbour, was first commenced. At the commencement of the reign of George the Third, two stage coaches opened a daily inter- course from Dublin to Drogheda, each plying on the week days alternately, and Drogheda was promoted to be a three day post. About this time, the fashion of the low-back car had its origin, but was conti- nued in use to a very recent period ; the character of this vehicle is well described in an old poem : Well might an artist travel from afar, To view the structure of a low-backed car; A downy mattress on the car is laid, The father sits beside his tender maid, Some back to back, some side to side are placed. The children in the centre interlaced. By dozens, thus, full many a Sunday mom. With dangling legs, the jovial crowd is borne, Clontarf they seek, or Howth's aspiring brow, Or Leixlip smiling in the stream below. The horse with pillion, was another species of loco- VOL. I. d 1 INTBODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE motive much preferred, in those simple times, for females, and is not yet utterly disused in this coun- try. The post continued to be carried on horseback, as it was in England, until 1784, when mail coaches with guards were there first estabhshed. The im- provement was adopted in Ireland in 1790, when two only were started from Dublin with guards ; one, called the southern mail, to Cork, the other, the northern, through Drogheda to Donaghadee. Drogh- eda became thereupon a daily post, and now receives its letters twice on every day. Thus, the old rough stone causeway was succeeded by the lowland " togher," and that by the bridle road, which di- rectly and unflinchingly trampled over hill and dale. But the bridle road was in its turn deserted, and at last, the succeeding better levels for the low-back car, were superseded by the turnpike and mail coach lines, until, after travelling by horse-power had at- tained the highest perfection, the revelation of steam oflfers the greatest velocity, with the least retarding influence, in the " Chemin de Fer," THE DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA RAILWAY. The district of the city of Dublin, from which this line issues, was, in very remote time, the imme- diate demesne of a splendid estabhshment of Cister- cians, founded in the twelfth century, in that street of the metropolis still called therefrom, " St. Mary's Abbey." This tract was, with Clonliff, bestowed upon it by Strongbow, on his first acquisition, and pp..llU^l,i""J "". Jft',if!W»fip)^PL.'' .J- ' i:*j!jp(Baj»^iwijif p.jj»,ijiji|!i!PBW^ ,- ..umpMwwm'HfV ni \,itmx^wmsis!immi9^si;>irm DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA RAILWAY. u his grant was, with large additions and manorial rights, confirmed by Henry the Second in 1172, and by Prince John in 1 185. The vigilance of the supe- riors of this house, and of those of Thomas Court and Kilmainliam, and that of the Archbishops of Dublin, in reference to St. Sepulchre's, precluded the extension of the city for centuries. In 1338, the Liffey was so frozen over, that athletic sports were fearlessly exercised hereabout, and even fires kindled for culinary purposes upon it. The abbot of St. Mary's had then a limited right of fishery, and of customs of fish on the river, as well as a liberty of having hake nets on the North Strand. The ci- tizens were subsequently permitted to exercise in feats of tilting and archery over this tract, and wagers of battle, or single combat, were, imder tke chivalrous sanction of the times, decided upon' it In 1530, Sir "William Skeffington having landed as Lord Deputy, at the head of this strand, with the Bishop of Meath and the Earl of Kildare, was met on the beach, by the Mayor and citizens of Dublin, who escorted him in procession into the city. No part of the harbour was then embanked, and the Liffey, the Tolka, and the Dodder, with the currents of the tide, flowed uncontrolled and undirected over the whole intermediate grounds. Previous to 1697, old St. Michan's parish included all of Dublin, north of the Liffey. Mary's parish was then carved out of it, and included the tract at present under consi- deration. In 1716, the Corporation of Dublin had d2 lii INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE the North Strand surveyed, and divided into two classes, called Acre and Foot Lots, because, for these divisions the Corporation drew lots, and that which fell to each man was granted in fee farm, at the rent of £10 per annum, for ten years, and afterwards of a pepper com. The pecuniary rent, thus reserved, was intended to be appropriated for the erection of a wall to enclose the Strand from the sea, and thus also to deepen the channel of the river. The sum, however, raised thereby, was foimd utterly inade- quate, and parliamentary aid was sought and ob- tained, whereupon, in 1728, the North "Wall was constructed, but the South was not commenced for twenty years afterwards. No portion of the city streets east of Sackville-street, then, nor for many subsequent years, existed, nor was it until 1781, that the splendid Custom-House, from whose immediate vicinity this railway starts, was commenced. It was completed in 1791, and thereupon the foundation of Carlisle-bridge was laid, and the Lots east of Sackville-street became a marketable commodity. An Act of 1793, after reciting that a great number of squares, streets, rows, and places, were laid out on the estate of the lordship of Mary's Abbey, and Grange of ClonlifFe, directs that a portion of Mary's parish should be severed, and constituted that of St. Thomas, being bounded on the east by the Tol- ka from Ballybough to Glasnevin, and from within this last apportionment the Drogheda Railway issues. In 1795, a parliamentary committee was appointed piiikj nijiiMwyi-i II j'vnijj|iyMy^ti.iji I, , '. ,^^-J^.^j^^MiWi■y^^U'lW'j'"'i>■^'!^i'^PJt'M'M ^-'-J^H ''- DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA RADLWAY. SHJSI.'tSW -.W?Mi. W"^* liii to inquire into the measures taken by the Commis- sioners of Wide Streets, for opening the passages from Sackville-street and Carlisle-bridge, and for laying out new streets to the eastward thereof These projected improvements, however, progressed so slowly, that this railway has, over a comparatively unimpeded space, established its Dubhn terminus at the city angle of the great Inner Custom-House Yard, near the Custom-House, its docks and stores, its bonding and general warehouses, within a short distance of the Post Office, the Banks, the College, the Theatres, on the verge of the shipping, and the quays whence the trade steamers ply, with a fine market yet more adjacent for fish and fowl and fruit, a portion of the traffic expected on the line ; so that its terminus may be said to be fixed at the heart of the metropolis, the confluence of business and fashion, the centre of correspondence and recre- ation, the dense seat of a respectable and opulent population. As the architectural details of the buildings, which are to introduce the railway to its metropolitan visitors, are not yet wholly decided upon, they should not here be anticipated ; suffice to say, it is intended, that they shall combine utility with ornament, in a manner worthy of the whole undertaking. The carriages will be of three classes, the third being fitted for standing passengers, as first introduced in Ireland on the Ulster Railway, will, from its great cheapness, extend the advantages of the conveyance to the humblest ranks. liv INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OP THE In order to preserve the ordinary intercourse by roads and streets, the railway starts from this termi- nus at an elevation of seventeen feet above the ground surface; crosses Sheriff-street on an iron bridge, resting on Doric columns of the same mate- rial ; thence, overlooking a noble expanse of an in- teresting portion of the city, from most parts of which it is itself a novel and conspicuous wonder, it runs over a continued and noble viaduct of about three hundred and fifty yards in length, from the terminus to Seville-place; the arches and piers of this first section are of brick, the span being twenty feet, and the form elliptic ; a handsome stone coping runs along the parapet at each side of the railway, and the width of the viaduct thus far, being designed for four lines of road, is fifty-eight feet in the clear between the walls. The point of the Circular Road which the line intersects at Seville-place, has on the west side Aldborough House (a fine specimen of domes- tic architecture, in whose construction, Lord Ald- borough expended £40,000, but which was then most injudiciously selected for a nobleman's resi- dence), and on the east side, the calico printing liquor manufactory of Mr. White. Close to the lat- ter, in the line of vision, but reaUy at the far side of the Liffey, is discerned the tall slender funnel of the Alliance Gas Company's works. Seville-place is crossed by an elliptic arch of thirty feet span, com- posed of cast metal girders, with intermediate arch- ing of brick based longitudinally upon them. This DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA RAttWAT. Iv is flanked with two semicircular arches over each footway, respectively, of eleven feet span, and also of brick. The extra width being no longer requisite, the railway is contracted thence to thirty feet in the clear between the parapets, a width which is pre- served throughout the whole ensuing line, and, in order to soften off the angular shoulders created by this alteration, an octagon tower is erected on each side of the Hne. They also are of brick, with stone basements and comers, their upper portions being appHcable for signal or other useful offices. Thence to the Royal Canal, the viaduct is continued on the •same level as at the terminus, and with two lines of road, upon a series of arches, all of which as well as the first mentioned, are likely to be useful for warehouses, or other profitable purposes, when the traffic commences. The Royal Canal, a noble line of inland naviga- tion, after traversing with its trade, the intermediate country from the Shannon, here communicates with the Liffey and the bay, by sea-locks capable of ad- mitting ships of 150 tons burthen. It will be crossed a Httle beyond Seville-place, by one of the boldest and most magnificent works of the line, a bridge of 140 feet span, of wrought iron lattice, resting on abutments and piers of masonry, at an elevation so considerable, as not to impede the pubUc intercourse by footways and canal. From this point, the railway, pursuing a straight north-easterly course, enters on an embankment, and Ivi INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE 80 continues across the North Lots, nearly at the same elevation above the surface. At right from this section, may be seen the frmnel of Mr. Kane's oil of vitriol and bleaching powder works ; at left, the street of the Strand, with a new Episcopal cha- pel in its centre : a bottle factory succeeds at right, and nearer, on the same side, the ruins of an eccen- trically constructed glass-house, called Fort Crystal; while at left are a soap boilery, and the two funnels of the DubHn vitriol works. The railway then, reaching the north-east quay wall, or western boun- dary of the Clontarf estuary, throws itself into the sea, over two arches, each of forty feet span, one being over the quay wall, and the other in the sea ; the abutments of both these are of massive rock- work masonry, and the superstructures of cast metal. The panorama of Dublin bay, and its over-hang- ing bathing villages and villas, that opens, on its thus invading the immemorial dominion of the sea, is one of considerable beauty. THE TOLKA, a picturesque trout stream, that takes its rise near Clonee in the county of Meath, and, flowing through that of Dublin, intersects the barony of Castleknock, and bounds that of Coolock, empties itself at left into the estuary, discharging its waters through a handsome bridge of granite, consisting of three se- micircular arches, and exhibiting, in the centre of the parapet, the armsofLordAnnesley, whose name iwt«>iy)^ivii»!iiikMW«i;-!'isj»^lji!^i|ii.,,iijpj(ii,, ' PUBLIN AND DEOGHEDA RAILWAY. .'j^wmin^lRSIQiiippUlpi IVll it bears. The village of BALLYBOUGH(a), (i. e. the town of huts), along the shore, now exhi- bits only a few insignificant houses, some of which, however, present, in their pointed roofs, evidences of ancient villas, but, situated as they are, on the banks of an area, that, under the action of the tide, was alternately a pool of muddy brine, or a surfece of oozy strand, it hitherto offered little inducement for such improvements as will now, most probably, soon enhance the natural beauties of its situation. In the centre of this village is a Jewish cemetery, containing about a rood of ground, enclosed with a high wall, and thinly planted with trees and shrubs, among which are a few headstones with Hebrew inscriptions. There is also a flour mill at the head of the village, with good stores, and suitable ma- chinery, and having a good mill race and weir, sub- ject, however, to the ordinary inconvenience of such a river supply — in summer scanty, in winter super- abundant. There is a record in relation to this lo- cality, that, in 1313, John Decer, then a private ci- tizen, but who had been a Mayor of Dublin, bmlt a bridge, extending hence to " the causeway of the mill pool of Clontarf, which before was a dangerous (a) Of the various localities alluded to in this Memoir, so far as the Railway runs through the county of Dublin, more extended notices, than could be considered here relevant, will be found in the " History of the County of Dublin.'' Iviii INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE charge," but, after a considerable sum was expended upon the work, it was carried away by a flood. In the confiscations consequent upon the war of 1641, Sir James Wemyss, the eldest son of Sir Patrick Wemyss (who was a native of Scotland, the confi- dential friend, and Captain-Lieutenant to the Earl of Ormond, in the army of King Charles the First, and from whom, through the said Sir James, the family who settled at Dunfert, in the county Kil- kenny, is lineally descended), obtained a patent of a messuage and several parks near Ballybough, as did James Duke of York (afterwards James the Second), of eighty acres, the principal part of which latter grant was, on the abdication and forfeitures of King James, sold to Alderman Eccles of the city of Dublin. The newspapers of 1787 speak of the iron mills of Ballybough, as furnishing spades, shovels, and other implements of husbandry, likewise a va- riety of culinary utensils, equal to any theretofore imported. The same authorities mention how suc- cessfully the manufacture of white flint glass was carried on here, by an opulent company, while plate glass for coaches was made and polished near the North Strand, and another glass house in that vici- nity exported services to Cadiz. The railway, after clearing the two arches before mentioned, runs over the estuary, at an elevation of about thirty feet above the level of the sea, on a solid embankment, in the middle of which an elUp- tic stone arch, also of forty feet span, is opened, for ■s^^V'«"''jy"'w«'.i*v.«^\''.'«tir"»(.j"»^«T*-^jp,'i.j^'*AWJ^il-UJ'i^y?*4 DUBLIN AND DBOGH£DA RAILWAY. lix the exit and communication of the Tolka and the sea, the line commences gradually to rise thence to- wards Killester. On reaching the Clontarf road, which is the north boundary of the estuary, half a mile of sea has been traversed, and, thoi^h much protected by the North Bull and Pigeon House jet- ties, there are times, when the junction of spring tides and easterly winds produces a heavy swell here, but the water is never more than eight feet deep, and, as a protection against the injurious effects of the waves, the slopes of the embankment are sub- stantially paved with heavy blocks of black stone laid closely together. The course of the line through- out the estuary, is contiguous and parallel to the se- questered but beautifully situated demesne of , MARINO, j • once the favourite retreat of that honest and digni- fied Irish patriot. Lord Charlemont; where, in a mansion of his own erection, he collected around him the works of ancient and modem art, and passed, in hterary amusement and refined society, the meri- dian and close of his life. The handsome gateway, which is seen from the line, leads into a demesne of about 200 acres, gently sloping to the sea, and taste- fully improved and planted. The house presents a square of Portland-stone, and has, in its day, been the shrine of some of the richest treasures of sculp- ture and painting, that the most critical research over Europe could select ; while the temple, or ca- Ix INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OP THE sine, from the design of Sir Richard Chambers, and of which there is a drawing in Walker's Hibernian Magazine for 1772, presents in view, an image of what Lord Charlemont had seen in the edifices of the accomphshed Pericles. This nobleman, it will be remembered, was one of the first honoured with the order of St. Patrick, the Principal of the Com- mittee of Dilettanti, the first President of the Royal Irish Academy, and, above all, the temperate com- mander of the Irish Volunteers. Here, in this his hospitable villa, Lucas conceived, and was encou- raged in the efforts of his ardent and disinterested patriotism ; here, Grattan, who first entered Parlia- ment in 1775, under the auspices of the Earl, and as representative of the borough from which he de- rived his title, in this, the Tusculan villa of his patron, Grattan, after astounding the senate Avith the splen- dour of his eloquence, dehghted the hterary circle with the attainments of his genius, or the play of his fancy. Here Curran has flashed, over the convi- vial board, the dazzling coruscations of his wit ; and here Flood has been seen in all the verdure of his leafy honours, " that tree of the forest that was too great to be transplanted." This, in a word, was the resort of every native or stranger, whom taste or talent could make worthy of its enjoyment. Leaving this scene of intellectual interest, the railway having crossed the estuary, surmounts the Clontarf road, which runs beneath, at a very obUque angle, by a skew bridge of two arches, each of fifty '.ftJ^!|(Jfl(((|M|^IJB»5!!!'=»!5T»l ■• DXJBLIN AND DROGHEDA RAILWAY. 1X1 feet span, and built also of black stone, -witli granite rings and coping. Nothing, even in the whole course of this picturesque line, can exceed the beauty of the views that are here, at its first station, com- manded, of the country and the bay at right, and of the city and suburbs at left, while, from the high road below, the vistas through the arches aflford pleasing sections of the scenery. Close at the north side is an establishment for bathers, erected on the ruins of a charter school, of which Lord Harrington, when Viceroy of Ireland, laid the first stone in 1748. Next beyond it, sloping to the water, is CLONTARF, the Marathon of Irish history, and, if it has been rightly observed, that patriotism should grow warmer on those plains of Marathon, he were not worthy of the name of Irishman, who would not feel electri' fied by the moral sublimity of this historic ground, where, by one magnificent efibrt of national retribu- tion, the oppressors of his country were for ever crushed, and, although some few of their race were allowed to remain as merchants, in the towns which they had " builded with blood, and established by iniquity," and where, on the EngUsh invasion, the rights of their descendants continued to be protected by special reservations, down to the fourteenth cen- tury, yet never again were they a dominant people in this country. To the tourist of this line, it may be further remarked, as a circumstance of singular Ixii INTRODUCTOEV MEMOIB OT THE interest, that, while thus at its commencement, it skirts the field which so witnessed the disenthral- ment of Ireland from the warfare of Danish despo- tism ; at the close it brings him to the river, and almost in view of what may be termed the Water- loo of Ireland, the ground, on which the destinies of the British Empire were, in nearly seven centu^ ries afterwards, decided, and Ireland reheved from devoted vassalage to a feeble, infatuated, and un- grateful dynasty. This rich and well-cultivated parish, although heretofore thinly inhabited, has, from the assurance of prosperity which the railway will bring with it, been rapidly increasing its buildings along the shore. The church, which is built near the site of an ancient commandery of Knights Templars, is an himible unpretending edifice, but contains some mo- numents, and in its graveyard many tombstones and family vaults of genealogical interest. At the near side of the cemetery, Mr. Vernon, the lord of the manor, has erected a castellated mansion, remarkable for the sumptuousness of its interior decorations. It is distinctly seen towering from a grove of trees at right. Near it is the chapel of the parish, a spacious and well-built structure; and the surrounding green lanes are a favourite resort for the citizens of Dub- lin. Opposite that point of the parish called Dolly- mount, an extensive causeway has been erected by the Ballast Board, with the object of deepening the harbour. It stretches far into the sea, crossing the lower DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA BAILWAT. l^iii extremity of the North Bull, a long strip of insulated sandy ground, partly green, which extends thence towards the hill of Howth; and off the Sheds of Clon- tarf, so called from wooden buildings that had been there used for curing fish, is a profitable oyster-bank. The history of Clontarf, situated as it was, in the centre of the ancient denomination of Moynealta, con- nects itself with the highest legends of the bardic age, wherein it is alleged, that Partholanus, one of the ear- liest invaders of Ireland, closed his adventurous life on this then barren shore; other authorities, however, assign Howth as the place where he and all his fol- lowers fell victims to the plague. It subsequently obtained the Irish name of Clontarf, i. e. the plain of the bull, from the fanciful appearance of the large sand bank above alluded to in front of it, and which still retains that appellation in the English tongue. In 550, a church was founded here, and dedicated to St. Congal, the abbot, founder also of the noble monastery of Bangor, and of other religious houses ; and in 1014, Brian Boroihme, the justly celebrated monarch of Ireland, in the eightieth year of his age, here achieved that victory over the Danes before alluded to. The glories of the triumph were, how- ever, deeply darkened, by the &11 of this good old king, the most splendid ornament of the O'Brien race, the lawgiver and the hero, the Alfred and Epaminondas of his country. At the close of the engagement, he was sacrificed by a flying party of the enemy to the manes of their fallen comrades. In Ixiv INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE 1171, when Roderic O'Conor invested the city of Dublin with his auxiliaries, Mac Dunleve, the petty prince of Ulster, had his station here, as had O'Rourke of Brefny (the abduction of whose wife was the al- leged inducement of the English invasion), in the subsequent memorable attack upon Milo de Cogan. 'Immediately afterwards, Hugh de Lacy, the great Palatine of Meath, conferred upon his favourite, Adam de Phepoe, one knight's fee in the vicinage of Dublin, comprising Clontarf, upon which, De Phepoe is said to have built a castle ; while, in the service of rehgion, the commandery (as religious houses attached to military orders were more com- monly called), was founded here for Knights Tem- plars, dependant upon Strongbow's splendid esta- blishment of the order at Kilmainham. It was li- berally endowed by private munificence, and a grant by Nicholas Taaffe, of all his lands of Killergy, to the Master of the Templars here, is yet of record. In 1311, on the suppression of this order, their ma- nors at Clontarf, &c., were granted to Richard de Burgo, Earl of Ulster, but the religious edifices con- tinued to be upheld as royal houses, and numerous records occur of salaries and liberates paid from the treasury, to the janitor, the butler, &c., of " our Royal House of Clontarf." A large venerable mul- berry tree, in a garden in the town, is thought to mark the vicinity of the commandery, even yet sur- viving, byfive centuries, the pious hands that planted it. In 1377, in pursuance of the royal mandate, seve- w i.iiJl«i'^P"P'^i?ii!Ui|l|i^(i».'i-. ■ DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA RAILWAY. L, ral books, the property of certain clergymen, whose influence was reported to be exercised to the preju- dice of the Crown, were seized in the harbour of Clontarf, where they had been shipped. About the same time, this manor, according to the Pope's decree, passed into the possession of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, who, on the suppression of the Tem- plars, had succeeded at Kilmainham. In 1395, a state warrant issued in aid of the laws against ab- senteeism, to arrest and detain all ships " in the water of Clontarf," destined to convey passengers to England. Some readers may be surprised, to find absenteeism an object of such early legislative inter- ference, but the " census emigrationis" of the Ro- mans was introduced in the system of Irish taxation, almost a century previous to the above date ; yet from that period has it continued to be, as it was even before, the paramount evil of Ireland, alike destructive of the strength, the rank, the revenue of the island, the industry and comforts of its pea- santry, the influence of its great proprietors, and above all, the patriarchal, friendly, and social rela- tions, that should flow from the recurrence of mu- tual benefits amongst all classes of the people. In 1413, Sir John Stanley landed at Clontarf, specially delegated for the maintenance of a rapacious and oppressive government, which terminated in a few months with his life. In 1440, William and James Fitzgerald, the brothers of Thomas Fitzgerald, then Grand Master of the Hospitallers, having waylaid the VOL. L e Ixvi INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE Lord Deputy on the marches or borders of the Pale, near Kilcock, slain several of his suite, and impri- soned himself, the king directed, that the manors of said Thomas, and amongst them the manor of Clon- tarf, should be sequestered ; the interdict was, how- ever, taken off, when he had exculpated himself from any participation in the offence. In 1534, Lord Thomas Fitzgerald, styled the Silken Lord, here de- feated the first detachment of the royal forces that was sent against him. The inhabitants of Clontarf, at this time, enjoyed a remarkable license to fish with their boats, within the liberty and bounds of Carlingford, without any payment, as of tithes or other profits, to the Crown or to the Vicar of Car- lingford. On the suppression of the splendid esta- blishment at Kilmainham, its last Prior, Sir John Rawson, who had been, at different periods, Lord Treasurer of Ireland, was, in 1541, on surrendering the possessions of his house to the Crown, created Viscount Clontarf, in right of which dignity he sat in the Parliament of that year. The King's let- ter, on this occasion, to his Irish Deputy, Sir An- thony Saint Leger, is of record. It is dated at Wind- sor, and expresses satisfaction at the peaceful state of the land; approves of the Deputy's administration; advises him of a remittance of £200 in "harp-groats;" hopes that future expenses may be reduced ; ap- proves of his design to construct and repair towers against O'Connor and the Tooles ; gives directions concerning a Parliament to be summoned forth- ISPWij'iT'^w*"i^.""=r'T5eB!!ii|pSF7T^' ^^^^^^^imose^i^fry;!^-%^r^^''^-''^^vrr^" DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA RAILWAY. IxvU with ; confirms to the Prior of Kilmainham his pen- sion of 500 marks ; creates him Viscount Clontarf, with an additional annuity of £10; directs" that the site of St. Mary's Abbey, Dublin, be delivered to John Travers, Master of the Ordnance, to hold dur- ing his continuance in that office, &c. The principal part of the possessions of the priory here, were, in 1600, granted to that Sir Geof- frey Fenton, whom Queen Elizabeth had appointed Irish Secretary of State, with the express object of watching over the actions of her Viceroy, Sir John Perrot. On the failure of Sir Geofirey's male line, the manor of Clontarf passed, through a female, to George King; who, having been one of the gentle- men of the Pale that assembled at Swords, and abetted the proceedings of the insurgents of 1641, was attainted, when this manor, with Hollybrooks and the island of Clontarf, was granted to John BlackweU, a particular favourite of Oliver Crom- well, who assigned his interest therein to John Ver- non, of whom the present proprietor is heir male. In 1675, although the manor of Clontarf was of such high antiquity, the King further enlarged its jurisdiction, tenures, and courts, with a grant of roy- alties (royal mines excepted), power to empark three hundred acres, with free warren, and privilege of holding two fairs, one on the 10th of April, and the other on the 6th of October, with customs, &c. In the following century, considerable controversy and litigation arose between the Vernon family and e 2 Ixviii INTRODUCTOBT MEMOIR OF THE the Corporation of Dublin, the latter claiming title, as within their franchises, to a portion of the strand called Crab-Lough, between the shore of Clontarf and the North Bull, while the former maintained, that the said tract of strand, comprising 195 acres, which they called the pool and island of Clontarf, was parcel of their manor; the Corporation, how- ever, in their perambulations, crossed from Bally- bough bridge to Clontarf, and so to the Sheds of Clontarf, thenceforward to the mill of Eatheny, from which they proceeded northwards 130 perches, to a little brook, which they asserted was the termination of the city liberties in that direction. In 1749, the charter school before alluded to, was opened for one hundred boys, the King's representative having laid the first stone of the! edifice ; but this, and other establishments of the same class, having excited na- tional hostihty, and, consequently, prolonged anti- religious differences in Ireland, were, within the last few years, wisely suppressed. In 1756, a lead mine on the adjacent strand was discovered, and worked, but the overflowings of the tide have hitherto pre- vented the prosecution of the undertaking. South of Clontarf, at this point of observation, the beautiful bay of Dublin opens, intersected with the long line of the South Wall, which projects it- self into the sea to the distance of about three Irish miles, and bounded beyond this line, at its remoter shore, with the villages of Irishtown (whose ancient church is a prominent object), Sandymount,Merrion, jB^j)i»i7'*frr': JS^Bro^SJIwSb*^?^??'^^^'^^- ■ -'■'^ ■ ■ %?>?"'':^'^««»*--'^.-'wsnniUii ipf!fil'!! '5*?*! ktsE'*"!~V't*. DUBLIN AND DEOGHEDA RAILWAY. Izix (an ancient and long transmitted inheritance of the Fitzwilliam family, where, in 1565, Sir Henry Syd- ney, after landing at Dalkey, sojourned with Tho- mas Fitzwilliam, on the day previous to his solemn entry as Viceroy into Dublin, and which, in 1665, was the seat of the Earl of Tj^rconnel, on whose for- feiture, it was granted to the Corporation), Booters- town, Frescati (once the favourite residence of the unfortunate Lord Edward Fitzgerald), the Black Rock, Monkstown, with a new church of grotesque and miscellaneous architecture (this latter locality was once the country seat of the revolutionary Gre- neral, Edmund Ludlow, and the scene of sundry state transactions during the Commonwealth), Kings- town, with its noble harbour and pier, whence King George the Fourth re-embarked in 1821, and from which to Dublin the first specimen of a railway in Ireland, was opened in 1834; Bullock (at the foot of whose old castle, Thomas of Lancaster, the king's son, in 1402, landed, as Lord Lieutenant of Lreland, as did the Earl of Sussex in 1559, in the same capacity) ; and lastly, Dalkey, once the principal emporium for the commerce of L:eland, and as such, defended from the freebooters of the mountains, and the pirates of the sea, by seven strongly fortified and well- manned castles; while to the Archbishop of Dublin and his successors, was committed the office of ad- miral, or water-bailifi", within the manor and port. In 1414, Sir John Talbot, Lord Fumival, afterwards the renowned Earl of Shrewsbury, landed at this iXX INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE port of Dalkey as Viceroy of Ireland ; and hence Sir Richard Edgecombe, after receiving the peni- tent homage and oaths of the nobility who had es- poused the cause of Lambert Simnel, embarked for England. Behind these objects, a succession of ma- rine villages, majestically ascends to the limits of the horizon, — the mountains peculiarly styled the Dublin mountains; the Three Rocks' mountain, a fine eminence, thus designated from its singular assembla- ges of such gigantic rocks, as no ordinary machinery is capable of raising ; the gap of the Scalp ; the co- nical masses of the great and little Sugar Loaf ; the bold and irregular outlines of Bray Head ; and the hills of Rochestown and Killiney. From this point of view, the railway crosses by the Crescent, a range of houses erected on the shore in 1792, to the romantic little spot at left called the Black Quarries ; then by Holly brook, an ancient de- nominatioai, and still exhibiting a small assemblage of houses at right; and here it crosses what was the mail-coach road to Howth, when that harbour was the packet station to England, passing over it by a bridge of cast iron, of very elegant structure and appearance, with a span of fifty feet, and an open rail instead of parapet. From this bridge, a lovely retrospect of Dublin is attainable, as displayed in the annexed plate ; its beautiful Custom-House, its cathedrals, its steeples, factories, mills. Nelson's mo- nument, Aldborough house, George's church, &c., with a fine view of the bay in front, and the whole w ^^- '-■'^sfiiP>"!'P!i'r'f'^Pff ixx INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE port of . Dalkey as Viceroy of Ireland ; and hence Sir Richw^ Edgecoanbe, after receiving the peni- tent hoinage and oaths of the nobility who had es- poused the cause of Lambert Simnel, embarked for ^England., TBehind these objects, a succession of ma- rine villages, majestically ascends to the limits of the hon2;on» — -the mountains peculiarly styled the Dublin mountains; the Three Eocks' mountain, a fine emineiicey thus designated from its singular assembla- ges of supB gigauitic rocks, as no ordinary machinery is capable 6f raising ; the gap of the Scalp ; the co- nical masses of the great and little Sugar 'Loaf; the bold and irregular outlines of Bray Head ; and the hills of Bochestown and Killiney. From this poilit of view, the railway crosses by thfe.XJJpesceht, ia lUnge of houses erected on the shore in 1796, to the romantic little spot at left called the Black. QuMflries-;11ien by HoUybrook, an ancient de- nominatiotti, and still exhibiting a small assemblage of houa^ at right ; and here it crosses what was the mail-coaoh laoad to Howth, when that harbour was the packet station to England, passing over it by a b£idgej^:^ustiron, of very elegant structure and fbppe&rai^b^- "(idtir a span of fifty feet, and an open r^.mstfiidi of parapet. From this bridge, a lovely relifQi^icst of Dublin is attainable, as displayed in the ajmexed plate ; its beautiful Custom-House, its cathedrals, its steeples, factories, mills. Nelson's mo- nument, Aldborough house, George's church, &c., with a fine view of the bay in front, and the whole r-^ril^iBWpraUH . iiiPWBHlUpiBi...,- -u '" -™.wT.-jrr:^«,:>7 DUBLIN AND DBOQHEDA RAILWAY. Ixxi closed in by a noble perspective of the Dublin mountains. Proceeding hence, Donnycamey House is seen at left of the line, taking its name from a de- nomination, which was one of the townlands granted by Dermot Mac Murrough, before the English in- vasion, for the founding and endowment of the priory of All Hallows ; soon after the Restoration, it was granted to the Corporation, who are now the proprietors of the fee. For a very short interval, hence, the line runs over the natural level, and soon afterwards enters the deep cutting in the townland of Killester. A great part of this excavation runs at a depth of thirty-six feet from the surface, through black limestone, lying in most unconformable and contorted strata; the labour and expense of this section was, consequently, particularly heavy, and immense quantities of gunpowder were used in blasting the rock ; the total length of this excava- tion, from its entrance to the point of its emerging, near the village of Eaheny, is about two miles, and the material taken ont of it was not far short of 500,000 cubic yards, the greater part of which was carried down, by the aid of locomotive engines, to form the before mentioned embankment across the Clontarf estuary ; while a great quantity of the stone quarried, was used in the several pubHc and accom- modation bridges along the line. In the course pf this deep sinking, but necessarily unseen, is ARTANE, more anciently called Tartane, and for centuries the Ixxii INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE estate of the family of Hollywood, or " de Sacro Bosco," having been purchased in the fourteenth cen- tury by Robert de Hollywood, then one of the Re- membrancers, and afterwards a Baron of the Exche- quer. In 1 533, John Allen, Archbishop of Dublin, when intending to fly from the resentment of Lord Thomas Fitzgerald, theo in rebellion against his king, took boat from Dublin, but, his little bark having been driven on the adjacent shore, he sought shelter in Artane, where, being discovered, he was dragged from his bed, and inhumanly murdered. This ill-fated prelate was the pupil of Wolsey, and trained up by him in political intrigue. He had served liis ambitious patron as judge in his legatine court, with an assiduity and attention, neither up- right nor honourable, and, though accused of mis- demeanor, and dismissed from this office, he was still protected by the Cardinal, and proved his use- ful and active agent in the suppression of monaste- ries. The jealousy of Gardiner, however, effected his removal to Ireland, where his adoption of his patron's prejudices against the Geraldines led to his destruction. On the breaking" out of the civil war of 1641, the castle of Artane was taken by Luke Netterville, at the head of a body of royalists, and garrisoned thereupon for the king. The church was a picturesque ruin, and long the burial-place of the Hollywood family ; a great proportion of its walls has, however, been sacrilegiously appropri- ated to the construction of a modern edifice. The -"sj'w^aiB??''^''" '???''''^^?«r?'^'»i5w^^!P^!»Ri!ra5B!»i!!w»!^wP!) mifif^^iei^fmi^p^figit DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA RAILWAY. Ixxiii next locality of interest which occurs, also at left, close to the line, but unseen, by reason of the deep excavations and cuttings through which it here passes, is the ruined church of KILLESTER, enclosing, and enclosed with elder trees, and thickly invested with ivy. This chapel, with the tithes and lands of Killester, was, at the time of the English invasion, and continued long after to be, of the pos- sessions of the Priors of Christ Church, Dublin, who leased it to the White family, one of whom, Eichard White, was, in 1373, summoned to a Great Council, as lord of Killester ; from them it passed to the lords of Howth; accordingly, in 1593, Sir Nicholas, the twenty-first lord, brought to a hosting at Tara, six archers on horseback for Howth, and one for Killes- ter ; in his Hne the fee still continues. The manor house is a pleasing specimen of the style of such ar- chitecture ; it is at present occupied by General Luscomb, and is also close to the Hne. At the oppo- site side is the demesne and house of Furry Park, formerly the seat of the Earl of Shannon, the de- scendant of the celebrated Sir Kichard Boyle. The cutting thence is through deep and fine mould, well guarded from slips, by dwarf retaining walls, and by the ample inclination given to the upper cuttings, over which nature is again asserting her dominion, and clothing them with verdure and varied vegeta- tion. At one point here, a beautiful occupation Ixxiv INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE bridge has been tlirown over the railway ; it is of wrought iron, eighty-four feet in span, with a rise of but eighteen inches, the first of the kind ever erected. Doctor Macneill, in its construction, adopted the principle from the American bridges, where wood is the material. The mechanism of this, and the lightness and strength with which the whole is up- borne, by a succession ol suspension cross bars, are well worthy of inspection ; the mechanic de- tails were worked out by the Ringsend Iron Com- pany, Dublin. At the garden of the ancient house of Rose-vale, which stands on the right hand, the waters of a rivulet are received in an iron syphon, three feet in diameter, beautifully cast at the foun- dry of Messrs. Grendon and Company, of Droghe- da ; through it the stream is transmitted under the railway, to its level at the opposite bank. Beyond this, at left, is the ancient townland of COOLOCK, which gives name to a village, parish, and surround- ing barony. The parish comprises 1691 statute acres of fertile land, based on limestone and well adapted for tillage ; the church is a conspicuous object from the upper bank ; and the village chapel is a very neat and commodious edifice ; there is also a Sun- day and day school; while, within this district, four ancient raths are stiU distinguishable. The advowson of this benefice was, in very remote time, vested in the Baron de Nugent, by whom it was appropriated !rji^!K-v5.' r^awigjw ~ 1 1 m^j^^r -51; ^^T DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA RAILWAY. IXXV to the Priory of Lanthony near Gloucester, whose fraternity endowed a perpetual vicarage here of their own presentation, and assigned the immediate ma- nagement of it to their filial establishment at Duleek, whence it passed by patent to Garret Viscount Moore, the ancestor of the Marquess of Drogheda. The line next passes under an accommodation bridge, between Violet- hill, the handsome residence of Mr. Maconchy, crowning a verdant knoll at west, and the villa of Mr. D'Arcy at the east. Close to the latter, is the village and station of RATHENY, picturesquely situated amidst very old trees, on the brow of an eminence, crowned by its little church, immediately joining which may still be traced the remains of the rath, whence the townland is denomi- nated. The land of this maritime parish is of a pe- cuHarly fine quality, the greater portion meadow and pasture, and the arable produces excellent crops of wheat ; the system of agriculture is in a very im- proved state, and there is neither waste nor bog within its limits. Originally a portion of this tract ap- pertained to the priory of Christ Church, but the fer greater part belonged to the abbey of the Blessed Virgin, while a section of it was granted by Earl Strongbow to John de Courcy, the celebrated chief- tain, who had received from Bang Henry, while in Ireland, a grant of Ulster, with the politic proviso, that he should first reduce it, by the force of his arms ; Ixxvi INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE and here, in the vicinity of his sworn comrade, Sir Armoricus St. Lawrence, ancestor of the lords of Howth, in the very view of those mountains of Mourne, which overlooked his future possessions, this rugged soldier assembled round him the fiery spirits whom Fitz Adelm's vice-royalty had almost frighted from their allegiance. He won their willing aid, by the promise of settlements for themselves in the unexplored regions of the North, while even the chivalrous St. Lawrence proffered his men-at- arms for the extension of his friend's possessions and power. In vain did the invidious Lord Deputy, by an arbitrary order, forbid De Courcy to prose- cute the realization of the royal grant ; the prohibi- tion was slighted. Having strengthened his re- sources, by marrying the daughter of Gotred, King of Man, he proceeded from Eatheny, in the summer of 1182, at the head of his adventurous party, with all the bearing of chivalry, and glittering in polished armour, his white charger curvetting under him, while he inflairied yet more the hopes of his asso- ciates, by the peculiarly exciting suggestion of Mer- lin's then current prophecy, that a knight in such accoutrements was destined to be the conqueror of Ulster. The annals of the North, during his visita- tion, are the records of successful carnage ; and the unwearied perseverance with which he overran that fine province, well evinces, how difficult it is to sheath the sword, when familiarized with victory ; throughout it, his course was traced by ruined dis- "■ ^fJ^-^pPW'.' ■% -f"^-"- 'Tfi^'m^m^ DUBLIN AND DEOGHEDA RAILWAY. Ixxvii tricts, depopulated villages, and desecrated churclies. In the beginning of the thirteenth century, Sir John de Courcy, an illegitimate son of the before men- tioned Sir John, was lord of Ratheny and Kill-Bar- rock. This was the individual whom Walter de Lacy, lord of Meath, and Hugh de Lacy, Earl of Ulster, caused to be murdered in 1208, suspecting him to be a spy over their actions, and to have made grievous complaints against them to the king; on ac- count of which such confusions occurred, as obliged the monarch to come over in person to Lreland, and, for the restoration of peace, to banish the De Lacys, in 1211. Passing Violet-hill, the railway, emerging from the long and deep cutting, runs over a low embank- ment to the brook of Ratheny, whence a short cut- ting passes it, under a road (leading from that village to Coolock), at which point is a station-house ; hence the line traverses a level or gently undulated country, now in shallow cuttings, again on low embankments, skirting the sea, and affording frequent beautiful vistas of coast scenery. In this section, at the right, immediately on the shore, stand the ruins of tjie church of KILL-BAEROCK, anciently called by the Welch title of Llann Beach- aire, as founded by Modomnoc, a saint of that coun- try, and who, according to his biographers, first in- troduced bees from Anglesey into Ireland. His foundation became the votive chapel of mariners Ixxviii INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE frequenting the bay of Dublin. Its architectural ap- pearance is not imposing, only exhibiting some cir- cular and pointed arches, without any visible remains of a steeple or belfiy ; the vistas and sections of prospect, however, as framed by the arches and win- dows of the ruins, afford a series of views, which cannot fail to gratify the observer. This chapel, more anciently called Mone, originally belonged to the monastery of the Blessed Virgin. In the thir- teenth century, the manor and lands were held by the Tuite family, by the tenure of rendering a pair of furred gloves to the king ; subject to which ser- vice, they afterwards passed to the lords of Howth. In 1641, a special proclamation issued from the Cas- tle, announcing, that " divers of the inhabitants of Clontarf, Ratheny, and Kill-barrock, had declared themselves rebels, and that, having robbed and spoiled some of his Majesty's good subjects, they had assembled thereabouts in arms in great num- bers, mustering and training of their rebeUious mul- titudes, as well at land as at sea. It was, therefore, ordered, that a party of soldiers should be sent out, to endeavour to cut them off, and to burn and spoil their houses and goods, and further, to cause their boats and vessels there to be brought up " to the new crane at Dublin, and to burn or sink such as they could not so bring up. The railway next passes, on what may be consi- dered a level, to a station, near the bathing and fishery town of ''■# ■!.;j£f ■■ IXXX INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE and rights of this rehgious house, and amongst them Beldoyle, were subsequently granted to the Corpo- ration of Dublin, who are still the proprietors thereof In 1793, the Reverend Walter Blake Kir- wan was rector of Beldoyle, and in 1831, a scarcely less celebrated preacher, though of a different style and creed, the Reverend Michael Bernard Keogh, died, the Roman Catholic pastor of this parish. The chapel of Beldoyle, with its portico, turret, and dome, and its school rooms attached, contributes much to embellish the village. • -From' the bridge, carried over the railway at the last-mentioned station, before it enters Beldoyle, a most enchanting panorama, the subject of the an- nexed view, is commanded, embracing many of the scenes before alluded to, as suiTounding the bay, with the additions of Sutton, Howth, and Ireland's EyC) scenes which demand their respective notices. SUTTON is a denomination lying on the western side of the hill of Howth, haying one of the oyster beds that supply the metropohs ; muscles are also taken in quantities here. A bed of dolomite, that sweeps round the base of the promontory, has been quarried and exported hence, some few years since, to Eng- land, where the magnesian earth was extracted from it, and converted into a series of valuable prepara- tions. Potter's clay also abounds in this townland, and the black oxide of manganese is discovered *. N DUBLIN AND DROGHBDA RAILWAY. IxXXL here, in?tlie immediate viciuity of the magnesian liraestoue. It has been raised, and prepared for sale in considerable quantity, and sold to the manufac- turers of the bleaching salt of lime, and of the dif- ferent other more recently fabricated compounds, of which chlorine is the active element. HOWTH, which succeeds in the aforesaid prospect, is (as its Irish radix ociyi signifies), an elevated promontory, connected with the mainland by a sandy isthmus, and forming the northern entrance of Dublin bay, over which it is elevated 578 feet above low water mark. Its geological formation may be considered, as chiefly consisting of clay slate and quartz rock, frequently alternating ; porphyry being found on the southern side, and limestone on the western, near the base. Iron, copper, and lead ores, have also been found here, with manganese, and arsenic py- rites(a). The sides of the promontory are rocky and precipitous, and are considered to present some- what of the appearance of a miniature Gibraltar. It was anciently called Ben-na-dair, from the abundance of venerable oaks that then waved over its declivities, and religiously shadowed one of those pagan altars, or cromlechs, that, after the revolutions of centuries, yet remains near the castle. Near it is also the I (a) See very fully, on the Geology of Howth, Stephens's Mine- ralogy, p. 40, &c. VOL. I. f IxXXii INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE present manorial residence of the Earls of Howth, a long battlemented structure, flanked by square towers at each extremity, and approached by a large flight of steps, leading to a spacious hall furnished with sundry relics of antiquity, while in the saloon are some fine portraits. On an eminence near this castle is a neat parish church, but the principal ob- ject of architectural attraction here is the harbour, for the formation of which a series of Acts of Par- liament have been passed. It embraces an area of fifty-two English acres, enclosed by two piers, the western having a causeway of forty feet in breadth, and the eastern a carriage way of fifty feet. This noble work was efiected at the cost of £300,000, a considerable portion of which was incurred by rais- ing rocks from the bottom of the basin ; yet was the location so injudicious, that, while it never could admit vessels of large burden or great draught, ac- cording to some engineers, had it been constructed but one furlong eastward of its present situation, the navy of Great Britain might have been moored within it, sheltered from the prevailing winds, in a safe anchorage of a depth of water uninfluenced by ebb or flow of tide. But even this work, so dearly purchased, has been abeady superseded, and another generation may traverse the mossy causeway, and vainly seek the spot where the only monarch landed, who came with professions of peace to Ireland : " Atque, ubi portus erat, tunc siccum litus." It is -rapidly filling with mud and sand, and now . aUJHLJJRl.'ll*. DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA RAILWAY. IXXXUi but accommodates the wherries and smacks employ- ed in the fisheries. The town consists of a single street, running along the edge of the cliflf, with a congregation of huts bending down the decHvity to the water. In the centre of this community a spa- cious chapel has been recently erected, to which school houses are attached. At the highest pcint over the sea appear the venerable remains of its ancient abbey, one of the few specimens of Gothic pointed architecture which the county of Dublin affords. In its southern aisle is the tomb of Chris- topher, the twentieth Lord of Howth, who died in 1589- A wild bridle road guides the visitor hence to the summit of the hill, where the old lighthouse had been erected, and whence a prospect of unri- valled magnificence presents itself The descent from this point to the new lighthouse abounds with enchanting landscapes, if the term can be properly applied to prospects, which the sea so magnificently enhances : such splendid sites, it may be expected, will be, ere long, diademed with villas, the shores affording, in several places, the greatest facility for bathing, constant water, and a fine gravelly beach of easy descent, and retired from public intrusion ; while in others they are indented with creeks, or worn into gloomy caverns, in which seals and por- poises may be often seen rolling their unwieldy bodies. The historic associations connected with Howth are also of much antiquarian and historic interest. f2 Ixxxiv INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE At the earliest period of the Christian era, a battle was fought here between Conall Cearnach, one of the Knights of the Red Branch, and the King of Leinster, in which the latter was slain. Imme- diately afterwards, when Ireland was the sanctuary and refuge of those who fled from Roman tyranny, Howth was the residence of the celebrated Crim- than, who, according to the Irish annals, crossed the sea to stay the march of Roman oppression and vindicate the rights of the expatriated wanderers. The chronicles of this country deservedly extol his achievements on this occasion. In 819, the Danes devastated this district, and their descendants are, in history, supposed to have been found there by the first English invaders, when Sir Armoricus Tris- tram and Sir John de Courcy, before mentioned, at the head of a chosen band, landed at Howth, and there encountering the inhabitants, defeated them in a signal engagement at the bridge of Evora, the mountain stream that falls into the sea at the north side of Howth, opposite " Ireland's Eye." Sir Armo- ricus lost seven relatives on this occasion, but ac- quired the lordship of Howth and the designation of St. Lawrence, in honour of the day of the battle, being the festival of that saint. The sword, with which he fought, is still triumphantly exhibited, amongst the relics at the castle of his noble descen- dant. In 1348, the remarkable pestilence, that de- vastated Ireland, first broke out at Howth and Dalkey, it almost depopulated Dublin and Drogheda; TJ^T^. - I . HqWi^ip^ji;^ . I ■iw.jwi.^'fijt^^i^ij MIMUWSWW'^Ti-^^ Ul.JUWIim ''-' iiuuii^diuui^m DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA RAILWAY. IxXXV in the former alone, from August to Christmas, 14,000 persons perished. In 1380, Edmund de Mortimer, Earl of March and Ulster, landed here as Viceroy of Ireland, and in 1427, Chief Baron Corn- walsh sailed hence to advise the King on the state of Ireland, being allowed 6s. 8d. per day for his ex- penses while employed upon that mission. In 1449, Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, father of Ed- ward the Fourth, landed at Howth as Lord Lieute- nant, and his government of Ireland was a short but cheering interval(a). In 1451, Sir Christopher, the fourteenth Baron of Howth, was empowered by Act of Parliament to search for a mine within his lord- ship, as well for tin as for lead ore, and to receive the profits thereof to his own use, during the term of three years, subject to the annual rent of 65. 8c?., if it should be found. Sir Nicholas St. Lawrence, the sixteenth Lord of Howth, was steadily attached to the House of Lancaster, and, during the political convulsion that shook Ireland from its allegiance, in the cause of Lambert Sunnel, was one of those who zealously maintained King Henry's title and interest ; accordingly, when the rebellion raised on that ac- count was quelled, the King presented to this noble- man, as a tribute for his loyalty and services, 300 pieces of gold, with a patent confirmatory of all his inheritance. Sir Nicholas dying in 1526, was in- terred in the abbey here. In 1534, "the Silken (o) See History of Drogheda, voL ii. pp. 148-9. IxXXvi INTBODtrCTORY MEMOIR OF THE Lord, in the celiebrated Geraldine rebellion, planted his artillery on this promontory, and from its com- manding height, cannonaded the vessels that were sent with English forces to subdue him. About the year 1575, occurred the traditional incident, which associates the name of Grace O'Mailley (better known as Grana Weal) with this place. Eetuming from her visit to Queen Ehzabeth, she debarked on this shore, and, proceeding to the castle, found it closed at dinner time, a derehction of Irish hospi- tality, which she considered so flagrant, that, without further notice, she carried off the young heir of the house, conveyed him to her ship, and hence a pri- soner to her own castle in the county Mayo ; nor was he restored, until his father entered into an express stipulation, that his gates should never again be shut at such an hour. A painting in one of the castle chambers is supposed to represent this do- mestic event. In 1 580, Lord Grey landed at Howth as Viceroy of Ireland, as did in 1593, Sir William Russell, youngest son of the Earl of Bedford, where- upon, say the Chronicles, " the Lord of Howth claimed him and his suite as his guests for that evening." Sir WiUiam'was met on the following day, on his approach to Dublin, by the Council and Corporation, who conducted him, amidst the -accla- mations of the people, to the castle. There, how- ever, he refused tf) accept the sword, until he re- ceived, under the hands of the Council, a full account of the state of the kingdom. In 1 5^9, Lord Mount- (Br.'*.« (J*!*" ; "^.yp^vT-' ' ii.i jiw#"wipw!P''?-i;j»*'i^«'-i'' ,iniijKiiiijii>iJ| j>».iiwq DlJBLIN AND DROGHEBA BAILWAY. IxXXvii joy, as Lord Deputy for the prosecution of the wur in Ulster, and Sir George Carew, as Lord President of Munster, landed here, and spent the night of their arrival in the castle of Howth. In 1641, when the Lords of the P ale proposed to establish a naval armament for the *se5tirity of the coasts of Lreland, and to institute an order of knighthood for its chief officers, to whom houses were to be assigned in every province, with suitable equipments for each, Howth was the station assigned for those of the province of Leinster. In 1662, the great Duke of Ormond, having returned from his retirement in France, landed here as Lord Lieutenant over the country, in whose affairs he had so long taken an im- portant and active interest. In 1690, King William is said to have slept here, and the chamber of the royal slumber is still identified and maintained in the order of the occasion. About the year 1754, a lead mine was discovered here, which promised to be productive ; and in 1807, was laid the first stone of the pier before alluded to, where, in 1821, King George the Fourth landed on the occasion of his visit to Ireland. Immediately off" Howth lies the Httle island, denominated Ireland's eye. It is of a pyramidal form, and composed chiefly of quartz rock, which, like that in Howth, exhiMts phenomena of contortions in great variety and dis- tinctness, the quartz being interstratified with schis- Ixxxviii INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OP THE : tose rocks of different colours, rendering, by their contrast, the curvatures of the beds very apparent. The rocks and banks, some of which are wrought into the form of arches by the action of the sea, pro- duce many curious medicinal plants, and their bo- tanic resources, in every other department, are equally rich. Babbits abound on the island ; and, in reference to its ornithology, the cross-bill {loxia)^ a bird which destroys pines and fir trees, has been seen upon it occasionally, as has also the columha rupicola or rock pigeon, and, in more remote ages, the island has been the resort of a noble breed of goshawks, that used to build among its rocks ; they were in high esteem with falconers, being flown at cranes, pheasants, partridges, and wild geese ; their habit of preying on the latter is thought to be the origin of their name. On the south side of this island are the ruins of a small but very ancient cha- pel, founded, according to tradition, in the sixth century, by St. Nessan, who, in this sequestered sanc- tuary, is said to have closed the evening of a well- spent life, in abstinence and prayer. From the position, which commands the views thus detailed, the railway proceeds still on a level to Maine, in view of BALGRIFFIN, an ancient townland at left, which gives name to a a parish justly characterized as a com district. King Henry the Fifth granted it in 1418, to Sir Thomas -'•'Jl(^!>|^l|f5'- mm^fmn^am!^^!^^ DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA RAILWAY. Ixxxix. Talbot, brother of tlie then Lord Lieutenant of Xre- land, during the minority of one of the Bumell fa- mily, who were territorial lords of the district. In 1500, King Henry the Seventh committed the cus- tody of the whole county of DubHn to Robert Bur- nell of Balgriffin, as Sheriff during pleasure, but, on the attainder of his line, this manor was granted to the Earl of Tyrone. Its castle was subsequently, for a time, the residence of Richard Earl of Tyrcon- nel. At the same side, and close to this locality, is seen, on a commanding eminence, the venerable church of ST. DOULOGH, a most ancient structure, possessing a stone roof, in accordance with the style of the old Saxon churches, but approximating in all its windows to the pointed form. It is forty-eight feet long by eighteen wide, and has a double stone roof, the outer which cavers the building, and the inner ; a small chamber, dimly hghted, occupies the space between these, while in the centre of the building rises a low broad tower, with graduated battlements, on which had been erected, within the last few years, an incongruous and disfiguring spire, lately taken down. At the entrance of the lane, that leads from the main road to the church, are the stone basement and socket of one of those ancient crosses, which once marked the crocea3 or crbss-lands, " e.r parte Fingal ;" and out- side the churchyard is a well, dedicated to St. Ca- xc INTBODUCTOBT MEMOIR OF THE therine, and enclosed in an octagonal building, with a groined roof of stone ; the interior is circular, hav- ing the well in its centre, and was formerly deco- rated with scriptural paintings. The lands of the parish of St, Doulogh are of good quahty, and, from their elevation, command extensive and beautiful views of the sea and southern mountains. The roads, by which the line is in this parallel intersected, in some instances surmount the railway with arches and embanked approaches, while others, according to the necessities of the level, run, as before, under- neath it. From Maine, a cutting conducts it to the hamlet of POETMARNOCK ; whence, proceeding on a level, a lovely extent of se- questered rural scenery opens at either side, the vil- lage and church of Portmarnock being in more imme- diate contiguity. Henry the Second, during his sojourn in Dublin, granted this denomination to the abbey of the Blessed Virgin in Dublin, which endowment was confirmed by the Pope in 11 89. The shore hence under Carrick-hill is of a character, that has acquired for it the appellation of the velvet strand ; nor is it less remarkable for the beautiful views it affords, and the countless varieties of shells to be found all over it. On the grange of Portmarnock, at left of the line, is an ancient fort, about thirty-six feet in diameter ; and hereabouts, a view may be caught of the handsome chapel of Kinsaly, and the w .-••TTv^r" r • '^- ■..^tfi^a;^.'^ r^ipmilPBmiPUl nil iiwiiiii.i ■"■^R^p^^nBlfPil DUBLIN AND DBOGHEDA RAILWAT- XCl historic and picturesquely situated hill of FELTRIM, for centuries the residence of the Fagan family, now crowned with a large windmill, that forms a very conspicuous object from every direction. In the reign of Elizabeth, when the unfortunate Earl of Desmond was a prisoner of state in Dublin Castie, his health requiring country air, the custody of his person was committed to Christopher Fagan of Fel- trim, who nobly informed the government, that as his guest, the Earl was most welcome to entertain- ment at his house, but that he should never become his gaoler. Desmond, in such liberal guardianship, was permitted to walk abroad on his parol, a privi- lege which he abused, and effected his escape into Munster, where, entering soon after into open rebel- lion, he was treacherously murdered by some of his own followers. The family residence here, is also said to have received the unfortunate James the Se- cond, in his flight from the Boyne, and the chamber was atno very remote period confidently shown, where he passed the weary hours of one wretched night. Broomfield succeeds at east, beyond which, on the rocky shore, stands the small gloomy caetle called Koebuck Wall, or Rob's Wall, as having been erected by a descendant of Roebuck de Berming- ham. On the sands hereabouts, the sea reed or bent grows plentifully. About seven miles and a half from Dublin, the railway enters the hill of Ma- 1- .1- l»«R.«WipiHWPP|pn>«^"^ — ""■ " _"■ J-^ --:;•" '-^ ■■• ™--j--- -^Tx.^: X'T-'r^.^.j»M ,_ XCU INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE lahide, when it tuii& tipwards of a mile, through a deep excavation, of much of the same quality of calp rock, as it encountered before at Killester, and in some places nearly forty feet t)elow' the surface of the ground. It is , calculated, that; nOt less than ninety: tons of gunpowd^>have been used in clearing this pass.: Jiist as the railway approaches the town ofMalahide, it. is crossed by the high road from Dublin thither, which here runs over a handsome oblique aroh of red brick, with neatly cut facings, ring course,: and. tJoping, of a fine white stone, pro- cured from: Milverton. quaryy; the span is thirty feet, and the arch is surmounted by an ornamental balustrade of cast metal. From the station beside tins areh^' the. trains are at once swept into the pre- sence, of a fine' expanse of sea, and the healthful, pleasingly situated, and thickly populated village of , . -MALAHIDE, for centuries the lordship or manor of the truly no- ble-family of 'Talbot. The present inheritor, Lord Talbot de Malahide, inhabits the castle, which is ad- jacent to the town, and an object eminently worthy of the tourist's notice, as is the abbey, of the antiqua- rian's. The lower story of the castle, consisting of servants' offices, &c., is vaulted, and entered by a gothic doorway, while the rooms above are ap- proached by spiral stone stairs, leading into a strik- ing antique apartment, lighted by a pointed window of stained glasis ; the wainscotting of this room is of tJiB^iHwyi-'- ^ ■ ; ■ ' •' ^^^^ • .■-^^— ,_,.,.,, I w,i!.-^ ■ . . ,.. ■■^■^^r^-j'^!r^^;-i--,>.iKp^f.";: ■ -^ XCn INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE lahide, when it juni^ "upwfrds^ ofa mite, through a deep excavation, of much of the same quality of calp rock, as it encountered before at Killester, and in someipl^es nearfy forty feet ^k)w* the surface of the ground.. , Jt is , calcu|ifcted, that-:i|ot less than ninety' tons of ■gunpowd^>haYe JD^en used in clearing this pa$s.c Jiusti a;s-1iiQ railway approaches the town of MaJahidCi it, is- crossed by the high road from Dublin ihi.tber, which here runs over a handsome ebHqiie axqh o£ red brick, with neatly cut facings, ring: .ebu;*se4. and tjoping, of a fine white stone, pro- cured from: Milverton. quarjy; the span is thirty feet, and :the arch is surmounted by an ornamental balustrade of <5ast metal. From the station beside . tlmaarelv the trains are at once swept into the pre- B^lKjec of a jfine' expanse of sea, and the healthful, pleaangly situated, and thickly populated village of ^ . MALAHmE, £q^' centuries the lordslup or manor of the truly no- ble -f^nily of 'Talbot. The present inheritor. Lord Talbot de Malahide, inhabits the castle, which is ad- jacent to the town, and an object eminently worthy t>f the tourist's notice, as is the abbey, of the antiqua- rian's. The lower story of the castle, consisting of Servants* offices, &g., is vaulted, and entered by a gotkic doorway, while the rooms above are ap- proached by spiiai stone stairs, leading into a strik- ing antique apartment, lighted by a pointed window of stamed glasis ; the wainscotting of this room is of mpp^wffi'^"! - . 1 1 •■ lai^an^qi^ppr DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA RAILWAY. XCIU Irish oak, that has now acquired the sombre tint of ebony, and is divided into compartments, ornamented with sculpture from Scriptural history. Adjoining this room is the saloon, a spacious apartment, con- taining some good paintings, particularly a valuable Uttle picture, once an altar piece belonging to Mary Queen of Scots, which represents the nativity, ado- ration, and circumcision, and was painted by Albert Durer; a portrait of the Duchess of Portsmouth, mistress of Charles the Second, fondling a contented dove ; another of her son, the first Duke of Rich- mond ; one of King Charles the First, dancing with the Infanta of Spain at the Escurial, &c. The ori- ginal moat of the castle has been softened oflf into an ornamental slope, planted with Italian cypresses and other evergreens, but the battlements still re- main terminated at the angles by circular towers, and present an imposing front. The gardens are tastefully laid out, and the demesne beautified with groups of plantations, amongst which are some splen- did old oaks, ashes, elms, horse-chesnuts, and syca- mores that seem the representatives of a forest nobi- lity, almost as ancient as that of the family by whom they were planted. Beside the castle are the vene- rable remains of its ancient chapel, the entrance to which is guarded by two magnificent sycamores. The form, which tliis edifice presents, is that of a nave and chancel or choir, divided from each other by a spacious gothic arch, about the centre of the building ; the aisle measures sixteen yards by seven, XCIV INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE the chancel eleven by six and a half ; what remains of the east windows is composed^ of muUions, and other divisions of tracery, of the perpendicular style in architecture, finely interwreathed with ivy. The walls had originally embattled parapets ; the inte- rior is strikingly shaded with venerable chesnut trees, that, in their season of foliage, cast a still more sombre interest over the ancient monimients they shadow. The soil of the parish of«Malahide rests upon mountain limestone, and the quarries, which are of black, grey, and yellow hues, afford numerous organic remains. On the south side of the high lands, contiguous to the sea, lead ore has been dis- covered. Malahide has acquired an ancient cele- brity for its oysters, and likewise supplies excellent cockles, while the strand abounds with marine shells, and sea reeds. The town is airy, and cleanly built, with a well of remarkably fine water in its centre. It has some trade in the exportation of meal and flour, and in the importation of coals from Whitehaven and Scotland. In 11 74, Richard de Talbot, having accompanied Henry the Second to Ireland, obtained a grant of Malahide, part of which, Malahide-beg, he soon af- terwards leased to the monks of Mary's Abbey, and his son Reginald confirmed the demise. In 1315, Richard Talbot, of Malahide, was Sheriff of Dublin, after which, he signalized himself in the wars against Edward Bruce, but was, with other noblemen and gentlemen, treacherously murdered at Ballybragan,in '-.'■'^r'^V.'f^'fMr^ DUBLIN AND DEOGHEDA RAILWAT. XCV the county Louth, in 1329. In 1475, King Ed- ward confirmed the title of the Talbot family here ; and in 1488, Sir Richard Edgecombe, when he came to take oaths of aUegiance from those, who had es- poused the cause of Simnel in Ireland, landed at Malahide, " and there a gentlewoman called Talbot received him, and made him right good cheer;" and the same day at afternoon, the Bishop of Meath and others came to Malahide aforesaid, well accompanied, and fetched the said Sir Richard to Dublin, and at his coming, the Mayor and substance of the city re- ceived him at the Black Friars' Gate, at which Black Friars the said Sir Richard was lodged. In 1639, Lord Strafford sought to wrest from Richard Talbot, then the inheritor of Malahide, the admi- ralty of its port, and other his valuable franchises ; but, on his pleading the ancient charters under which his family had so long inherited, the Court gave judgment against the Crown, and Strafford's designs were on this occasion frustrated. In 1649, John Talbot, the son and heir of said Richard, hav- ing, in the wars of 1641, embraced that side, to which misguided loyalty and ill requited enthusiasm had hurried the gallant and respectable gentry of Ireland, shared with them the consequences of one ruinous national attainder. He was outlawed, and his castle of Malahide, with five hundred acres of land, was, about this year, granted to Miles Corbet, the regicide, soon after which, it is believed that Oliver Cromwell took up his abode for a short time XCVl INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE here. Corbet continued its resident proprietor for an interval of seven years, during which he was Chief Baron of the Irish Court of Exchequer, and is characterized as, in other respects, " a man of very tender conscience, and of an holy life and conversa- tion, and that as well in his greatest prosperity as in his adversity." After the Restoration, Corbet, having been outlawed, took shipping for the continent from this port; he was, however, subsequently taken and executed as a regicide at Tyburn, while, by the Act of Explanation, John Talbot of Malahide was restored to all his lands and estates, as same had been held in 1641. From Malahide the railway is carried boldly over another estuary, a mile and a quarter in width, by means of an embankment taken from the deep cuttings of its previous course ; the depth of sea, through which it here passes, is nine feet at low water, a great proportion of the estuary being then dry ; the water is, however, subject to rise twenty feet at spring tides, leaving the general height of the rail above high water mark at eight feet; the sides of the embankment are protected by a strong stone slope facing, which extends with a gentle inclination for a considerable distance into the sea, and is yet further fortified with groins and breakwaters. On the inner side, the slope of the pavement is not so elongated, but the work is there also defended from the influence of ebbing tides, by strong stone pitching. This embankment is divided in the centre, to permit the ebb and flow of the ■ J ^ w DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA RAILWAY. XCTH tidal waters, and over that space the trains are con- ducted by means of a magnificent viaduct of timber, sohd and firmly set on piles consisting of eleven spans, each of fifty feet in width. The waves here being occa- sionally much rougher than at the Clontarf estuary, the slopes are, as 'before suggested, considerably flatter, present a curved section to the water, and are paved with very large stones, many of them being two tons in weight, brought from the excava- tion in Malahide hill. The tract of the estuary, which this embankment thus partially withdraws from the influence of the "sea, to the extent of nearly two miles up the country, might, and probably soon will, be proportionally reclaimed. It may be here re- marked, that, while the curves between Dublin and this point, though numerous, are by no means sharp, the rates of inclination are well suited for rapid travelling, and the course hence is for several miles of length in one straight line. | Passing over this embankment also, scenery of a very picturesque character presents itself in every direction, the town of Malahide, its chapel, its splen- did hotel, the woods of the castle, the church on the height and the promontory of Carrick-hill, leading observation seaward, whence it returns over Lam- bay, the ancient edifices of Portrane, the promon- tory of Portrane, and the intermediate country, thence up the stream by Lissen Hall (where Sir WilUam Fitz William resided for some time, when he was Lord Deputy of Ireland), into the ancient, VOL 1. g -J^^ '' DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA RAILWAY. XC?11 tidal waters, and over that space the trains are con- ducted by means of a magnificent viaduct of timber, solid and firmly set on piles consisting of eleven spans, each of fifty feet in width. The waves here being occa- sionally much rougher than at the Clontarf estuary, the slopes are, as 'before suggested, considerably flatter, present a' curved section to the water, and are paved with very large stones, many of them being two tons in weight, brought from the excava- tion in Malahide hill. The tract of the estuary, which this embankment thus partially withdraws from the influence of the " sea, to the extent of nearly two miles up the country, might, and probably soon will, be proportionally reclaimed. It may be here re- marked, that, while the curves between Dublin and this point, though numerous, are by no means sharp, the rates of inclination are well suited for rapid travelling, and the course hence is for several miles of length in one straight line. j Passing over this embankment also, scenery of a very picturesque character presents itself in every direction, the town of Malahide, its chapel, its splen- did hotel, the woods of the castle, the church on the height and the promontory of Carrick-hill, leading observation seaward, whence it returns over Lam- bay, the ancient edifices of Portrane, the promon- tory of Portrane, and the intermediate country, thence up the stream by Lissen Hall (where Sir WilHam Fitz William resided for some time, when he was Lord Deputy of Ireland), into the ancient, VOL L g XCviii INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE and once borough town of SWORDS, situated about two miles and a half at left of the railway ; its castle, chapel, church, and ivied round tower distinctly revealed. According to the Annals of the Four Masters, one of the companions of Heremon raised a fortress here, called the High Rath of Swords. In 512, a church was founded here by Columb-kille, or at least dedicated to him, and to which that saint gave a va- luable missal. Soon after the battle of Clontarf, the bodies of Brien Boroihme and his son Murrough, were conveyed in solemn procession hither, where they were deposited for the first night, amidst the prayers and chauntings of the fraternity ; the funeral proceeded on the following day to Duleek, whence the monks of that establishment conducted the bo- dies to their sepulchral destination at Armagh. Swords was afterwards the seat of a rural bishopric, and still gives name to a deanery. On the founda- tion of the collegiate establishment of St. Patrick's, in Dublin, Swords was constituted a prebend of that church, and the manor was vested in the See of Dub- lin, in whose favour King John granted an eight day fair, and King James the First a weekly market in the town. In 1336, the celebrated Wilham of Wyke- ham held the prebend of Swords (styled in the "Re- pertorium Viride," the '• golden prebend"), together with eleven benefices in England ; he was afterwards DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA RAILWAY. XClX Bishop of Wincliester. In 1484, Doctor Walton, Archbishop of Dublin, having voluntarily resigned his dignity, only reserved to himself for a mainte- nance, the manor of Swords, during his life, which reservation was confirmed to him by Act of. Parlia- ment in the following year. In 1585, Swords, as a borough, sent its first members to Parliament, and continued so to do until the Union. Here, in 1641, the first Irish army of the Pale assembled, prepara- tory to the commencement of that civil war, which immediately afterwards desolated Ireland. In 1642, John Taylor (an ancestor, of the very ancient line still represented and resident at Swords), and George Blackney, Esqrs., the sitting members of Parliament for this borough, were expelled from the House by the Puritan party, on account of their attachment to the king's cause. At the time of the Union, the fixed compensation for the Irish boroughs was, in this case (it being of the class called potwallop- ing boroughs, and not private property), vested in trustees, for the purpose of educating and appren- ticing the children of the humbler classes, without any religious distinction ; and a handsome and com- modious free school was erected in the town, at an expense of about £2000. This town still enjoys the privilege of five yearly fairs. There are, within the parish, several extensive corn mills, and it is embellished with numerous seats and villas. Of these may be particularized, Brackenstown, where is a noble rath, commanding a most extensive view; g2 C INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OP THE and a spacious mansion, which, two centuries since, was the residence of Chief Baron Bysse, whom Crom- well is said to have visited during his military ex- pedition through Ireland. Robert Molesworth, of Brackenstown, was subsequently attainted in the Par- liament of James the Second, but was ennobled by George the First, with the title of Viscount Moles- worth. Balheary house, the seat of Mr. Baker, is also worthy of notice for its tastefully planted de- mesne, and some fine pieces of interesting tapestry preserved in the saloon. From the point of the line, where this enchant- ing panorama first breaks upon the eye, the embank- ment, having fixed its footing on Kilcreagh-point,runs over Corballis' strand, completing, in its whole extent over the estuary, a line of 2,067 yards ; a pleasing view of the wooded demesne of Newbridge here opens on the left, which will be soon much improved, by the reclaiming of the intermediate strand, a work which is actually in progress, and rendered of easy accomplishment, by the erection of a sluice-gate in the railway embankment. On the sea shore, at right, appears the hamlet of CorbalHs, which was, with the adjoining lands, before the civil wars of the se- venteenth century, successively the estate of the Bamewalls and Nettervilles. A short deep cutting from this point, brings the railway into the little village of DUN ABATE, an Irish denomination, signifying, " the high fortress ■■5-, T^ DUBLIN ATSTD DROGHEDA RAILWAY. CI of the bay." Here are fine remains of a church and castle, seen at left of the line ; the latter is a single square, situated ia the churchyard, and thickly overgrown with ivy ; the former was de- dicated to St. Patrick, in its present ruins are several sepulchral monuments, chiefly of the Bame- wall family. The modetn church is a small neat edifice, containing a handsome marble monument to the memory of Doctor Cobbe, Archbishop of Dub- lin, who died in 1765 ; the Roman Catholic chapel stands on the opposite side of the line. Immediately contiguous to the village, at left, is Newbridge, be- fore alluded to, the handsome seat of Mr. Cobbe, a descendant of the Archbishop. In the house are several valuable paintings by the old masters, which were collected on the continent by the Rev. Mr. Pil- kington, author of the Dictionary of Painters, who had been vicar of this parish ; and in the demesne are the ivied ruins of Landestown castle ; a little west of which is Turvey, the estate, by long inheri- tance, of Lord Trimlestown, and which gave title of Baron to his family. Passing Dunabate, where will be erected one of the minor stations, the railway is cut through a hill, which takes its name from that locality, when a more distinct view is obtained of PORTRANE, the ruins of its castle and church, the fine maneion- house, formerly the residence of Mr. George Evan», $ |l!?Pf|!l»PjlfM'f^'4SfW?'f!*^ 1 ^w^ DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA RAILWAY. 3m CI of the Imy." Here are fine remains of a' churcli and castle, seen at left of the line ; the latter is a single square, situated ia the churchjrard, and thickly overgrown with ivy; the former was de- dicated tq St. Patrick, in its present ruins are seyerg,l,9epiilchra;l moniune'nts^ chiefly of the Bame- wall family. The modehi church is a small neat edifice, contailiing a handsome marble monument to the memory of Doctor Cobbe, Archbishop of Dub- lin, who died; in 1765; the Roman Catholic chapel stands on the opposite side of the line. Immediately contiguous to the village, at left, is Newbridge, be- fore alluded to, the handsome seat of Mr. Cobbe, a descendant of the Archbishop. In the house are several valuable paintings by. the old masters, which were collected on the continent by the Rev. Mr. Pil- kington, author of the Dictionary of Painters, who had been vicar of this parish ; and in the demesne are the ivied ruins of Landestown castle ; a little west of which is Turvey, the estate, by long inheri- tance, of LordTrimlestown, and which gave title of Baron to his family. Passing Dunabate, where will be erected one of the minor stations, the railway is cut through a hill, which takes its name from that locality, when a more distinct view is obtained of PORTRANE, the ruins of its castle and church, the fine mansion- house, formerly the residence of Mr. Greorge Eyans, Cll INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE one of the representatives of the county of Dublin in Parliament, and the lofty mausoleum erected to his memory by his widow. The house, a spacious build- ing, in the centre of a noble demesne comprising some of the best land in the county, commands splen- did views, at the land side, of nearly the whole of Fingal, while the extent of the seaward prospect is relieved and enhvened by the islands of Lambay, Ireland's Eye, the bold promontory of Howth, the projections of Portrane and Rush, and the enchant- ing perspective of the Wicklow mountains. There is, in the village, a new cruciform chapel, with a burial-ground attached, and between it and Duna- bate, is a school house for boys and girls, erected by the late Mr. Evans, and still supported by his widow. The shore hereabout wears a bold and imposing ap- pearance, presenting partly a surface of strand, and partly of rocks, worn into recesses and caves by the action of the tides; these rocks abound with laver, the ulva lactuca, and the ulva umhilicalis, which, when boiled in sea water, are packed in little earthen pots, and sold under the name of sloke, in Dubhn, being in highest request in winter. The promon- tory of Portrane comprises a great variety of sub- strata, including red sandstone, limestone, green- stone in rugged rocks on the north side, and grey- wacke slate, clay-slate, green-stone slate, and a great variety of conglomerates, and minor minerals, on the coast, all curiously intermingled. The lands of Portrane were of the ancient en- DUBLIN AND DEOGHEDA RAILWAY. ClU dowment for the establishment of Christ Church, by Sitric, the Danish King of Dubhn, and his grant was, after the English invasion, confirmed thereto by Earl Strongbow. Pope Clement, however, appears to have granted it to the See of Dublin, when the canons of Christ Church compromised their title, on condition of receiving one hundred rabbits yearly out of the warren of Portrane; this adjustment was further ratified by the sub-prior, in 1204, soon after which, John Comyn, Archbishop of Dublin, appro- priated its rectory to the nunnery of Grace Dieu, on whose dissolution, it passed to successive lay pa- tentees. In 1712, Portrane was the residence of the ill- fated Stella. Soon afterwards, Eyre Evans, Esq.,M. P. for the county of Limerick, settled here, to whose descendant, in 1775, the Irish ParUament granted £500, towards the construction of a pier and quay here, to facilitate the defence of this coast from the daring smugglers that then infested it. It was ac- cordingly erected, but is now ruinous and unfre- quented. At a short distance beyond Dunabate, the high- road from Turvey to Portrane is carried over the railway, by one of the class of bridges adopted on this line, a semi-elliptic arch, tending to an hyper- bohc curve in the centre, and rising nearly vertically at the springings from the abutments; the ring stones, coping, and string course being chiefly draAvn from the quarry at Milverton, hereafter mentioned ; hence, on a level, it reaches CIV INTRODUCTOllY MEMOIR OIT THE ROGERSTOWN, an ancient, and once so frequented seaport, that, when the Corporation of Dublin, in 1438, obtained a grant of customs for forty ensuing years, those on all merchandize imported into the harbour of Ro- gerstown, were especially included, with a similar privilege in the ports of Howth, Beldoyle, Malahide, Portrane, Rush, and Skerries ; its haven is now a tract of sand and mud, wide in its inner area, but not more than four hundred yards across, where the tide enters ; the estuary, thus formed, is crossed in its centre by the embankment of the line, which is also protected by stone pavement ; although ordina- rily it is but little exposed to the action of the sea, for the ebb and flow of which, however, a central viaduct of timber is opened, 335 feet in length, and about fifteen in height. West of this embankment appear the groves of Corduff (Mr. Hanna's), an- ciently a manor of the Earls of Ormond, and for four centuries the residence of the Stanyhursts, a family long distinguished in the civil and political history of Ireland, especially in the person of Rich- ard Stanyhurst, the author of a work, " De Rebus in Hibernia gestis," a " Description of Ireland," &c. On the opposite side to Corduff, is Whitest© wn, or, according to its more ancient orthography. Knights- town, the ancient estate of the Lords of Howth, This locality was formerly a chapelry, subservient to Lusk, and the site of the old church is still trace- MJ,« !■ IHIUI ^ •""•'^m mm"^ v-/ ' '/'/'■:' . ---. 'r '.■!■-' •i^'f^f - ;n'..'M, .'^R-Jr/fu-'A K.V!, VAY . DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA RAILWAY. CV able in tlie centre of a burial ground thickly filled with tombstones of the humbler classes. The line subsequently passes through a cutting under the road from Lusk to Rush, where will be one of its sta- tions, and, passing from which, it presently attains views of both these localities. lusk;, at left, exhibits .singularly beautiful remains of a church and round tower. The former was built on the site of an ancient abbey, founded here by St. Macculind, at the close of the fifth century. It is built in the later English style of architecture, with a massive square embattled steeple, having beneath it a crypt or. vaulted chapel; three of the angles are flanked by comparatively modem, round embattled slender towers,' incorporated with the building, wMe, near the fourth angle, is an isolated round towjer.of the " veritable antique," rising to a, considerable height above any other part of the building, and measuring, in the ! ipirier diameter .at bottom, two yards and a. half ; it is in excellent preservation, and affords, by the later erection of an adjoining belfty, a very convincang evidence, that it at least was not recognized to be a fit vehicle fox .the ta-ansinission of sound, as the theory of some would insist it was de- signed. The interior of the church consists of two long aisles, separated by a series of seven pointed arches, now filled up with masonry. There are nu- merous sepulchral monuments within it ; one of the * ,(«. -■^ 2'UmjKt DXOOBSriA sailitay. ^lui:. li'-rfifif* '??B- DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA RAILWAY. I CV able in the centre of a burial ground thickly filled with tombstones of the humbler classes. The line subsequently passes through a cutting under the road from Lusk to Rush, where will be one of its sta- tions, and, passing from which, it presently attains views of both these localities. at left, exhibits! .sii^gularly beautiful remains of a church and round .lower. The former was built on the site of an, ancient abbey, founded here by St. Macculind, at the close of the fifth century. It is built inthie later Enghsh style of architecture, with a massive "square einbattled steeple, having beneath it a crypt or. vaiilted chapel ; three of the angles are flanked by .comparatively modem, romid, ^embattled slender toweirsj'siricorporated with the building, ,T?lifie, near the fourth angle, is an isolated rQUjidt0WSBr,iii.>nni^^pppiii^ J DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA RAILWAY. CXV stone bridge (marked in the accompanying view), under which passes the road from Dublin to Sker- ries. At this point Milverton, the estate and resi- dence of Mr, Woods, appears at left, celebrated for its quarries of superior building stone, and yet more for the skilful cultivation of its soil, and the no less happy management of its tenantry. At right is seen Shenicks island, comprising fifteen acres, and having at its northern extremity a Martello tower. At the point of intersection before alluded to, a station house is to be erected for the accommodation of the town and neighbourhood of SKERRIES. This fishing village was more anciently called Holmpatrick, implying in the Saxon "holm," its character of harbour, and certainly reported by Holinshed as one of the chief havens of Ireland. The village, or rather town, is, however, a pleasing object, and its broad street diverges into two others of equal breadth, somewhat in the shape of a Y. The comfortable appearance of its houses and inhabitants, its church (which contains some old armorial monu- ments to the families of Coddington, Hamilton, and Woods, while in the graveyard are other yet more ancient tombstones to the Russells and Delahoydes), its chapel (a handsome cruciform structure, erected in 1823), its schools (one of which is exclusively supported by Mr. J. Hamilton, of Sheephill, the pro- prietor of the fee), and its fine strand, must greatly h2 f^sy^^^^g^y '^^v. ■'^■->W«?s'1*!^^w*1«s?*^^ I DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA RAILWAY. CXV stone bridge (marked in the accompanying view), under whidi passes the road from Dublin to Sker- ries. At this point Milverton, the estate and resi- dence of Mj, "Woods, appears at left, celebrated foy its quarries of superior biulding stone, and yet more for the skilful cultivation of its soil, and the no less happy management of its tenantry. At right is seen Shenicks island* comprising fifteen acres, and having at its northern extremity a Martello tower. At the point of intersection before alluded to, a station house is to be erected for the accommodation of the town and neighbourhood of SKERRIES. This fishing village was more anciently called Holmpatrick, implying in the Saxon "holm," its character of harbour, and certainly reported by Holinshed as one of the chief havens of Ireland. The village, or rather town, is, however, a pleasing object, and its broad street diverges into two others of equal breadth, somewhat in the shape of a Y. The comfortable appearance of its houses and inhabitants, its church (which contains some old armorial monu- ments to the families of Coddington, Hamilton, and Woods, while in the graveyard are other yet more ancient tombstones to the Russells and Delahoydes), its chapel (a handsome cruciform structure, erected in 1823), its schools (one of which is exclusively supported by Mr. J. Hamilton, of Sheephill, the pro- prietor of the fee), and its fine strand, must gr^tly h 2 CXVl INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE interest future attention. A small tambour factory has been established here, which affords employment to a great many of the surrounding females. There are also here two windmills, a watermill, and near the pier some saltworks. The harbour possesses great advantages, but would require a pier on an extensive scale. Nature has already more than half formed such a work, by a rocky projection of 750 yards into the sea, with a basement from fifty to seventy yards wide, and having inside it a deep, clear, and safe anchorage, of nearly twenty feet at low water, for ships of any draught. An upper work, with a pa- rapet and horn at the extremity, would complete this harbour ; a light on the cross rock would also be of great utility. At a short distance from the coast lie the Skerries islands, three in number, and all remarkably productive of seaweed. Archer says, in his " Survey of the County Dublin," that he found lead ore and sulphur in two of these islands, and observed beautifully coloured slate rocks, par- ticularly in that called St. Patrick's; the nearest is Red island, the next Colt, and the third St. Pa- trick's, while at a yet greater distance in the sea is the Rock-of-Bill. St. Patrick's contains fifteen acres, and has upon it some remains of the ancient church. It takes its name from the popular tradition, that the Apostle of Ireland, when driven to sea by the pagan inhabitants of the southern side of the bay, landed there and blessed it. In the surrounding waters the sea crab is found, and the bret (sometimes termed I DUBLIN AND DEOQHEDA RAILWAY. CXVIL oys the pheasant of the ocean); the large rock oyster is also abundant, while lobsters of superior quality are taken at Rock-of-Bill. This locality, indeed, and Rush, are the great depots for supplying Dublin with fish. Great quantities of Hme, it may be added, are also made here. , Connected with this locality are many interesting associations. In the island of St. Patrick a monas- tery was founded at a very remote period, which the Danes are recorded to have burned in 797- In the ninth century, Moel Finian, Prince of Bregia (a district extending southward of the Bojnie), resign- ing his government, became a monk in this abbey, of which he was afterwards superior, and died in 898. About the year 1120, the abbey was refounded for regular canons of St. Augustine, and dedicated, according to its first institution, to St. Patrick. In 1148, a synod was held in the island by Gelasius, Archbishop of Armagh, and the illustrious Malachy (who had resigned that high ecclesiastical dignity), as ApostoHc legate. It was attended by fifteen other prelates and two hundred priests. The great object of their conference regarded the distribution of palls in Ireland, to solicit which from the Pope, they una- nimously agreed in deputing Malachy; he died, however, on the journey, and it was not until 1152, that, at Cardinal Paparo's synod, Archbishops were first appointed for this country. About the year 1220, the situation of the religious house on the island having been found very inconvenient, the parochial chapel was erected on the mainland by CXVlll INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE Henry de Loundres, Archbishop of Dublin, from which period Skerries may be considered to date its origin as a town. In 1375, a grant was made to the Corporation of Dubhn, of the customs and duties of all kinds of merchandize brought for sale, as well coming as going by land, or sea between Skerries and Arklow ; and, in the same year, the King com- manded the Prior of Holmpatrick to arrest and im- prison all men-at-arms or archers, of the suite of William de Windesore, Chief Governor of Ireland, if seeking to embark thence. It appears on a Chan- cery roll, that in 1393, sundry malefactors assaulted the aforesaid prior, expelled him from his monas- tery, imprisoned him at Ballough, and held occupa- tion, by force of arms, of the priory for a conside- rable time. In 1488, the prior was one of 'those who took the oath of allegiance before Sir Richard Edgecombe, and in 1496, on his petition to the King, stating, that the island of Lambay had on its shores various havens and creeks, in which pirates were accustomed to shelter, and that the said prior and his convent were seised in right of their house of a little island called Mellock, near Skerry, from which, when the tide was out, a dry way was open to Lambay, and that, if a fortified harbour and wall were constructed upon this, it would be of great be- nefit, granted license to them to construct same accordingly, and further gave to them in frankal- moigne, all customs and duties on things imported there, to the annual amount of twenty marks ster- ling for ever. In 1516, the Corporation of Dublin DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA RAILWAY. CXIX obtained a grant of the customs of all boats plying between the Nanny water and Arklow Head ; and in 1 532, at a hosting which the King commanded to be held on the hill of Owenstown, the Prior of Holmpatrick was summoned to attend in right of the manor of Hacketstown. This priory was one of the earliest Irish religious houses suppressed in 1537, previous to the general dissolution. In the Parhament of the second year of Elizabeth, Thomas Fitz Williams, of Holmpatrick, was one of the knights of the shire representing the county of Dubhn, while his father-in-law, the celebrated Chief- Baron Finglas, then resident at Westpalstown, was the other. In 1575, a great plague having broken out in Dublin, Sir Henry Sidney landed at Skerries as Lord Deputy of Ireland, as did Sir Oliver St. John in I6l6, while in 1578, Sir Thomas Fitz Wil- liam, of Baggot's-rath and Merrion, had a grant of the monastery of Holmpatrick, with its possessions, therein fully detailed, including one watermill, one windmill upon Chanon-hill, four islands by the haven of Skerries, certain premises in the hamlet of Barnageera, two messuages, six cottages, 144a., and the customs of the farmers thereof in the town of Milverton ; 135a. with similar customs in Hackets- town ; the rectory and church of Holmpatrick, with all tithes and profits thereto belonging; the custom and poundage of all wares and merchandize on the quay of Skerries, wrecks of the sea, all customs of the tithe fish, the customs of the farmers of the mes- suages and cottages in the town or village of Sker- CXX INTEODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE lies, &c. Immediately after this grant a castle was erected, and a garrison established here. Sir James Fuilerton became subsequently seised of the rectory and tithes, as also of the lordship and manor of Holmpatrick, which he sold in 1608 to tlie Earl of Thomond, who thereupon assured his title by a patent from the Crown At the commencement of the eighteenth century, the Hamiltons of Hackets- town, ancestors of the present proprietor, purchased from the Earl of Thomond, inter alia, " the town and port of Skerries, and the customs of fish, and the customs of 35. Ad. out of every great ship that comes out of France, Spain, and Scotland, and Ad. out of every such ship coming out of England," &c. In 1755, the Irish Parliament granted £2,000 for the construction of the pier, and in 1767, £1,500 more for the same purpose ; it subsequently fell into decay, but was repaired by Mr. Hans Hamilton, and in 1788, a patent was granted for two yearly fairs and a weekly market, to be held in this town. A deep but short cutting hence through Chanon- hill, is succeeded by an embankment to Barnageera, a locality near which are two of those sepulchral mounts so very numerous over the country, and to which the native annalists ascribe the highest anti- quity : they are, indeed, modelled after a manner to defy the injuries of weather, and all the usual as- saults of time. Rising from a large base they gra- dually diminish upwards, till at length they termi- nate in a circle of narrow circumference, and but slightly raised. In their dimensions and height, imPIPIHipilllllJll. ^ .III J,Jip||ipPWIiip^[pP^PPIP^»!?fWPRni DUBLIN AND DBOGHEDA RAILWAY. CXXI they differ according to the rank or number of the persons for whose commemoration they were thrown up. The practice of raising such monuments over the dead is one of the many aboriginal principles, which adhered to the different societies that di- verged from the confusion of Babel. Such was the tomb of Patroclus, as described by Homer ; such were the barrows of Achilles, Antilochus, Ajax- Telamon, &c. ; such were the mounts mentioned by Herodotus, as raised over the Scythian Kings ; such those described by Strabo, as constructed by the Myrsians and Phrygians over the dead; such the monument of Dercennus, who governed Laurentum before the arrival of -^neas in Italy ; and such were the funeral piles erected by the Danes over their kings and heroes, and which, during the long esta- blishment of that people in Ireland, became mixed with the corresponding memorials of the natives(o). The mounts so spoken of, as near Bamageera, were partially opened in 1840, in the presence of Mr. G. A. Hamilton, when in one was found a rudely con- structed stone coffin, and in the other a quantity of loose human bones. From Barnageera, after a slight cutting, the rail- way continues near the steep edge of a bold rocky shore, skirting the grounds of Ardgillan, the noble castellated seat of the Hon, and Kev. Mr. Taylor, its towers proudly peering over the eminence to the left of the line. In reference to this gentleman, it (a) Vide D' Alton's History of the County Dublin, p, 331, &c. CXXll INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE ought to be remarked, that, although the Company were not authorized to take any portion of his de- mesne, for the purposes of their railway, he, on a representation of the danger and difficulty of carry- ing the line outside, over the adjoining cliffs, where otherwise it should have been constructed, consented to allow it to run through a portion of his demesne, without any increased charge, and only requiring the usual provision of walls, fences, and approaches, where necessitated by the intersection of his grounds. Hampton Hall, the seat of George Alexander Ha- milton, Esq., M.P., succeeds Ardgillan, and the pro- gress of the line through his grounds is exceedingly picturesque ; the noble house, the pleasure grounds, the beautiful undulations of the park, the vistas through luxuriant and tastefully grouped woods, the iron-bound shore, occasionally softened by gentle banks and dells dropping down upon the adjacent strand, the sea-views southward through the Skerries islands, and northward beyond the bold head of Glogher, even to the mountains of Mourne, all render this a scene of peculiar attraction. The annexed view has, however, been drawn from an inland point, some- what west of the railroad (which passes seaward of the house), and it has, from such its position, em- braced a section of the improving town of Balbrig- gan, with its chapel, church, and harbour. In a field, at Hampton, traditionally styled the " north house meadow," one of those souterrains, also so frequently discovered in Ireland, has been laid open by Mr. Hamilton ; it presents a chamber constructed of CXxii TirraODUCTOBT HEMOm OF THE ought to be remtffked^ that, although the Company were not aathoriaed totake any portion of his d^ mesne, for the purpoees d£ their railway, he, on a representatiim of the duager and difficsnlty of carry- ing the line outside. Over the adjoining cliffs, where otherwise it should hfliVQ been constructed, consented to allow it to run throtigh a portion of his demesne, without any iocreas^d charge, and only requiring the usual proridon of walls,, fences, and approaches, where necessitated by the intersection of his grounds. Him j>ton Hail, tike seat of George Alexander Ha- anlton, Esq;, M; P., succeeds ArdgiUan, and the pro- gress of the fine through his grounds is exceedingly picturesque; tl^ noble house, the pleasure grounds, the beautiful undulations of the park, the vistas through liixuriant and tastefully grouped woods, the iron-bound shore, occasionally softened by gentle banks and della dropping down upon the adjacent strand, the sea^views southward through the Skerries islands, and northward beyond the bold head of Clogher,.even to the mountains of Moume, all render thisascsene of peculiar attraction. The annexed view has, however, been drawn from an inland point, some- what west of the railroad (which passes seaward of the house), and it has, from such its position, em- braced a section of the improving town of Balbrig- gan, with its chapel, church, and harbour. In a field, at Hampton/ traditionally styled the " ncath house meadow," one of those souterrains, also so frequently discovered in Ireland, has been laid open by Mr. Hamilton; it presents a chamber constructed of jjirtt\if^ f^^ S -i ■,;t^ '>-^^L i Ja ^? y,: ^-- DUBLH? AND DROGHEDA RAILWAY. CXXUl the large stones without cement, projecting at the top, until they meet in an arch at the height of about seven feet from the ground ; from this, as usual, a gallery or passage opens of similar rude architecture, connecting, as it may be presumed, a series of these chambers. Another specimen of those ancient struc- tures was opened some years since in an adjacent farm, but its traces have been utterly removed. — From Hampton the line proceeds through cutting towards Balbriggan. In this neighbourhood, at a short distance to the west, is BALROTHERY, which gives name to the parish, barony, and union in which it is situated. This townland was an an- cient manor of the Bamewalls, and still presents, at the head of the village, on a commanding height, the fine square steeple of an old church, with one angular rounded tower, like those exhibited in the view of Lusk. In its graveyard are monuments to the Crosthwaites, and an old vault of the Hamiltons, in which Baron Hamilton was interred in 1793. In the adjoining field is a portion of a square castel- lated mansion. Near this locality, according to Doc- tor Rutty, are several varieties of the iron stone. The fields about it and Lusk, used formerly to supply the clothiers of Dublin with the dipsacus sativus, or teazel plant ; those imported from England were, however, found more effective than the Irish, and machinery has now superseded all. ,^ V m , <4. . i v 5^t- iS ;^P(d^ mt PIJI^:^ Aim ^BOOHED A RAILWAY. iii cxxui large fstones •without, cement, projecting at uie top, until they meet in an arch at the height <^ about seven feet from the ground; from this, as usual, a gallery or passage opens of similar rude architecture, connectiug, as it may be presumed, a series of these chambers. Another specimen of those ancient struc- tures was opened some years since in an adjacent farm, but its traces have been utterly removed. — From Hampton the line proceeds through cutting towards Balbriggan. I In this neighbourhood, at a short distance to the west, is BALBOTHERY, which gives name to the parish, barony, and union in which it is situated. This townland was an an- ient manof* of the BamewaUs, and still presents, at the head of the village, on a commanding height, the fine square steeple of an old church, with one angular rounded tower, like those exhibited in the view of Lusk. In its graveyard are monuments to the Crosthwaites, and an old vault of the Hanultons, in which Baron Hamilton was interred in 1793. In the adjoining field is a portion of a square castel- lated mansion. Near this locality, according toDoc- tor Rutty, are several varieties of the ir. I ■•f^^l^ippMIMRII I DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA RAILWAY. CXXVU Fitz William laiided here, to assume the government of Ireland ; and in 1813, a chapel of ease was founded aiid endowed her6 by the Rev. George Ha- milton. This handsome edifice was accidentally con- sumed in I836,btithas been rebuilt by a grant of £480 from the Ecelesiastieal Commissioners, and £1000 from Mr. George Alexander Hamilton, who also sup- ports a school in the town, and has erected and en- closed commodious com, meat, and potato markets. At Balbriggan, the railway is carried over the inner harbour, by a truly splendid viaduct of eleven arches, each thirty-five feet high above the ground, and thirty in span ; the piers, on which these arches rest, are of stone, six feet thick, and forty-one feet in height, six being allowed for the foundation. On each side, at the summit of this viaduct, a footpath is formed of metal floorings, resting on the projec- tions of the piers, an addition, which, besides afford- ing convenient and pleasant promenades, gives a lightness and elegance to the whole structure. From this the railway runs on a level to Bremore, once the manorial residence of a branch of the Bamewall family, now the estate of Lord Lansdowne. The ancient castle, of which traces are yet discernible at left, commanded that sublime and extensive pros- pect over land and sea, the enjoyment of which is for a short time attainable from the railway line, but the full scope of that view can only be appreciated from the high banks, through which a deep cutting succeeds. From those banks is a noble panorama of the sea and its islands at east, Gormanston cas- CXXVIU INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE tie in its woods at west, and in the distance at front, the successive heights of CoUon, TuUyesker, Car- lingford, and Clogher. The cutting continues until Lowther Lodge is passed at right, when a short em- bankment carries the railway out of the county Dub- lin, crossing the river Delvin, which separates that county from Meath, by a viaduct of timber, 180 feet in length, and at a height of twenty-eight above the level of the water. The glen of the river, with the seats of Mr. Shaw and Mr. O'Reilly rising above it, have a very pleasing effect at the left, while on the right, Knockingen projects into the sea the long secluded mount, whose sacred remains are imme- diately contiguous to the railway. Mr. George Alexander Hamilton, of Hampton, has kindly communicated the following notice of this interesting spot, as the result of his observation and inspection in September, 1840. "Having ob- tained Lord Gormanston's permission for exploring the mount on his estate at Knockingen, I had it opened, and found it composed of small round stones with shingle from the sea shore. The exca- vations were soon interrupted by a circle of huge stones, which appear to have been placed around, but at some distance from the centre of the mount, and quite covered with, or buried in shingle. Within this outer circle I found a rude platform, of apparently beaten clay, and upon this an immense heap of burned human bones. As far as could be surmised, the bones were those of human beings of every age. In the centre of this circle was disco- DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA RAILWAY. CXXIX vered a chamber, constructed of huge flags, some of them more than six feet in height, and within this a rude stone basin, or rather a large stone of sand- stone grit, not found in the neighbourhood, with a cavity or hollow formed in it. This stone bore evi- dent marks of fire, and aroimd it on all sides were remains of charcoal, or burned wood, and a quantity of semi-calcined human bones. Amongst these bones were scattered a number of beads, formed of polished stone, of a conical shape, with a hole through each, near the apex of the cone. The mass of bones was very large. The stones have, I fear, been used in the railway, but the remains of the chamber and two or three of the flags may still be seen in the face of the cliffi I may add, that a few years previously, Mr. Shaw, of Delvin Lodge, in cut- ting a ditch across one of his fields on the lands of Knockingen, came upon a considerable number of skeletons ; and in my own immediate neighbour- hood, on the lands of Balbriggan, rude stone coflins, with human skeletons, are found very frequently. Several were discovered during the last year in one of the fields belonging to Mr. Matthews, of Tanners- town." Although Mr. Hamilton traced no tradition, now existing amongst the people, relative to the origin of this vast funeral pile, the ancient annalists seem to afibrd an illustration, which Dr. Hanmer embodies in the following passage of his " Chroni- cle of Ireland." ( " Many giants and other champions there were VOL. r i CXXX INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE in these days (about the commencement of the fiftli century) in Ireland, of Irish and Danish birth, hired by them for their defence. These, travelUng into foreign countries, fought many combats, and got yearly tribute unto their country, as the manner then was among such challengers. For this they were generally envied, and a day was appointed by the invaders to arrive together in Ireland, to over- run the country, and root out the whole nation. The first company, to the number of 30,000, landed at the Derry, where . . . they were all overthrown ; ihe second company of this combination came to. Lambay, landed their men at the ' FoUesse of Sker- ries,* set them in battle array, and marched to a place now called I{jiock-na-cean, i. e., the hill of lieads, where DermottLamhdearg, King of Leinster, met them,theyfoughta cruel battle with equal fortune for the space of four days ; the Irish, by reason of the spoil and victory got at the former battle, were mightily encouraged, and also the milk and fresh meat which the country jdelded them, and the strangers wanted, made them the more able to fight. To be short, the strangers were overthrown, and 36,000 of them slain, whose arms furnished Ireland ' throughly' to encounter with the rest of the combi- nation." The Railway continues from Knockingen in cut- tings, but not so deep as to exclude such ghmpses of the castle of Gormanston as its own woods permit, while the baronial splendour of that edifice is accu- rately depicted in the annexed plate. '^'f^f''''('' ''i;^v:i;^^y;^^^^^^ ■-^'^^r^^w^ ■.•«^-; CXXX INTRODUCTOBY MEMOIB OF THE in these days (about the commencement of the fifth centiny) m Ireland, of Irish and Dani^ birth, hired by them fbr their defence. Those, travelhng into fbreign coimtries, fought many combats, and got yearly tribute unto their country, as the manner then was among such challengers. For this they were generally envied, and a day was appointed by the invaders to arrive together in Ireland, to over- run the countryj and root out the whole nation. The first company, to the number of 30,000, landed at the Deny, where . . . they were all overthrown ; the second company of this combination came ta Lambay, landed their men at the ' Follesse of Sker- ries,' set them in battle array, and marched to a place now called Knock-na-cean, i. e., the hill of head^, where DermottLamhdearg, King of Leinster, met them,theyfaughta cruel battle with equal fortune for the space of four days ; the Irish, by reason of the Spoil and victory got at the former battle, were mightily encouraged, and also the milk and fresh meat which the country yielded them, and the strangers wanted, made them the more able to fight. To be short, the strangers were overthrown, and 36,000 of them slain, whose arms furnished Ireland ' throiighly' to encounter with the rest of the combi- nation." The Railway continues from Enockingen in cut- tings, but not so deep as to exclude such ghmpses of the castle of Gormanston as its own woods permit, while the baronial splendour of that edifice is accu- rately deleted in the annexed plate. •> ...-Mr--. ri3*' ii *»Jns ^w^ f*TKP?PVi DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA RAILWAY. CXXXl The historic family of De Preston, who have in- herited this manor of Gormanston from the time of Edward the Third, derived their name from Preston, in Lancashire, of which they were the lords at a yet earlier period ; nor is the date of their first settling in Ireland to be postponed even to the time of Ed- ward the Third. During the reign of his royal fa- ther, Richard de Preston was constable of the castle of Drogheda, as shewn in the general history of that town. In 1357, Sir Robert Preston was the first of the name who acquired Gormanston by grant from Sir Almaric de St. Amand, then Justiciary of Ire- land, and lord of Gormanston. The manor ex- tended into the two coxmties of Dublin and Meath, and its descent, in the lineal heirs of the first grantee, is the subject of many curious records. In 1361, Sir Robert was knighted in the field, by Lionel Duke of Clarence, and was simimoned to Parliaments and Great Councils as in right of his ter- ritorial possessions here. He was afterwards ap- pointed Baron of the Irish Exchequer, and subse- quently Lord Chancellor of Ireland. Sir Christo- pher, of Gormanston, the son of this Sir Robert, was also knighted in the field by Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March, during the wars in Thomond ; and his only son, another Christopher, married the daughter of Sir Jenico Dartitz, so frequently mentioned in the " History of Drogheda." The son of the last-men- tioned Christopher was another Sir Robert, who, in 1478, was created Viscount Gormanston, and ho- CXXXll INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE noured with the appointment of Viceroy of Ireland in the same year, and in 1493 ; an office which his son Wilham, the second Viscount, also enjoyed in 1494 and 1515. After the civil war of 1641, a sur- vey was taken of the extent of this manor, but the Act of Settlement contained a special saving of the rights of the ancient inheritors. James, the seventh Viscount in descent, was one of the Privy Council of James the Second : he was afterwards a colonel of horse in his service, and to the last, from an ex- cusable, however mistaken, sense of loyalty and ho- nour, adhered to his royal master, and died within the walls of Limerick, in 169 1. On his consequent attainder, this, the premier Viscounty of the Irish peerage, remained in abeyance for a century, until, in 1800, the proceedings of outlawry were reversed for manifest errors apparent on their face, and the present Viscount, the lineal heir male of the first, and the twelfth in the descent of the honour, was restored to his rank and birthright. After passing parallel to Gormanston, the rail- way crosses a pretty valley, by a short embankment and bridge. The cutting is thence renewed, at first slight, but afterwards deeper, through the bold projec- tion of Ben-Head, to the seat of Captain Pepper at Mosney ; here the line, at the country side, presents nearly a level surface, while on the other, at a great depth, a deep margin of pasture land slopes to the sea. Mosney brook is crossed by a handsome stone bridge of two arches, each sixteen feet wide, and twenty above the level of the water. Embankment, >• i.iTO ..•■-.— —"-ijjpgiwipiumppi -4 iX ■■•>'* ,'V-.^' v^*^ DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA RAILWAY. CXXXiii « level, and cutting succeed in short quick alternation to the beautiful valley and river of the Nanny ; these are crossed by an. embankment with a noble viaduct of timber in the centre, 304 feet in length. Looking up the valley, from this viaduct, the windings of the river are exceedingly picturesque, overhung, at the south side, by the wooded banks on which towers the castle of Ballygarth ; this tract, once tlie estate of the Netterville family, in the confiscations of 164 1 became forfeited to the Crown, and was subsequently granted by Charles the Second to Captain George Pepper, whose descendant. Colonel Pepper, is the present inheritor. Immediately after passing the river, the line cuts through the little hamlet of Ley- town, formerly a seaport of considerable importance; while it may be here observed, that, at a very early period, the whole adjacent coast acquired such a notorioua celebrity for illicit commerce, that Ed- ward the Third, at the close of his reign, directed a commission of scrutiny to ascertain and obviate any exportations from the maritime ports of Meath, as well as those of DubUn and Louth, of any gold, sUver, iron, horses, arms, corn, or victuals, without license or payment of duty. j The railway, on passing the Nanny, enters the parish of JuUanstown, through which it proceeds by a cutting, but enters that of Colpe on a level, which is af- terwards sustained by embankment. In this interval, Betaghstown, or as it is more popularly called Bettys- town, with the seat of Mr. Shepheard, its proprietor, are traced through the woods at right, while Pilton VOL. I. k ■ri^^^fT' ^^^^' '^ ■■:^iaii 'm^SSiP^'p DUBLIN AND DROOHEDA RAILWAY. CXXXlll level, and cutting succeed in sh^t quick tlltei^ation to the beautiful valley and riVe* bjf the Nanny ; these Bire crossed by ah.embankmetit with a noble viaduct of timber in tiie centre, 304 feet in length. Looking up the valley from this viaduct, the windiAgd of the river are exceedingly pictUresquie, overhuag, at the south side, by the wooded banto on which towers the castle of Ballygtirth ; this ti^t, once tiie estate of the Nettefville femily, in the confiscations of 1641 became forfeited to the Crown, and was subsequently granted by Charles the Second to Captain George Pepper, whose descendant, Colonel Pepp^, is the present inheritor. Immediately after pasising the river, the line cuts through the little hamlet of Ley- town, formerly a seaport of considerable importance; while it may be here observed, that, ftt a very early period, the whole adjacent coast acquired such a notorious celebrity for iUicit commerce, &at Ed- ward the Third, at the clos6 of his reign, directed a commission of scrutiny to ascertain and obviate any exportations from the maritime ports of Mfeath, as well as those of Dublin and Louth, of any gold, silver^ iron, horsed, arms, c6m, or victuals, without license or payment of duty. i The ridlway, on passing the Nanny, enters the parish of Julianstown, through which it proceeds by a cutting, but enters that of Colpe on a level, which is af- terwards sustained by embankment. In this interval, Betaghstown, or as it is more pc^mlarly called Beitys-: town, with the seat of Mr. She^heard, its proprietor, are traced through the woods at right,' while 'Pilton VOL. I. k CXXXIV INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE House (before alluded to) appears at left. A cutting succeeds, at first slight (during which, Colpe church is seen close at the east), then deeper, in the immediate vicinity of many interesting localities unnecessary here to recur to, as being already fully noticed in the " Environs of Drogheda." At last, an embankment conducts the traveller by a graceful curve, to the edge of St. James's hill, and into the full presence of that town, its churches and public buildings, its factories, its fine ecclesiastical remains, its classic river, and shipping, allfilHng the busy valley below; while the commanding height, on which the present terminus reposes, presents adjacent objects of civil, ecclesiastical and mihtary interest, in the poor house, the church of St. Mary, and the Mill-mount, and the opposite eminences of Louth beautifully softening in the distance, close in this theatre of historic inte- rest, whose annals it is the object of the following pages to illustrate : this town, which sustained sieges so memorable, where such proofs of devoted loyalty were evinced, where Parliaments were held, whose enactments have exercised the most powerful na- tional influence down to the latest times, where Synods of not less importance have been convened; witliin which no less than four British Sovereigns have, in the intervals of time, been received ; and where happily, ere long, the Majesty of England, enthroned in the hearts of her Irish subjects, will shed the cheering influence of her presence on this portion of the United Kingdom, on this green leaf of the indissoluble shamrock. MODERN STATISTICS OF DROGHEDA. Drogheda, in the Irish structure of the word, may be interpreted to signify the bridge of the ford, and has been accordingly, by the historians of the early centuries, rendered in Latin " Pons Vadi," and " Pontana Civitas," while, by the English invaders, it was more vernacularly styled Droheda, Drocheda, Drohed, and sometimes Treoid and Tredagh. It is a sea pert, borough, and market town, and a county in itself, extending on each side of the Boyne, and comprising within its liberties 5780 statute acres, the contributions of two of the richest agricultural coun- ties of Ireland, Meath and Louth. The estimated annual value of this tract is £14,402, giving an acreable average of about £2 105. Although wholly in the province of Leinster, this toWn has been al- ways considered the key of Ulster, the great point from which the traffic of the north diverges, and, from its position, commanding equal advantages for com- VOL. I. B 2 MODERN STATISTICS. merce with the sister country. It is distant, on the old and still customary standard of calculation, 57 miles south by west from Belfast, and 23 north from Dublin, lying in latitude 53° 43' 45" and longitude 6° 24' 15". From a comparison of the hearth-money tax an- ciently collected from this town, it would seem that the number of hearths at least increased twelvefold from 1705 to 1730. In 1789, the total number of houses in the town was estimated as 1731 ; in 1813, that of the town and liberties has been returned as 3086; in 182], as 3364; and in 1831, as 3371; while, according to present calculation, the number is in- creased to 3429- The population has advanced in nearly similar progression. Beaufort, in 1792, ac- counts that of the town as upwards of 10,000; the census of 1813 returns that of the town and liber- ties as 16,123; that of 1821 as 18,118; and that of 1831, as 17,365, of whom 15,138 were stated to be within the town and suburbs, 2227 in the agricultu- ral district; the latter return also classifies 946 males as then employed in the manufactures, and the mem- bers of the Roman Catholic persuasion to those of other religions as 9 to 1. The decrease in the latter census is fairly attributed to the emigration of arti- sans and manufacturers in the commercial panic of 1825-6, hereafter alluded to, while other minor emigrations have since taken place in 1832, 1833, and 1834 (amounting in the total of these years to 396 persons), and the cholera, in its visitation of MODERN STATISTICS. 1832, carried away about 1200 persons; nevertheless the late, and undoubtedly most accurate census, re- ports, according to its mode of estimate, the present civic population as 16,261, and the rural as 2999 persons. Of the civic this searching inquiry states, 863 employed in agricultural pursuits, 1866 in ma- nufactures and trade, and 4933 not having any spe- cified occupation. The streets are built tolerably regular, the four best meet at right angles at the Tholsel, while many other commodious dwelling-houses are to be seen in Fair-street, William-street, Palace-street, and on the quay at the north side of the river, called the Cus- tom-House quay (formerly the Mall). Peter-street, one of these alluded to as pointing to the Tholsel, is of extremely steep ascent, and many lanes descend from the heights at both sides of the town with great precipitancy to the valley of the Bojme. The pave- ments throughout the ancient limits of the town have been, and still are, kept in repair without any muni- cipal assessment at the expense of the Corporation, an immunity which the present body has extended to the watch tax ; but the town is lit at the charge of the inhabitants as assessed at vestry, the light being supplied by a gas company established here some years since. Sewers have also been partially constructed within the town, but the inhabitants are still obliged, at much inconvenience, to seek their supplies of fresh water from some few pumps through the town, or from fountains on the quays, the best b2 4 MODERN STATISTICS. and fullest being from a well which takes its rise at Tobberboyce, and flows into a cistern near the Linen Hall. Some sordid huts formerly disfigured the out- skirts of the town, but this class of habitations is assuming a better aspect, and the erection of com- fortable cottages, for the manufacturing interest, is rapidly progressing; the rent of these, where built of clay and roofed with thatch, is about two guineas per annum; where constructed of stone, two stories high and slated, varies from five to seven pounds. Indeed house-rent seems equally reasonable in every scale at Drogheda. In West-street and Shop-street, the chief streets of shops and business, the houses bring about £35 annual rent ; in Laurence-street, with coach-house and stable, about £30; and in Fair- street, £25. The chief proprietary, deriving under the Corporation, are the famihes of Smith, Balfour, Leland, Sandiford, Kodger, Fairtlough, Tandy, Gib- bons, Holmes, Cheshire, and Hardman. The labouring classes are chiefly employed either in the factories, in weaving in their own houses, as quay porters, or as field labourers. The women, however, scarcely find any occupation, except as auxiliaries in the weaving department, spinning having long since ceased to be remunerative, and grown girls and children find more ready engage- ments at the factories. The earnings of labour may be set down as, for children in these establishments, from 2s. to 3s. per week; grown girls from 2*. 6d. to 6s.', hacklers, from lOs. to 18a-.; and mechanics, from MODERN STATISTICS. I 5 20*. to 285. "Weavers in their own houses generally make from 6s. to 12*. per week, by the combined labour of principal and assistant ; tradesmen about £1 per week; coal and corn porters, I6s.; and the demand for them has increased with the improve- ment of the navigation, there are now about 200 licensed. Field labourers get at least 6s. per week, and more, according to the exigencies of the harvest. All these classes are generally industrious and sober, especially of late years, as a proof of which it may be stated, that there are but four pawnbrokers in the town, and the number of public houses has been reduced, under the happy influence of the tempe- rance movement, from 120 to about 75, indeed more than half the population are now of the total absti- nence principles, and there is a consequent conside- rable improvement in the comfort of the inhabitants. Irish is spoken to a certain extent in the town, and in the adjacent rural districts, more especially on the Louth side. \ The Boyne, as before mentioned, divides the town and Hberties into two unequal portions, of which the larger at the north side comprises the pa- rish of St. Peter, 3504a. 3r. 36p. with 848a. 1r. 7p. a portion of that of Ballymakenny, which is entirely an agricultural district (thetownlandofPhilipstown though almost completely insulated within the fran- chises, does not now form part of them). This, the Louth section of the town, is connected with the southern portion, St. Mary's parish containing 1426a. O . MODERN STATISTICS. 3r. 20p., by a too narrow bridge of three arches, erected in 1722, near which markets are held on Thursdays for horned cattle and sheep; for fish on "Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays; and on the latter day for coarse linens at the Linen Hall, corn at the corn market, and for other general purposes, while hay and straw are brought in for sale on every day. Fairs for cattle, and especially for horses, are estabhshed annually, on May 12th, June 22nd, Au- gust 26th, and October 29th, by ancient charter, and to these are added by a recent patent of 1 833, others on the second Monday in March, second Friday in April, third Friday in November, and third Friday in December. There are also convenient shambles for butchers' meat, and the adjacent fish stalls are well supplied with salmon of peculiar delicacy, caught abundantly in the Boyne above the town, and haddock, cod, plaice, whiting, herrings, and oysters, are also brought in by the fishermen's fami- lies in great plenty; the supply of hake, turbot, brit, sole, mackarel, mullet, gurnet, eels, and lobsters is more limited. Herrings and cured cod are brought from Scotland, and are sold, the former at £l per barrel, the latter at 1 7*. per cwt., but no cod is cured upon this coast. Butter is also sold in the town for local consumption; when any is required for ex- port it is chiefly obtained from Cavan. Eggs, for home use or exportation, are bought in the market, and, although the exports exceed 2000 crates an- nually, the price to the local consumers has not been ftj^V"*«w MODERN STATISTICS. much increased, so great is the supply which the ex- port trade has brought to the town. Coals are usually sold (averaging the prices of all kinds), at 135. per ton in summer, and 155. in winter. i From above the bridge a navigable cabal has been formed, partly through the bed of the river, but chiefly in artificial parallel cuts, fed by the Boyne, and thus it proceeds to the interior as far as Navan, greatly faciUtating the interchange of trade between Drogheda and the inland markets, an object for which a distinct body entitled the Boyne Navigation Company, had been incorporated. The w^ork was originally contemplated in the General Inland Na- vigation Act of 1715 (2 Geo. I. c. 12, s. 21); and in April, 1746, the Corporation of Drogheda having been informed, that the Board established by that Act had been contemplating the application, of a por- tion of the funds vested in them by Parliament, to the service of the Boyne, but that it had been ob- jected that the water customs of the Corporation, if required to be paid for goods and vessels passing that way, would be a discouragement to the naviga- tion, empowered one of their aldermen, who was also a member of that Board, to engage on behalf of the Corporation, as he should think fit, for the abatement of all such water customs. The laudable project was not, however, then accomplished, but in 1787, certain other commissioners were incorporated for managing this particular line of navigation, and the Members of Parliament for Meath, Louth, and 8 MODERN STATISTICS. Drogheda, and the Mayor of Drogheda for the time being, were constituted members ; whereupon, in 1789, by the 29 Geo. III. c. 33, debentures to the amount of £12,500, bearing interest at four joer cent, per annum, were ordered to be issued to such per- sons as should be undertakers for completing this line of canal, as it was then contemplated from Dro- gheda to Trim, pursuant to their petition to the House of Commons, with a proviso, that as soon as the subscribers and undertakers should be incorpo- rated to carry on the navigation, the aforesaid com- missioners were to be divested of their former authorities, which thereupon devolved upon the new subscribers and undertakers. Thus was this second body formed, but the work has only been completed by them as far as Carrick- dexter beyond Slane, and thence by private speculation to Navan, an extent of nineteen English miles from Drogheda. The amount of tolls thereon in 1837, was £775, the rate of freight from Drogheda to Slane being 35. per ton, toll \\d. per ton per mile, a return which was deemed ade- quate to cover the expense of not only maintaining the existing works, but also their gradual improve- ment. There are no passage boats on either of these water lines. It may be here mentioned that the amount of inland traffic with Drogheda by these canals and by the roads was, on the latest Parliamen- tary inquiry, estimatedas 67,000 tons to the town, and 39,000 from it, annually. This river, discharging itself into the Irish sea about five miles below the MODERN STATISTICS. 9 bridge, affords equal facilities for foreign commerce, while the grand northern trunk railway makes its first important rest on its southern bank, at Pitcher- hill, in the parish of St. Mary. | The Bojme formerly overflowed the low grounds about the town in several places, particularly that portion of the north bank, which lies east of the bridge, but this section has been long since rescued from the water and progressively improved upon, especially by the erection of very fine storehouses. The lots of ground, however, which perhaps afford the best and healthiest sites for terraces of dwelling- houses, being the picturesque elevations of St James's Hill, the sloping banks at each side of the dale, the fields that descend from the mill-mount and Ball's Grove to the river, and the southern banks of the Boyne, opposite the Mell flax-mill, are yet wholly unoccupied. The approach to the town in this Dub- lin direction is also particularly striking; the spire of Mary's church first appears; next the splendid Poor-house; the mill-mount crowned with its Mar- tello tower; the shades of Ball's grove yet more at left, and those of Prospect and Bewly in the more distant right, with Clogher Head beyond, succeed; the Magdalen tower, the steeple of St. Peter's, and the Sienna convent attract attention on the Louth high bank, and the heights of TuUyesker in the dis- tant foregi'ound; presently the dome of the Tholsel and the factories' funnels emerge from the deep hollow, and, on a yet nearer approach, the whole crowd of 10 MODERN STATISTICS. houses, in their fullest and most commercial aspect, appear filling the valley of the Boyne, as represented in the prefixed engraving. The historic associations of the town and river complete the interest of the scene; the siege which the former sustained, and the battle of kings that was decided on the banks of the lat- ter. Other approaches and avenues afford different, and perhaps not less attractive views of the town, while, in the judgment of many, the best sketch of Drogheda could be taken from the quay on the way to Bewly, at a point where the bridge would form the centre, and the two parish churches the side terminators. This town is also finely exhibited, with the surround- ing country, in a glorious panorama, from the mill- mount, or from the hill of Ramullen. There are some respectable residents in and about the town, but society is not much cultivated at pre- sent. A public reading-room and news-room has been fitted up in the mayoralty house, and another very recently by the Total Abstinence Society in West-street ; to the latter a circulating library is at- tached, for the use of the members, and which, it is to be hoped, will be the means of recommending to the working classes such popular treatises, as will best instruct them in the capabilities and chemistry of the soil, the improvement of long mismanaged farms, the cultivation of untenanted and unwhole- some wastes, and the other available resources for the manufacture of native produce. With the main object of this society, have also been united, in the CHURCHES, CHAPELS, ETC 11 last year, useful and desirable efforts for the revival of the Irish language, literature, and music. A lite- rary debating society has been formed here, and a Mechanics' Institute was opened, which the Corpo- ration are desirous to endow with an annual grant. A horticultural society has been recently established, and an agricultural and farming society holds annual meetings in the town. Two newspapers, the Drogh- eda Argus, and the Drogheda Conservative Jour- nal, emanate from the town ; while, in aid of the commercial interest, a branch of the Bank of Ireland has been for some years established in Lawrence- street, and another from the Hibernian Bank is at present under contemplation. Some years since, in a different state of society, when country towns were of more fashionable resort, Drogheda was particu- larly frequented by those who wished to enjoy cheap and genteel society. Fair-street was then the aris- tocratic selection, an honour which it afterwards di- vided with Lawrence-street. CHURCHES, CHAPELS, ETC. I The town, as before suggested, is divided by the river into the parishes of St. Peter at north, and St. Mary at south, each having their parochial churches, chapels, and other places of worship, their schools, charitable institutions, civil, commercial, and manu- facturing estabhshments, as hereinafter more parti- cularly detailed. >S'^. Peter's Parish and Church. — The agricultural 12 MODERN STATISTICS. portion of this parish exhibits various qualities of soil, the best, being dairy land, brings a rent of about £5 per acre, while the substratum of other parts, being gray and white limestone, is exported to England, or dis- posed of as ballast, to the profit of its proprietors and tenantry. The tithes (about £300 per annum) are pay- able to the lay impropriator, the Marquis of Drogheda,* who has also the patronage of the vicarage (together with Killineer). The ecclesiastical valuations of this parish, from 1725 to 1805, are of record in the State Paper Room Council Office, and the annual amount of its vestry assessment was stated, in a Return to Parliament in 1832, as £664, on an average calcu- lation of the three preceding years. The vicar, who has cure of souls and is subjected to episcopal juris- diction, derives his income from the following sources, as reported to Parliament by the Ecclesias- tical Commissioners in 1836 (now, however, subject to the legislative reductions, so far as regards the rent-charges). Rent-charge from Mornington parish .£17 10 Do. Colpe 82 10 Do. Dowth 46 3 1 Do. Juhansto-\vn ... 90 (The above were purchased from lay impropriators by the Board of First Fruits). Rentof fouracresof glebe inDrogheda 22 Rent of twenty-three acres of glebe in Carlingford 27 10 9 ■\ii-'vr CHURCHES, CHAPELS, ETC Minister's money from the town . £200 Grant from the Corporation . . . 4i (Being, it would seem, as hereafter mentioned, an appropriation out of the Vicars' Choral Fund of £54 Irish). Rent of houses in Drogheda . . . 13 7 8 32 11 9 £561 13 3(a). The glebe house is a handsome building, but too closely and undistinguishably approximating to the consecrated graveyard. The church, which was re- built in 1753, is a handsome and substantial struc- ture, with a tower surmounted by a spire. The Ec- clesiastical Commissioners recently granted £463 towards its better repair. The interior (of which Mr. Tumalti, a native artist, has finished a handsome painting), is very beautiful, exhibiting some fine mural monuments, and in front of the organ loft, a (a) This statement is given on the authority of the Report above mentioned ; it is, however, necessary to observe, that the present incumbent alleges, it is " in several particulars incorrect," but declines giving any further explanation, conceiving, as he writes, that he would not be justified in making any disclosures of his income as vicar, to a private individual, however bound to furnish any required returns to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners or to Parliament. This portion of parochial statistics must, there- fore, remain subject to the above doubts, while it does appear, that from the improvement of the town, and increase of buildings, the minister's money has, during the time of the present vicar, and since the date of the above Report, increased to £246 1 2s. 6d., the present assessment. 14 MODERN STATISTICS. tablet of Miss Leigh's charitable bequest hereafter al- luded to. It is capable of accommodating 900 persons, and divine service is performed there twice on all Sundays, and once on every Wednesday and on the festivals, the sacraments being administered monthly. In the ancient church of this parish, which was then collegiate. Primate Donat O'Fidabra, about the year 1230, held a synod, with the object of securing certain annual stipends to the vicars of his province. In 1232, Richard de la Corner was here consecrated Bishop of Meath, and in 1250, the collegiate church, having been raised into a deanery, was held, with those of Ardee and Dundalk, and the church of Louth, by David O'Brogan, Bishop of Clogher. In 1262, this was the scene of a most important synod, held by Patrick O'Scanlain, Archbishop of Armagh, with the suffragans of his province, and some of those of the province of Tuam then subject to him by primatial right. It was also attended by some of the cathedral canons and council of the Archbishop of Dublin, the Lord Justice ( Sir Richard de Rupella), and several of the peers of Ireland. Some of the constitutions of this assembly are to be found in the Register of Octavian de Palatio, Archbishop of Ar- magh, and are also printed in Wilkins's Concilia (vol. i p. Tbi). They evince, that its chief object was to establish the authority of the Primate of Ar- magh over the other provinces, and especially to ap- pease the disputes, that had theretofore existed be- tween the Primates and the Bishops and clergy of CHURCHES, CHAPELS, ETC. 15 Meath, who had claimed an exemption from metro- politan visitation, and ineffectually prosecuted their suit in that behalf at the Court of Rome. The right, however, was upon this occasion fully established, although primatial pre-eminence continued to be warmly contested long afterwards, and, in 1349, threatened such consequences of insubordination, that Richard Fitz Ralph, then Archbishop of Armagh, and residing in Drogheda, publicly denounced all who disowned his ecclesiastical authority, where- upon many of the offenders repaired hither, and with pubHc humihty acknowledging their error, obtained forgiveness. Even the Prior of the noble Hospital of Kilmainham, who had been active in his resistance, being stricken with remorse in his last sickness, sent special proctors to offer his duty and submission, but died before their return. In 1404, Doctor John Col- ton, who had been previously Lord Justice and Lord Chancellor of L-eland, afterwards advanced to the Primacy by the provision of the Pope, and an am- bassador from Richard the Second to the Court of Rome, was interred here, having, shortly before his death, resigned his archbishopric. Within the church, that then.existed in the pa- rish, as particularly stated hereafter, was delivered that wholesome exhortation of brotherly love and Christian benevolence, which, in the instance of this town, united two theretofore jealous and weak cor- porations, into one industrious and influential com- munity. The Boyne water had been the demarca- 16 MODERN STATISTICS. tion of divided interests and hostile feelings, but from this temple of their God went forth the voice of peace]^and charity, that laid the foundation of Drogheda's prosperity. The Primate of that day, Doctor Nicholas Fleming, was the first to sign a pe- tition to the king, in consequence of which, the town was incorporated in its present form. In 1416, the said Archbishop was interred within this church, and in 1428, Primate Swaynhelda provincial synod here, which was attended by the Prelates of Meath, Down, Clogher, Eaphoe, Kilmore, Ardagh, and Derry. The chief objects of this synod were to regulate the distribution of intestates' property, to prohibit the alienation of church lands ; to enforce the frequent celebration of mass, confirmation of children, ad- ministering of the sacraments, the observance of fasts and abstinence ; mummers, jesters, poets, harp- ers, kerns, and importunate beggars, were also hereby especially interdicted; while the Archbishop thereby next enjoined all his suffragans to induce, establish, and maintain peace and good will in their dioceses, between English and Irishry, and amongst all the subjects of the king, under pain of ecclesiastical cen- sure(a). This prelate, about the same time, founded, in honour of St. Anne, a chapel and chauntry in this church, in which another had been previously dedi- cated to the Blessed Virgin. About the year 1430, an interesting inquiry was held here before this Pre- (a) Armagh Registry, MS. CHURCHES, CHAPELS, ETC 17 late, after an appeal to Rome, relative to the tithes, and right of fishing in the Boyne ; the adverse claim- ants were the Prior of Lanthony, for his vicars of St. Peter's as well as of Colpe and Mornington, and the Prior of Louth, for his vicars of Termonfeckin and Kil-clogher. In 1439, Doctor Swayn dying, was here interred. In 1449, Roger Maguire, styled Prince of Fermanagh, was consecrated Bishop of Clogher by Primate Mey within this church ; and about the year 1452, the said Primate, with the con- sent of his Dean and Chapter, united his mensal tithes of Rathcoole, in the county Louth, together with his portion of the church of Drummin, for ever, to the chauntry of St. Anne's chapel within this church, with the object of maintaining a greater number of priests to pray for the souls of him, his predecessors and successors. About the same time, as appears from an entry in the White Parchment Book, Tho- mas Burgess, of Dublin, granted to the Corporation of Drogheda for ever, twenty acres of arable land, meadow, and pasture, with the appurtenances, in Cor- ballis in the barony of Duleek, for the sustentation of a chaplain at Our Lady's altar in this church. There was also a second chauntry here to the Bles- sed Virgin, and another dedicated to St. Catherine, besides that to St. Anne before mentioned. The clergy of Armagh diocese, in an assembly held here about the year 1454, elected Alan Ashe, then Prior of the House of St. John the Baptist of Ardee, to be their proxy in a Parliament convened VOL. I. c 18 MODERN STATISTICS. by the Earl of Kildare ; the allowance voted upon this occasion for their said representative, was eight pence out of every pound in the valuations of all be- nefices within the deaneries of Drogheda, Ardee, and Dundalk. In 1460, a provincial synod was held here by Primate Bole, assisted by the Bishops of Kilraore and Ardagh ; while, during the primacy of Octavian de Palatio, synods were held here in the years 1480, 1486, 1489, 1495, 1504 (which last is recorded to have been adjourned to Ardee, on ac- count of the pestilence then raging here), 1507, and 1513. The venerable prelate, who had convened these assemblies, was interred in a vault which him- self had caused to be constructed within this church. It may be here noticed of this Primate, that, when Henry the Seventh was deserted by many persons of great power in Ireland, he could never be induced to recede from his allegiance, though his loyalty in- volved him in . constant troubles and dangers. In 1518, a synod was held here, wherein it was ordained, that none should be admitted to cure of souls within the English part of the diocese, without the appro- bation and institution of the Ordinary ; and that es- pecial accounts should be taken by the curates of parishes, of the wills and assets of persons dying therein, the names of the witnesses, executors, and legatees, and that same should be taken within one month after the respective deaths. In 1528, another synod was held here, which was attended by the Abbot of Mellefont, and many of the clergy of the CHURCHES, CHAPELS, ETC. 19 English portion of the diocese ; and in 1634 another, but its session was also dissolved in consequence of a pestilence. In 1548, the steeple of this church, then represented as " one of the highest in the world," was prostrated by a violent tempest. It was replaced by another of wood, which remained until consumed in Cromwell's visitation of 1649. In 1554, the cele- brated George Dowdal, Archbishop of Armagh, held a provincial synod here, for the purpose of resisting the progress of the Reformation. Its acts especially prohibited the marriage of the clergy ; the indiscreet collation of benefices ; simony ; the exaction of dues for administering the sacraments, &c. ; while it di- rected the revival of " the ancient rites and ceremo- nies of the Church," the celebration of mass, the ad- ministering of the sacraments, the restoration of images, lights, incense, holy water, &c. ; and ordered, that laymen should contribute to the repairs of churches, under pain of ecclesiastical censure, and clerks, impropriators, and farmers, under pain of se- questration of the fruits of their benefices ; it like- wise prescribed the relaxation of mortuaries where widows and orphans survived, and assets were ina- dequate. In the following year, this Primate com- manded the observance of a jubilee throughout all Ireland, to propitiate the same objects. In 1556, he held another synod here, in which, amongst many commendable regulations, the Church gave liberty to husbandmen and labourers, to work on certain festivals then mentioned. In 1584, Primate Lancas- c2 20 MODERN STATISTICS. ter (theretofore one of the chaplains of Queen Eli- zabeth), was buried within this church, in the vault of his predecessor, the said Octavian ; and in five years afterwards, his successor, Primate Long, was entombed by his side. About the same period, the rectory and tithes of this church, which were theretofore parcel of the possessions of the priory of Duleek, were granted, with the other estates of that religious house, to Ge- rald Viscount Moore, whose descendants have since inherited them, and, as the vicar had only a stipend from them, the vicarage was never rated to the First Fruits. This rectory was then found, on inquisition, to extend into Drogheda, Kilmore, Philipstown, Newtownrath, and Lessedewick alias Lessdue ; and the title of the Moore family to the fee thereof, was confirmed by successive patents, in 1612, 16 19, and 1640. In 1610, Brutus Babington, a native of Che- shire, was here consecrated Bishop of Derry, as was Doctor Thomas Moygne Bishop of Kilmore in 1612; and, in the following year, Primate Henry Ussher was buried here. This latter prelate, being early patronized by Doctor Loftus, Archbishop of DubUn, was sent by him into England on the occasion of the founding of Trinity College, to present a petition to Queen Elizabeth for that object, and to, in every manner, solicit its accomplishment. It was he, ac- cordingly, who obtained a mortmain license for the lands granted by the Corporation of Dublin for the site of that university, and, in gratitude for such his CHURCHES, CHAPELS, ETC. 21 exertions, he was nominated its first Fellow. In 1618, the Corporation, on a renewal of their charter, as hereafter more particularly mentioned, covenanted to maintain certain singing men and choristers in this church, where cathedral service was then per- formed, but on that service being discontinued, a sum of £54 of the late currency, was in lieu allo- cated by said body, with consent of the Primate, to the vicar, the parish clerk, and sexton, of the parish, and it was stipulated that this rent should be charge- able on all the property that was granted and con- firmed to the Corporation by King James. In 1619, Doctor Lancelot Bulkeley was here consecrated Archbishop of Dublin, as were the afterwards so cele- brated James Ussher to the See of Meath, and Doc- tor Spottiswood to that of Clogher, in 1621. A Vi- sitation of 1622 states Lord Moore impropriator of this vicarage ; that Henry Lesley was then incum- bent ; that the benefice was not valued, being sti- pendiary, and the impropriator having the whole tithes, great and small ; that the church was in a bad state, but the chancel repaired ; and that there was a house for the vicar. In the following year, Mal- colm Hamilton, and Archibald Hamilton, were res- pectively consecrated here, the former Archbishop of Cashel, the latter Bishop of Killala ; and in 1624, Primate Hampton dying, was buried in this church. In 1629, Randolph Barlow was here consecrated Archbishop of Tuam ; as was the celebra|;ed Doctor Bedell, Bishop of Kilmore. 22 MODERN STATISTICS. In 1634, the historian, Nicholas Barnard, was ap- pointed by the Crown to the Deanery of St.Phelan of Kilmore, with this vicarage annexed, and a clause of union pro hdc vice ; and at the close of the same year Primate Hampton was buried in this church. In 1635, Doctor Henry Leslie, who had been the chaplain and devoted adherent of Charles the First, was here con- secrated Bishop of Down and Connor ; and in 1638, Doctor Synge received similar consecration to the See of Cloyne, from the hands of the great Archbishop Ussher, within this church. In 1643, the second Viscount Moore, whose gallantry in defending the town is particularly noticed hereafter, and who was killed by a cannon shot at Portlester in Meath, was buried in this church, the sight of which afterwards so affected his widow, that she fell in a faint from her horse, and a mortification ensuing, she was in three days after laid beside her beloved consort. The visitation of Cromwell in September, 1649, ir- retrievably injured this edifice, it having been then blown up, involving in its ruin, a part of the garrison, and many of the most respectable inhabitants, who had fled thither for refuge. Previous to that event, this church yielded to none in extent or magnifi- cence, while its precincts, as before shown, comprised several chapels and oratories, erected and dedicated by the piety of former individuals. Of one of the stained glass windows, that then ornamented it, the following notice occurs in Guillim's " Displaye of Heraldrie" (pubhshed in 1638). " He beareth ar- CHURCHES, CHAPELS, ETC. 23 gent a chevron engrailed between three trumpets sa- ble, by the name of Thunder. This coat armour standeth on a glass window in St. Peter's church in Drogheda, in Ireland." In 1660, the Corporation demised " one house, with some old walls, in St. Pe- ter's churchyard," to Arthur Wotton, for sixty-one years ; they also, in this year, originated a contribu- tion towards the upholding of the church, to which the Primate gave £100. | In 1662, a Commission of Inquiry issued con- cerning the ruinous state of St. Peter's church ; and in the same year, Primate Bramhall bequeathed £500 for its repair, and that of the cathedral of Ar- magh, to be exclusive of such sums as he might be- stow during his life for these objects. In 1666, the parishioners expended a liberal contribution for the same purpose, and for beautifying the aisle. On this occasion, as noticed in the Register of the church, Henry Wagstaflfe, " one that lives on alms, gave three pounds to make the rails about the holy table." The church was thereupon dedicated to God : " He grant that it may be established for ever, and blessed in all things by his eternal goodness ! Then preached in the morning, James Lord Archbishop of Armagh, and in the afternoon, J. Hodson, vicar"(a). In 1669, John Hodson, clerk, vicar of this church, obtained a fee farm grant from the Corporation, of sundry premises, more particularly mentioned in the Cor- (a) Register of St. Peter's Church. 24 MODERN STATISTICS. porate History; while Kichard Tyrrel, and Alder- man John Towers, had, at the same time, leases res- pectively of chauntry lands appertaining to this church, for sixty-one years. In 1682, Tobias PuUen was presented by the Crown to the Deanery of Ferns, with this vicarage, and the rectories of Louth and Bewly ; while incumbent here, he entered into an agreement with the Corporation, that if they would procure an organ, he would be at the charge of maintaining an organist out of the Vicars' Choral money, and a " commendable organ" was accord- ingly ordered to be placed in this church. In 1694, on the promotion of Dean Pullen to the See of Cloyne, Thomas Cox obtained, on the Crown's pre- sentation, a similar union of the above benefices ; and, in the following year, had a lease from the Cor- poration, of the old walls in St. Peter's churchyard, theretofore leased to Alderman John Towers, toge- ther with a garden between it and Magdalen-street," to hold to him and his successors for sixty-one years, at the annual rent of five shilhngs. In the premises granted by King William in 1697, to the Corpora- tion, the vicarage house and garden of St. Peter's were included, which the Corporation appears to have confirmed to the vicar and his successors in 1702. In 1699, on the marriage of Lord Moore with the daughter of Viscount Loftus, this vicarage and its appurtenances were, with his other properties in Drogheda and elsewhere, conveyed to the uses of the settlement, and his leasing powers were restricted. CHURCHES, CHAPELS, ETC- 25 In 1701, Doctor "Walker, who had been the principal of a very celebrated school in this town, was buried here, where, in twenty years afterwards, a monument to his memory was erected by one of his scholars. The toleration, that, in respect to the private opi- nions of King William, permitted three Roman Catho- lics to remain at the Aldermanic Board here during the whole of his reign, was, on the accession of Queen Anne, instantaneously controlled, and in 1702, the be- fore mentioned Ts. Cox, vicar, and Wm, Meyer, curate of this church, having certified that Thomas Peppard Fitz-George, Christopher Peppard Fitz-George, and Anthony Bird of this town, merchants, had not received here the sacrament of the Lord's supper, according to the custom of the Church of Ireland, for the last seven years, and Henry Meade, Mayor, having certi- fied that the said individuals had refused to take the oaths or sign the declaration usually tendered to all freemen of the corporation, they were thereupon ex- pelled from said body(«). In 1 7 1 9, the commons, as hereafter more particularly set forth, were granted by the Mayor, &c., to the then vicar of this church and his successors for ever, in trust for charitable uses. In 1 720, Dr. Francis Hutchinson was here consecrated Bi- shop of Down and Connor. In 1722 the Archbishop of Armagh having filed an information in Chancery for the recovery of the arrears of the annuity, which the corporation were so, as before mentioned, bound (a) Register of St. Peter's Church. 26 MODERN STATISTICS. to pay, by their acceptance of the charter of 1618, for the maintenance of the Vicars Choral (singing men and choristers), but who had not been strictly so established, the Corporation having in lieu there- of, as stated, given an augmentation of salary to the vicar, to enable him to establish a curate, for performance of divine service twice every day, and for preaching in the afternoons of Sundays, said in- formations were stayed; and the king subsequently, on the recommendation of his English Attorney- General, directed a release and discharge to be made to the Corporation, from the payment of said arrears, and which release is duly enrolled in Chancery, the future gales of the annuity, however, to be duly paid in augmentation of the vicar's maintenance. It seems to have been in reference to this arrangement that Primate Boulter is stated to have allotted a mainte- nance for a second curate here, who was there- fore bound to give public service every Sunday in the afternoon, and prayers twice every day. Of Doctor Mossom Wye, who was incumbent of this church at the period. Primate Boulter, in one of his letters to Lord Carteret, in July, 1726, writes, "I have received a letter from Doctor Wye of Droghe- da (whom your Lordship was so kind as to make your chaplain, and to encourage him to hope for somewhat in the Church), to desire, that if Dean Howard shall be made Bishop of Cloyne, your Ex- cellency would be pleased to bestow on him the Deanery of Ardagh and Chantorship of Christ CHURCHES, CHAPELS, ETC 27 Church; he has been a great many years minister of Drogheda, which is a considerable cure." In 1740, the old church was entirely removed, and the present edifice was soon afterwards erected on its site, and in 1771, the Corporation paid £300 for an organ to be erected herein. In 1767, the vicar, Ephraim Cuthbert, obtained a lease from the Corporation of a strip of ground on the east side of Magdalen-street, to hold to him and his successors for a term of 999 years, at the yearly rent of sixpence, and his successor, the Reverend Mr. Loftus, in 1780, had a similar grant of " a parcel of ground, with coach house thereon, lying on the west side of St. Peter's churchyard, and on the east side of Magdalen- street," at the yearly rent of one shilling. In 1770, a sum of money was sought to be raised by lottery, for improving the Boyne, and erecting a spire on the steeple of this church, but the sale of the tickets not proving sufficient, the money was returned to the purchasers. In 1774, the Corporation ordered the old town clock to be presented for the use of the church, and in 1789 they voted £100 towards pro- curing a ring of bells for it. In 1791, however, on an information having been filed against them, in relation to the salary for the singing men and boys in this church, they presented a memorial to the Lord Lieutenant. This important document states the Charter of King James the First, in the l6th year of his reign, granting various lands and tenements to the Corporation, at the rent of 5*., with a condition 28 MODERN STATISTICS. that they should for ever after pay yearly salaries out of said premises to certain singing men and boys, besides the establishing of an organist and parish clerk in this church, making a total charge of £54, which was paid by the Corporation until the church of St. Peter's was destroyed, during Cromwell's usur- pation. That on the Restoration, the inhabitants not being able to rebuild it, the chancel was repaired at the charge of the Corporation, and the payment of the X54 was discontinued. That, when the church was afterwards rebuilt, they, at the request of the Primate, allowed the £54 (which they conceived they were then liable to pay) to the vicar of this church, to enable him to pay one or more curates, until a choir should be established. That King Wil- liam the Third granted a new charter to their body, of all their present possessions, reserving a rent to the Crown, of £47 ISs. Id., which, with £6 salary to the clerk of this parish, and £6 collector's fees, made a total sum exceeding the £54 originally re- served for singers, the establishment of whom had ceased for fifty years immediately preceding the date of King William's charter; nor has it been since re- newed, nor is its re-establishment in contemplation. That the latter charter contained no reference to the covenant in the former for the singers, but on the contrary, contained an express discharge by the Crown to the Corporation, from the payment of all other rents whatsoever, save said £47 I85. Td., which has been punctually paid. That they, how- CHURCHES, CHAPELS, ETC. 29 ever, continued to allow the £54 for the mainte- nance of a curate, till 1720, when Lord Primate Lindsay prevented such application, by causing an information to be filed, in the name of the Attorney- General, for an account on foot of the £54 from the Restoration, alleging that its appropriation for main- taining a curate was a misapplication (though made at the instance of the Primate). That thereupon the Corporation, in 1721, petitioned the Lord Lieu- tenant, when a release of said arrears was granted under the great seal, and from that time the payment of the £54 was wholly discontinued, it being advised that the sanction of the Court of Chancery was ne- cessary to justify the application. The petition states other similar proceedings against the body, founded on the supposition that the lands in their possession were chargeable with the payment of the £54 an- nually. That they, conceiving they were so charge- able, were induced, in 1773, at the instance of the Primate, to memorial the Lord Lieutenant, with the object of obtaining his Majesty's consent for the ap- plication of said sum to the maintenance of a curate, but it has been lately suggested by council, that all payments on foot of the £54 since the charter of William the Third, have been in error, and in their own wrong. The petitioners then stated recent si- milar vexatious proceedings, after so many disconti- nuances and lapses, and by which it was sought to sell part of the corporate lands for arrears, and relied that they were not bound by the admissions of their 30 MODERN STATISTICS. predecessors, so in ignorance of their chartered rights, and their public duties and responsibilities ; that a cess adequate for the repair of roads, and other public purposes, could not be raised without causing great distress to the common order of the in- habitants, to prevent which the body have constantly applied a great part of their revenues to diminish local taxation, and retrenched their own expenses, and the salaries of their officers, to meet such chari- table appropriations. They also stated, that so con- siderable a part as 400 acres, in the counties of Meath and Louth, granted by King James's said charter as a consideration for payment of said £54, was granted by the Corporation in the reign of Charles the Second to the vicar of St. Peter's and his successors, in fee farm, at a small rent, in order to increase the income of said vicar, and though by his neglect, and that of his successors, they and the Corporation have been deprived of some of those lands, the part in posses- sion of the vicar at this day, yields a rent equal to the amount of the salary alleged to have been paid to the curate, exclusive of other fee farms, demised at later periods to the vicar of this parish and his suc- cessors, several plots held by them under the char- ter of James, on which the vicarage house and the offices adjoining are erected, and a large garden at- tached to the said house, at the small rent of 5s. ; that the Corporation have also made considerable volun- tary contributions for the use of said church, &c. The petitioners, therefore, prayed that his Excellency CHURCHES, CHAPELS, ETC. 31 would cause the proceedings then instituted to be suspended until the charter of William the Third should be inspected, and their rights ascertained. The precise appropriation, which it was the object of those proceedings to effectuate, does not appear to have been obtained, nor is there any regular stipen- diary curate at this day; but, by arrangement amongst the parties, the £54 (late currency) was applied, £42 for maintaining, &c., singing men and boys, £6 for the organist, and £6 for the parish clerk, which dis- tribution was further regulated by a resolution of the Assembly, on the 8th of October, 1800; it would seem, however, that a subsequent apportionment has assigned £45, late currency, making £41 10s. 9d. of the present, or, according to the return of the Eccle- siastical Commissioners in 1836, £43 7^. Sd., to the vicar, which is continued by the present body. In 1804, the Corporation voted to the Rev. Mr. Alley, curate of this church, £40 for every year he had theretofore officiated in same, while a resolution of the Assembly, in 1814, in accordance with the prescribed distribution of the Vicars' Choral money, declared, " that it was the sense of this parish, that the organist should teach the children of the charity school thereof to sing, and be and is hereby required to attend the said children for that purpose in the church, every Sunday morning from the hour of 10 to 11, and every Tuesday in summer from 6 to 7 in the evening, and in winter, from 9 to 10 in the morning." 32 MODERN STATISTICS. In January 1823, the venerable Marquess of Dro- gheda, one of the original Knights of St. Patrick, and a British Peer by creation of 1801, was interred here with great funeral state. The procession was met at the entrance of the town by the Mayor and a numerous assemblage of the Corporation in their robes, anxious to oflfer the last tribute of respect to the oldest freeman of their city. The chronological succession of incumbents in this vicarage, as far as has been ascertained, was as follows : 1206. Robert , Chaplain. 1229. Henry deFlorentin [pre- sented by the Crown]. 1389. William Bragan, Vicar. [The king had confirmed his appointment by patent en- rolled, but recalled his assent in the following year]. 1409. Thomas Eosell, vicar. [He was afterwards promot- ed by the Pope to the pre- bend of Clonmethan, in the Diocese of Dublin]. 1415. 22 July, John White, vicar. [On the presentation of the Prior of Lanthony]. 1549. William Hamlyn, vicar. 1620. Henry Leslie, vicar. 1634. Nicholas Barnard [pre- sented by the Crown]. 1637. 10th February, George Baker [" instituted"]. 1 667. 27th August, John Eoan ["instituted" to the Deanery of Clogher, the rectory of Louth, and this vicarage. He was afterwards Bishop of Kil- lala]. 1669. John Hodson, vicar. 1675. 3rdMay,Richd.Tenison [" instituted" to the rectory of Louth, with this vicarage and the rectory of Bewly]. 1682. Tobias PuUen ["insti- tuted" on Royal presentation to the same benefices as the last]. 1694. Thomas Cox, vicar [on royal presentation]. 1719. 1 6th July, Mossom Wye [" admitted" to this vicar- age]. 1729. 6th Nov. Peter Hughes ["instituted"]. Ij^?'!'-?"''^* ■- ■■IPV "'^"s^'PffP?;; CHURCHES, CHAPELS, ETC. 33 1753. 5th November, Ephraim 1829- 28th July, John Magee Cuthbert [" instituted"]. [" instituted to this vicarage 1779- 5th September, Smyth in the place ofWardlaw Ball Loftus [" instituted"]. by the Lord Chancellor ; the 1782. 13th September, George Marquess of Drogheda, the Lambert [" instituted"]. true patron, being a luna- 1804. Sepf., Wardlaw Ball tic"], [instituted on the resigna- 1837. Rev*. Arthur "Wynne, tion of George Lambert]. the present incumbent. The register of this church extends through six volumes. The first and most interesting comprises the interval from 1654 to 1704. At its commence- ment occur several notices of persons "three seve- ral Sundays, at the close of the morning service in Drogheda, published, and afterwards married," by the mayor or some justice of the peace; as, Thomas Eees and Catherine Branstone, by the worshipful Samuel Stanbridge, mayor, in 1656; Nicholas Urell and Judith Glome, by Joseph Trale, minister of God's word, as approved of by the aforesaid worshipful Samuel Stanbridge ; Patrick St. Laurence, and Jane Plunket, by Justice Fingall, on the 10th of September, 1658;" The burials succeed in order, and lastly bap- tisms; in the latter the hour of birth is usually given, as " about eight o'clock in the morning," " betwixt eight and nine of the clock." Some of the burial entries are 'worth notice, as in 1672, " Christopher, the son of John Griswith, a Papist, was buried." — " Courcy, an aged poor man, died out of the poor- house and was buried the same day." — " Corporal Baily of Armagh, died at the inn the sign of the Ship, and was buried 7th January." — " William Clarke, VOL. I. D 34 MODERN STATISTICS. a stranger, died on the highway, and was buried atKil- laneer, 25th January." — " 1673, 2nd April, John, son of Teddy Carolan, buried."— " 1 687-8, 2nd March, old Nan Cromwell buried." The first registered mar- riage after the battle of the Boyne, was on the 9th July, 1690. The second volume of the Register com- prises from April, 1702, to August, 1748, giving the christenings, marriages, and burials in each month successively. The third commences in January, 1748, and extends to June, 1823, with a chasm of twenty years, from 1782 to 1 803. A fourth ancillary volume, contains from 1804 to 1811, and a fifth from 1816 to 1823, from which period another Book continues the records to the present day. Although this church was the burial place of so many prelates, and in more modern times of so many members of the illustrious house of Moore, not a monument exists to commemorate their obits ; there are others, however, as follow. At left of the com- munion table is a white marble slab, to the memory of Alderman Francis Leigh, who represented the town in Parliament for upwards of thirty years, died 1778; to his wife Anne Leigh, otherwise Bingham, died 1773; and their daughter, Anna Maria, died 1779. Near it is another mural monument to the Right Honorable Henry Singleton, who in early life was Recorder of this town, afterwards successively Prime Serjeant, Lord Chief Justice, and lastly Mas- ter of the Rolls, and died in 1760; this memorial was erected by his nephew Sydenham Singleton, Esq. At the opposite side of the communion table CHURCHES, CHAPELS, ETC 35 is a monument, erected at the expense of the corpo- ration, to the late Sergeant John Ball, who died in 1813; near it another to the Reverend JohnMagee, son of a former Archbishop of Dublin, and who had been vicar of this parish. On the gallery walls are mural slabs to Doctor Tobias Pullen, Bishop of Dro- more, who died in 1712; to ElHsh Walker, S. T. P. died 1701; to the Rev. WilHam Godley, prebendary of Mullabrack, county Armagh, died 1779; another to John Godley, Esq., (son of said Rev. Wilham), died 1806; a white marble monument to the Ogles; another to the wife of Judge Jebb, died 1833; to Captain Hyde, died 1820, &c. ! The sepulchral records of the graveyard may be thus alphabetically arranged: Acklands of Drogheda, from 1742. Armstrongs, from 1779. Atkinsons, from 1730. Ball, Eev. Sterne, ob'. 1777; he was father to the late Serg'. John Ball. The stone also commemorates some of his descendants. Barlow, Maurice, of Drogheda, obiit 1804; and to his fa- mily. Barry, Mr. William, died 1832 ; and to his family. Birds of Drogheda. Blackers of Drogheda, from 1801. Bourke, Theobald, of Drogh- eda, 6b\ 1779. Boyd, Mrs., of Drogheda, 1826. Broughtons, from 1737. Cadell, Kobert, formerly She- riff of Drogheda, died 1637. Campbells of Dublin, from 1779. Campbell, Captain Duncan, of theTown of Drogheda steam boat, born at Glendernwell, in the highlands of Scotland. Chapman, William, collector of Drogheda, died 1795. Charter, William, Esq., of Nor- thumberland, late of the 1 6th regiment of foot, died 1762. Chesshires, formerly of Shrews- bury, containing particulars d2 36 MODERN STATISTICS. of their genealogy, from 1694 to 1820. Clarke, Mr. Samuel, School- master of Drogheda, died 1753; and to his family. Coddington, Mrs. Sarah, died 1831. Crookes, Leonard, ob*. 1821. Cuthberts, from 1736. Davises, from 1803. Dixon, Thomas, formerly Mayor of Drogheda, died 1689- Dowd, Keverend George, Pa- rish Priest of Dromisken, died 1806. Dromgooles, from 1760 to 1792. Elliot, — , merchant of Drogh- eda, 1791. Pagans, from 1813. Fairtloughs, from 1753. Fairtlough, Keverend Thomas, died 1791» having been per- petual curate of Moylary for 29 years. Ffeelys, from 1782. Ferguson, Eev. Thomas, D. D., ob'. 1775. Ferguson, Mrs., wife of the Kev. Joshua Ferguson of Ballymoyer, died 1833. This monument is stated to have been erected by her son Joshua Ferguson, Esq., of Van Dieman's Land. Fisher, Mrs. Margaret, died 1795. She is stated, on the stone, to have been the eld- est daughter of the Rev. John Brett, D. D., and line- ally descended from Lord Chancellor Clarendon. Fleming, James, Merchant of Drogheda, ob^ 1756. Fleming, Francis, son of Mat- thew Fleming ; and to Fran- ces, daughter of John Flem- ing, deceased. Fleming, Matthew, died 1703. Floods of Drogheda. Folds, Doctor John, Eector of Old Connel, County Kildare, died 1782. French, Colonel John, of the 71st Eegiment, died 1812. Grartside, Alderman, of Drogh- eda, ob'. 1769. Gibbons, Doctor, ob'. 1813, and to his famUy. Gibson, Eev. John, Eector of Clonmore, County Louth, ob'. 1794, and to some of his ancestors. Godfrey, Alderman John, died in 1734. Godley, Reverend William, Prebendary of MuUabrack, died 1779 ; and to his son. Goldsmith, Rev. Isaac, Dean of Cloyne, 1769. Goold, Reverend P., 1785. Hardmans, from 1811. I ' •r"???®'^ " CHURCHES, CHAPELS, ETC 37 Harpurs of Mell, from 1723 to 1784. Heron, Thomas, Esq., of the General Post Office, Dublin, died in 1832, of cholera. Hyde, Captain William, of the 72nd Regiment of Highland- ers, son of John Hyde, Esq., of Montague-square, Lon- don, died 1829, aged 28. King, Mrs., relict of GUbert King, Esq. (M. P. for James- town), died 1801. Leigh. A monument to this family, stated thereon to have been once of the high- est respectability in Drogh- eda, but now extinct. Lelands, from 1741 to 1792. Leland, Alderman John, died 1838. Leslie, Rev. William, died 1795. Lindsays, from 1816. M'Cauls of Drogheda, from 1801. M'Culloch, John Shaw, Esq., family of. Magee, Rev. John, died 1837. Marshall, Alderman John, died 1785. This stone also com- memorates his ancestors and descendants. Meades of Drogheda, to 1709. Nesbitt, Rev. WiUiam, Rector ofStackaUen, died 1799- Norman family. Norris, Richard, D.D., formerly the Head of the Drogheda School, ob^ 1789. Ogle, Henry, died 1675, and his descendants. Osborne, Master Charles, son of Judge Osborne, died 1809- Parker, Richard Leslie, Esq., Barrack-Master of Drogh- eda, died 1824, and to his fa- mily. Patten, Alderman William, died 1710.^ Petrie, Surgeon James. Plunkett, Patrick, Alderman, ob^ 1st March, 1708; and to Catherine Plunkett his wife. The family armorials are carved at the head of the stone. I Reed, Captain, of the North Down Regiment, died in Drogheda. This monument was erected by hia brother officers. I Roche, John, son of David Roche of Cork, died 1799- Schoaleses of Drogheda, from 1722. Shegog, Richard, of Glack, County Louth, died 1839. Shekleton, Mr., of Drogheda, died 1802, and to his family. Singletons, a family monument. Smith, Jeremiah, of Beabeg, and family. 38 MODERN STATISTICS. Smith, Robert, of Drogheda, Steele, — , daughter of Colonel died 1 702. Steele of the East India Corn- Smyth, Doctor, Bishop of Li- pany's Service, ob'. 1821. merick ; a monument to his Vanhomrigh, John, ob'. 1 785. family. Wynne, Mrs,, of Ballyboys, Stanford, Mrs., of the County died 1808. Cavan, died 1816. Embedded in the wall, at the north-east corner of this cemetery, is a very old monument, to Ed- mund Goulding of Peristown, and to Elizabeth Flem- ing, second daughter of the Baron of Slane. Near it is another monument to one of the Cadell family, but the dates are not at present traceable ; also one to Ni- cholas Darditz, formerly of Drogheda, who died in February, 1516, Wilham Darditz his son, and Ma- tilda Netterville his wife ; several other monuments of great antiquity are inserted in the same wall, es- pecially one about ten feet high, representing two skeletons, extending the whole length of the stone, but all are so buried in mortar or clay, that their in- scriptions, where at all visible, are extremely apo- cryphal. The state of the whole churchyard betrays equal neglect and disregard of its sacred purpose, and many of the tombstones are so incrusted with clay, or overrun with weeds, that it is impossible to trace them, without sacrilegious trespass on the soil. In the yard of the sexton's house, neglected and un- known, lies the fragment of a magnificent font, that formerly occupied a conspicuous place in this church, a very beautiful specimen of ancient art, and, being composed of limestone, the produce of the neigh- ""fwni CHURCHES CHAPELS, ETC. 39 bouring quarries, may be presumed to have been the work of a native sculptor. In form it is an octagqn, a figure usually employed by the ancient Christian Irish in the construction of baptisteries, as was ex- empHfied at Mellefont, St. Doulogh's, &c. The en- tire outer surface is elaborately carved; the front contains an escutcheon empaled baron and femme, supported by two angels in a kneeling posture, the bodies and limbs of which are represented as covered with plumage ; three of the compartments have been destroyed, but probably corresponded with three of those that remain, which are each divided into two circular-headed niches deeply recessed, each niche containing the figure of an apostle, distinguished by his peculiar badge : thus, St. Andrew with his cross, St. Paid with a sword, &c. ; the remaining division is occupied by a representation of the baptism of Christ ; the soflfets are each filled by the figure of a demi-angel, with wings displayed, supporting a plain scroll ; in the corners of the sofiets are the rose and shamrock. The angles of the entire font are orna- mented by a continuous wreathing or chain-work, which is also continued round, and forms the outhne of the arched niches ; there are neither dates nor in- scriptions, and the base is finished by a roped mem- ber. The arms in the escutcheon are : first, azure a bend voided argent, in chief a star of the second ; secondly, argent, two lions rampant azure, the latter coat is that belonging to the name of Mildmay ; it also appertains, with a charge of tincture, to the fa- 40 MODERN STATISTICS. inily of Fynes of Fynestowii Castle near Navan, so conjectures Mr. R. Armstrong, the ingenious writer of an article in the Dubhn Penny Journal of 1833, page 357, from which the above description is ex- tracted. " I have not been able," he adds, " to find an appropriation of the first coat, but have disco- vered it with the bearing reversed (the sign of ille- gitimacy), empaled with that of Dardis, in St. Pe- ter's churchyard. The carving is in bold rehef, and skilfully executed ; a good deal of tasteful design is manifested in the disposition of the drapery of the first figure in each compartment. The other figures are clothed in close plaited tunics ; the sharpness of "the engraving is worn off by time and abuse, and the features defaced, but the tonsured head and peaked beard are still discernible ; on the whole, it has been well worthy of occupying the prominent situation it undoubtedly formerly held;" but, after sustaining the sacrilege of the Iconoclasts, it is yet more reproach- fully neglected and desecrated in its present position. St. Mary's Parish and Church. — The parish of St. Mary contains 1426a. 3r. 20p.,the soil of the rural district being of excellent quality. The annual tithes were compounded for at £105, payable to the lessee of the Marquess of Drogheda, who is the impropriator, and bound to pay thereout £80 2s. \\d. to the in- cumbent ; the patronage of the vicarage is now, how- ever, in the Bishop of Meath. Ancient valuations of this parish also are of record in the State Paper Room Council Office, and the annual amoimt of its CHUKCHES, CHAPELS, ETC 41 parochial vestry assessment was returned, in 1832, as £57, on an average calculation of the three pre- ceding years. Besides the above stipend from the impropriator, the vicar also receives £30 per annum from Evans's fund, payable by the Diocesan ; £30 from the rent or value of five acres of glebe ; and about £3 from churchyard fees ; but no minister's money is charged in this parish. He has also a glebe- house in the town, purchased in 1809, for £600, by the late Board of First Fruits. This little benefice, by the description of " Vicaria de Ponte," was rated, in the time of King Henry the Eighth, to the First Fruits, at £6 135. 4c?. The present church is the second erected since that which was demolished by Cromwell. It is a small modern edifice, capable of accommodating 200 persons, and was built in 1810, by a previous gift of £600, and a loan of £500 from the late Board of First Fruits. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners have recently assigned £l 75 towards its repair. Divine service is performed here twice on Sundays during the summer months, and once diuing the remainder of the year, and on the festi- vals ; while the sacrament is administered nine times annually. There are here, in connexion with the National Board, a male and female school, the for- mer affording education to 189 boys, the latter to 170 girls. j This was not originally a parochial secular church, but was founded by the towns-people for friars ; and, having been dedicated to the Blessed 42 MODERN STATISTICS. Virgin, was not inaptly, from its situation, called St. Mary's of Mount Carmel, and, accordingly, its frater- nity early adopted the rules and discipline of the CarmeHtes. Erected, as it was, on the most elevated part of the southern division of Drogheda, and filling the south-eastern angle of the town wall, where it ran along the brink of a deep precipitous valley, its defences as a military position (and to such uses was it subsequently, from necessity, converted), were, by nature and art, exceedingly strong. It was early subjected, by "Walter de Lacy, to the priory of St. Cienan of Duleek, and is said to have derived a portion of its support from the tolls on butter enter- ing the town at St. John's gate, the ruin of which is still denominated the Butter gate (a). De Lacy after- wards granted this church, with Duleek, in frankal- moigne, to the house of Lanthony near Gloucester, which latter donation was subsequently confirmed by King John, Edward the Second, and Edward the Fourth. By inquisition taken in 1307, it appears, that the Corporation had theretofore granted to this establishment, eighty square virgates of land, each virgate containing from twenty to forty acres, as lo- cal custom prescribed. In 1310, the Carmelites of this house had a further grant, which is of record in the Tower of London; and in 1345, Richard Fitz WilHam, Mayor of Drogheda, had Hcense to assign (a) The southern tower of the west front of the cathedral of Eouen, is also called the Butter Gate, possibly for the same reason. CHURCHES, CHAPELS, ETC 43 four acres of land adjoining the same, for increasing and maintaining lights before the statue of the Blessed Virgin here. In 1376, when King Edward the Third directed the remarkable summons, hereafter more particularly alluded to in the General History, whereby he re- quired representatives of the clergy, counties, and boroughs of Ireland, to attend a Parliament to be held at Westminster, the Bishop of Meath sent " Mas- ter Bartholomew Dullard," rector of this church, as the representative of his Lordship and his clergy, to advise the Crown' on the state of Ireland, but re- serving any power of taxing the said diocese. In 1387, Nicholas Burgess fled to the sanctuary of this church, and there, before the coroners of this town, confessed himself guilty of the murder of Thomas Melaghhn at Ardee, and duly abjured the land, whereupon Dundalk was assigned as the port whence he should depart. In 1393, King Richard the Se- cond granted the advowson of this church, and of the chapel of St. Nicholas, which was then thereto annexed, to the Prior and Convent of Lanthony(a). There were three other chapelries at this time, also annexed to this religious house, respectively dedi- cated to the Blessed Virgin, St. Catherine, and St. Patrick, as is proved by a donation of bells pre- sented to each of them by William Symcock and Agnes his wife, about the year 1412. One of the (a) Rot. Claus. 18 Ric. II. in Cane. Hib. 44 MODERN STATISTICS. Acts passed in the Parliament of Drogheda in 1468, confirmed a grant of chief rents to this house. At the close of the sixteenth century, Lord Viscount Moore had a royal grant of the rectory and tithes of tliis church, the fee of which was confirmed to him and his descendants, by patents of 1612, 1619, and 1640. In Ussher's Visitation Book of 1622, this vi- carage is stated to have been taxed at £6 135. 4d., but to be then of the value of twenty nobles sterling ; Lord Moore impropriator and patron, Mr. Robert Burton incumbent. This Return describes the church as large, and both it and the chancel in indifferent repair, and adds, " there is neither house nor glebe, save only room for a house." The circumstances attending Cromwell's siege of the town, as particu- larly afiecting this church, are detailed in the Gene- ral History at that period. In 1667, Sir Henry Tich- burne, having died at Bewly, was buried in this church, " which," observes Borlase, " owed a rite to his ashes, who, with so much vigilance and excel- lent conduct, had preserved it and the town." In 1669, the Corporation demised to Bartholomew Doyle, part of the possessions of this house, includ- ing a pigeon-house, orchard, and 100 acres of mea- dow outside St. James's gate, at the annual rent of fifty-five shilUngs; and in 1677, demised other por- tions thereof to Arthur Ley. In June, 1690, King James the Second, while in DubHn, presented Doc- tor Patrick Cusack to the rectory of Duleek, with the vicarage of St. Mary of Drogheda, and all its CHUKCHES, CHAPELS, ETC 45 rights. Doctor Dopping's return of 1693 states this vicarage as then worth £10, but that the vicarial part is swallowed by the impropriator ; the church large, but no incumbent, the cure being served by the vicar of St. Peter's. A subsequent Visitation Book of about 1699, states the " rector" hereof enti- tled to a certain scope of land without the church- yard, which is defended by metes and bounds, as from entries in the "Black Book of the Prior of Lan- thony, in the custody of Draycot of Mornington." This Return also recognizes the foundation of the chapelries before mentioned, as existing here. In 1699, the rectory and tithes were conveyed to uses, as more particularly mentioned at St. Peter's. In 1713, Lord Drogheda leased to Alderman William Norman, the rectorial and impropriate tithes of the parishes of St. Mary and St. Peter for sixty- one years, at the annual rent of £41. In 1721, he conveyed to uses, a parcel extending from the Toot- ing Tower to the Primate's house ; a cellar on St. Sa- viour's Quay ; the rectory of the parish church of St. Peter, with the tithes, both great and small ; the rectories of St. Mary and St. James in the town of Drogheda, with the tithes, both great and small ; and in 1745, his descendant, Earl of Drogheda, conveyed the advowson and right of patronage of this vica- rage to the Bishop of Meath, and his successors, for ever. It was not, however, until 1771 (within three years of the expiration of the term granted to Al- derman Norman), that the rectorial and impropriate 46 MODERN STATISTICS. tithes of this parish were, in consideration of £1,320, conveyed by the Earl, to the Primate and to the Bishop, who, immediately afterwards, conveyed same to the incumbent, and his successors in the vicarage. The possession does not, however, seem to have passed out of the aforesaid lessee and his representatives, who, it would seem, still enjoy said tithes, subject to the stipend before mentioned, in consequence of some general arrangement to that effect ; as, in 1833, the parishioners compounded for all the tithes of said parish at £105 per annum, to be paid to the re- presentative of Isaac Norman, Esq., deceased, said representative agreeing to pay out of this sum £80 2s. lid. annually to the vicar, according to deeds of 1771 and 1790, therein particularly men- tioned, same to be for the vicar's salary, and in which the small tithes are included. In 1718, Mr. John Shepherd had a lease of part of the premises of the Carmehtes for sixty-one years; and in 1724, Alder- man John Godfrey had a lease of all those parcels of land commonly called Blackbush, and part of St. Mary's churchyard, for sixty-one years, at the an- nual rent of £6, half whereof was reserved to the use of the poor of St. John's Poor-House ; and in 1727, Alderman Leigh obtained a lease of another part of the possessions of this religious fraternity. The valuations of this church, from 1725 to 1805, are of record in the State Paper Room Council Of- fice. In 1781, the Corporation voted twenty gui- neas towards roofing this church ; and in 1810, con- CHURCHES, CHAPELS, ETC 47 veyed a dwelling-house, offices, and gardens, to the use of the vicar of this parish, and his successors. The chronological succession of incumbents in this benefice, as far as has been ascertained, was as follows: ( 1376. Bartholomew Dullard, Rector. 1386. Robert Sutton. [In which year, having exchanged with Roger Winter, parson of the church of St. Patrick of Slane, the king presented the latter individual to the benefice]. 1387. Roger Winter. 1615. John Egerton, vicar. 1618, 2nd Nov. Robert Bur- ton [" admitted" to the vi- carage of the Blessed Virgin Mary "de Pont de Drogh- eda"]. 1708. John Echlin, vicar [by royal presentation; yet the First Fruits Book says of this appointment "collated to the vicarage of St. Mary de Voni, juxta Drogheda"]. 1763, 25th AprU. Thomas Fer- guson [" collated," says the entry in the First Fruits Books, but the word " col- lated" appears written over an erasure]. 1768, 9th June. Samuel Lind- say [" instituted"]. 1 788, 30th June. Charles Craw- ford [" instituted"]. 1821, 22nd Oct. James Craw- ford [" collated" to this vi- carage, vacant by the resig- nation of Charles Crawford ; yet the entry adds, " presen- tation in the Marquess of Drogheda"]. The Register of baptisms, marriages, and burials, only commences here in 1811, but has been since almost regularly continued. Of the extensive proportions and architectural character of the buildings, which originally apper- tained to the Carmelite friary here, some broken walls at the east end of the present building, and 48 MODERN STATISTICS. some foundations (now sodded over) at a consi- derable distance, are the sole memorials. On the decay of this building, a chapel for divine service was constructed amidst the ruins, and subsequently, the present church was erected. About thirty years since, the steeple was ordered to be taken down, and at the same time, the great north boundary, which was a portion of the town wall, and very high, was levelled; there are yet, however, considerable re- mains of the southern wall, with port-holes through it, and arched buttresses on the inside. In the church are no sepulchral monuments, those of the graveyard may be thus alphabetically arranged: Ansell, George, of Upper Deal, in Kent, Inspector over the Barrack works here, ob'. 1839. Ball, Eobert, of Ball's Grove, died 1775. Oarmichael, Reverend John, 1761. Cusack, Dr. James, died March, 1744. Delahoyde and Hill. This, the oldest tombstone in the ce- metery, commemorates mem- bers of these families in the words following : "Herelieth the body of Richard Hill, sometime twice Mayor of this town of Drogheda, deceased, and of Jenet Hill, his daugh- ter, mother unto Thomas Delahoyde, sometime Mayor of the same, whose body here- under lyeth, deceased the l6th of August, 1525, and Eliza — ing, his wife." The inscription is in basso relievo, and runs round the margin, enclosing the armorials in the centre. Harpurs of Drogheda, from 1820. James, wife of Alderman Ri- chard, 1695. Kegans of Drogheda, from 1737. Ledwich, Christopher, 1624. This ancient monument, con- sidered by Grose to refer to . ■ ■ T'vss^ir^" CHURCHES, CHAPELS, ETC Christopher Ledwich, who had been one of the Sheriffs of this town, was very ela- borately sculptured with ar- morials, but, lying as it does on the ground, and half bu- ried in the soil, its characters are now hardly legible. LUl, Reverend WiUiam, rector of Ardee and Churchtown, died 1775. Mac Loughlin, Cornelius, mer- chant, 1773. Matthews, Thomas, Esq., of Drogheda, 1803. Metcalfes of Drogheda. Ridgeways of Drogheda, from 49 1819. Scholes, Alderman James, died 1817. I SkeUy, Luke, a montunent to his family, stated thereon to be of Ayrshire extraction. Smiths of Drogheda, from 1767. Tandy, John, Esq., of Droghe- da, died 1803. | Turner, Mr. Thomas, Surveyor of this port, ob', 1758. He was born, as the stone states, at Lewes, in Sussex. It also commemorates his daughter buried thereunder in 1758, andhissoninl767. I A narrow path runs under the walls of this grave- yard at the outer side, overlooking a picturesque valley called the Dale, that lies between the Naid and Balbriggan roads, but is now nearly filled with miserable huts. At its head is a celebrated spring called Patrick's "Well, while, through the bottom of the httle glen, flows a small stream, that, after sup- plying James's-street brewery, falls into the Bojnie. About 400 yards eastward was the Bevrack mount (recently levelled by a farmer for agricultural uses), whence Cromwell battered St. Mary's and the town. A little behind the church, on the western descent to this valley, a pretty view is had of a portion of the town at the gorge of the Dale, with the chui^ch in the left foreground, VOL. I. E 50 MODERN STATISTICS. St. MarMs Free Church is a handsome edifice, erected in 1828, situated in Fair-street; it was de- signed as a chapel of ease to St. Peter's church, and for the accommodation of families who could not obtain sittings there. Towards the expenses of the edifice the corporation contributed £300; the late Board of First Fruits, £900; the Lord Primate £100; and the balance, about £600, was raised by local sub- scription. It could accommodate three hundred per- sons, and is usually attended by about half that number. The benefice ranks as a perpetual curacy, subject to episcopal jurisdiction, without, however, any cure of souls annexed to it, such parochial duty belonging of right to the incumbent of St. Peter's parish. Neither has the minister any glebe or glebe house, but he has been endowed by the corporation with the rectorial tithes of Inismott, in the county Meath, now amounting to £48 155., while the same body having assigned the patronage to the Lord Primate, he adds £50 yearly to the curate's income. Mr. Hugh Ussher Tighe was the first person ap- pointed to this benefice, to whom Mr. Needham, the present incumbent, succeeded in April, 1834. Divine Service is performed here twice on Sundays in sum- mer, and once in winter, and on Good Friday and Christmas-day, while the Sacrament is administered monthly. The annual charges incident to this per- petual cure were, on its erection, assessed at the vestries holden in St. Peter's parish; in 1830, how- ever, the Lord Primate, with his wonted liberahty CHURCHES, CHAPELS, ETC 51 upon such occasions, took upon himself the payment thereof, and continued to defray them until, on the passing of the Act for the aboHtion of church cess, they devolved upon the Ecclesiastical Commiesioners. *S'^. Peter's Roman Catholic Chapel is a spacious and handsome structure, erected after a design of the late Francis Johnstone, Esq., at an expense ex- ceeding £12,000, raised by subscription. It has a handsome gateway and coUonade fronting to West- street, and in the porch is a beautiful ancient font, which, it is said, formerly belonged to the chapel of ease for Drogheda, then existing at Killineer. The interior of this edifice is extremely handsome. The parish is co-extensive with that of the Established Chiu-ch, and is a mensal benefice of the Catholic Primate. Within this chapel, immediately before the altar, are interred his Grace's three last prede- cessors. Doctors Richard O'Reilly in 1818, Patrick Curtis, in 1832, and Thomas Kelly, in 1835. St. Marys Roman Catholic Chapel is a large and commodious place of worship, with a neat front of cut stone ; the ground was purchased by Michael Duff, Esq., who also contributed largely towards the expenses of its erection, it was finished and conse- crated in 1825. Within it, elevated against a side wall, is a handsome monument to the memory of the Reverend Michael CoUon, who had been the Roman CathoHc pastor hereof, and died in 1837- The old parish chapel was founded by the Reverend James E 2 52 MODERN STATISTICS. Kieran, in 1763, but was taken down on the erec- tion of this. There are also in this town three other Chapels of the Regular Clergy, dedicated respectively to St. Mary Magdalene, St. Francis, and St. Augustine, the first in Linen-Hall-street, the second in High- lane, and the last in a very obscure lane off Shop- street. There are likewise two Nunneries here, the Pre- sentation, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, and si- tuated in Fair-street, gives gratuitous education to poor females, as noticed hereafter ; and the Sienna, or Dominican, which has a department for the in- struction of young ladies, it is situated on a com- manding eminence, and is a prominent object in the view entering the town. It was established in 1722, on an endowment of Doctor Netterville of Cruise- rath, and other contributors, and in consequence of an application made with that object to the Court of Rome, by Doctor Mac Mahon, Roman Catholic Pri- mate ; when Catherine Plunkett, a relative of his Grace's celebrated predecessor, Ohver Plunkett, was appointed the first prioress. The head of the mar- tyred Prelate is here preserved, as is also a painting of him, and other interesting portraits of Doctor Burke, alias De Burgo, author of the Hibernia Do- minicana; Doctor Mac Mahon, the founder of the institution; Doctor Linnecar; and above all a fine painting of St. Catherine of Alexandria, &c. An- nexed to this estabhshment is a very neat chapel, CHURCHES, CHAPELS, ETC. 53 with windows of stained glass; there is also within the convent ground a small cemetery for the reli- gious of the house, at the head of which ia a large white marble slab, whereon the obits of the deceased nuns are recorded. I The name of Doctor Plunkett suggests too much of historic interest, to be passed over without a brief notice of his piety and sufferings. Descended from one of the noblest families in Ireland, he received liis education in the Ludovician College at Rome, where he graduated as a Doctor of Divinity; in 1669 he was promoted by Pope Clement the 9th to the see of Armagh, and, Ireland being then under the wise and tolerant administration of Lord Berkley, Doctor Plunkett was enabled to effectuate his pious labours, and to diffuse through his province a spirit of Cliristian love and mutual forbearance. He is accordingly characterized by Bishop Burnett, as " a wise and sober man, who was for living quietly and in due submission to the government." The inno- cence and sanctity of his life were, not, however, sufficient to shield him from the malevolence of ene- mies, by whose artifices he was accused of holding a treasonable correspondence with the French Court, and they had even the unblushing hardihood to affirm, that 20,000 Frenchmen were, at his inetance, to land at Carhngford, where they were to be joined by the Prelate himself, at the head of 70,000 more. Under this incredible charge he was seized in De- cember, 1679, and transmitted to London in 1680, 54 MODERN STATISTICS. but the jury there refused to find the bills. The m- formers, however, obtained an accession in their con- spiracy, and new indictments were framed and found against the Archbishop. The amended charges ac- cused him of soliciting the invasion of Ireland by the French King; exacting, money from the Irish clergy for promoting that object; enlisting domestic forces in aid of such an attempt; and encouraging the gentlemen of the north to take up arms for the re- covery of their ancient estates. Evidence for his defence, either oral or dociunentary, was difficult, indeed impracticable of attainment, at the hour and place of his trial. He could only appeal to the sense of his jury, and the improbability of the charge; add- ing that the Irish clergy were so poor, that he him- self, the head of a whole province, lived in a little thatched house, with only one servant, having never above sixty pounds yearly income, so that neither he nor they could be deemed hkely to effect such de- signs. Defence was nevertheless ineffective ; he was sentenced to an ignominious death, dragged on a sledge to Tyburn, and there executed on the first of July, 1681, with his latest breath invoking heaven to witness his innocence. After his execution, his head was severed from his body, the latter divided into quarters and buried in the churchyard of St. Giles in the Fields ; at the expiration of two years it was raised and conveyed to the Benedictine monastery of Lambspring in Germany; the head, however, " even yet adorned with silvery hair, and CHURCHES, CHAPELS, ETC 55 in excellent preservation," is enshrined in this nun- nery. Hume records his unqualified abhorrence of this murderous execution, and some interesting par- ticulars concerning the sufferings and remorse of his accusers, are given in Stuart's " History of Ar- magh." Salmon, in his Abridgment of the State Trials, says, that while this Prelate lay under sen- tence of death, the Earl of Essex informed the king that the evidence against him could not be true, when Charles answered, " why did not you attest this at his trial, it would have done him good then; I durst pardon nobody; his blood must lie upon your head, and not upon mine." j The Presbyterian House of Worship, for mem- bers of that Church, in. connexion with the General Assembly, is a neat and commodious structure, it stands in Palace-street, and was erected in 1827, at an expense, including the minister's house, of £2000, towards which the corporation contributed £300. In turning up the ground designed for this building human bones and crumbled implements of warfare were so thickly set, that it was apprehended a found- ation could not be obtained. The Reverend Mr. Boyd is the present pastor, and his general congre- gation he states as amounting to 300. | The Wesley an Methodist House stands in Law- rence-street, a neat lancet-windowed building, erected in 1811, and capable of containing 300, the usual congregation being about one-third of that number. 56 MODERN STATISTICS. CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS. The establishments for the gratuitous education of the poor here are, St. Peter's Male and Female Parochial School, established in 1723, and wholly supported by private contributions, including an annual and continuing donation of ten guineas from the Corporation, by whom the site and surrounding garden were also granted; it affords education to about 100 boys and 80 girls, the school-house being sufficiently capa- cious, and in a healthy situation. The Patrician Roman Catholic Free School, in Trinity-street, for the support of which and of an infant school annexed, giving education to 374 boys, the National Board allows £20 135. Ad. per annum. A slab, inserted in the wall of the infant school, states that " this institution was founded through the bene- volent exertions of the Reverend Matthew White, curate of St. Peter's Parish, under the patronage of the Most Reverend Richard O'Reilly, Roman Catho- lic Archbishop of Armagh in the year 1 787, and a lease of this ground at a nominal rent has been libe- rally granted by the Corporation of Drogheda. The charitable inhabitants thereof caused this school to be erected a. d. 1802." The ground had been pre- viously the site of the Roman Catholic parish chapel. In 1834, Mrs. Mary Browne, widow, left £200, Royal Canal Stock, to the use of this school, and a like sum to the female school next mentioned. ^■cpm^ CHARITABLE INSTITITTIONS. 57 The Presentation Convent Female School, in Fair-street, has a grant of £40 per annum from the National Board, and is attended, including the pupils of its Sunday School, by about 460 poor girls. There is another female school in the town in connexion with the National Board, which receives £16 an- nually therefrom, and gives education to 215 girls. The " Blue School;" towards the maintenance of which the Corporation contributes £42 annually, without exercising any patronage in consideration thereof ; the number of boys in this establishment at present is eighteen, the full complement being twenty. The class, from which these children are taken, is generally the destitute orphans of Protestant parents, those that have no parent being preferred. They are here boarded, clothed and educated, at the charge of the subscribers, and, when of sufficient age, are apprenticed to Protestant masters. Another Charity School, formerly in Fair-street, but now in Magdalen-street, is attended by 35 boys, and 1 1 girls, and also partakes of the bounty of the Corporation, receiving therefrom ten guineas annually. Near it an infant school has been recently opened. | The Drogheda Grammar School. — There is also within this parish in Lawrence-street one of the classical institutions, which, by charter of Charles the Second, were estabhshed, under the trusts of Eras- mus Smith's Charity, " for the children of the foun- der's tenantry and of other poor children dwelling within two miles of the school." The Keverend Dr. 58 MODERN STATISTICS. M'Kay is principal of this seminary, having from the Governors a salary of £100, late currency, and an allowance of £80, for an assistant usher, with the advantages and profits of the pupils. The boarders' house could accommodate 100 boys, containing, as it does, fifteen apartments opening on long and spa- cious corridors. The schoolhouse consists of a no- ble central room appropriated for the classical courses, and connected by handsome staircases to the wings, each of which affords two rooms assigned to the English, French, arithmetical, and scientific classes. The play ground is well enclosed, while a covered walk affords recreation in unfavourable weather. The head master's residence is a fine mansion, with a front elevation of sixty feet, as shown at the left side in the view of Lawrence's gate and street hereafter. The Corporation gave the site of this establishment at a very reduced rent, with the object of its encouragement, and also contributed £10 to the master, in consideration that the sons of freemen should be instructed there without charge. This annual donation has, however, on the disconti- nuance of gratuitous education, been withdrawn since 1829- The school is at present attended by eighty boys, of whom one-half are boarders. Scholarships in Trinity College, of the yearly value of £12 each, for seven years, are open to this school by Act of Parliament, and have been successfully obtained by Dr. M'Kay's pupils since his appointment. In the parish of St. Mary is a National Male CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS. 59 and Female school, attended respectively by 189 boys and 170 girls, the Board allowing £12 per an- num to the master, and £14 lOs. to the mistress. There was also a Protestant school here, maintained by the Association for discountenancing Vice, and by the incumbent. Its operations have, however, been suspended, but such children, as might have at- tended it, are educated in similar schools of the neigh- bouring parishes, by agreement amongst the several vicars. f Alms Houses. — About the year 1706, Primate Marsh founded an eleemosynary establishment here, for the reception and maintenance of twelve widows of decayed clergymen, who had been curates within the diocese of Armagh, allotting for each widow a re- sidence, and an annuity of £20. He further provided, that, if a sufficient number of such widows should not be found in Armagh diocese, the funds might be so far appropriated to similar objects within the dio- cese of Meath, and, if not sufficient there, to those of the whole province, and, in case of any deficiency of such persons even there, the residuimi to be ap- pHed in apprenticing or educating the children of clergymen. In 1726, a similar institution, for the wi- dows of four Protestant clergymen, was founded and endowed by Primate Boulter, after the model of Pri- mate Marsh's, and with a similar provision for appren- ticing the cliildren of the widowed inmates of the establishment. Doctor Boulter left directions to the trustees of his will, to purchase lands for better per- 60 MODERN STATISTICS. petuating his charitable intentions, and the fund for their trust was returned in 1765, as £62,000, then due upon mortgages, debentures and bonds. The intentions of both Primates are incorporated in the neat uniform buildings off Church-lane, and near St. Peter's church, called the Alleys. Some of those houses it appears, however, are not now allocated, at least in their occupation, to the strict objects of the foundation (as it is alleged), for want of claimants, but are let at certain rents, and the profits thereof appHed in the repairs of the whole. An alms-house, called the Poor House of St. John, was also founded here at a very early period, on a grant from the Corporation, who increased their endowment hereof, by appropriating to the mainte- nance of this charity the rectory and tithes of Inis- mott, which the body had acquired by charter con- sequent upon the dissolution of monasteries, and as parcel of the possessions of that truly charitable foundation, the Abbey of St. Mary de Urso(a). Its income was further increased about the year 1660, by the accession of the funds of another charity, " St. Stephen's Hospital of Magdalen-street," and by (a) This rectory was, accordingly, found impropriate in the Corporation of Drogheda by Doctor Ussher's Return of 1622, and in Dr. Dopping's Ecclesiastical Eeturn for Meath in 1693, &c. It has, however, with its tithes (valued at £48 15«.), been, in 1826, alienated from this charity, and leased to the Lord Primate for 999 years, at the yearly rent of £1, the patronage to be in the Primate, and the tithes applied for the support of St. Mark's free church. CHAKITABLE INSTITUTIONS. 61 private donations. Amongst the latter sources of revenue were, a bequest of £50 by John Godfrey in 1734, which sum the testator directed should be laid out by the Corporation, in the purchase of a rent- charge for the poor on this foimdation. Alderman George Schoales of Drogheda also having, in 1799, bequeathed all his interest in premises which he held under the representatives of Mr. John Graham of Flatten, the amount of £7 7s. 8d.per annum, was allocated to the widows of this house. Colonel Bellew likewise left the annual proceeds of £100, charge- able on the Corporation estate, to be given to the same objects on every Valentine's day, hence called Valentine's money ; while Alderman Leigh, being seised in fee of the lands of Prior'* Park, situated at KilHneer, and containing four acres, devised the same to the Corporation, in trust for such poor house- keepers resident in Drogheda, as the Corporation should appoint, and this bequest, producing thirteen guineas per annum, is assigned for the use of the in- mates hereof A sum of £8, late currency, is like- wise carried to their credit from the Commons' fund, as compensation for the right of taking furze off the commons, to which the poor of St. John's were en- titled before the commons were enclosed. The whole annual funds from lands, houses, and tenements, now available for the charity, amount to £232 185. 4d., which is paid in disbursements of £7 10*. per fort- night amongst the inmates, and the balance applied in sundry necessary extras. The benefits of this es- 62 MODERN STATISTICS. tablishment have hitlierto been confined to the Pro- testant widows of freemen ; it is, however, to be hoped, that an exclusive appropriation of charitable funds will no longer be adopted, where no express trust in the original endowment afforded an excuse, rather than a justification, for such monopoly. The mode of admission is by petition to the assembly, and vacancies are filled by ballot. The number sup- ported is twenty-four, and for them a neat brick building at the top of Peter-street, containing twelve apartments, is appropriated. Two proctors, who act gratuitously, are assigned to superintend its arrange- ment. The charity called the Commons' Fund, above alluded to, originated in a resolution of the Assem- bly in 1699, whereby they agreed, that the lands which had been, from time immemorial, on the insti- tution of the borough, set apart for the commons, should be enclosed and rented, and that the revenue derived therefrom should, for ever thereafter, be ap- propriated for the relief of decayed members of the Corporation, their widows, and orphans, and for no other purpose whatsoever, an appropriation which was further confirmed in 1717. The present rental of these funds amounts to £399, and, in consistence with the liberality of the age and the altered circum- stances of the reformed Corporations, this prescrip- tive source of corporate income must now be more impartially distributed. An Infirmary is constituted here, under the pro- CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS. 63 visions of the 5 Geo. III. c. 20, and 47 Geo. III. c. 50; and is supported by a corporate grant of £50 per annum, the hospital cess, private subscriptions, and a parliamentary allowance of £\00 per annum, late currency, the average annual expenditure being about £350. It is situated in Great George's-street, and has a dispensary annexed, thus giving rehef to about ninety intern patients, and 4000 extems, an- nually, but the want of a fever hospital is much felt in this populous town: neither had any House of Industry been estabhshed here, but a Mendicity Institution was founded in 1 822, for whose use the Corporation provided a house rent free, with an ex- pectation that private contributions would defray the current expenses, but this hope was not realized, and the estabhshment, after a very inadequate ex- istence of a few years, was closed in 1835. A "splendid" Poor-house has been recently erected on a most commanding and healthy emi- nence at the Meath side of the river. It is capable of containing £800 persons at present, with a facHity of extension to accommodate 1000. Within its pre- cincts are a chapel, infirmary, and lunatic asylum; and annexed are fine and well enclosed yards, and an excellent vegetable garden. A school is main- tained here which is in connexion with the National Education Board, who afford to it a first supply of books and school requisites gratis, with the privilege of purchasing more at reduced prices when subse- quently required. As the guardians of the poor-law 64 MODERN STATISTICS. unions comprise men of the highest rank and sta- tion, Protestants and Roman Catholics aUke, while the duty of religious instruction is consigned to chap- lains of the respective creeds, these poor schools are perhaps the best qualified to test their efficacy. The numbers educated here were, as last reported, 130 boys and 125 girls. For the service of the industrious poor, o ^aum^*' Bank has been opened in Lawrence-street, and a Loan Fund Society is conducted at the Tholsel, without partiality or jobbing, both which estabhsh- ments have proved great incentives to the exertions and frugahty of the lower orders. In reference, however, to loan fund societies generally, it is to be regretted, that the Utopian speculation of requiring permanent and effective services gratuitously, and prescribing arduous duties and irksome responsibili- ties for benevolent volunteers, has paralyzed in prac- tice, a system most promising in theory, consigned the objects of these institutions too frequently to ru- ral usury, jobbing, and oppression, and their funds to ill-directed uses, and uncontrollable mismanage- ment. For other charitable purposes in this town, the following grants and bequests have been from time to time designed. — In 1716, Doctor Cox, then Dean of Ferns and vicar of St. Peter's, purchased a rent- charge of £20 of the currency of the day, payable out of the lands of Killineer within said parish, which he settled, subject to his own life interest therein, CHUKCHES, CHAPELS, ETC. 65 in trust, that the Mayor, Recorder, and Justices of the Peace, or the major part of them, should, from time to time for ever thereafter, apply same " towards the putting out the sons of freemen, members of the Established Church, and who should be freemen of the Corporation ofDrogheda, and inhabitants within its liberties for two years at the least next before their death, or before the time of placing out such sons, apprentices to said trades, callings, and employ- ments, and to such masters, being members of the Church of Ireland, as the said Justices, or the major part of them, should think fit, and for and towards the buying and providing such clothes and apparel, for such sons so to be put out, as in such case is usual." This fund is stated to be applied according to the trusts of the donor, and perfectly distinct from the funds allocated for similar objects at the Blue School. — In 1766, Mrs. Arabella Dixie, then of this town, bequeathed (after several small pecuniary le- gacies to its poor housekeepers), a sum of X145, to the Incorporated Society in Dublin for promoting English Protestant Charter Schools, but, if such a school should be erected in Drogheda, then solely to the use of that school ; and in the following year, Wniiam Graves, of Drogheda, bequeathed to the said Incorporated Society the swoa. of £500, for building a charter school and offices in St. Mary's parish, and, if not built within five years from his decease, he or- dered said sum to be recalled by his trustees, and laid out for building an infirmary within said parish. VOL. I. F 66 MODERN STATISTICS. He also left legacies of £50 to each of the parishes of Drogheda ; but the administrators of these wills do not appear to have executed the trust so confided to them, nor has the bequest been raised, although, by a vote of the Assembly in 1796, their law agent was directed to prosecute the representatives of Mr. Graves's heir, Graves Chamney. — In 1773, John Ogle, of this town, bequeathed to the use of the poor of the two parishes of St. Mary and St. Peter, £200, to be disposed of in such manner as his executors might deem fit. This legacy is not recognized as at present existing. — In 1779, Susanna Maria Leigh, daughter of Francis Leigh, Esq., bequeathed rents, annually amounting to £63 7^. lid., for the use of the poor of Drogheda, under certain regulations. The fund was afterwards, by deed, vested in the Lord Primate as a trustee, and is by him duly ap- plied, as stated on a tablet fixed up in the church of St. Peter. — A Miss Gibbons also left £300 for the use of St. Peter's parish, and £200 for that of St. Mary's, the interest of which has been, and still is, distributed to the poor thereof — In 1805, John Reilly of Prospect, within the Hberties of this town, be- queathed £500 in trust, to be applied to charitable uses by his executors ; the legacy does not seem, however, in present operation. Subsequently, Mr. Delany, formerly of Stockwell-lane, left £1400, to be dispensed, principal and interest, by the Roman Catholic Primate and his successors, and in Roman Catholic charities, and the annual interest is accord- MUNICIPAL BUILDINGS. 67 ingly distributed among the sick poor of St. Peter's parish. MUNICIPAL BUILDINGS. The Gaol. — The old prison of this town was built by the Corporation, and partly supported at their expense. It stood at the Meath side of the town in James's-street, on the south side. In it the ceUs were under ground ; the debtors were not separated from the felons ; no table of fees controlled extortion ; and, being in Hne with the street, the ad- mission of spirituous liquors was practicable and fre- quent; yet, with all these abuses,it existed until 1818, when it was taken down, and the materials, together with the ground upon wliich it stood, were sold, and the produce applied to the erection of the present gaol. This edifice stands on a rising ground, at the north side of the town, where the road issues to Ter- monfeckin. It is of a square form, 'surrounded by two walls, and having four yards for felons and mis- demeanants, and one for debtors. The interior con- tains an hospital room, a small chapel, where divine service is duly celebrated according to the necessi- ties and creeds of the iniriates, and sixteen cells, six of which are furnished with a small bedstead that admits but one prisoner, the remaining ten accom- modate from two to three persons each. It affords but imperfect classification, and, although frequent complaints have been made of the deficiency of in- spection, the neglect of education, the absence of a f2 68 MODERN STATISTICS. coercive penitentiary, or of even ordinary employ- ment for the inmates, yet, when visited by the author of this work, there was but one turnkey, no school, no treadmill, nor were there even prison dresses, while the only employment of the inmates was b^reak- ing stones for the service of the streets. The funds, requisite for redressing these grievances, have long continued to be unattainable, in consequence of an imsettled controversy, whether houses within the town are liable to the cess, while the county is equally reluctant to aid it. No money was, conse- quently, received for the current expenses; the sala- ries of the officers, and engagements to the contract- ors, became in arrear, besides the yearly instalments still due to the government, for advances made to- wards the completion of the building. The salaries allotted for the officers of the establishment are, £27 135. lOd. for the local inspectors ; £90 for the chaplains; £73 I6s. lid. for the governor; £20 for turnkeys ; and £6 for the matron ; while the total annual expenses of fuel, soap, and candles, me- dicines, stationery, clothing, furniture, and repairs, amount to about £370. It is, however, contemplated, that this very heavy outlay may be diminished, under the powers of the Grand Jury Act, by an arrange- ment with the Grand Jury of Meath, that all prison- ers to be held over for trial in Drogheda, might be confined, during the intermediate interval, in the ex tensive and well regulated gaol of Trim, the Grand Jury of Drogheda undertaking to pay for the main- MUNICIPAL BUILDINGS. 69 tenance of such prisoners, and at their own risk and cost to transmit them from one place to another. If this arrangement should be effectuated, a bridewell for the temporary detention of prisoners would be sufficient for Drogheda, and a saving of at least £200 per annum would be effected. It may be here re- marked, that a green, outside Sunday' s-gate, was, from a period even more remote than the beheading of the Earl of Desmond, the place for the execution of criminals, while Peter-street was the scene of pub- he pillories. i The Barracks. — In Fair-street are infantry bar- racks, with an hospital for twenty patients attached, the- parade ground is large, but the house small. There are also barracks at Richmond Fort, erected about the year 1808, on a high precipitous bank, that rises abruptly from the river Boyne, and is con- nected with the Mill-mount by a raised causeway ; in the fort are two nine-poimders, on a moveable platform, and its natural strength is further aided by paHsades. From the Mill-moimt, and yet more from the platform of the Martello tower that crowns its summit, is the most imposing view of the town, river, and surrounding country ; from no other point, in- deed, could a bird's eye estimate of Drogheda, its improvements and importance, be so well attained. The Tholsel, filling the comer of West-street and Shop-street, is a spacious and handsome square building of hewn stone, with a fine cupola. It is well adapted for the Assizes, Quarter Sessions, and 70 MODERN STATISTICS. other courts that are held there. It has also a hand- some assembly-room for the meetings of the Corpo- ration ; over the chimney-piece of this apartment is a fine painting of the Battle of the Boyne. Amongst the rehcs until lately exhibited here, were two ket- tle-drums, that had been found on the field of the battle of the Boyne, painted in lively colours with the royal arms of the doomed monarch, and his titles. They were beat for him at the battle, and, by the deep stains in the parchment, the drummer appears to have only resigned them with his life, when King Wilham presented them, to be kept in the Town- Hall, which then stood near the site of the present bridge, but was removed to make way for that struc- ture. That old Tholsel, thus here referred to, was a low unshapely building, with a balcony in front where the merchants assembled ; while the lower apartments were used as a prison, and the upper for pubHc offices. It is much to be regretted, that the truly interesting kettle-drums have very recently disappeared, but the other regaUa and valuables, consisting of the mace, sword, and a halbert, which King William also gave, as mentioned in the Corpo- rate History; and with them also a large silver cup, and a large silver chahce, marked " ex dono praeno- biHs Henrici Com. Drogheda, 1665 ;" a silver cup, with the arms of Drogheda, and marked " the gift of Thomas Perceval, 1672;" and another silver cup to match, marked as the gift of Thomas Willis, are all yet preserved in the custody of the present Corpo- MUNICIPAL BUILDINGS. 71 I ration, with the gold chain worn by the Miiyor dur- ing his year of office, and the two gold chains here- tofore worn by the two Sheriffs of the town and county, now united for the High Sheriff of the bo- rough. The Mayoralty-House is a suitable edifice on the quay ; it has not, however, for a long time, been the residence of a Mayor, or the scene of any of those civic feasts, that once filled and brightened its fine rooms. In the ball-room are two very interesting paintings of the town, as it appeared above a cen- tury since. On one, the tower of the Carmelite friary appears, where Mary's church now stands; the bridge (as at present) is in the centre of this view ; beyond it the Butter Tower ; and on the edge of the river, at the same side, appears another gate, it may be presumed St. John's. North of the river, between it and the Magdalen, are marked four gates ; be- tween the Magdalen and St. Peter's church appears Sunday's gate ; then a fine house, possibly the Pri- mate's ; after that another steepled church ; and last St. Lawrence's gate. The other view purports to be taken near the old barracks on the Mill-mount. In 1810, the Corporation voted a sum of £700 towards the expense of repairing, altering, and furnishing this house. The Custom-House is immediately adjacent to the latter edifice, and near it is the Collector's House, and the Revenue Office. The site, on which they have been built, was purchased in 1780, from Mr. 72 MODERN STATISTICS. George Schoales, when part of the premises was given by the Corporation to widen the quay. The Corn-Market is a spacious and commodious building, erected in Fair-street, after a design by the late Mr. F. Johnstone ; the sheds are supported each by a range of large stone pillars ; public sales are held here on every Saturday, but com is sold and delivered on every day of business by dealers, to the merchants and millers. The supply is chiefly derived from Navan and Oldcastle in Meath, from Cavan, and also from Ardee. All the com, so car- ried in and not bought by millers, distillers, and brewers, is exported to England and Scotland, with the exception of about 250 tons sent annually coast- wise, to the North of Ireland and Dublin. MANUFACTURES. The Linen-Hall is an extensive building, si- tuated on a piece of ground granted by the Corpora- tion in trust for this purpose in 1770. It hes close to the edge of the river, and contains five halls, where the business of the market for hnen yarn and linen cloth is transacted on Saturdays. The north hall was built in 1774, by the exertions of Alderman Chesshire ; the additions have been made since. The manufacture of coarse linen, sail-cloth, canvass ticken, coarse table and towel cloth, and sheetings, was for- merly carried on here to a very great extent, so con- siderably indeed, that £10,000 used to be the aver- age expenditure at this hall on every market day ; MANUFACTURES. 73 the character of the manufacture, however, declined, in consequence of certain traders mixing the cotton in the warps with the linen, from which, and other causes generally affecting the trade, the sales of linen declined, and the hand-loom weaving suffered pro- portionablj. In evidence, however, given to Parlia- ment in 1836, the average of linen annually manu- factured at Drogheda, was calculated at 30,000 pieces, a large proportion of which was consigned to the Dublin market. This revival of the trade may be attributed to the operations of the flax mills re- cently established in this town. The first of these opened was the Drogheda Flax Mill, for the manu- facture of linen yarn from tow and flax, for the sup- ply of the weavers; its engine, of 75 horse power, cost £3000, and its funnel, cistern, and gas reservoir are worthy of the works. This mill moves 7652 spin- dles, and gives present employment to about 250 per- sons. It stands upon the ground anciently the cemetery of the religious house of St. Mary de Urso, and from its gable windows commands delightful views of Drogheda, the windings of theBoyne, and Oldbridge. Near this, higher up the Boyne, is the Mell Flax Mill, worked by two engines, each of 25 horse power, which move 5000 spindles, consume five tons of flax weekly, producing nearly £100 worth of yarn; this employs about 200 hands daily, and is situated in an open and healthy situation, commanding views equally ex- tensive with the last. A third, St. Maria's Flax Mill, at the Meath side of the river, is also worked by two 74 MODERN STATISTICS. engines, eacli of 50 horse power; they cost £4000, and are capable of driving 14,000 spindles, in their full operation, its motion is, however, yet Hmited to a smaller number. It consumes about eight tons of flax per week, and gives employment to 420 persons. For the service of these mills flax is collected from the counties of Cavan,Monaghan,and Armagh, while supphes of yam are also had from Belfast, Navan, Longford, and Koscommon, as well as from England and Scotland; and thus, about 1500 looms are fed within the town and its immediate Hberties, and some diaper ornamented linen is made thereout, but of a coarse quality. Cotton Mill. — The cotton trade was also for- merly carried on here very extensively, perhaps too extensively for the welfare and purity of the linen manufacture, but is now very limited, not employ- ing more than fifteen looms in the town, and is con- fined to the making of checques and domestic caHcoes, which are sold through the country by the manufac- turers. The great cause of this decHne was the com- mercial panic of 1825-6, when many of the weavers, both of cotton and linen, emigrated, and it is said that at present, weavers from Drogheda are to be found at Rouen in France, and in America, as well as in Manchester, Wigan, Barnsley, and in the neigh- bourhood of DubHn. A large mill for spinning cot- ton has, however, been recently erected on the northern side of the river, at the edge of the liberties, but the proprietor has declined furnishing any par- MANUFACTUEES. 75 ticulars of its works or operations. It has a fine head of fresh water, from which the influx of the river Boyne is ingeniously excluded. Near this are some small works for canvass and sail cloth. The tanning business is still carried on here as extensively, in proportion to former times, as it is in any other part of Ireland, and there are also several leather manufacturers who send supplies of that ar- ticle to Meath, Cavan, and Dublin. For their use bark and valonia are imported from England and by sea from DubHn; one of these manufacturers makes about six tons of glue annually; the shoe-making trade is here, however, wholly for the local demand. The making of soap and candles is rather largely carried on, and large quantities are sent hence for retail into Meath and Cavan. Of tobacco manufac- turers there were ten here in 1785, having twelve tobacco tables and twenty-four presses, and manufac- turing upwards of 21,000 lbs. of tobacco; the present manufacturers, four in number, use about 36 hogs- heads of tobacco in suppljdng the local trade and some inland towns. — There are also here six salt works, consuming annually about 6000 tons of rock salt, the demand for manufactured salt for retail in the interior towns being very great. There were formerly several small distilleries in this town, which gave a market for the corn of the surrounding dis- trict; but the severity of the excise laws cut down this baneful manufacture, and has left but one esta- bhshment of the kind existing in Drogheda, that of 76 MODERN STATISTICS. Messrs. Wolsey and Jameson. In 1782, there were 27 stills of between 200 and 600 gallons in the town; the chief distillers of that time being Launcelot Dowdall, William Dardis, Pierce Archbold, James Lynch, John Farrel, Patrick Gemon, John Skelton, Christopher Magrane, &c. — Beer and ale were for- merly imported into this town; in 1784, however, there were fifty-three malt houses, principally for the supply of the brewers here, there are now but two breweries, those of Mr. Gernon and Mr.Cairnes, ' the character of their ale, that of the latter especially, is however of such repute, that it meets considerable sale in Dublin, and the north of Ireland, and is also exported to England. — There are several large ^owr and corn mills here : as Mr. St. George Smith's, Mr. Hill's, Mr. Green's, Mr. Wriggley's at Newtown, &c. The buildings and machinery of the former cost £20,000, its movements are efiected by a steam en- gine of 50 horse power, and are capable of grinding 40,000 barrels of wheat, and 60,000 barrels of oats annually. — On the south quay are gas works, and near them the extensive iron and brass foundry of Messrs. Thomas Grendon and Co. This is capable of making the largest castings, and, while several of ten tons weight have been lately, with due respect to native industry, manufactured for the Dublin and Drogheda Eailway, it appears this house could make of double that weight if required. Attached to this foundry is a factory for steam engines and boilers, where the largest marine and land steam engines and boil- - ;^!5f?y^" COMMERCE, ETC. 77 ers, as well as steam boilers for agricultural purposes, are manufactured. The average number, to whom this establishment gives employment, is about 200. — In St. Jameses Dock- Yard near this, some fine ships have been built, especially one within the last year, which is designed to trade between Dublin and Australia. — It may be here added, that red bricks of fine quality are made near the town, and are sold at the kilns for 30^. a thousand. COMMERCE, ETC Harbour. — The harbour of Drogheda is formed by the outfall of the river Boyne, assisted by the ebb from a considerable tide basin below the town. It was formerly very difiicult of access, being very nar- row, and having also a bar lying across it, over which vessels could not pass, except at high water. So early as 1703, a committee of Parhament was appointed to prepare a biU for making this river navigable, and it was ordered, that all the representatives of the adja- cent counties and boroughs should be of that com- mittee. Little, however, having been done in fur- therance of their intention, the Corporation of Drogheda, in 1729, petitioned the Irish Parliament, with, the object of having the channel, harbour, and river cleansed, and a Ballast Office erected ; upon which the Act, 3 Geo. II. c. 21, was passed, consti- tuting the Mayor, Sheriffs, Burgesses, and Commons of Drogheda, keepers and conservators of its river 78 MODERN STATISTICS. and port, with powers to make by-laws for the cleansing of the harbour, and security of the ship- ping, to erect a ballast office, raise ballast, impose duties, &c. All monies levied under the powers of this Act (salaries and necessary expenses being deducted), were to be applied to the improvement of the harbour; and the overplus, if any, to sup- port a workhouse for promoting the linen ma- nufacture. To this Act succeeded the provisions of the 33 Geo. II. c. 1, s. 14, and the 1 Geo. III. c. 1, s. 31. In 1759, £2000 was granted by Parlia- ment, and a like sum in 1761, to the Corporation for promoting inland navigation, to be by them ap- plied for deepening this harbour, from the pile work below the bridge to the bar of the river ; by which aid a cut was formed through gravel and sand on the south side of the river, and the existing difficulty to a vessel, coming up to the town with a south or north wind, was thereby removed. In 1781, £1000 more was granted for similar purposes, and a Hke sum in 1783. Further enactments were passed with the object of facilitating the navigation of this river, by the 21 and 22 Geo. III. c. 1, s. 26, and the 23 and 24 Geo. III. c. 1, s. 31. In 1785, an Act was passed (25 Geo. III. c. 64) to amend the former Act of 3 Geo. II. c. 21, for cleansing this port, and erecting a ballast office; no ballast office has, however, been since erected. Other provisions are embodied in the Acts 27 Geo. III. c. 30, s. 25, 29 Geo. III. c. 33, s. 2, and 30 Geo. III. c. 40. In 1790, in consequence COMMERCE, ETC. 79 of repeated petitions from the Corporation, mer- chants, and inhabitants of Drogheda, a Parliamentary grant of £600 per annum, for the twelve succeeding years, was given, and an Act passed (30 Geo. III. c. 39), whereby the Mayor and Recorder of Drogh- eda, the representatives in ParHament for Meath, Louth, and Drogheda, and six Aldermen, and seven members of the Common Council, were constituted Commissioners for improving and cleansing the river and harbour, and certain duties on the tonnage of vessels were thereby imposed, to be apphed for such purposes. In 1797, the latter Act was amended by the 37 Geo. III. c. 56, and powers given for purchas- ing and improving the waste ground, before alluded to as since built upon, for quays and storehouses. The imperial legislature has further provided for the objects, powers, and available funds of those Com- missioners, by the following local Acts, 43 Geo. III. c. Ix. 48 Geo. III. c. cvi. 50 Geo. III. c. x. and 7 & 8 Geo. IV. c. XXXV. while the Act, 5 & 6 Vict. c. ci. transferred all property to a new set of Com- missioners thereby appointed, and prescribed their quaUfications, powers, and duties; and the Commis- sioners of PubHc Works have advanced X10,000 on mortgage of the toUs and securities by bonds, and have recommended a further loan of £5000, for con- tinuing and completing the improvement of the har- bour. By tfaese several means the quay has been widened to an extent of about ten feet on the north side of the river, from the bridge to a point opposite 80 MODERN STATISTICS. the custom-house; new quay walls have been con- structed, and the river deepened four feet, so that vessels of 400 tons, by discharging part of their cargo below, can come up to the bridge; the port is, however, more adapted to vessels of about 200 tons, drawing from ten to twelve feet of water, while above the bridge the river is navigable for lighters of 70 tons. Three Hghthouses have been recently erected on the sand hills at the entrance of the har- bour. The exertions of the Corporation for yet further improvements are indefatigable. Some no- tion may be formed of the scouring power of this river, when it is considered that the Boyne takes its rise about fifty miles above Drogheda, and, draining a tract of 700 square statute miles, dehvers about 3000 cube feet of water per second, in ordinary times, at the bridge. The river meets the tide about a mile and a half above Drogheda, and the tidal basin below extends over a space of 460 statute acres; it is 7000 yards in length from the bridge to the narrow between the sand hills called the Crooks, gradually widening from 160 feet at the bridge, to half a mile at Beltra, and then suddenly contracting to a breadth of 160 yards at high, and 90 yards at low water. This space contains at high water 3,600,000 cube yards, or 97^ millions of feet, the tide in which basin, at ordinary times, flows 4 hours 20', and ebbs 8 hours 5'; but these proportions of course vary in freshes and draughts. Commerce. — Being, as Drogheda is, the embou- 'i^^^^w:w:r:r^f'^ 7 COMMERCE, ETC. 81 chure of all that the fertility ofMeath and Louth can produce, and, situated nearly opposite Liverpool, it maintains the most extensive commerce, not only with England and Scotland, to which five steam packets, of about 350 tons each, are constantly ply- ing from thence, but also with Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. About sixty years since, the shipping interest from this town gave employment to but a soHtary vessel, the Mary Anne, whose ladings, insurances, departures, and returns, were at the time a source of reiterated excitement to the merchants, and are now traditionary themes of won- der and diversion among their descendants. Drogh- eda linens were then a principal export, and were entitled to a bounty under the revision of the Linen Board. The principal Exports are cattle, sheep, pigs, corn, flour, oatmeal, salt, eggs, butter, wool, cotton, &c. .The cattle and sheep exported are from Meath and Louth, while the great supply of pigs ar- rives by the Kells' line. There is also a great car- r}'ing trade from this town westward, in timber, chiefly plank, iron, coal, salt, leather, glue, tobacco, soap, slates, Scotch cured fish, &c. The chief Im- ports are slates, coal, culm, rock salt, iron, bark, herrings, and dried fish, sugar, linen, yarn, tea, to- bacco, wines, glass, with manufactured goods of all kinds ; indeed all the merchandize sold or used in the town is imported, except a portion of the sugar, tea, whiskey, wine, tobacco, apparel, hardware, and some minor articles obtained from Dublin; the trade, VOL. I. G 82 MODERN STATISTICS. however, with the metropoUs is, under existing cir- cumstances, decreasing, and that with Liverpool extending ; the Liverpool agents of the Drogheda Steam Company being required to act as brokers for all persons who get goods from England by the Company's vessels. The value of the exports, as estimated in 1 835, was £766,027, that of the imports, £259,854. According to the returns for the year ending in the January of that year (1835), there were shipped from this port 126,380 loads of meal, 42,500 bushels of wheat, 3000 barrels of peas, 37,000 sacks of flour, 2500 barrels of barley, 22,000 of oats, ] 3,000 crates of eggs, 600 firkins of butter, 4 100 cows, 12,000 sheep, 39,000 pigs, and 500 barrels of ale. The number of vessels in the foreign trade, that entered inwards during that interval, was 14 British and three foreign, and 2 British vessels cleared outwards. In the trade with Great Britain and across the channel, 494 ships, including steam vessels, entered inwards, and 462 cleared outwards; and in the trade with various ports in Ireland, 42 entered inwards and 23 cleared outwards. The number of vessels, registered as belonging to this port, was stated some years since as forty, of an ag- gregate burden of 3763 tons; a later return to Par- Hament, in 1841, states the total tonnage of the vessels registered in Drogheda during that year, as 4850. It but remains to mention in this section of the work, that Drogheda gives title of Marquess and Earl to the noble family of Moore. ■ --'.W BWiWPiy'j'.i™ ANCIENT STATISTICS. Intebspersed amongst the edifices of the modern town, are many interesting monastic remains, and some yet surviving, though greatly decayed, frag- ments of the high massive , WALLS AND GATES, I that once defended this scene of ancient political and commercial renown. Of the walls, those portions which led from the West gate to the river, and from Lawrence's gate to the quay, the Une that bounds Dominick-lane at west, and the sections at the south side of Scarlet-street and Patrick-street, are still to be seen on the Louth side of the river ; while on the Meath, a considerable but interrupted line is trace- able from the Butter Tower atfoot of the Mill-mount, from Blackbut-lane to Priest's-lane, and enclosing the burial ground of St. Mary's parish at south and east; there is also a fragment standing between St. James's- street and the Bojnie, and these several portions of ancient fortifications are still fortunately the res- pected boundaries of private property. •g2 - ■i»ii«n..u- 'JsimmmmmmfHI^lS'^ 84 ANCIENT STATISTICS. The gates, that guarded the approaches to the town at the north side, were, in the succession of the circuit, West-gate, composed of two towers and a portcullis between (adjoining which, on the town wall, was a turret, that, in 1668, was granted by the Corporation to Alderman Towers); Fair-gate, so called from its having been the direct entrance to that part of the town where fairs were commonly held; Sunday's, denominated from Sunday's friary, which it immediately abutted, and of which, traces still exist in its vicinity (this was Hkewise popularly called the Cow-gate, and was a square castle, having near it also two towers, the Tooting and Boulter's tower, while another, immediately over it, was, in 1664, demised by the Corporation to the Guild of Smiths for their hall, at a rent of five shillings, for sixty-one years) ; St. Lawrence's gate, and Cathe- rine's, the latter having been erected on the edge of the river. Nearly upon the site of the first, the fine house of Mr. Carty, the present Mayor, has been erected ; a fragment of Sunday's gate is the gable of a forge; Catherine's and Fair-gate are no longer identified, even through a name ; but St. Lawrence's bears ample inferential testimony to the beauty and strength of its coeval fortifications. It presents two perfect round towers, of four stories, connected by a portcullis and a retaining wall to their summits, as in the annexed engraving. This structure, and the street that leads from it to the Tholsel, are by some supposed to derive their name from the nineteenth '^- - / i-J.VaurlvlIf . 84 ANCIENT STATISTICS. The gates, that guarded the approaches to the town at the north side, were, in the succession of the circuit, West-gate, composed of two towers and a portcullis between (adjoining which, on the town wall, was a turret, that, in 1668, was granted by the Corporation to Alderman Towers); Fair-gate, so called from its having been the direct entrance to that part of the town where fairs were commonly held; Sunday's, denominated from Sunday's friary, which it immediately abutted, and of which, traces still exist in its vicinity (this was Hkewise popularly called the Cow-gate, and was a square castle, having near it also two towers, the Tooting and Boulter's tower, while another, immediately over it, was, in 1664, demised by the Corporation to the Guild of Smiths for their haJl, at a rent of five shillings, for sixty-one years) ; St. Lawrence's gate, and. Cathe- rine's, the latter having been erected on the edge of the river. Nearly upon the site of the first, the fine house of Mr. Carty, the present Mayor, has been erected ; a fragment of Sunday's gate is the gable of a forge; Catherine's and Fair-gate are no longer ^ identified, even through a name; but St. Lawrence'* bears ample inferential testimony to the beauty and strength of its coeval fortifications. It presents two perfect r^und towers, of four stories, connected by a ^, portcullis and a retaining wall to their summits, as in the annexed engraving. This structure, and the. . street that leads from it to the Tholsel, are by some It- supposed to derive their name from the nineteenth ^ ?«• w ■•*?•; Tmm^ »* "" «.;-■■ sr* » S^»|WJPI.J .-1 f^f^Ti'- ■ ■ WALLS AND GATES. 85 Baron of Howth, who had possessions here, and is buried in the adjacent cemetery of the Cord ; the priory of St. Lawrence has, however, with much more probabiUty, communicated the designation, preceding, as it did, by many years, the origin of Lord Howth's title in this locahty. At the Meath side, continuing the circuit, was the Dublin or St. James's gate, also called, from the monastery outside it, and communi- cating that designation to the street which yet bears the name. Next to this succeeded the Blind gate, and Duleek gate on the road to that ancient town ; St. John's gate, the access to the fine old priory of St. John of Jerusalem, which stood on the grounds of Ball's grove ; and lastly, the Butter or Buttress gate, an octagon tower, still standing, and perforated with a round arched passage, wider in the inner span than in the outer. All these gates existed to a pe- riod of about " sixty years since," and it is within the recollection of many, how solemnly they used to be closed at the ninth hour, and a watchman assigned to each, through whom ingress or egress might be obtained till midnight, when the keys of all were deposited in the central guard-house, and no further thoroughfare tolerated until morning. The progress, however, of civilization and the mail-coaches, over- ran such exclusive regulations ; while it may be re- marked, that with all these precautions against hos- tile attacks, Drogheda was, in truth, commanded by several immediately adjacent eminences, from which, the well directed requisition of scientific beleaguerers could easily compel a capitulation. # 86 ANCIENT STATISTICS. It is said, and, it would appear, with much truth, that at an early period in the ninth century Turge- sius, the Danish king, fortified this place, and made it his strong-hold, whence he frequently sallied, and laid waste the surrounding country ; the eminence, called the Mill-mount, is supposed to have been the erection of his hord^ although there are some who would refer its origin to the more remote period, when the Boyne divided the kingdoms of Heberand Heremon, as hereafter mentioned. In their judg- ment, it is identified with the great dun, that in bardic story is recorded to have stood near the historic plain of Magh-Breagh, and under a higher moated section of which the bard Amergin was in- terred. The mount must, undoubtedly, have been always considered the citadel of Drogheda, until the improved science of war suggested more command- ing stations in the vicinity for the efiective opera- tions of artillery, and it may be well imagined, that, as was the custom of the Danish commanders in Ire- land, Turgesius, during his occupation of this town, cast up some rude fortifications in the way of trenches, banks, and ditches, around it, and made quays for mooring ships along the river, though all traces of such works must have passed away on subsequent improvements. Soon after the English invasion, as shown hereafter, this locality was by them also se- lected as of border importance, and, while two castles here defended the marches, walls and mounds were thrown up, at first of more rude materials, but, subse- •r-*'fr ^w.'taj^ff;?' WALLS AND GATES. I 87 quently, in 1234, a murage charter was granted for the town at both sides of the river, in aid, and for the safe keeping and defence of the same. It de- tails fully the customs thereby sanctioned, and di- rects that they should be applied in walling of said town, under the inspection of two burgesses ; that they are to enure but for three years, and then to be altogether abolished. A further subsidy and aid was conceded in 1 279, for a stone enclosure ; another in 1296 ; and a third in 1316, to the amount of three hundred marks, towards the repair of the wall and towers. In 1319, 1320, and 1322, royal mandates issued to the Lord Justice of Ireland, directing him to remit to the Mayor and burgesses of Drogheda at the Louth side, their fee farm rent of sixty marks per annum, for the term of the five ensuing years, in order the better to effectuate the extension of their fortifications ; while, in two years afterwards, the same royal bounty granted to the burgesses of the town at the Meath side, an aid for repairing and strengthening their portion of the walls and towers against the Scots, and other the king's enemies, same to be charged upon the customs and farms of said town. In 1334, the authorities at each side of the Boyne had an allowance for five years towards pav- iage and murage ; and other murage charters were granted in 1343, 1356, 1362, 1370, 1373, and 1374; nor were King Edward's grants for such purposes suffered to be diverted, as may well be inferred from the numerous writs during his reign, ordering his 88 ANCIENT STATISTICS. Justiciary and ofBcers to seize into his hands, the estates and castles which he had granted, and which were left unfortified, and to apply the profits thereof to strengthen and defend them, for the safety of his dominions. In 1380, the calamity of pestilence, and the superadded infliction of incessant warfare with the Scots and native septs, had so reduced the bur- gesses of Drogheda, that King Richard the Second then conferred upon them certain customs and du- ties for the repair of their walls and fortifications, and for the general improvement of the town. In 1385, another murage charter was granted to the Mayor and Commonalty of Drogheda on the Louth side ; and others in subsequent years, as more parti- cularly mentioned in the section on the Corporate History, The walls of Drogheda extended in their circum- ference, including the breadth of the river, somewhat more than a mile and a half, and enclosed an area of about sixty-four acres of the old Irish measure, their general height being from twenty to twenty-two feet, and their thickness from four to six, diminish- ing towards the summit, so as to allow a space of about two feet, with embrasures, for the soldiery to act from. In latter times, probably after the inven- tion of gunpowder, this space was augmented by an addition of three or four feet, supported by columns of stone, and elliptic arches, on and through which, a passage led round the town, with doorways through the gates, castles, and turrets. The banks of the river WALLS AND GATES. 89 were also fortified by walls and turrets projecting into the water, as appears by a painting of Droghedain the hall of Beaulieu House, taken in the reign of Charles the Second. The oldest survey of Drogheda, that the writer of this history has seen, is that of which an en- graving is given in the second volume of this work; it was taken by a person of the name of Newcomen, in the year 1657, and is preserved in the Tholsel. In it is distinctly marked the line of the walls, with Lawrence's gate, Sunday's gate. West-gate, and towers at sundry intervals. Another illustration of the pre- sent subject occurs in Yallancey's transcript of a map of the barony of Ferrard, which he found preserved in the library of the King of France, and which pur- ported to be a copy of the Down Survey, taken after the devastation of the two sieges of 1641 and 1649. The town walls are, in a vignette hereon, represented in such a state of repair, as even then to exhibit seven gates and two small towers at north, and five at south; the sites of St. Peter's, and the Abbey, St. Mary's, and St. James's, are also correctly marked upon this document. At the time of the above sieges respectively, ramparts were thrown up outside the gates, in particular directions, the better to resist hostile approaches, and accordingly, in the succeed- ing years, in leases made by the Corporation, occur, as subjects of demise, " Black's Rampier," on the Meath side ; " the Eampier without Duleek gate," in the same quarter ; and various entries occur, in such of the Assembly books as yet exist, of disburse- k. 90 ANCIENT STATISTICS. ments for the repairs of these walls and ramparts, es- pecially in 1676. Taylor and Skinner's map of 1778, also preserved in the Tholsel, is extremely interest- ing on this branch of the subject; upon it appear then existing. Fair gate and West gate, each at the termination of the respective streets from which they derive their names : Dublin gate, at the end of James' s-street, where the stream, that runs through the Dale, falls perpendicularly into the Boyne. This map also otherwise suggests curious observations on the state of the town at that period. Fair-street ap- pears only built upon at the south side, the north being chiefly laid out in gardens ; Dyer-street closes in the market-place, and the quay extends no far- ther, but gardens run from the south side of West- street, beyond Stockwell-lane, to the water's edge. A fine limestone quarry appears open at St. James's, beyond which is marked Cromwell's mount; St. Mary's church west of this, and near it the barracks on Mill-mount. It only remains to add, that, in con- sequence of the unjustifiable dilapidations, that were directed against the surviving traces of Drogheda's once massive fortifications, the Assembly, in 1808, passed a resolution intended for their preservation, and which is embodied in the section on the Corpo- rate History. CASTLES, FORTS, ETC. The castles of Ireland may be considered of two classes, the most ancient erected by the Palatines or CASTLES, FORTS, ETC 91 Deputies, at the assailable points of the English pos- sessions, for their defence, and which, having been retained in the royal hands, and held by Constables appointed by the Crown, were peculiarly called the King's Castles. Of these were the Castles of Drogh- eda, Dublin, Trim, Carlingford, Carrickfergus, Ath- lone. Limerick, &c.; other castles for the pro- tection of person and property, were individually erected, and tenanted as the settlement extended. The former were long used for the custody of those who were considered criminals or enemies, and their range was extended as the country was taken in from the Irishry. In a document of the time of Elizabeth, preserved in the British Museum (Titus, B. 12), showing how Ireland was reduced, and by what means retained under the English government, it appears that the chief policy recommended was, " to restrain and take from the Irishry, by httle and little, all trust of government, to build castles and fenced houses, and to commit the captaincies to trusty and well alFected English." On this princi- ple, immediately after the invasion, two castles were erected here, the Castle of Drogheda, properly so styled, and the Castle of Blackagh or Ulnagh, as it is otherwise called in some ancient documents, both situated at the Meath side of the Boyne. It may be reasonably presumed, that these were erected by Hugh de Lacy, the first Palatine of Meath, and who, by such erection of castles along the marches, best secured the settlement of English rule within the 92 ANCIENT STATISTICS. district called the Pale. Having, however, married a daughter of Roderic O'Conor, once the acknow- ledged King of Ireland, and even then recognized by Henry the Second as King of Connaught, he in- curred the royal jealousy, and was recalled in 1180, but soon afterwards restored. In a grant, however, of 1189, whereby Walter, the son of this Hugh de Lacy, received back from the Crown various tracts of the surrounding country, which his father there- tofore possessed, the Castle of Drogheda, and all the land which De Lacy had in Drogheda, were espe- cially excepted; and the castle, as a royal and im- portant fortress, was ordered to be committed to the custody of Richard de Tuyt; a direction which, not being promptly attended to by the Justiciary, the king sent him a mandatory letter, expressive of his surprise at the delay, requiring its immediate execu- tion, with an additional requisition, to the Archbishop of Dublin and the Barons of Ireland, to assist in its performance. [This Richard de Tuyt, the first cas- tellan of Drogheda, had accompanied the Earl of Chepstow, sumamed Strongbow, into Ireland, and obtained by the influence of that leader, and by his own valour, considerable possessions in Teflia, in the west of Meath ; this endowment is noticed in the French Metrical poem, popularly attributed to Regan (the Secretary of Dermot Mac Murrough), in the words, " A Richard Tuite ensement, Donad rich feffement.'' 'T-'Wft'^jgR^ip*:-;" CASTLES, FORTS, ETC 93 When Meath, the mensal demesne of the Irish kings, was erected into a Palatinate, this Richard became a Palatine peer, by the style of Baron of Moyashell, a title which he transmitted to his posterity. He was killed in 1211, by the fall of a tower in Athlone, and buried in the Abbey near Granard, which himself had previously founded, and where he had also raised a frontier castle. Eichard, his son, thereupon inherited the manors of Kilalton, Demar, and Kilster, as did his brother Maurice the lands of Lochlock, Sonnagh, Imper, Jordanstown, &c. To this Richard the custody of the Castle of Clonmacnois was com- mitted in 1224, and in 1232 he marched, under the command of William de Lacy, into Upper Breffny, against the O'Reillys, by whose sept the invaders were defeated with much loss,. Richard de Tuyt, and Simon de Lacy, being amongst the wounded. In 1244, he had military summons to a ro}^l expe- dition against the Scots. His issue male became extinct in the second generation, but Maurice, his ' brother, dying in 1282, left John his eldest son, who had military summons as one of the " Fideles" of Ireland in 1302, and was required by royal man- date, in 1309, to attend the muster at Newcastle-upon- Are, but he dying previous thereto, Sir Richard, his eldest son, succeeded to Sonnagh, &c. In 1310, he sat in Parliament as a Palatine knight ; he also had military summonses against the Scots, as one of the "Nobiles" of Ireland, and in 1311, was required to attend the Parhament of Kilkenny. In 1314, he 94 ANCIENT STATISTICS. was one of those who embarked from this port on the expedition to Scotland in aid of Edward the Second; in 1317, he was requested to continue his exertions for the defence of Ireland; in 1318, was one of the warriors who fought at the hardly con- tested field of Faughart, as hereafter mentioned ; in 1323, he was commanded to resist and pursue Ro- ger de Mortimer, in the event of his taking refuge in that countr}'; in the following year was sum- moned to the defence of the dutchy of Aquitaine, and in 1 325, sat as a peer in Parliament. He had acquired the manor of Killeen, and other possessions, which passed, with the heiress of his first marriage, to Sir Christopher Plunkett, the ancestor of the no- ble famihes of Fingal and Dunsany. Sir Richard's second wife was a daughter of the house ofOrmond, and by her he had John his eldest son, and other children. Tliis John de Tuyt was commanded to attend a hosting for the defence of the marches, in 1327; in 1333, he sat in a Parliament at Dublin, and in 1335, was knighted. His eldest son and heir, Richard, acquired not only the inheritance of his fa- ther, but also the manors which had been settled on the eldest son of the first Richard, whose male line had failed about this time. An inquisition, taken on his decease, enumerates his possessions as com- prising the manors of Clonduff, Killeen, Spen, Fyn- nagh, William stown, Castlecorr, Killallon, and Trim, with the townlands of Castletown, Robertstown, Corbally, Tybritt, Hamondstown, Hughstown, be- ,■•■■-' •■.'^nrTTVE?^^- CASTLES, FORTS, ETC. 95 sides thirty-three other extensive townlands. His bro- ther, Thomas de Tuyt, was his heir male, who was ac- cordingly summoned as a knight, to various Parha- ments and Great Councils; he died about 1382, leaving John, his heir, and other sons, all under age at the time of their father's decease. This John had letters of protection and restoration of hie estates, according to the law of wardship, in 1389, and in 1395 was knighted; his heir was Thomas, in whose time Andrew Tuyt was one of the great men of the Pale, who signed the memorable memorial in favour of Lord Furnival. Thomas's son and heir was John Tuyt of Sonnagh, whose heir was another Thomas, who, dying in 1516, left John his heir, who died about 1542, leaving Thomas of Sonnagh, &c. This last individual was summoned in 1556, to ap- pear with his men and horses, at a general hosting against an expected invasion of Ulster by the Scots, and in ten years afterwards had a similar mandate to join the Lord Deputy's expedition against Shane O'Neill; he died in 1577, leaving John deTuyt his heir at law, who died in 1597, leaving Ohver his heir at law, who was created a baronet by King James in 1622, and whose successive lineal heirs male have since enjoyed the title. They, and the other descendants of Sir Oliver, distinguished them- selves by their attachment to the Stuart family, and suflfered severely for their allegiance. In the confis- cations of 1641 alone, they lost most extensive tracts in the counties of Longford, Meath, and West- 96 ANCIENT STATISTICS. meath, which were distributed to Lord Wharton, Robert Cooke, and many other patentees. In the Act of Settlement, three members of this family were expressly mentioned, as having faithfully served the king's cause in parts beyond seas, Captain Jasper Tuite, Lieutenant Harvey Tuite, and Ensign William Tuite. From the time of the first settlement of this family in Meath, to the period last alluded to, no less than forty castles are accounted as of their foun- dation. In the subsequent Parliaments of Ireland, the Tuites have represented various localities. In the " History of Westmeath," written by Sir Henry Piers, in 1682, he speaks of the Tuites as Barons of Moy- ashell, adding, that " they still remain of good re- pute and port, although the title be almost obsolete." In 1691, Captain Tuite was one of the prisoners taken at Limerick, and who, after the capitulation, was confined in the " Wheat Sheaf" until exchanged. Sir Mark Anthony Henry is the present baronet, but the inheritance of the ancient estate of Sonnagh vested by family settlement in his cousin Hugh Tuite, whose eldest son, Hugh Morgan Tuite, Esq., is one of the present representatives of the county Westmeath in Parliament, and who, on the recent decease of his father, became seised of the family estates]. The royal exception of the Castle of Drogheda, so contained in the grant of 1189, was continued in a similar patent of 1215, to the aforesaid Walter de Lacy, on his payment of a fine of 4000 marks ; but CASTLES, FORTS, ETC. 97 in the subsequent year, that fortress was also en- trusted to his keeping. The De Lacy and De Ver- don families used, at this time, to receive an annuity of twenty-five marks each, out of the town and from the Castle of Blackagh. In 1217, the custody of the Castle ofDroghedawas committed to the Archbishop of Armagh, but, in the following year, this Prelate besought the Crown to relieve him from the respon- sibility; and, although his request was refused, a royal mandate issued, that he should not be suffered to sustain any loss or damage by its retention. He was, however, soon afterwards released altogether from this charge, and Thomas Stanley, Thomas de Mym- mys, and John Yore, are noticed on record, as suc- cessive constables before 1300. In 1308, Geoffrey de Geneville received the sum of £597 1^. 4d., the amount of arrears due to him, for several years' cus- tody of the Castles of Blackagh and Drogheda and of the town of Drogheda on the Meath side. [The grandfather and namesake of this Geoffrey de Gene- ville, was brother of the famous Jean de Joinville, the companion and historian of St. Louis, That Geoffrey intermarried with one of the two great grand-daughters of Hugh de Lacy, the first Palatine of Meath, while her sister Margery of Lough Suidy, became the wife of John de Verdon, who thereupon possessed her moiety, together with the office and dig- nity of Constable of Ireland ; the manor of Trim, the " caput baronice" being allotted in De Geneville's share. The Geoffrey here mentioned as the Castel- VOL. I. H 98 ANCIENT STATISTICS. Ian, was the confidential friend of Edward the Tirst, and engaged by him in almost all the great transac- tions of the time, both at home and abroad. Having embarked, according to the fashionable chivalry of the day, in a crusade to the Holy Land, he was, on his return, sent into Ireland as Lord Justice, where he soon afterwards founded the Dominican friary of Trim. In 1308, however, he resigned the lordship of Meath to his grand-daughter and her ambitious husband Roger de Mortimer, retired into the esta- blishment so founded by him, and there, in the habit of the Order, closed his days in 1314]. The imme- diate successors of De Geneville, in the trust of this important fortress, were, as far as ascertained : 1317. Edward de Barnewall. 1324. Lawrence Calf 1326. Richard de Preston. [This Richard, during his hfe, chiefly resided at Beaubeck, where he appears to have died, about the year 1384, leaving his son Thomas heir to his estates in Meath and Louth]. 1333. Walter de Bykenor. [He had, in 1356, the further confidential charge of superintending the creeks, harbours, and shore, from Holmpatrick to Dublin, to prevent the exportation of grain or fish thence.] 1336. Alan Core, 1354. Thomas Raggett. 1344. Gerald de St. Mi- 1357. John de Wood- chael. - stock. 1346. Maurice de Stokes. CASTLES, FORTS, ETC. 99 I The salary for this charge was, at that time, lOOs.per annurrij with an allowance for arms and provisions. In 1358, in consequence of many prisoners having escaped from this castle of Drogheda, timber and iron were ordered to be supplied for its repairs ; and in 1380, Edmund de Mortimer, Earl of March, re- ceived a sum of £358 5s. 5d. arrears of a yearly rent of twenty-five marks, which his father Roger and he had been entitled to receive from the Kings of Eng- land for the site of the Castle of Blackagh, in Drogheda, on the Meath side. [The Roger de Mortimer, here al- luded to, had been the infamous paramour of Queen Isabella; he was lineally descended from Ralph de Mortimer, who having been allied in the maternal line to the Conqueror, accompanied him into Eng- land, and was one of the principal commanders in his victorious army. He was afterwards deputed to encounter Edric, Earl of Shrewsbury, whom he subdued, and delivered captive to the king, where- upon he acquired possession of Wigmore Castle and the other lands of that chieftain. Roger had, as before mentioned, intermarried with the grand- daughter of Geoffrey de Geneville, by whom he had a son. and heir, Edmund de Mortimer, who in 1363 married PhiHppa, daughter of Lionel Duke of Clarence (third son of King Edward the Third) by the heiress of De Burgo, Earl of Ulster. Through this connexion he acquired ad- ditional rights in that province. About the year 1379, he was appointed Viceroy of Ireland, with h2 100 ANCIENT STATISTICS. the avowed object of conferring upon that office greater dignity; and in 1381 he died in the Domi- nican friary of Cork, leaving Roger the younger, his son and heir. Anne of Stafford, the daughter and heiress of this Roger, married Richard Duke of Cambridge, and by him had Richard Duke of York, in whose son and heir, Edward the Fourth, all these possessions merged, and became thenceforth an- nexed to the Crown. It is curious that this family surname should have continued in the vicinity to the time of James the Second, in whose charter to Drogheda, " Richard Mortimer" was named as one of the burgesses.] In Newcomen's map before men- tioned, the castle of Drogheda is distinctly marked as near the bridge, at the south side of the town, and it appears to have been the fortress designed in the corporate seal; not a trace, however, even of the foundations of this, or of the castle of Blackagh, now remains to suggest their precise site ; and du- ring the lapse of centuries, nothing worthy of his- torical notice is recorded in connexion with either. One of them, however, it may be noticed, the Cor- poration leased in 1669, to John Ley; and, in 1697, for sixty-one years (renewed in 1707), to one of their own body, Alderman Tomhnson ; again in 1 755, to James Sandiford, merchant, for a like term ; and lastly, in 1814, to his descendant, the Rev. James Sandiford, of Cloyne, for ninety-nine years : by the description throughout of " an old stone house lying on the Meath side of the town, at foot of the DOMESTIC ARCHITECTUEE, ETC. 101 hill, and commonly called the Old Tholsel, or Castle of Comfort, mearing to the way leading to the Bull- ring, up the hill to Duleek-gate on the west, St. Nicholas's church on the east, and the street called the Bull-ring on the north." Castle-street, opposite the bridge, derived its name from this edifice. Another fortress (which appears to have stood near the Coohes on the Meath side), called " Laundy's Castle, with a meadow near the standard acre," were leased by the Corporation in 1660, to Nicholas Phepoe. Possibly this latter might be the same with Blackagh, taking its later name of Laundy's from some intermediate proprietor. ! Around the town divers remains of earthworks likewise existed, one called Mortimer's moat lay south-east of St. Lawrence's gate ; another, north of the walls, was called the Town Rath, and is leased by that description to the present day ; while traces of more modern military works are discernible at several 'of the stations, which were occupied by Cromwell during the short but terrific interval of his siege. DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE, ETC The ancient domestic architecture of Drogheda, like that of other towns, consisted, from the period of the English invasion to the middle of the six- teenth century, of wooden houses, wainscotted within, and covered on the outside with lath and plaister, of which style some interesting specimens yet re- 102 ANCIENT STATISTICS. main here ; one a large house, with extensive bay, or rather oriel windows, adjoining Kirke's hotel, formerly belonged to the Dromgooles, and is still inhabited by a connexion of that family ; the doors, ceilings, beams, staircase, and balusters are of fine old oak, carved; and the walls are over-panneled and wainscotted with the same material, and hung with curious oak-framed paintings. The drawing- room floor consists of one large room, and a smaller opening into it by a narrow folding door, through a screen of oak ; bay windows project from each into the street: the chimney-pieces are very an- tique ; over that in the large room is a drawing of Mellefont Abbey, from whose once extensive woods the timber of this edifice was taken ; and in the small is suspended a large wooden-framed oblong mirror : a glass chandeher, a marble slabbed table, and se- veral portraits of the former proprietors, are amongst the heirlooms that still attach to the freehold. In this drawing-room, according to popular tradition, Cromwell held a council of war ; and here, it is with more confidence asserted, Henry Dowdal, Recorder of Drogheda, delivered the memorable address to King James the Second, in April, 1689. The garden attached to this house, when in the possession of the Dromgooles of that period, ex- tended almost to Patrick's-well-lane. — Not far from this, and in the same street, at the corner of Pa- trick's-well-lane, is another old edifice, which an inscription on a small mural slab indicates to have DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE, ETC. 103 been erected in 1583 by Nicholas Elcock; but its present appearance does not seem to verify so re- mote an origin. Tradition however states, that here, during the siege by Cromwell, the unfortunate Governor, Sir Arthur Aston, resided; and that King James was entertained, and slept here, on the night before the battle of the Boyne. — About mid- way on the ascent of Peter-street, at the right hand side, is another ancient dwelling, originally con- structed of wooden beams in the bird-cage fashion, but now plaistered over. It consisted of two stories, the upper projecting over the lower, and the oaken door-frame had an inscription, referring the date of its erection to 1626, at which time the houses of Drogheda appear to have been all of this character. At the north side of West-street, is a similar spe- cimen of this style ; and a curious edifice of a later age, with the double pointed roof, appears in Dyer- street, near the Distillery. — But the finest survivor of this class was, under apprehension of danger, taken down about fifteen years since by order of the Corporation. It occupied the angle formed by the junction of Lawrence-street and Shop-street, the principal front being in the latter, and was com- posed chiefly of oak, also from Mellefont Park. It exhibited three stories, each successively projecting beyond that below; the attic was composed of a strong square oak frame, with oak quadrants and semicircles within it, the interstices being filled with plaister ; the drawing-room floor was of a more finished character, consisting of panneling or wains- 104 ANCIENT STATISTICS. cot, each pannel being about a foot square, and fan- cifully carved with quatrefoils, and foliage executed in good style. On this floor, at the Lawrence-street side, was a handsome semicircular oriel window, consisting of four divisions ; a pannel, the pedes- tal of which contained the arms of the ancient family of De Bathe ; and on the bressimer was an inscription, stating the building to have been " made by Nicholas Bathe, in the year of our Lord God 1570, by Hugh Moor, carpenter;" these words were carved in antique raised letters of great size, and each word divided by a star; the original appearance of the ground-floor is not remembered, so many alterations had it undergone ; but Mr. Austin Nicholls, of Drogheda, has preserved sketches of the two fronts of this interesting edifice, and the bressimer is lodged in the Dublin Society. To the same architect, Hugh Moor, is attributed the con- struction of that noble pile, Athcarne Castle, which was built for another member of the De Bathe fa- mily, about twenty years after the alleged date of this. — It may be added, that near St. Lawrence- street was the immemorial residence of the Primate, and there Doctor Hampton erected that splendid mansion, which his successors for many years in- habited ; it, however, has also been taken down, and, while the later Protestant Primates have removed their residence to Armagh, the name of Palace- street now alone indicates where their predecessors abode. In a broad dry foss, outside the town wall, be- DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE, ETC. 105 tween Taylor's Hall and Tooting (i. e. shooting) Tower, the butts were, according to Statute, erected for the practice of archery ; a science which, in re- lation to its progress in Ireland, deserves a few re- marks. In the most remote periods of Irish history, the use of the bow is abundantly testified ; and the old annaUsts number archery with the exercises of the miUtia which Fin Mac Cool commanded on the plains of Dundalk. The native bow was not, how- ever, of the formidable cross-bow class first invented by the Hindoos, carried into Europe by the Crusa- ders, and by which the battles of Agincourt and Cressy were principally obtained. " The Irish short bow and little quivers, with short bearded arrows, are," remarks Spencer, " very Scythian." Hence it was, that the little detachments, that were led into this country by Strongbow and the other early ad- venturers, were enabled to efiect with the cross- bow such havoc and terror amongst the inexpe- rienced natives ; and hence did the feats of archery, performed by Robin Hood and his followers, who fled to Ireland in the reign of Richard the First, ex- cite such astonishment in the eyes of the citizens of Dublin. The English, however, had not been long settled here, when they enjoined the practice of archery on all the inhabitants of the Pale between sixteen and sixty years of age : this was ordained by Act of Parliament (5 Edw. IV. c. 4) ; and in the same session, another Act was passed, directing that butts should be set up in every town, whereat the 106 ANCIENT STATISTICS. archers should shoot on every holiday, under the penalty of one halfpenny per day for omission, " not however prohibiting gentlemen on horseback, ac- cording to their best disposition, to ride with spear, so that they have bows with their men for time of necessity." In the twelfth year of the same reign, in order to secure the supply of bows, it was en- acted (12 Edw. IV. c. 2), that every merchant and passenger, that brought merchandise out of England into Ireland to the value of £100, should bring with him into said land, in bows to the value of 100s., and so rateably ; and the Sheriffs and Bailiffs of Dublin and Drogheda were appointed searchers to effectuate the intentions of the Act. In a few years afterwards it was further ordained by 10 Hen. VII. c. 9, that the subjects of this realm shall have bows and arrows for the resistance of the maUce of their enemies and rebels, hke as they have had in times passed; afterwards, however, the use of fire-arms superseded that of archery, until at length it simk into obUvion. In the ancient town on the west side of St. Pe- ter-street (which was, until a recent period, more commonly called Pillory-street), the high cross was erected near where the town pump now stands. In the time of the Commonwealth it had been taken down, but one of the first resolutions of the Corpo- rations of King James the Second was, " that a de- cent and substantial market cross should be erected and built, on the ancient ground where a cross for- DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE, ETC. 107 merly stood." On the Meath side, adjoining to and south of St. John-street, was the bull-ring, and at both sides of the river were commons, that, on being recently enclosed, produce for purposes of charity, a rental of about £411 per annum. It should not be omitted, that, in and about Drogheda, several subterranean passages have been discovered, and many of considerable extent; one reaching from St. Peter's Church towards the Thol- sel, another in the line of West-street, a third near the ruins of the Dominican monastery, and a fourth near the burial ground, popularly called the Cord. It is also to be remarked, that, below the bridge, con- siderable traces of an ancient weir have been disco- vered in dredging the Boyne, and large quantities of stone and gravel raised thereout. Mr. Brodigan of Pilton House, a gentleman whose exertions have been unceasing for the improvement of this, his na- tive town, and at whose suggestion the work here alluded to was, with the object of improving the harbour, undertaken, has procured from Mr. John Young, the resident engineer, the following interest- ing particulars of its progress : " This part of the bed of the river was formerly supposed to be rock, but, so far as we have gone, the steam dredge has found nothing but large loose stones and shingle, which necessarily strained the machinery of the dredge more than sand or gravel, or other matter constituting the bed at "other parts of the river; but with the exception of breaking a few links, and the r^'- 108 ANCIENT STATISTICS. flue of the patent anchor, the dredge sustained no other injury. The steam dredge was employed at the supposed rock, but truly weir, from the 8th of January, 1835, to the 26th of February, during which time it raised 7875 tons of stone and shingle from the bed of the river, thereby increasing the depth of water four feet, and gaining the length of three berths along the north quay wall, equal to 80 yards, and one-half the width of the harbour. These berths are used by large vessels, where they can lie with as much safety as in any part of the harbour. The berth next the bridge was not completed at that time, and the work has not been resumed there since. The stuff raised was laid to the east side of Mr. Cairnes's works, and where the new flax mill is built ; a part of it was taken to the waste ground east of the steam packet yard. The following arti- cles were found by the workmen, when employed deepening the river, immediately below the bridge : three guineas, which passed at full value; eight watches, the works of which were, as might be sup- posed, utterly destroyed, the cases were sold for old silver ; a great number of copper coins of different descriptions; several antique pikes or halberts, one of bronze, ten inches in length by one one-tenth in breadth ; when found there was a screw in the bot- tom part which went into a socket, and thereby fas- tened it to the handle, it is otherwise in excellent preservation. There were also found one bayonet; one barrel of a gun; one spy-glass; some ship-carpen- ABBEYS, FRIARIES, ETC. 109 ters' tools, axes, caulking irons, &c.; a quantity of old marlin-spikes ; several old knives, &c.; all much decayed, with the exception of the guineas. There were a great number of cut stone quoins raised, with the mark of the tool upon them : the greater num- ber of these were found not far from th^ middle of the river." ABBEYS, FRIARIES, ETC. Of the monastic remains in Drogheda, that which has the first claim to notice, from the remoteness of its origin, is pre-eminently called, I The Abbey, situated between West-st. and the river Boyne. Its origin is traditionally referred to the period of St. Patrick, who, after founding the Abbey of Louth, sojourned here in his progress southwards; and, having baptized many of the then Pagan inha- bitants of Drogheda, in the well that still bears his name, he established a family of monks in this loca- lity, placing, as usual, an abbot over them, of whose successors some few notices are discoverable in the ancient annals; first premising, that about the mid- dle of the sixth century, St. Columba, the greatest patriarch of the monastic order in Ireland, and the Apostle of the Picts, is recorded by his biographer, Adamnan, to have sojourned here. In 738, accord- ing to the Annals of Ulster, died Cuan, the Scribe of this fraternity, a personage whose office was of no small importance for these and succeeding genera- tions, and in 747, St. Killian, Avho had been of this 110 ANCIENT STATISTICS. house, and was through Hfe pre-eminently styled " of Drogheda" (a speaking testimony to the anti- quity of the name), having theretofore become a Co- lumban monk in the sacred island of lona, died in honoured sanctity its Abbot. In 773, according to the same Annals, died Albraid Mac Foidmit, Abbot of this monastery, as did its superior Domteach in 788, and its abbot, Cormac Mac Connell, in 838. In 849, this house was consumed by the hostiUty of the Danes, at which time an oratory or penitentiary seemed to be annexed to it, which, as the Annals of the Four Masters relate, was utterly consumed on this occasion, with 260 persons then seeking shelter therein; while in 917, the same sacrilegious tjTants plundered this edifice, and murdered the Abbot Indrech Indracta. It is to be remarked, that in the above notices, Drogheda is called Treoit, each name derived from the Irish term for a bridge, and thus suggesting the high antiquity of a bridge here, as at least of popular behef, when those Annals were compiled. In 11 52,- according to many authorities. Cardinal Paparo held in this house a session of the celebrated Synod, in which, as the Legate of Pope Eugene the Third, he distributed the four Archie- piscopal palls to Armagh, Dublin, Cashel, and Tuam. In the first then sat Gelasius, in the second Gregory, in the third Donatus, and in the last Edanus; and these were the first Archbishops of Ireland, and to whom sufiragan Bishops were duly assigned. The Cardinal also, on this occasion, transacted other mat- ABBEYS, FRIARIES, ETC 111 ters of great importance, passing decrees for the due payment of tithes, and against simony and usury, &Q., as fully detailed in the " Memoirs of the Arch- bishops of Dublin," by the author of this work. Others allege that this memorable council was held at Mellefont. 1 Some time previous to the year 1170, Amlave, then Abbot of this monastery, was expelled from its government for sacrilegious crimes attributed to him, immediately after which, he instigated some of the chieftains and leaders of the country to attack the monastery of Saul, which Malachy O'Morgair, the Pope's Legate, had built and Hberally adorned. The rehgious fraternity thus assailed, were driven from their holy home, and their books, vestments, cattle, with all else they had collected from the time of that legate, were despoiled, an atrocity which the Four Masters, in their Annals, deeply lament. In 1193, the aforesaid Dervorgilla, according to popular tra- dition, died a penitent in this abbey, at the advanced age of 85. Soon afterwards, the establishment, pos- sibly suffering by the public opinion in reference to its late principal, fell into decay. The piety of the times did not, however, suffer the site to lie discon- secrated, and in 1206, Ursus de Swemele, with the consent of his wife Christiana, granted, in frankal- moigne, all his Irish possessions to found an hospital here, for the support of sick and infirm and the dis- pensation of hospitality and charity; to secure the continuance and superintendance of which inten- 1]2 ANCIENT STATISTICS. tions, a monastery was attached. Those possessions consisted of the lands on which the hospital was erected, forty acres outside the western gate, and the lands of Kilhneer, the hospital paying thereout yearly to the king, half an ounce of gold in lieu of all rent and services; he also gave that parcel of land in the mountains, which he held from the king, at the yearly rent of ten shillings for all ser- vices, and certain parcels which he had purchased from the burgesses in the Liberty of Drogheda, cer- tain yearly rents out of borough lands and holdings, and also, one issuing from the corner in Drogheda, which Adam the skinner held, at the east side of the chapel of St. Nicholas and beyond the bridge, amounting to two shillings yearly ; another, out of Roger the miller's holding, at the south of St. Ni- cholas's chapel, three shillings yearly, &c. He far- ther gave, after his decease, the superintendance of this hospital to the good men of Drogheda, providing that the superior should be styled, not Prior, but Keeper or Warden, and should be at all times re- moveable for misbehaviour. The witnesses of this grant were Eugene, Archbishop of Armagh ; Luke, Archdeacon of Armagh ; Robert, Chaplain of St. Peter's Church, &c.(a). At the close of the thirteenth century this hos- pital was occupied by crouched friars, or cross- bearers, of the order of St. Augustine, whence it is (a) Rot. Pat. 32 Edw. III. in Tur. Lond. ABBEYS, FRIARIES, ETC 113 sometimes called the Augustinian friary; and in 1300, its privileges as a sanctuary were extended to Hamund, a murderer, who, flying thither by night, there did penance and abjured the land, as did also Martin of Termonfeckin, under the remorse of a si- milar crime. In 1300 the Prior was sued for appro- priating, to the use of his convent, a burgage in this town, without having obtained the usual license of mortmain; he was, however, discharged on producing the king's writ, directing the restoration of the bur- gage to him. In 1330, an overflow of the Boyne did considerable damage to this monastery, which stood especially exposed to such a visitation. The build- ing was, however, restored, chiefly by the munifi- cence of the Brandon family. A plea roll of 13 Edw. Ill, in Bermingham Tower, affords an exem- phfication of the various grants made to this house by the Kings of England; it purports to bear date in 1340. In 1349, the prior had a royal grant of privileges, and in 1359, a general chapter of the order was held here ; at which latter year the charter of de Swemele, before mentioned, was inspected, and is preserved, as on that Inspeximus, in the Tower of London. About the same time the Prior had license to acquire lands, tenements, and chief rents, to the value of ten pounds per annum, and which were held by free burgage, either of the king or of other lords (a). John Aumell was Prior of this house in VOL. (a) Eot. Pat. 18 Ric. II. in Cane. Hib. I. I 114 ANCIENT STATISTICS. 1377 ; and in 1395 the Prior and his fraternity had license to accept a grant in mortmain of four acres of land in St. Peter's parish, one messuage in the great street of Drogheda, and two shops in Bothe- street, with the upper structures built thereupon, being of the value of thirty-seven shillings and eight pence, as found on inquisition taken by William le Scrope, theretofore Escheator of Ulster and Drogh- eda, and who appears on record as then Constable of the Castle ofDubhn. The Observantine friars reformed this monastery in 1519, but, on the dissolution, Richard Molane, its last Prior, having surrendered it into the king's hands, was, by inquisition taken in 1543 (Friday next after the feast of the Epiphany), found seised of the said priory, and of six acres of arable land in the town of Glaspistol, of the annual value of 13^. 4d., besides reprises; thirty acres of arable land, with the tithes in the townland of CarHngford, of like annual value of 135. 4d. ; two messuages in the town of Dundalk, value six shillings; two acres arable, in Stabannon, value two shillings; and thirty acres of land, and a chief rent in Priorton. The rectory of Inismott was also proved to have been appropriate to the said Prior and his successors, being of the like annual value of sixty shilHngs and eight pence(a). Another inquisition concerning its possessions was taken in this year at Ardee. About the same time (a) Inq. 34 Hen. VIII. in Offic. Ch. Rememb. ABBEYS, FRIAEIES, ETC. 115 the lands of Killineer, part of the possessions of this dissolved hospital, were demised by the Crown for twenty-one years to Nicholas Dowan, of London, merchant; after the expiration of which they re verted to the Corporation of Drogheda, who, in 1557, got a grant thereof, as of the other possessions of this house, and appear by a record in the Vice Trea- surer's Office, to have compounded for the arrears of proxies due thereout in and up to 1608. Tlirough tliis body, accordingly, have they since been held by various persons, under successive derivative leases. In 1668 especially, that body granted, " the old ab- bey walls of St. Mary de Urso, together with the ground where the old castle stood, with their appur- tenances, without the West Gate," for 61 years, to Edward Singleton, which lease was subsequently renewed. The transmission of other parcels of the possessions of this house is traceable on registry, from the Dobson family to Alderman William Nor- man and his descendants; while in 1734, Richard Jebb had a lease of part of the estate of the therein styled Augustinian friary, frontmg Patrick's-well- lane, together with the fish-boards or custom of the fish-market, for 61 years, at the annual rent of £3 9s. 6d. [This Richard Jebb had settled here as a merchant, and was the grandfather of the late Dr. John Je})b, Bishop of Limerick, and of the late Mr. Justice Jebb, one of the puisne judges of the (a) Inq. 34 Hen. VIII., in Offic. Ch. Rememb, I 2 116 ANCIENT STATISTICS. Queen's Bench]. A similar lease of the same pre- mises, so before demised to Jebb, was granted in 1764, to Alderman Edward Chesshire, for a like term of 61 years thenceforth, at £3 \0s. rent, which was renewed to his descendant Alderman William Ches- shire, in 1810, for 99 years, at the annual rent of £15. The rectory of Inismott was, as before men- tioned, for a long time held by the Corporation, for the use of the Poor-house of St. John's. The nave of this once extensive building, in its full extent eastward and westward from the central tower, ex- tended one hundred and fifty feet by twenty-five, and is now a thoroughfare called the Abbey-lane, being spanned by the fine arch of its central tower. A small gothic arch to the west forms part of the gable of a stable, while a side window of a transept, and some few fragments of walls in the adjoining yards and en- closures, otherwise define the site of the ancient edi- fice. The Priory of St. Lawrence stood outside the before-mentioned gate of that name, and was built by the Mayor and burgesses of the town at the Louth side, before the union of the two Corporations. To it was attached the extensive burial ground called the Cord, finely situated over the Boyne, well en- closed, subdivided with walks, and planted (but cer- tainly not tastefully) with evergreens. Nothing of historic or popular interest has been discovered in relation to this establishment. In 1310, its Prior ."^' rTT^sjT:^* ' ABBEYS, FRIAEIES, ETC 117 had royal letters ofprotection(a) ; and in 1441, John Davis, then its principal, granted a corody, compris- ing bed and clothing in said house, to John Clon- negan, for the term of his natural life. Dowling, in his Annals, refers to the year 1493 the trial of an ecclesiastical cause, somewhat connected with this house, that illustrates the firmness and publicity, with which Octavian de Palatio, then Archbishop of Armagh, asserted his rights of paramount primacy. A case had been then pending between the Bishop of Leighlin and his own Dean and Chapter ; the lat- ter appealed to the Metropolitan jurisdiction of Dub- lin, but, not obtaining relief there, advanced their appeal to the Court of Armagh, when Octavian cited their opponents to appear before himself at the House and Chancel of St. Lawrence, near Drogheda, within the octave of St. Patrick ; but the further course of the proceedings does not appear. On the dissolution, in 1547, Stephen Roche, the last Prior of this house, was found seised of the site, compris- ing a stone church covered with tiles, a hall, two chambers covered with tiles, a kitchen and two stables thatched, a cow-house, barn, and kiln, two parks of half an acre each, planted with ash trees; an orchard of half an acre and a stang; twenty acres of pasture; one and a half of meadow near PhiUpstown ; twelve of pasture and of meadow near Woddslands; half an acre of pasture in Talbot's park, with another I (a) Rot. Pat. 3 & 4 Edw. II., in Cane. Uib. 118 ANCIENT STATISTICS. acre adjoining ; twenty acres of pasture on the west side of the highway leading to the commons; four- teen acres of land called Hookeland, adjacent to Bathe's land ; half an acre of pasture in our Lady's land, on the east side of the liighway; two acres of meadow in Cloneralhe ; a park of brushwood with an acre of pasture, on the north of the lord of Howth, two acres of pasture south of said lord ; fifteen acres of pasture, called Trym's field ; two acres of pastiu*e east of said lord ; a water-mill ; five acres east of our Lady's land ; four acres, called the Mort park, lying on both sides of the land of Thomas St. Lawrence ; an acre north of the Mort park ; the horse-mill park, four acres ; an acre of pasture called the commons ; Seeroge's park, an acre and a half; two acres on St. James's hill ; half an acre of ash ; a messuage in St. Sunday's-street ; a messuage near the pillory ; ano- ther in Fish-street ; a third in Dyer-street ; a com- mon of two acres of pasture and bushes near Plun- kett's land, and three acres and a half in said common near the Newtown ; all which possessions were, on the dissolution, likewise granted to the Corporation of Drogheda, who, amongst other demises thereof, granted " St. Lawrence's Mill," in 1669, to Alderman Thomas Dixon for sixty-one years, at the annual rent of thirty shillings ; and in 1700, Alderman Wil- liam Elwood obtained from them a more distinct conveyance of " St. Lawrence's Hospital, lying out- side St. Lawrence's gate, with the haggard, garden, (Orchard, church, and churchyard," at the yearly rent ABBEYS, FRIARIES, ETC 119 of £3 165. Id. The latter premises were, in 1760, demised to John Graham, junior. In the centre of its aforesaid burial ground (which has been recently extended by a grant from the Cor- poration, of a portion of the Culver-house park, for- merly belonging to the Dominican priory), is the gable of a small chapel, near which the Dominican friars of Drogheda are latterly interred. Immediately adjacent is a tombstone to Richard the nineteenth Baron of Howth, who died in 1 558, and several fa- mily monuments of the Chesters, Gernons, Arch- bolds(a), and Colemans, appear in this angle. There is also a monumental pillar inscribed to Mrs. Mary Anne Byrne, wife of Mr. John Byrne (formerly an eminent linen manufacturer of this town), who died in 181 7 ; a slab was inserted in this monument bear- ing an epitaph, that finely commenced, "Mary Anne ! to thee is erected," &c., but k has disappeared. There is also near this a tombstone commemorating a Mr. James M'Donnel, who died in 1828 ; the epitaph is a tribute of filial affection. In the centre of the ce- metery, a curious monument has been erected by the inhabitants of Drogheda, as a testimony of es- teem for Mr. Thomas Gulshey; and a handsome raUed enclosure and monument have been constructed (a) A distinguished solicitor, and a living member of this fa- mily, Richard Archbold, Esq., was the first Roman Catholic, who was qualified for admission to that profession, under the provi- visions of the Act 32 Geo. III. c. 21, and sworn at the earliest attainable date, July, 1797. ••T^PMSf"*''**^ m-mrmm^ifmw'm!' "qpnn 120 ANCIENT STATISTICS. on the new ground, to John Chadwich, Esq., who died in January, 1841. No other memorials worthy of notice occur here, nor does any denote the grave of Doctor Bryan O'Reilly, the Roman Catholic Arch- bishop of Armagh, who was interred here about the year 1757, having died at Termonfeckin, where, in a small farmhouse, he had resided during the chief period of his prelacy. The Dominican Friary, or Abbey of Preach ing Friars, under the invocation of St. Mary Magda- lene, was situated in the north part of the town, near Sunday's gate, and immediately adjoining the town wall. The only remain of this once noble structure is, as depicted in the annexed engraving, a square tower of lofty proportions, popularly called the Mag- dalene steeple and a conspicuous object to all ap- proaching the town. Springing from a noble pointed gothic arch, the buttresses of which, from their ap- parent slightness, appear scarcely sufficient to sup- port the superincumbent weight, it contains two apartments above the arch, the intervening floor being groined from the angles, and the groins sup- ported by cherubs' heads carved in stone ; the walls are perforated by eight windows, two in each side, with cut stone casings. A spiral stone staircase is connected with the building, the entrance being at a considerable distance from the ground ; the ma- sonry, after the assaults of six centuries, is remark- ably firm, and in fine preservation ; there is, how- ever, in the upper part of the east side, in the bat- ' E Joucs ,C E, /^ • L:^'Ut!^A.J ..Y //l^>^-^-: ■y/A'.C/\W-f:r,f./,i ■ y,:u\ 7 ' Y^iSis^. cr;- -sj? ^ ; ■'-m 120 ANCIENT STATISTICS. on the new ground, to John Chadwich, Esq., who died in January, 1841. No other memorials worthy of notice occur here, nor does any denote the grave of Doctor Bryan O'Reilly, the Roman CathoHc Arch- bishop of Armagh, who was interred here about the year 1757, having died at Termonfeckin, where, in a small farmhouse, he had resided during the chief period of his prelacy. The Dominican Friar?/, or Abbey of Preach- ing Friars, under the invocation of St. Mary Magda- lene, was situated in the north part of the town, near Sunday's gate, and immediately adjoining the town wall. The only remain of this once noble structure is, as depicted in the annexed engraving, a square tower of lofty proportions, popularly called the Mag- dalene steeple and a conspicuous object to all ap- proaching the town. Springing from a noble pointed gothic arch, the buttresses of which, from their ap- parent sUghtness, appear scarcely sufficient to sup- port the superincumbent weight, it contains two apartments above the arch, the intervening floor being groined from the angles, and the groins sup- ported by cherubs' heads carved in stone ; the walls are perforated by eight windows, two in each side, with cut stone casings. A spiral stone staircase is connected with the building, the entrance being at a considerable distance from the ground ; the ma- sonry, after the assaults of six centuries, is remark- ably firm, and in fine preservation ; there is, hoAV- ever, in the upper part of the east side, in the bat- ^i.' 'ww- J 6'- v ■«• % '.-W'^?^/^?!^ '^ IPH^WPM* 1 JIIH^VL :-^..^%;-*!a S>i ABBEYS, FEIARIES, ETC. 121 tlement, a breach, said to have been made by Crom- well's cannon. This m onastery was evidently cruciform and from its centre the above tower sprang, but the body of the building, and every other appendage, have long since perished so completely, that even the extent of the foundations is no longer ascertain- able. It stands, a soHtary memorial of former great- ness, on the highest spot of the town, and its grave- yard, consecrated by the dust of the most illustrious nobles and ecclesiastics, is now incumbered with hovels, and doled out in garden plots. I This house was founded about the year 1224, by Lucas de Netterville, Archbishop of Armagh, who, dying in 1227, was, according to some autho- rities, here interred, as was, with less of historic doubt, his successor, Patrick O'Scanlan, in 1271. In 1246, Pope Innocent the Fourth ordered the Prior of this house, and the Warden of the Franciscans of Dundalk, to cite, and summon to Eome, a certain per- son who had been irregularly elected to the Archdea- conry of Armagh, and also those who had so elected him ; and in 1261, Pope Urban directed a Bull to the Bishop of Dromore, requiring him to instruct the Prior of this house, to oppose any encroachments attempted to be made on the liberties ecclesiastical, by the king's Justiciaries and Bailiffs. In 1290, a General Chapter of the Order in Ireland, was held in this friary, another in 1303, and a third in 1347- In 1300, Walter, son of Hugh, having made his es- cape from Carrickfergus gaol, took sanctuary in this 122 ANCIENT STATISTICS. house, and, after performing the prescribed works of penance and atonement, abjured the land, as did Walter Galway under similar circumstances. The chief houses of this Order having been placed under the royal protection and bounty, Hberates are of re- cord, for payment of treasury pensions of thirty-five marks annually, to each of the Dominican establish- ments at Dublin, Cork, Waterford, Limerick, and this town, in 1309 and subsequent years to 1358. In 1361, the Lady Joan Fleming, wife to Geoffrey Lord Travers, and the Lady Margaret Bermingham, wife of Lord Robert de Preston, were interred here ; this latter lady was the daughter and heiress of Walter de Bermingham lord of Carberry, and her said lord, afterwards High Chancellor of L-eland, was the an- cestor of the Viscounts Gormanston. Richard the Second having sojourned in Drogh- eda for a short time, in the year 1394, on the occa- sion of liis first visit to Ireland, he, on the 1 6th of March in that year, received witliin the walls of this friary, the submission of O'Neill, the King or Prince of Ulster, and of his subordinate chieftains, O'Han- lon, Mac Donnel, Mac Malicm, and others, who, in a solemn manner, did homage and fealty to the mo- narch. O'Neill's assumption of the title of king or prince, was not new to the ears of the Enghsh mo- narch, and certainly, he and his descendants, down to the days of Elizabeth, enjoyed more of the royal- ties and allegiance of Ulster, than did any British Sovereign. Petty kings of various localities in Ire- ABBEYS, FEIAEIES, ETC 123 land, as the kings of Connaught, Thomond, &c., were, from the first period of the EngUsh invasion, recog- nized in charters, grants, and treaties, but these kings, as the Black Book of Christ Church describes them, were not ordained by the solemnity of any rite, nor sacrament of unction, nor did they obtain or transmit their kingdoms by hereditary right, or any lawful succession, but each maintained liis interest by force and arms. The words of O'Neill's homage, on tliis occasion, are recorded as conveying a pledge of peace and submission for himself, his children, his parents, his clan, and all his subjects ; and, in the indenture between him and the king, he not only boimd himself to remain faithful to the Crown of England, but to restore the " bonaught" (an exaction of the nature of soldiery billets) to the Lord Pala- tine of Ulster, as of right belonging to that Earldom, and usurped, among other rights and prerogatives, by the O'Neills. Tliis, with the indentures and sub- missions of tlie other cliieftains, the king himself caused to be formally attested, and dehvered the en- rolments with his own hands to the Bishop of Salis- bury, then Lord Treasurer of England, and they re- main of record in the Enghsh Exchequer, It is remarkable, says the late Doctor 0' Conor, in his " Historical Addresses," that the penalties prescribed in these treaties, as consequent upon their violation, are all made payable in the Apostolic Chamber of Rome. Froissard, in his Chronicles, preserves many interesting particulars of the feasting, pageantry, and 124 ANCIENT STATISTICS. honours, with which these new Hegemen were subse- quently received at the royal Court, while in Dublin. On the above occasion, Patrick, Bishop of Kilfenora, and Gregory, Bishop of Ealmacduagh, are also re- corded to have taken the oath of fidehty to his Ma- jesty ; and, " from the correspondence that passed between Richard and his Council in England, during this expedition, it is clear, that he regarded the sub- mission of O'Neill and the others, as a signal success gained by his presence, while the Council, in reply- ing to his account of his ' noble voyage,' as they style it, return, like skilful courtiers, an echo to his own opinion." " In one important respect," adds Moore, with that honest wish, which his writings have ever evinced, to attract the sympathies of the civilized world to his misgoverned country, and arouse the better feelings of its infatuated rulers, — " In one im- portant respect, these letters reflect credit on the monarch's memory, as showing him to have had sense enough to discover, that English misrule was the main cause of Irish revolt, and manly candour enough, to acknowledge so new and unpopular an opinion. ' There are in this our land,' writes King Richard from Dublin, ' three classes of persons, wild Irish or enemies, Irish rebels, and English subjects, and, considering that the rebels have been made such by wrongs, and by the want of due attention to their grievances, and that if they be not wisely treated, and encouraged by hopes of favour, they will, most probably, join themselves with our ene- ABBEYS, FRIAEIES, ETC. 125 mies, we think it right to grant them a general par- don, and take them under our especial protection.' In their reply to this letter of the King, the Duke and the Council, after significantly reminding him, that they had formerly advised the adoption of se- vere measures against the rebels, add, that in defe- rence to his wise discretion, and the greater oppor- tunity he possessed of acquiring information on the spot, they freely assent to his views, provided, that in return for the pardons granted to the rebels, cer- tain large ransoms and fines should be paid by them towards the charges of the king's voyage"(a). In 1399, this house had a royal confirmation of its possessions, and in the same year, Pope Boniface the Ninth granted indulgences, on certain festi- vals, to all who visited its church, or the chapel of the Virgin Mary contiguous thereto, and the same Pontiff renewed this indulgence in 1401; while in 1400, King Henry the Fourth confirmed in perpe- tuity, the annual pension, which, as before mentioned, had been assigned for the Dominicans of this house, as well as those of DubUn, Cork, Waterford, and Li- merick. In 1412, the dissensions that had so long, and so unhappily, existed between the towns-people at both sides of the river, were reconciled, by the advocacy of Philip Bennet, a friar of this house, as more particularly set forth hereafter. In 1467, the unfortunate Earl of Desmond, who was executed in I (a) Moore's History of Ireland, vol. iii. pp. 127-8. 126 ANCIENT STATISTICS. Drogheda, was first interred here, but, according to some authorities, his monument and remains were removed to Christ Church, Dublin, in 1570, by order of Sir, Henry Sydney, when he visited this town and friary. According, to the Four Masters, however, his body was carried to Tralee, where it was buried with honour and great solemnity, in the family vault. In consequence of the poverty of the comitry, occa- sioned by the incessant depredations of " English rebels and Irish enemies," this abbey fell into decay; and, in the ParHament held in this town in 1468, in consideration of its then ruinous state, and because the ahns of the public were totally insufficient for its support, an Act was passed, granting to the Prior and Convent an annuity of twenty marks, payable out of the fee farm of the city of Dublin, for the ne- cessary repair and better support of this house. In sixteen years afterwards, in a General Chapter of the Order held at Rome, a license was granted to Mau- rice Morral, Prior Provincial, to reform tliis friary. Consequent upon the dissolution, an inquisition was taken in 1543, when Peter Lewis, the last Prior, was found seised of the site of this house, containing one acre and a half, annual value, besides reprises, tenpence ; also of a messuage and park near Duleek gate, containing one acre, value 6s. 8d. ; a garden in Fair-street, value 2d. ; a close called the Culver-house park, near Rothe's land, value 55. ; sundry other messuages and closes in Drogheda; five acres of meadow and three of pasture, with a close called the ABBEYS, FRIARIES, ETC. 127 fir park and the appurtenances in Philipstown, in the county of the town of Drogheda, annual value, besides reprises, 35. 4d. In 1544, this friary, with its appurtenances in Drogheda and Philipstown, and an acre of meadow near Bedloweston in the county Meath, were granted for ever, in capite, at the an- nual rent of 2s. 2d., to Walter Beck and Edward Dowdal (the latter individual resided at Glaspistol, near this town, and in 1559, was one of the repre- sentatives of the county Louth in Queen Elizabeth's first Irish Parliament ; in 1618, Walter Dowdal was, accordingly, as his heir, found seised in fee of a mes- suage in Le Bothe-street, two acres near the Rothe park, two near Managhmore, within the Uberties of the town, and an acre near Bedloweston, all described as parcel of the possessions of this friary). In this last year it was also found, on inquisition, that John Fottrel, and John Cosgrave of Little Cabragh, in the county Dubhn, were seised in fee, for the use of Sir Ambrose Forth and his heirs and assigns, of this house and appurtenances, being of the yearly value of 105., besides reprises ; certain messuages in Duleek-street and Lawrence-street ; two orchards in Irish-street ; twelve acres of meadow in the Hberties of Drogheda near Philipstown , a messuage in Dyer- street ; two messuages and an orchard on the Meath side of the town ; nine acres near Much Beaubec in the county of the town of Drogheda ; three crofts near Le Cowhes in said county ; and a messuage without Duleek gate. In 1630, Lord Gormanston 128 ANCIENT STATISTICS. was found seised in tail male of sundry messuages in Drogheda ; one in Lawrence-street ; one in Bow- street ; four in St. Peter's-street ; one in Sunday's- street ; two in St. John's-street ; three acres of mea- dow within the bog near Beaubec ; one messuage outside St. James's-gate ; one orchard outside St. Lawrence's gate ; one messuage near the town-hall; one garden on the big hill ; one little croft outside Duleek gate ; one messuage in West-street ; one in Fair-street ; one other messuage and an acre, parcel of the possessions of this house ; while of the remain- ing parcels, so granted to Walter Dowdal, his son and heir, George Dowdal, had livery in July, 164L The author of the Hibernia Dominicana speaks of this house of his order, as in his time exhibiting very considerable traces of its former magnificence. The Grey or Franciscan Friary. — No vestige of this religious house can be now seen. It was, however, situated close to the river on its northern bank, about the site on which the custom-house and collector's house now stand, the mansion of Alder- man Leigh, long the representative of Drogheda in Parliament, having been intermediately erected on the ruins. Its foundation, by some attributed to D'Arcy of Platten, by others to one of the Plunkelt family, is by Wadding alleged to have taken place in the year 1270, and it is of record, that in 1293, the king granted the sum of 35 marks to be paid annually to the Franciscans of this house, and a similar sum to the establishments of their order in Dublin, Water- *f T^^^^rr^- ARBEYS, FRIARIES, ETC. 129 ford, Cork, and Limerick, respectively, and liberates for the continuance of these payments are still found on the rolls of the years 1324, 1333, 1344, and 1354, The privileges of this house, also, as a sanc- tuary, are proved by being extended to four crimi- nals in the year 1300. In 1330, the buildings suf- fered most materially by an overflow of the Boyne. In 1356, the celebrated Primate Eichard Fitz Ralph maintained his controversy in this town, more espe- cially against the friars of this house, and actually attempted to remove the ornaments thereof to his own palace; the regulars were, however, protected, and their property preserved by Bathe, then Mayor of the town. The particulars of the controversy are fully detailed in Ware's Bishops, p. 82. A general Chapter of the order was held here in 1359, while in 1436 an inquiry was taken before the Lord Lieu- tenant and Council, relative to certain misdemeanors imputed to John Dartas, Esq., who not having ap- peared to answer said charges, either there or in Chancery, his lands and possessions were ordered to be estreated. In 1518, the Observantine friars reforpaed this monastery, soon after which, on the dissolution, Richard Molane, the last warden hereof, was, by in- quisition of 1543, on surrender of his possessions to the Crown, found seised of a burgage and garden in Swords, held of the Archbishop of Dublin; a mes- suage and three acres of meadow, in Drogheda; three VOL. I. K 130 ANCIENT STATISTICS. acres of meadow nearBebeck, annual value, besides reprises, 3*. 4d.; all which premises,, together with the friary, were subsequently in the same year granted to Gerald Aylmer, in capite, for ever, at the yearly rent of 35. 6d. His descendant, James Ayl- mer of Didlardston, in 1581, conveyed same, with other premises, to trustees, and so continued seised thereof, to the close of that century, the premises being held in capite by knight's service. Early in the seventeenth century this friary and its appurte- nances passed, by mesne assignment, to Sir Moyses Hill, who was found seised thereof in 1624, [It may be mentioned of this individual, who was the ances- tor of the present Marquess of Downshire, that he arrived in this country in the year 1573, one of the officers under the Earl of Essex, when that ill-fated nobleman was chosen to suppress the rebellion of O'Neill in Ulster. After the misfortunes and death of that nobleman, Sir Moyses served under his son, Robert Earl of Essex, who, in -1598, was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Ireland, %nd sent with a consi- derable army to prosecute the war; and, on Essex's subsequent return, in 1599, to England, Sir Moyses continued in the army under Lord Mountjoy, by whom he was appointed Governor of Olderfleet Castle, a very important fortress in those times, as guarding the harbour of Larne from the invasion of the Scots. When Sir John Chichester was slain by the M'Donnels, Sir Moyses narrowly escaped an am- ABBEYS, FRIARIES, ETC 131 bush laid by them, by flying into Island Magee, on the adjacent coast, and there secreting himself in a cave, since that time called Sir Moyses Hill's cave. He afterwards served under Lord Chichester when Lord Deputy, and in 1603, was constituted Provost Mar- shall of the troops in Carrickfergus. The possessions, which he so acquired in Drogheda and its vicinity, continued in his descendants, one of whom, Marcus Hill, then of the Middle Temple, mortgaged same in 1710, to Lord Blessington, while Lord Hillsborough, in the same line of inheritance, suffered recoveries thereof in 1742]. St. Saviour^s Chapel stood close to the water, immediately westward of the present Shop-street, and was founded about the close of the thirteenth, or commencement of the fourteenth century; on which occasion Alan Proudfoot gave two messuages in this town to the Prior of Lanthony, in frankalmoigne for ever, on the consideration of his finding two chap- lains, daily to serve in this house, for the term of one hundred years. This service having been with- drawn or subtracted, the King's Escheator seized upon the premises, but the Prior obtained their re- storation from the king(a). By several inquisitions taken in I6II, it was found that the Priory of the Blessed Virgin, of Duleek, had been entitled to " a cellar in St. Saviour's dock, under St. S^vioui-'s (a) Rot. claus. 33 Edw. III. in Cane. Hib. k2 132 ANCIENT STATISTICS. church," a waste plot of ground here, adjoining said church, and other premises. In the year 1 664, Alder- man Jonas Elwood had a lease of part of the posses- sions of this house, for 61 years, at the yearly rent of " forty shillings to the Corporation, and a barrel of good wheat to the poor;" some of these premises, however, it was found necessary to pull down at the time of the erection of the present bridge, in 1722. Another portion was leased, in 1674, to Hugh Fowkes, for a like term of 61 years, and in 1687, the Corporation, appointed by James the Second, leased " a ruinous chiu-ch on St. Saviour's quay, . called St. Saviour's Church, together with the churchyard, and the house commonly called the Bridewell," to a trustee, for 99 years, for the use of the Jesuits. Other parts of the property of this house were de- mised for 61 years to Patrick Delahoyde; and lastly, in 1745, Mr. Charles Caldwell had a lease for 61 years of " St. Saviour's Church, and also the site, circuit, and precinct of the said ruined church of St. Saviour, excepting the vault or cellar under the same, being the inheritance of the Right Honorable the Earl of Drogheda." St. Sunday^s Friary was situated near St. Sun- day's Gate, as a lateral portion of the nave, exhibited in the view of the Dominican Friary, yet remains to testify. Its site was, on the dissolution, granted to the Dowdal family, and, accordingly, by inquisi- tion of 1589, it was found that George, brother of ABBEYS, FRIARIES, ETC. 133 Walter Dowdal, then late of Droglieda, was seised in fee of a house known by the name of St. Sunday s- Friars, with two orchards, and a garden belong- ing thereto, in this town, of the annual value of 6s. 8d. j St. Benefs Chapel was another religious house of this town, existing in the fifteenth century ; for, in the Parhament held here in 1467, before John Earl of Worcester, Lord Deputy, it was ordained, that divers lands and possessions, and certain chief- rents in Dublin, should be granted to this house by name ; its site cannot now be identified. It may be here added, that there is an old house called " The Nunnery" in Dyer-street, which was formerly tenanted by the first members of the community that now occupies the Sienna ; and this notice con- cludes all that can be observed of the ancient reli- gious houses of Drogheda, north of the Boyne. At the south side of the river was the Priory of St. John the Baptist, founded in the twelfth cen- tury by Walter de Lacy, or at least Hberally en- dowed by him, and made a cell to the Priory of Kilmainham. Some walls are yet standing within the circuit of a tan yard in St. John-street, which common repute refers to this foundation. There is also a tradition that King John, when he visited Drogheda in the August of 1210, held a Parliament in this Priory ; and, considering such an aesembly as rather a great council, the opinion is by no means 134 ANCIENT STATISTICS. improbable. In 1359, the prior of this house had license to hold four acres of meadow and pasture in Drogheda, with the appurtenances; while in 1385 he was found on inquisition to have acquired, con- trary to the Statute of Mortmain, a garden on the Meath side of the town, and was thereupon ordered to restore the same to the right heir. In 1476 he was empowered by Act of Parliament to acquire sixty acres in Priorstown, which were thereupon freed of all subsidies. After the dissolution, a part of the possessions of this establishment was granted to Richard Netterville ; while a larger was previously conferred by Edward the Sixth, on James Sedgrave of Dublin, merchant, who also passed patent for the Priory of St. John the Baptist of DubUn, the Nunnery of St. Mary de Hogges, with certain of its estates also in Dublin, the prebend of Timothan, with the village and tithes, &c. &c. His interest in Drogheda passed, on the marriage of his daughter, to a member of the Ball family, whose demesne of Ball's-grove, near the town, is part of the ecclesiastical land. The assignees had also in right thereof, the tithes, both great and smaU, of the premises, and certain other parcels described as " adjoining the lands of St. John's Hospital, opposite the Bull-ring, and backwards into John-street." The Carmelite Monastery. — The records and memorials of this religious house are collected in the former part of this work, in the history of St. Mary's church, which has been erected on its site. ABBEYS, FRIARIES, ETC 135 The Hospital of St. James. — This religious house lay without St. James's gate, and was founded at the close of the thirteenth century. In 1302, Richard is mentioned to have been its master. On the dissolution it vested in the Crown, who thus ac- quired its possessions, Hke those of other rehgious houses, at the easy charges of paying annuities to the total amount of about one-fourth of its yearly income to a few old friars. No notice of their con- veyance from the Crown appears on record until 1611, when King James granted to Eichard Nugent, Lord Delvin, amongst other possessions, the site of this hospital, with sixty acres arable thereto be- longing, ill or near Drogheda, at the yearly rent of £l 6s. 8d. The rectory was, however, in a previous grant, included in that of St. Mary's parish, and con- veyed to Lord Drogheda. In the middle of the seventeenth century, the Corporation acquired the chief possessions of this hospital, which, by the de- scription of " the house or hospital of St. James, with its messuages, houses, windmill, &c." they in 1678 demised to Christopher Peppard St. George, for a term of sixty-one years, at the yearly rent of £8 10s., under which title (though not" without very litigated opposition, as hereinafter mentioned) the Peppard family held them down to the year 1740. In 1715, eight acres of these premises passed by mesne assignment from Charles Campbell to Alderman B}Tne of this town; and in 1759, the 136 ANCIENT STATISTICS. Corporation granted sixty-one years' leases of other parts of the possessions of this house (described as situated within the parish of St. Mary), to Edward Chesshire, Junior, and to WilUam Holmes. CORPORATE HISTORY. From the earliest period of Anglo-Norman govern- ment in Ireland, this town was, in municipal privi- leges and political consequence, always considered as on an equality with the four royal cities of Dub- lin, Waterford, Limerick, and Cork; it ie indeed within the memory of some of its old residents, that, in evidence of the care with which this Cor- poration regarded their own precedence, even to every other chartered body, immediately on the annual election of their mayor, which took place on the 29th of September, a messenger, who waited outside the Tholsel until the oath was administered, was despatched, in official robes and mounted on a white horse, to inform the authorities of Dublin of the fact, to the intent that they might proceed in the appointment of their chief magistrate, which took place accordingly on the following day. Nor was Drogheda perhaps unworthy of such self-as- serted deference, situated as it was between Louth, the granary of the empire, and Meath, once the niensal province of the kings of L'eland, the Palati- 138 CORPORATE HISTORY. nate of De Lacy and his heirs, and the bulwark and terminator for centuries of the English Pale ; com- manding, as it did, by land the great avenue to Ulster, and opening inwardly to the trade of Ire- land, and seaward to the commerce of Great Britain. The most expressive testimony, as well to these facts, as to the confiding attachment with which the borough, from its earliest creation as such, looked to the protection and friendship of England, is typi- fied in the heraldic emblems displayed in the cor- porate, and yet more in the mayor's ancient seals. The former presents the crowded towers and gates of a castle on the sea-side, three lions issuing from a gate at the left, and the prow of a ship emerging from another at the right, the motto, " Sigillum commune villas de Drogheda in Hibernia." The mayor's seal is yet more expressive, exhibiting, on a field azure, a crenelated gate of two towers argent, portcullised sable, surmounted by pennons gules ; on the dexter a ship appearing to sail behind the gate, having St. George's ensign displayed over her stem; on the sinister three lions of England issuant or; crest on a wreath, a crescent, and star argent. Motto, " Deus proBsidium, mercatura decus." In addition to these were used a privy and staple seal. The Corporation is styled " the Mayor, Sheriflfs, Burgesses, and Commonalty of the town of Drogh- eda," and has heretofore consisted of a Mayor, twenty-three other Aldermen, two Sherifis, the Sheriflfs'-peers, or persons who had served the office CORPORATE HISTORY. 139 of SheriiF, and fourteen common-councilmen. The Mayor was chosen by the Assembly from the Al- dermen ; the Aldermen and the Sheriffs by the As- sembly from the freemen, while the fourteen com- mon-councilmen were elected by the guilds of trade; the freedom is acquired by birth and apprentice- ship, and, it would seem, by marriage also. The Recorder was likewise appointed by the Assembly, as was the town clerk. About the middle of the last century, the governing part of the Corporation im- posed a qualification on the right of freemen and apprentices to obtain their freedom, by requiring that such persons should present preliminary peti- tions to the corporate body, setting forth their titles, and praying their privilege accordingly, and that such petitions should be preferred six months before the election ; this assumption was, however, tried on a mandamus, brought by Ralph Eccleston, in 1770, and disallowed. The Mayor, Recorder, Mayor of the Staple, and two senior Aldermen who had served the office of Mayor, were constituted justices of the peace under the charter, and five additional justices were appointed imder the Act of 7 Geo. IV. C.61. J The Corporation comprises the following guilds of trade : — Bakers — Butchers — Carpenters — Shoe- makers — Skinners — Smiths — Tailors. To these guilds the body granted separate charters of record, preserved in " the White Book," and they are con- ducted by their own respective regulations. There 140 CORPORATE HISTORY. are also officers of the Corporation, who are not con- stituent parts of the body, as the Aldermen, Justices, Mayor and Constables of the Staple, Master and Wardens of the Guild of Merchants, Coroners, Re- corder, Town Clerk, Register of the Tholsel, Clerk of the Peace, Sword-bearer and Clerk of the Corn- market, Mace-bearer and Clerk of the Court of Con- science, Water Bailiff, Harbour Master, Chief Con- stable, six town Serjeants, &c. &c. The Mayor pre- sides at the Assemblies, is a justice of the peace for the county of the town, judge of the Tholsel Court, the Courts of Conscience and Pie Poudre, and has hitherto acted as escheator and clerk of the market. The Aldermen have always, by charter, enjoyed with the other members of the Corporation, an ex- emption from the payment of tolls and customs, a valuable privilege to those engaged in trade, and Avhich is expressly saved and continued by the third section of the 3 & 4 Vict. c. 108. They had also privileges upon letting the corporate property, and each of the sixteen senior Aldermen had for life one of sixteen acres called Aldermen's Acres, from which they derived an annual income of £3. The free- men, besides the elective franchise, enjoy the free- man's right on the letting of corporate property, and an exclusive claim for relief when requisite, from some charitable funds under the control of the Corporation, which latter pri\ilege is still saved to them by the second section of the 3 & 4 Vict. c. 108. The other alterations, effected by that Act in the CORPORATE HISTORY. 141 constitution of this body, will be more conveniently noted at the close of this section ; here the statutes, charters and mandates, which conferred its corpo- rate character and powers, shall be succinctly detailed in chronological succession. ! Drogheda may be truly considered, in its corpo- rate origin, as of the prescriptive class. Immediately after the Enghsh invasion, and on the grant of Meath as a palatinate to Hugh de Lacy, he, according to his powers, created here, what may be termed a bo- rough of the earliest species, where the tenure was base or villeinage. The king's consent, for such its constitution, is to be inferred from the terms of the grant of the palatinate, which took place in 1 1 72, and is recognized in immediately subsequent transac- tions of record. It is conjectured, that Bertram de Verdon, who was, at the same time, seised of the northern portion of the town, under a similar grant of the maritime part of Louth, next adjoining De Lacy's, from Dundalk to the barony of Ferrard in- clusive, constituted at his side of the river another borough, such as by inquisition taken, on a writ ad quod damnum(a), he was found to have established, with common of pasture and rights of fishery, within his territory of Dundalk. The supposition is strength- ened by the fact, that when King John, in 1210, erected the counties of Meath and Louth, while he took the boroughs to himself, and constituted them I («) Inquis. 6 Edw. II., in Offic. Cli, Rememb. 142 CORPORATE HISTORY. royal boroughs, he yet allowed moietive annuities to be issuing thereout to De Lacy and De Verdon, for the sites of their respective portions(a). The soil of the town was, as usual in these early grants, parcelled out to the tenants and inhabi- tants, who paid each a prescribed rent to their lord for his burgage, or, as it is sometimes termed, the frankhouse which he so held ; this was necessarily accompanied with a liberty of commonage, and a use of the waters of the river as a fishery and in aid of mill-sites, and thus, Drogheda appears to have ori- ginally comprised two distinct boroughs, under De Lacy and De Yerdon. After the murder of the for- mer at Durrow, but when a fresh patent confirmed in 1189, all his other possessions to his son Walter de Lacy, the Crown reserved the castle which De Lacy, in the sound exercise of his judgment, had erected here, as at other points of the Pale, for the defence of the English settlement, and thenceforth that fortress was held for the service of the king, by a warden appointed for the purpose, and continued so severed from the borough, hke those in the sister country, until rejoined by force of the Act of Parlia- ment passed in the thirteenth year of the reign of Richard the Second. In a suit instituted many years after the death of this Walter (in 1343), it was al- leged on record, that he had substracted, after the Statute of Mortmain, forty acres from the commons (a) Rot. 33 & 34 Edw. III., in Offic. Ch. Rememb. CORPORATE HISTORY. 143 of the borough, and granted them in frankahnoigne, and without the royal license, to the religious house of Beaubec in Normandy, who assigned them to the Prior of Lanthony near Gloucester, who was, there- fore, impleaded for the restoration thereof; the Prior, however, defended his right, and satisfactorily proved that the land in question was not of the commons of Drogheda (suggesting thereby, as was the fact, that the commons were inalienable), and also that the conveyance preceded the Statute of Mortmain, and the king commanded his Escheator (Roger D'Arcy), who had seized the premises, to restore them to the Church(a), The first operations of a legislative nature, that were sought to be adopted in Ireland, in cities, bo- roughs, and towns corporate, were required by the mandate of King John in 1204. On the 10th of Fe- bruary in that year, he issued his writs to the Arch- bishops, Bishops, Archdeacons, and clergy, as also to the Earls, Barons, Justices, Sherifis, Knights, citi- zens, merchants, burgesses, and freeholders of Ire- land, and, after notifying the conduct of the King of France, who was at war with him, and sought to (a) Rot Pat. 14 Edw. III., in Tur. Lond.; Kot. Glaus. 17, 18 Edw. III. ; and 32 Edw. III., in Cane. Hib. The Escheator, here named, was the second son of the great Sir John D'Arcy. In 1344, he was a Justice in Eyre in Limerick, when the king gave him the manor of Esker in the county of Dublin during his life, and afterwards constituted him Lord Justice of Ireland, with a salary of £500 per annum. 144 CORPORATE HISTORY. disinherit liini of his dominions, he states, that the people of England had liberally, and in consideration of his urgency, granted him an eflfectual aid of men and money for service in Normandy, and, therefore, " as such an emergency has never hitherto occurred, nor is ever likely to occur again, we," says his Ma- jesty, " entreat you, not as of custom, but from your love for us, and regard for our person and honour, to make an effectual aid for us in this our necessity, of which our Justiciary of Ireland, and our delegates, will acquaint you"(a). This recognition of burgesses being summoned to vote supplies to the Crown, at a period so early, is both curious and important. That the parties complied with the king's request, is proved by the fact of his royal expression of thanks, as for the aid so granted to him, having been trans- mitted to Ireland, by vrrit of the first of September following(6); and, from the almost contemporaneous documents herein set forth, there can be little doubt, that Drogheda was of the tributary boroughs upon this occasion. In a mandate of 1205, from King John to Meiler Fitz Henry, then Lord Justice of Ireland, that monarch declared his royal pleasure, that fairs should be established at DubHn, Drogheda, "Waterford, and Limerick; that at Drogheda to be held on the festival of St. John the Baptist, and to continue for eight days, with toll and custom thereto belonging ; and the king directed his said Deputy to (a) Rot. Chart, in Tur. Lond. (b) Rot. Pat. in Tur. Lond. CORPORATE HISTORY. 145 give public notice thereof by proclamation, in order that merchants might resort thither(a). While from the state of the country at that period, and the se- lection above made, it was manifestly considered, that the commerce of Irish fairs could only be ad- vantageously held where seaport boroughs offered the intercourse of merchants, the facility of courts, the protection of walls and castles, and where tolls were incidentally established for upholding such se- curities, the fact of this place being then a borough, is yet more conclusively declared in a contempora- neous writ, whereby Stephen de Nevin, who had (a) Similar patents for fairs, with customs, were subsequently of frequent grant, while those, not so licensed, were at first dis- countenanced, and afterwards denounced, as by a special Act of the Parliament of Dublin in 1429 (unprinted). " Likewise, inas- much as divers enemies of our lord the king, levy, raise, and hold amongst them, different fairs and markets ; and sundry merchants, liege Englishmen, go and repair to the said fairs and markets, and some send their merchandize to the said enemies by their servants or people called laxmen, and there sell and buy divers merchan- dizes and things vendible, whereout the said enemies take great customs and benefits, to their great profit, and the depression of all the boroughs and trading towns of this land and of the liege subjects of the same land, it is agreed and established, that hence- forth, no manner of merchant, nor any other liege person, shall go, nor resort, in time of peace nor of war, to any manner of fair, market, nor other place, among the said enemies, with mer- chandizes or things vendible, nor send the same to them, unless it be to redeem some prisoner from them who may be the king's liege man ; and if any liege man do the contrary of this ordinance, let him be held and adjudged as a felon of our lord the king." VOL. I. L 146 CORPORATE HISTORY. been attached by his " burgage" in Drogheda, for plundering a ship of Leytown, but who afterwards sued out a pardon, was thereupon restored to his said "burgage"(a). In 1210, however, when King John made his second visit to Ireland, and sojourned in Drogheda, he disseised De Lacy of his posses- sions(6); whereupon, and having erected, as before mentioned, the two counties of Meath and Louth, he took both boroughs to his especial protection, and, in three years afterwards, he, by their first royal charter, " granted, and confirmed, to our burgesses of the bridge of Drogheda, and their heirs, for ever, that they might have and enjoy the law of Bristol, with all Hberties and customs appertaining thereto, and that they might use the same as well in Eng- land as in Ireland, as others hold and enjoy the same throughout the land(c). That this charter contemplated both boroughs, seems confirmed by the distinction drawn in a patent of 1216, whereby Nicholas, son and heir of Bertram de Verdon, had seisin of " Ponte Ferrardi" (i. e. Drogheda at the Ferrard side of the bridge), the king retaining to himself the borough " VilU ips^ de Ponte." By the Great Charter for Ireland, bearing date in 1216, it was, amongst other things, provided, that cities, towns, boroughs, and ports, should enjoy all their liberties and free customs, a form of confirma- (a) Rot. Claus. in Tur. Lond. (b) Eot. Claus. 4 & 6 Hen. III. in Tur. Lond. (c) Eot. Chart. 15 John, in Tur. Lond. CORPORATE HISTORY. 147 tion, which long after continued to be preserved, at the commencement of the Acts of each succeeding session. In two years afterwards, Henry the Third ordered his Justiciary to obtain another aid from the cities, boroughs, and demesnes of the Crown in Ire- land, after which the levying such taUiages became frequent. In 1220, the king granted another royal patent(a) for fairs here, and in the same year, Wal- ter de Lacy had a fresh confirmation(6) of his late fa- ther's possessions here, which were all upon the Meath side of the river, reserving the castle and borough to the Crown ; while the patent provided, that De Lacy should have the talliage and aid of the town, as far as appertained to the castle, and should pay a certain reserved farm rent for his lands at Drogh- eda. In 1225, it was commanded by royal mandate, that the men of Drogheda should have free ingress and egress in that port with their merchandize, with- out paying tolls or customs ; and, in the following year, the burgesses of this town were, with the citi- zens of Limerick, reimbursed for certain payments and advances which they had made in support of the war against Hugh de Lacy. On the 12th of April, 1228, the king granted to his good men of Drogheda, without any distinction (as should be the case for a work of mutual advantage), license to take, during one year only, certain customs therein speci- (a) Rot. Pat. 5 Henry III. in Tur. Lond. (b) Rot. Claus. 4 Henry HI. in Tur. Lond. l2 148 CORPORATE HISTORY. fied, in aid of making the bridge, or rather of its bet- ter construction, for the existence of a prior bridge there is evinced by the above records, and will be shown at an earlier period in the General History. Henceforth, however, the distinction of the two bo- roughs is markedly preserved, the one to the north of the Boyne, called Drogheda ex 'parte Uriel, the other to the south, Drogheda ex parte Mediae; a ne- cessity which, induced as it was by the distinct ter- ritorial proprietors, was also rendered advisable, by the Boyne being then the understood boundary be- tween Leinster and Ulster, between the Pale and the Irishry, and, as before mentioned, between the newly created counties of Meath and Louth. On the 20th of September, 1229, by a more ex- press declaration of the privileges that were implied by the Patent of 1213, the king granted to his bur- gesses of Drogheda, that his town of Drogheda at the Louth side, should be a free borough for ever (that is, should be exempt for evermore from the varying and arbitrary tenure of villeinage, and be subjected to but one fixed farm rent, herein defined as sixty marks per annum, and to be chargeable on the borough collectively, as a substitute for the mi- litary service arising out of the knight's fees in rural districts); that they should have a guild merchant, with hanse and other Hberties and free customs; that none but those of the guild should make mer- chandize within the borough, unless by the will of the burgesses; that they and their heirs should have CORPORATE HISTORY. 149 soc and sac(a), thol and theam, and infangthef, &c.; be quit of toll, lastage, passage, pontage, stallage, through all parts, and all the king's demesnes in his hands at the time of making the charter; that none of them plead without the hundred of the borough, of any plea except pleas of external tenures ; that they should be free from amerciaments for murders committed within the boundaries of their town; that none should be permitted to have recourse to wager of battle, on appeals, but have privilege to plead in cases of pleas of the Crown, in manner as customary in Dublin ; that no one should exact entertainment within the borough, by force or by livery of the mar- shal. This charter also gave power to hold pleas of debt there, and to distrain their debtors, free passage in the port with their merchandize, and liberty to hold a hundred court in every fortnight; directed that no burgess should be amerced above twelve pence; that they should elect their own provosts, " anointing such as are fit for the Crown and them- selves;" that two burgesses should be elected at (a) Soc signifies the power of holding a court, with jurisdic- tion over the free socagers, or tenants of certain and honorable service. Sac was a royalty or privilege of holding a plea of tres- pass within a manor. Thol gave authority to take, or to be free from tolls (as the case might be) within a manor. Theam licensed the lord to hold plea over his bondmen or viUeins in his court. Infangthef gave jurisdiction to judge a thief taken within the manor. Lastage was ship toll; Passage, export duty; Pontage, bridge toll ; Stallage, a charge for liberty to set up booths and stalls for the sale of goods, at markets or fairs. 148 CORPORATE HISTORY. fied, in aid of making the bridge, or rather of its bet- ter construction, for the existence of a prior bridge there is evinced by the above records, and will be shown at an earlier period in the General History, Henceforth, however, the distinction of the two bo- roughs is markedly preserved, the one to the north of the Boyne, called Drogheda ex parte Uriel, the other to the south, Drogheda ex parte Mediae; a ne- cessity which, induced as it was by the distinct ter- ritorial proprietors, was also rendered advisable, by the Boyne being then the understood boundary be- tween Leinster and Ulster, between the Pale and the Irishry, and, as before mentioned, between the newly created counties of Meath and Louth. On the 20th of September, 1 229, by a more ex- press declaration of the privileges that were imphed by the Patent of 1213, the king granted to his bur- gesses of Drogheda, that his town of Drogheda at the Louth side, should be a free borough for ever (that is, should be exempt for evermore from the varying and arbitrary tenure of villeinage, and be subjected to but one fixed farm rent, herein defined as sixty marks per annum, and to be chargeable on the borough collectively, as a substitute for the mi- litary service arising out of the knight's fees in rural districts); that they should have a guild merchant, with hanse and other liberties and free customs; that none but those of the guild should make mer- chandize within the borough, unless by the will of the burgesses; that they and their heirs should have CORPORATE HISTORY. 149 soc and sac(a), tliol and theam, and infangthef, &c.; be quit of toll, lastage, passage, pontage, stallage, through all parts, and all the king's demesnes in his hands at the time of making the charter; that none of them plead without the hundred of the borough, of any plea except pleas of external tenures ; that they should be free from amerciaments for murders committed within the boundaries of their town; that none should be permitted to have recourse to wager of battle, on appeals, but have privilege to plead in cases of pleas of the Crown, in manner as customary in Dublin ; that no one should exact entertainment within the borough, by force or by livery of the mar- shal. This charter also gave power to hold pleas of debt there, and to distrain their debtors, free passage in the port with their merchandize, and liberty to hold a hundred court in every fortnight; directed that no burgess should be amerced above twelve pence; that they should elect their own provosts, " aj>pointing such as are fit for the Crown and them- selves;" that two burgesses should be elected at (a) Soc signifies the power of holding a court, wim jurisdic- tion over the free socagers, or tenants of certain and honorable service. Sac was a royalty or privilege of holding a plea of tres- pass within a manor. Thol gave authority to take, or to be free from tolls (as the case might be) within a manor. Theam licensed the lord to hold plea over his bondmen or villeins in his court. Infangthef gave jurisdiction to judge a thief taken •within the manor. Lastage was ship toll; Passage, export duty; Pontage, bridge toll; Stallage, a charge for liberty to set up booths and stalls for the sale of goods, at markets or fairs. 150 CORPORATE HISTORY. the Assizes, before the King's Justices, by the Common Council, to keep the pleas of the Crown, and " to see that the provosts of the borough justly and lawfully treated as well the poor as the rich of the borough;" that none might exact pledges from them unless with their own consent ; " that they should have their fishery in the water of Drogheda, as* they had ever had, and used to have it, in the times of the king's predecessors;" that no stranger should export victuals thence without their hcense; that no merchant should sell cloth in the borough by retail, nor wine on draught; and "that they might improve in making buildings on the bank of the Boyne, as far as the stream of the water, and else- where within their bounds." This charter also con- firmed to them all hberties and free customs used in the time of the king's predecessors, to have and to hold the borough, with its appurtenances, and the water of Drogheda in fee farm, of the Crown, by a rent of sixty marks payable half yearly. The wit- nesses to this instrument are Hubert de Burgo, Earl of Kent, Justice of England ; Stephen de Segrave, and others. [The last named individual was a re- markable instance of the instabihty of a courtier's honours ; he alternately enjoyed the favour and ex- perienced the displeasure of King Henry the Third. In his youth, from a priest he became a soldier, and though of low birth, by his dihgence acquired so much wealth and honour, that he was soon accounted among the chief men of the kingdom, was appointed CORPORATE HISTORY. 151 Justice of England, and managed almost all the af- fairs of the nation as lie pleased. At length he quite lost the king's favour, and, secreting himself in a monastery, resumed the tonsure he had before aban- doned, and died in the order of a religious]. In 1244, the good men of Drogheda were, by a royal mandate to the King's Treasurer, relieved from payment of arrears of the chief rent of their town, and of accruing gales for some prospective years, in consequence of the services rendered by them in some mihtary expeditions against the Irishry(a). In this same year the king ordered his Justiciary to cause equal weights and measures to be used through- out Ireland, he the Justiciary having first convoked a council of all the discreet burgesses of that land(6). On the I6th of June, 1247, the members of the bo- rough at the Meath side received a similar charter, as a free borough, to that granted as before men- tioned, in 1229, to the borough on the Louth side; and withal, a privilege, that they might annually elect their seneschal and provosts; that they should have their fishery in the water of Drogheda as before; that none should award attachments within their franchises, except the Provosts or Coroners; none be impleaded of any tenement unless by writ of right; that none should exact toll or custom from said burgesses; that they should have their burgages and their acres, with their appurtenances, within (a) Rot. Pat. 28 Hen. III. in Tur. Lond. (b) Rot. Claus. in Tur. Lond. 152 CORPORATE HISTORY. their boundaries, as before well and freely granted to them ; " that they might marry amongst them- selves, their sons, and daughters, and widows, with- out seeking license therefor from their feudal lords;" that they should be exempt from arrest except in cases of felony ; that none should use wager of bat- tle, but might clear himself by twenty-four lawful men of said borough ; that they should be quit of wreck of the sea in all the king's lands and domi- nions; " that none shall oppose the progress of com- merce or trade to said borough, by sea or land, but permit it to come and go without any impediment." This also established an annual fair on the vigil of the Assumption and seven following days, and a market on every Wednesday; and that this borough should be held at the annual rent of forty marks. Witnesses, Richard Earl of Cornwall, John Fitz- Geoflfry, Justice of Ireland, and others. On the 1 2th September, 1253, King Henry the Third, by char- ter tested at Clarendon, confirmed the aforesaid charter of 1229 to the burgesses of Drogheda on the Louth side, with all their liberties as they had hi- therto used them, " in the times of our predecessors, Kings of England, and our own," giving them, also, the same privileges as to marrying among themselves as was given to the Meath Corporation. It further granted, that no Sheriff or other ministers should intermeddle in attachments or summonses, within the franchises, except its own coroners and provosts; that the Templars or Hospitallers should not have • ■■.y.jT^F':' CORPORATE HISTORY. 153 in the borough any man or messuage free of customs, except one ; that no merchant stranger should re- main therein for selhng his wares above forty days ; " that if any person shall have held any tenement within said borough, by gift, or purchase, or inhe- ritance, for one year and a day, without challenge, and another claim title therein, and without any disqualification yet making no challenge therefor, such claimant shall lose his challenge for ever ; and if any one shall have desired to bring any ship laden with wine to said borough, and through stress of weather shall have landed elsewhere, he shall not be compelled to give prises thereof, unless he may wish to sell those wines in such place ;" that if any buigess were attached without the borough, the Mayor and Burgesses should have of him their court, and give justice to the complainant " in the same way that an Earl or Baron, or any other Magnate of Ireland ought to hold his court for his men, accord- ing to the law of our land of Ireland." It likewise permitted an annual fair here on the eve of St. Luke and the fourteen days following, with aU free cus- toms and liberties thereunto belonging. A " com- potus" of the borough, "■ ex parte,'' was this year ren- dered to the Exchequer by John Taylor, a copy of which is preserved in the Lambeth Manuscripts. In the third year of the reign of Edward the First (1275) the earliest perpetual grant of customs payable on wool, skins, &c., was made to the Crown by the Parliament of England. Many of the great 154 CORPORATE HISTORY. lords thereof, at that time, were also Magnates or Barons of Ireland, in right of extensive possessions in that country, and to those magnates belonged Wexford, Arklow, Wicklow, Drogheda, Dundalk, Carlingford, and many other of the principal sea ports and mercantile towns, lying within peculiar hber- ties, where such customs would become payable. In consequence of this, as a necessary prehminary, the king obtained the written sealed certificates of " certain Magnates of Ireland," as he calls them, and amongst them of Roger de Mortimer, Theobald de Verdon, &c., certifying that they had made the grant already mentioned, in the Enghsh Parhament, and that on this second occasion they granted, that King Edward should have, in all their ports in Ireland, the same customs on wools and skins thereout exported; saving, however, to themselves, the fo rfeiture of all such merchandize as passed through their fees or liberties without paying these customs to the king, and so that in all their ports, where the king's writs had not currency, two of the more discreet and faith- ful men of those parts should be elected, and should be sworn to arrest such merchandize, until, &c.(a) Roger de Mortimer having intermarried with the grand-daughter, and Theobald de Verdon with the great grand-daughter of the respective coheiresses of Hugh de Lacy, and thereby acquired the rights of that family in Drogheda between them, their assent became of especial importance to the king. In 1282, (o) Fine Roll ia Turr. Lond. 3 Edw. I. CORPORATE HISTORY. 155 on the occasion of the insurrection of the Welch, the usual aid was sought by Edward the First, from the citizens, burgesses, merchants, and commons of all cities, boroughs, and mercantile towns in Ireland, including, of course, Drogheda(a). In reference to the year 1285, a passage occurs in the very venerable document entitled the "Domes- day Book of Develyn Cittie," in the ancient Char- tulary of that Corporation, which bears a peculiar interest in the history of this and other Irish borough towns, and may be translated as follows : " To all persons who shall see or hear these presents, the Mayor and citizens of Cork send greeting in the Lord. Know ye, that we in common council, by consent and assent, and of our voluntary will, have granted for us and our successors, to the Mayor and citizens of Dublin, the Mayor and citizens of Water- ford, the Mayor and citizens of Drogheda on the side of Louth ; the Mayor and citizens of Limerick, and the seneschal and burgesses of Drogheda on the side ofMeath; that if it shall happen, which heaven forbid, that any person by whatsoever authority, shall attempt or presume to impugn, infringe, or les- sen the liberties granted to them, Dublin, Waterford, Drogheda, &c., by charters from the illustrious Kings of England, in whatsoever manner, in whatsoever places or times, or before whatsoever persons eccle- siastical or secular ; by reason whereof, for their defence or protection, expenses, charges, and labours shall of (a) Rot. Walliffi in Tur. Lond. >n 156 CORPORATE HISTORY. necessity accrue; so often as shall be required, we will afford them all counsel and assistance to the utmost of our power, saving the rights of our Lord the King, and the faith and fealty to him due ; and for our apportioned share of the said expenses, rated according to the extent of the means of the said cities and boroughs, to uphold the Hberties afore- said, and in accordance with the provisions made by the said citizens and burgesses, we will be an- swerable to them without any difficulty or contra- diction. It is also granted, and in common council ordained, that once in term, viz., on the morrow of the Holy Trinity, two or three of the most discreet persons of the aforesaid cities and boroughs, shall assemble at Kilkenny, to consider and treat of matters concerning their hberties, and to adjudge in what most convenient and suitable manner their said liberties may be best preserved uninjured ; and, if one or more persons belonging to the before- mentioned cities or boroughs shall presume to in- fringe this grant and ordinance, or shall fail to observe the form of the matters above set forth, he or they shall be held justly indebted to those who shall duly observe the form aforesaid, in the sum of £20 sterhng, for their charges, expenses, and trouble, in such manner, that after he or they shall have been warned to pay the said £20, and shall fail to pay the same, then it shall be lawful for the parties observing the form aforesaid, to arrest the goods of the party not observing the same, where- CORPORATE HISTORY. 157 ever they shall be found, and without any hinder- ance or contradiction, to levy in full out of the said goods the said £20, and to execute their will and pleasure upon the same. In witness whereof we have caused our common seal to be affixed to these presents. Dated at Kilkenny, on the Friday next before the feast of the Holy Trinity, in the thir- teenth year of the reign of King Edward." Sir William Betham considers this passage as conclu- sive evidence, that the cities and boroughs of Ire- land were not then represented in Parliament. " If," he observes(a), " the cities and towns were then represented in Parhament, these agreements for their mutual protection would not have been ne- cessary, and therefore it may be considered a natural and conclusive deduction, that they were not then represented in the Parliaments, one of which was held in the very year in which this agreement was entered into." • In 1300, the king issued the usual writs to the prelates, peers, &c., of Ireland, notifying that he re- quired a subsidy to suppress the rebellion of the Scotch, and requesting them to confide in what his Justiciary should explain to them upon the subject. That official thereupon summoned a general Par- liament at Dublin, and there required the prelates and peers to attend in their proper persons, and the commons of counties by two, three, or four, for this I (a) Betham on Feudal Dignities, p. 258. 158 CORPORATE HISTORY. purpose elected, with full powers to act for all ; and likewise the commons of cities and boroughs by two or three (meaning by the commons, all who en- joyed the privileges and bore the charges of the town). But the Justiciary determined, as the record states, first to address the several cities and boroughs on the business of the subsidy, and for this purpose went in the earliest instance to Drogheda, then to Ross, Waterford, and the other cities and towns of the kingdom, the names of all which are entered on the roll, with the different sums granted as subsidy in his journey. The Mayor, BaiUffs, and Commons of Drogheda, at each side of the river, assessed themselves in 260 marks, 200 of which was to be levied on the town at the Louth, and 60 on that at the Meath side (a). In 1301, the BaiUffs and good men of Drogheda were required to supply one vessel towards the transports to be collected at Dublin for the service of the Scottish war. On the 24th of June, 1305, King Edward the First, on in- speximus of the aforesaid charters of 1229 and 1253, confirmed same by charter dated at Lewes. In this patent, the words of incorporation are for the first time used ; it is granted to the burgesses and their successors. Witnesses the Bishop of Durham, the Bishop of Coventry jand Litchfield, and others : and this was itself inspected and con- firmed by Edward the Second, on the 11th July, (a) Roll 28 Edw. I. in Offic. Ch. Rem. Hib. CORPORATE HISTORY. 159 1316, by charter, witnessed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of Exeter, Ademar de Ya- lentia Earl of Pembroke, Humphrey de Bohun Earl of Hereford and Essex, Hugh le Despenser, senior, and others. On the 7th of February, 1317, the same monarch confirmed the charter of 1247, to the Meath portion ; and further, after reciting the power theretofore given to the biirgesses, of improving on the banks of the Boyne, the King granted to them all his void places in said borough, to build upon, or otherwise to make their advantage thereof, " so that such buildings, or improvements, are not to the prejudice of any existing rights." It likewise al- lowed another weekly market on Saturday, " unless same were an injury to neighbouring markets on that day." " And also that in cases of pleas within said borough, the trial should be not by strangers, but by fellow-burgesses, save in cases affecting the Crown or the liberties." Witnesses the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of Winchester, Humphrey de Bohun, Hugh le Despenser, senior, and others. Three charters, dated at York on the 8th of June, 1319, are preserved of record. By one the King directs, that the Mayor and Burgesses of Drogheda at the Louth side, should for their good services be protected by the Lord Justice, Koger de Mortimer, from molestation in the exercise of their liberties and free customs ; the second aids them in the holding of a hundred court ; and the third is a murage charter as before mentioned. In the same srr ".'-i 160 CORPORATE HISTORY. year, and subseqently, royal mandates were directed to the Justiciary of Ireland, to protect the Mayor and Burgesses of Drogheda, at the Louth side, in the full enjoyment of their liberties. In 1327, the staple of merchandize in Ireland was fixed here and at Dublin and Cork exclusively, and so confirmed, with regulations, in 1353(o), a selection which dis- tinctly evinces the commercial importance then at- tributed to this locality, although it was attended with the jealousies and conflicts between the two boroughs at each side of the river, of which records are yet preserved in the Tower of London. In 1330, a Parliament was by royal order convened to obtain an aid from the people against Robert Bruce, on which occasion the Lord Justice summoned two out of every city or corporate town, which number was imiformly observed afterwards in borough re- presentation. The account of the Mayor of Drogh- eda to the Exchequer for this year, is preserved in a pipe roll in Bermingham Tower. On the 6th of May, 1331, King Edward the Third confirmed, on inspeximus, the charters of 1229, 1253, and 11th Jidy, 1316, to Drogheda, at Louth side. This char- ter further privileged the burgesses from being put upon assizes, juries, or inquests, by reason of con- tracts, trespasses or lands without the borough, and prohibited strangers being put on such with them, for trespasses, contracts, or lands within the borough. (o) Rolls of Parliament ad ann. CORPORATE HISTORY. 161 It prescribed that they should not be convicted of pleas, contracts, or felonies by strangers, but only by the co-burgesses, unless in matters affecting the Crown or commonalty; that they should not be prejudiced by departures in pleading, nor be made Sheriffs, Coroners, or other ministers of the King, without the borough, against their will; that no baihff or minister of the Crown should exact any things or merchandize from those carrying on com- merce in or to the town, without the consent of the owners, unless in aid of the Crown, or the Royal Castles ; that they should have the assize of bread and beer, and the custody and assay of measures and weights, with power to punish transgressors therein, all profits of such assize and assay to belong to the burgesses and their successors, in aid of the farm of the town ; the Mayor and bailiffs, however, to be fined and amerced if proved to have neglected their duty. Witnesses the Bishop of Winchester, Chan- cellor; the Bishop of Norwich, Treasurer ; John de Eltham Earl of Cornwall, the lung's brother ; and others. On the same day, the King confirmed on inspeximus, the charter of the 7 th of Februaiy, 1317, to Drogheda at the Meath side, with further privileges similar to those granted to the borough at the Louth side. It also granted, that merchant strangers should not stay more than forty days to sell their goods ; and that no alien-bom merchant should export victuals without the Kcense of the burgesses. Witnesses the same as in the last VOL. I. ]\I 162 CORPORATE HISTORY. charter. A patent recorded as of 1341(a) states, that Walter de Lacy, late Palatine of Meath, had confirmed, according to his estate, their lands and liberties to the burgesses of the Corporation ; who, in the same year, had a royal aid towards the kaiage of their town. In 1357, the Mayor, seneschal, and baiHffs of this town were ordered to make proclamation, that none but merchants should take shipping thence ; and in 1360, a Great Council of the Prelates, Magnates, and Peers of Ireland having been convened to sit at Dublin, Drogheda appears, for the first time, required to send representatives thereto, being directed by royal mandate, to send two of the discreeter citizens to attend same. It may be remarked, that this pri- vilege of legislative representation, was, at that time, only extended to eight other Irish cities and towns, viz., Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Kilkenny, Ross, Clomnel, and "Wexford. On the 22nd of March, 1362, the king granted to this town, at the Louth side, very extensive rights of tolls and cus- toms, to enure for twenty years : provided always, that said customs, and all toll on articles coming into the town for sale, should be expended in re- pairing the towers, quay, and bridge, and not other- wise, and be so duly accounted for. Witness, Lionel Earl of Ulster. By charter, dated 12th February, 1365, the king confirmed that of 1331, to the bur- (a) Kot. Pat. 14 Edw. III. in Tur.Lond. CORPORATE HISTORY. 163 gesses of Drogheda on Loutli side, and thereby granted certain privileges relative to the elections and swearing in of the Mayor, the return of writs and attachments by the burgesses within the borough, except the four usually excepted, the cognizance of all pleas of tenures, contracts, and trespasses, by the Mayor and bailiffs within the borough, as largely as the same had been theretofore granted to Dublin. Further, upon the petition of the burgesses, stating their privilege, that no merchant stranger should sell his wares there by retail, against which some merchant strangers, under pretext of the then late Statute of ordinance of the staple, had come to Drogheda, and sold by retail, as freely as the merchants of the bo- rough, the charter granted, that aU merchant stran- gers, buying and selling in the town under said Sta- tute, should contribute to the talliages and burdens for its support. Witnesses, the Bishops of Ely and Worcester, and others. — On the 25th of March, 1370, King Edward confirmed, on inspeximus, the pre- vious charter of the customs given to the Corpora- tion at the Louth side; and, while he renewed the privilege of taking same for twenty other years, he extended the benefits to the seneschal, bailiff, and townsmen of the Meath side, with similar directions as to appropriating and accounting therefor. In the following year, the Mayor, seneschal, and baihffs, of this town, were directed to summon William Roche, WUliam Symcock, Richard Mile, Nicholas Fitz Hugh, Thomas Ashe, and John Ashwell, to a Great Coun- M 2 164 CORPORATE HISTORY. cil, with letters of protection to them during their coming, their sojourn, and their retum(a). The last named individual, it may be observed, was afterwards constituted Mayor of the staple, by Robert de Vere, Marquess of Dublin, when that favourite received the extraordinary grant of Ireland from his royal master. In the same year, the seneschal and bailiffs of Drogheda at the Meath side, were, on account of their labour and expense, incurred in repairing the bridge at their side of the river, released and dis- charged from an amerciament of forty shillings, for which they were indebted to the Crown(6). A very remarkable parliamentary summons was, in this year (1374), directed, amongst other officials of counties and boroughs, to the Sheriff of Louth, Mayor of Drogheda, &c., commanding them to re- turn representatives to meet the king in his Parlia- ment in England; whereupon, the magnates and com- monalty of Louth, being assembled by virtue of such writ, with one voice of common consent, alleged that, according to the rights, privileges, liberties, laws, and customs, of the land of Ireland, used since the conquest of the same, and before, they were not obliged to choose or send any person from the same land, to the Parliament or Councils to be held in England, as said writ required ; nevertheless, out of reverence to the king, and on account of the press- ing necessity, but saving their said rights, privileges. (a) Rot. in Cane. Hib. (b) Id. CORPORATE HISTORY. 165 &c., they chose Roger Gernon, and Richard de Ver- don, to advise on the safety, defence, and good go- vernment of the king's reahn of Ireland, with a spe- cial exception, nevertheless, of any delegation of authority to the said Gernon and Verdon, for grant- ing any other burdens or subsidies to be imposed upon them for the present, on account of the poverty of the said community, and the great and daily ex- penses they were at, in finding men at anns for the defence of the marches of their county, against the more potent Irish enemies and rebels of the King of England ; and the Sheriff of Louth made his return accordingly (a). Under similar circumstances and instructions, Drogheda sent as its representatives, William White and Nicholas Starkey. Nicholas Fitz Hugh was, at this time. Mayor of the staple, with power, in right of his office, to settle complaints relative thereto, and keep the seal of office, with two constables to execute his warrants under seal. Not- withstanding this prohibition, however, of parlia- mentary taxation at Westminster, it does appear on the rolls, that the Corporation were then required to levy an aid for the support of government. In the following year, tlie seneschal and bailiffs at the Meath side, had a remission of their Crown debts, by reason of their expenditure in repairing the bridge of the borough(6). In this latter year (1375), by charter of 27th of June, a Mayor and constable of (a) Memoranda Rolls, in Turr. Lond. {b) Rot. Glaus. 48 Edw. III. in Cane. Hib. 166 CORPORATE HISTORY. the Staple were constituted here, as in four other towns of Ireland ordained for that purpose, Nicholas Fitz Hugh being appointed the first Mayor, and Wal- ter Lynford and John White his constables. Merchants of the staple, it may be remarked, were the first and most ancient association for ex- porting the staple wares of the kingdom, viz., wool skins, lead, and tin, in their rough state, for manu- facture. It is said to have originated in England in 1248, but did not obtain a legal corporate character until the time of Edward the Second, at the close of whose reign, as before mentioned, the staple in Ire- land was fixed here, and at Dublin and Cork, exclu- sively. In 1353, Edward the Third appointed, for the staple of wool, Westminster, Canterbury, Chi- chester, Exeter, Winchester, Bristol, Lincoln, York, Norwich, Newcastle, and Hull, for England; and DubUn, Cork, Waterford, and Drogheda, for Ireland. In the twenty-seventh year of the same king's reign, was enacted the Statute of the staple, whereby it was commanded, that all staple wares for exporta- tion should be first brought to some of these places exclusively, where the custom should be paid, and exported by merchant strangers only, a privilege, which was afterwards extended to denizens. In these staple towns, courts of law merchant were es- tablished, for determining the mercantile transac- tions and engagements that grew out of the trade so induced, as is still recognized in the forms of pleadings on bills of exchange, &c. At this day, these officials CORPORATE HISTORY. 167 of the staple exist only in name, although they main- tain the form of a corporation in the succession of their annual officers, according to the direction of their charters. | In 1377, the Mayor, seneschal, and bailiffs, of Drogheda, were commanded to cause two of the more worthy of their townsmen, to be elected as their representatives in a Parliament to be held at Castledermot. Similar summonses occur in 1380 and 1381. The grants of the customs of 1361 and 1370, were further confirmed by charter of the 20th July, 1380 (witness, Edmund de Mortimer, Earl of March and Ulster), which was itself renewed on in- speximus, in favour of the borough at the Louth side, for twelve years, by another of 24th of Octo- ber, 1385. Witness, Philip de Courtney, the King's Lieutenant. About the same time, "Walter Fleming, one of the baihflfs of the town, and the seneschal on the Meath side, had respectively royal licenses to appoint their deputies. The practice of such de- putations is recognized in the Rolls of subsequent years, and the superior authorities were, on such occasions, directed to admit the substitutes. — By charter of 9th April, 1392, that of 1363 was inspected and confirmed in favour of the burgesses at the Louth side, as was that of 1331 for those of the Meath side, by charter of 16th June, 1394. Wit- nesses, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the Bishops of London, Winchester, and Sahsbury, Thomas Duke of Gloucester, Roger de Mortimer, 168 CORPORATE HISTORY. Earl of March, and others. In 1402, the king granted to the Mayor, seneschal, and commons of Drogheda, the full liberty of passing and repassing through the Lough of Carlingford, for the purpose of buying fuel there, and carrying it thence to this town. By char- ter of 20th January, 1403, on inspeximus of letters patent of the 8th of April, 1387, the license for ex- porting wares to England was confirmed to the Cor- poration at the Meath side, and on the 8th of March following, the king, on the supplication of the same body, stating, that King Edward the Third had, by letters patent, granted to them 32a., called Arundel's land, near the town, and 18*. chief rent (which be- longed to Gilbert Thedrick, and had come to the Crown by escheat), to hold for ever, at the annual rent of 50*., and that afterwards, Bichard the Se- cond, by letters patent(a) of 17th January, 1395, had given a remission of said rent for ten years. King Henry the Fourth thereupon, considering the losses of the Corporation by enemies and rebels, confirmed the premises to them to hold for ever, as parcels of said town, free of all rent(6). They were, however, afterwards, in 1415, sued for the arrears thereof, but relieved on pleading the royal release (c), after which, the king confirmed the election of a Mayor and con- stables of the staple. In 1406, the Mayor of the Louth side of the (a) Rot. Pat. 18 Ric. II. in Tixr. Lond. (b) Rot. Pat. in Cane. Hib. 4 Henry IV. (r) Vice Treasurer's Office. CORPORATE HISTORY. 169 town had license to go into England, on appointing two burgesses to fulfil the duties of his office during his absence; while one of his bailiffs, Nicholas White, had a similar liberty, leaving John D' Alton his de- puty. [This Nicholas White was a very extensive and general merchant of that day, and the many li- censes on record for his exportings to various parts of Europe, bear a flattering testimony to the existing commerce of this town. His said deputy, John D' Alton, was the descendant of a member of the Rathconrath Hne, who had, in the time of Edward the Third, established himself in the county Louth, where, in 1347, John D' Alton was found seised of certain townlands, held under the manor of Derver, by grant from Eichard de Exeter. The John of the present notice, was also an extensive merchant, resi- dent at Mornington, and licenses for his shipments, to supply the Abbey of Furnes and other places, and to export, as well from the river Boyne, as from the waters of Elvyn, now Delvin and Nanny, are of re- cord]. In 1404, a grant of customs and tolls passed to the Corporation of Drogheda at the Louth side, for murage, paviage, and pontage, a schedule thereof was set out, and the Corporation was permitted to account therefor before two burgesses, and discharged from rendering any account therefor to the Crown, in the Exchequer, or elsewhere(a) ; the right of tolls seemed, in this case, to contemplate perpetuity. (a) Rot. Pat. in Cane. Hib. 5 Henry IV. 170 CORPORATE HISTORY. These Corporations continued distinct to the time of Henry the Fourth, that on the Louth side having its Mayor, and this on the Meath its senes- chal, while each had several bailiffs and burgesses. During this interval the principal market had been at the Meath side, near the Mill-mount, and there ves- sels preferred to anchor, by reason of their being exempt at that side from the pontage which was le- vied at the north quay; the inhabitants of the former had, consequently, the monopoly of the merchandize imported, on the sale of which at the other, they in- sisted upon increased prices, and hence arose jea- lousies, animosities, and contentions, that put the inhabitants of both places in arms against each other. In their contests blood was often shed and many lives lost, especially upon one occasion, when the bridge became the scene of a sanguinary engagement between the conflicting parties. At length Father Philip Bennet, a monk of the Dominican Friary, hav- ing invited the dissentients to hear his sermon in the collegiate church of St. Peter, assumed as his text the words of the 133rd psalm, "behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity," then appeahng to the congregation, " will ye be united to the body of Christ," one of them (Wil- liam Symcock), exclaimed as in the name of all, " we will," and it was thereupon agreed, as the sin- cerest and most effective bond of peace, to transmit their joint supplicatory wishes to the king, for his royal sanction to consolidate the two bodies. This CORPORATE HISTORY. 171 their petition was signed by Nicholas Fleming, Arch- bishop of Armagh, and transmitted to London by Ro- bert Ball, who brought back the charter that is dated the 1st of November, 1412, whereby.after reciting the above importations and dissensions, the king, with the common consent of the burgesses and commonalties of both boroughs, granted that the town and the sub- urbs in both counties should constitute one county, distinct from those of Meath and Louth, to be called the county of Drogheda, to be held of the Crown at the entire fee farm rent of 100 marks (the aggregate of the respective rents of each theretofore), and to be governed by one Mayor and two Sheriffs only, eligible by the burgesses and commonalty of the town, and extinguishing totally with their assent the names and states of the seneschal and bailiffs. The Mayor was created the King's Escheator, and, with the sheriffs, burgesses and commonalty, empowered to make by-laws; and provisions were made for the elections and swearing of all such officers. This charter also granted a county court, a common gaol, waifs, estrays, goods of felons and fugitives, escapes and forfeitures, in aid of sustaining the farm afore- said; liberty to receive the tolls and customs in com- mon, and for the mutual benefit of the burgesses and commonalty, as of one franchise ; directed that none should plead or be impleaded before the king's Justices out of the town, but before the Mayor and Sheriffs ; while a very general jurisdiction was then given to the said Mayor and Sheriffs, within the 172 CORPORATE HISTORY. limits, in cases of trespass, covenants, contracts, and debts, assizes of novel disseisin, and mort d'ances- tor of lands and tenements; and to the Mayor in cases of oppressions, extortions, neglects, or injuries com- mitted by the Sheriffs ; and to the Mayor, Sheriffs, and co-burgesses in plaints touching labourers and artificers ; and it was directed, that the burgesses and commonalty should have all fines, issues, forfeitures, and amerciaments for supporting and repairing the bridges of the town, and other burdens daily arising, and forfeitures of victuals, viz. : bread, wine, ale, and other things not pertaining to merchandize. This charter also provided, that neither by the change of the names of seneschal and bailiffs, nor otherwise, should any of the former franchises of the burgesses or commonalty, or the tenants or residents of the town and suburbs, be denied or abridged, but that the Mayor, Sheriffs, Burgesses, and Commonalty should use and enjoy all the franchises, liberties, privileges and immunities, quittances, advantages, and free customs, article by article, and word for word, as the Mayor, Seneschal, Burgesses and Com- monalty, had before used and enjoyed them. The day after receiving this incorporation, the Primate gave his solemn blessing to the united people ; and the aforesaid William Symcock, who had vouched the common desire for coalition, was, by the voice of all, elected the first Mayor. A mock ceremony, com- memorative of this joyful occurrence, used, until a recent date, to be annually enacted. [The above CORPORATE HISTORY. 173 William Symcock had been, as before mentioned, one of those selected individuals, whom the Mayor of Drogheda was, in 137 1 , directed to summon to at- tend a Parliament as a representative of that borough, and a record is preserved which shows, that having voted the assessment of a subsidy out of that town, in this Parliament, and said subsidy not having been duly paid in, he was made personally liable to a certain extent. He was an eminent merchant, and various licenses are on record, sanctioning his exportation of corn and flour to Tenby, to Bourdeaux, and to Gas- cony; and of wine and beer to Ulster and the Scottish isles. He was Seneschal of Drogheda for several years prior to the above period, in which capacity he was, in 1387, ordered to purvey lod^ngs and en- tertainment for John Bishop of Sodor, and to trans- port provisions wherever the Bishop might require, provided they were not sent to an enemy's country. In 1 386 he was one of those directed to oversee and prevent exportation, contrary to existing ordinances ; and about the same time was entrusted with the cus- todyof the fisheries of the Bann and Lagan, for the Crown, with an allowance and privilege of ^boat for his own use; and again, with the custody of the manor of Ardcath, during a vacancy of the see of Meath. He and his wife Agnes were recorded in " the Annals of St. Mary's, Drogheda" (as alluded to in Dr. King's MSS., but which work is no longer forthcoming), to have been great benefactors to Drogheda, and, on his appointment to the Mayoralty, 174 CORPORATE HISTORY. he is said " to have honourably governed the place, to the content of them all. He died on the 18th of February, 1420, greatly lamented." His daughter, another Agnes, intermarried with Alexander Tay- lor of Swords, who acquired in her right property in this town, which is, after the lapse of centuries, still enjoyed by his descendant Mr. Taylor, of Swords House]. In 1413, the king granted that each future Mayor of the united bodies should be exclusive Escheator within the town(a), and on the 12th of September, 1414, the charter of 1402 received a further royal confirmation, while by another of the 10th of Novem- ber, immediately following, King Henry the Fifth yet more strongly ratified all former gifts, grants, liberties, fi:anchises, and quittances, with a renewal of the customs and toUs. In 1417, by reason of the heavy expenses incurred by the Corporation in doing< state service in the suite of Sir John Talbot, of Ha-1 lomshire, then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, they' were released from all debts, arrears of farm rent, and amerciaments. In the following year, however, Tho- mas Walsh, Mayor, and Peter Mesburgh, and Wil- liam English, Sherifis of this town, were impleaded before the Barons of the Exchequer, for certain ar- rears of the farm rent then due by them, but in 1419, received from Henry the Fifth a more distinct and effective pardon of all escapes, contempts, and fines, (a) See Rot. Claus. 1 Hen. VI. in Cane. Hib. CORPORATE HISTORY. 175 theretofore incurred by them. [The above Sir John Talbot was afterwards Earl of Shrewsbury, so con- spicuous as a warrior in the reign of Henry VI. Hav- ing been malignedin reference to his administration of the Vice-royalty, a very spirited memorial in his de- fence, but a sad development of the state of Ireland at the time(a), wa^drawn up and attested with such signatures as were then deemed most influential, among which appears that of the Corporation of Drogheda]. In 1424, the Mayor and Sheriffs having been about to proceed on the trial of a cause of ejectment or disseisin concerning certain tenements in the town, it being objected that they were then in the king's hands by escheat, and not subject to the Mayor's jurisdiction, it was ordered by the royal mandate, that the Mayor and Sheriffs should proceed to try the case notwithstanding, but should not pro- ceed to judgment without consulting with the Crown. Henry the Sixth, with the advice and consent of the lords spiritual and temporal, in his Parliament at Westminster, held in the fifth year of his reign (1426), approved and affirmed all gifts, &c., to the Corporation, and in 1436, they had a release of £20 per annum, out of their fee farm crown rent, in con- sequence of the great waste and destruction of the town and its trade by the king's enemies. A statute of 1436-7, recognizing the Act of Henry the Fourth (a) See D' Alton's History of the County Dublin, p. 30, &c. 176 CORPORATE HISTORY. in behalf of tlie Mayor, Burgesses, and Commons of this town, and that none of them were to be com- pelled to serve in offices outside the same; discharged all residents thereof from being obliged to serve any office in Kjlkenny, against their will. In 1442, the Corporation had a remission of twenty marks an- nually thenceforth from the fee farm of their town, in aid of the repairs of the Tholsel and bridge, as well as the walls, rendering an account annually, as therein prescribed, which indulgence was confirmed by an Act of Parliament, in 1459 ; while in 1447, Robert Talbot, Mayor «f Drogheda; Ralph Coll and James Fitz Rory, Sheriffs of said town ; William Wright and Patrick Hill, burgesses thereof, came before the Barons of the Exchequer and paid a fine to the king, because they did not observe the day assigned for their rendering an account of the issues and profits of the murage and paviage of the town aforesaid, as they were bound to do for the same. They were, however, by an Act passed in the same year at the Parliament of Trim, released therefrom. In three years afterwards, at the Parliament of Dub- lin, an Act passed against Alexander Shelton, Con- troller of the Customs in Dubhn and Drogheda, for exhibiting a false acquittance upon his account in the Exchequer. In 1452, the king confirmed the appointment of the Mayor and Constables of the staple, and in 1454, in consequence of extortions (a) Exch. Roll, 25 & 26 Hen. VI. CORPORATE HISTORY. 177 used in this town on the affirmance of plaints, for copies of which respectively the recorders and clerks thereof exacted two shillings, it was enacted by Sta- tute 33 Hen. VI. c. 2, that the said recorders or clerks should have but two pence for the copy of each plaint, under pain of standing outlawed as of trespass, and out of the protection of the king, and never to occupy the said offices again. Another Act of the same Session provided, that the Mayors should not be knights or esquires, but merchants; and that the Mayor for any one year, should not be again elected to that office for three years ensuing; this restriction was, however, in the following year, repealed by Statute 34 Henry VI. c. 19, " in consi- deration how often knights and esquires have been Mayors, and done great honor to same." In Trinity Term, 1458, the King's Attorney- General informed the Court, that " whereas the king, who now is, by his letters patent, made at West- minster, on the 1 8th of November, in the 2 1 st year of his reign, granted to the Mayor, Sheriffs, and Com- mons of Drogheda, twenty marks, to be received yearly out of the fee-farm of said town, for repair and support of the walls of same, to hold to said Mayor and Commons, and their successors, &c.; notwithstanding which the king's attorney says, that the twenty marks of the said fee farm, for the 34th year of the now king's reign, at Drogheda, in the said year, to the hands of Nicholas Hardman and WilUam Davy, then Sheriffs of said town, came, and they diverted them VOL. I. N 178 CORPORATE HISTORY. to their own use, and not to walling said town, in contempt of the said lord the king," &c. These Sheriffs were, thereupon, afterwards fined, and so otherwise severely prosecuted, that they were com- pelled to seek exoneration of the penalty, and par- don of the offence, by an Act of Parhament specially passed for the purpose(a). In a Parliament of 1459, a grant of twenty marks yearly was confirmed to the Mayor, &c., of Drogheda, in consideration of the losses sustained from the French of Brittany and the Scots, and in consideration of the plague that had lately raged in the town ; same to be ap- plied in support of their bridges, walls, tholsel, &c.(6); and by another unprinted Act of 1463, cus- toms were confirmed to Trim, Naas, Athboy, Kenlis, and Fore, for murage, paviage, and pontage, provided same were not prejudicial to Dubhn, Drogheda, or Ardee. In an Act of Resumption, passed in 1 464, whereby all patents of castles, seigniories, manors, tenements, &c., granted by King Edward or his fa- ther, or Henry late King of England, from the first year of his reign, were recalled, there was a special exception in favour of the Corporation of Drogheda. And so was it in a previous resumption of 1459, and in subsequent of 1465 and 1468(c). In the latter session, indeed, a distinct Act was passed, confirming all their liberties. In 1485, however, another Act of Resumption was passed, by which all charters («.) See Exch. Roll, 25 & 26 Hen. VI. (p) Unedited Statutes. (c) Id. CORPORATE HISTORY. 179 granting customs, between the last year of Edward the First and this the first of Henry the Seventh, were declared void, with a saving for Waterford only. 1 By Statute of 8 Edw. IV. c. 58, it was conceded, that a patent should pass from the King, granting that the Mayor of this town for the time being might wear a sword as the Mayor of London did, with an annual pension of £20 out of the fee farm of the town, to maintain his dignity in regard of the ser- vices of the Corporation against O'EeUly, and in the wars under the Earl of Worcester, deputy of George Duke of Clarence. A patent of the 12th of July, 1469, in the same year, issued accordingly to that effect, and was confirmed by a subsequent charter of 19th of February, 1470. Another Statute, of the reign of the same monarch, confirmed to the Corporation in 1469 all the patents granted by his predecessors, while an unprinted Act of Resump- tion of 1480, although it resumes all castles, manors, franchises, &c., granted by King Edward, by his father, or by Henry the Sixth, contains a special saving of the rights of the Corporation of Drogheda ; and in another unprinted Act of 1483, estabhshing a market at Maynooth and free warren on its manor, a similar saving is inserted. By an Act of 1487, it was provided, that the lands of Barnatty, in the shire of Louth, should thenceforward be reputed and taken as part and parcel of the franchises of Drogheda, and utterly discharged of the said shire n2 180 CORPORATE HISTORY. of Louth, and that dwellers, tenants, and land- occupiers of the said lands of Barnatty, and resi- dentiaries of the same, should have the liberties, freedoms, and franchises of Drogheda, and use and enjoy them as the inhabitants of Manimore, being of and within the franchise of the town, had used and enjoyed same as parcel of the same lands ; and these lands are still reputed as part of the county of the town. On the 9th of July, 1512, an addi- tional confirmation charter was granted to this body on inspeximus of its former muniments ; and on the 23rd of February, 1529, King Henry granted the Mill mote, alias the Windmill mote, to the Corpo- ration for ever(a). Another charter, enrolled in 1539, provided that the Mayor and Recorder should be guardians of the peace for the King within the town and franchises by land, sea, and fresh water ; and should also be justices of the peace, with power to hold inqui- sitions of felonies and other crimes, and to have the assize of weights and measures. This instrument also prescribed, that neither the King's Coroner, Escheator, or Sherifi", should have jurisdiction in the town ; that the Corporation might build a pri- son ; that the Mayor and Recorder should be justices of gaol delivery within the town, with power to erect a gallows, and execute judgment on felons ; and lastly, it confirmed all former grants and dona- (a) Vice-Treasurer's Office. CORPORATE HISTORY. 181 tions. About this time, Sir Christopher St. Law- rence, the seventeenth Lord of Howth, exhibited a complaint against the Mayor and Commons of Drogheda, concerning forty shillings rent payable out of the Tholsel of that town, setting forth that he and his ancestors, time out of mind, had been seised and possessed thereof, which appeared by di- vers decrees made between the said parties ; where- upon the Lord Deputy and Council referred the examination of the matter to Chief Baron Finglas and Thomas Howth, Second Justice of the King's. Bench, who, after hearing and proving the evidence and title of each party, reported that the Mayor, Sheriffs, and Commons shewed no evidence to ex- clude the Lord of Howth from the said rent ; and that he ought to have and enjoy the same according to the several decrees thereof made against the said Mayor, Sheriffs, and Commons. Whereupon the Lord Deputy and Council, willing true and indif- ferent justice to be ministered to all the King's subjects, adjudged the same with the arrears to him and his heirs, according to the said decrees, unto the time that the Mayor, Sheriffs, and Commons should produce good evidence to bar and exclude his lordship and his heirs from the said rent, and the said evidence to be then approved by the De- puty and Council: the Corporation to perform, upon pain of £100 forfeiture to the King, the decree made by Hugh Archbishop of Dublin, between his Lordship and the said Corporation for the right and 182 CORPORATE HISTORY. title to the said rent of forty shillings ; and that the Corporation should thenceforth suffer his Lordship to enjoy the said rent without let or disturbance. By a charter dated 6th of April, 1557, the religious houses of St. Mary de Urso and St. Lawrence, and those of the Augustinians and Carmelites, were granted to this Corporation in fee farm for ever. It was also provided, that the burgesses resident in Drogheda should not be compelled to appear in any of the King's Courts elsewhere, in suits arising in Drogheda, nor be put on juries out of the town ; but that the burgesses should answer for lands held by them without the franchises in the King's Courts in Dublin, or elsewhere : a general confirmation of privileges was added, and the Mayor, &c., agreed that the King's Justices might -hold the assizes in the Tholsel of Drogheda, or elsewhere within the town ; and that he would find accommodations and food for the said Justices, and their horses, during the assizes. In Michaelmas, 1570, the Mayor and Sheriffs of this town took their oaths of office in the Tholsel before Sir Henry Sydney, Lord Deputy of Ireland, who was himself on this occasion admitted a freeman and Alderman of the Corporation. Spenser, in his " View of the State of Ireland," where he inculcates the necessity of having gar- risons stationed throughout that country, especially in Waterford and Cork, because " these two cities above all the rest, do offer an in-gate to the Spaniard most fitly ; but yet because they shall not take ex- \ CORPORATE HISTORY. 183 ceptions to this, that they are charged above all the rest, I will also lay a charge upon the others like- wise, for indeed it is no reason that the corporate towns, enjoying great franchises and privileges from her Majesty, and Hving thereby not only safe, but drawing to them the wealth of all the land, should live so free as not to be partakers of the burden of this garrison ; therefore, I will charge them thus rateably :" and he then enumerates the forces to be respectively maintained out of the corporate funds, twenty-five in Drogheda, ten in Dundalk, ten in Ardee, &c. Drogheda having subsequently sub- mitted to the Royal pleasure as to the customs and poundage, his Majesty King James the First, on the 3rd of March, 1608, ordered the Lord Deputy to renew its charter ; accordingly, letters patent bear- ing date on the 18th of December, 1609, granted to the Corporation a guild of merchants of the staple, consisting of a Mayor, two constables, and such a number of merchants of the town and coimty as should seem expedient, to be chosen by the Mayor, Sheriffs, Burgesses, and Commons of the town, with power to the persons so chosen, to make by-laws, and a prohibition against any merchant but those of the staple buying or selling any merch^aidize of the staple within the county, on pain of forfeiture ; and also against shipping any such goods unless pur- chased from a merchant of the staple within the town. It also directed, that none should buy or sell by retail, or private bargain, any merchandize within 184 CORPORATE HISTORY. the franchises, except merchants of the town and county ; and further granted to the Corporation all wrecks of the sea happening within the port, and all the water of the Boyne, and the fishery and fisheries thereof, within and on each side of the same water, from the bounds of the franchises of the town on the west, to the deep sea beyond Mai- den Tower at the east ; and that all freemen of the town should be exempt from customs or poundage within the town and franchises. It also sanctioned the subdivision of the several guilds according to trades, each to have a hall, to choose a master and two wardens, to make by-laws, all to be governed by the Mayor. It likewise recognized and assured to the Corporation and freemen exemption from toll, lastage, pontage, passage, and stallage through all the sea-ports by land and water within the towns of Ardee, Dundalk, and all the king's lordships and jurisdictions; confirmed the right of taking fines, forfeitures, duties, and customs, and applying same in repairing the bridge, quay, tower, and pavement ; and authorized the holding of two fairs on the fes- tivals of St. Barnaby and St. Luke and the five days next ensuing each, rent free, with a confirmation of all their estates and franchises as held under former charters, or by prescription. On the 11th of March following, a Eoyal letter issued, whereby, after reciting that various corpo- rations, and amongst them Drogheda, had, as di- rected, sent over agents to the king to receive a CORPORATE HISTORY. 185 final settlement of the customs due to the Crown, and had petitioned for a confirmation of their an- cient liberties, and an addition of reasonable fran- chises. King James ordered that such corporate towns should be newly incorporated, and endowed with other reasonable liberties, special care being taken of the royal interest in the great and petty customs, and in the subsidies of tonnage and pound- age. The object of this mandate was further en- forced by another royal letter of the 18th of March, 1610; accordingly, after a surrender dated the 7th August, 1611, and two inquisitions of the 12th of October, 1615, finding the possessions of this Cor- poration, King James by charter of the 14th of July, 1618, granted to the Mayor, &c., of Drogheda, 199 houses and messuages; twenty-two orchards ; twelve gardens; and thirty-four other closes, the acreable contents of which latter premises are not stated ; and seventy other holdings, the contents of which are specified, and amount to 334 acres ; also three messuages ; three gardens ; and sixty-two acres of land in the town and fields of Daviestown, near Tallonstown, commonly called the Churchland, in the county of Louth ; and three messuages, three gardens, and sixty-two acres in HeighUn, in that county ; and two messuages in the town and fran- chises of Dundalk, to hold for ever at the yearly rent of 55. " And because they and their predeces- sors had used to maintain with the profits and rents of the premises certain men serving in divine 186 CORPORATE HISTORY. worship in the church of St. Peter within the town," the king willed, and they covenanted with him, to pay annually for ever, out of the premises, to six singing men (beside the organist and parish clerk), £6 each, and to three boys choristers, four marks each, and also to repair the manse in or near the churchyard of St. Peter, for the convenient habita- tion of said singers and choristers. This charter Hkewise authorized a further subdivision of guilds, with halls of assembly, and similar powers as in for- mer charters, and granted further exemption from tolls, two yearly fairs, and a confirmation of all for- mer possessions. In 1615, on inquisition taken, the Mayor, Sheriffs, Burgesses, and Commons, were found seised in fee of three messuages, three gardens, and 62a. in Daviestown near Tallonstown, called the church lands in the county of Louth, then in the occupation of the lord of Louth ; three messuages and 62a. in the HeighUn, in said county ; two messuages, and two gardens, in the town and franchises of Dundalk; one messuage in Heynstown ; 3a. in Reynoldstown; three messuages, three gardens, and 60a., in Lisra- nymore ; all in said county ; and also of 200 houses, with their gardens ; twenty-two orchards ; and seve- ral other premises in this town, particularly speci- fied. In 1617, the Corporation having surrendered their chauntry, and other estates, to the Crown, King James confirmed them in mortmain, by re-grant to the body, to be holden of the Castle of Dublin, with the proviso, " And our further pleasure is, that CORPORATE HISTORY. ]87 seeing the said lands were first given for the mainte- nance and entertainment of singing men and chorist- ers, there be a competent allowance, or yearly wages, given out of the said lands, as our Lord Deputy and the Primate of Armagh shall think meet, for six men and three boys, to make a choir in the church of St. Peter's, Drogheda, and the house, in the churchyard there, be re-edified for their more convenient habi- tation." There was a strict inquiry of office taken, at the same time, of said chauntry, and other estates. It may be here mentioned, that in 1627, one of the articles of the graces promulgated by King Charles for Ireland, through his Deputy Lord Falkland, pro- vided that all the Corporations, as well the old as the new, should be assessed towards all general county charges, and that all impropriations and tem- poral lands of ecclesiastical persons shall bear equal contributions in public charges, in the county and in the towns. j In 1641, the merchants, burgesses, and inhabi- tants of this Gorpomtion, petitioned Parliament on the subject of " certain pressures and grievances" affecting them, which being referred to a committee, they reported, " that some course should be taken for redress thereof, and that their ancient charters, immunities, and privileges, shpuld be restored to them by Act of Parhament." In three years after- wards, however, another petition was preferred, of a different character, praying that the Mayor and Al- dermen should appear and produce their charter. 188 CORPORATE HISTORY. and show cause wherefore they demand the cus- toms mentioned in said petition ; and this was like- wise referred to a Committee, and the Mayor and Aldermen made answer thereto, but nothing further was done on head of it. In the same year, it was ordered by the House of Commons, that proceedings of quo warranto, which had issued against this town, whereby it was required, amongst other things, that they should show by what warrant they sent bur- gesses to Parliament, should not be proceeded with until further order, the said Corporation being a very ancient Corporation. On the 5th of October, 1649, was held the first assembly after the storming by Cromwell, when Messrs. Nicholas Simpson, John Martin, Bartholo- mew Drew, Wilham Thompson, and John Medcalfe, were sworn aldermen, and Captain Francis Graham, Jonas Elwood, Shakerly Drew, Oliver Parry, Eoger Rawlinson, James Thomas, John Dowdal, Richard Hewson, Nicholas Phelps, Richard Power, Thomas Dixon, Richard Wilson, Gabriel Meade, Wilham Vaughan, George Talbot, James Devoe, and John Stokes, were all sworn free burgesses, each paying 135. Ad., and John Fallrough was admitted a free burgess, paying a fine of forty shillings. A vote of Assembly was passed in 1 656, that no Papist should be admitted free of this Corporation; while in 1657 it was resolved, that all Protestants, who had faith- fully adhered to the interest of the Commonwealth, and been theretofore admitted and sworn free- CORPORATE HISTORY. 189 men, though not then resident within the hberties of said town, should be continued in their ancient freedoms, custom free, any law or usage to the con- trary notwithstanding. It was Hkewise voted in this latter year, " that this Corporation do treat with that of Dundalk, for the establishment of an Escheat- or's Court, whereby the Corporation lands in Meath and Louth may be better secured." In 1658, a so- lemn perambulation of the franchises took place, pursuant to commission. About this time, and on previous occasions, traces of a claim by the Corpo- ration to present to the rectory of St. Fintan of Dromin, in the county Louth, appear upon their books. I At the Assembly of 9th July, 1659, James Chal- loner Taylor was committed by his worship the Mayor, with their consent, for pubhshing the fol- lowing English words in open assembly, viz. : " That the now Mayor was sworn in the late Protector's time, and that he, the said James, did not know by what commission the said James did now act as Mayor of this town, the government being altered from a single person to a Parliament;" which words were by him maliciously used, in contempt of the said Mayor and Corporation, and tending to the subver- sion of the ancient rights and privileges thereof, and contrary to an Act of Parliament lately published, for the continuance and confirmation thereof; for which notorious offence the said James was fined in the sum of five pounds sterling and committed as 190 CORPORATE HISTORY. aforesaid. It was likewise then ordered, that the Mayor, Aldermen, and Sheriffs, should consider of the best way to have the next fair proclaimed in this town and the neighbouring towns, and that for the first fair all persons resorting ,or coming to the same, with any cattle, or other goods, or wares, should be custom free. In 1660, the Assembly directed the uniting of St. John's and St. Stephen's poor-houses, for the more convenient support of the poor belong- ing to the same. In 1661, there was a proclamation issued for all Corporations to renew their charters, but Drogheda does not appear to have, in any man- ner, acted upon this order. In this latter year, the Irish House of Lords humbly thanked his Majesty, for his prudent care in securing cities and corporate towns in the hands of Protestants, and supplicated that same should be continued in the hands only of such as are in communion with the Church of Eng- land, and give testimony of their loyalty and fidelity to his Majesty, provided such regulation should not operate to the exclusion of any Protestant foreigners, who might be willing to inhabit in any of said cities or towns corporate, they taking the oath of allegiance and supremacy. In 1662, the Assembly entered into a resolution, that a Common Council of twenty-four, two from each fraternity, should in future, at General Assem- bly, represent their commons, and, that none should be chosen thereon, except persons inhabiting within the Corporation. In 1663, the Mayor was directed CORPORATE HISTORY. 191 by the Assembly, to take measures for the erection of a crane to draw up the goods which are brought hither ; while, by an entry in " the White Parch- ment Book," it appears, that a new corporate seal was cast in this year. In 1664, the Corporation de- mised " the Justice Park," and two parks belonging to St. Mary's chauntry lands, to Thomas Dixon, for sixty-one years. In 1655, the Assembly took into consideration the many station days which, by an- cient custom, were observed by the Corporation, and though, as they expressed, they thought not fit to break any of the ancient laudable customs of this town, yet, in consideration of the poorness of the common stock, and it not being adequate for giving treatments to the officers, soldiers, and other inhabi- tants of the town, at the Tholsel, as usual, it was therefore ordered, that for the future, such treat- ments should be only given on two station days in the year, viz., on the day of his Sacred Majesty's glorious birth, and his return into his kingdom, being the 29th of May, and 23rd of October, yearly. In 1668, rules for the government of the Body were prescribed by the Earl of Ossory, then Lord Deputy. These, after reciting the power given there- for by the Act of Explanation, directed the names of the elect to be submitted to the Lord Lieutenant, and that the officers should take the oaths of supre- macy and allegiance ; in consequence of which, a large body of the inhabitants memorialled the Lord Lieutenant, setting forth their services during the 192 CORPORATE HISTORY. rebellion of 1641, and that the Act of Settlement had (as before mentioned) expressly provided for their being restored to their former estates, freedoms, and immunities therein, and they therefore prayed to be relieved from the oaths of supremacy, and the direction for receiving the sacrament; whereupon the Lord Deputy in Council ordered, that the memorial- ists, to wit, George Peppard, Ignatius Peppard, Tho- mas Peppard, Francis Worrall, Nicholas Peppard, Bartholomew Hamlin, Andrew Hamlin, John Moore, Luke Cowley, Oliver Bird, Nicholas Cowley, John Ley, Koger Bealing, John Tyrrell, Nicholas Bath, Alexander Plunkett, Thomas Delahoyde, Phillip Wall, Kichard Tyrrell, John Bath, John Burnell, Peter Eussel, Jasper Delahoyde, and such other in- habitants and proprietors of said town, as constantly adhered to the royal authority, until its withdrawal from Ireland in 1647, and " who did not," according to the before mentioned provision, " adhere to the Papal clergy, or other the Irish rebels, in opposition to the royal authority," and the heirs or widows of such of them as were dead, should and might have and enjoy all their, and every of their freedoms and immunities within said town, according to the tenor of the Act of Settlement, yet so that any of them, while he continued Papist, might not be Mayor, Al- derman, or Sheriflf, or of the Common Council of said town. In 1669, John Hodson, clerk, vicar of St. Peter's church, obtained a fee farm grant of three messuages. CORPORATE HISTORY. 193 three gardens, and sixty-two acres in Daviestown ; three gardens and sixty acres in Lisranymore ; cer- tain lands in Plaridon and Lisranyless ; a messuage, garden, and seven acres in Heynstown ; three acres in Reynoldstown ; two messuages and two gardens in Dundalk ; a house, a garden, housestead, and sun- dry other messuages and parcels in Dundalk ; four acres in Reynoldstown ; eleven in Laggah ; and 300 acres about Carlingford. This grant is entered in the White Parchment Book, as having been made by the Corporation to said Doctor Hodson, and his successors, for ever. It is stated to have originated in a threatened litigation with this Body, for the chauntry lands, and does not appear to have been acted on, at least to the full extent, as most of the lands named have been ever since the subject of de- mise by the Corporation, or, at least, the claim was abandoned by successive vicars. In this same year, the Corporation also leased to Richard Tyrrell, a maze of ground and three parks, " parcel of the lands of Our Lady's second chauntry in St. Peter's church," for a term of sixty-one years, and to Alder- man John Towers, a house, garden, and orchard, part of the reputed lands belonging to the chauntry of St. Catherine, in this church, for a like term. In 1671, the Assembly ordered, that if any person, elected for the future to serve the office of Sheriff in this Corporation, will take corporate oath, that he is not worth £100, he shall not be compelled to serve in said office. On the same dav, the furze on VOL. I. O 194 CORPORATE HISTORY. St. John s hill, belonging to the poor-house of St. John's, were set to Alderman Towers for twenty- one years, at the annual rent of 40^., and a fine of £5. In this year also, at the General Assembly held on the 13th of October, it was ordered, "'that, whereas the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council of the city of Dublin, had certified, under their common seal, unto this Corporation, the ancient concordatum between that city and this town, the same be recorded in the Parchment Book, and that this town do certify unto the said city, their readi- ness to observe the same in like manner." On this day the gate customs were let for a year to Alder- man Forde, at £4 5s., and the water customs at £55. In 1672, new rules, orders, and directions were prescribed, by the Lord Lieutenant and Council, for the regulation of this and other Corporations, and the elections of its magistrates and oflicers. This arbitrary ordinance, under the sanction of law, after reciting the Act of Explanation, and the powers thereby given to the Viceroy in Council for pre- scribing such regulations, directs as follows : — First, that the Mayor, Sherifis, Kecorder, Town-clerk, and other officers of the town, should be chosen only by the Mayor, Sheriffs, and Common Council, or the greater number of those present ; that no freeman should have any vote in such elections; and no matter relating to the town be debated in any assem- bly, until it had first passed the Common Council. — Second. That all foreigners, strangers, and aliens, CORPORATE HISTORY. 195 as well others as Protestants, who then were, or should be, resident merchants, traders, artisans, sea- men, or otherwise, should, on their request, and on payment or tender of twenty shiUings each, by way of fine, be admitted a freeman of aU, or any separate gmld, as he might desire, during the residence of him and his family within said town, and should have and enjoy all privileges and immunities of trading, buying, working, and selling, in as large and ample a manner as any freeman, and be deemed a denizen within this kingdom : provided always, that all such foreigners, strangers, &c., take the oath of allegiance, and such other oaths as are accustomably taken by freemen of the town, or members of the guild of trade or craft which he shall exercise, in case he shall desire to be incorporated in such guild, and pay all such charges as freemen use to pay ; and a penalty of disfranchisement was imposed on any magistrates, masters, wardens, or pther governors, respectively, who could be proved to have refused the admission of such appKcant, and on every person disturbing such stranger, or hindering his trading. — Third. That these rules should continue in force within said town for ever, and be enrolled in Chan- cery. — Thus was the ancient law of boroughs res- tored to a certain extent, and, notwithst-anding the system of exclusion previously attempted, every trader in the towns of Ireland, on the original and long recognized principle of habitancy, was hereby enabled to be a freeman, though incapable of filling o2 196 CORPORATE HISTORY. a corporate office without taking the prescribed oaths, unless such were dispensed with. The libe- ral spirit, however, that dictated these rules, and opened the avenues to corporate freedom, was over- looked after the Restoration, and the injudicious and illegal attempts of James the Second, against his opponents in borough towns, gave power and autho- rity to the advocates of municipal exclusion and corporate inviolability. In 1 673 the Corporation leased to Joshua Crowther, " ruinous old walls, formerly St. Stephen's Poor-house, for 61 years, at 6s. 6d. annual rent, for the poor." In 1674, Alderman Richard Orson having been elected to serve the office of Mayor, and John Graham that of Sheriff, and their election being presented to the Lord Lieutenant for his approbation, he signified his disap- proval, whereupon the Assembly substituted Alder- man Newton, with John Sandiford and William Barron, as Sheriffs. In 1675, the Assembly ordered that the Mayor and certain Aldermen should review all the oaths prescribed in the White Parchment Book, and make such alterations as they might deem convenient, and have same " new entered ;" and in 1 682, they granted to John Hughes, Serjeant of the Fran- chises, the furze on the Cooleys, he engaging to supply furze for bonfires on station days. In the latter year they also passed a Resolution, " that all Protestants, that drive any trade in this Corporation, do forthwith repair to Mr. Mayor, and take out their freedoms at or before the 1 st day of June next, who CORPORATE HISTORY. 197 is hereby empowered to admit them upon their ap- plication, without fine ; and that every person that Mr. Mayor sends to perform the conditions of this Act, and shall neglect or refuse so to do by the time limited, the Mayor and Sheriffs of this Corporation, and the Master and "Wardens of the trade they fol- low, shall repair to their shops, and shall then prevent and hinder them from trading; and for such persons as keep no shops, that whatever goods or wares they trade in, shall be seized as foreigners' goods, and that the Corporation shall justify the Mayor and Sheriffs, and the Master and Wardens, in the per- formance hereof, against any suit or trouble that shall be commenced against them. In July, 1685, the Assembly, having taken consideration of the pe- tition of Mr. Peppard and others, to be admitted free members of this Corporation, answered, that they had already, in reply to other similar petitions, stated, that by the rules made by the Lord Deputy and Council for this body, they cannot admit any person to be free, without first taking the oath of su- premacy, that they submitted the matter to the Lord Lieutenant and Council, and would be ready to sub- mit to and obey such orders as they should think fit to make thereon. On the ensuing 7th of August, the following persons were sworn free members of this Corporation : the Earl of Tyrconnel, the Lord of Louth, the Lord Gormanston, Lord Netterville, Captain William Nugent, Nicholas Plunkett, Henry Draycot, Cornet William Talbot, George Gernon, 198 CORPORATE HISTORY. Theobald Throgmorton, Nicholas D'Arcy and Ni- cholas Taaffe, Esqrs. In 1686, an information, in the nature of a quo warranto, was brought against this and other Cor- porations, and on their default in appearing thereto, and in fact agreeing to surrender, as they did by vote of assembly, their franchises were seised to the use of the Crown; when on the 5th of November, 1687, King James granted a new charter, and there- by, after reciting the judgment in quo warranto, he willed and ordained that this town, and its liberties, should constitute a borough, and be a distinct county, according to the extent of its ancient boundaries, and incorporated under the name of the Mayor, She- riffs, Burgesses, and Commons, of the town of Drogh- eda, with the usual powers and privileges to acquire lands, sue and be sued, have a common seal, and make by-laws ; that there should be for the future one Mayor, two Sheriffs, twenty-four Aldermen, and thirty-two burgesses ; while he, by said charter, no- minated as the first and immediate Mayor, Sheriffs, &c.: Ignatius Peppard, Mayor; Christopher Dowdall and James Kelshaw, Sheriffs : Jenico Lord Gorman- ston, Thomas Peppard, Senior, Thomas Peppard Fitz George, Thomas Bellew, WilHam Baron, Nicho- las D Arcy of Platten, Christopher Cheevers, Hugh Gemon, John Moore, Christopher Peppard Fitz George, Christopher Peppard Fitz Ignatius, William Peppard, Bartholomew Gernon, Patrick Plunkett, Andrew Moore, Thomas Percival, Luke Conly, John CORPORATE HISTORY. 199 Stoker, Bartholomew Hamlin, Richard Jackson, John Evers, William Elwood, James Vanbobard, and Patrick Drumgoole (24), Aldermen : and Ri- chard Mortimer, Anthony Bird, Ignatius Fleming, James Bird, John Graham, John Delahoyde, Patrick White, Thomas Shepheard, Christopher Peppard Fitz Robert, Bartholomew Doyle, Richard Griffith, Robert Cooley, Michael Moore, Robert Dermot, Paul Eaton, Edmund Dermot, Patrick Delahoyde, William Ballantine, James Warren, Lewis Cheevers, John Smith, Christopher Teeling, John Stanley, Joseph George, John Bird, John Dowdall, Henry Ogle, Peter Russell, John Wall, Gregory Ward, Patrick Nugent, Patrick Clarke, burgesses (32): Thomas Fitz Christopher Peppard, Chamberlain; Henry Dowdall, Recorder ; Thomas Peppard Fitz George, Town Clerk and Prothonotary; Christopher Teeling and Joseph George, Coroners. During the short interval of their holding, a number of impro- vident leases were irregularly made of the corporate property, for private appropriation and nmongst those who should be its trustees. It may be here mentioned, that while the royalty of James the Se- cond in Ireland survived his English abdication, or was at least in a manner acknowledged by a large portion of his Irish subjects, the majority of the Corporations in this country made free gifts of their municipal plate, to enable him to meet the exigencies of his Exchequer ; amongst the rest, Drogheda be- stowed at least that portion which was ostensible, 200 CORPORATE HISTORY. including their mace, which was subsequently re- placed by the gift of William the Third, being that now in use. It is of silver, and five feet two inches in length, exhibiting the rose, the thistle, the harp, and the fleur de lis, with the letters w. r. beneath the Crown, which is itself surmounted by a globe or orb, and a decorated cross, the whole being chased and embossed with a richness worthy of the royal donor. This monarch also gave to the Assembly a halbert of state, a sword of state and scabbard, sil- ver gilt, with the royal arms attached. At an Assembly of the 6th of July, 1688, " con- sideration being had of the great benefit the poor may have and receive yearly, if the commons on both sides of the town be set to a rent, reserving a competent proportion thereof for the exercising the foot and horse, and for grazing of horses coming with goods to the market;" a committee was then appointed to consider the best way for setting same, and to report thereon. On the 12th of July, 1690, the town having surrendered to King Wilham, after the battle of the Boyne, he appointed William El- wood Mayor of this town, and Henry Earl of Drogh- eda, Sir William Tichburne, Jonas Elwood, and fifteen others. Aldermen, and constituted Robert Or- son and Henry Ogle, Sherifis of same, " to exercise and enjoy all the ancient privileges and jurisdictions of their charter, whereof they were illegally deprived, and particularly to oversee the markets, and regulate the prices of things, which are now exorbitant." This CORPORATE HISTORY. 201 order and appointment is signed by Robert South- well, as by his Majesty's command, in the camp at Kilcullen Bridge. No Assembly proceedings, how- ever, appear to have taken place here, from the 30th of April, 1688, to the 15th of September, 1691. On the 15th of January, however, in that year, the As- sembly passed resolutions for the better collection of cess to defray the charges of the Corporation; and in a few days afterwards. Alderman Singleton having reported, that he had proceeded to DubHn on the setting of the lands held by the Roman CathoHcs, and in particular in relation to the setting of Mr. Peppard's lands, and that Serjeant Osborne advised the Corporation not to meddle in taking the latter holdings, but that he himself had contracted with Mr. Peppard for St. James's, for this year, for the use of the Corporation, if they think fit to hold it; this Assembly considered it not worth intermed- dling with. 1 By inquisition taken at the Tholsel on the 25th of May, 1697, the Mayor and Corporation were found then seised in fee in right of their Corporation, of the Guildhall or gaol lying north of the bridge; two stone offices west of the Guildhall; one messuage south of the graveyard of St Peter's church; a house, garden, and old walls in Fair-street; two houses in Lawrence- street; two in West-street; a house and garden in MaudUn-street, south of Stephen's-lane ; the town- hall, with the cellars underneath it ; two houses in Bachelor's-lane ; another in Harp's-lane ; two tene- 202 COKPORATE HISTORY. ments and a garden in West-street ; various tene- ments on the south side of West-street, from the passage leading to St. Patrick's well to West-gate, known by the name of New-row; four messuages on the north side of Fair-street, and four on the south ; a house with a cellar on the turn from West-street to St. Peter-street; one house and three offices in the lower part of Shop-street, at the west side; another house in Shop-street, at the south side of Harp's- lane; a house at the turn from Fair-street into Mag- dalen-street, with orchard ground; a messuage in Irish-street; a house in St. EUen's-lane; a pair of old walls and a garden in St. James's-street; two houses in the same street, on the south side of Rotten-row; a garden on the Bull-ring, opposite the east end of St. John's-street; a house south of St. Peter's church; another west of said church; three houses on the north side of West-street, and two on the south ; a garden north of the bridge, joining the Guildhall at west; a house called the Castle of Comfort, near the Mill-moimt; a house in West-street, near Scarlet- lane; a house abutting on the Guildhall, at the turn to the north quay; a house in Deer-street; a house in Shop-street called the Mary-foot; a house in the Bull-ring, and an old wall called St. Saviour's; a house and garden at foot of the hill over against the Castle of Comfort; a house and garden at foot of the same hill, on the south side ; a house and garden in Law- rence-street; another in same street, at the west side of Goulding-lane; a tenement and garden in Wine's- CORPORATE HISTORY. 203 hill or lane; a house adjoining St. Ellen's, alias Key- ser's-lane; two tenements and gardens in St. John's- street; a house on Com-market-hill ; a house on the west side of Shop-street; two houses and gardens on St. Saviour's-quay, joining the west side of the Guild- hall; three tenements and gardens on the south side of Deer-street; two houses in Fair-street; a tenement on the west side of the Corn-market, called the Bell- house; old walls and gardens in Shop-street; a house and garden in Duleek-street; a house abutting on St. Patrick's well and the Boyne ; a house and gar- den in Harp's-lane ; a house and cellar on the east side of Corn-market; a house and garden in Keyser's- lane; a house and garden at the north side of West- street ; a tenement in Deer-street; another in Shop- street; a house near the Old Jakes ; three houses and gardens on the north side of West-street; a house on the north side of Deer-street ; and orchard ground on the north side of West-street; a house in BowHng- lane ; a tenement on the south side of West-street; old walls and gardens on the south quay; a house under Duleek-gate ; a house and garden at the east side of Shop-street; a house and garden on Duleek- hill; house on the hill leading to Duleek-gate; two houses in St. John-street, south of the bridge; a house on the west side of the wall of the Augustinian Friary; a house and garden on the east side of Shop- street; a house on the north side of Fair-street; a tenement turning from Shop-street to Lawrence- street; a house west of the passage leading from the 204 CORPORATE HISTORY. south quay to St. James's-gate; a house and garden in Bachelor's-lane; a tenement and garden near Sun- day's-gate ; a house in Magdalen-street, near the vicar's house and garden, within the graveyard of St. Peter's; a house and garden on the west side of said graveyard; another house on same side; a house in Lawrence-street, and a parcel of land near the fountain called the Broadstone. All the aforesaid quo ivarranto proceedings, as well as the new charters consequent thereupon, and other acts done thereunder, having been revoked, and the Corporation restored to their former state and condition by the Statute of 1 William & Mary, sess. 2, c. 9, King William granted the governing charter, bearing date the 22nd of March, 1697- It recites, that the Corporation had in their petition alleged, that there were then but two charter justices (the Mayor and Recorder), and that the limits of their lands were almost lost by length of time ; it also recites the Attorney-General's report on the petition, a summary of several of the privileges of the Corporation, and the inquisition so taken at Drogheda in 1697, relative to their estates; and the king thereby confirmed the said recited, and all other, their privileges and properties, and granted anew the power of dividing themselves into guilds of trades, the exemptions from toll, &c. He further prescribed, that the Mayor of the Staple and two of the senior Aldermen, who had served in the office of Mayor (to be elected by the table of Aldermen), CORPORATE HISTORY. 205 should be justices ; and that the Quarter Sessions be held before the Mayor and any one justice, except in matters concerning life, or prcBmunire, when the Recorder was directed always to be present. The Corporation property confirmed, granted, and set forth in this charter, consisted of 187 houses, mes- suages, and tenements; twenty-three gardens and orchards ; 128 parks, crofts, and other closes, com- prising in the whole 338 holdings in the town and county of Drogheda, the contents of which are not specified; and forty-five other holdings, the con- tents of which are stated, and amount in the total to 230a. 1r. 15p. ; besides the old Guildhall, the Thol- sel, some tenements not enumerated, the Augustinian friary, the vicarage-houses and gardens of St. Peter's ; St. Lawrence's, St. James's, and St. Mary's hospitals ; two water-mills, the Aldermen's Acres, and the Jus- tices' Parks; the farms of Townrath, Killineer, and Mannimore ; the town commons, 100 acres on the Louth side, and thirty-seven on the Meath; the Mill-mount ; the town walls ; the gate-houses, towers, and turrets on the walls ; the town ditch, and the wastes and vacancies therein; also a house and garden near the church of Molary, in the barony of Ferrard; the impropriate tithes of the parish of Inismott, in the barony of Slane, in the occupation of the Sherifis; five fee-farm rents arising out of the free-school of Drogheda, and other messuages in the town, amounting to £6 9*. 6d. ; a fee-farm rent of five shillings, payable by the vicar of the 206 CORPORATE HISTORY. collegiate church of St. Peter's, for three messuages, three gardens, and sixty-two acres of arable land in Daviestown ; also, three gardens and sixty acres of arable land in Lisranymore and Plaudin-Plandon and Little Lisrany ; one messuage and seven acres of land in Heynstown ; three acres of land in Rey- noldstown; also two messuages and two gardens within the liberties of Dundalk; one messuage within Warren's-gate ; one garden, or homestead joining Seatown-gate ; and " divers other messuages and parcels of land intermixt within the liberties of Dundalk ;" also " four acres of land in Reynolds- town; eleven acres in Haggardstown ; 300 acres, with divers tenements in and about Carlingford and land of Heighlin." All these premises, the charter states, were contained in a particular signed by the Auditor and Deputy Surveyor-General, made out for the Corporation, under the king's letters of the 28th of March, 1697, and the following rents were reserved for the premises : for the fee-farm of the town of Drogheda £25 ; for a messuage in Law- rence-street, and other parcels called Chauntry lands, five shillings ; for the friary of St. Augustine, eight shillings ; for the Carmelites' friary, £l Is. 3d.', for the priory of St. Lawrence, £5 ; for the house of St. Maryde Urso, £I5 1*. 4d.; for the hospital of St. James, £l ; and for the fee^farm rent of a parcel of land on Mill-moat, a/m* Windmill, in the coimty of Meath, three shillings; making a total of £47 lSs.7d., payable at Michaelmas. CORPORATE HISTORY. 207 In the July following, the Assembly resolved, that for the future, no person, that was admitted free of the Corporation, should have the benefit of his freedom, or his goods free of custom, longer than while he would dwell, reside, and inhabit in the town ; and that, at the time of any person's being sworn free for the future, he should sign an in- strument under his hand and seal, to the Mayor for the time being, thereby disclaiming any benefit of his freedom longer than during his actual residence and inhabitancy within the town. At the close of the year 1699, the Assembly came to a resolution, in which reciting, that the commons at north and south of the town were the estate and inheritance of the Corporation, that they long lay waste and yielded no advantage to the body, but were used by strangers and idle bad people, who came and sat down on, or near, said lands, giving only encou- ragement to thieves and ill people to come and har- bour about the town ; for redress thereof, they the Mayor, &c., in Assembly, resolved to set out the said lands to farm by public cant to the best bidder, and at the highest rent, such rent not to be mixed with the corporate treasury, or employed for the uses of the body, but to be for ever thereafter set apart for the relief of poor decayed members of the Corporation, their widows and orphans, and other approved objects. In 1702 the Assembly voted, that whatsoever leases of corporate property were enjoyed by Papists should not be renewed; but 208 CORPORATE HISTORY that same should be let run out to the full, and then set to the best advantage for the Corporation. They at the same time conveyed the MiU-mount to the Crown, with the object of having barracks erected thereon; and in November, voted an address to his Majesty, " on the present occasion of the French King's proclaiming the pretended Prince of Wales King of England, Scotland, and Ireland." At the same time, they appear to have confirmed to the vicar of St. Peter's, and his successors, the vicarage- house and garden, as before alluded to in the notice of St. Peter's church. In 1707, the Assembly ordered, that the Mayor and certain Aldermen should proceed to Dublin to attend on the Parliament, in case of any petition being preferred against their Corporation for taking custom for yarn, and that their expenses and charges should be defrayed out of the town funds : they also came to a resolution, that no freeman should be put in nomination, or elected into any of the ofiices or places of either Mayor, Aldermen, or Sheriffs of this Corporation, unless he were a resident house- keeper and dweller with his family at the time of his election. And in the following year, they or- dered that a communication should be made from them through their Mayor to the Mayor and Corpo- ration of Liverpool, remonstrating against the ex- action of custom from their own freemen for goods consigned to them by the freemen of this body ; and desiring that the freemen of Drogheda might have CORPORATE HISTORY. '™y^^^n^ 209 the same freedom with them, that was allowed to the freemen of Liverpool in Drogheda. At this latter period it was ordered, that no powder, ball, or flints should be sold to any Papist. In 1719, the north commons, and the south commons called the Cow Leys (the rents of which, it is recited, had been theretofore set apart by the Corporation for the support of poor decayed Protestant freemen), were granted by the Mayor, to the then vicar of this church and his successors, for ever, in trust that the rents should for the future be paid to such free- men, their widows and orphans, as the Assembly might appoint. j In 1724, the king, under the great seal of Ire- land, released and discharged the Corporation from all arrears of the Vicars' Choral money. In 1725 that body, in consequence of a prevalent scarcity of bread, ordered that all persons, whether foreigners or freemen, should have liberty to make bread and sell same without paying quarterage, they con- forming to the assize given out by Mr. Mayor weekly; and in 1726, by a resolution reciting, that several Popish inhabitants of this Corporation in 1688, when the magistracy and government were entirely in the hands of Papists, did obtain several leases of divers lands and tenements, the property and inheritance of this body, which said leases were then set up by the said Papists, or their represent- atives, it was ordered unanimously, that no lease obtained by any Papist in said year, be allowed ; or VOL. I. P £u. 210 CORPORATE HISTORY. any rent received thereon by the Treasurer of this Corporation, till the vaUdity of all such leases be tried at law, at the expense of the body. In 1731 they exerted themselves strenuously to prevent the dealers in grain from selling by strike measure, to the great prejudice of the market ; and in the fol- lowing year appropriated £50 towards rebuilding the poor-house of St. John's. In 1 738 the lands of Killineer, part of the Cor- porate property, were sold to defray the town's debt for building the bridge, as incurred in 1723 : and in the same year, the Corporation granted to Sir Thomas Taylor, Baronet, a lease of a garden and orchard without St. Lawrence's gate, north of the way thence to Green Hills, commonly known by the name of the White House, with a park called Tracy's Park, wherein was formerly a water-mill; together with the water-course, mill, park, and mill- pond. The Assembly in 1744 ordered, that goods coming into town for the use and consumption of private gentlemen in their families, should not pay custom; and in 1756 they leased to Elizabeth, widow of Alderman William Shepheard, " the build- ings and garden late in the possession of the Mar- shal of Drogheda, as his prison or Marshalsea for debtors," for a term of sixty-one years. In 1761 occurred the mandamus case at the suit of Ralph Eccleston and Joseph Appleyard against this Cor- poration; but which it appears sufficient here to refer to, and to state that the applicants were ulti- CORPORATE HISTORY. 211 mately admitted. In 1766 the Assembly ordered that the Mayor and Sheriffs, and the auditors and viewers, and any other gentlemen of the Corpo- ration that coidd give any advice or information to them, should be and were thereby directed and empowered to inquire into the state and circum- stances of all lands and houses belonging to this body, that are now in the possession of Papists, or other persons not legally entitled thereto, and report same to the next General Assembly. | In the latter year the Corporation petitioned Parliament, setting forth that their body had from time to time obtained several charters from the Crown, whereby, as well as by custom from time immemorial, they were authorized to regulate the trade of the town, to incorporate guilds, with powers to elect officers and make by-laws, subject to the Mayor's approbation ; that by constant cus- tom quarterage was paid to such guilds by persons not free of same, yet exercising trades there, which quarterage was applied to and requisite for the support of said guilds. That doubts having then lately arisen, whether the grant of charters to said guilds, or the payment of said quarterage, were war- ranted by law, the said guilds had become diffident of exercising their powers, and persons had opened shops, and exercised trades in said town in defiance of municipal regulations, to the injury of the fair traders, artificers, and inhabitants, whereby combi- nations ensued, detrimental as well to the trade as p2 212 CORPORATE HISTORY. to the peace and good government thereof ; the peti- tioners therefore prayed the house to consider the premises, and enable them to estabhsh said guilds on a sure footing, subject to their controul. — Against this complaint, the merchants, traders, manufacturers, and artists, of said town, who were not freemen, pre- sented a counter-petition, denying the right to exact quarterage, and stating, that so far from entering into any illegal combinations, they contributed to support commerce in the town, by their regular and industrious habits, as well as by the quality of their goods and work. In the following year, heads of a bill were prepared, for confirming and ascertaining the aids and contributions payable by the freemen and non-freemen of the said and other Corporations, against which, however, the non-freemen having again petitioned, and the matter having been referred to a committee, nothing further was done upon it. In 1767, the Corporation leased a strip of ground in Magdalen-street, to the vicar of St. Peter's church and his successors, for 999 years, at a nominal rent, as mentioned in the preceding notices of that church. The Assembly being informed in 1770, that John Jones, stone cutter, a free carpenter of this Corpo- ration, was married to a Popish wife, it was ordered, that unless he satisfied the next general assembly of the contrary, or that his wife did, within a year and a day after his marriage, conform to the Protestant religion, and since such conformity continued a Pro- testant, he should be from thenceforth disfranchised, CORPORATE HISTORY. 213 and stand deprived of his freedom. In 1771, the ancient agreement, that subsisted between this Cor- poration and that of Dublin, relative to their inter- change of commerce, was mutually certified, and an entry thereof made in the " White Parchment Book" yet preserved in their muniments. In the same year, the Mayor's salary was increased to £200, to enable him to give entertainment at the Mayoralty house. In 1773, the Assembly resolved, that the part of the oath of a freeman of this Corporation, which bars him from claiming the right of freedom longer than while resident therein, be expunged, and that the instrument heretofore signed and sealed by freemen on their being sworn, be for the future dis- continued ; and it was further resolved, that the fol- lowing words be inserted or added to the "oath to be taken by freemen of this Corporation, to wit, " You shall not cover any goods, whereby the King or this Corporation may lose their custom- or advantages." In 1780, the vicar of St Peter's obtained another grant to him and his successors, of a parcel of ground on the west side of St. Peter's churchyard, at a no- minal rent, as also stated in the notices of that church. In 1784, Mr. Edward Chesshire had license from the Corporation to establish a ferry for passengers and goods, not subject to town custom, from the hide market to the opposite shore at Ball's Grove, across the Boyne, for three years, at £1 yearly rent. In an Assembly of the following year, it was resolved unanimously, that proper chains, to be worn as 214 CORPORATE HISTORY. badges of office by the Mayor and Sheriffs of the Corporation, should be forthwith provided, the one for the Mayor not to exceed in value twenty guineas, and those of the Sheriffs ten guineas, each. In 1786, the Body passed their vote, that the Mayor should thenceforth be allowed £150 per annum, together with the profits arising from the town cranes, and not be required to give more than five entertain- ments annually to the members of the Corporation, also that £22 155. be allowed to each successive Mayor, to keep up the furniture, plate, &c., in the mayoralty house; while in 1790, they resolved unanimously, that it was the intention of the Cor- poration in voting an increased salary to the Mayor, that he should give five entertainments on the days prescribed in the resolution; and that not having done so, whatever remained of his allowance unpaid, should be withheld, and applied as to the Corpo- ration should seem meet. The proceedings by information instituted against this body in 1791, in reference to the Vicars' Choral endowment, and their consequence, have been fully detailed in the previous notices of St. Peter's Church. In 1793, the Assembly resolved that the appoint- ment of Chaplain to their body was unnecessary, and that said office be discontinued from the day the mihtia of Drogheda should return to the county. They also passed a resolution, that the chief magis- trates of this Corporation for the time being, have hitherto exercised, and of right in futiu"e should CORPORATE HISTORY. ^IT^^i^'TMB 215 have the power of dismissing any of the town Ser- jeants for misconduct or neglect of duty, and in 1797, ordered that the Judges' lodgings, when here on circuit, should no longer be paid by the Corpo- ration, nor the expense of ringing bells on certain festivals. They also voted that in future the free- dom should not be granted to any Lord Lieutenant's suite, nor to any person holding place or pension during pleasure under the Crown ; and in 1798 re solved, that the expense incident to the gaol of this town and county, be not paid by the Corporation, from and after the 1st of January next, nor the ex- pense of the watch establishment; and that the charge of paving the streets should in future be defrayed by the inhabitants. In 1801, the Assembly gave it as an instruction to their auditors and viewers, in report- ing on petitions for renewals of leases of houses, lands, or other premises, that they should first esti- mate the premises at the full value between man and man, and that then the petitioner should be en- titled to a renewal of his lease for 99 years, at one- fourth of that annual value as a rent, and on paying or fining down another or second fourth, at 17 years purchase of lands, and 10 of houses. In this latter year the Corporation granted a lease of " one lot or parcel of ground, with the buildings thereon, commonly called the old chapel ground, situate without the West gate of Drogheda," to Messrs. Dardis, Delahoyde, and Hamill, as trustees on behalf of the Roman Catholic inhabitants of St 216 CORPORATE HISTORY. Peter's parish for 99 years, at the yearly rent of £3 5s. for the use and purpose of supporting and keeping thereon a charity school or chapel, as is therein mentioned. In 1808, they passed a Resolu- tion " that the town wall and gates of the town do of right belong to this Corporation, and that the chief magistrate shall not part with the right or pos- session of same to any person whatever without a special order of the Corporate Assembly." In 1809, they ordered that the gate-customs should be availa- ble as a fund to widen the bridge ; in 1810, sanctioned the appropriation of a place at the Mayoralty House, called the Change, for the purpose of a sitting-room for the inhabitants and merchants; and in 1814, re- solved " that the bridge of the town was in such a state of danger, from one of the buttresses and other parts thereof, having failed, that it was necessary it should be pulled down and a new one erected; that applica- tion should be made for a Parliamentary aid, and in the meantime a certain toll upon horses, cattle, cows, and carriages, passing or repassing the bridge, ought to be estabHshed and continued until such sum as the Corporation might be able to borrow on the security thereof could be repaid with interest." It is to be regretted that in the spirit, then too general amongst corporate bodies in Ireland, that of Drogheda came to a resolution on the 29th of April, 1 829, that they felt it their duty, in order to prevent the increase of Popery in this country, and to check the dangerous consequences to their religion and COKPOBATE HISTORY. --' ■•.»(!yH!!5»^ 217 liberties, should the proposed infringement on the constitution (Catholic Emancipation) succeed, to recommend to the General Assembly the necessity of admitting certain persons therein named to the freedom of the body. In 1833 (14th February) oc- curs the only charter of recent times; King William the Fourth thereby granting four fairs, viz., on the second Monday in March, second Friday in April, third Friday in November, and third Friday in De- cember, with reasonable tolls, and such customs and immunities as by right or custom to the same belong, at an annual rent of 125. 4c?. In 1835, the Assembly ordered deeds to be prepared for vesting in the Pro- testant clergymen for the time being, together with the governors and subscribers of the Blue School, a sufficient yearly sum, to be secured by a transfer of corporate rents, for the punctual payment of the sub- sisting yearly grants for charitable purposes, and enabling the said trustees to receive said sum for the use of the respective institutions. I Corporations under chartered control having been discontinued in Ireland, and the principle of popular election recognized by Parliamentary sanc- tion, as necessary for their future amelioration and annual correction ; in the Octoberof 1842, after an un- interrupted enjoyment of their franchises and privi- leges, the prescriptive borough, whose liistory it has been the object of these volumes to elucidate, may be considered as having in strictness ceased to 218 CORPORATE HISTORY. exist(a), or at least its vitality passed into another order of being. On the first of November, the muni- cipal transmigration was consummated by the elec- tion of the Mayor, an event which is thus announced in the leading Journal of the town, " The Drogheda Argus." " Tuesday, the first of November, being the day fixed upon by the municipal Act for the election and swearing in of the first Mayor of the Reformed Cor- poration of Drogheda, the Tholsel and the difierent streets in its vicinity, were crowded almost to sufib- cation by persons anxious to witness the novel event. " About 12 o'clock, noon, the Aldermen and members of the Council met in the Assembly Room, and having read and subscribed the oath of allegiance prescribed by the Catholic Relief Bill, for Roman Catholics taking office, they proceeded to the densely crowded Crown Court, where the outgoing Mayor, attired in his robes of office, awaited them to admi- nister the oath; a ceremony which was immediately performed. The several members of the Council returned to the Assembly Room, followed by a large number of the burgesses and commonalty, when Al- derman Ternan moved a resolution that Alderman Ennis should take the chair. This having been unanimously carried. Alderman Ternan again rose (a) It may be remarked as a curious coincidence, that at the same time died George Ball of Ball's-grove, the lineal male de- scendant of that Robert Ball who obtained the first charter for the union of the boro\igh?. CORPORATE HISTORY. 7'^^ 219 and said — 'I have the honor to propose as first Mayor for this borough, under the Reformed Munici- pal Act for Ireland, a gentleman in every respect qualified to discharge the duties of that important trust ; in whom are combined the upright citizen, the sincere friend, and the impartial magistrate, and who, at the same time that he has through life ob- served a kind and conciliatory manner towards all, has maintained a high character for sterling worth and undeviating independence of principle. Anti- cipating as I do, that this, the first act of the Re- formed Corporation of Drogheda, will be unanimously adopted, I trust it will serve as a guarantee that our future proceedings shall be guided by prudence, tem- perance, and unanimity ; and, in conclusion, allow me to express a confident conviction, that when my friend's year of office shall have expired, he will re- tire, after having faithfully fulfilled the trust, and impartially discharged the duties that may be im- posed upon him, with honour to himself and ad- vantage to his native town. I therefore move, that Thomas Carty, Esq., Alderman, be appointed Mayor of the borough of Drogheda for the ensuing year.' Alderman Mathews, to whom was entrusted the honour of seconding the nomination, rose for that purpose, and expressed his entire concurrence in the sentiments expressed by Alderman Teman. So many members of the Council rose with the same intention of seconding the nomination that it was carried with acclamation. 220 CORPORATE HISTORY. " EQs worship the Mayor elect was then conducted to the Crown Court, where the oath of allegiance, identical with that taken by the Council, and the oath of office, were administered by the Town Clerk, Joseph Holmes, Esq., before Mr. Mayor Fogarty, who, at the conclusion, took the gold chain of office from his neck and placed it upon that of his worship, Thomas Carty, Esq., as Mayor of the town of Drogh- eda. The performance of this ceremony was the signal for one univeral shout of acclamation, such as was never before heard in Drogheda on the occasion of the inauguration of a corporate chief magistrate, — the shout was renewed, and again and again re- echoed by the thousands who thronged the avenues leading to the Tholsel. So densely were the gal- leries and every inch of the Court crowded, that it was with the greatest difficulty the Mayor and Council were able to return to the Assembly-room. On their arrival there the Mayor took his seat as President About two o'clock the Assembly adjourned, and immediately formed in procession : the sword and mace were borne in advance, follow- ed by the Mayor and Alderman Ternan, and the Aldermen, Town-Councillors and gentlemen in- vited as guests, two and two, accompanied by thousands of the dehghted people. In this order they proceeded down Shop-street, and along the North-quay, amid loud acclamations, the waving of hats and handkerchiefs from the windows, and the firing of cannon from the shipping (which had all CORPORATE HISTORY. 221 their flags hoisted), until they arrived at the Mayor- alty Rooms, where his Worship had provided a splen- did dejeuner. On its conclusion, and after a routine of the usual toasts, the Mayor rose and said — ' You have a representative whose merits are so.well known to each of you, that I deem it unnecessary for me to attempt to enumerate them — I therefore give you, simply, ' the health of the Representative of Drogh- eda, Sir William Somerville." Drunk with the most enthusiastic cheers, and one cheer more. " Sir William Somerville, when the cheering sub- sided, rose and said — ' Mr. Mayor, Aldermen, and Town-Councillors of Drogheda, and gentlemen assem- bled, I return you my most sincere thanks for the very flattering manner in which you have received my name. There is no occasion on which I would prefer having to thank you, — there is no place nor as- sembly in which I would rather have the pleasure of thanking you for the toast, than on this occasion and in this place. This is a proud day for all — a day of triumph for none. It has been a day of pride for you who have been hitherto placed below your fellow-citizens ; and a proud day for those who hoped to see all distinctions done away, so that all could work amicably together for the advantage of their town ; a proud day for those who long foresaw that justice would finally triumph, however long the event might be delayed. Many prognosticated the most disastrous results, if such an event as that we now witness was to happen — the sun of England's 222 CORPORATE HISTORY. glory was to set for ever — something supernatural was to come to pass — the Boyne was to overflow its venerable banks and deluge your desecrated town — prosperity was for ever to fly, and leave nought be- hind but misery and desolation. But the change has happened, and yet I can perceive nothing very extraordinary beyond the smoke ascending from your factories, and the sound of industry outside upon your quay, whilst within sits Thomas Carty, as Mayor of Drogheda, proposing with fervid loy- alty the health of the Sovereign who wields the British sceptre, and whose highest wish is, that there should be no distinctions amongst her subjects. I am delighted to have seen this day — it is a day of triumph over none : there may be persons who may not have the confidence of the people, but there is no mark of inferiority fixed upon them by the law — they are eligible for every ofiice. It was the mark of inferiority which envenomed the sting. It is highly gratifying to me to feel, that I had a share in bringing about this good result ; and I feel full security that it must be beneficial to the town. I am delighted to stand here to return thanks to the first Town Council, and the first Mayor, elected by the free sufirages of the people. It is indeed a proud day to me to be allowed to feel, that by my himible eflforts I have been able to give you some slight re- turn for the many marks of honour which you have bestowed on me; and which I shall endeavour hereafter to deserve.' The honourable member sat CORPOKATE HISTORY. VSJe??!^ 223 down, and after a moment's pause he again rose and said — ' I have received permission to propose a toast, and I do so with the most Sfeirtfelt pleasure. It is the health of your Mayor. A merchant of your town: and who, I would ask, more fit to be your chief magistrate? who more fit to be placed at the head of your mercantile town, than one of your first merchants ? A man known to you all — of the most unassimiing manners, and of mild- ness in the expression of his poHtical opinions, yet who has stood forth with energy and firmness com- bined, whenever the circumstances of his country required it. Who more fit to be entrusted with the care and the guardianship of the town, and the ad- ministration of the laws, than one of your most im- partial magistrates ? [loud cheers.] I am prevented by his presence from saying all that his character deserves. When he leaves the high position in which you have placed him, I am sure that he will have the regard and esteem of all who know him. When he retires from the office of Mayor, it must excite a feeling of regret in the minds of those who supported that state of things which prevented such men from taking office in their native town.' Sir WilHam concluded by proposing the health of Thomas Carty, Esq., Mayor of Drogheda [loud and continued cheering]. " After some intermediate toasts, ' Our Protestant and Dissenting friends who have honoured us with their company on this occasion,' was drunk, with oft m. 224 CORPORATE HISTORY. repeated plaudits ; when Doctor Atkinson being loudly called on, rose and said — ' Mr. Mayor, Alder- men, members (Afche Council, and gentlemen, I regret extremely that you have not called on some gentleman more competent than I am, to return thanks. From my esteemed friend, the Mayor, the sentiment is one that 1 would expect, knowing him as I do for many years. I can say that the Protestants of Drogheda feel great pleasure in seeing my Catholic friend raised to the position he holds [loud cheers, and cries of hear, 'hear, from the Protestant and Dissenting gentlemen present.] I have been a member of the Corporation of Drogheda for twelve years, and I never took a part in a civic entertainment until this day, and I come here to express my concurrence in the principles of reform, under which you have been elected. I can say, that the Mayor enters into his office with the respect and esteem, not merely of those of his own creed, but also of the Dissenting and Protestant friends around me [loud cheers from the gentlemen alluded to]. I am sure that the Pro- testants of Drogheda will feel grateful to him for proposing, and to you gentlemen, for the manner in which you have received this toast.' Dr. Atkinson sat down amid loud cheers. The ' Town and Trade of Drogheda' was next announced, and James M'Cann, Esq., being loudly called on, rose and said — ' Mr. Mayor and gentlemen, this may be truly called a great day for Drogheda : and what constitutes, in my mind, the pleasure of the day, consists in the CORPORATE HISTORY. 225 manner in which every thing has passed off. It af- fords me the greatest pleasure to behold in his pre- sent high and honourable position, inj old friend and schoolfellow; and to see myself surrounded in this room, by my fellow-townsmen, the aldermen and town-councillors, who have been elected by the suf- frages of the honest burgesses of Drogheda. A mis- taken pohcy prevented the men, whom I see around me, from taking that part which they were entitled to take, in promoting the interests of the town ; but I trust, that all will be now united for the benefit of the Trade and Commerce of Drogheda; a good and kindly feeling, and a determination to act in unison, is the best means by which to increase the trade, and the consequent prosperity of your town. With me, religion and politics have long ceased to make any difference. I trust that all will put their shoul- ders to the wheel, and labour in unison for the wel- fare and benefit of the town. I am, at least, sure, that this is the feehng of all here." | The officials, from and to whom the responsibili- ties and trusts of this Community have been trans- ferred, at the close of the one, and the commence- ment of the other government, were : ] OLD OFFICIALS. NEW OFFICIALS. Thomas F.Fogarty,M.D., Thomas Carty, Mayor. Mayor. Aldermen. Aldermeii. T. B. Harman. Thomas Ennis. Ralph Smyth. Patrick Ternaji. VOL. I. Q 224 CORPORATE HISTORY. repeated plaudits; when Doctor Atkinson being loudly called on, rose and said — ' Mr. Mayor, Alder- men, members oHMie Council, and gentlemen, I regret extremely that youhave not called onsome gentleman more competent than I am, to return thanks. From ' my esteemed friend, the Mayor, the sentiment is one that 1 would expect, knowing him as I do for many years. I can say that the Protestants of Drogheda feel great pleasure in seeing my Catholic friend raised to the position he holds [loud cheers, and cries of hear, 'hear, from the Protestant and Dissenting gentlemen present.] I have been a member of the Corporation of Drogheda for twelve years, and I never took a part in a civic entertainment until this day, and I come here to express my concurrence in the principles of reform, under which you have been elected. I can say, that the Mayor enters into his office with the respect and esteem, not merely of those of his own creed, but also of the Dissenting and Protestant friends around me [loud cheers from the gentlemen alluded to]. I am sure that the Pro- testants of Drogheda will feel grateful to him for proposing, and to you gentlemen, for the manner in which you have received this toast.' Dr. Atkinson sat down amid loud cheers. The * Town and Trade of Drogheda' was next announced, and James M'Cann, Esq., being loudly called on, rose and said — ' Mr. Mayor and gentlemen, this may be truly called a great day for Drogheda: and what constitutes, in my mind, the pleasure of the day, consists in the r^^ CORPORATE HISTORY. * ' ■ ^^'^Pr^f^^ff^? 225 manner in which every thing has passed off. It af- fords me the greatest pleasure to behold in his pre- sent high and honourable position, my old friend and ' schoolfellow; and to see myself surrounded in this room, by my fellow-townsmen, the aldermen and town-councillors, who have been elected by the suf- frages of the honest burgesses of Drogheda. A mis- taken policy prevented the men, whom I see around me, from taking that part which they were entitled to take, in promoting the interests of the town ; but I trust, that all will be now united for the benefit of the Trade and Commerce of Drogheda; a good and kindly feehng, and a determination to act in unison, is the best means by which to increase the trade, and the consequent prosperity of your town. With me, religion and politics have long ceased to make any difference. I trust that all will put their shoul- ders to the wheel, and labour in unison for the wel- fare and benefit of the town. I am, at least, sure, that this is the feeling of all here." 1 The officials, from and to whom the responsibili- ties and trusts of this Community have been trans- ferred, at the close of the one, and the commence- ment of the other government, were : j OLD OFFICIALS. NEW OFFICIALS. Thomas F.Fogarty,M.D., Thomas Carty, Mayor. Mayor. j Aldermen. Aldermen. T. B. Harman. Thomas Ennis.. Ralph Smyth. Patrick Ternan. VOL. L Q 226 CORPORATE HISTORY. OLD OFFICIALS. St. George Smyth. F. G. Fairtlough. Blaney Townley Balfour. Latham Fairtlough. Joseph Holmes. William Fairtlough. Francis Donagh. George William Evans. H. B. Fairtlough. John Acland. Francis Anderson. Graves Acland. G. H. Pentland. Robert Pentland. Henry Smith. Thomas North. Francis Ball. Wilham Murray. Robert Ball Hacket. John Shegog. Common Council. George Jones. Obadiah Wisdom. Charles F. Collins. Austin Nicholls. Thomas Beddy. John Mayne. Samuel Wisdom. Samuel W. Crawford. NEW OFFICIALS.' James Matthews. Michael Rogers. Thomas Simcocks. Town- Councillors. James Levins. Anthony Keppock. John Collins. John Finegan. Patrick Boylan. Stephen Drew. Patrick Byrne. Daniel Brady. Thomas Hammond. Joseph Mac Cann. Michael Walsh. John Connolly. Patrick Conway. John Gates. John Chester. William Campbell. Peter Verdon. Patrick Kelly. CORPORATE HISTORY. OLD OFFICIALS. 227 Common Council. Henry Garvey. Michael Daly. John Cooper. Henry Bagnall. Alfred Cowdroy. Although one of the first acts of the new Corpo- ration, was to abolish tolls in their borough, under the impression, that if the charges were confined to what was legally leviable, the amount of revenue produced would not exceed the expenses attendant on the collection and management of the impost; yet may their more particular detail be not still irrele- vant. Sanctioned, as they were, by immemorial usage, they were levied under three ostensible clas- sifications ; 1st, gate customs ; 2nd, pontage ; and 3rd, water customs ; and were claimed under a right of toll thorough, for murage, paviage, pontage, and keyage. They were, of old, collected at the seven principal gates at both sides, and on the river, but latterly, the collection on the Meath side was re- moved to the bridge, while on the Louth eide, toll boards were maintained at the chief entrances, at the bridge, and at the principal landing place. By the Act of the 57 Geo. III. c. 108, for the regulation of tolls in Ireland, it was directed, that boards, speci- fying the customs, tolls, or duties, payable on articles sold at any fair or market, or on landing same at any port, should be erected, during the continuance of such fair or market, in some conspicuous place, at each principal entrance, and at the principal land- ing place or quay of each port, and the exaction of Q2 228 CORPORATE HISTORY. other customs, tolls, and duties, than those so speci- fied, is declared illegal. These tolls were, in Drogheda, as follows : For every pound of ginger for sale . one halfpenny. For every pound of saffron . . . one penny. For every pound of pepper . . . one farthing. For every pound of nutgalls . . . one halfpenny. For every pound of cloves . . . one penny. For every pound of mace, quibbibus (cubebs), and grains of paradise (cardamum) one halfpenny. [A pound, in these, and subse- quent items, means twelve ounces, or twenty-five shil- Hngs' weight of old coinage]. For all other kinds of spice, of the value of twelve pence .... one farthing. For every hundred pounds weight of wax four pence. [The hundred weight here, and hereinafter referred to, com- prised thirteen stones and a half, at eight pounds to each stone]. For every hundred pounds weight of almonds and rice .... two pence. For every frail (basket) of figs and raisins one halfpenny. For every hundred pounds of alum . two pence. For every twelve pounds' weight of onion seed one penny. CORPORATE HISTORY. For every pound of silk .... For every head (sixteen ells) of fine linen For every hundred ells of canvass . For every bott (a long narrow piece) ofEylsham For every piece of karde (wool pre- pared for spinning) For every caddow (blanket), or other cover of a bed For every twelve felt hats . . . For every piece of flage (flax cloth) For every piece of entire EngUsh cloth For every twelve ells of English cloth For every piece of Irish cloth con- taining twelve ells For every piece of Irish linen cloth containing twelve ells .... For every hundred pieces (pounds) ofiron For every bend of pieces (bundle of rods) ofiron For every horse load of slabbs (out- side sappy planks of timber) For every hundred stones of Spanish iron For every linch of tin For every foot mell of lead . . . 229 one penny. ! one penny, two pence. one halfpenny. one penny. one halfpenny, one halfpenny, one penny. I four pence. I two pence. I one penny. one halfpenny. one penny. i one penny. I one penny. foiir pence, one penny, one halfpenny. 230 CORPORATE HISTORY. [The weight of a foot mell was six stones minus two pounds]. For every hundred pounds weight of sroff (seruse) one penny. For all kinds of avoirdupois, value twelve pence one farthing. For every thousand nails of spikings (spike-nails) one penny. For every twelve shares (plough- shares) one penny. For every frail of battry (kitchen utensils) four pence. For every large caldron (kettle) . one penny. For every saddle worth five shil- lings one halfpenny. For every ton (252 gallons) of wine four pence. For every pipe (126 gallons) of wine . . two pence. For every crannock of common or superior malt one penny. For every crannock of corn . . . one halfpenny. [This ancient measure contained four Winchester bushels, or sixteen pecks]. For every cask of butter .... four pence. For every horse load of butter . . one penny. For every stone of onions .... three farthings. For every barrel of herrings . . . four pence. [Each barrel should be capable of containing thirty-two gal- lons, and be fully packed]. CORPORATE HISTORY. For every mease of herrings (500) . For every crannock of salt . . . For every crannock of barley, beans, and peas For every crannock of the meal of oats and grain For every last of butter (twelve bar- rels) For every quantity of cheese and butter, value twelve pence . . For every sack (twenty-six stones) of wool For every stone (fourteen pounds) of wool For every hide, tanned, green, and salt For any skin value twelve pence . For every hundred of skins of shor- Hngs (sheep that had been shorn alive) For every hundred fleeces . . . For every hundred skins of wool- fells (sheepskins) For every hundred lambskins . . For every hundred coney skins . . For other skins valued twelve pence. For every horse value 405., and up- wards For every mule, horse, bull, ox, or heifer 2ai one halfpenny, one penny. one penny. one penny. one penny. I one farthing. i four pence. I one penny. I one halfpenny. one feirthing. I one halfpenny, one halfpenny. twopence, one penny, one penny, one ferthing. twopience one penny. 232 CORPORATE HISTORY. For every calf one farthing. For every pig, sheep, and goat . . one farthing. For every horse load of fish . . . one halfpenny. For every hundred (160) dry fish . one penny. For every salmon one farthing. For every thousand ells and moor- lings (skins of sheep shorn after death) one penny. For every kind of timber, likewise two-horse cart, or cars, and boards, value twelve pence . . one halfpenny. For ever^ kind of merchandize not here mentioned, value two shil- lings one halfpenny. These tolls were levied on farm produce coming in to the proprietors, even where they resided in the town^ unless such proprietors had the exemption of freemen, and were levied on goods stored for sale, but not on those stored in transitu. The ancient properties of this Corporation, in lands, houses, tithes, tolls, customs, and duties, have been detailed in the charter of William the Third. They have subsequently acquired some, but not considerable property. The landed estates comprise altogether 2032 acres, independently of houses and tenements in the town of Drogheda. Of these, 1822a. Or. 38p. are applicable to general corporate purposes, 16 are the Aldermen's acres, 154a. 2r. 13p. are commons land, and 40 acres belong to the poor of St. John's. The terms, for which the Corporation CORPORATE HISTORY. 233 used to grant leases, were for 999, 99, and 61 years, at the discretion of the Assembly, up to 1796, when it was resolved, "that in future, all lands, the property of this Corporation, be set for a term of 99 years, and one-half of the rent fined down at twenty years' purchase, and that houses and building ground in this town and suburbs, be set for 99 years, and one- half of the rent fined down at ten years' purchase ;" since which period, leases have been (with three ex- ceptions for public purposes) granted for 99 years, but that part of the resolution, respecting the fining down of the rent, has been subsequently varied. The lettings of the commons, and of the estate appropri- ated to the poor of St. John's, have been subject to other regulations ; renewals not being made of the leases thereof, but on their expiration the lands are set up to auction, and, as the rents are applied to charitable purposes, the bidding is not confined to any particular class of persons, and the highest sol- vent bidder obtains a lease for sixty-one years, on payment of a fine equal to two years' rent. The lettings made of the estate of the poor of St. John's, have been conducted in a similar manner to those of the commons, except that in some instances, leases are made for 99 years, and to commence infuturo, which is said to be done with a view, as far as possi- ble, to prevent dilapidations to houses. The Corpo- ration do not now possess any beneficial property in tithes, having, as before mentioned, assigned their only property of this nature, the tithes ofInnismott,for 234 CORPORATE HISTORY. the support of the chapel of ease in this town ; but it may be here mentioned, that they claimed the ex- clusive right of fishery in the river Boyne, from the western boundary of the county of the town, about half a mile above the bridge, to the Maiden tower, at the bar of the mouth of the river. A counter right has been feebly asserted, but the public have enjoyed an uninterrupted use of this fishery for a great many years, by license, as it is alleged, of the Corporation, with a view to benefit the town ; but the right of that body in the part of the river above the bridge, has been disputed by the proprietor in fee of the land at the opposite side, and is questioned also by those below the bridge. By the recent Act 3 & 4 Vict. c. 108, ss. 140, 141, and 142, Corporations are not permitted in fu- ture, in ordinary cases, to make leases of the corpo- rate property for any term exceeding thirty-one years, and in making such leases, a reasonable rent is to be reserved to the Corporation, and no fine to be taken ; building leases, however, may be made for terms of seventy-five years. And if the council, or governing body, be desirous of selling any property, or leasing it for longer terms, it may apply to the treasury, and, on public notice of such application being given, said council, with the approbation of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, may make such disposition. So also in cases where contracts have been hondjide made with individuals by the Corporation, previous to the 20th of August, 1836, CORPORATE HISTORY. 235 for the sale of any part of the lands of the Corpora- tion, or for the letting of any part of it, for longer terms than those above specified, such contracts may be executed. ( Several of the charters above mentioned, granted cognizance of pleas, &c., to the Corporation, but they have not, for a long time, exercised any jurisdiction, either in criminal or civil cases, except what re- sulted from the town being constituted a coimty in itself, and now, all capital jurisdictions, and all other criminal jurisdictions, in boroughs, other than are specified in the recent Municipal Corporation Act, have been abolished. The Courts hitherto held (with others, which are now only permitted to be continued within this town, if sought so to be re- newed by the new Corporation) are, | 1st. The Assizes before the Mayor and Judges of Assize on the North-Eastern Circuit, at the usual periods. | 2nd. The Quarter Sessions, before the Barrister of Louth, in every quarter of the year. 3rd. The Petty Sessions held generally once a fortnight before the magistrates in the Tholsel. 4th. The Court of Conscience has jurisdiction in small debts between party and party, under 23 shil- lings, and is held before the Mayor or his Deputy, generally on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. 5fli. The Escheator's Court, occasionally held, as necessary, and established in consequence of a vote of the Assembly in 1657, for the security of the Corporation lands. 236 CORPORATE HISTORY. 6th. The Court of Pie Poudre held before the Mayor at the Tholsel, on the fair days granted by charter to the Corporation. Its object is the enforc- ing of all contracts entered into between parties at the fairs. 7th. The Court of Eevision, recently established for registry of burgesses, to be held henceforth be- fore the Mayor and the two Assessors of the borough, between the 1 st and 1 5th of October, annually. The valuation of the county of the town of Drogheda, by Mr. Griffith's Survey, was as fol- lows : LAND. HOUSES. £ s. d. £ 8. d. Parish of St. Peter, 5439 H 2 . . . . 11,509 2 Parish of St. Mary, 2569 17 10 ... . 1,995 4 Townland of Ballymakenny, 752 9 4 ... . 38 £8761 18 4 . . . £13,542 6 Total lands, . 8,761 18 4 Total lands and houses in the county, £22,304 4 4 The local taxation accordingly comprised the following items on the latest calculation of assess- ment. 1st. Lamp cess, \\d. in the pound half-yearly in St. Mary's parish, and \d. in St. Peter's, while the Corporation gave £20 yearly, in aid of the object, amounting in the total to about £400 per ann. This tax the future Council of the Corporation will have power, by the 3 & 4 Vict, c. 108, to modify, and to assume CORPORATE HISTORY. 1 237 the authority of Commissioners under 9 Geo. IV. c. 82, so far, and to levy rates for lighting, in the same manner as borough rate is levied. 2nd. Minister's money, only charged in St. Pe- ter's parish, amounts at present to £246 125. 6d. 3rd. County cess has been applotted at from 35. 8d. to 35. lie?, half-yearly per acre; the objects of this tax are the repairs of the roads outside the ancient walls, as weR as of the bridge, quay walls, and gaol, and the salaries of the county officers. This rate, having been thrown upon the agricultural part of this district, while the houses of the town re- mained unassessed, has been a source of constant and protracted controversy. Its amoimt in 1842 was stated as £1250 in St. Peter's parish, £640 in St. Mary's, and £110 in Ballymakenny, while the amount of the presentments for the preceding year, for repairs of road, prison, and bridewell expenses, salaries, police establishment, and salaries of county officers, was returned to Parliament as £1536 I65. 6d. The grounds of complaint, however, in reference to this tax are hkely to be removed by the operation of the late Act, 6 & 7 Vict. c. 32. 4th. Hospital cess, to which the Corporation, as before mentioned, contributed £50 annually, while the remainder is levied by an applotment of about Sd. per acre, on St. Mary's parish, 2 J a?, in Bally- makenny, and2^din the pound of Ministers' money in St. Peter's parish. 238 CORPORATE HISTORY. 5th. Parish cess, principally for the support of a fire engine, and to provide a salary for the engine keeper, and a fund for deserted children. 6th. Poor rate. 7th. Cholera cess, which in 1842 amounted to £250 on houses, and £80 on lands, but is now of course decreasing. Watch tax, formerly levied here to the amount of about £350 per annum, was aboUshed by the pre- sent Corporation. The general boundary of this Corporation is, for the purposes of the Act (3 & 4 Vict. c. 108), traced from the point called Liberty Bridge, near Greenhills, on the left bank of the Boyne, where a small stream enters the river in an easterly direction, up Cord- lane to the south-east corner of the burial ground, thence northerly along the east boundary wall of the burial-ground, up the lane to Scarlet-lane, thence to the north-west corner of the gaol wall, thence in a straight line to the north-east corner of the gaol wall, thence in a straight hneto the north-east comer ofHar- man's garden wall, thence southerly round the garden wall to the south-west corner ; thence in a straight line to the cross roads at the top of Windmill-lane ; thence to the north road to the point where the Parliamentary boundary crosses it, thence in a straight line along the Parliamentary boundary to the south-west comer of Laburnum Nursery, being about three hundred yards, thence in a straight line CORPORATE HISTORY. 239 to the junction of Mill-lane and Collon road, thence in a straight line to low water mark left bank of the river, thence diagonally across the river, down the stream to a sluice, where a small stream enters the river, and the Parhamentary boundary crosses, thence to the south end of Mr. Ball's house, Ball's- grove ; thence to the junction of a lane coming from the south, with the road to Navan and the Black Lion, near a stone quarry, and about 250 yards south of the river ; thence in a straight line to Levins's- bridge; thence, keeping the course of the brook westerly to Cooley-bridge ; thence in a straight line to the south-east angle of the boundary wall of St. Mary's churchyard, being part of the old town walls; thence in a straight line to the Dublin road, at the point of junction with a lane running north from Cromwell's mount ; thence in a straight line to the east end of Mr. Weir's new house on the road to Mornington, and thence across the river to the point first described. | To be divided into three wards according to the following boimdaries, and in every such ward there shall be two Aldermen and six Councillors. No. 1 . West Gate Ward. — Commencing at the borough boundary on the north road, and thence in a south-easterly direction down the centre of the north road, to its intersection with Fair-street; thence easterly down Fair-street to its intersection with Schole's-lane ; thence southerly down Schole's-lane to its intersection with West-street ; thence easterly 240 CORPORATE HISTORY. down West-street, to its intersection with Shop- street; thence southerly down Shop-street, over the bridge, up the Bull-ring to its intersection with Bar- rack-lane; thence south-westerly up Barrack-lane, past the Barracks to its intersection with Duleek- street; thence up Duleek-street to the borough boun- dary at Cooley-bridge ; thence westerly round the borough boundary, across the river, along the boun- dary to the point first named. The whole of the area within this line to form "West Gate Ward. No. 2. Fair Gate Ward. — Commencing at the Borough boundary on the North road as before, and coming in a south-easterly direction down the centre of the North road, to its intersection with Fair-street ; thence easterly down Fair-street to its intersection with Schole's-lane ; thence southerly down Schole's-lane to its intersection with West- street; thence easterly down West-street to its inter- section with Peter-street ; thence northerly up Peter- street to where it meets the ends of William-street and Fair-street ; thence easterly down William-street to its intersection with Palace-street ; thence north- erly up Palace-street to its intersection with Scarlet- lane ; thence easterly down Scarlet-lane to the Bo- rough boundary ; thence westerly round the Borough boundary to the point first named on the North road. The whole of the area within this line to form Fair Gate Ward. No. 3. St. Lawrence Gate Ward. — Commencing at the west end of St. Lawrence-street, where that CORPOEATE HISTORY. I 241 street, Peter-street, and Shop-street all meet ; thence northerly up Peter-street, till it meets the ends of Fair-street and William-street ; thence easterly down WilHam-street to its intersection with Palace-street; thence northerly up Palace-street to its intersection with Scarlet-lane; thence easterly down Scarlet- lane to the Borough boundary; thence southerly along the Borough boundary, crossing the river, and continuing along the boundary to Cooley Bridge ; thence northerly down Duleek-street, along the east boundary of West Gate Ward, to the inter- section of Shop-street, Peter-street, and Lawrence- street, being the point first named. The whole of the area within this line to form Saint Lawrence Gate Ward. This Act does not, however, affect the ancient boundaries of the county of the town, or the extent of the jurisdictions theretofore exercised in relation thereto, nor the hmits prescribed for the purposes of parliamentary representation, which, in this bo- rough, are conterminous with the county of the town, and include in a far wider range than the above, the commons and the townlands of Ballsgrove, Black-Bush, Bryanstown, Legadoren, Moneymiore, Kilhneer, Barnatty, Townrath, Landsharrah, Lis- corry. Yellow Batter, Green Batter, Bailey's Park, Listoke, Camtown, and a portion of Ballymakenny. These boundaries, the Mayor with the Town Clerk is by the 3 & 4 Vict. c. 108, s. 24, expressly directed to perambulate within six months after every suc- VOL. I. E 242 CORPOKATB HISTORY. cessive period of three years. It is to be observed, how- ever, that the Keform Act, 2 & 3 Will. IV. c. 88, by disqualifying the freemen who did not reside within seven miles of the town, and by extending the elective franchise to the £10 householders, and the £20 and £10 leaseholders, for the respective terms of four- teen and twenty years, has adjusted the constituency, according to the latest return, to 651. The recent Act for the Eegulation of Municipal Corporations has so far altered the constitution of this ancient body, as to limit its governing body, or Council, to six Aldermen and eighteen Town Coun- cillors. The Burgesses are to elect the Aldermen and Councillors, and these are to choose one of their number to be Mayor. The appointment of the Recorder is vested in the Lord Lieutenant, as is also that of the Sheriff, the Clerks of the Peace and of the Crown ; that of the Town Clerk and Coroner in the Council. The right to freedom by birth, marriage, or servitude, is reserved as heretofore ; but freedom by gift or purchase is abolished, while the mode of admitting Burgesses, their qualifications, and enrolments, are especially prescribed by this Statute, as is the appointment of two Borough Auditors and two Borough Assessors, by the Bur- gesses of the whole borough ; and of Ward Asses- sors by the Burgesses of each ward. The Mayor is to be henceforth the returning officer at elections of Members to serve in Parhament; and every per- son, henceforth elected Mayor, Alderman, Council- CORPORATE HISTORY. 243 lor, Auditor, or Assessor, shall accept such office, or pay a fine to the borough fund, &C; &c. &c. The municipal books and documents in the custody of the Town Clerk of Drogheda are three volumes of the Acts of the General and other Assemblies of this Corporation, from 1649 to the present day, con- taining entries of their ordinary business, the ad- missions of freemen, elections and qualifications of Mayors and other officers, fiats for leases, auditing of accounts, &c. ; the White Parchment Book, con- taining entries of agreements, concordatums, pro- ceedings of Assemblies, abstracts of leases granted by the Corporation, with descriptions of the pre- mises demised, and a summary of the terms of the deeds. He has also the charge of the several char- ters of the body ; the Ked Book, containing a list of the freemen admitted since the Revolution ; and the several Election Poll Books. The Assembly pro- ceedings and other municipal documents preceding Cromwell's time, perished in the mayoralty-house of his day, which stood in Lawrence-street, at the comer of Keysar's-lane,and was destroyed during the siege. A great many valuable books of the Corpo- ration were also kindled for fuel in 1798, by yeo- manry on guard in the Tholsel. | The succession of the Parliamentary Represent- atives of Drogheda has been as follows : j 1360. (To a Great Council), six members, names unknown. r "William Roche, Nicholas FitzHugh, 1371. (To a Great Council), •) Wm. Symcock, Thomas Ashe, C Richard Mile, John Ashwell. r2 ^ ' ■» m- -r'- '^p- '" ■ ■■.'"-=^'"."^'iwj«;^w«.« 244 CORPOKATE HISTORY. 1374. (To a Parliament at Westmiuster), Roger Gemon and Richard de Verdon. 1559. John Weston, of Drogheda, and Robert Burnell. 1585. John Bamewall, of Bremore, and Peter Nugent. [Four other members of the Bamewall family sat in this Par- liament — Lord Trimleston as a peer ; Sir Patrick Barnewall of Crickstown, Robert Bamewall for Ardee, and Richard Barnewall as one of the Representatives of the county of Meath.] 1613. Alderman John Blackney and Roger Bellings, of Koll- ossory. 1634. Alderman Thomas Peppard and Richard Brice. 1639- Alderman Thomas Peppard and Richard Brice, Esq. 1640. October. Alderman John Stanley, vice Peppard deceased. 1642. July. Sir Thomas Lucas, Knight, vice Stanley "expelled for the rebellion." [Sir Thomas Lucas here named, had long commanded a troop of horse in the Low Countries. He was a Commissary- General during the wars of 1641, and an active member of the Council of war during the siege. He afterwards did signal service under the Earl of Ormonde, in that nobleman's expedition to relieve the places of strength besieged by the Irishry. He was one of the seven commissioners whom the unfortunate Charles the First, when hoping to compose the dissensions of Ireland and derive some assistance to his cause from that kingdom, deputed under the great seal of England, to meet the Recusants, and receive and transmit their propositions. In 1646, as a member of the Privy CouncU at Dublin Castle, he signed the ordinance of peace, but was afterwards, on the occasion of Jones's capture of Drogheda, taken prisoner.] 1642. November. Worsley Barton, of Drogheda, vice Brice ex- pelled for non-attendance. 1661. Moyses HUl of HiUsborough and William Toxteth, of Drogheda. 1692. Charles Lord Moore and Edward Singleton. CORPORATE HISTORY. 245 1695. Charles Lord Moore and Edward Singleton. 1703. Ditto, ditto, 1710. Alderman Graham, vice Singleton deceased. 1713. Henry Singleton, of Drogheda, and Alderman Graham. 1715. Ditto, ditto. 1717. September. John Leigh, of Drogheda, vice Graham de- ceased. [A petition was presented against his return, but pending the inquiry he was expeUed for disaffection to the House of Hanover.] 1717- November. Edward Singleton, of Drogheda, vice Leigh expelled. 1 727. Henry Singleton, of Drogheda, and "William Graham, of Flatten. | 1741. Francis Leigh, of Drogheda, vice Singleton, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. 1749. John Graham, of Flatten, vice WiUiam Graham deceased. 1761. Francis Leigh, of Drogheda, and John Graham, of Flatten. 1768. Francis Leigh, of Drogheda, and William Meade, of Drogheda. 1 [A petition was also presented against this election, but it was ultimately rejected.] 1773. Francis Leigh and WiUiam Meade Ogle. 1776. "WUliam Meade Ogle and Sydenham Singleton. 1783. William Meade Ogle and John Forbes. 1785. Henry Meade Ogle and John Forbes. 1790. William Meade Ogle and John Forbes. 1796. WiUiam Meade Ogle and John Ball, »«ce John Forbes, who accepted a place of profit under the Crown. , 1798. John Ball and Edward Hardman, f [A petition was presented against Mr. Hardman's election, and he was declared not duly returned ; he was, however, immediately afterwards re-elected, and so continued jointly with Mr. Ball, the representatives of this borough to the time of the Union, the passing of which measure they both strenuously opposed.] w.m. ■«»(»■'.' 246 CORPORATE HISTORY. Drogheda subsequently returned but one Mem- ber, in the following succession : 1802. Edward Hardman. 1807. Right Honourable T. H. Foster. 1812. Henry Meade Ogle. 1818. Ditto, ditto. 1820. Ditto, ditto. 1822. William Meade Smythe. 1826. Peter Van Homrigh. 1830. John Henry North. 1831. Ditto, ditto. 1833. Andrew Carew O'Dwyer. 1836. Honourable Randle E. Pluukett. 1838. Sir William Meredyth Somerville, Baronet (the sitting Member.) LIEUTENANT. The Right Honourable Sir Patrick Bellew, Baronet, of Barmeath, who is also Lieutenant of the county of Louth. The succession of the Mayors, Bailiflfs, and She- riffs of Drogheda, according to the years of their election, has been as follows (as far as ascertained) : MAYORS. 1285. HugoMoyne. 1319. Robert Bryan. 1330. William de Roche. 1337. Ditto, ditto. 1345. Richard Fitz William. 1346. William Roche . . 1356. de Bathe. 1368. William Roche, Junior. 1375. William Roche . . 1377. Walter MiUs . . . BAILIFFS. William Rice and John Ardagh. Alan Fitz Simon and John Cope- land. John Bocher and John Messing- ham. CORPORATE HISTORY. MAYORS. 1.380. Richard Mole . . 1389. "William Roclie. 1394. Nicholas Faunt . 1397. William Roche . 1398. Walter Taaffe . . 1399. William White. 1401. John White . . 1405. Richard White . 1406. Richard White . 1412. William Symcock (first chartered Mayor of the united Corporations). 1413. Nicholas Finglas. 1418. Thomas Walsh . . . 1447. Robert Talbot .... 1453. Richard Hill. 1 454. Thomas Snatchberd. 1456. Richard HilL 1467- James Fowling . . . 1468. Richard Gernon. 1471. John Fowling. 1506. John Wyrrall. 1512. John BarnewaU. 1520. Thomas White. 1524. Thomas Delahoyde. 1539. Michael Coursy. 1541. John Duffe. 247 BAILIFFS. . . Adam Passevant and Stephen MarshalL j . . John Rede and Robai; Bragan. . . Robert Mole and Robert Fays- ton. . . William Stokes and William Style Ball j . . Thomas Walton and John Sym- cock. . . Simon Reade and John Olton. . . Nicholas White. SHERIFFS. Peter Merburgh and William English. Ralph Coll and James Fitz- Rory. Nicholas Hardman and William Davy. 248 CORPORATE HISTORY. MAYORS. 1554. George Elcock. 1555. Thomas Kelly. 1566. George Elcock. 1568. John Elcock. 1569. Robli-t Burnell . . . 1570. Thomas Peppard . . . 1577. Nicholas Bathe. 1578. PhiUp Dowdall. 1581. Patrick Dowdall. 1582. George Duff .... 1583. James Wotton. 1589. William Brett. 1592. Nicholas Elcock. 1600. Thomas Fleming. 1605. Stephen Duff. 1607. Nicholas Elcock. 1609- Patrick Laundy (who pos- sibly gave his name to Laundy's Castle, see ante, p. 101). 1610. Christopher Worrall. 1622. Richard Byrne. 1623. Thomas Nugent. 1624. Henry Franklin . . . 1626. Thomas Oxford. 1627. Henry Franklin. 1635. Henry Franklin. 1636. James Bolton. 1644. John Jebb. 1645. George Gregory. 1649. William Elwood . . . SHERIFFS. Nicholas Coursy and Robert Fleming Fitz-John. Patrick Fleming and Adam Travers. Robert Whelan and Michael Cowley. Christopher Ledwich. Samuel Stanbridge and Patrick Travers. CORPORATE HISTORY. MAYORS. 1650. WiUiam Toxteth. 1652. Samuel Stanbridge SHERIFFS. 249 1654.. . 1655 1656. Samuel Stanbridge . . 1657. Thomas Dixon . . . . 1658. Thomas Stubber . . . 1659- Richard Edmonds (dis- placed for neglect of duty), Edward Martin. 1660. Edward Martin . . . 1661. James Elwood .... 1662. John Greene . . . . 1663. John Metcalfe. 1664. John Towers .... 1665. Ditta 1667. Grabriel Meade. 1671. Sir James Graham . . 1672. Sir William Tichbume. 1673. E. Nicholls 1674. Thomas Newton 1675. George Richardson Major John Towers and Richard Jackson. Nicholas Phelps. Ditto. Nicholas Phelps and Jonas El- wood. I Grabriel Meade and Francis Poole. Edward Nicholls and Joseph Wharton. Ferdinando Ross and Richard Jackson. j Thomas Leigh and John Tem- pest. Richard Orson and John Hard- wit. I John Stoker and Thomas New- ton, i Robert Ford and George Rich- ardson. I Jerome Cheevers and John Car- ter. Richard Jackson and Richard Bloomfield. I Richard Lloyd and Henry Wat- kins. John Sandiford and William Barron. Thomas Percival and John Bar- ry. 250 CORPORATE HISTORY. MAYORS. 1676. Edward Singleton . 1677. John Tomlinson 1678. Bichaxd Jackson 1679. John Sandiford 1680. Thomas Percival 1681. John Osborne . 1682. William Elwood • • • 1683. Henry Nicholls 1684. William Barron 1685. John Sandiford ' 1686. James Van Bobbert • • • SHERIFFS. John Osborne and Grerard Banks. William Elwood and Thomas Newton. James Van Bobbert and Robert Hardman. Henry Nicholls and Paul Ea- ton. William Forde and Richard Griffiths. William Stoker and E. Ches- shire. Thomas Shepherd, Patt. Mul- lady, Richard Griffith, vice Mullady, deceased. John Siddalt and Gilbert Lu- cas. Christopher Isaac and James Fairbrother. John Good and John Curtis. William Newton and Richard Rathboume. 1687. George Richardson . . John Orson and Henry Ogle. 1688. Ignatius Peppard . . . Christopher Dowdall and James Kershaw. (Under James the Second^s Charter). 1690. William Elwood . . . Robert Harrison and Henry Ogle. 1691- Thomas Newton . . . Joseph George and John Friend. 1692. Richard Pitts .... James Meade and John Shore. 1693. John Graham .... George Harman and Edward Chesshire. 1694. Sir Henry Tichburne . . and William Norman. 1695. Joseph Tomlinson . . . Richard Hey wood and John Slater. CORPORATE HISTORY. 251 MAYORS. 1696. William Newton 1697. James Meade . 1698. Henry Ogle . . 1699. George Hardman 1700. John Leigb . . 1701. Henry Meade . 1702. Richard Smith . 1703. Thomas Stoker 1704. John Shore . . 1705. John Cope . . 1706. Ditto .... 1707. Henry Meade . 1708. William Patten 1 709. William Norman 1710. John Johnston . . 1711. Edmund Singleton 1712. Timothy Armitage 1713. Henry Smith . , SHERIFFS. William Greene and John Lang- ley. j Richard Greene and Gregory Warde. John Percival and Richard Smith. Henry Meade and Edward For- bes. John Shepheard and John Cope. Thomas Stoker and George Blacker. William Norman, junior, and Richard Saunders. Henry Smith and Gerrard Ran- ger. William Patten and Henry Sin- gleton. Adam St. Loe and Michael Smith. John Byrne and John John- ston. Edward Singleton and Joseph Dobbs. ) Thomas Sandiford and Oliver Fairtlough. Nathaniel Homsayand Abra- ham Watson. John Barron and Thomas Ger- rard. Christopher Isaac and John Sankitt. Peter G«ynor and William Bar- ron. Edmund Schoales and Charles Byrne. (■--•■■■ ■ 252 COEPORATE HISTOBY. MAYORS. 1714. John Byrne . 1715. John Shepheard . 1716. George Blacker . 1717. Thomas Sandiford 1718. Edmund Scholes 1719. John Gilbert . 1720. Charles Byrne . 1721. Thomas Gerrard 1722. Oliver Fairtlough 1723. John Sankitt . 1724. John Kencher . 1725. John Godfrey . 1726. William Lucas . 1727. John Haden . 1728. Samuel Pendleton AbrahamWil8on,eice Pen- dleton, deceased. 1729. Henry Ogle .... 1730. Edward Hardman . . . 1731. William Exham . . . SHERIFFS. Oliver Fairtlough and John Eencher. John Eencher and John Cooke. John Gilbert and Henry Haw- kins. John Haden and William Lu- cas. Thomas Norman and John Ross. Abraham Eastwood and Ed- ward Knight. John Godfrey and Edward Cre- don. Philip Newitt and Edward Jones. Thomas Gore and James Dom- ville. John Leland and Richard Evans. William Gartside and Samuel Pendleton. Thomas Barton and William Pickering. Henry Ackland and John Hughes. James Schoales and Robert El- liot. Edward Hardman and Henry Ogle. Francis Leigh and William Ogle. Robert Forde and Abraham Norman. Edward Meade and Francis Do- nagh. CORPORATE HISTORY. .-^ ■ -T'-.^.yf'^^-i 253 MAYORS. 1732. Francis Leigh . 1733. Edward Leigh . 1734. William Ogle . 1735. John Broughton 1736. Henry Ackland 1737. WiUiam Shepheard 1738. James Barlow . 1739. Thomas Wye . 1740. Jonathan NichoUs 1741. Townley Patten 1742. John Graham . 1743. Henry Shiels . 1744. William Graves 1745. Robert Ford . 1746. George Rencher 1747. George Schoales . 1748. Edward Chesshire 1749. Richard Jebb . . SHERIFFS. James Seaton and John Brough- ton. WiUiam Shepheard and Thomas Wye. James Barlow and Jonathan Nicholls. I William Fuller and Thomas Browne. Henry Shiels and Richard Jebb. William Graham and Edward Chesshire. | Oliver Fairtlough and George EUiot. John Blacker and Gteorge Ren- cher. William Skelly and Hugh Wel- don. j George Schoales and Anthony Bury. Edward Norman and John Woods. Charles Sellery and James San- diford. Gilbert Austin and William Humphreyen. John Leland and John Jebb. William Rencher and John Chamney. j William Busteed and George Hodder. William Fairtlough and Henry Leland. William Howard and Samuel Gerrard. 254 CORPORATE HISTORY. MAYORS. 1750. Oliver Fairtlough . . . 1751. Francis Donagh . . . 1752. John Graham, Junior . 1753. Jeremiah Smith . 1754. Philip Pendleton . 1755. William Howard . 1756. Henry Gartside 1757. George Ackland . 1758. William Fairtlough 1759' Edward Norman . 1760. John Ogle . 1761. Edward Chesshire, Jun''. 1762. WiUiam Ogle, Junior . 1763. Roger Ford . 1764. John Jebb 1765. John Ogle 1766. Robert Ball 1767. John Marshall SHERIFFS. Jeremiah Smith and Philip Pen- dleton. John Graham and John Aber- ley. John Clarke and George Ack- land. Robert Ford and George Fos- ter. George Williams and George Clegg. William Blakeney and Thomas Jones. Roger Ford and William Sweet- love. John Ogle and William Ogle. William Norman and Samuel Taylor. William Holmes and Charles Evans. Sydenham Singleton and Robert Holmes. John Marshall and John Had- thorn. Harry Brabazon and Hamilton Bury. Oliver Fairtlough and Abraham Knight. Henry Ackland and William Gibbons. Edward Harman, Junior, and John Fairtlough. James Ford and John Ack- land. Anthony Marshall and John Graham, Junior. CORPORATE HISTORY. 255 MAYOBS. 1768. Edward Hannan . 1769- Henry Ldand . . 1770. William Norman . 1771. James Forde . . 1772. Anthony Marshall 1773. Philip Donagh. . 1774. Aldennan Fairtlough 1775. William Coddington 1776. William Holmes . 1777. Oliver Fairtlough. SHERIFFS. Philip Donagh and Oliver Fairt- lough. Robert Wynne and Austin Mar- tin. John Donagh, junior, and Tho- mas Wynne. William Coddington and Tho- mas Elliott. Henry Stewart and Henry Cod- dington. I William Adams and Thomas Turner. Anthony Sellery and Tongue. Hugh Montgomery Lyons and John Jones. 1 Theobald Bourke and George Evans. WUliam Joceljm Shaw and Launcelot Dowdal. 1778. Hugh Montgomery Lyons. John Van Homrigh and William Chesshire. 1779. William Gibbons . 1780. John Ackland . . 1781. John Jones . . . 1782. William Chesshire . 1783. John Van Homrigh 1784. Henry Smith . . 1785. Edward Chesshire . Henry Smith and Thomas Chamney. Edward Chesshire and Maurice Barlow. I George Armstrong and Robert Taylor. WUliam Fairtlough and Samuel Martin. Hamden Nicholson and James Scholes. j Robert Pollock and Burton Tandy. William O'Doherty and Graves Chamney. ■■ ■■■"— ^"^ ■ 256 CORPORATE HISTORY. MAYORS. 1786. George Armstrong' . . 1787. Maurice Barlow . . . 1788. Sir William O'Doherty . 1789- Graves Chamney . 1790. Joseph Holmes 1791. "William Fairtlough 1792. James Schoales 1793. Ralph Smyth . . 1794. Ralph Smyth . . 1795. George Evans . . 1796. William Jones . . 1797. Anthony Sillery . . . 1798. Bartholomew P. Van Homrigh 1799. George M'lntaggart . . 1800. Burton Tandy .... 1801. Edward, Fairtlough . . 1802. James Metcalfe . . . SHERIFFS'. Joseph Holmes and Ralph Smith. George M'Entagart and Charles Evans. John Ball and Thomas Nor- man. Thomas Owens and Edward Fairtlough. John Leland and Wallop Bra- bazon. Bartholomew Van Homrigh and Francis G. Fairtlough. Francis Elliot and John Sheck- leton. Lawrence Steele and John Jones. William Jones and Launcelot Fisher. George Tandy and H. Braba- zon, junior. Townly Harman and Ninian Rodger. Richard Jebb and Michael Met- calf. Beaver Van Homrigh and John Tandy. Henry Pentland and William Fairtlough. George Metcalf and John Cooper. James Green, M.D., and George Pentland. Richard Siddall and William Knipe. COBPOBATE HISTOBT. MAYORS. 1803. George M'lntaggart . . 1804. Henry Meade Ogle . . 1805. Townley Blackwood Har- man 257 1806. John Leland 1807. Charles Evans . 1808. Henry Metcalfe 1809- Henry Pentland 1810. Edward Hale Gibbons 1811. Peter Van Homrigh . 1812. Ralph Smyth, junior . 1813. Samuel Forster . . 1814. St. George Smyth . 1815. George Pentland . . SHERIFFS. Leopard Crooke and James Mayne. Henry Metcalfe and G«org«i Moore. I Edward Gibbons and John Taylor. Jeremiah Smith and Samuel Forster. Samuel Batt and Thomas Mar- tin. I Charles Ball and Balph Smith, junior. Henry Ackland and Lathom Fairtlough. St. George Smyth and George M'Intaggart. I George Hemsell and G. W. Evans. Andrew Armstrong and Rich- ardson Williams. William Wynne and James Davis. Burton Tandy and Matt. Codd. Joseph Holmes and William Huey. John Ball and Lathom Blacker. 1816. Right Honourable Tho- mas Henry Skeffington . . 1817. Francis Graham Fairt- lough Samuel Fairtlough and Robert Thompson. 1818. Blaney TownleyBjdfour. William Fairtlough aaid Jere- miah Gibbons. 1 1819. Charles Ball . . . . H. B. Fairtlough and Robert Pentland. VOL. I. , S 258 CORPORATE HISTORY. MAYORS. 1820. Lathom Fairtlougli . 1821. Joseph Holmes . . 1822. William Fairtlough . 1823. George Hemsell . . 1824. Robert Pentland . . 1825. W. Oliver Fairtlough 1826. Francis Donagh . 1827. William Huey . . 1828. G. W. Evans . , 1829- Henry B. Fairtlough 1830. John Ackland . , 1831. Francis Anderson. 1832. Graves Ackland . 1833. John Chesshire 1834. John Cooper . . 1835. G. H. Pentland . 1836. Robert Pentland, M. D,, , 1837. Henry Smith SHERIFFS. Robert Pentland and Francis Ball John Ackland and William Bra- bazon. Graves Ackland and Francis Anderson. Francis Donagh and Richardson W. Huey. Francis W. Leland and William • B. Fairtlough. John Chesshire and Greorge Henry Pentland. Edward Fairtlough and Charles Evans. John Shegog and James Green, junior. Henry Smith and Thomas North. James Wisdom and William Murray. Bartholomew Van Homrigh and Edward Roe. Edward Atkinson and Robert Ball. Francis Fairtlough and G. R. Clarke. George Murphy and John Fairt- lough. Thomas Grendon and George Harpur. WiUiam Caimes and Patrick Darbey. W. H. Shegog and James Med- licott. Thomas Fogarty and William Rodger. CORPORATE HISTORY. 259 MAYORS. 1838. Thomas North . . . 1839. John Shegog . . . 1840. Robert Ball Hackett . 1841. Thomas T. Fogarty . 1842. Thomas Carty . . . SHERIFFS.} Balph Smith and Thomas Bro- digan. St. George Smith, junior, and Frederick William Fogarty. Alfred Cowdroy and John Cooper. I John Crawford aiwi George North. Ealph Smyth. The succession of the Recorders of Drogheda : 1520. Christopher Delahoyde. 1694. Robert Rochfort (pro- 1569. William Bathe, of Ath- carne. 1586. John Barnewall. 1594. Christopher Leyns. 1649. Roger Brereton. 1655. Major William Aston. 1663. Thomas Burton. 1664. Edward Wallis. 1684. Mr. Serjeant Osborne. 1686. William Porter (re- signed). 1687. Henry Dowdall, under James the Second. moted to the Chief Baron- ship of the Exchequer). 1707. Henry Singleton, L737. Henry Singleton (pro- moted to the Chief Justice- ship of the Common Pleas.) 1742. Henry Smith. 1762. John Leigh. 1769' Sydenham Singleton. 1782. John Forbes. 1797. Peter Van Homrigh. 1831. Robert Pentland. 1832. Francis Ball. 1690. Prime Serjeant Osborne. (This office is now in abeyance.) Illustrious Freemen of this Corporation, ap- pointed since the Revolution: I 1693. Lord Viscount Sydney, 1705. Primate Marsh. Lord Lieutenant. 1712. Arthur Earl of Anglesey. 1702. Chief Baron Donnellan. 1713. Sir Constantine Phipps, 1704. Duke of Ormond. Lord Chancellor. "W^- 260 COBPORATE HISTORY. 1718. Chief Baron Gilbert. 1719. Rt. Hon. William Con- oily. 1725. Lord Carteret, Lord Lieutenant. Lord Chancellor West. Lord John Bellew, Baron of Duleek. 1731. Duke of Dorset, Lord Lieutenant. 1733. Hon. Lord George Sack- ville. 1779. Rt. Hon. Thomas Con- 0U7. 1780. Earl of Buckingham- shire, Lord Lieutenant. Rt. Hon. Walter Hussey Burgh. Rt. Hon. James Earl of Charlemont. 1782. Henry Grattan, Esq. Rt. Hon. Earl of Morning- ton. 1786. Rt. Hon. John Foster, Speaker. Duke of Rutland, Lord Lieu- tenant. 1787. Rt. Hon. Sir John Par- nel, Bart. 1789' James Napper Tandy (afterwards disfranchised). His Royal Highness George Prince of Wales. 1790. Rt. Hon. John Fitzgib- bon, Chancellor. Rt. Hon. Chief Baron Yel- verton. 1792. Rev. Walter Blake Kir- wan. 1797. Rt. Rev. Dr. Moylan, R. C. Bishop of Cork. 1807.- Rt. Hon. Sir Arthur Wellesley. John Leslie Foster, Esq., M.P. 1812. Rt. Hon. WiUiam Wel- lesley Pole. 1813. Rev. Daniel A. Beaufort, D.D. Richard B. Warren, Barris- ter at law. 1814. Rt. Hon. WiUiam Sau- rin. Charles Kendal Bushe, Esq. 1815. Rt. Hon. Robert Peel. 1818. Earl Talbot, Lord Lieu- tenant. John Radcliffe, LL.D., Judge of the Prerogative Court. 1819. Rt. Hon. Charles Grant. 1820. The Most Reverend Dr. Curtis, R. C. Primate. 1827. Rt. Hon. Henry Goid- burne. Rt. Hon. Lord Chancellor Manners. 1828. His Excellency the Mar- quees of Anglesea. 1830. John Henry North, Esq., M.P. END or VOLUME I. LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILUNOIS AT URBANA-GHAMPAIGN Prom the collection of James Collins j, Drumcondra^ Ireland. Purchased, 1918 Loal Book la tSQ.00. i person charging this material is responsible for eturn to the library from which it was withdrawn )r before the Lat0St Date stamped below. I, imitHation, and undailinliig of books aro raaaons for tfadpH- action and may roauK hi diamiaaal from ttw UnivaraMjii naw caN Tolophona Cantar, 333-8400 ERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN L161 1098 ■PfiwPiiPwi iii JJiJt#PMi i i i iyii.nii.- j,ii innp 4i . i >.. >,:•*: THE } HISTORY OF DROGHEDA, WITH ITS ENVIRONS ; AND AN INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OF THE DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA RAILWAY. I BV JOHN D ALTON, Esq., BARBISTER AT LAW, AlTTIIOn OF THE " ESSAV ON THE ANCIENT HISTOHT, ETC. OF IBEt.AXU," " niSTOBY OF THE COUNTY OF DUBLIN," "MEMOIRS Of THE ARCHBISHOPS OF DUBLIN," ETC. ETC. ETC. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. II. DUBLIN: | PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR. 1844. [Price to Suftscribers, £1 4s.] ■'«■ ^^^^1 PP|Pf!«^i^|ilI!P|pi«l|i^iii kH. ML\,^r^^^'^^.-y- .:-.-^-- - .- THE i ao HISTORY OF DROGHE DA, WITH ITS ENVIRONS ; AND AN INTRODUCTOEY MEMOIR OF THI DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA RAILWAY JOHN D 'ALTON, Esq., BARBISTER AT LAW, AUTHOR OF THg " ESSAT ON THE ANCIENT HISTORY, ETC. OF IRELAND,' "history of THE COUNTY OF DUBLIN," "MEMOIRS OF TUE ARCHBISHOPS OF DUBLIN," ETC. ETC. ETC. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. II. DUBLIN: PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR. 1844. [Price to Subscribers, £1 4s.] .^ir.Ti^v'JB-:.-.^ DUBLIN: PBINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY FBESS, BV M. H. GILL. M-e\ • 2, CONTENTS OF VOL. II. General Histoby Origin, 1. Bardic history, 2, 3. Oriental coloniza- tion of Ireland, 3-1 1. Notices from birth of Christ to the introduction of Christianity here, 1 1-18. Ancient orders of knighthood in Ireland, 13. St. Patrick's mission in connexion with Drogheda, 18-20. No- tices from that time to the Danish invasion, 21-25. Danish deTasta- tions, 25-33. Notices hence to the twelfth century, 34-5. Origin and progress of the English inyasion, 35-43. Notices in the time of King John, 44-47. Notices during the reign of Henry the Third, 48-60. Do. Edward the First, 50-58. Do. Edward the Second, 58-80. Bruce's invasion of Ireland, in connexion with Drogheda, 70— 75. Notices during the reign of Edward the Third, 81-98. Do. Bichard the Second, 98-104. Banishment of English Judges to Ire- land, 101-103. Notices during the reign of Henry the Fourth, 104- 112. Licenses required to indemnify absentees, 105-6. Notices in the reign of Henry the Fifth, 112-3. Do. Henry the Sixth, 114-136. Unprinted Acts of Parliaments held here in his reign, 119-127. Coin- age of Ireland, in connexion with Drogheda, 127-146. Notices in the reign of Edward the Fourth, 137-171. Projected establishment of a University here, and charter therefor, 150-152. Unprinted Acts of the Parliament of 1467, 152-3. Attainder and decapitation of the Earl of Desmond, 153-156. Unprinted Statutes of 1468, 156-159. Establish, ment of the Fraternity of St. George, for the defence of the Pale, 161-2. Unprinted Statutes of 1477, 168-171. Notices during the reign of Richard the Third, 171. Do. Henry the Seventh, 172-181. Acts of Poynings' Parliament, 173-178. Notices during the reign of Henry the Eighth, 181-195. Do. Edward the Sixth, 195. Contested pre- cedency between the Mayors of Dublin and Drogheda, id. Notices during the reign of Elizabeth, 196-209. Do. James the First, 209- 214. Ulster attainders and confiscations, 209-211. Notices during 435458 IV CONTENTS OF VOLUME II. the reign of Charles the First, 214-264. Description of Drogheda ii 1634, 217-220. Civil war of 1641, and siege of Drogheda, 221-256 Notices in the time of the Commonwealth, 264-286. Cromwell's siegt and storming of Drogheda, 266-282. Notices during the reign ol Charles the Second, 287-294. Do. James the Second, 294-344, His sojourns in Drogheda, 300-2, 310-3. His Parliament in Dublin, 302-8. Battle of the Bojne, 317-344. Reflections on the battle field, 333-5. Medals, &c., in commemoration of the victory, 335-340. No- tices during the reign of William the Third, 345-350. Do. Queen Anne, 351-358. Do. George the First, 358-362. Do. George the Second, 362-364. Do. George the Third, 364-375. Proceedings at Drogheda in reference to the Union, 371-374. Subsequent notices, 375-6. Envieons of Drogheda — Ballymakenny, 377, &c. The Boyne, 380, &c. Bewly, 394, &c. Termonfeckin, 398, &c. Glasspistol, 405. Clogher, or Kill-clogher, 406, &c. Monasterboyce, 409, &c. Mellefont, 415, &c. Dowth, 432, &c. New Grange, 436, &c. Colpe, 443, &c. Julianstown, 454-5. Kilsharvan, 455, &c. Duleek, 458, &c. Plat- ten, 462-3. Donore, 464-5. LIST OF EMBELLISHMENTS IN VOLUME n. PAGE. MAP OF DROGHEDA Frontispiece. MAP OP DROGHEDA IN 1657 285 FORD AND BATTLE FIELD OF THE BOYNE 334 MAP OP DROGHEDA IN 1749 363 BEWLY HOUSE, THE BOYNE, AND MORNINGTON . . . 394 BETTYSTOWIJ STRAND 45 1 PILTON HOUSE 452 HISTORY OF DROGHEDA, &c. &c. The origin of this venerable town must, in its ex- treme antiquity, be referred to a period far beyond the ordinary eras of historic certainty ; as early as the discovery of the haven and the river on whose shores it stands, and on which its civil and commercial ad- vantages have for centuries depended, this locality is projected in the Annals of Ireland; although its name of Drogheda has been considered of much later assumption. From the concurrent testimony of bardic legends, which are ever the first heralds of history, it may be gathered, that, on the early occupation of Ireland by the Firbolgs under the command of five leaders, and its consequent quinpartite division into districts, whose relative extent is shown in Leinster, Ulster, Connaught, and Upper and Lower Munster, alias Thomond and Desmond, the site of Drogheda was defined as the eastern boundary between the two former provinces, while in a subsequent moietive VOL. u. B 2 GENERAL HISTORY. partition of the island, this place was again recog- nized as the eastern limit, and Limerick as the wes- tern — all north of that line being assigned to one prince, — all south to another. In succeeding centu- ries, Heremon, the descendant of the Spanish adven- turer, Milesius, when with his followers he visited this distant isle of the Atlantic, debarked here, at the Meath side of the river, on which occasion his brother Colpa, having been drowned in attempting a landing nearer its mouth, gave his name to the haven Inver-Colpa, as well as to the point where he proposed to land, still known by the name of " Colpe." " Heber," or " Hiber," another brother of Heremon, from whom Ireland is by some supposed to derive its name of Hibernia, at the same time invaded Ireland, ac- cording to the Book of Lecan, at Inver-Sceine, being the mouth of the Shannon, whence he proceeded to Slieve Mis, a mountain situated in the county Kerry between the bays of Castlemaine and Tralee, where, having defeated in battle the Tuatha de Danans, who had wrested the possession of the island from t\e abovementioned Firbolgs, he next marched to SHeve Eavlin, in the county Cork, where he does not appear to have been opposed ; thence to the hill of Usneach, in the county Westmeath, where yet no resistance was encountered. His next progress was towards Tara, near which he effected a junction with Heremon from Drogheda, when both marched with all their forces against the King of the Danans, who, it is recorded, opposed them with the troops of the r^-0%-\^ GENERAL HISTORY. Magi, or Druids ; " cona sluagaibh Druidhechta," as it is written in the obsolete style of the record. The last word might seem to assign an origin for the name of Drogheda much earlier, and very different from that hitherto popularly assigned to it, and the surmise derives confirmation from the fact hereafter particularly shown, that the northern bank of the Boyne, from Drogheda to Slane, was the most vene- rated scene of that eastern form of worship, which the Tuath de Danans had introduced into this coun- try. In this battle the new invaders were so signally victorious, that they seized upon the government, and without further opposition ruled the country between them, Heremon having all north — Heber all south of the Boyne, or, as the boundary is defined in the ancient metrical narrative : I " From the rich vale, where in delightful stream, The Boyne, the darling of the ocean flows." | From those who require certainty in history, cre- dence cannot be expected as to events of legendary tradition; but the author of these pages, in his " Essay on the Ancient History of Ireland" (which obtained the *' Cunningham Gold Medal," and the largest pecuniary prize ever given by the Royal Irish Academy, in the sixteenth volume of whose Trans- actions it is exclusively printed), having detailed at considerable length the evidences of the above early colonization, declines occupying space here with their repetition. The concurring force of external testimonies, not merely those of British, even that B 2 If^ffff?^ 1-' ' IMUIRipf.' I ■ ■■"•mTi^^i. . mi J. I j(ll!«l!Hll.i mf •?' ' y ."5^'-T»«WD!3iJmiuw! 4 GENERAL HISTORY. of Giraldus Cambrensis, but Phoenician, Carthagi- nian, Greek, Eoman, Spanish, and Portuguese, with Oriental and Rabinical traditions, confirm the native annalists, as far as could be reasonably expected; while it is a curious evidence of the long conceded and general belief therein, that in the time of Queen EHzabeth, this invasion of Ireland is most gravely recited in an Act of Parliament (11 Eliz. Sess. 3, c. 1 ), but with the pohtic addition, that the wanderers did not make the attempt until sanctioned by the license of the British King, and which was, therefore, in that Act advanced as one of the grounds of the Queen's immemorial title to Ireland. The passage is as fol- lows : " Another title is, that at the same time that Irishmen came out of Biscay as exiled persons, in sixty ships, they met with the same King Gurmond, upon the sea at the isles of Orcades, then coming from Denmark with great victory; their captains, called Heberus and Heremon, went to this king, and him told the cause of their coming out of Biscay, and him prayed with great instance that he would grant unto them that they might inhabit some land in the West. The King at the last, by advice of his Council, granted them Ireland to inhabit, and as- signed unto them guides for the sea to bring them thither, and therefore they should and ought to be the King of England's men." The same bardic le- gends, that record the arrival of these two brothers and their partition of the kingdom, state that they cast lots which should have the poet, and which the GENERAL HISTORY. harper that accompanied them from Spain, when the chance gave the harper to Heber, and the poet to Heremon, on which account, say they, the Southerns excel in music, and the Northerns in poetry, to this day. The incident is also recorded in an Irish poem yet extant. j The bard here alluded to, as won by Heremon, was Amergin the elder, by some stated to be his brother, and to whom is attributed a short poem, composed upon his setting his foot on shore at Inver-Colpa, which is preserved in the Books of Ballymote and Lecan, and in the Book of Invasions. This warrior bard fell in battle in Meath, and is supposed to have been here buried on the southern shore of the river Boyne, where, according to the fashion of the time, the funeral pile, now known as the Mill-Mount, was then elevated over his body, with rites as imposing as the attributes referred to him in life could have commanded, for the power of the bards in Pagan times was considered supernatural, whence it is stated in the Book of Ballymote (f 77), " that a bard, whose only son had been killed in battle by the Lagenians, having continued for a full year after to satirize that people, brought fatalities upon them, so that ' nei- ther corn, grass, nor foliage grew for them during that year ;' " a repute that continued to them to re- moter regions and times, by reason of which Regi- nald Scot, in his Discovery of Witchcraft, states, " the Irishmen will not stick to affirm that they can rime either man or beast to death." O GENERAL HISTORY. Drogheda, after the lapse of some centuries, is in legend sadly associated with one of the most illus- trious of Ireland's Kings, pre-eminently styled Hugony the Great, the lineal descendant of the before-men- tioned Heremon, and married to a daughter of France. He held the government of Ireland for thirty years, during which interval it is recorded of him, that he not only compelled the Picts to pay certain tribute reserved by his royal predecessors, but also enlarged his dominions beyond the former bounds, into some of the islands of the Irish Sea, whereby he acquired the appellation amongst the bards of " Monarch of Ireland and Albany, and of all the Western Isles of Europe." Not content with these foreign acquisi- tions, he re-assembled that long suspended native convention of the wise men and petty princes called the Fes of Tara. He also modified the Pentarchical Government, which had prevailed in Ireland from the time of the Firbolgs, and required all the rulers and chiefs of the provinces to bind themselves by a solemn oath of allegiance to him and his posterity, in exclusion of the other lines of the Milesian race. The form of oath, " by the Sun and Moon, and Ele- ments," is still preserved in a Manuscript in the Stowe collection. In the thirtieth year of his reign he is said to have been assassinated here by his own brother, who thereupon assumed the government, but the son of Hugony, within six days revenged his father's murder, and succeeded to the kingdom. The reign of Conary, the thirtieth in royal succes- GENERAL HISTORY. sion after Hugony, is that which in the History of Ireland is consecrated, by synchronizing with the birth of our Saviour, as well as by being the longest and most abundant in the annals of the country. Gfi the occasion of this joyous interval, it is particularly recorded, that the mouth of the Boyne so teemed with fish, that they were cast up from the deep upon the beach. The advantages of trade followed close upon the blessings of peace and plenty; and hence, Tacitus, in his Life of Agricola, mentions that the channels and harbours of Ireland were better known to commerce and to merchants, than those of Britain. It is not unreasonable to suppose that Inver-Colpa was one of the harbours thus early distinguished, and the surmise acquires considerable confirmation from the accuracy with which the Boyne (Buvinda) is marked in the geography of the Egyptian philoso- pher, Ptolemy, at the close of the second century, and who himself attributes all his knowledge on the subject to merchants frequenting this island ; while Marcianus Heracleota,in his Periplus, written shortly afterwards, notices sixteen tribes, and eleven cities or good towns, as then reported to exist in Ireland. It may be here added, in further evidence of Ire- land's high claims to ancient commemoration, that many eminent scholars consider a great part of the scenery of the Odyssey is laid in the Atlantic, and Plutarch pronounces an opinion as to the island of Calypso, that it lay within five days' sail (in the navi- gation of these times), to the west of Britain. " Nor can / S'^F^TT^' 8 GENERAL HISTORY. any one," says Camden, while lie applies the obvious reference to Ireland, "easily conceive why they should call it Ogygia, unless perhaps from its antiquity, for Greeks called nothing Ogygia unless what was tremely ancient." The author of the" Argonautica," who flourished at least five centuries before the Christian era, in the imaginary route which he pre- scribes for Jason and his fleet, particularly desig- nates, as on his course, the island of Ireland (lemis), describing its woody surface, its misty atmosphere, &c., while it is not a httle remarkable, that England is in no manner named in this venerable record of Grecian literature, although, undoubtedly, had it too been then so well known, it would have appeared in the poetic chart of an author, whose sole object was therein to display the geographical learning of the age in which he lived. The next notice in chro- nological order, occurs in the work " De Mundo," attributed to Aristotle, and which, if not written by him, must have been the composition of a contem- porary, as it is dedicated to Alexander the Great. In this authentic evidence, the two islands of Great Britain and Ireland are alike brought into notice, imder the names of Albion and lerne. Of paramount interest, however, to all these, is the passage in the " Iambics of Festus Avienus de Oris Maritimis," in which he afiects to transcribe in the fourth century, as from personal collation with the oldest Runic Annals, an account of a voyage of discovery which, when Carthage was in the pleni- -i«ijw«ny«iB| GENERAL HISTORY. tude of her power, Himilco, one of her citizens, was directed to make to the extreme parts of Europe. In this record Himilco is stated to have fixed thji distance of Ireland as two days' sail from the Cassl3' terides, or Scilly isles ; that it was even then long known to " the ancients" by the style of "the Sacred Island ;" " that in the midst of its waves it cast up much turfy matter ; that the nation of the Hibemi inhabit it extensively; and that near it the island of the Albions extends itself" The epithet here given to this isle of the West, it is remarkable, was applied also especially to that island of Samothrace in the ^gean sea, which is generally supposed to have been peopled by colonies of the Pelasgians, Samians and Phoenicians, who had estabhshed the Cabiric mys- teries there ; and a remark of Strabo, given also as an ancient tradition, completes the force of that epi- thet of " the sacred island," which may be said to have been afterwards Christianized, and with great propriety, into the " island of saints." " They say," writes the Roman geographer, " that there is an island near to Britain, where rites similar to those practised in Samothrace in honour of Ceres and Proserpine, are practised." In truth, it was to such Carthaginian and Phoenician intercourse, that the before-mentioned remark of Tacitus, as to the har- bours of Ireland being little known, appHed. The Romans had no'knowledge of these seas at that time, as is evident from the same Strabo, who, speaking of the Cassiterides,. and the commerce thither, says 10 GENERAL HISTORY. it was only carried on through Gades by the Phoe- nicians, who concealed their course from every one else, and, as he relates, when the Romans pursued a ^xertain ship-captain, in order to learn the ports of his commerce thereabout, the captain immediately ran his own vessel on a shoal, thereby also drawing his pursuers into the same destruction. He alone was saved from shipwreck, and received as a national re- ward for his services, the full value of the cargo which he so cast away. This concealment of commercial in- tercourse by the Phoenicians, is also charged against them by Polybius and Pliny. And, indeed, so com- pletely did the monopoly continue, that until the days of Agricola, as Tacitus shows in his Life of that General, the conquerors of the world were ig- norant that Great Britain was an island, and even at a later period, as Moore writes, " when the flight of their eagles had extended as far as the Orcades, Ire- land still remained free." The early connexion and intercourse of Ireland with the knowledge and manners of the East through the Phoenicians, those " great carriers," as Moore justly styles them, " not only of colonies and com- merce, but also of shrines and divinities to all quar- ters of the world," is further confirmed by the many vouchers of orientalism, which even at this day sur- vive in this country. The frequent " God save you," " God save all here," " God bless you," " God be with you," cannot but remind the hearer of the solemn " God be gracious to thee my son," and other similar f "■''*I5*|KW- GENERAL HISTORY. 11 phrases of salutation and benediction so peculiar to the East. The hand joined in hand, so often recorded in Scripture as the seal of contract, the May fires, and those on St. John's eve, with the leaping through the flame, and the various festivities associated with that element ; the feastings and laments at funerals ; the partiality for the number seven, as evinced in the groups of ancient churches and altars, so conso- nant with oriental prejudice ; to all which might perhaps be added, that free and liberal hospitality, such as is recorded in the Old Testament, recom- mended in the New, and still noticed as so frequent by every Asiatic tourist ; that hospitality, which the Hindoos beautifully inculcate in the proverb, " the tree does not withdraw its shade even from the wood- cutter," and which in its fulness, down to a very re- cent period, pre-eminently distinguished Ireland. The second year of the Christian era is especially noticed by the Irish Annalists, as that in which died Cuchullin, the chief ornament and support of a then very celebrated military order in the north of Ire- land, known by the style of the Knights of the Eed Branch, and whose achievements in the long war enti- tled " Tain-bo-cuailgne" are so celebi-ated by the na- tive bards, and are the basis of Mac Pherson's beau- tiful imposition, entitled " Ossian's Poems." As the district from whose devastation this civil feud of seven years' continuance took its name, Tain-bo- Cuailgne, i. e. " the spoils of the cattle at Cuailgne," is supposed by many to be that now known as 12 GENERAL HISTORY. Collon(a),in the countyof Louth, and vicinity of Dro- gheda ; it may not be deemed wholly irrelevant here to allude to the event. The carrying off an immense quantity of cattle from that place, by Maud, a cele- brated Queen of Connaught, a few years before the commencement of the Christian era, was the origin of hostilities, and the march of her army on this oc- casion headed by herself in her chariot, the valorous deeds of the Ulster heroes who opposed her, and es- pecially the bravery of Cuchullin, are rapturously dilated upon by the bardic historians, copies of whose Narratives are preserved amongst the Manuscripts of Trinity College, Dubhn, and those of the Koyal Irish Academy ; while the district itself, like other portions of the country, has cast up memorials of arts military at the period, in hatchets of basalt, spearheads of grey granite, and arrow heads of flint, not unfrequently diversified by weapons of a better temper, fashioned like those Carthaginian swords that have been discovered on the field of Cannje. In one of these engagements, it is related, that Cu- chullin, in the eighth year before the Christian era, when he was but seventeen years of age, killed Fer- dia. King of the Damnonii (i. e. the Tuatha de Da- nans' colony, who had been expelled into Con- naught), at the ford of the Dee, hence called Ath- (a) Mr. O'Donovan, in a note to the " Battle of Moira," recently published by the Archaeological Society, considers the locality of Cuailgne should rather be identified with the Cooley, north of Dundalk. Wr^f~ '■ - ■.-■t^mJUity GENERAL HISTORY. 13 ferdia, now Ardee. It should be here added, that, while the knights of the Ked Branch were, according to Bardic history, the most distinguished by their numbers, power, and discipline, the other provinces had similar establishments, the knights of Leinster being styled — Clana-Baoisgne ; those of Munster — Clana-Deaghadh ; those of Connaught, Clana-Momi, from the respective chieftains who were their founders. At a royal feast given on the plain of Bregia, not far distant from this town, Fergus, who held the go- vernment of Ireland in the middle of the third cen- tury, being, according to the native annalists, the 106th monarch in lineal succession from Heremon, entertained the celebrated Cormac, the grandson of Conn of the hundred battles, and who was himself styled Ulfada, from having, after a severe conflict at Granard, banished many of the defeated Ulster army to the Isle of Man and the Hebrides, upon which occasion this justly eulogized chief received an insult that led to the dethronement of Fergus and his own promotion to the sovereignty. Immediately after his accession he assembled the wise men of the land at Tara, and with their advice had the existing scat- tered narratives of the bards collected in one Regis- ter, hence called the Psalter of Tara, while he like- wise promulgated legislative measures, such as in the existing state of society seemed best calculated to promote the happiness of his people, and many of which continued in force until the introduction of ■■■% 14 GENERAL HISTORY. English law slowly supplanted them. Nor were the thoughts of this great man less zealously directed to the eternal welfare of his people. Utterly dissent- ing from the Paganism that surrounded him, although in Irelatid it exhibited a character more refined and rational than in any other quarter of the globe, he ventured to uphold the doctrine of one Omnipotent Being, governing the universe by his will and wis- dom; and in furtherance of this his belief, is recorded to have carried on a theological discussion with the Magi so earnestly, that his sudden death is by some attributed to the agency of their provoked resent- ment. That event occurred about the close of the third century, in a cottage near Kells, whither he had retired from the cares of government seven years previously. It is also recorded, that in his dying moments he prohibited the burial of his body in the Eoyal sepulchre of his Pagan predecessors, at the Eath- na-Riogh, in Tara ; in literal observance of the words of which wish, though not of the principle that re- commended it, his people carried the corpse towards a burial ground, not less recognized for pubHc and distinguished inhumation according to the rites of the day, Within the district extending from the limits of Dowth to New Grange, of which more full men- tion shall be made hereafter. The Magi were, how- ever, no less reluctant to receive him at that side of the Boyne, and as there was no bridge then across the river, they three several times frustrated aU attempts to lead the funeral, as was sought through r^ p^z GENERAL HISTORY. 15 the water, a little below the hill of Slane. On the fourth occasion it is said, the struggle was so violent that the bier was whirled into the water, and carried down to Ros-na-riogh, i. e. *' the promontory of the King," where, when discovered, the body was so- lemnly interred, thus giving a name to the locality. The Four Masters, after many well-merited eulogies on the memory of this sovereign, state that he com- posed the " Tiagasc-na-Riogh" (instructions for Kings ) in order to promote good manners, morals, and social duties in the kingdom, was an illustrious author on government and history, and promulgated laws and regulations, according to justice, so that what he prescribed was adhered to in Ireland, to the then present time. In the more glorious pre-eminence of his religious opinions, although Cormac could not be said to have believed in Christ, yet his undoubted Theism, and his utter abhorrence of the Pagan rites lof the day, obtained such favour in the eyes of St. Columb, that he is said, after a lapse of four centu- ries from the period of the monarch's death, to have paid him the reverence usually given to eminent and holy believers, erecting a chapel or oratory over his grave, and, as a Pagan convert of the earliest auspice, whose precepts and example in life were a light amongst the heathens, a forerunner of the coming revelation, he well merited that tribute to his me- mory. From his time Druidism, or rather the Magian worship, declined, and the ultimate reception of St. Patrick was irresistibly facilitated. ^ 16 GENERAL HISTORY. The principal inhabitancy of Drogheda, such as it must have been from its maritime position at the " inver," or mouth of the sea, which gave name to Inver Colpa, and for the object and enjoyment of the commerce before alluded to, was at this time, as for many years after, at the Meath and fort side of the river ; but the necessity of intercourse with the other, led to the construction of one of the then usual bridges of hurdles rested upon piles, in aid of the ford which previously opened the only mode of communication, from which structure the tovm is generally considered to have acquired the appella- tion of Drogheda, i. e. " the bridge of the ford," which, although by the monkish annalists somewhat altered into Treoit, and by the Enghsh writers yet more into Tredagh, is now its universally accepted name. At this time, and subsequently, this town, at least the northern portion of it, was, with the whole county now known as Louth, and much of Armagh, Monaghan, and Fermanagh, inhabited by the Oirghi- alla, descendants of the three CoUas, a tribe that in 333 destroyed the famous palace of Eamania, near Ar- magh, and drove the ancient Ultonians into the pre- sent counties of Down and Antrim. The chief fa- milies (it may be added), that, when surnames were estabhshed in Ireland, sprung from this OirghiaUa sept were those of 0' Carrol, O'Hanlon (hereditary standard bearers of Ulster), Mac Mahon and Ma- guire. Doctor Hanmer, with that confiding belief in le- GENERAL HISTORY. 17 gendary lore, for which he is so remarkable, states this locality to have been the residence and strong- hold of a son of Fin Mac Coul, the father being at the same time, that is to say, at the beginning of the fourth century, dynast of Dundalk. This Fin was the son-in-law of the aforesaid Cormac, and is the Fingal whom, in disregard of chronology, Mac Pher- son, in his " Ossian's Poems," makes a contemporary of Cuchullin. The fort or dun, so durably existing at the Meath side of this town, would indeed induce a belief, that it was the military station of one of those chiefs of Scotia (by which title Ireland was then exclusively called), who co-operated with the Picts, as recorded by Eumenius the Khetorician and other writers, in harassing the Britons and Romans, and who, although an earlier origin for this mount is hereinbefore suggested, might possibly have, on their return from England, borrowed the model of this and similar earthworks from the Roman camps, yet so numerous in the sister kingdom. The Mill- Mount at Drogheda has evidently been a fort of high antiquity, a work of art, grafted as it were on nature, cut out of the hill, rather than like the funeral mounts raised from the plain, and undoubtedly in its prouder days presenting in fosses, ramparts and en- trenchments, the strong similitude of " grim visaged war." On its summit was then the central habita- tion of the chief, while his family and adherents surrounded him with their humbler abodes of earthen walls, interlaced with wood or wicker work, covered VOL. n. c 18 GENERAL HISTORY. with fern or heath; and, as the country at this time abounded with forests, prudence as well as conve- nience suggested the use of that material, while it is not to be forgotten, that Venerable Bede most libe- rally extols the peculiar neatness and beauty with which this class of edifices was erected in Ire- land. The Annals of Drogheda, in the ensuing cen- tury, connect in a very remarkable manner with the mission of the Apostle of Ireland, in its earliest auspice. The plain of Bregia, on the skirt of which this town was situated, as it included the seat and stronghold of Irish sovereignty and power, so was it the capital and theatre of gentihsm, and all the Pagan rites then venerated; as the remains at Rath, Dowth, New Grange, Knowth, Bellewstown, Grenanstown, &c., still testify. Thither, therefore, after some unsuccessful efibrts to effect a landing in other parts of Ireland, St. Patrick in 432 resolved to direct his steps, and, in accordance with that re- solution, ran his httle vessel into the harbour of Colpe, as the nearest and safest place of debarkation. Thence he and his companions, with the exception of St. Loman (afterwards first Bishop of Trim), whom he left at the mouth of the Boyne to guard his boat and aid the mission thereabout, proceeded to Slane; where, while King Leogaire was celebrating a hea- then festival, and his Magi were about displaying that sacred flame, that Baal-tinne (i. e. sunfire), until the lighting of which on May eve, as before alluded GENERAL HISTORY. i 19 to, no Other was permitted to be kindled in Ireland(a), the Saint raised such a beacon blaze (i) as was dis- tinguishable from the heights of Tara. " The king (say St. Patrick's biographers), no less alarmed than astonished thereby, appealed to his Magi, and ear- nestly inquired by whom, or for what purpose, it was lighted, and then it was that these priests are re- corded to have made the memorable reply, "this fire, which has been kindled in our presence before the flame was lit up in your palace, unless extin- guished this very night, shall never be extinguished more, yea it will triumph over all the fires of our ancient rites, and he who hghts it shall scatter your kingdom." The prediction was happily fulfilled. Leogaire, the reigning monarch, after some opposi- tion, renounced the religion of his ancestors, and his royal example was soon followed by many of his court. Even the chief poet of the king believed, and with the zeal of a new proselyte, converted the paeans in which he had celebrated false gods, to hymns in praise of the Almighty and his holy (a) The same ceremony, according to Hyde, prevails in Persia, where, after a festival of the 24 th of April, the domestic fires are every where extinguished, nor would any good believer rekindle them but by a taper lighted at the dwelling of the priest. (b) " According to the ancient as well as the modern ecclesiasti- cal liturgy, fire was to be struck and lighted up with solemn prayers and ceremonies on Easter, which fire was to be kept burn- ing in the Church lamps tiU the eve of Good Friday in the en- suing year." — Milner's Enquire/. c 2 20 GENERAL HISTORY. angels(a). In 443 St. Patrick made his entry into Drogheda, under the following peculiar circum- stances; the fame of his sanctity, and the glorious results of his preaching were proclaimed throughout the kingdom so loudly that he determined to revisit the court at Tara, his labours since his arrival having been directed to the work of conversion in Con- naught and Ulster. His approach on this occasion was from Ardpatrick, near Louth, and as soon as the inhabitants of Drogheda heard that he was coming towards their town, crossing the river, they went out in a body and received him about a mile in ad- vance on the CoUon road, and there standing upon a stone, since traditionally called Clogh-Patrick, the Saint preached to his auditory the happy tidings of salvation, and baptized his converts in a well still more contiguous to this town, and which, on its ex- tension at the northern side, gave name to Patrick's Well Lane; the well, has, however, been some time since closed up. The scepticism that would have cast a doubt on the existence of St. Patrick, or at least enveloped in obscurity the era of his ministry, has been long since exploded, and, as his visit to Drogheda ap- pears no less assured by concurrent testimony, the (o) In the Harleian Manuscripts of the British Museum is one thin parchment folio, purporting to be " The Great Sanction New Law or Constitution of Nine, made in favour of Christianity in Ire- land A. D. 439, by the three Kings, Leogaire, Core and Fergus; three Bishops, Patrick, Cornea, and Benignus ; and three sages, Dubthach, Daire, and Rossa. GENERAL HISTORY. 21 association is one of such moral sublimity as can- not be lightly passed over. Through this port the first dawn of Christianity broke in upon Ireland; here the unceasing energies of its Apostle were employed to instruct the fire-worshippers, even at their own stronghold ; and the towers of Pagan- ism over the land were exorcised and converted to the uses of the true faith. From this propitious be- ginning it was that, when the Roman empire was crumbhng into ruin, and darkness hung over its Pagan tributaries, the children of Ireland alone " had hght in their dwelling." Their country was, as Aldhelm is obhged to describe it in that letter of jealous sarcasm which Archbishop Ussher has pre- served in the " Sylloge," " a country rich in the wealth of science, and as thickly set with learned men as the poles are with stars; she was the ark of religion, the mart of learning, and the great semi- nary of youth." And this is the better portion of the era to which that profound thinker. Doctor Johnson alludes, in his correspondence with the elder Charles O'Conor. "Dr. Leland," he writes, " begins his history too late. The ages which de- serve an exact inquiry are those times, for such there were, when Ireland was the school of the west, the quiet habitation of sanctity and literature. K you could give a history, though imperfect, of the Irish nation, from its conversion to Christianity to the invasion from England, you would amplify know- ledge with new views, and new objects." The pro- 22 GENERAL HISTORY. gress of the Apostle's mission was in truth singu- larly favoured and cherished, and in few places was its fruit more rapidly and lastingly implanted than in Drogheda and its vicinity, as shown in other parts of this work. Thus, at the commencement of the sixth century, Christianity might be considered of universal adoption and belief throughout Ireland, while in the immediately ensuing centuries, extend- ing her sanctity and learning to Britain and the con- tinent, she sent forth those zealous missionaries, whose memory is still revered over Europe. As the faith strengthened in the soil, however, it seemed the will of heaven to subject it to trials and persecutions. The last notice of those days of holy happiness referrible to this vicinity is found in Eddius's life of Wilfred, where he mentions that Dagobert, prince of Austrasia, having been banished in his youth from his own country, crossed over in 673 to this , harbour, and thence, as it is supposed, betook himself to the Abbey of Slane, where he passed eighteen years in acquiring the principles of religion and science. After that interval, his friends at home, discovering his retreat by intelligence from mer- chants, implored the holy prelate Wilfrid to urge his return, a wish with which the Bishop complied, and sent him with great solemnity back to his peo- ple, a restored sovereign under the title of Dagobert the Second, when, as Moore suggests (History of Ireland, vol. i. p. 286), it is highly probable " he was w^ GENERAL HISTOBY. 23 accompanied or followed by some of those eminent scholars who had, during his stay in Ireland, presided over his studies, as we find him, on his accession to the throne, extending his notice and patronage to two distinguished natives of Ireland, St, Arbogast and St. Florentius, the former of whom, having re- sided for some time in retirement at Alsace, was by Dagobert appointed Bishop of Strasburg, and on his death a few years after, his friend and countryman, Florentius, became his successor. The tombs of two brothers, Erard and Albert, both distinguished saints of this period, were long shown at Katisbon; and St. Wiro rose to such eminence by his sanctity, that Pepin of Heristal, the mighty ruler and father of kings, selected him for his spiritual director, and was accustomed, we are told, to confess to him bare- foot." Before he left this country he must have, most probably, been an eye-witness of the melancholy devastation of Ireland, which was perpetrated in 684, by Bert, the general of Egfrid, the Northum- brian king, more especially on the plain of Bregia and its vicinity, around Drogheda, as Tigernach writes, and which is so pathetically lamented by Bede, not only as inflicted on a nation the most in- offensive and friendly to Englishmen, but as also characterized by such unrestrained sacrileges in churches and monasteries, that he actually attributes the calamities that soon after befel the English, to the crying guilt of this incursion. It may be here added, that in consequence of this visitation, the ce- 24 GENERAL HISTORY. o lebrated Abbot Adamnan was subsequently sent on an embassy from the King of Ireland to Egfrid, who thereupon made all available reparation for the injuries so committed by his army. In thirteen years afterwards, however (according to Tigernach), the Picts, a new class of invaders, devastated the shores of Louth. The years that immediately succeed, with the ex- ception of some few notices that seemed most refer- rible to the Annals of the Abbey of Drogheda, in an earlier section of this work, present only memo- rials of rapine and bloodshed. The feuds and guilty plottings that sprung from the unfortunate subdo- minations of Ireland, the multiplied independent districts, and the unsettled course of succession to government, soon utterly banished the auspices of peace and piety. In 720, Cathal, King of Munster, laid waste the plains of Bregia to the verge of this town, until Fear- gall, King of Tara, consented to conclude a peace with him, and gave hostages to secure its inviolabi- lity. In 780, the people of Bregia had a sanguinary conflict with those of Leinster, in which fell Cucon- gal. King of Kath-Inver. At the commencement of the ensuing century, the natives of this district were arrayed in more legitimate hostihty against the Danes, who, in sixty long transports, entered the mouth of the Boyne, plundered all the ecclesiastical edifices within the territories of Magh Liffe, andMagh Breagh ; extended their ravages toKildare ; destroyed m"::^^'^'' ■^^■'■'■'-j'm^f^-' ■' GENERAL HISTORY. 25 that ancient town with fire and sword, carried away the shrines of St. Bridget and St. Conlaeth, and would have pursued yet farther their ruinous career, had they not been opposed by the people of Bregia, and driven back to their ships with considerable loss ; but, such was the unhappy state of existing jealou- sies and feuds, that union against the common foe was impracticable, and the victors on this occasion were themselves immediately afterwards worsted by the Irishry of Fingal. About the year 830, Turgesius the Dane, one of the bravest, but also one of the most cruel warriors of the time, invaded Ireland, as it would seem, in this quarter, debarking his forces here from a large fleet, and at Drogheda, as before suggested, he made his head-quarters, occupying the fort now known as the Mill-Mount, while his horde plundered the town and the rich surrounding country, desecrated the abbey, and murdered its abbot. His name was as a talisman ; and, while crowds of adventurers followed on his summons in the wake of his vessel, all the foreigners of theretofore divided interests, that were scattered over the island, flocked to his terrific ban- ner, and leagued in one unholy partnership for the destruction of a devoted country, in which the dis- sensions of the native princes enabled them to make too speedy aud permanent settlements. Two fleets, it is expressly said, of one hundred and twenty sail, arrived, one in the Boyne, and the other in tie Lif- fey; "whence," writes Moore, "pouring forth their 26 GENERAL HISTORY. swarms over the plains through which those rivers flow, they inflicted, on the ah:eady sacked and ex- hausted country, new varieties of desolation and ruin. It was their custom thus to avail themselves of the facilities which the fine inland waters of Ireland af- forded, being enabled, by means of hght barks, which they launched on the rivers and lakes, to penetrate far into the country, and, by sudden landings, take the unguarded and panic struck natives by surprise." The tradition that the chief residence of Turgesius was at Drogheda, is confirmed by the Annalists stating it to have been near the palace of the King of Meath, by reason of which vicinity they say, and the account is accredited and verified by Giraldus Cambrensis, he became acquainted and enamoured with that king's daughter, and demanded her from her royal father. A well-dissembled assent led to the in- troduction of the princess to the tjrrant, accompanied however by fifteen gallant youths attired as females, who, while Turgesius and his adherents were ill pre- pared for such encounter, drawing their hitherto con- cealed swords, executed national vengeance upon the courtiers and their cruel lord. The curious reader will find, in Warner's poem of " Albion's England" (lib. V. c. 26), a quaint and interesting adoption of this supposed catastrophe. The death of the Dane is, however, in the simplicity of the more creditable Irish Annals, stated to have been the result of his discomfiture in battle, in A. D. 843, when the victor condemned him to be thrown into a lake near the present town of Mullingar. ' '^^l^^Hg^^-.' GENERAL HISTORY. 27 His death was the signal for a frightful re-action ; the long persecuted natives sprung upon their des- pots, and the astounded Northerns were either slain in battle, waylaid by stratagems, or compelled, as Giraldus affirms, to return to their native country. An impolitic application of the allegory, that the best way to banish unwelcome birds, is to destroy their nests, imprudently induced the Irish to raze the su- perstructures which the Danes had in the plenitude of their power constructed over the island ; and so far was the excitement of triumph carried at this unexpected redemption from slavery, that their King (as related in the Chronicon de Gestis Nordmanno- rum) even sent ambassadors to Charles the Bald, signifying his wish to offer his thanksgivings at Rome, and praying a liberty of free passage through the territories of France. Unfortunately, however (as Warner remarks in his excellent History of Ireland), the time which should have been employed by the natives in providing a naval force, in repairing for their own protection the Danish fortifications, which they had so demolished, or in erecting new ones on their coasts, they wasted in " ease which was un- manly, or in exercises which were unprofitable." The enemy, that was prowling without, greedily hailed the facilities thus presented, and in 849 fresh auxiharies in their interest passed over (as recorded in the " Antiquitates Celto-Scandinaviaa"), in 140 ships to Ireland, and renewed the barbarism of the preceding years; destroying amongst the rest the 28 GENERAL HISTORY. abbey of Drogheda, and putting to death two hun- dred and sixty persons; while in two years afterwards, another fleet of these pirates enteredthe mouth of the Boyne, and also took possession of Drogheda. In 877, during the existence of a war of reprisals between some Irish septs and the natives of Galloway, Gre- gory, King of Scotland, as Buchanan relates, in order to reimburse his subjects for injuries alleged to have been done to them, passed with an army into Ire- land, took Dundalk and Drogheda, and afterwards laid siege to Dubhn. In 902, the Prince of Bregia mustered and headed a force, with which he expelled the Danes from his territory, which seems to have induced the fall of his successor, hereinafter men- tioned. Some time subsequent toTurgesius' death, a fresh concourse of invaders collected, as Giraldus writes, from Norway and the Northern Isles, took posses- sion of the seaports of Ireland, and built, or rather strengthened, various cities, for the professed purposes of traffic; Waterford, Limerick, and Dublin, being amongst the first. Of this horde, Reginald, styled Mac Yvor, became the self-constituted King of Dub- lin, and a sharp naval engagement between him and another leader of his own country, is recorded to have taken place in 914, off the Isle of Man. In 917 a memorable battle was- fought by the King of Ireland and his tributary princes, against this Regi- nald's subjects of Dublin, and their leaders Imar and Sitric, in which fell, with the King of Ireland, two GENERAL HISTORY. 29 Princes, one styled Maol-Crabh, Lord of Orgiell (County Louth), and Maol-mith, Lord of Bregh (Bregia). The men of Drogheda must have acted a prominent part in the deadly contest of that day, in which were so slain the petty princes that ruled their confines at each side of the Boyne, and the hostility of the victors to this town, the sacrilegious desolation which they then committed in its religious houses, and the murder of its abbot, as noticed in the history of the abbey, were the consequent results of reckless vengeance. The historic interest must be deepened, if the battle can be connected with that hero and King of Denmark, Kegner Lodbrog, not less celebrated for his wars and victories, than for his qualifications as a scalder or poet. In the commencement of the Ninth Book of Saxo-Gram- maticus (a Danish historian of considerable note, who flourished in the thirteenth century), the ex- ploits of this warrior are recounted with enthusiasm ; and amongst these it is particularly related, that, after a series of victories in England, he carried his arms into Ireland, where having slain its king, Maolbrigh, he took possession of Dublin. Although some mi- nute differences occur, as might be expected, in the accounts of the Danish and Irish AnnaHsts, yet, the coincidence of Kegner becoming King of Dublin on the death of Maol-brigh in the former version, with Reginald, King of Dublin, when " Maol-Mith, Lord of Bregh," was slain in battle, are so striking, that it would seem unjustifiable to exclude the warrior 30 GENERAL HISTORY. from these pages. The Danish historian relates, that afterwards, on his own hereditary kingdom having been usurped, he was induced to return to Denmark for its recovery, when he was thrown into prison and condemned to be destroyed by serpents, under the prolonged infliction of which torments he languished unto death. This royal sea-rover is sup- posed to have rehearsed the exploits of his hfe, in the celebrated poem commencing "Pugnavimus ensibus," &c., preserved by Olaus Wormius, in his book, " De Runic^ Literature," in which he is graphically com- memorated, as recalling with pride to his memory, the battles of his youth, " the hawk triumphantly ca- reering over the field where swords were clashing, and bodies piled upon bodies," and where " Marstan" (so he calls the King of Ireland) " gave his body to the birds of prey." The Northern historians assert, that in his reign, the natives of Denmark and Norway were more nu- merous on sea than on land, so that " these whole nations," according to the " Chronicon Slavorum" of Abbe Arnold, " wore nothing but the habits of sailors, that they might be ready to embark on the first signal. The occupation of a pirate was consi- dered not merely lawful, but honorable: of those, therefore, who followed this line of life, the leaders are distinguished in the Sagas by the appropriate appellation of sea-kings, " and rightly are they named sea-kings," says the author of the Yulinga Saga, "who never seek shelter under a roof, nor ever drain their fw^- GENERAL HISTORY. 31 drinking horn at a cottage fire." Notwithstanding the severity of their climate (as an able but anony- mous writer on ancient Irish biography, has re- marked), and the poverty of their soil, their popu- lation increased so rapidly as to become too nume- rous for their productive resources, and hordes of them were, in consequence, compelled from time to time to seek, by settlement or plunder elsewhere, the means of subsistence. Under such circumstances, they eflfected the establishment of their power in France, where they were called Normen, for the same reason that they were called Ostmen or East- men in Ireland. At first their attempts upon Ire- land, as on most other countries, were confined to mere predatory incursions, which their excellence in navigation, arising from their natural facilities for ship-building, in the growth of suitable timber, and other materials, and from their proximity to the sea, rendered at once easy and safe, being generally ef- fected by surprise. Gradually, however, emboldened by repeated success, which was facihtated by the panic their atrocities created, they meditated the conquest of the entire country. This design was not contemplated by the petty leaders of the hordes that made the early invasions, but was deliberately adopted by the Princes of their nation, like Turge- sius and Kegner, whose ambition and cupidity were excited by the spoil which their pirate princes had obtained; the representations which they made of the fertility and climate of the island, and the com- 32 GENERAL HISTORY. parative wealth and resources of its towns and ab- beys ; and, assuredly, when the Danes first arrived in Ireland, they found a country rapidly progressing into civilization, and covered with flourishing schools, wherein the sciences were taught, and the arts cul- tivated ; but, in the melancholy period of their mili- tary occupation, they rioted over the land with such ruinous desolation, that scarcely a monument of its former pride was suffered to remain. Trained up as they were from their infancy, to the barbarous chivalry of a pirate life, devoted to the profession of arms, so as almost to pay divine honours to their swords, inured and accustomed to feats of desperate valour, educated only in the experience of dangerous exercises, they set but little value on the opportuni- ties for better instruction, which, on their first com- ing into Ireland, opened around them. Some few of the academies, however, they suffered to maintain a precarious estabhshment, and thus, after the des- truction of Icolm Kill, Ireland was enabled to shel- ter and preserve that learning, which Scotland thereby in a great measure lost. After the overthrow of Turgesius, and the retire- ment of Regner, or Eeginald, such of their insidious countrymen as remained in the Irish seaports, by artful professions, and submissive demeanour, pretty generally effected a peaceable settlement, with the avowal and expectation of commercial advantages ; and the long disuse of commerce by the natives by reason of national prejudices, native dissensions, and ' ■ ■ WflSi!!'''' GENERAL HISTORY. 33 the tyranny of the foreigners who might have ear- lier recommended it, made them now disposed for its reception. Short, however, and partial, was this interval of repose. In 950, the Danes plundered Slane, and in the following year wasted a great por- tion of the country about it ; but on the latter occa- sion, when returning loaded with spoil, they were intercepted by the Irish, and put to flight, with the loss of 6,000 men. In 980, their power was greatly broken in the memorable battle of Tara, where their principal commanders and leaders were slain, and the battle of Clontarf, in 1014, for ever closed their domination in Ireland, although their qualified resi- dence in the chief seaports continued to be tolerated, under restrictions and regulations, which were in policy respected even beyond the time of the Eng- lish invasion, and, accordingly, the charters of the subsequent English Kings to the maritime cities or towns, prudently reserved the rights and privileges of such mercantile sojourners. 1 In 1026, Donogh, the son of the justly celebrated Brian Boru, entered Meath with a strong force, and levied hostages thence, especially from the plain of Bregia and its inhabitants(a). In 1039, Donogh Fitz Patrick, with the people of Ossory,led an army into Meath, and devastated the country about Dro- gheda(6). In nine years afterwards, Donald O'Brien, leading his forces beyond the plain of Bregia, levied (a) Annals of the Four Masters. VOL. U. D (b) Id. ^ 34 GENERAL HISTORY. tribute from the Danes, evidently those then occu- pying Drogheda(a) ; and in 1056, Turlogh O'Brien, leading his adherents from Munster hither, so des- poiled Bregia and its vicinity, that, as the AnnaUst remarks, " Munster never acquired greater spoil of men or cattle"(6). In 1084, Dunslevy, King of Ulster, received tribute, in Drogheda, from Donogh, the son of Caillach O'Rourke. In 1108 a battle was fought between the people of Meath and those of Uriel (Louth), at Drogheda, in which the latter were de- feated. In 1145 this town was burned by Donogh O' Carrol, in hostility to the family of O'Melaghlin. In 1147 all Ulster was devastated by the O'Logh- lens ; as it was again in the ensuing year by the same sept, aided by the O'Carrols and O'Rourkes. In 1149 the O'Carrols laid waste the plain of Bregia. In 1150 Meath was forcibly partitioned between O'Conor, O'Rourke, and O'Carrol (O'Melaghhn being ousted of all share in the ancient inheritance of his ancestors) ; and in 1152 Drogheda was again sacked by the O'Briens. In 1 1 55, Murtough O'Logh- len devastated Meath, while Tieman O'Rourke, after a successful invasion of the country of O'Carrol, im- prisoned the Chief of the sept in an island of Lough- Shillen. Thus was it that domestic feuds succeeded foreign ravages throughout the country ; the laws of more tractable generations became ineffective, until at length the government was irrecoverably preci- (a) Annals of the Four Masters. (b) Ann. Inisf. GENERAL HISTORY. 35 pitated into all those errors, to wHch, by its original constitution, it had too fatal an inclination. The su- preme sovereignty was acquired by violence, and maintained by rapine; the subordinate chieftains were but multiplied instances of the same irregularity, feuds and factions extended through every extend- ing circle of the population, grew with their growth, and strengthened with their strength, until at length the country, at that era which these annals have now reached, the period of the Enghsh invasion, pre- sented, as illustrated in the history of this locaUty, nearly as great an anuLhUation of former pre-emi- nence, as the once classic Greece does to the mo- dern inquirer. While the domestic state of Ireland thus invited invasion, that of England stimulated the measure. The Enghsh, in the century preceding the succes- sion of Henry the Second to the crown, had be- come better acquainted with the civil and ecclesias- tical state of Ireland, than they had ever been before, but no permanent or beneficial interest resulted from this knowledge. Many of the Irish were then en- gaged ia the Welch wars; and many had come over with the sons of Harold, to assert his title against the Conqueror, and their accounts were most proba- bly of a nature to excite the ambition of some, and the curiosity of all. England, during her heptarchy, was divided, while Ireland was comparatively strong ; when Ireland became most divided, England was united. The Norman conquest, it is true, excited D 2 36 GENERAL HISTORY. much discontent and division, but these causes of dissension soon subsided, and the English, in a very short interval, saw the force of the maxim, that " na- tional union is national strength." The invasion of Ireland seemed an object well worthy of enterprise, much earlier than the period of its actual occurrence. William the Conqueror, when he made his political pilgrimage to St. David's, and there received the homage of the Welch, might most probably, have conceived the notion of adding Ireland to his acquisitions ; it is at least related by Cambrensis, in the commencement of his " Itinerary of Wales," that " William Rufus, in one of the ex- peditions which he conducted against the natives of that country, discerning the Irish hills from the heights on which he stood, declared to his atten- dants, in the fulness of his ambition, ' that he would one day make a bridge across with his ships, for the conquest of that island(a);' " but this, and other great (a) This declaration of William Rufus, as well as the circum- stance of a tract of land oiF Pembrokeshire being recovered from the sea in 1171, as mentioned by Giraldus, confirm the Cambrian traditions, that formerly a large tract of country extended in that quarter, much nearer to the Irish coast. Cardigan bay, according to their accounts, was once a fine valley, in which was a good town ; and their sailors aver, that there may be seen even yet at low water, between Pulhelly, in Caernarvonshire, and Barmouth, in Merionethshire, the ruins of a quay or pier-head, called Sarn Patrick, now some miles out at sea ; while the theory of marine encroachment is not less powerfully evidenced by the appearances on the Irish coast, as in the drifting sands of Bannow, and oiF the coast of "Wexford. f^""- ■ ■ ■'^'^m^': '■ GENERAL HISTORY. 37 designs of that prince, were frustrated by his death, and not afterwards revived, until the accession, un- der the most favourable auspices, of Henry the Se- cond, to the British Crown. Thus far it seemed re- levant to this History, to preface respecting the English invasion, as well on account of the political events before related, which occurred at Drogheda, in fatal testimony of Irish disunion, as that here, in 1166, on the very eve of Strongbow's incursion, Ro- deric O'Conor, then the acknowledged King of Ire- land, encamped with an army, for the object of as- certaining the feelings of allegiance towards him in this quarter, and here Donogh O'Carrol (whose ter- ritory, as Prince of Uriel, extended from Drogheda to Asigh, in the County of Meath), together with the other chiefs of Louth, came into Eoderic's tent, de- livered hostages for their fealty, and received in re- turn, as recorded in the " Annals of Innisfallan," a " present of two hundred and forty beeves"(a)4 Tacitus has recorded, in his " Life of Agricola," the conviction of Roman policy, that Ireland should be estimated as the great arena where Roman power might be most effectively employed, and " the chains not only of Britain, but likewise of Spain and Gaul, (a) About this time Robert Travers, afterwards Bishop of Kil- laloe, was born in Drogheda. This Prelate was deprived of his See by the Pope in 1221, and having thereupon passed over into England, he resided, a Bishop without a bishopric, at Tewkes- bury, in the Annals of which town he is noticed, as consecrating two standards in its ancient church in 1224. 38 GENERAL HISTORY. most effectually riveted ;" and Henry the Second, with no less sagacity perceived, that from its geo- graphical situation, it must be the strength or the weakness of England, her best friend or her fellest foe. As the Irish Princes, however, in their divi- sions, always confined their depredations to the ter- ritories of each other, no reasonable pretence was offered on this ground, for interfering in their con- cerns, or invading their country ; other causes were therefore sought out, and other appeals as of neces- sity resorted to, to justify such a measure, and where the power and inclination concurred with the am- bition of such a Prince as Henry, these were easily framed and adopted; every device which policy could suggest, every title which credulity could es- pouse, and withal, every fanaticism that rehgion would sanction, were suggested and enlisted in the cause. At such a crisis, immediately after the recog- nitions of Roderic O'Conor's sovereignty at Dro- gheda, as before mentioned, the infamous exile, Der- mot Mac Murrough, King of Leinster, representing himself as an injured prince driven from his inhe- ritance, threw himself at the feet of Henry, offering to hold his territories thenceforth as the vassal of the English Crown, provided sufficient assistance were but granted to him for its present recovery. The politic monarch at once saw the colour this submission afforded to his long cherished project. He prudently, however, contented his supplicant with a commission to such of his subjects as ambi- GENERAL HISTORY. 39 tion miglit urge, or love of plunder prompt to join what forces they could raise, to support the cause of his new liegeman. On that license, Richard, Earl of Pembroke and Chepstow, commonly styled " Strongbow," from his superior archery, gathered adventurers for the exile's cause, from the territories of his tenure and title, Pembroke being the rendez- vous appointed for such English, or rather Welch, as were willing to follow him in this expedition. There was the chart of their cause pointed out. Ire- land was, as it were, mapped before them, and each warrior, as he passed into the castle, at the head of his armoured retainers, was suffered to carve out with his sword, the future inheritance of his posterity. The jealousy, however, of Henry being awakened by the rapid successes of those adventurers, he sum- moned Strongbow to his presence at Newnham, near Gloucester, and there, having received that war- rior's homage, he passed over to Ireland himself(a), at the close of the year 1171, and on his arrival in Dubhn, committed its immediate government to Hugh de Lacy, to whom, in the commencement of the fol- lowing year, he made that noble grant of Meath, the ancient mensal lands of the O'Melaghlins while Kings of Ireland, and erected it into the first Palatinate in (a) A Pipe Eoll of the period states, amongst the Treasury- disbursements, " 118s. 7d. for 569 pounds of almonds sent to the King in Ireland; £10 7s. for Josephus Medicus, the king's doc- tor; £29 Os. 2d. for wine bought at Waterford; £333 6». Sd. to John, the Marshal, to carry over to the King in Ireland," &c. 40 GENERAL HISTORY. this country. This grant passed to the patentee all liberties and free customs in wood and plain, waters and mills, warrens and loughs, fisheries and chases, seaports, and all other places thereto appertaining, and is specially witnessed amongst others by Earl Strongbow, whose recognition Henry was anxious to acquire in such an extensive conveyance. The notice of this grant is the more pertinent here, as it included the town and lands of Drogheda, and was confirmed by King John, with very important excep- tions that a few years had necessitated, viz. of the borough and castle of this town. In 1174, Roderic O'Conor, the last acknowledged King of Ireland, conceiving that circumstances, and especially the de- fection of Donald Kavanagh, the son of the late King Dermod, opened a favourable opportunity for re-asserting his sovereignty, invaded Meath with a large confederate force, from which, Hugh de Lacy being then absent, he destroyed all the fortresses erected by that lord, and laid waste the country to the vicinity of Dublin. Hugh Tyrrell, who had been left to defend the Palatinate, finding himself unable to hold possession of the castle of Trim, demolished the fortifications, and retreating towards Drogheda, also rased the castle of Duleek. About the same time, that of Slane, which had been granted by De Lacy to Richard le Fleming, ancestor of the barons of Slane, having been surprised by the Irish Chief to whom it previously belonged, the whole garrison and inmates were put to the sword, and Le Fleming **T5E^3^. GENERAL HISTORY. 41 1 himself slain. In 1175, the re-action of English hos- tility devastated Meath through its whole extent, from Athlone to Drogheda. In two years afterwards, King Henry, at a Gene- ral Council held in Oxford, appointed his son John, who was then Earl of Moreton, Lord of Ireland, a measure, which, as that Prince was a younger son, and not heir apparent to the Crown of England, has been assumed by some, as indicating a design to erect Ireland into a separate kingdom for John and his line, but the more probable presumption is, that with his usual foresight, he perceived in the recent events in Ireland, the great advantages and facility that would be afforded in the extension of English dominion in that country, if a Prince of the Blood Royal was to be resident there, and that being con- scious none of his other sons, enriched as they were with foreign dukedoms, would be inclined to gratify such an expatriation, he naturally looked to the only one whose necessities might recommend his object. The example, however, of granting away all Ire- land, was thought so dangerous, that it never was followed except once by Henry the Third, and then only to the Prince who was his heir apparent, and on the express condition that it never should be se- parated from the English kingdom. The unaccoun- table patent of Richard the First to his favourite, Robert de Vere, cannot be considered any cojiflict- ing precedent, not only because in that grant there was a tenure by homage reserved, but more vitally, because in point of law, it never took effect. 42 GENERAL HISTORY. Immediately subsequent to this aggrandisement of John, the king confirmed to Hugh de Lacy the former grant of Meath, including Drogheda, but with this variation from the charter of 1172, that this Lord should thenceforth hold that Palatinate, with all its appurtenances, under him (Henry), and his son John, and by the service of a hundred instead of fifty knights. In 1179, De Lacy was further ho- noured by the King's commission, appointing him viceroy of Ireland, under the style of Procurator General. Immediately on this new appointment he turned his attention to retrieve the interests which his predecessors in the government had endangered; and, as he felt in duty bound, applied himself to for- tifying Leinster, and the Pale generally, with castles similar to those he had heretofore erected in the in- terior of Meath ; and then it was that he erected at least one in the important pass of Drogheda : nor did he, while forwarding these works of military defence, neglect patronizing the arts of peace, and gaining the grateful affection, as well of the na- tives as of the English, by his affable behaviour, his impartial generosity, and his wise administration. As long as he was placed at the head of affairs, the country (remarks Hanmer) was singularly well ma- naged ; the priest kept his church, the soldier his garrison, and the ploughman followed his plough. In 1 1 80, being Lord Justice of Ireland, he marched a force to this town, with the object of controlling the power of Sir John de Courcy, who had received j|j.»,, .-■ ■. r-^^^jpr^^r GENERAL HISTORY. . 43 a patent of Ulster as his Palatinate, but from this expedition, as Hanmer observes, " rose much heart- burning, division, quarrels, and bloody brawls," among the English. j In 1185, fortified by the Pope's confirmation of his father's grant, prince John, then aged nineteen, visited Ireland, attended by a gorgeous cavalcade of young nobles(a), and having Ealph Glanville, then Chief Justice of all England, as his counsellor and adviser, and another not less remarkable person, Giraldus de Barri, commonly styled Cambrensis, as his tutor. In his tour of the Pale he appears to have sojourned for a time at Drogheda, when he granted to the Abbey of Mellifont (inter alia) the granges of Mell, Drogheda, &c., the grant being witnessed by Gilbert Peppard and others. J The records of a corporate character, referring to the town from this period, will be found in the previous Section, exclusively assigned to that branch of the history, while those of the castle and respec- tive religious houses, are noted in that on the " An- cient Statistics." (a) In a Pipe EoU of the period, preserved in Somerset House, Theobald, the first Chief Butler, and the founder of the house of Ormond, being, in a manner, the Comptroller of the Prince's es- tablishment, had credit in his accounts, amongst other expenses, for 66s. 8d. for the freight of his " harnesium." Lord Coke al- leges, that John visited Ireland three times, attributing one other visit to the third year of his reign, but the assertion, even on so great authority, is erroneous. 44 GENERAL HISTORY. In 1 204, the king issued his mandate, requiring John de Courcy to return to his allegiance, and empowering the Lord Deputy thereupon, to confer upon him eight cantreds of land immediately ad- joining the possessions of Walter de Lacy and Hugh, his brother, the two sons of the original Palatine of Meath, to be held of such service as might be thereafter agreed upon. The monarch, how- ever, by a grant of " Drogheda Pons" to Nicholas de Verdon, adroitly interposed a neutral interest to at least prevent collision between these rival lords. In the following year this latter noble had a more emphatic grant of the custody of the Bridge of Dro- gheda, to hold as his father had theretofore held it. The same sovereign, on the occasion of his second visit to Ireland, in 1210, passed in this town two days, the 8th and 9th of August, at which time pos- sibly he despatched that predatory party, to which the "ChroniconManniae" alludes, where, speaking of this royal excursion, it states, that he then des- patched a party of his troops under Fulco, to Man, who in fifteen days totally pillaged that island; and, after exacting hostages, returned home : the Chroni- cle adds, that neither Reginald, nor any of the nobi- lity, were then in the island. At this time, also, John confirmed Hugh de Lacy's endowment of the Abbey of Mellifont, with the granges of Drogheda, Mell, &c., as hereafter more particularly set forth, ad ann. 1238. Hanmer, speaking of the sojourn of King John in Ireland, and its consequences so far /Jr7rT^ii^- GENERAL HISTORY. 45 as the Pale was affected thereby, says, " King John having pacified the land, ordained that the English laws should be used in Ireland; appointed twelve English shires, of which were Meathand Louth; as- signed Sheriffs and other officers to rule the same; reformed the coin; directed its uniformity in weight and fineness, and made it current as well in England as in Ireland." When he had " disposed of his affairs, and ordered all things at his pleasure," he took the sea again with much triumph, and landed in Eng- land on the 30th day of August. It must be re- marked, however, that although the king might have meditated such a division of counties, and although Sir John Davis supports the assertion, the history of the country contradicts its realization for centuries. A short time previous to this, Walter de Lacy had obtained a Royal license to erect one mill at the bridge of Drogheda, provided such erection did not prejudice the king, or any of his subjects; and from the manner in which this bridge is mentioned in the record, it may be fairly inferred, that one of better and more durable materials, such as in the twelfth century Turlogh O'Conor constructed over the Shannon and the Suck, was heretofore erected in this place, by which it would appear, that Drogheda preceded the metropolis in such a useful erection, the patent for the first substantial bridge over the Liffey, at Dublin, bearing date not until 1215. Ac- cording to the Irish Annalists, the king at this time rode into the heart of Meath, as far as Ardbraccan, 46 GENERAL HISTORY. to meet Cathal O'Conor, of Connaught, sumamed Crobli-dearg (i.e. of the bloody hand), who there ten- dered the first allegiance for that province to Eng- lish government, and, returning with John, proceeded to Carrickfergus, whence that monarch then ba- nished Hugh De Lacy the younger from Ulster, as he did Walter De Lacy from Meath. In 1213, Ee- ginald. King of Man, had a confirmation to him and his heirs, of one knight's fee, near Carlingford, in the territory of Ulster on the sea, which the Bishop of Norwich, then the King's Lrish Justiciary, had by the king's command assigned to him; the patent also recognized his right to receive one hundred cra- nocks of corn yearly at Drogheda, A patent, of the 19th year of Henry the Third, throws light on the reasons of this claim of the King of Man, granting, as it does, to Olave, King of Man and of the Isles, as a recompense for his expenses in guarding those parts of the coast of England and Ireland, which looked towards each other and towards the Isle of Man, an annuity of forty marks, with a render of 100 cranocks of corn and five pipes of wine, all to be received out of Ireland at Easter, by the hands of the Lord Justice for the time being(a). It may be here mentioned that the Norwegian King, Mag- nus, who preceded both Reginald and Olave, in the government of Man and the Isles, is recorded to have seriously entertained the project of adding Ireland (a) Rot. Chart, in Turr. Lond. r GENERAL HISTORY. 47 to his dominions, and the marriage of his son Sigurd, whom he had then newly appointed King over the Isles, with the daughter of the Irish monarch, Mur- certagh, seemed a most auspicious consummation of his hopes; but his subsequent efforts by hostile mea- sures to subdue Ireland, were gallantly repulsed by the natives, and but accelerated his own death. In 1215, the aforesaid Walter De Lacy(a), who (a) This Walter de Lacy having on his decease left no issue male, and only two daughters, his co-heiresses, a writ of 1 245, of an interesting character, in reference to the family, appears of record in the Fine Eolls of the Tower of London. It recites, that Walter de Lacy had been indebted to the heirs of Hamo of Hereford, a Jew, in £725 ; to David of Oxford, another Jew, in £150; to Blanch of Hereford, a Jewess, in £40, &c., aU which his said debts were now vested in the Crown, and were payable by Peter de Geneville and Matilda his wife, one of the daughters and co-heiresses of said Walter de Lacy ; and by John de Verdon and Margery his wife, another daughter and co-heiress of said de Lacy, moietively ; but the King thereby forgave and acquitted Peter and Matilda, directing, nevertheless, that John and Margery should discharge their proportion. The Fine Rolls of the Tower of London, from which this note is extracted, comprise a great variety of matter, relating to deaths as of tenants in capite ; succession of heirs ; descent, division, and alienation of property ; custody of lands, and of heirs during mi- norities ; liveries ; marriages of heiresses and widows; assign- ments, as of dower; forfeitures, pardons, &c.; subjects, many of which were afterwards placed under the superintendance of the Court of Wards and Liveries. Fine Rolls do not appear, at least known by that title, in the Records of Ireland, and those of the Court of Wards are only imperfectly preserved, in the Crown and Hanaper Office, extending, such as they are, from 1637, with lost intervals, to 1662. 48 GENERAL HISTORY. had for a time inciirred the King's displeasure, ob- tained, on payment of 4000 marks, a restoration of his estates hereabout, saving to the Crown the pos- session of the Castle of Drogheda ; and in 1220 he had a further confirmation of all his possessions in Ireland, including the talliage and aid chargeable on Drogheda, and also a chief rent of £20, payable out of the Castle of Drogheda, and 20 marks out of that of Blackagh and their appurtenances; but the possession of these fortresses was therein declared to be retained to the Crown, and proved a very essential reser- vation for the safety of the Pale in the immediately ensuing war with Hugh de Lacy the younger. In 1222, the men of Dublin, Waterford, Drogheda, Cork, and Limerick, were ordered to maintain a galley in each port for the defence of the land; and in 1228, as has been seen in the corporate history, certain customs were granted for one year, as an aid for the better construction of the bridge here. In the Close Rolls of the following year in the Tower of London, are recorded proceedings in a suit between Walter le Roquere and Philip de Nugent, concerning a caru- cate of land lying outside the bridge of Drogheda ; and of another suit between Ralph Bagot and Ni- cholas de Verdon, concerning the adjacent manor of Rath. The former litigation regarded, as ex- plained in a Close Roll of the 17th of John, a town- land denominated " Chilbrid," which the burgesses of Drogheda had theretofore held, but of which they were deprived by the before mentioned Bishop of GENERAL HISTORY. 49 Norwich. Authentic copies of the Sheriffs' accounts to the Exchequer, for the revenue officially collected by them from Drogheda, as bailiffs for the king, in 1229 and 1254(a), are extant in the Lambeth Ma- nuscripts. This town was then the bound of the province of Leinster, which, as stated in an ancient poem of Tanud O'Maolconaire, extended from the Bo-omhin, i. e. river of cows (Boyne), and from Droichid-atha to the confluence of the three waters, i. e. New Eoss. In 1238, the king confirmed the grant of Prince John, whereby the Abbey of Mellefont had been further assured in its possessions of the granges of Mell and Drogheda, Eathmolan, Finnaneer (i. e. Kil- laneer), Theachlenny (i. e. TuUyallen), CoUon, Kep- pock, of the original endowment of Hugh de Lacy, and one carucate of land in Cremla, the gift of Eobert Fleming. This patent received subsequent further (a) The Pipe Eolls of Ireland, whidi are the proper records of these Sheriffs' accounts, are deposited in Bermingham Tower, and may be said to commence with the 46th year of the rdgn of Henry the Third, whence they are continued down in a regular series to the 1 1th of George the Second. They also contain some interesting items of aids levied for the government of this country, and such particulars of their disbursement as afford thus far un- erring testimony of dates and events, of historic importance. For the links of family pedigrees in the earlier centuries, they furnish not less certain evidence, in the descriptions requisite in the feu- dal tenures on escheats, marriages, and wardships ; and, if made ac- cessible within reasonable and stated charges, would be most ser- viceable for the objects of general and family history. VOL. n. E "t^Jpf^a! 50 GENERAL HISTORY. confirmation from the same monarch, in 1253. In 1250, the Deanery of Drogheda was, with those of Ardee and Dundalk, and the church of Louth, disunited from the diocese of Clogher, and annexed to the See of Armagh. The year 1269 is comme- morated in the Annals for such hurricanes as " pros- trated houses, chiu-ches, and woods, and drowned many ships." A suit, sometime afterwards instituted between Galfridus de Prendergast and Paganus de Hynteberg, concerning an estate in the county of Limerick, was decided in 1278, by wager of battle within the walls of this town, when, the appellant's champion succeeding, the defendant's (William de Alneto), was adjudged recreant, and subjected to a fine, while the lands in dispute were immediately as- signed to the former(a). Apipe-roU return of 1282, (a) The proceedings on this occasion are recorded in a Plea Eoll of 4 Edw. L, in the Exchequer, Another of 8 Edw. I. re- cords a similar wager of battle in Dublin, between Osbert Fur- long and Laurence Cas ; and appeals of treason, on the same prin- ciple, became at last so frequent among the inhabitants of the Pale, that Parliament was obliged to interfere to repress them, as noticed post at 1460; this legislative interposition being then more espe- cially necessitated by an appeal of treason, which the Earl of Ormond brought against the Prior of Kilmainham, in 1446, when a day was appointed for its determination at Smithfield, then the usual scene of such barbarous conflicts. On this occasion it is recorded, that, while Ormond obtained permission to remove to the neigh- bourhood of Smithfield " for his breathing and more ease," and to be trained for the encounter ; the Prior, no less resolved, sub- mitted himself to learn the passes of arms from Philip Trehare, a fishmonger of London, who received a gratuity from the King, as !^^' "^^^^W^PW- ^■:™T».; GENERAL HISTORY, 51 preserved in Bermingham Tower, states, that the Earl of Ormond, who then had the prisage of the wines of Drogheda, had received out of that branch of his income, for the sixteen preceding years, the sum of £576. The number of tons, to which he was enti- tled, is stated at 288, i. e. one before the mast and one behind, so that £2 per ton appears to have been the valuation. Mr. "Wills, in his " Lives of Illustrious Irishmen" (a valuable and candid work), in noticing GioUa Roe O'Reilly, who succeeded to the government of the principality of East Brefny, on the death of his brother, Matthew O'Reilly, in 1293, says, "he was learned, prudent, brave, and victorious, and ex- tended his territory from Drogheda to Rathcroghan, in the county of Roscommon." About the same time Ralph Kelly, who was afterwards advanced by the Pope to the archdiocese of Cashel, was born in this town, " a prelate of great learning and approved vir- tue." It was in the interval of his government of the province, that a Parliament was held at Kilkenny, which granted a subsidy to support the exigences of i the Issue Roll states, " in consideration of the pains and attend- ance undergone by him at the King's special command, in in- structing the Prior of Kilmainham in certain points of arms." This species of profane appeal to heaven continued, however, to be the law of the land, and even so late as 1815, the wager of battle was pleaded in the Irish Court of King's Bench. An Act, however, passed the Legislature immediately after (59 Geo. Ill c. 46), abolishing appeals of murder, treason, felony, &c. E 2 52 GENERAL HISTORY. the State, but he opposed its being levied within Munster, convened an assembly of his suiFragans, and, with their concurrence, actually forbad its pay- ment, under a penalty of loss of benefices to the clergy, and excommunication to the laity, grounding their opposition on the privileges secured to the Church by the Magna Charta of Ireland. The form of excommunication, as fulminated at that time, is preserved in that valuable record " the Eed Book of the Exchequer," now lodged in the office of the Chief Remembrancer in Dublin (f 27). It was an ecclesiastical sanction frequently resorted to in Ire- land. (See Mr. Hardiman's truly valuable comment on the Statute of Kilkenny, in the second volume of the Tracts of the Irish Archaeological Society, p. 31, et seq.) Archbishop Kelly was, however, found guilty on information exhibited against him, and compelled to submit ; but the event is the more to be noted, as evincing how unpopular or how enfeebled English power had become. It was the precise period from which maybe dated the frequent repetition on record of" English rebels," as not less opposed to government than the class before denounced as " Irish enemies." In 1295, King Edward, having by mandate di- rected his Justiciary, John Wogan, to convene the military available forces of Ireland, for service in the Scottish war, amongst those whose obedience was thereupon required, according to their respective tenures, were, of this vicinity, Geoffrey de Geneville, Theobald de Verdon, Walter de Lacy, William r-'fims^lfV: GENERAL HISTORY. 53 Cadell, &c. In 1300, a merchant burgess, who had brought over to KingEdward, then at Kirkcudbright, eighty casks of wine, from the Mayor and Commons of Drogheda, received of the royal bounty, the sum of 135. 4d.\ a hundred of white yarn, 305.; a hundred of gray yarn, 23*. 4c?.; and it was pre- scribed, that whoever bought or sold any of said goods at a higher price, should forfeit 20^., and ba- ronial commissioners were directed to see to the due execution of this Statute. In the next year the value of the gross, undipped, was fixed at nine pence, and other coins in proportion, while to aid the circula- tion, it was further enacted, about this time, that the master or masters of the coinage should have power to make and strike within the castles of Dublin and Trim, and the town of Drogheda, five sorts of silver coins, according to the fineness of the coins struck in the Tower of London, viz., groats, half groats, pennies, halfpennies, and farthings, eleven groats to go to the ounce. By the recitals of another Act of 12th of Edward the Fourth (1472), it appears that there were then divers coiners in Cork, Youghal, Kinsale and Kilmallock, one of them, John Fannin,] showing letters patent, not of record, the rest making false coins without any authority. The Act ordered that they should be attainted, and their alleged letters patent declared void. In the same year Germyn Lynch himself, late Master of the Mints in Ireland, was indicted, for that, when the Statute said that every pound of bullion coined should be forty-four shil- lings in money, he coined out of every pound forty- eight shilUngs; and that he coined at Drogheda, one ' 144 GENERAL HISTORY. thousand groats, which being tried, it was found that eleven weighed but three-quarters of an ounce, in- stead of an ounce. In 1 473, at a Parhament held in Dublin, it was enacted, that the coins should be struck, for the time to come, within the Castle of Dublin only, and that fourteen groats should make an ounce, according to the just standard of the Tower of London, and Germyn Lynch was hereby restored to the mastership of the mint, during good beha- viour. In a Parliament of 1475, the value of silver mo- ney was further changed, and the old grosses were raised to 6d. each, undipped, the new to 5d., and the smaller pieces in proportion. By the same Act mints were established at Dublin, Drogheda, Trim, Waterford, Cork, and Limerick, of which Richard Heron was, by royal patent, appointed master(a),and the liberty of coinage in other towns prohibited. In a Parliament of the next year a value was put by two Acts upon coins of gold, both English and Foreign; the English gold royal was ordered to pass in Ire- land at 13**. 4c?.; the angel at 8s. Ad.; the old noble of gold at 12^., and all lesser pieces of these deno- minations at the same rate, and of foreign coins the Rider, fine and good, was enacted to pass in Ireland at bs. of Irish silver; the Ducat at 5*.; the Leo at 5^.; the Crown at 5*.; the Crosado, at 5^. ; the Burgoigne noble at lOs. ; the Salute at 5^.; and lesser denomi- («) Rot. 14 Edw. IV. in Tur. Lond. GENERAL HISTORY. 145 nations at the same proportion, insufficiencies of weight to be made good in silver. The impress on the coins of this time was, three crowns, denoting the three kingdoms, England, France, and Ireland; and the inscription at length, " DominusHibernige;" on the face was no monarch's head, but instead of it the arms of France and England, quartered in a scutcheon, with the inscription, " Kex Angli et Francie. "Other coins of this period are described in " Ware's Antiquities," p. 2 1 5, and in particular an Irish groat, wherein there is no mention at all of England, the inscription on the pile side being "Edwardus Dei gratia Dns. Hiberni," and on the reverse, " Posui Deum adjutorem meum, Civitas Dublinie;" and ano- ther not diflfering from this, except that the place of its coinage is stated as " Villa de Drogheda." In 1478, on the revival of the Liberties of Meath, power was given to Lord Grey, the seneschal, to strike all manner of silver coins within the Castle of Trim, according to such fineness and alloy, as is in the Sta- tute for that purpose provided; and in 1483, an Act was passed to give a currency to all coin before struck by the king's officers, according to a print described, and that the refusers should forfeit 12c?. for every half denier refused ; to be divided between the king and prosecutor; and if any persons in cities or towns should refuse such coin, then the forfeiture was ap- pointed, half for the king and half to be appropriated for the murage or paviage of the said city or town, the offenders to be committed to prison until pay- VOL. II. L 14() GENERAL HISTORY. ment ; and it was further provided by the said Act, that if the inhabitants, citizens, or burgesses of Waterford, Wexford, Eoss, Kilkenny, Dungarvan, Youghal, Cork, Kinsale, Kilmallock, Limerick, Gal- way, or Athenry, or elsewhere, within these parts of Ireland, be proved to oflfend in the premises, that they should forfeit £20, and that the citizens and burgesses of such cities and towns so refusing, should lose their franchises until they made fine to the king for such contempt, with a proviso that the Act should not extend to the citizens of Dublin, or burgesses of Drogheda. Soon afterwards Richard the Third had groats and pennies coined here; the busts in these are full faced, a rose and sun alternately at each side of the head, with the usual legends. From 1483, the ParUament of Ireland, in the growing respect for the prerogative, does not appear to have interfered with the coinage; and the Act pecuharly termed Poyning's law, which was passed soon afterwards in this town, disabled the Irish legislature from sanc- tioning any measures inimical to the sister kingdom; here therefore, for the present, all remarks upon the coinage, more immediately referrible to Drogheda, close, possibly to be resumed at a future portion of the work, as its necessities may suggest. Returning, therefore, to a period that preceded the latter notices, but from which the coinage inquiry digressed, it appears interesting in connexion with this town, to allude to two unprinted Statutes passed in a Parhament of 1464. One recites that James GENERAL HISTORY. 147 Dockeray, of Drogheda, gentleman, had passed into England, and there of malice prepense had accused the Earl of Desmond of extorting coign and livery in the county of Meath, it therefore directs, that said James should render his body to the constable of DubUn Castle, within fifteen days, under pain of for- feiture of lands and goods. The other reciting that Christopher Wellesley of Dangan, knight, was in- dicted in the King's Bench of divers treasons and fe- lonies, when, according to his duty, he went to Dro- gheda to answer the indictment, of whose allegations he pleaded he was not guilty; whereupon, returning towards his own house, he was at Duleek waylaid by one Thomas Hay, of Ratoath, Eichard Delahoyde, of Grenock, and John Milton, of Duleek, who robbed him and his servant of two horses, two swords, and two daggers, and kept him imprisoned at Ratoath for four days; it was therefore enacted, that said Christopher should be pardoned of all offences of which he was so indicted as effectually as if by the king's letters patent, and that the aforesaid offenders should surrender themselves at the Castle of Leixlip, or be outlawed and attainted. | These notices restore the progress of the history in its chronological order, to the Parliament held here in 1467, before the unfortunate Earl of Des- mond, as before alluded to; when a very important measure of more general interest to Ireland, and es- pecially to this town, was contemplated and recom- mended by Statute, for public co-operation and en- L'J 148 GENERAL HISTORY. dowment. The political feelings that induced it, however, require some more particular notice. Ire- land, during the middle ages, had been distracted by the feudal rivalries of the Fitzgeralds, or as they were more popularly called, the Gleraldines of Kil- dare and Desmond on the one side, and the Butlers of Ormond on the other, two of the most illustrious families that an adventurous spirit had introduced, and centuries naturalized in that country. Alter- nately were they intrusted with the government of the island, or rather of that little section denominated the Pale, which alone was yet properly amenable to English laws and authority. This impartiality, or to speak more truly, this indifference, with which the kings of England appointed their deputies, was re- cognized in Ireland by the ruinous experience of dis- tracted councils, and, ever as the one rival advanced into the royal confidence, so often were the forces of the other marshalled to counteract his measures, and attaint his reputation; the nobles and gentlemen of service groaned under the levies and exactions of each party, while the great body of the settlers and natives were abandoned to the action and reaction of their hostility and revenge. During the civil wars of York and Lancaster, Kildare for the white, and Ormond for the red rose, organized the whole pas- sions and energies of the Pale. One, and but one, short halcyon respite intervened, while the Duke of York (the father of Edward the Fourth), resided in Ireland as Viceroy, holding his Parliaments in Dub- GENERAL HISTORY. 149 lin and Drogheda, as before mentioned. He, by alike favouring and honouring every rank and class of the people, had acquired the general love of all, and conciliated a nation whom he was sent to sub- due, so that, when on his subsequent return to Eng- land, he was betrayed and defeated at Blore Heath, and driven back an exile into the country he had then so lately governed, he was received there, not as a fugitive, but with every demonstration of loyal affection; gentlemen and followers of houses before then pitted in deadliest enmity, became his united adherents, clung together in his service, deserted their acquired estates to the rebound of Irish inva- sion, devoted their whole hopes to the unfortunate prince, passed into England in his retinue, and when he fell at Wakefield, perished promiscuously around him. But, when the sword had thus cut the only knot that linked their hearts together, the conflicting politics of England were as severally espoused in the sister country by partizans alike zealous and pow- erful. The triumphs of " the sun of York," while that sun was in the ascendant, were richly reflected on his satellites. Accordingly, on the accession of Edward the Fourth, the Earl of Desmond was exalted to the ho- nour of Lord Justice of Ireland, immediately after which he convened his Parliament to assemble in this town. The corporation and townsmen of Dro- gheda happily directing his attention to the fact, that during the government of Sir Edmund Butler, 150 GENERAL HISTORY. at the instance of the Archbishop of DubUn, a bull of the Pope was procured, for the establishment of a university in Dublin, which, however, had declined from want of funds, besought him to effect a similar distinction for their town, the immemorial residence of the Primate of Ireland ; and an Act was accord- ingly passed (5 Edw. IV. c. 46), of which the follow- ing is a translation : " Also at the request of the com- mons, because the land of Ireland has no university, nor place of general study within it, a work of which sort would cause a great increase of knowledge, riches, and good government, and would prevent riot, evil government, and extortion, within the said land; it is therefore ordained, estabhshed, and granted, by authority of Parliament, that there be a university in the town of Drogheda, in which may be made ba- chelors, masters, and doctors, in all sciences and fa- culties, as they are made in the university of Oxford; and that they may also have, occupy, and enjoy all manner of liberties, privileges, laws, and laudable customs, which the said university of Oxford hath occupied and enjoyed, so that it be not prejudicial to the mayor, sheriffs, nor commonalty of the said town of Drogheda." The political events of the pe- riod, however, prevented the consummation of this desirable object. Ireland as well as England was in a state of complete exhaustion during the reign of Edward the Fourth, and in that of Henry the Se- venth, was much distracted, by the attempts of his enemies to make it the scene of contests and rebel- GENERAL HISTORY. 151 lions, that they hoped would overturn his govern- ment; while the more immediate circumstance of the execution of the Earl of Desmond as a traitor, naturally attached an odium to all his measures, and particularly to that which contemplated the elevation of a secondary locality to a literary pre-eminence above the metropolis. Dublin continuing afterwards the fixed seat of the Parliament, and the ultimate establishment of a university there in 1591, seem to have extinguished the expectation, and almost the wish for realizing this honourable distinction. It may be added, that on the appointment of that Re- cord Commission for Ireland, whose labours modem economy has unfortunately suspended, the Roll con- taining this Act was discovered in the Chancery Records, and possibly may suggest some future con- firmatory enactment for the promotion of science and literature in this improving locality, with little present expense, and a fair prospect of great moral and pecuniary advantage to the town. It should not be omitted to state, what is not generally known, that nearly twenty years previous to the founding of Tri- nity College, her Majesty designed the establish- ment of another university, in Connaught, during the period that Sir Nicholas Malby governed that pro- vince. The eighth item of her instructions to him states her wish, that such a college should be erected m some eminent place of Ireland, for instructing and educating youth, and suggests the town of Clonfert as aptly situated, both for health and commodity of 152 GENERAL HISTOKY. the river Shannon running by it, and because it is also near the midst of the realm, and she actually commanded Sir Nicholas to view that place, and con- sider with what charges it might be enclosed with a wall; and what buildings were there at the time suited for the purpose, and what necessary to be added, and what maintenance the bishoprics of Clon- fert and Elphin, if they were united to that college, might give towards the exhibition of learned men there : and, on the return of the report, her Ma- jesty suggested, that she might thereafter order the Lord Justice to assemble the bishops of the whole realm, for a contribution for the maintenance of learned men, in that or some other convenient place in Ireland, " for we find that the runagates of that nation, which, under the pretence of study beyond the seas, do return fraught with superstition and treason, are the very instruments to stir up our sub- jects to undutifulness and rebelhon"(a). Immediately after the holding of the above legis- lative assembly, the Acts of which are not enrolled, John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester, was constituted Lord Deputy of Ireland, and, as soon as he entered on his official duties, he convened another Parlia- ment here, in which eighty-four Acts were passed. By one it was provided, that the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland for the time being, might pass thereout to the adjacent islands, without avoidance of his office, (a) MS. in British Museum, Titus," B. xii. p. 226. GENERAL HISTORY. \ 153 or incurring the penalties of absenteeism. Statutes were likewise passed, to prohibit the purchase of bulls for benefices from Rome ; to annul the king's pardon to provisors claiming title under bulls from the Pope ; to remove the Courts of Exchequer and Common Pleas at the Lord Deputy's discretion(a) ; to confirm the right of the Abbot of St. Mary's near Dublin, in the manor of Serine ; that of the Arch- bishop of Dublin, in Dalkey and Ballymore Eustace; that of the King, to present to the Deanery of St. Patrick's; an Act of Resumption with divers savings; and lastly, an Act to attaint thatEarlof Desmond, who held here the preceding Parliament, as one guilty of high treason, by allying and fostering with the Irish (peremptorilyforbidden by the Statute of Kilkenny), and supplying them with horses and arms, against the king's subjects. In further aggravation it was alleged, that he was the first Enghsh lord who im- posed coign and livery(6), and raised his estate to (a) Upwards of a century previous to this, the Courts of law were held in Carlow. In 1364, the King's Bench and its records were removed to Dublin, as were, in 1 394, the Exchequer and Common Pleas, the encroachments of the bordering Irish having necessitated such removal. They were subsequently chiefly held in a portion of Christ Church, Dublin. j {b) Coign and livery was one of the most mischievous of the Irish customs ; it consisted in levying provisions for man and horse, and likewise money, from all the inhabitants of the coun- try, at the pleasure of the soldiery, who, amongst the Irish, re- ceived no other pay or purveyance ; but when the English thus, as above, introduced it, they, as Sir John Davis describes, " used 154 GENERAL HISTORY. immoderate greatness by that wicked extortion and oppression ; that he was the first who rejected the English laws and government, and drew others by his example to similar insubordination ; the first peer of Ireland who refused to attend Parliament on the royal summons ; and the first that suggested a division between the English of blood and the Eng- lish of birth. Under these charges the Earl was found guilty, and beheaded on the 15th of February, 1467 ; the melancholy scene took place, according to tradition, on the north commons of Drogheda, where the old gallows was formerly erected, and where it remained until the present Tholsel displaced it. His head was sent to Dublin, to be spiked on the wall of the Castle, and his body was interred in the Dominican friary as before mentioned. The fate of this unfortunate nobleman is by some mainly attributed to his having advised the king not it with more insolency, and made it more intolerable ; for this op- pression was not temporary or limited either in place or time, but because there was every where a continual war, either offensive or defensive, and every lord of a country, and every marcher, made war and peace at his pleasure, it became universal and per- petual, and was indeed the most heavy oppression that ever was used in any Christian or heathen kingdom. ... It did produce two notorious effects : first, it made the land waste ; next, it made the people idle, for when the husbandman had laboured all the year, the soldier, in one night, did consume the fruit of all his labour ; . . so as this extreme extortion and oppression hath been the true cause of the idleness of this Irish nation, and that rather the vulgar sort have chosen to be beggars in foreign countries, than to manure their own fruitful land at home." GENERAL HISTORY. 155 to marry the widow of Sir John Grey (whose hus- band was killed at the battle of St. Alban's), the king, however, did not heed his counsel, and the Earl, coming over to Ireland, assumed its govern- ment, with the most earnest wish to promote the royal interest; but, a dispute soon afterwards occur- ring between Edward and his Queen, the monarch is said to have hastily remarked to her, that if he had taken his cousin Desmond's advice, her pride would have been more humbled ; of which she took present but silent note, and having afterwards, on a favourable opportunity, besought and learned from the monarch himself the particulars of the advice to which he had alluded, she soon effected the removal of the Earl from the government, and the appoint- ment, in his place, of her own favourite, the above Earl of Worcester, whose measures against Desmond she so aided and abetted, that it is alleged she ac- tually procured the warrant under the privy seal for his execution; while the Earl of Kildare, and Edward Plunkett, Esq., who were equally imphcated with him, were, by the terms of the Act of Attainder, not only pardoned, but the former was made Lord Jus- tice, and afterwards Lord Deputy to the Duke of Clarence. Immediately after the Earl's decapitation, his five sons rose in rebellion, and with banners dis- played, burned and wasted the English settlements, but Edward, being involved in troubles at home, and perhaps conscious of his own injustice, transmitted ^ pardon for them, which they accepted, and even 156 GENERAL HISTOKY. James the eldest son, being recognized as the Ear], had a grant for the term of his life, of Kerry, with the town and castle of Dungarvan, similar to that which had been before conferred upon his father. Grace, in his Annals, noticing the death of Sir Tho- mas, a younger son of the above Earl, says of that father, that he was "slain by the swords of the wicked at Drogheda, or shall I rather say, was made a mar- tyr of Christ, in the year of our Lord 1468." At the close of that year, another Parhament was held here, on an adjournment from Dubhn. The Roll contains the Acts of six sessions, in eighty-four chapters, and is in tolerable preservation. Of these only two have been printed, and one of them imper- fectly. This latter, after reciting the English Act of the sixth year of Richard the Second's reign, " de raptu muherum," and " that the people learned in this kingdom, have conceived some doubt, whether the Statute made in England ought to be of force in this land, without a confirmation thereof in this land, in avoiding of all inconvenience and mischief which might happen, because of the ambiguity of said Statute, it (as stated in the printed copy) enacted, by authority of the said Parliament, that the said Statute be adjudged and approved in force and strength, and that the same be of force in this land, and that henceforth the said Act, and all other Sta- tutes and Acts made by authority of Parhament within the realm of England, be ratified and con- firmed, and adjudged by the authority of this Parlia- GENERAL HISTORY. 157 ment, in their force and strength." The original Act, however, which the compiler of this work has in- spected on the Roll of Parliament, by no means jus- tifies so early and extensive an anticipation of the spirit of Poyning's legislation, as the last part of the printed Statute would suggest. In this session was also passed a very extensive Act of Resumption, but which, besides the saving of all grants to the corpo- ration of Drogheda, as alluded to in the Corporate History, contained also savings in favour of Richard, son and heir of Sir John Bellew; the Earl of Shrews- bury ; Edmund Butler, in relation to the manors of Dunboyne, Clonfane, &c. ; the Chantor of St. Pa- trick's, Dublin, the Dean and Chapter of the Trinity in Waterford, Christopher Bellew of Bellewstown, John Lech and Henry Smith, in respect of the office of customs and cokets within the ports and hberties of Dublin and Drogheda; Robert Taylor of Swords; Walron Wellesley, in reference to the manors of Do- naghmore and Blackcastle ; " the king's choice and dear friend" John Pylkington, in the office of Constable of the Castle ofWicklow, and any grants to him made in tail male of the manors of Turvey, Balscaddan, and Rushe; the portrief and commons ofCashel; the cor- porations of Kilkenny, Trim, Ardee, and Dundalk, and " the university granted to be held within the town of Drogheda by authority of Parliament," &c. In this Session were also passed Acts for restoring the Liberty of Ulster, as in ancient times, with a power to the Lord Deputy to constitute all manner 158 GENERAL HISTORY. of officers there; and for confirming the rights of th Archbishop of Dublin in the manor of Ballymore Acts in favour of the corporation of this town, as nc ticed in the Corporate History; a murage grant fo Naas, and an aid towards building a castle at Ki] cuUen; an Act for rewarding Nicholas Brun, wh( had taken John Hadsor of Keppock, which John hac associated with the Irish enemy, married the daugh ter of Mac Mahon, murdered George TaaiFe in pri son, and thrown out his body to be devoured bj dogs; an Act confirming the rights of Eichard Bold Baron of Ratoath, in the manor thereof, in tail male subject to the yearly render of a gos-hawk; a con firmation of lands theretofore bequeathed to tlie proctors of the church of Kilsallaghan ; a pardon to the mayor, &c., of Drogheda, for receiving oi paying dipt money; an Act affirming the union oi Ardbraccan; another ratifying a gift of lands to the chauntry of our Lady of Mallaghidart; a charter to Kells; an Act of attainder of Margaret, late Queen of England ; a resumption of all feoffments and grants, made by the Fraternity of Tintern, in the county Wexford; a grant of customs to the town of Kells; an Act whereby, after reciting that the Archbishop of Dublin, being seised in right of his see of the manor of Ballymore, lying between the counties of Dublin and Kildare, among the O'Byrnes and O'Tooles, Irish enemies, did of ancient times make constables thereof for life, or at will, which constables kept their residence there continually, and GENERAL HISTOKY. 159 especially in time of war, and that Richard, Archbi- shop of Dublin, predecessor to Michael Tregury, h>^ the assent of his chapter, constituted Sir Richard Fitz-Eustace constable thereof, to him and the heirs male of his body; and granted him to receive in the same office, the profits of a mill of the annual value of £10, and £10 a year rent-charge off said lands; that said Richard Fitz-Eustace died, and Robert, his son and heir, occupied said office, but did not make his residence there, and on the contrary appointed as a sub-constable one Laurence O'Bogan, an Irishman both by father and mother, who by nature would dis- cover the secrets of the English; that also said Ro- bert Fitz-Eustace lodged his sheep in the vaults of the said castle, and wasted the same, and distrained the free tenants and burgesses of the same, under colour of said rent-charge; therefore, at the petition of Michael, Archbishop of Dublin, it is enacted, that the said Robert be compelled to keep a sufficient company of Englishmen, and no Irish, to guard said castle, and, if said Robert put any Irishman, not hav- ing his charter of liberty, to ward the said castle, that then it should be lawful for the said Archbishop and his successors to turn said Robert out of the Baid constableship, and to give the said office to any other for life, or years, &c. I In and previous to the year 1470, O'Reilly of Cavan, and his sept, to the number of upwards of 2000 men, having committed various outrages in the county of Louth, and vicinity of Drogheda, the mayor 160 GENERAL HISTORY. of this town, at the instigation of the Archbishop o Armagh, selected 500 archers, and 200 pole-axe mer marched to Ardee, where he was joined by Sir Eo bert Taaffe, with 70 horse. The Primate being o the party, thereupon caused them to halt until hi said a solemn mass, and gave the people his benedic tion, immediately on receiving which they marche( to Corbally, near Malpas bridge, when a desperate engagement ensued, in which O'Reilly was defeate( with the loss of 400 of his men. This battle, say Sir James Ware, was narrated in the " Register o the Mayors of Drogheda," and from it he professe( to extract his account; but the venerable munimen is no longer forthcoming. In commemoration of thi signal service to the state, as it was deemed, Kin< Edward gave to this corporation a sword, to be car ried before the mayor, and an annual sum of £2C towards the maintenance of the dignity. In 1471 William Crumpe and Thomas Barby were appointee Masters of the mint in the castles of Dublin an( Trim, and in the town of Drogheda; but in thrd years afterwards were displaced, when Richard He ron was appointed for life master and worker of thi mint within said places, and elsewhere in Ireland In 1472, on the feast of St. Jeromie, the bridge o Drogheda is recorded to have fallen down in conse quence of a flood. In the same year, the Earl of Kil dare, as deputy to the Duke of Clarence, convene( a Parliament at Naas, which was adjourned to Dul lin, wherein an Act was passed prohibiting the ex GENERAL HISTORY. 161 portation of staple wares to Scotland, without paying the king's custom called the coket, as it is done in Dublin and Drogheda. By another unprinted Act of this same Parliament, reciting that the king's ses- sions were appointed to be held in this town, in which there is no regular house to keep same, whe- ther for the county of Meath, or for the county of Louth, it was enacted, that, when said sessions should be assigned to be held at Drogheda, all pleas arising within the counties of Meath and Louth might be held and determined within any place in said town, and that they should be of as great force as if they had been held within said counties of Meath and Louth, saving to the Mayor, Sheriffs, &c., of Drogheda all their liberties, franchises, &c. In the same session by another Act, reciting, that some merchants of Dublin and Drogheda, having been in England on account of trade, were on their return arrested in Chester, and other places, without reasonable cause, it was directed, that in every such case it should be lawful for the friends of merchants so unlawfully im- prisoned, to arrest any English merchants in Ireland, or their goods, and to retain them until the merchants under capture in England should be delivered up. In 1474, " that the state might not seem," as Sir John Davis says, " utterly to neglect the defence of the Pale," a fraternity of men at arms, called the Brotherhood of St. George, was erected by Parlia- nient, consisting of thirteen of the most noble and worthy persons within the four shires, which alone VOL. II. M -,,,,. „.^^jyjf 1()2 GENERAL HISTORY. were tlien amenable to English law. They were to assemble annually at Dublin, on St. Gleorge's day, to express their zeal for English government; and to their captain, who was to be chosen for one year on their anniversary, was assigned as his train 120 ar- chers on horseback, and forty other horsemen, with one attendant to each, the archers were to receive sixpence daily pay, the others for themselves and their attendants, five pence, with an annual stipend of four marks. This was the only standing force then maintained in Ireland, and a tax was established for their support; but from which the freemen of Drogheda and Dublin were specially exempted. Of the first foundation were the Mayor of « Drogheda, Sir Laurence Taafie, and Richard Bellew, for the county of Louth. The family of Bellew, thus distinguished in the select formation of a fraternity, whose object was to promote the peace and safety of Ireland, and the in- tercourse and friendship of England, was originally of Norman descent, came with the Conqueror into the latter kingdom, and with Strongbow into the former; and in both countries has been so projected on the annals of the middle ages, as to exhibit no less than eighteen knights of the pre-eminently chi- valrous order of the banner, while peers and distin- guished individuals of the same lineage are most numerous over the [rolls of Parliament, but whose honours, by failure of issue, or yet more by attainders, have, in common with those of many other noble houses, become extinct. Meath and Louth were the GENERAL HISTORY. 163 places of their early settlement in Ireland, and the first notice of record connects them with Bellews- town, to which they had given name; it occurs at the commencement of the fourteenth century, and pur- ports to be a royal mandate to the king's escheator, to assign dower over Bellewstown to Alicia D' Alton, the widow of James Bellew, whose nephew John, the son of John Bellew, is therein stated to be heir male of said James. In 1373, this John Bellew was summoned to a great council, and in 1375 was com- manded to attend Parliament, as one of the " Fideles" of Ireland. In 1376 James Bellew obtained a royal grant for his life, of parcels of the possessions of the Abbeys of Newry and Armagh, then in the hands of the Crown, by reason that those religious frater- nities were mere Irish, and established amongst the Irishry. In 1399 "Walter, the son of Koger Bellew, was seised in tail male of a carucate of land at Bel- lewstown, with pasture, wood, bog, a mill and two weirs. About the same time Sfr John Bellew was knighted by the Earl of March; "he wa& afterwards sheriff of the county of Louth; in 1403 had for his especial services a grant in fee of Roche's castle, and its demesne which had been forfeited by James White, and in the following year was joined in com- mission with the Archbishop of Armagh, and John D'Arcy, to hold in the king's name, convocations of the clergy, magnates, peers and commons of the county Louth, in the absence of the Lord Deputy. In 1408, he was found seised of three carucates of M 2 164 GENERAL HISTORY. land in Bellewstown, four in Baronstown and Yer- donstown, near the Roche, the manor of Roche, part of that of Dundalk, &c.; and in 1413, he was empow- ered, jointly with Christopher de Preston, John Loundres, Robert Cadell, Christopher Plunkett, and John Dardis, to hold conventions composed of two of the best men from each barony of Meath, to treat on, and ordain what measures would be most befit- ting for the good government of said county. Soon afterwards, by marriage with Anastatia, the widow of David Wogan, he acquired her dower income, ex- tending over large and numerous townlands in the counties of Meath and Kildare, with the custody and wardship of the infant heir ; he had also parcels of land within the manor of Duleek, and claimed the advowson of the vicarage of Dundalk. Another Sir John Bellew, stiled of Bellewstown, intermarried with Catherine Leyns, of the ancient family of Croboy and the Knock, and by her had Philip Bel- leAv, afterwards Mayor of Dublin, and who, dying in 1466, bequeathed to the Priory of Christ Church, " a cope of cloth of gold." In 1474, Richard Bellew en- joyed the honour which has led to this notice, and in 1488, Christopher Bellew of Bellewstown, was one of the gentry who did homage in the presence of Sir Richard Edgecombe, when, after Simnel's rebellion, that officer was despatched to recal the shaken alle- giance of the Anglo-Irish. Other notices of Bellews of Roche, of Verdonston, and of Heynstown, during this century, occur in the progress of this work. In GENERAL HISTORY. l65 1537, Nicholas Bellew of Weston, made his will, whereby he established and endowed a chapelry in the parish church of the Naul. His estates lineally descended to Bartholomew Bellew, whose heiress, Mary, in 1628, on her marriage, carried them to the Husseys of Galtrim. In 1563, Sir John Bellew of Bellewstown and Duleek, was appointed commis- sioner for the preservation of the peace and good government of the county of the town of Drogheda and county of Louth, during the absence of the Lord Deputy Sussex, on his expedition against Shane O'Neill. In 1585, Richard Bellew of Verdonstown, one of his sons, was a representative of Dundalk in Queen Elizabeth's Parliament. At the commence- ment of the seventeenth century. Sir John Bellew of Willystown, great grandson of the before men- tioned Sir John, was representative for Louth in the Parliament of 1639 ; he intermarried with Mary, daughter of Robert Dillon of Clonbrock, from which union have descended the present Baronets of Bar- meath and Mount Bellew. This Sir John Bellew was one of the committee, whom the Irish Parlia- ment deputed to repair to the king in England, and who, as Borlase relates, was there most graciously received ; he was afterwards one of the confederate CathoHcs who assembled at Kilkenny. Sir Christo- pher Bellew, of the Bellewstown line, was, shortly previous to the civil war. of 1641, empowered to go- vern and command such forces as he could raise for the defence of the country, and to whom arms should 166 GENERAL HISTORY. be supplied by the state ; he was afterwards one of those who felt necessitated to attend the celebrated meeting on the hill of Crofty, and, however affected his estates were in consequence thereof, the Act of Settlement contained an express saving of the rights of his son John Bellew. On the accession of King James, thisjohn Bellew was knighted, appointed one of that monarch's earliest councillors, and soon after- wards created an Irish peer as Baron Bellew of Du- leek, in right whereof he sat in King James's Parlia- ment. In 1689 he commanded a regiment in that monarch's service, and was severely wounded at Aghrim, for which adherence to the Stuart, he was outlawed in 1691, but being comprehended within the Articles of Limerick, his estates were restored to his son Kichard, who became the third Baron of Duleek, on the death of his elder brother Walter, the second Lord Bellew, without issue ; the estates were, during his possession, the subject of various private Acts of Parliament. The heir of this Rich- ard, John Lord Bellew, was the last of that line, having died at Lisle without issue male. His eldest daughter was married to Lord Viscount Taaffe, but his nephew. Lord Boyne, inherited his estates. Re- turning to the line of Sir John of Willystown, his eldest son, Patrick, was Sheriff of Louth in 1687, took up his residence at Barmeath, and obtained in 1688 the honour of a baronetcy, which has lineally descended through Sir John Bellew of Barmeath and Castle Bellew, Sir Edward Bellew, his eldest son and GENERAL HISTORY. 167, heii', to Sir John, eldest son and heir of said Sir Ed- ward. This last mentioned Sir John died without issue, when Sir Patrick, his next brother, succeeded, and through his eldest son and heir, Sir Edward, the title and estates are lineally inherited by the pre- sent Sir Patrick the younger. Sir Michael Dillon Bellew, by similar succession, represents the line of Christopher Bellew, the second son of Sir John of Willystown ; and both Baronets afford that best, but rarest test of Irish patriotism — they are excellent landlords. The only brother of Sir Patrick, Mr. Rich- ard Montesquieu Bellew, is one of the representa- tives of the county of Louth. I In the Parliament held in Christ Church, Dublin, in 1475, it was enacted, that no knights, citizens, or burgesses, should be returned or admitted to appear in any Parliament thereafter to be holden, unless they should be resident within the places for which they were returned; and that all knights of counties should expend, or be in possession of fee simple, fee tail, or of freehold property within such respective counties, to the value of forty shillings by the year, "except the citizens of the town and county of Drogheda." At the same session it was enacted, that all manner of felonies, treasons, trespasses, contempts, and offences, and all actions of debt and trespass, assizes of novel disseisin, and aU other actions arising within the coun- ties of Meath and Louth, might be taken, held, and determined within the town of Drogheda ; and such trials should be as effectual as if determined within 168 GENERAL HISTORY. those particular counties. The second ensuing year witnessed the extraordinary anomaly of two Irish viceroys contending for paramount authority, the one holding a Parliament at Naas, and the other in this town, while the king, with royal selfishness, ac- tually sanctioned, by his assent on record, such of these enactments as were beneficial to his revenue ; accordingly, in a Close Roll preserved in the Chan- cery of Ireland, is comprised " the king's will, deter- mination, commandment, and pleasure, upon the Par- liaments holden late at Naas and Drogheda, and upon the Parliament that shall be now next holden within his land of Ireland. Whereas there have been great variances of late in our said land of Ireland, upon two ParUaments there last holden, the one at the Naas, the other at Drogheda, whichever of them should be of authority, we have hereupon taken such directions as foUoweth : first, we consider that in the two Parliaments were commenced and concluded principally two Acts, the one touching the grants of certain subsidies for the weal and defence of our said land ; the second concerned resumptions, as well of offices, as of our revenues ;" both of which, after this recital, his Majesty confirms as alike valid, and of full force. Of those passed at Drogheda, as they were never printed, it may be here noticed, one recites, that the Bishop of Meath, then Lord Deputy, had undertaken to go into England, to solicit the king for the relief of this land, and has been often before this time so GENERAL HISTORY. 169 occupied in the camp with hostages, that he could not depart in his proper person out of said camp, without damage to the said country, or go to any place where the Parliament is held, to continue, pro- rogue, or adjourn same. It therefore enacts, that it shall be lawful for the said Deputy, to substitute an honest person, under his privy seal, to perform such duties. — By another Statute, the new custom of poundage was abolished ; the Act that had esta- blished it repealed ; and it was further directed, that none should be thenceforth compellable to pay it, provided that all those who are bound by tenure shall, as necessity requires, go and ride, or send others in their room, with the inhabitants of the city of Dublin and town of Drogheda, for the defence of the land. — A third Statute enjoined that every lord of Parliament should appear there in robes, under penalty of £100 ; and that every Judge and Baron should also appear in robes. — By another it was pro- vided, that if any EngUshman be damaged by an Irishman not amenable to law, he shall be reprised out of the whole sept or nation of the party doing the injury, according to the discretion of the Chief Governor of the land and the King's Council. — A fifth Statute, after reciting that Richard Power is Sheriff of Waterford, and has been such for upwards of twenty years past, during which interval he had done many injuries, both by sea and land, to the ci- tizens of Waterford, and to persons resorting for trade thither, English, French, Spaniards, Portuguese, 170 GENERAL HISTORY. Britons, and Flemings, and, as in all the counties around said city there live no lords, gentlemen, or commons, arranged in English habit, nor submitting to the king's obedience, nor who are governed by any laws save those called Brehon, therefore, as the Mayor, &c., of said city are the king's faithful sub- jects, it was enacted, that they shall thenceforth have the election of the sheriffs of said city, and that said Richard Power be, and was thereby divested of such office. — " Likewise, at the prayer of Andrew Tuite, gentleman, whereas there is a common and open road for the Irish enemies of the king, between Rath- connell and Quaylan (Cullen), to come and enter into the county of "Westmeath, for the destruction thereof, and for which cause the said Andrew, in the most dangerous place of the said road, hath made a tower, upon the vault whereof is a singular refuge for all the said county, and if a trench were made there, a mile or less in length, the said enemies should have no entrance by that road in said county, the which trench the said Andrew is not able to make, and the common people there inhabiting are so poor, that they cannot attend to the making thereof; where- upon consideration being had, it is ordained, enacted, and established, and also granted, by authority of said Parliament, that it shall be lawful for the said Andrew to take and receive, for every cow, and for every bullock, and for every horse, pack of every merchandize, or victuals, that shall come or go by or near that road, one penny, to help to make the GENERAL HISTORY. 171 said trench, and to last for fifteen years, considering; that none or few except Irish enemies, come or go: by, or very near the said road, with any manner of merchandize, except the freemen of the city of Dub- lin, the town of Drogheda, the holy Church, and the freemen of the town of Athboy, and every of them, provided he shall find surety to make said trenchi within said years, and the same competently made so to leave." In 1479, Ireland was so universally afflicted with the plague, that, after several adjournments of Par- liament from one town to another, the legislature was only enabled at length to hold a short session; in Trim. Drogheda was decimated in this visitation; and it is of tradition, that the malady was so violent i at Leytown, a little village at the mouth of the; Nanny, not far from this town, and which was there- • tofore a thriving fishery port, that all its wherries, j without hands to man them, were left rotting on the j beach. The little harbour that then existed there was much used for surreptitious traffic, as a place where no customs or duties were exacted. It has been long since choked up, by the action and reac- tion of the alluvion of the river, and the silt of the sea. In 1484, Redmond Mac Mahon, Lord of Oriel, died in this town, where he was then held in capti- vity. Another Act of Resumption, which took place m 1485, on the accession of Henry the Seventh, in reference to the grants made by Richard the Third, specially excepted that which had been made to 172 GENERAL HISTORY. John Byrd, of, or for the offices of water-baihff of Dublin and Drogheda(a). About this time, Doctor Matthew Sanders, who afterwards became Bishop of Leighlin, was born near this town. In July, 1488, Sir Richard Edgecombe arrived here from Dublin, to recal the allegiance of those who had adopted the cause of Perkin Warbeck, the first scenes of whose imposture were craftily laid in Ireland, as in a country removed from the facilities of scrutiny, and amongst a people more generally devoted to the old and legitimate line of monarchy. The Mayor and Burgesses of Drogheda immediately appeared before him, as self-acknowledged offenders, and took the oaths of homage and fealty in his pre- sence at the Tholsel, whereupon they received full pardon and favour, through his Majesty's letters pa- tent, in the Guildhall ; " and he took of them sure- ties for their good abearing towards the King's Grace, and his heirs, and that done, he delivered to them the king's letters of pardon, under his great seal, and lay all that day within that town, and had right good cheer," In the same year, at a Parlia- ment held here, the bounds of the " four obedient shires," that then constituted the Pale (Dublin, Meath, Kildare, and Uriel or Louth), were expressly defined in a manner that marked a line from Ardee " to the water of Dundugan, and so as that water goeth to the sea," as the Northern limit of the county of (fl) Roll of Parliament. GENERAL HISTORY. 173 Louth ; so says the " Liber Niger ;" but the Roll of this Parliament cannot be found. The Annals of the Four Masters record, at 1 489, with much simpli- city, that all the sheep of Meath, along the coast from Dublin to Drogheda, having gone into the sea in spite of their shepherd, were drowned. ! In 1493, Sir Robert Preston, the first Viscount Gormanstown, and who had previously been Deputy Keeper of the Great Seal, having been created De- puty to the Duke of Bedford, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, held a legislative assembly here, whose Sta- tutes are, however, no longer extant, having been, in a Parliament assembled also here in the following year, declared void for three causes; first, because the Duke, whose deputy he had been so appointed, re- signed before the time of summoning the Parliament; secondly, because the writs of summons to attend it were not general, but only directed to the four coun- ties; and thirdly, because in the king's letters patent by which he was made deputy, there was no power granted to him to convoke a legislative assembly, j On the occasion of this Parliament, so last alluded to (one of considerable legislative importance, and which was held by the Lord Deputy Poynings), the powers of the Lord Treasurer of Ireland were en- larged, while the terms for holding the chief offices of the State were limited to the king's pleasure ; the Statutes against provisors to Rome were made law m this country ; acreable subsidies for the service of the state were established, while the profits of the 174 GENERAL HISTORY. Crown were yet more increased by a resumption of all royal grants, from the close of Edward the Se- cond's reign, and by a poundage directed to be paid in perpetuity, out of all merchandize imported and exported. In recompence for this new form of tax- ation, the ancient impositions of coign and livery were utterly abolished. The preamble to this latter Statute affords a melancholy picture of the state of the country at the period. " At the request and sup- plication of the commons of this land of Ireland, that where of long time there hath been used and exacted by the lords and gentlemen of this land many and divers damnable customs and usages, called coign and livery, and pay, that is horse meat and man's meat ; besides many murders, robberies, rapes, and other manifold extortions and oppressions, by the said horsemen and footmen, daily and nightly com- mitted and done, which being the principal causes of the desolation and destruction of the said land, hath brought the same into ruin and decay, so as the most part of the English freeholders and tenants of this land be departed out thereof, some into the realm of England, and other some into other strange lands; whereupon the aforesaid lords and gentlemen of this said land have intruded into the said freeholders' and tenants' inheritance, and the same keepeth and oc- cupieth as their own, and setten under them to the king's Irish enemies, to the diminishing of holy Church's rites, the disherison of the king and his obedient subjects, and the utter ruin and desolation p GENERAL HISTORY. 17' of the land." Another Act of this session is yet fur- ther declaratory of the state of Ireland at that time, It recites : " As the marches of four shires lie open^ and not fensible in fastness of ditches and castles, by which Irishmen do great hurt in preying the samej it is enacted, that every inhabitant, earthtiller, and occupier in said marches, i. e. in the county of Dub-* lin, from the water of Annaliffey, to the mountain of Kildare, from the water of Annaliffey to Trim, and soforth to Meath and Uriel, as said marches are made and limited by an Act of Parliament, held by William, Bishop of Meath, do build and make a dou-l ble ditch of six feet high above ground at one side or part which meareth next unto Irishmen, betwixt this and next Lammas, the said ditches to be kept up and repaired as long as they shall occupy said land, under pain of forty shillings, the lord of said lands to allow the old rent of said lands to the buil- der for one year, under said penalty. The Archbi shop of Dublin, and the Sheriff of the county of Dublin, the Bishop and Sheriff of Kildare, the Bishop and Sheriff of Meath, the Primate of Armagh, and the Sheriff of Uriel (county Louth), to be commis- sioners within their respective shires, with full power to call the inhabitants of said four shires to make ditches in the waste or fasagh lands without the said marches." It was also on this occasion enacted, that none should be admitted an alderman, juror, or free- man in any town, save such as had been a prentice or inhabitant therein, and other wholesome regula- 176 GENERAL HISTORY. tions were made for tlie better government of corpo- rations; the Statutes of Kilkenny were confirmed, and all other acts for the common weal directed to be inquired into, and drawn up in two books; ar- chery was encouraged, public butts established to shoot at, and the marchers were required to report their available retainers. Compromises of felonies were prohibited, as was also inciting the Irishry to rebelUon, or keeping of ordnance or artillery by any subject, without the king's license; the custody of certain castles was reserved exclusively for English- men, and the war-cries of the septs were abolished. But the most important Statute of the Session was one by which all Acts lately made, " as well by his majesty as by his royal progenitors, late kings of Eng- land, within the realm of England, concerning the common and public weal of the same, were accepted and confirmed to be used in Ireland, according to the tenor and effect thereof;" and another whereby it was declared, that no Parliament should be held in Ireland, until the causes and considerations for hold- ing it were first certified by the deputy and council to the king, with the scope of the Acts proposed to be passed, whereupon, and on the king's affirmation thereof, the Parliament might be held. This great constitutional measure thus passed at a period when the English Pale comprised scarcely four counties, was yet for centuries acquiesced in, on the suppo- sition, that before that Act the Lords Lieutenant of Ireland, could call Parliaments by their own sole GENERAL HISTORY. 177 authority, but while this, if true, could not justify the abridging the rights of a domestic Parliament, the fact is otherwise. The commissions are extant on record, by which every former Parliament had been called in this country, and the Act condemning Lord Gormanston's Parliament, because it wanted the preceding authority of a commission, is powerfully declaratory of the necessity of such powers. It may be observed, that of forty Acts passed in this session, only twenty-three have been printed. Amongst these that were never printed appear one, abolishing coign and livery and other like imposi- tions ; a general Act of resumption, from the last day of Edward the Second, with a great many excep- tions; an Act avoiding all manner of records, stiles, pardons, liveries, acts and ordinances of council, done in the name of "the Ladde" (i.e. Perldn Warbeck); an Act whereby, reciting that Ireland is a land sepa- rate from England, it is ordained, that, when the Viceroyalty thereof becomes vacant by death or sur- render, the Treasurer shall be Justice and Governor until his Majesty's appointment can be made known; another empowering the Lord Chancellor to continue or prorogue Parliaments in the absence of the Deputy; one authorizing an inquiry into alienations of Church property ; and another directing the manner and course of a rampart or ditch, thereby ordered to be made around the Pale, Sir John Davis remarks of these Statutes, that they effected little towards the amelioration of Ireland; " they did not spread their VOL. IL N 178 GENERAL HISTORY. virtue beyond the English Pale, though they were made generally for the whole kingdom; for the pro- vinces without the Pale, which, during the wars of York and Lancaster, had wholly cast off the English government, were not apt to receive this seed of re- formation, because they were not first broken and mastered again with the sword. Besides, the Irish countries, which contained two-third parts of the kingdom, were not reduced to shire ground, so as in them the laws of England could not possibly be put in execution; therefore, these good laws and provi- sions, made by Sir Edward Poynings, were like good lessons set for a lute that is broken and out of tune, of which lessons little use can be made, till the lute be made fit to be played upon." The late transactions in Ireland, the bold attempt in favour of Simnel, and the desperate valour dis- played by the troops led into England by the Geral- dines, had, as Leland remarks, made Ireland, at this period, the subject of general discourse and specula- tion; and the rising spirit of project and inquiry had engaged individuals to search deeply into the revo- lutions therein, ever since the reign of Henry the Second, the declension of the English interest, the dispositions, temper, and power of the old natives, the designs and competitions of great lords, the con- duct of the king's officers, and the means of render- ing an appendage to the Crown of England, in itself so valuable, of real weight and consequence to the general weal. There is a discourse still extant in GENEEAL IIISTOKY. 179 the MSS. of Trinity College, Dublin, said to have been presented to King Henry the Seventh, and his council, in which the afiairs of Ireland are copiously examined. It is entitled " Pandarus sive Salus po- puli," and in it the author labours to engage the king in its complete reduction and settlement. His hopes of success he founds on a supposed prophecy, that about the present time this great and important un- dertaking was to be completed, and that, in conse- quence of such a strengthening of the empire, a united army of England and Ireland was to seat the king upon the throne of France, to restore the Greeks, to recover Constantinople, and to make Henry, Emperor of Rome, Yet, notwithstanding this ridiculous fana- ticism of the projector, his researches were accurate, and his policy in many particulars judicious. He recounts no less than sixty regions of different di- mensions, all governed by Irish chieftains after their ancient laws and manners, together with a long cata- logue of degenerate English, who had renounced all obedience to government in the several provinces. The Pale of English law, and civil obedience, he, with great truth, confines within the narrow bounds of half the counties of Uriel, Meath, Kildare, Dublin, and Wexford; and the common people of even these districts he represents, as entirely conforming to the Irish habit and language, although they professed obedience to the laws; which he mainly attributes to the intercourse of fostering, marriage, and alliance with them, of which the Deputy himself had set the N 2 ' •'I 180 GENERAL HISTORY. example, and of consequence could not restrain. The sufferings of this country from oppressive exactions, unnatural feuds, hostile expeditions of its governors against the natives, originating in personal animosity or private interest, ruinous to the subject, without benefit to the state; laws forgotten, neglected, or de- fied; an increasing degeneracy, a general ignorance, and a scandalous inattention to the instruction or improvement of the people, are very fully detailed in this little treatise; while the remedies proposed are, the transmitting of a force out of England, adequate to support the authority of a chief governor of inte- grity and impartiality; a supply of garrisons to over- awe enemies and rebels, an earnestness in putting down local dissensions, and a gradual, but steady application of state energies, to reduce the whole population to a sincere obedience; a substitution of equitable and moderate taxation for arbitrary impo- sitions, with other wholesome regulations, some of which were afterwards adopted. About the year 1500, Octavian de Palatio, being Primate, with the consent of his Dean and Chapter, gave and granted his manse at St. Laurence's gate, in this town, together with all its houses, gardens, and easements (reserving only the great chamber and the chapel of said manse), the grantee to hold same for his life, paying the chief rent to the Sheriffs of Drogheda; and also covenanting to keep the pre- mises in repair, and to allow the Primate enlarged accommodation, whenever he chose to take his resi- GENERAL HISTORY. 181 dence there(a). In 1 501 the market cross was erected hereby John Ball, at his own expense. In 1504, a provincial Synod, convened here by the aforesaid Octavian, was, on account of the prevalent plague, adjourned, as before mentioned, to Ardee, and even thence " sine die^^ from the same cause. In this lat- ter year the Annals record, that the townsmen of Drogheda, with the Mayor of Dublin, the Viscount Gormanston, Barons Slane, Delvin, Howth, Trimles- ton, and Dunsany, and William O'Farrel, Bishop of Ardagh (previously Lord of Annaly),even after his consecration, joined the forces of the Earl of Kil- dare, then Lord Deputy, and encountering Ulick Burke, the Lord of Thomond, O'Carrol, and others of their party, signally defeated them at Knocto, or the Mount of Axes, a few miles from Galway. The fight was sharply continued for some hours with equal loss on both sides, but at last victory fell to Kildare's; each party, however, lost about 1000 men. Only half of the county of Louth (Uriel) was at this time subject to English dominion, while the other half paid a yearly tribute of £40 to " the great O'Neill." In 1506, during the Mayoralty of John Wyrral, the bridge of Drogheda was rebuilt after its destruction before alluded to. j In 1520, Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey, Lord Admiral of England, Wales, and Ireland, came over as Lord Lieutenant, with 100 of the guards, and a (a) Registry of Armagh, MS. m 182 GENERAL HISTORY. thousand others, horse and foot. About the time of his arrival in Ireland, Con (Boccagh) O'Neill, who had, by popular election, succeeded his brother in the principality of Ulster, invaded Meath with a large but ill-disciplined army; Surrey hastened to encounter him, and, adding to his own forces such local array as Meath, Louth, and Drogheda could afford, he marched to Slane, but O'Neill was so awed by his character, and the well known discipline of his forces, that "he retired so fast that the Lord Lieutenant could neither find him nor his army; but not long after he sent letters to implore pardon, which was granted him on promise of future obedience. In October the king wrote to the Lord Lieu- tenant, that there will never be a thorough reforma- tion in Ireland until all the Irish are amenable to law, and have the benefit of it; and not long after a commission of martial law, and of conferring knight- hood, was sent to the Viceroy, and he was ordered to knight O'Neill and other Irish potentates; and the king sent a collar of gold to O'Neill, and ordered Surrey to prevail with him if possible to visit the Court of England, in hopes to inure him to civility and a regular way of living, and the same letter or- dered the Lord Lieutenant to propose a match be- tween the Earl of Ormond's son, and Sir Thomas Bullen's daughter"(a), which marriage was after- wards consummated. In 1521 the same Lord Lieu- (a) Cox's Ireland, vol. i. p. 209. GENERAL HISTORY. 183 tenant, writing to Cardinal Wolsey, besought his Grace " to be favourable unto Sir Wilham D'Arcy, of Flatten, that by his good favour he may obtain the king's grant for the term of his life of the office of the customership of the towns of Drogheda and Dun- dalk, which undoubtedly he hath right well de- served." In that year the inhabitants of Drogheda joined the forces of Surrey in an expedition to put down O'Conor, O'Carrol, and others of the Irishry, who had invaded the Pale. In one of the engage- ments consequent upon this feud, Edward Plunkett, Baron of Dunsany, was slain. In 1524, the Irish marchers of this vicinity bound themselves in a re- cognizance to the Crown, not to exact coign or livery, to attend the king in mihtary service, and to aid his ministers and officers in the dispensation of the laws. Amongst the obligees on this occasion, were George Drake, of Drakerath; Oliver Plunkett, of Tallonston; Robert Plunkett, Lord of Dunsany; Christopher Plunkett, of Rathmore; Sir John Plun- kett, of Bewly; Sir Walter Bedlowe (Bellew), of Roche; Thomas Yerdon, of Raffyn; George D'Arcy, ofRathvill; Peter Taaffe, of Ballybragan ; Nicholas Hussey, of Galtrim; Walter de la Hoyde, of Moy- clare; James Gernon, of Killincool; Peter heyns, of the Knock ; Christopher Bellew, of Bellewstown ; Richard Hadsore, of Drogheda; William More, of Barmeath; Edmund Dowdall, of Rathesker; Nicho- las Clinton, of Stabannon; Patrick Gernon, of Ger- nonstown; James Yerdon, of Glennys; Thomas Babe, 184 GENERAL HISTORY. of Derver; Christopher TaafFe, of Stephenstown ; George Gernon, of Miltown ; Eobert Gernon, of Stayre ; John Plunkett, of Mansfieldstown ; Gerald Wellesley, of Dangan ; John Taaffe, of Cookstown ; William Bellew, of Verdonstown ; Philip Bellew, of Heynstown; John Dowdal, of Glaspistol; each of. whom was bound in the sum of £40, to perform the conditions of the recognizance. The names of three individuals occur in this ar- ray of marchers, which claim some notice. Gerald Wellesley, of Dangan, was the ancestor of the Duke of Wellington; he held said manor of Dangan by the tenure of Grand Serjeantcy, viz., by the honoiu"able duty of bearing the standard of the lord the king in his wars in Ireland. On his death, in 1539, livery of his estates was granted to his son and heir Wil- liam Wellesley of Dangan. — Peter Leyns was the re- presentative of a family, that had early settled in the neighbourhood of Dangan; he appeared in 1532 on the hill of Owenstown, on a royal summons, for mi- litary service, in right of his lay fee at Croboy, the Knock, &c. In a few years afterwards, he was im- plicated in the rebellion of Lord Thomas Fitzgerald, the silken lord ; his heirs, however, maintained pos- session of the estates, until their misguided devotion to the Stuart line vested them, on alleged claims as by forfeiture, in the Crown, and led to their trans- plantation into Connaught, and the grant of their former estates to the Rowleys, afterwards ennobled with the title of Langford. — Christopher Plunkett GENERAL HISTORY. 185 was in 1 556 distrained to do homage and fealty to the Crown, as by the tenure of his estate ; when he pleaded, confessing that he held those estates on the tenure, and entered same in the manner alleged, and that he was prepared " to do homage to King Philip and Queen Mary within the kingdom of Ireland, if they be present there ; but, inasmuch as they were not within that kingdom, he seeks the judgment of the Court," &c. j In the State Papers of 1528 is preserved a letter from the Duke of Norfolk (who had then considera- ble estates in Ireland, of which he was soon after- wards deprived by the Act of Absentees) to Cardinal Wolsey, wherein he writes matter so illustrative of the state of this vicinity, and so creditable to the charac- ter of a merchant of Drogheda, as well merits inser- tion. " Pleaseth it your Grace to be advertised, that this bearer, called Thoinas Bathe, a merchant of the town of Drogheda in Ireland, on his return from Walsingham, hath been here with me, and by him I perceive what miserable state and great danger that poor land is now in. He is a gentleman of good blood, a true man, and one that doth more love the wealth of that land, than any of the parties of the Geraldines or Butlers, and hath done more to cause O'Neill to contain from war, than any man of that land, to his great charges. If it might please your Grace to call him unto you, and to command him to sliew you the truth, you shall know many things by liini ; one thing I note much which he hath shewed 1 186 GENERAL HISTORY. me : the most part of the marchers upon Irishmen, perceiving not how to be defended, have so practised with the Irishmen next adjoining to them, that the said Irishmen do come through them, and do hurt to others within them, and they take no hurt. If this be not remedied, the land will be clean overrun and spoiled, and £20,000 will not repair the hurts that shall be done ere mid- September. Your Grace, by your great wisdom, hath done so much, that I trust peace shall ensue among Christian princes, to the great laud of our Master, your Grace, and this realm. Most humbly beseeching your Grace, as well for the honour of his Highness, your Grace, and of this realm, now, in this time of great need, so to look upon the poor land of Ireland, that it take not more hurt this year, than it hath done in any year since the first conquest, which was never so likely to en- sue as now, considering the great weakness of good captains of the Enghshry, as lack of men of war, and also the great dissension between the greatest bloods of the land, and the Irishmen never so strong as now." In 1531, Surrey made an expedition into Ulster, " whence he returned loaded with prey and plunder, according to the custom of those times ; and with this achievement Hugh O'Donnell was frightened into a submission, which (being himself sick) he performed by his deputies. Con O'Faghil, Abbot of Derry, and Richard O'Croghan, who, in the behalf of their master, perfected indentures, and swore fealty to the king, in presence of the Lord Deputy GENERAL HISTORY. ■ 187 at Tredagh [Drogheda], on the 6tli of May, 1531 ; and at the same time, it is probable, he made the propo- sal, mentioned by Sir John Davis, that if the lord the king would be willing to reform Ireland, he and his would gladly be governed by the laws of England"(a). In 1534, Lord Thomas Fitz Gerald, then in re- bellion, meditated the siege of this town, having been, as suggested by Cox, exasperated against its inhabi- tants, for aiding in the capture of Erode, a noted pi- rate, but an adherent of his, whom the Enghsh fleet had run on shore here. The projected attack is spoken of in a despatch from Sir WilUam Brereton to King Henry. " The 27th of October, at night, there came a friar from Tredagh unto your Grace's said Deputy, and unto us, and shewed us that he met that morn- ing three or four hundred horsemen of Thomas Fitz Gerald's company, going to lay siege to the town of Tredagh, with Thomas Fitz Gerald; and the morrow after, being Simon and Jude's day, leav- ing certain of our company to keep the town and castle of Dublin, we went with the said Deputy to defend the said town of Tredagh, and came there that night, being twenty long miles from Dub- lin ; and when we came there, we lay seven long days, and many lords and gentlemen of the coun- try there, resorted to us daily, from day to day, during the said space, and, when the said lords and gentlemen were put in and kept the same countries, the said Deputy and we came to Dubhn." While (a) Cox's Ireland, vol. i. p. 223. '^ 188 GENERAL HISTORY. in Drogheda, the Lord Deputy proclaimed Fitz Ge- rald a traitor, at the high cross of the town. It was after this Lord Thomas caused the massacre of the Archbishop of Dublin, burned that city from' the New Gate outward, and routed the English forces from Slieve Ruagh to Drogheda, " so that the entire of Meath was a place of terror, by reason of his ex- pedition"(a). The arrival of a new Lord Deputy, Sir William Skeffington, caused little change in affairs; such was the infirm state of his health, that " he was unable for some time to take the field, and not only himself, but almost the whole of his army and offi- cers, lay for a considerable time shut up and inactive within the walls of Dubhn and Drogheda. Mean- while " there raged throughout the whole kingdom a confused medley of petty warfare, in which, from the consanguinity of the Geraldine families with both of the rival races, the rebel camp was filled with a motley array of English and Irish, while on the royal side, the greater number of the northern chieftains had ranged themselves under the flag of loyalty and the English"(6). Amongst the measures which Ba- ron Finglas at this time promulgated, as calculated to advance the common weal, was a recommendation, " that the city of Dublin and the town of Drogheda, and the town of Dundalk, do go with the king's deputy, when required, to hostings, and that in con- sideration thereof, their customs and poundage be (a) Annals of the Four Masters. (h) Moore's Ireland, vol. iii. p. 259- GENERAL HISTORY. 189 forgiven them yearly (an advice which was soon after adopted by special ordinance) : that the Mayors, however, of DubHn and Drogheda, should not be charged to go in their proper persons to the field, except it be within the four shires ; but one of the Sheriflfs of Drogheda to go with twenty-four bows, with a banner of footmen, and all the bows of the county of Louth to go still with the banner, and the banner to go still with the banner of Meath. Item, that no merchant, nor his servant, shall go out of the cities and towns wherein they dwell, to the intent to buy or sell any manner of wares, and that they, which dwell in Dublin and Drogheda, shall bargain wares with them which dwell in the borough towns in the country. Item, that no ship, nor pickard, break bulk from the Head of Wicklow to the Ley- town, but only in Dublin, Drogheda, and a part in Dundalk, at the discretion of Drogheda, upon pain of forfeiture of all their goods." I Notwithstanding the efforts of the Crown and the legislature, to abolish the extortion of coign and livery, the practice still ruinously continued in this vicinity, as feelingly deposed in representations to the existing government(a) of this period, by Jus- tice Luttrell. Of this Judge it cannot be omitted to mention, that to his exertions posterity is mainly in- debted for the preservation of the public Records and Rolls of Chancery, which he found deposited (a) D' Alton's History of the Co. Dubliu, p. 38. 190 GENERAL HISTORY. in a ruinous tower of Dublin Castle, at a conside- rable distance from St. Patrick's Cathedral, where the Courts were then kept; but, by an order of Coun- cil, he effected their removal to the library of that Cathedral, where the Clerk of the Hanaper was or- dered to provide presses, chests, doors, locks, and all other necessaries, as well in said library, as in the better portion of the tower, for their safe custody. In 1542, and subsequently, this Judge passed patent for a large portion of the possessions of the Priory of LismuUen, including the manor : he was after- wards elevated to the Chief Justiceship of the Queen's Bench, and resided until his death at LuttrelstoAvn, near Dublin. In 1537, King Henry the Eighth, being seised of a close containing two acres and a half, and three messuages in Drogheda, one of which was called the Fuller's Inn, demised same, with the appurtenances, to Edward Beck of Mornington, who was afterwards a patentee of a portion of the possessions of the Do- minican friary of Drogheda, as hereinbefore men- tioned. In the same year was passed a Statute (un- printed), whereby it was ordained, that all Acts made by Anthony St. Leger and the Lord High Commissioners, with the consent of the Archbishop of Dublin, the Lord Chancellor, the Prior of Kil- mainham, the Bishop of Meath, the Lord of Howth, the Master of the Eolls, the three ,Chief Judges, and the Recorders of Dublin and Drogheda, touching the reformation and inhabitancy of the Marches, and GENERAL HISTORY. 191 other prescribed objects, should be of like force as if enacted in Parliament. In the following year (1538), the Lord Deputy, Lord Leonard Gray, wrote to Secretary Crumwell : " I have cut divers passes in the county of Ferney, at which time I being in the said county of Ferney, O'Neill was gathered a great host, threatening daily, for that he was not paid his wages, not only to have letted me of my purpose in Ferney, in taking part with them, and securing their goods and chattels, but also to have preyed, spoiled, and burnt to your Grace's town of ' Draheda,' which was contrary to his peace, oath, and promise ; whereupon I sent to your towns of 'Draheda,' Ardee, and Dundalk, for company to assist me against the said O'Neill, of whom I was very well answered, and specially of your town of ' Draheda;' wherein they have deserved your Grace's thanks, which I most humbly desire your Highness it may be sent to them in writing, whereby I doubt not the same shall encourage the same and others to do like, at times requisite. With which company I repaired towards the borders of O'Neill, where, as he hearing of my coming towards him, withdrew himself with his company in the night, and on the morrow sent his messenger to me, that he would abide to all such things as he was bound to his for- mer peace, and thereupon I concluded with the said O'Neill." Another document of this year says, " the truth is, that the name and estimation of the Mayors of Dublin and Drogheda, with such others of the 192 GENERAL HISTORY. borougli towns, and the lords of the Englishiy, be more feared with Irishmen, than the double as many of common people not known." In the following year (1539), the Lord Deputy having come to this town, with the object of defend- ing the Pale from O'Neill, wrote to the Lord Chan- cellor to come to him hither, that they might consult on the best course to be pursued. " And the said Deputy being so at Drogheda, there came to him the Treasurer and Chief Justice, and considering the Lord Chancellor came not, the Lord Deputy wrote again to the said Lord Chancellor, to repair to him, who wrote to the Lord Deputy he should write for the rest of the king's council, and then to certify him thereof, then he would wait on his Lordship, adver- tising him he had no idle expenses; and so came not to the Lord Deputy till the Friday night next ensu- ing, within night; in which the Lord Deputy thought he did not his duty thus to treat him, considering the hurts the king's subjects might have sustained by reason of long tarrying, whereas it was requisite of hasty remedy"(a). In this year was fought the memorable battle of Bellahoa, where the Deputy, with the forces of the Pale, and the Mayors and ci- tizens of Dublin and Drogheda, utterly defeated O'Neill, and recovered all the prey of the Pale, and continued tlie pursuit till the sunset. The Deputy ex- ceeded the rest, as much in courage as authority, (a) State Papers, temp. Hen. VIII. GENERAL HISTORY. 193 and behaved himself exceedingly bravely, and after the battle knighted Chief Justice Aylmer ; Talbot, of Malahide; Fitzsimons, Mayor of Dublin; and Mi- chael Courcy, Mayor of Drogheda, in the field; and (as Cox observes) well they merited it for their good service in obtaining so great a victory, which broke the power of the North, and quieted the borders for some years. In 1540, it was proposed to repeal the Acts, which directed that no Irish Parliament should be holden but only in Dublin or Drogheda; the pro- position was not, however, carried into effect until two years afterwards. Lord Leonard Grey, the Lord Deputy, passed here the close of the year 1540, and some of his despatches and letters to the king, dated from " Your Grace's town of Drogheda," are extant. One of the subsequent charges against this unfortu- nate nobleman is in these words; " By force of wea- ther a ship was wind-driven to the haven of Droghe- da, and in the same was the Dean of Derry of O'Don- nel's country, which not only had impetrated from the Bishop of Rome certain provisions, but also treacherously practised with the King of Scots to have ordinance and aid to O'Donnel, as he himself confessed. Whereupon, being in the Castle of Dub- lin to be arraigned, my said Lord Deputy put him at large, which Dean, after his coming home to O'Don- nel, went eftsoons into Scotland, to procure the Scots of the isles to come to O'Donnell and O'Neill against the said rebellion." j Consequent upon the dissolution of monasteries, VOL. II. o 194 GENERAL HISTORY. various inquisitions were taken respecting the posses- sions of such as had any in this town. Those of the immediate religious houses within the walls have been before alluded to, besides which, Furnes, in Lancashire, was also found entitled to sundry houses and lands; Lanthony, in Gloucestershire, to yet more; the Abbey of Beaubec in Normandy, to some ; the Prior of St. John the Baptist, of Dublin, was found entitled to certain premises in the town, as were also the Abbot of Mellefont, and the Prior of Kilmainham. The latter is particularly stated as having a portico, with a chamber erected thereon; possibly his resi- dence as a peer of Parliament, during his attendance in the legislative assemblies held here. In 1543, a report was made relative to the con- dition of the harbours of Ireland; it of course includes those at this side of the channel, and represents Car- rickfergus as a good haven; Strangford a good ha- ven; Dundrum a creek; Carlingford a good haven; Dundalk, a creek; Drogheda a bad haven ; Skerries a good road, &c. In the following year O'Neill, after his being created Earl of Tyrone, wrote a letter of re- monstrance from Armagh to the king, complaining, amongst other matters, that no house was assigned for his residence near Dublin, Drogheda, or Dundalk, or any of those great towns where Parliaments and Coun- cils are held. In 1545, Sir Anthony St. Leger, Lord Deputy, after acquainting his royal master, that a fleet of seventy ships or more had appeared off the coast, and taken divers small boats, adds in a postscript, GENERAL HISTORY. 195 " tidings came to us that there is now presently upon the coast of 'Drougheda' other sixty sails, which draw after the rest; what their intent is as yet we know not. We be in such readiness as we may be to re- sist their attempt, if any they make here, God willing, to the uttermost of our power. Those also of Gal- way have advertised us, that their factors at Anda- lusia signified unto them as well of the coming about of the French King's galleys, as that the Bishop of Rome, with certain galleys, and the Genoese, with some great carricks, should aid the French King." In 1547, " O'Neill and O'Donnel colourably required a parley with the Lord Deputy, Sir William Skeffing- ton, but on the way, as they rode, they burned the Navan and the town of Ardee ; wherefore the De- puty, with the help of the Mayor of Dublin, and the Mayor of Drogheda, with the English Pale, met them, flighted them, slew 400 of their train, and there the Mayor of Dublin, for notable service in that journey, was knighted"(a). | In 1550, an ordinance was promulgated for break- ing down the weirs on the Boyne, between Drogheda and Trim, and opening the fishery of the river. In 1 552, a contest arose between the Mayors of Dub- lin and Drogheda, concerning their precedency in marches, when it was adjudged, that he of Dublin should have the foreward going out and the rere- ward coming home, " as was accustomed;" and in (a) Campion, o2 190 GENERAL HISTORY. 1556, a commission issued to Thomas Lockwood, Dean of Christ Church, Dublin, to hold an inquiry here as to what lead and crosses, and church orna- ments, were yet belonging to any of the churches of this town and its vicinage. The object, however, on this occasion, does not appear to have been spolia- tory; for Cox, alluding to a synod that Curwen, Archbishop of Dublin, held in this year, relative to the rites and ceremonies of the Church, states, that soon afterwards the Church goods and ornaments, which had been theretofore taken from the religious houses of Dublin and Drogheda, were restored. In May, ] 559, the Lord Deputy was instructed to have an Act passed, prohibiting the discharge of wines, salt, iron, or other merchandize, from any other ports than those of Carrickfergus, Strangford, Carlingford, Dundalk, Drogheda, Dublin, Wicklow, Arklow, "Wexford, Waterford, Dungarvan, Youghal, Cork, Kinsale, Kildengin, Limerick, Galway, and in one certain haven under the Burkes, in Connaught, and another under the O'Donnells. The order states the number of tons of wine that are to be allowed for discharge at each port, and directs that any breach shall be attended with forfeiture of ship and car- go(a). In 1560, the Lord Lieutenant, holding his court here, despatched very important articles of advice to England, upon the state of this country, through Gilbert Gerald, then Attorney-General. Amongst (a) Harleian MSS. No. xxxv. p. 1 1 9. m GENERAL HISTOKY". 197 many matters touched upon therein, he recommended the displacing of Shane O'Neill, the strengthening of the Earls of Ormond, Thomond, and Clanricard, and their party; the planting of some noblemen and gentlemen of England in Ireland, and the coloniza- tion of Leix and Ofialey with English. It was also similarly pressed upon the attention of the Crown to prohibit the coming of the Scots into Ireland, to co- lonize Ulster with English, and especially to occupy the Ban; to divide the whole realm into shires, to take away the Palatinates and Regalities from sub- jects ; to fortifyKnockfergus ( Carrickfergus),to " crest up" the Baron of Dungannon, &c. About this time Shane (John) O'Neill had, as stated in the Annals of the Four Masters, all the province of Ulster under his command, from Drogheda to Lough Earne, "so that he might justly be called a provincial prince, the English alone being at that time against him. In re- ference to this remarkable individual. Ware relates a trifling incident as occurring in this town, from which very important results ensued. A kinsman of his, named Hugh O'Neill, drinking in company with the collector of the Archbishop of Armagh's revenues at Drogheda, was heard to swear by his soul that his cousin was a patient fool, and so were his ancestors, in taking an Earldom from the Kings of England, when by right themselves were kings. He further added, by way of question to the bishop's servant, " Is it not so?" The man was glad to com- ply, and say it was so, seeing six of the Irish in the 198 GENERAL HISTORY. room with their skenes by them. But as soon as he came to his master, Adam Loftus, he cried out " par- don me, master !" The Archbishop asking him " why, what hast thou done?" he told him the whole story, whereupon he wrote to the Lord Lieutenant of it. From this apparently trifling incident a suspicion was strongly excited against O'Neill, on which the Lord Lieutenant began preparations for an expedi- tion into the North, which he made in April 1563. After some slight successes against the adherents of the Ulster chief. Lord Sussex came upon them, and took three thousand cattle and fifteen hundred horses, with which he marched to Drogheda. O'Neill hereupon felt the necessity of renewing his submis- sion, and in return received favours and professions from the politic Elizabeth, which flattered his vanity and for a time postponed hostilities. In 1566, how- ever, the Lord Deputy Sydney being absent in Eng- land, this town was in hazard of being taken by this same O'Neill, but on the urgent request of the Lady Sydney, then residing in Drogheda, Master Sarsfield, Mayor of Dublin, with a chosen and goodly band of his citizens, came to its rehef, and bafiled the expec- tations of the enemy. On this occasion George El- cock, Mayor of this town, was accused before Sir AVilliam Fitzwilliams of holding a treacherous cor- respondence with the Irish, and was thereupon com- mitted to the Castle of Dublin. In vindication of English authority, the Deputy, within the same year, accompanied by the Earl of Kildare, set out from GENERAL HISTORY. 199 this town on a military excursion through Ulster to Connaught. In this journey he restored O'Donnel to the possession of his country, and particularly to the castles of Ballyshannon and Donegal, and re- ceived his homage by indenture and oath, reserving two hundred marks per annum to the Queen, and a number of men to every general hosting in Ulster. He also received the submissions of several that professed to be weary of O'Neill's domination. In fact he so broke down O'Neill, and particularly by a foray which he led from this town, in the Decem- ber of the above year, and in which he carried off 2000 cows, and 500 horses, that the Northern chief was, as Cox relates, once designed to come with a halter about his neck, and submit to the Deputy; but a hope of assistance from the Scots diverted him from such humihation, only to become the victim of professed, but faithless allies, by means of whom, early in the following year, the barbarous, but wel- come tribute of his head, was here presented to the Viceroy by Captain William Piers. j In 1569, Robert Burnell, who had represented Drogheda in the first Irish Parliament of Elizabeth's reign, was chosen Mayor of the toAvn ; and in the same year. Colonel Gilbert, who had done such great service in Munster, that the Earl of Clancar was forced to come in to him, and make his sub- mission on his knees, was knighted for his good service here. On Michaelmas day, 1570, the Mayor and Sheriffs took the oaths before Sir Henry Syd- 200 GENERAL HISTORY. ney, when he was himself admitted a freeman and alderman of the corporation. It is to this period the following description of Holinshed applies: "Dro- gheda, accounted the best town in Ireland, and truly not far behind some of their cities ; the one moiety is in Meath, the other, planted on the fur- ther side of the water, lieth in Ulster. There run- neth a blind prophecy on this town, that Ross was, Dublin is, Drogheda shall be, the best of the three." About the same time Sir Henry Sydney wrote of it and others of its vicinity : " The good towns of Car- lingford, Dundalk, and Ardee, are extremely impo- verished, and only the town of Drogheda in better state, which was more amended and increased in wealth, through the great expenses of the Earl of Essex, who lay and continued there much, and du- ring his abode very, bountifully and honourably spent in the same. Howbeit the rfest of the country is in great confidence of speedy recovery, for the gen- tlemen are willing to obey and forward to serve, and the rather for the good inclination I find of my Lord of Louth, who is one both well given and for- ward, as it seemeth, to execute any thing committed to him." In 1575, Sir Henry Sydney, having been a second time deputed to the government of Ireland, >"V!-'^fww>^ 214 GENERAL HISTORY. appears from the Corporation books, occupied the ground from the north side of William-street to Fair- street, and thence southward towards Laurence- street. This Prelate also furnished the rooms with portraits of his predecessors, which were subse- quently removed to the palace of Armagh. John Netterville was, at this period, seised in fee of Bar- natty, within the franchises of Drogheda, comprising six messuages and 120 acres, and being so seised, he, together with Nicholas Viscount Netterville, Richard Netterville, son and heir of Christopher Netterville, then late of Blackcastle, Thomas Netterville of said place, and James Netterville of Tobber in the county WickloAv, conveyed same to trustees, one of whom was Laurence Netterville of Dublin. The said John Netterville, on his death, was succeeded herein by Laurence Netterville, his cousin and heir. In 1623, Drogheda was the arena of much theological contro- versy between the Jesuits and the Franciscans. In the following year Primate Hampton died here a bachelor, at the advanced age of seventy-three, when the celebrated Doctor James Ussher was advanced to the primacy, and he also made Drogheda his prin- cipal abode, until the wars of 1641. At the close of the year 1628, an ordinance against the Roman Catholics, their worship, and their priest- hood, was directed to be proclaimed here, in reference to which, the Lord Deputy Falkland, in April, 1629, Avrote particularly to the aforesaid Archbishop Ussher. " I have received information, both of the unre- GENERAL HISTORY. 215 verend manner of publishing the late proclamation at Drogheda, and the ill observance of the same, since it was published. For the first, that it was done in scornful and contemptuous sort, a drunken soldier being first set up to read it, and then a drunken Ser- jeant of the town, both being made, by too much drink, incapable of that task, and perhaps purposely put to it, made the same seem like a May game ; and for the latter, that there is yet very little obedience showed thereto by the friars and priests, only that they have shut up the fore doors of some of their mass houses, but have as ordinary recourse thither by private passages, and do as frequently use their superstitious service there, as if there were no com- mand to the contrary, those mass-houses being con- tinued in their former use, though perhaps a little more privately, without any demoHshing of their al- tars, &c. ; I expected to have been informed, as well of the publishing thereof there, as of the effects it had wrought, from no man before your Lordship, both in respect of your profession, and the eminent place you hold in the church, and of your being a privy councillor, who was present and assistant in all the consiiltations about setting it forth, and privy to the resolutions of the Board thereupon. But since this is come to my hands from another, I do hereby pray and authorize your Lordship, calling to your assistance Mr. Justice Philpot, who is now resident there, to enter into a serious examination of the pre- mises, and to give me a full information of what you 216 GENERAL HISTORY. find thereof by the first opportunity. So, desiring to be remembered in your daily prayers, I am your Lordship's very afiectionate friend, " Falkland. " Dublin Castle, April 14, 1629." In 1630, Thomas Earl of Ormond and Ossory, in consideration of £ 1 000, granted the prisage of wines in the harbours of Dublin, Drogheda, Carlingford, Newry, Dundalk, Carrickfergus, Lough-Foyle, and Londonderry, to Edward Gough, to hold for ninety- nine years, at a pepper-corn rent. An account of the customs in 1632, in Irish ports, states, amongst others, Dublin, as £6,136 2^. Qd. ; Youghal, £1,904 7^. 3d. Cork, £1,752 7s. Sd.-, Waterford, £1,688 12*. 6d. Limerick, £1,619 1*. 7d. ; Drogheda, £1428 15^. Sd. Galway, £1,376 175. 7d.; Kinsale, £982 9^. 9d. Carrickfergus, £768 ^s. 8d., &c.(a). About this time flourished James Miles, a Franciscan friar, and native of this town, a great adept in music, and au- thor of some works, as well on that science, as on religious subjects. He lived some time in the Irish College at Rome, whence he removed to Naples, where he died in 1639. A census of the gentlemen of the Pale, taken during the early part of the reign of King Charles the First, mentions those of the barony of Ferrard, as Patrick, the son of Christopher Dowdall of New- town ; "William, son of Thomas Plunkett of Bewly ; Alexander, son of Oliver Lord Louth ; James, son (ft) LansdoAvn MSS. in Brit. Mus. •1-JS5J5^ GENERAL HISTORY. 217 of Thomas Dowdall of Glaspistol ; Patrick Dardis, of Dardisrath ; John, son of John St. Laurence of Cruistown ; Patrick, son of Christopher Yerdon of Clonmore; William Moore of Barnatty; John Barne- wall of Callan ; James, son of Christopher Plunkett ; Christopher, son of Nicholas Dromgoole of Wallers- town ; Edward, son of Patrick Plunkett of Castle- lumnagh ; and Nicholas, son of Robert TaafFe of Athclare. \ An anonymous traveller, who visited Ireland in 1634, and whose observations remain unprinted, thus speaks of Drogheda: "This town, as it is the lar- gest and best built town I have yet seen in Ireland, so is it most commodiously seated upon a good navi- gable river called Boyne, whereinto flows the sea in so deep a channel (although it be very narrow), as their ships may come to their doors. This river is built in both sides, and there is on either side a - convenient quay and stone wall built all along the river, so as a ship may lie close unto this quay, and may unload upon her. It is like the quay of New- castle, and those channels I have seen in Holland in their streets. This town is also commodiously situ- ated for fish and fowl. It is governed by a Mayor, Sheriffs, and twenty-four Aldermen; most of these, as also the other inhabitants of the town are popishly alFected, insomuch as those that have been chosen Mayors, who for the most part have been recusants, have hired others to discharge that office. One man, it is said, has been hired by deputation to execute 218 GENERAL HISTORY. that place thirteen times. The present Mayor, also, is but a deputy, and the reason why they make coy to execute that office is because they will avoid being necessitated to go to church. I observed in this city divers fair, neat, well built houses, and houses and shops well furnished, so as I did conceive this to be a rich town, the inhabitants more civilized and better apparelled. But this is graced with nothing more than my Lord Primate's palace, which is seated near unto the east gate. It is a neat, handsome, and con- venient house, built within these twenty years by Primate Hampton. The building is four-square, of wood rough cast, and is not high; a handsome, plain, though long and narrow hall, two dining rooms, one little neat gallery, which leads into the chapel, which also is a pretty little plain and convenient chapel, wherein is a little pair of organs. Whilst Dr. Ussher, the Primate that now is, is here resident, he preacheth constantly every Lord's day in the church. There is a sermon therein in the afternoon, whither not only all his own family resort, but also those of the town that please. In one of the dining rooms is this conceit; the arms of the See and Bi- shopric, and Bishop Hampton's own arms or coat, enquartered together, and underneath is this inscrip- tion, FAG TU SIMILITER; here is a pretty neat window in the gallery, and over against it, upon a bank in the garden, these words in fair great letters are writ- ten. Oh man remember the last great day. The bank is bare, the proportion of the letters is cut and GENERAL HISTORY. 2J9 framed in grass. In this palace the primate is most resident when he is not in Dublin. In this town are two churches, one placed on the one side of the river, the other on the other, over which is a wooden bridge. In the great church my Lord Primate preacheth every sabbath. In the body of the church over against the pulpit, the communion table is placed lengthwise in the aisle ; the body of the church is kept in good repair; only herein is a fair monument for my Lord Moore, his lady, Sir Edward Moore and Sir Thomas Moore, his sons, and their wives and children. Among these is one erected for the Lady SaUsbury, now living at Chester. On the side opposite hereunto is Sir Francis Ball's mo- nument, who died when Mayor, he is pictured in his scarlet gown." .... " From Tredagh" (continues the writer), "we came to Swords; here we lodged at the sign of the boot, a tavern, and were well used, and found far better accommodation in so mean a village than could be expected. The way from Tredagh hither, as dainty fine way as ever I rid, and a most pleasant country, greatest part com upon the very sea coast, and very good and well reared corn, the barley now (July 9th) beginning to turn, aijd will be ripe before the rye. Here I saw very fair large English kine; I inquired the price, which is about £2, or £2 105., or £3, these worth in England dou- ble the price. Land here sold for about twenty years' purchase, sets for 5*. or 6s. per acre, some for £L Some land about Dublin is set for £2, £3, 220 GENERAL HISTORY. and £4." The same tourist, alluding to his dining with Primate Ussher, at Drogheda, upon this occa- sion, says, " He is a tall, proper, and comely man, about fifty-six years of age, a plain, familiar, courteous man, who spends the whole day at his study except meal times. He seems to be a man of pregnant parts, who hath intelligence, he is well 'read in anti- quities, his entertainment good and plenteous, but nothing curious or excessive, he is a most holy and affected bishop, a good companion, and a man of good discourse." In this year (1634) Christopher Bath died, seised in fee of a messuage in West-street, leaving Peter Bath his son and heir. John Babe was at the same time seised in tail male of various premises in the same street, as well as in Pillory-street, Saint Sunday-street, Saint John's-lane, Mortimer's-lane, Shop-street, Deer-street, and sundry orchards which he held under the corporation, remainders therein being successively limited to Peter, George, Nicho- las, Patrick of Dromisken, and Walter Babe, in tail male, with ultimate reversion in fee to John the set- tler, who died in 1641, leaving Michael his son and heir, and Anne Babe, alias Bathe, his widow. Re- ferrible to this period appears in the white parchment book of the Corporation, the following notice of that curious structure called the Maiden Tower, and its adjacent pillar. " Memorandum, that the Maiden Tower and the Tower Mark thereto near adjoining were both roughcast with lime, at the charge of Bar- GENEKAL HISTORY. 221 naby Bellings, gentleman, which cost hhn £5; for the same was in satisfaction of a part of his fine, for not bearing the office of shrievalty and the said work was finished in 1635, the rest of the fine by him then paid was £10." It was hitherto understood, that when the Primate held his ecclesiastical court in this town, or elsewhere, in the diocese of Armagh, neither the Mayor, Aldermen, nor Burgesses thereof should be summoned to attend same as inquisitors or jurors; great inconvenience, however, having been expe- rienced hereby, when these courts were held in Drogheda, the corporation, in 1636, entered into an agreement with Primate Ussher, whereby they waived this exemption on such occasions, and also pledged themselves to give all facihties and protection to persons attending them. In 1637, Myles Bumellof Drogheda, a member of an ancient family, formerly settled in Balgriffin, paid a fine on license for his marriage with Eveleen Mac Mahon, the widow of Art Oge Mac Mahon, of Ballynure, county Monaghan, she being of the Irishry ; and in 1639, Sir John Draycot died seised in fee of a house and garden, called Furnes' Inns, in West-street, and other tene- ments in Dyer-street, St. James's-street, and Strait- street, all which he held of the king by knight's ser- vice. In this latter year this borough was represented in Parliament by Thomas Peppard and Richard Brice. 1 On the 23rd of October, 1641, the civil war broke out in Ireland, immediately after which the confe- 222 GENERAL HISTORY. derate Catholics drew up, and in their council agreed upon a declaration of the objects of their resistance, which purported to bear date on that memorable day, and was in the following words: " Whereas we, the Roman Catholics of this kingdom of Ireland, have been continually loving and faithful subjects to his sacred Majesty, and, notwithstanding the general and heavy oppressions suffered by subordinate governors to the ruin of our lives, honours, and estates, yet having some liberty of religion from his Majesty, out of the affluence of his princely love to us, we, weighing not corporal loss in respect of the great immunity of the soul, are inviolably resolved to infix ourselves in an immutable and pure allegiance for ever to his royal Majesty and his successors. Now it is that the Parliament of England, maligning and envying any graces received from his Majesty by our nation, and knowing none so desired of us as that of religion, and likewise perceiving his Majesty to be incHned to give us the liberty of the same, drew his Majesty's prerogative out of his hands, thereby largely pretending the general good of his Majesty's kingdoms. But we the said Catholics and loyal subjects to his Majesty do probably find, as well by some Acts passed by them the said Parliament, touching our religion, in which the Catholics of Eng- land and Scotland did sufier, as also by threats to send over the Scottish army with the sword and Bible against us, that their whole and studied plot was, and is, not only to extinguish religion (by which .■*■- GENERAL HISTORY. 223 only we live happily), but also likewise to supplant us, and rase tlie name of Catholics and Irish out of the whole kingdom; and seeing this surprise so dan- gerous, tending absolutely to the overthrow of the hberty ofour consciences and country, and also our gra- cious king's power forced from him, in which and in whose prudent care of us our sole quiet and comfort consisted, and without which the fear of our present ruin did prescribe opinion and premonish us to save ourselves. We, therefore, as well to regain his Ma- jesty's said prerogative, being only due to him and his successors, and being the essence and life of monarchy, hoping thereby to continue a strong and invincible unity between his royal and ever happy love to us, and our faithful duty and loyalty to his incompara- ble Majesty, have taken arms and possessed ourselves of the best and strongest forts of the kingdom, to en- able us to serve his Majesty, and preserve us from the tyrannous resolution of our enemies. This in our consciences, as we wish the peace of the same to ourselves and our posterity, is the pretence and true cause of our present rising in arms, by which we are resolved to perfect the advancement of truth and safety of our king and country. Thus much we thought fit in general to publish to the world, to set forth our innocent and just cause, the particulars whereof shall be speedily declared. God save the king." ) Drogheda was then justly considered an object, the possession of which was of the greatest impor- 224 GENERAL HISTORY. tance to each party, as being on the one hand essen- tial to the security of tlie metropoHs, and the main- tenance of communication with the North ; on the other, opening the descent to Dubhn, and the surest prospect of success to the insurrection, the breaking out of which was ahnost instantaneously communi- cated to its astounded townspeople. Affrighted he- ralds, with the intelligence of the surprisal of Castle- blaney, Newry, Carrick, Charlemont, and other places, came in, as Dean Bernard expresses himself, " thick like Job's messengers, one upon another," all confi- dently assured by their informants, that Dublin was already taken. In this fearful crisis, the first suc- cour which the governor of this town. Sir Faithful Fortescue, received, was a small reinforcement from Lord Viscount Moore, who, having at his seat of Mellefont, within three miles of this town, heard of the imprisonment of his sister Lady Blaney and her children, justly entertained a suspicion that himself would be soon visited with similar hostility; to avert which, as well as the surprisal of Drogheda, of which, as designed by the insurgents, some informa- tion had been received and communicated by Doc- tor Jones, afterwards Bishop of Meath, he entered the gate at midnight, summoned the authorities to a council, and urged the necessity of prompt and efii- cientdefence. Captains Sir John Netterville, Eockley, and Seafowll Gibson, with a troop of sixty-six horse- men, and three companies of infantry, attended Lord Moore, and were all the succour thus early available. GENERAL HISTORY. 225 Well knowing the importance of his continued presence on the spot, Lord Moore brought into the town his family, and had a house prepared for their reception; " caused many old pieces, which had been cast into a bhnd dungeon, to be drawn out and scoured, at each gate northward some to be mounted, others planted before them; disburthened a merchant ship, then Ijdng at the harbour's mouth, of four more, and with good words drew from them some compe- tency of powder, rounded the town walls, had some weak parts farther strengthened, the north port made up strongly, reviewed the companies, pressed the town to a show of two hundred men, the major part proving," adds the Dean, " as we found afterwards, but a show indeed. Having thus, for the present, endeavoured such a defence as the weakness of the means could afford, and finding the rebelHon still gathering as it rolled, his lordship in a black dark night posted privately to DubUn, acquainted the state with further danger than they had been sensi- ble of, and of what consequence the safety of this town must needs be, not only for the North, but for Dublin and the whole kingdom ; and in the council chamber, amongst divers other lords, offered to raise a hundred foot at his own charges;" but his zeal on that occasion met with more applause than co-ope- ration, and all he could substantially obtain was a commission to Captain SeafowU Gibson, for the com- mand of a hundred men with arms and ammunition, which were sent down with him on the following VOL. n. Q 226 GENERAL HISTORY. day. It was then found that the insurgents had al- ready taken Dundalk and Droraisken, and actually extended their foray to within five miles of this town; whereupon, Sir Faithful Fortescue posted to the city, but, finding all efforts to obtain further assistance ineffective, he resigned his commission, whereon Lord Moore, in this emergency, assumed the direc- tion of affairs. The horse at night partly traversed the town, while some scoured the immediate vicinity of the walls, and rescued the cattle which the enemy had captured. " At this time," says Dean Bernard, " one of the chief cares that lay upon me even more than my life, was that great treasure of my Lord Primate's (Ussher's) library, which I had the happi- ness to be trusted with in his absence. We heard of the daily rudeness of the vulgar in burning and cutting in pieces the papers and books of such of the clergy already made a prey of (especially the Bishop of Meath's and the Lord Conway's library); the mdnuscripts, howsoever invaluable, yet by their mean clothing likely to be least respected by such illiterate hands. No barks being left in the harbour to remove them, the best course, which the misery and necessity of that time would afford, was not ne- glected, but none could promise safety." At length a force of a thousand foot and a hun- dred horse arrived under the command of Sir Henry Tichburne, who was also made Governor of the town. This gallant officer had been residing at Dunshaughly, near Finglas, on the night when the GENERAL HISTORY. I 227 disturbances commenced, and on the following he fled with his wife and family to Dublin, where the Lords Justices and Council engaged his services for the protection of Drogheda ; to which, after some days occupied in raising men, he repaired, accom- panied by the following able companions, some of whom had before been officers of the field, but from zeal for their present service now attended as cap- tains under his command: Sir John Borlace, Byron, Wenmond, Jacob Lovel, Chichester Fortescue, William Willoughby, Edward Billingsley, Lewis Owens, John Morris, John Sloughter, and Thomas Greymes. The state was further induced immediately afterwards to add three other companies under the command of Captains Richard Burrowes, Edward Trevor, and William Hamilton respectively, whereby the total force, independent of the town supplies, was 1500 foot and 160 horse, with a very considerable stand of arms. Having duly attended to the quarters of his soldiers. Sir Henry diHgently inspected the fortifications of the town, and directed measures for yet further strengthening the place, and in particular the mill-mount as the stronghold on the Meath side; but all these preparations were still thought so inadequate for the defence, that Lord Moore in his place in Parliament, hoping to inspirit the government, extended his former proposal, and volunteered to raise 600 men at his own charge, ^til money in aid could be received from England, provided they should be incorporated into a regiment q2 228 GENERAL HISTORY. under his command; the proposal was not, however, accepted by the government, while it so far provoked the insurgents, that they descended in considerable numbers from the hill of Tullyesker, and utterly spoiled and pillaged his house of Mellefont. At length, on the 22nd of November, 600 foot and 50 horse were despatched from Dublin, but at so late an hour that they only reached Swords that night. On the following day Sir Henry Tichburne, having been advised of their march, sent a competent force of horse and foot to meet and join them, but the Dublin soldiery, having mutinied against their com- mander, would not march further than Balruddery, though offered double pay as an inducement to pro- ceed. At length, however, their obstinacy was over- come, and they again advanced as far as the Bridge of Julianstown, where, under cover of a fog, a de- tachment of the Irish army approached unperceived, until they were within musket shot, and then so vi- gorously charged them that the majority were slain. Fifty horse of the Earl of Ormond's troop, headed by Sir Patrick Wemyss, and some survivors of the com- panies of captains Christopher Roper, William Ca- dogan, and Charles Sownsley alone escaped to their destination, and were placed under the command of Lord Moore. A letter of the 30th November, from the Earl of Ormond to the King, is preserved in Carte, in which, alluding to the incidents of this para- graph, the Earl writes : " The rebels are great num- bers, for the most part very meanly armed with such GENERAL HISTORY. 229 weapons, as would rather show them to be a tumul- tuary rabble than any thing Hke an army, yet such is our want of men, arms, and money, that, though we look with grief upon what the English suffer by robbing of them in a most barbarous manner, yet are we no ways able to help them, but are forced to ap- ply ourselves to save for your Majesty your principal city in the kingdom, and another called Drogheda, some twenty miles hence, where our greatest strength now Hes, which is faced with four or five thousand rebels, and by them daily threatened with an assault; but the town is well furnished with all necessaries to repel them, and those commanded by a very gal- lant gentleman, Sir Henry Tichburne, that I am confident will give a very good account of the town, or lay his bones in it. Upon Saturday last we sent hither to his succour 600 foot and 50 horse, who, as we understand, late last night were encountered by 1500 of the enemy. The foot were, for the most part, of those English that were pillaged by them, and had, I doubt, with their goods lost their courage, for, we understand by two of them that escaped hi- ther, they betook themselves to their heels upon sight of the enemy, not shooting one shot, or striking one stroke. I believe few of the men are lost, but I doubt most of the arms." I The town was by this time, as suggested in Lord Ormond's letter, invested on every side, as well by sea as by land, and all ways of intercourse with Dub- lin completely cut off, sentinels being set so thickly 230 GENERAL HISTORY. around, that no one could pass unnoticed and un- searched, although divers stratagems are recorded to have been tried for the conveyance of letters of ad- vice, some sowed up in the collars of doublets, the soles of boots, or even in bandages or sear-cloths laid on feigned bruises or sores. Nor was the vigilance and activity of the beleaguerers unparalleled by the besieged; breast- works were made before every gate, platforms erected where the walls were defective, some for the sentinels, others for field-pieces; abun- dance of " morning stars," described as terrible wea- pons of war, were set upon the ramparts, and " a world of crescets" gave light in a dark night about the town; an iron chain was thrown across the river; and the inhabitants of the suburbs were likewise commanded to bring in their corn and hay, but this precaution was adopted too late, and the besiegers succeeded in seizing or burning the greater portion of the grain and provender in haggard. O'Neill had established his head quarters at Bewly, and his de- tachments also occupied the Castle of RathmuUen, and the villages of Bettystown, Mornington, Old- bridge, Tullyallen, and Ballymakenny. It is not, therefore, to be wondered that, even at so early a period of the siege as the 3rd of Decem- ber, the privations of the garrison demanded a sally; when 350 foot, and two troops of horse, having issued from St. Laurence's gate, to escort some cars that were directed to bring in corn from the adjacent townland of Greenhills, encountered the enemy on GENERAL HISTORY. 231 the shore of the river, and defeated them with the loss of two hundred of their force; " this good suc- cess," remarks Dean Bernard, " so mightily flushed our soldiers, that there was nothing but longing for the second part to the same tune." | The Irish army, it must be observed, had com- menced their enterprize in a season of peculiar seve- rity, neither their skiU nor their provisions were sufficient for the regular conduct of a siege; they wanted artilleiy, ammunition, and all the necessary instruments of war; they had no tents to cover their men from the inclemency of winter, they were in- competent to besiege the town in form; they made no hues of circumvallation, erected no batteries, car- ried on no mines, ran no trenches, nor made any ap- proaches, as then usual, in the art of war, and were consequently compelled, instead of making an en- campment, to biUet themselves in the neighbouring villages, scarce any of which were less distant than a mile from the town. They lay, however, near enough to embrace every opportunity of surprising the place, which their correspondence within, or any accident might afford, and the army, which amounted, it is said, to 18,000 men, was sufficient to block up all the avenues of the town ; the garrison was conse- quently so ill supplied with fuel, food, and clothing, to qualify them for the hardships of their own du- ties, that the governor was more apprehensive of famine within, than of any force that could attack J^im from without. That attack was, at length, for 232 GENERAL HISTORY. the first time attempted on the night of the 20th of December, St. Thomas's eve, when the first grand effort was made to take the town by surprize. About midnight the Irish gave the general assault, but were repulsed with great loss. "We gave them," says Sir Henry Tichbume in his letter on the siege, " such entertainment as belonged to unwelcome guests." The hottest scene of engagement on this night was about St. John's gate, being the worst fortified. Discouraged by the result from further operations of that nature, the besiegers determined to maintain their blockade alone, with the confident hope of re- ducing the town by famine. They were well ac- quainted that it laboured under a great scarcity of provisions for the men, and of hay and oats for the horses, and that the garrison sufiered so much from their wants, that great numbers of the soldiers, both English and Irish, leaped over the walls and made their escape from the town, not from any treache- rous motives, but to avoid the hardships they were enduring within, where "hard duty and salt her- rings" brought on diseases that unfitted them for service. Even the ofiicers of the garrison, seeing no effort made for their rehef, thought themselves ne- glected by the State, and complained earnestly to the Earl of Ormond of the little regard shown either to their own preservation, or to the safety of so im- portant a place, thus now reduced to the utmost ex- tremity. About the close of December, the BojTie was so GENERAL HISTORY. 233 uncommonly frozen, that it could scarcely be broken with mallets ; and, as horses and men could pass safely over, the circumstance was taken instant ad- vantage of by the insurgents below the bridge, for such transmission of their forces as they deemed ad- visable. On the first of January, however, early in the morning, Sir Henry Tichburne sent out a party, " which killed some of the rebels, burned their quar- ters, and retreated with the loss of but one man;" and on the 7th, another sally was made from the town, which is thus described by Dean Bernard. " At break of day, about 300 foot, and four score horse, were pleased to take the air out at St. John's port [in the direction of RamuUcn], killed a hundred, forced a hundred more to the river (amongst whom was found, cast up by the water side, one Art Roe Mac Mahon, a great commander with them), took fifty, arms, cows, and other booty, to the value of £100, biu-nt their lodgings, and, after a pursuit of a mile or two b}^ the horse, retreated, which they did very slowly, of piirp(»se to have invited another body of them not far ofi", to a present revenge of their fellows, but they had seen enough of their blood for one morning. Some made an overture, but as our men faced about, tliey turned their backs, when a drake of ours overreached to the drop})ing of some of them. In this skirmish, howsoever, they wanted not showers of shot from the other side of the river also." Nevertheless, victuals became more scarce within the town each succeeding day, and, while the 234 GENERAL HISTORY, better classes were limited to one meal per day, the diet of the common soldiers was merely herrings and water, without bread. A strict investigation was instituted through the town, and what food was found was carried into a store-house, for equal dis- tribution. Com, hitherto in stacks, was thrashed out immediately, *' but by reason of the want of mills, most of which were without the town, little corn could be ground but by querns, too slow a pro- vision for so many thousands of soldiers and inhabi- tants." On the 11th of January, a pinnace, a frigate, a gabbard, with two shallops, and another vessel laden with biscuit, powder, and ammunition, left DubUn for the relief of the town. In the progress of this little fleet from DubHn, the pinnace put in at Sker- ries, and destroyed a considerable quantity of corn there stored for the besiegers, carrying the remain- der on board their own vessels. The entrance of the harbour of Drogheda was then very narrow, and at its mouth was a bar of sand, unpassable at low water, while, to close up the navigation completely, O'Neill's forces sunk a bark in the channel, but a strong west wind had a short time previously car- ried her out to sea ; the besiegers had also stationed two vessels on each side, and fixed an iron chain with a cable between them across the channel, but the pinnace and shallops that brought the supplies, overcame all these obstacles, passed the bar even at the low ebb tide, and, skimming over the chain, ar- GENERAL HISTORY. . 235 rived safely at the quay. The joy and triumph, which the garrison felt and indulged in too freely on this occasion, nearly brought upon them that des- truction from which they thus fancied themselves released. The vigilant governor had caused aU the watches to be twice or thrice rounded on that night, (12th January), but his own usual nightly inspec- tion having been postponed, in the necessity of send- ing several despatches to Dubhn, the treachery of some of the inhabitants discovered what they con- sidered a favourable moment for admitting a party of the enemy, through the old blind door of an or- chard, between St. James's gate and the water. About 500 men were thus introduced, and had they either cut down the guard at the next gate, and opened it to their companions without, or made their advance up the mill-mount, where were four or five pieces of artillery on that commanding situation, or but marched to the bridge, and with the two drakes there planted entered into the heart of the town, and fallen upon the mainguard, Drogheda had been irrecove- rably lost, and the garrison utterly destroyed. They continued, however, ineffective, but undiscovered, until, having marched as far as the quay, they, either with a view to give notice to their friends in the town, or in rash confidence of victory, set up a shout, which gave the first alarm, and was the means of preserving the place. Sir Henry Tichburne hearing It, ran down immediately with only his pistols in his '^and, and was the first to cause the drum to beat. 236 GENERAL HISTORY. He found the watclies so thin, that he was forced to bring out the mainguard (which chanced to be his own company), and caused his ensign to draw them down to the bridge, whilst he could get a body together to support them. The advantage of good arms was evinced at this juncture; the pikes of the assailants, hastily formed of such poles as could be had in the woods, were short of those ofthe garrison, by which advantage the latter were enabled to stop their pro- gress, and compel their retreat, while the governor, with a party of musketeers, poured such a volley of shot upon them, as dispersed them in every direc- tion. About 200 fell back upon the door through which they had come in, a few more were received in concealment by some friendly townsmen, and the rest were killed or taken prisoners. " God's work- ings," writes Sir Henry Tichburne, " are wonderful, and oftentimes, especially in matters of war, produce great effects out of small and contemptible means. This night, my man following of me hastily with my horse out of my lodging, the horse being unruly at the best, suddenly broke loose, and made such a noise in running and galloping madly upon the stones in the dark streets, it put the rebels to a stand, believ- ing we were better prepared to welcome them than in truth we were, and thereby afforded us something the more leisure to entertain them, as by God's bles- sing we did." Yet was not the supply of provisions, thus ob- tained, at all proportioned to the necessities of the W' GENERAL HISTORY. , 237 garrison. The biscuit and meal were exhausted in a fortnight, and famine and sickness resumed their destructive visitation, while, to prevent any other aid, Sir Phelim O'Neill caused a second ship to be sunken more effectively in the channel, and strengthened the boom across it. Frequent sallies procured corn and provender for the horses, but horse-flesh, dogs, and cats, were the best food attainable for the men. At this crisis. Sir Phelim O'Neill, fancying the time was approaching when he would be able more success- fully to assault the town, hurried to the North to procure an additional levy of men, and a supply of arms and ordnance, while Sir Henry Tichburne availedhimself of the same interval, to despatch Cap- tain Cadogan to Dublin, there to represent the neces- sities of the besieged, and to solicit a further supply of provisions and men. Scarcely a day afterwards elapsed without some sally, at first to such places as lay nearest to the town, but afterwards, emboldened by success, the governor sent Captain Trevor four miles off, where he captured a prey of eighty cows, and two hundred and sixty sheep. On the 11th of February, Sir Henry led another sally in the direc- tion of Bewly, when seventy-three of the enemy were slain with Captain Owen (a follower of the Earl of Tyrone in Queen Elizabeth's time), a lieute- nant, and an ensign, and there were taken two co- lours, one ensign, three Serjeants, and nine privates. In two days afterwards, the same commander directed a foray, when he captured eighty cows, and about two hundred sheep. 238 GENERAL HISTORY. In a letter of the 14th of February, from Sir Adam Loftus to Sir Kobert King (the lineal ances- tor of the present Earl of Kingston and of Viscomit Lorton), then resident at Cecil or Wimble ton House on the Strand, Sir Adam, amongst many advices and statements relative to Ireland, thus alludes to this town : " That which now most afflicts us, is that ex- treme want in Drogheda, now reduced to so short a period of time, that, if God afford us not fair weather and wind to relieve it by sea, we must of necessity march to the relief of it by land, and so put the whole kingdom to hazard, but God I hope, who hath hi- therto been miraculously with us, will not now fail us in this great exigence." By the seasonable relief, however, obtained from the above salHes, the garri- son was enabled to hold out until the 20th of Fe- bruary, when a fresh supply of bread for seven weeks, and four companies of foot arrived for their aid. Providentially for the safety of the town, the boom, which the besiegers had constructed of a great many ship masts and other timber bound together with a very strong massy chain, and supported by se- ven or eight great boats, was on the day before carried away by a violent storm, which broke the chain and scattered the boats, so that the service of an engine, which had been prepared to cut the chain, was ren- dered unnecessary, while the last ship, that had been sunk in the channel, was also carried out into the sea. The wind too, that for a long time previously had been tempestuous and adverse, turned on a sud- GENERAL HISTORY. 239 den, so as to co-operate -witli the spring tide, and blew a fair gale at south-east; thus every thing conspired to afford an easy passage to the ships, all of which were brought up at one tide to the quay, without in- jury or loss of hands, although the besiegers had on this occasion erected a kind of block house at the entrance to the river, whereon they had planted two pieces of ordnance, while they had musketeers set in trenches on both sides of the river. I A proclamation of the State, dated 8th of February, which had been sent in the ships that brought the sup- ply, was immediately afterwards fixed up in the mar- ket place. It offered sums of money for the respective heads of particular individuals therein named, *' where- in," adds Bernard, " the prices, set upon each of their heads, were far beyond their worth; Sir Phelim O'NeiU's was valued at £1000, Reilly and others at £800, and the rest of them at £400." The Reilly here alluded to had been high sheriff of the county Cavan, " formerly writing himself Miles Reilly, but having, with the shaking off of his obedience to the Enghsh government, cast off what might in his name sound English, he was then known by the name of Mulmore Mac Edmund O'Reilly." Philip Mac Hugh Mac Shane O'Reilly was, however, at this time, the head of the sept of the O'Reillys, and in Parliament represented that county, which was the ancient in- heritance of his family. On the morning, that suc- ceeded the arrival of the aforesaid supplies, Sir PheUm O'Neill, having returned with forty horse, 240 GENERAL HISTORY. and about 600 foot, from the North to his head- quarters at Bewly, advanced silently to the town, and made an attempt to take it by scalade, but he was again repulsed, and with such increased loss, that he never afterwards hazarded an assault. By a pubhc protestation, promulgated about this time, the confederate Cathc >lics of the Pale solemnly declared, that their only aim in taking arms, was for the necessary defence and preservation, as well of his Majesty's crown, prerogative, and just rights, in- vaded upon by the Puritan faction of England, as likewise of their own religion, lives, liberties, and estates ; and, in particular allusion to the proceed- ings of O'Neill about this town, they declared, "when of late, in the beginning of these troubles, we made earnest suit to the Lords Justices and State, to af ford us, of the English Pale, arms for our defences against the forces of Ulster, the same was denied us, save only some few arms, not sufficient in any way to withstand the power of Ulster ; and for that rea- son divers of the counties within the Pale restored again to the State the arms delivered to them, to prevent their surprisal; and the army of Ulster forced by strong hand us, the inhabitants of the next ad- joining counties to Drogheda (which they besieged), to give them provision for their army, and join with them in arms." They further " declared unto the world, that they had hoped to obtain redress, from Parliament, of their intolerable sufferings and just grievances, but that same was prorogued of purpose, ^'W^- GENERAL HISTORY. 241 as well to deprive them of relief, and of the several graces his Majesty had directed to be conferred upon them, as also to prevent the appeasing of the com- motions and troubles then in Ulster, the composing whereof the forces in that province then in arms wholly submitted to that High Court, all which hopes were disappointed by the said prorogation." They even more emphatically laboured to clear themselves from participation in O'Neill's insurrection, which in truth was but the result of King James's confis- cations, and the plantations that dispossessed the Irishry throughout that fine province. They dis- tinctly stated in their memorial to the king, that they had made suit to the Lords Justices to have some towns of the Pale regularly garrisoned, and offered to cooperate zealously with such garrisons; but that their request was " utterly denied, by means whereof the said Pale was overrun and pillaged by the army of Ulster, which at that time invaded those quarters against the wills of the inhabitants of the said Pale; and the forces then of Ulster, being many thousands of armed men, did by strong hand pass through the counties of the Pale, to the town of Drogheda, and laid siege to it, and did compel by their army the next adjoining counties to supply them with victuals and other provisions, and also to join with them," which mischief (they expressly charged), was permitted by the Lords Justices for their destruction, they hoping thereby that the me- morialists might incur the forfeiture of their estates VOL. II. B 242 GENERAL HISTORY. by uniting with the northern forces, or the loss of their lives and present livelihood, if they opposed them, in their utter destitution of the means of re- sistance. " Yet," add the confederates, " neither si- nister practices, nor the army of Ulster, though far beyond us in arms and strength, could force us from manifesting our duty, allegiance, and affection to your Majesty, choosing rather to sacrifice all our for- tunes, estates, and hves, in the defence of your crown and kingdom, than join with them in drawing our swords, contrary to our allegiance and duty, against your sacred Majesty, our dread and only Sovereign; but these forces, here now in the field, have given us full assurance of the justness of their cause, by their late general remonstrance, which they, jointly with the rest of your subjects, the Catholics of this your realm, have prepared to be presented to your Highness." " These," they conclude, " may it please your most princely Majesty, were the chief grounds and principal motives of our rising in arms, and we do most humbly beseech your most excellent Ma- jesty not to take offence thereat, but to vouchsafe us not only your most gracious favour and protection from the cruel and lawless designs of your Justices and State here against us, but likewise to afford us just cause of laying down our arms, by applying pre- sent and effectual remedies to our just grievances." On the 23rd of FelnTiary the Lords Fingal, Got- manston, Netterville, and Trimleston, addressed a letter to the Marquess of Clanricarde, wherein they w^ .-"f-JR-'SW'SE'i GENERAL HISTORY. 243 again sought to vindicate " the scope and purpose of their taking up of arms;" and, while the letter is dated " from the Catholic camp near Drogheda," it contains an explicit avowal that they had then made common cause with O'Neill. '* And we now give your lordship to understand that by God's assistance the work is, by the help of our neighbours of Ulster, and by our own endeavours, in a fair way, we having already in the field about Dublin and Drogheda, about 12,000 able men, and more expected daily, for the most part well armed; and besides we can assure ourselves of the good will and endeavours of the rest of our CathoHc countrymen throughout the kingdom." j On the 26th of February, the governor of this town, having made a sally to Beabeg, had a smart engagement with the enemy, several of whom were slain; two colours were taken by Major Fortescue and Captain Bryan, and a store of cattle was also captured. " So many," adds Bernard, " were shot upon this occasion in the river of Julianstown, that the water was all red with their blood. Another sally to the castle of Stameen was attended with similar results, and a large acquisition of corn from the village of Colpe ; the remains of human bodies mixed with fragments of armour, buckles, &c., which were of late thrown up in the townland of Bettys- town, in digging for building sand, have been, and probably correctly, attributed to this day's visita- tion. Of the latter excursion, Sir Henry Tichburne r2 244 GENERAL HISTORY. writes as follows: " On the 1st of March, I sent forth Sir John Borlase, with four companies of foot and one troop of horse, to forage the south side of the river, towards Colpe, whence a good quantity of corn was brought into the garrison, and in the af- ternoon I took two other companies of foot and a troop of horse, accompanied with the Lord Moore, and, as we were advancing something further towards the Inch, there came a messenger hastily unto me, and told me that Sir John Borlase met with some resistance at Colpe, at an old tower which he at- tempted to take, and that many of the rebels were come from the north side of the river in a ferry boat, and entered into Stameen, whereby it was supposed they would attempt something against those that were before Colpe. On this advertisement my Lord Moore and myself returned, and finding no appear- ance of the rebels' intention to do anything, the evening being come on, I prepared to march home, and, leaving the Lord Moore, I went towards Sir John Borlase, before Colpe, where by the way I was advertised that the rebels were sallied out of Sta- meen with two hundred foot, to surprise those be- fore Colpe. I instantly directed Captain Billingsley to take eighty musketeers, and fall up to the side of the way where there was the advantage of a ditch, and with such horse as were with me I made directly to an opener place, though somewhat about, and by that time I came in sight of the rebels. Captain Bil- lingsley and they were exclianging some shot, but GENERAL HISTORY. 245 upon the approach of the horse coming on with a round charge, the rebels fled again into Stameen, and by the way, there was slain of them a Heutenant, thirteen soldiers, and a captain of the O'Neill's wounded and taken prisoner; and, if my horse had not been bogged with some others, being ignorant of the ways, I beheve many more had been slain, and the place taken the same night, with many of their commanders in it, who stole away before the next morning to the other side of the river, with Sir Phe- Hm O'Neill, who, during the conflict was fled, crept and hid in a furze bush, as I was afterwards in- formed, and thus the south side of the river was wholly cleared of the rebels, and plenty of corn and food began to be amongst us." Mornington was the scene of action on the 3rd of March. "Early on that morning," relates Dean Bernard, " the forces under Colonel Wainman ad- vanced hither, where they found the town abandoned, so that their whole work that day was to reap what was left, for which all sorts were permitted to go forth for pillage; the lanes were so thickened with all sorts of grain, that the spring seemed to be har- vest, and the vernal equinoctial to be mistaken for the autumnal, such loads of corn were mounted upon horses, that upon the hiUs they looked Hke moving haggards, by which our great extremity was turned presently intoplenty ; and, whereas our chief- est want was malt, the whole town (having drunk nothing but water for a week), were now set a brew- 246 GENERAL HISTORY. ing, and for expression of joy there wanted no bon- fires of three or four towns together, whereby a clear day grew dusky by the smoke. A fair house of one Draycot (who by the rebels was newly created Vis- count Mornington, for his merit in the cause), made the clearest Hght, which was done the rather in a just revenge of his fraudulent disarming many of our soldiers as they were making hither from the bridge of Julianstown. His library, with what could be preserved from the fire, was brought in hither and sold us at very easy rates; a very large parch- ment manuscript of an old missal, consecrated to that church of Mornington, came to my hands, the loss of which I presume they have valued more than their houses." On the 5th of March Lord Moore led out 400 foot, and 80 horse, over his own estates of Tullyallen, and also defeated the forces of the be- siegers in that quarter, taking prisoner Art Mac Mahon, who had been stiled amongst the Irish, Lord Baron of Monaghan, and whose head was of those especially valued in the before-mentioned proclama- tion. And in the mean time. Sir Henry Tichbume was equally successful in a sally towards Bewly, in which he burned the village of Newtown. The results of these harassing sallies were imme- diately apparent; the castles of Bewly and Stameen, at their respective sides of the river, were deserted on that very evening ; and Sir Phelim O'Neill him- self, hearing of the approach of the Earl of Ormond, fled with some field pieces in the direction of Dun- GENERAL HISTORY. 247 dalk. '* By this," says Bernard, " our town was filled with provision, ports began to open, our neighbours making suit to be admitted to our market, castles near hand voluntarily surrendered, the owners sub- mitting, and all good men's hearts rejoicing by this sudden change. . . . Indeed to relate what a change was presently in this town, from the extremity of scarceness and deamess, would be incredible; eggs, which during the siege one was a rich present, wor- thy of thanks from the chiefest, were now fifteen a penny ; hens at two pence ; milch cows at five shil- lings; horses, which before the siege were rated at three and four pounds, sold for twelve pence, nay, commonly passed among friends for a quart of beer; the finest wheat in the market for eight shillings per barrel; and fish (to which we had been altogether strangers) multiplied abundantly." " And so," adds " A Certain Relation," pubhshed at the time, " the Lords and other rebels of the Pale, thus abandoned by the Northern rebels, are forced to forsake their own habitations, and go along with the Northern rebels, or hide their heads somewhere else from their own houses, which they have mournfully taken their last leave of, as many think of, for ever seeing them or their own again." Sir Henry Tichburne, immediately on the departure of Sir Phelim O'Neill, took posses- sion of Bewly house, and, in a few days, after sum- moned Flatten, which ultimately surrendered on terms, that the garrison might depart unarmed, and carry away some few goods and provisions with them. 248 GENERAL HISTORY. A sliort time previous to the occurrences last de- tailed, the Earl of Ormond had been commissioned by the Lords Justices to march against the confede- rates, with positive directions to burn and destroy their haunts, and to put to the sword all the inhabi- tants capable of bearing arms, an authority which he has been reproached for not exercising with all its severity. The relief of Drogheda, however, appear- ing of paramount importance, he was directed to lead 3000 foot and 500 horse thither, and to prosecute the besiegers with fire and sword. Eight days only were allowed for this expedition, and the Earl was strictly enjoined not to pass the Boyne. " Whateve/ were the professions of the Chief Governors," re- marks Leland, " the only danger they really appre- hended was that of a too speedy suppression of the rebels," extensive forfeitures being their selfish and favourite object. When, however. Sir Phehm's flight was made known to Ormond, he instantly commu- nicated the event to the Lords Justices, and repre- sented the necessity of pursuing the fugitives in their consternation, desiring that his commission might be enlarged, and he be permitted to continue his march to Newry ; but the Justices received the intelligence with vexation, repelled the overture, and repeated the injunction that he should not pass the Boyne. Several noblemen and gentlemen of the Pale besought him, on his march to this town, to re- ceive their submissions, but he was designedly crip- pled by his commission. In the mean time Sir Henry GENERAL HISTORY. 249 Tichbume marched forth accompanied with the Lord Moore, and a competent force, to Mr. Barne- wall's, of Rathesker House, where they found that gentleman " not drest, misdoubting no visitation of that kind ;" after a little resistance he surrendered, " on promise that he might be left unto the law, and not presently put to death; for this Bamewall had served beyond seas, was a colonel among the rebels, and on his head was set £400, as a recompense for any that brought him in dead or alive." ! On the 11th of March, the Earl of Ormond, at- tended by several colonels and captains, entered Drogheda, and dined with Lord Moore. Another council was then held with the officers of the garri- son, when it was agreed, that efforts should be re- newed to obtain an extension of the Earl's commis- sion, so as to enable him to march further northward than the Boyne, but the chief governors were inex- orable, and the army of Ulster, emboldened thereby, and having recovered from their consternation, re- gained many of the places they had before aban- doned, and even threatened again to invest Drogheda, so that Sir Henry Tichburne was obliged, on the departure of Ormond, to exert his utmost vigour to avert the calamity of a second siege of this town. In the promotion of this object, he burned Slane, de- feated a considerable party of the enemy at Ardee, and afterwards, as no restriction had been laid upon his conduct, he marched to Dundalk, and drove the enemy, with great slaughter, from that town also. 250 GENERAL HISTORY. On the following day, the Earl of Ormond wrote to the Justices from Garristown, about midway be- tween Dublin and Drogheda : " I am now apply- ing myself to perform your last commands, to which end I have this morning sent forth horse, with order to destroy all such traitors and their dwellings as they can light on, for six miles about this place, which we have so done. I intend to march to Bal- ruddery, there to quarter to-morrow night, and thence to Dublin, want of bread causing us not to make use of the enlargement of time granted by your Lordships' letters of the 9th, which we could have been furnished with from Drogheda, if we had pur- sued our design towards the Newry. The question I was bold to make, touching the burning of the houses belonging to the lords of the Pale, was, not that I doubted, whether there should be any difference made between a rebel lord and a rebel commoner, being well satisfied in the negative, but as I remem- ber it, what the State desired direction in out of England, was, whether these lords should be pro- claimed rebels or no, to which, there having come no answer, I humbly conceive what I desired was not altogether impertinent, but having now received your direction in it, I shall trouble your Lordships with no more questions touching that particular. For those that come in, I hold it the course with them, is to put them in safe keeping, either to send them afore me to Dublin, or to bring them along with me, without any manner of promise or condi- GENERAL HISTORY. 251 tion, but that they submit to his Majesty's justice ; nor do I dispute by what power they come in, leav- ing that to your Lordships to judge, when they are in your hands, and when I have told you the manner, which I shall do very truly. With this bearer I send Sir John Netterville, eldest son to the Lord Netterville. Having received from your Lordship (my Lord Parsons), a note, intimating a safeguard to Mr. Bamewall of E^lbrue, at his earnest suit, I suffered him to come along with me. He is now gone to his house, but will doubtless go along with me to Dublin. This I wished the corporal to tell your Lordships. With the unanimous advice of all the officers, I have given orders to spare the wine, which will certainly be brought both to Dubhn and Dro- gheda, and wiU be of great use for such troops as shall be sent northward," &c. The above Mr. Barne- wall of Kilbrue, is the person whom Dr. Curry, in his " Historical Review," mentions as subsequently the victim of the violated safeguard so promised to him. j On the 13th of March, the Lords Justices wrote to Ormond again, prohibiting his passing the Boyne with his Majesty's forces, but allowed him " to march in such places, between the Boyne and the sea, as be should think fit," and stated, amongst other rea- sons for such their order, that they were not then able to send sufficient store of provisions toDrogheda, nor shoes and stockings, as your Lordship writes." ' -Ajid, therefore (they add) we pray your Lordship, 252 GENERAL HISTORY. that after you have made all the destruction you can upon the rebels and their adherents, and abettors, in the counties of Meath and Dublin, and the places, towns, and houses, where the rebels, their adherents, and abettors, are, or have been relieved, &c.; and, upon consideration had of Sir Henry Tichburne's letters to your Lordship, of the 12th of this month, we held it fit hereby to pray your Lordship, that in case you can conveniently spare them, you send to him at Drogheda, 500 foot and one troop of horse, and if your Lordship, by advice of the council of war now with you, conceive any one or two of the pieces of ordnance you have now with you, to be sufficient to batter down castles or houses of strength, (which is the use for which he desires them), that your Lordship cause these also to be sent to him, with all the bullets and furniture belonging to those pieces, and as much powder as you can with safety spare. If you resolve to send ordnance to Drogheda, we pray your Lordship so to order it, as the horses employed hence to draw them, may be returned hi- ther again to the owners, of whom they were bor- rowed." On the day when this mandate of the Justices was written, the Earl of Ormond, who, in discharge of their previous instructions, was prosecuting hostili- ties at the Meath side of Drogheda, sent a guard into the town with the following prisoners : Edward Dow- dall, of Monkstown ; Laurence Dowdall, his son ; Nicholas Dowdall, of Brownstown ; Gerald Aylmer, GENERAL HISTORY. 2 53 of Balrath, the lawyer; William Malone, ofLismul- len ; and Stephen Dowdall, of Gaulstown. The bul- letin, which announces this fact, continues : " On Tuesday the 15th, and Wednesday the I6th, much pillage was sent home by the army, whereby the other side are made to see, that, now they have done pillaging us, we begin to pillage them. The Earl, having caused divers houses to be burnt and pil- laged, and amongst the rest some of the lords' houses, he returned to Dublin with the army, saving 500 men and a troop of horse, which he left with Sir Henry Tichburne at Drogheda, the better to enable him to burn, spoil, waste, and destroy, all the rebels in the county of Louth, and the other parts adjoining to Drogheda, which Sir Henry hath begun to do ; and saving 200 men which he left in garrison at Ma- lahide. Sir John Netterville had surrendered to the Earl of Ormond, and since that time, George Deve- nish; John Talbot, ofRobertstown; and Sir Andrew Aylmer, surrendered to the Lords Justices, as did also the Lord Baron of Dunsany on the IQth of March; and that Lord, and Sir John Netterville, and all the rest, stand committed to the Castle." It appears also, that " the Earl of Fingal wrote a sub- missive letter to Lord Ormond, and promised to come to him with one hundred more gentlemen, and Lord Ormond went to meet them, but they kept not pro- J^se, whereupon, a troop of horse rode to Killeen, and burnt it, and all other places belonging to the Earl of Fingal, wheresoever they came." 254 GENERAL fflSTORY. By aill these disappointments, "the Ulswr re- bels" were rendered so destitute, that, as Lord Slane tells Lord Gormanston, in his letter of the I6th of April in this year (1642), " Sir Phelim O'NeiU had but one firkin and a half of powder left, they all con- sidered themselves as utterly ruined, unless the go- vernment would receive them to that mercy for which they sued; and such of their chiefs, as des- paired thereof, were actually preparing, and must, if pushed, have been forced to fly into foreign parts for the safety of their lives"(a). Accordingly, in the outlawries of the day, occur, in this vicinity, the names of James Bathe, of Athcarne ; Richard Ca- dell, of Harbertstown ; John Cadell, of the Naul ; Nicholas Darcy, of Flatten ; John Draycot, of Mor- nington ; Henry Dillon, of Betaghstown ; Nicholas Viscount Gormanston ; Lord Viscount Netterville, of Dowth; Eichard Porter, of Oldbridge; John Eead, of Flatten ; John Verdon, of Clonmore, county Louth, &c. Of Sir Fhelim O'Neill it may be mentioned, that he maintained a precarious ascendancy in the North for some years after, until, in 1652, he was arraigned before the Commission issued in Dublin by the Com- monwealth, for the trial of the offenders during the rebellion, and, although it was intimated to him, that a pardon should be extended to him, if he could give testimony that King Charles the First had authorized (a) Carte, vol. i. p. 307. GENERAL HISTORY. 255 him to levy forces against his government in Ireland, he yet firmly refused to save himself, by a declara- tion so scandalous and unwarranted, and was, ac- cordingly, executed ; while, in direct contradiction to any such inference of King Charles having parti- cipated in his movement, it appears, that monarch, by his privy seal, dated at York, the 30th of June, and at Stoneley Abbey, the 20th August, 1642, con- stituted Lord Moore governor of the county of Louth and barony of Slane, whereof he had a grant by com- mission on the 10th of September, with the fee of ten shillings per day, and power to prosecute all re- bels, traitors, &c., *' in consideration," as his Majesty expressed himself, *' that, to the hazarding himself, and the loss of all his estate, he had contributed very much, as well before as during the siege of Droghe- da, to the preservation of that town, and performed many other acceptable services there, since the be- ginning of that detestable rebellion, towards the sup- pression thereof, for his better encouragement to proceed cheerfully in the said service, and to the end he might be the better enabled thereunto." j One individual more, in connexion with the above events, claims some especial notice — Christopher, the second Earl of Fingal. He had taken his seat in Parhament in 1639, and was immediately appointed a member of the Committee for privileges and grie- vances. On the breaking out of the rebellion, he repaired to Dublin, accompanied by other noblemen, who with him waited on the Lords Justices, with 256 GENERAL HISTORY. many professions of their loyalty to the king, and readiness to assist in suppressing the rebellion ; this offer being suspected by the government, o count of their being of the Roman Catholic reli he returned into the country, where he sided Lord Gormanston and others of the county of M( and some time after the coming of Lieutenant G ral Byrne with his forces to Killsallaghan, his I ship caused a summons to be issued, that all su had horses should, on a certain day, under pai death, meet at the hill of Tara, according to the scription list made of the horses of the coun Meath, by Patrick Barnewall of Kilbrue. His I ship was also at the meeting of the Roman Cat] lords and gentry at Duleek, and received order raise 500 men for the defence of the county of M against the English, which he accordingly ra He likewise took an active part at the meeting on the hill of Crofty, between the lords of the and the Northern rebels. In direct reference Drogheda, he was commander-in-chief of the h at the above siege, and marched as their genera wards Trim, issuing warrants, by which he ( manded the inhabitants to meet, on pain of d( and sat in the council of war on the hill of 1 For these several proceedings, he was, on sever casions, indicted and outlawed, and was ultimo taken prisoner in the battle of Rathmines, four days after which he died in the Castle of Dul and was buried in St. Catherine's church. GENERAL HISTORY. 257 In February, 1642, tlie Marquess of Ormond and the other Commissioners, sent a trumpeter to Kil- kenny with a safe conduct and summons to the Irish to meet them at Drogheda, on the 23rd of this month, as it was alleged there was no other convenient gar- rison within 30 miles of Dublin, able to entertain any considerable number(a). For all which services the Enghsh House of Commons ordered their Speaker to write him a letter in their name, acknowledging his wise and prudent conduct of the army, and ex- pressing their great satisfaction in his conduct The time and place, however, for the execution of his Majesty's commission, was subsequently altered to the I7th of March, at Trim(i), Nevertheless, a meeting, between the Marquess and a Committee of the supreme council of the Catholic convention, did take place here, immediately afterwards, respecting the cessation of arms; the assembly, however, broke up without effecting any thing definitive; Sir Henry Tichburne was then appointed Governor of Drogheda, with a fee of 135. 4d. per day, and also sworn in one of the Lords Justices, at the Council Board. It may be mentioned of this distinguished individual, that te had, about the same time, confeiTed upon him, the government of the county of Meath, with the exception of the barony of Slane. j In September, 1643, the proclamation for the cessation of arms was at length agreed upon at Jig- la) Clanricarde's Memoirs, p. 340. (b) Id. p. 353. VOL. IL S 258 GENERAL HISTORY. ginstown, near Naas, between the Marquess of Or- mond, in the name of the King, and Viscount Muskerry; Sir Lucas Dillon, knight; Nicholas Plun- kett, Esq.; Sir Robert Talbot, Baronet ; Sir Ri- chard Barnewall, Baronet; Turlogh O'Neill; Geoffrey Browne; Iver M'Guinness, and John Walsh, Esqs.; *' authorized by his Majesty's Roman Catholic sub- jects, of whose party they are, and now in arms in the said kingdom." Amongst the articles of this treaty it was " concluded and accorded, that the county of Dublin, the county of the city of Dublin, the county of the town of Drogheda, and the county of Louth, and as much of the county of Meath, as lies on the east and south side of the Bo}'iie from Drogheda to Trim, and thence to Moylagh, and thence to Moyclare, &c., should remain and be, du- ring the cessation, in the possession of his Majesty's Protestant subjects, and of such as adhere unto them respectively, saving and excepting imto the said Ro- man Catholic subjects now in arms, &c., and their party, all such castles, towns, lands, territories, and the lands and hereditaments thereunto belonging, which then were possessed in the said counties, or any of them, by any of the said party." During the whole of that year (1643) the Privy Council of Dubhn were necessitated to issue several orders for obviat- ing the scarcity of provisions, necessary to maintain the garrison of this town, and the corporation records preserve various accounts of monies paid by the in- habitants, on orders of Sir Henry Tichburne, Lieu- GENERAL HISTORY. 259 tenant Colonel Byron, and Major Edward BiUingsley. Amongst the disbursements appear, £90, for Lord Brabazon's Company ; £79, for Captain Greene's ; £69, Captain Bainbridge's; £92, Captain Hamond's; £73, Colonel Tyler's ; £80, Colonel Savell's ; £79, Captain Farrel's ; £101, Major Peasley's ; £239, Captain Bolton's; £413, Sir Henry Tichbume's; and £261 for Sir Henry himself; £259, for Colonel Byron's company; £258, Captain Tichburne's; £279, Captain Billingsley's; £169, Captain Loftus's; £259, Captain Ponsonby's ; and £197, for Captain Cadogan's. In consequence of which heavy exactions on the townspeople, the Marquess of Ormond issued an order from Dublin Castle, that, upon the corporation contri- buting thenceforth £15 weekly for the support of the garrison, the town should not be further burdened. The corporation did, however, also, more locally and for municipal purposes, disburse, as^ppears from their books, a sum of £98, towards the repairs of St. Sun- day's, St. John's, St. James's, and St. Laurence's gates, and of the town bridge. The west gate was then also built,'and opened, new locks, as especially mentioned, put to all the gates, and works were thrown up to strengthen the mill mount ; while, on the part of the government, for the encouragement of persons who would bring provisions and other commodities, to Drogheda, Dundalk, Carhngford, &c., for the relief of his Majesty's army and good subjects, it was ordered in council, that they should s 2 260 GENERAL HISTORY. be free from all customs and impositions whatso- ever(a). In 1644, the Scotch covenant had many adhe- rents in this town, and the Presbyterians were emi- nently successfril in making proselytes ; amongst these, it is stated, was one resident lady of rank, who, in contemplation of admitting a party from Munroe into the town, had provided false keys for the gates, a circumstance which excited the resent- ment of the Lord Lieutenant, while Sir Patrick Wemyss, to whom the king had done many favours, and his Excellency many good offices, was considered culpable therein, at least so far as having concealed the conspiracy(6). At the same time, the Irish House of Commons interposed to compel, from certain de- faulters in Drogheda, the payment of their just and ascertained proportions of the State assessment. Amongst the individuals so particularized, occur the names of Richard Bryce, Thomas Delahoyde, Robert Cheevers, Gerald Nugent, Richard Tyrrel, Bartholo- mew Dardis, Nicholas Dowdall, Andrew Mortimer, Alexander Plunkett, Richard Cheevers, Thomas Taaffe, Henry Mortimer, John "Walsh, &c. In this year William Plunkett died, seised in tail, with suc- cessive remainders to George Plunkett, Mathew Plunkett, and others, of two messuages and a gar- den in West-street, one in the tenure of James Had- sor Fitz George, the other in that of Christopher (a) Borlase's Irish Eebellion, p. 204. (b) Desid. Cur. Hib. vol. ii. p. 265. GENERAL HISTORY. 261 Dromgoole; one garden in St. Peter-street, in the occupation of James White ; a house and close in Irish-street, in the occupation of Thomas Everard ; four messuages called Fyan's Row, with sundry- other premises, all held of the Corporation of Dro- gheda, in free burgage(a). ! In July, 1646, the letter of King Charles the First, in answer to the desires of Parliament for the surrender of Dublin and other garrisons of Ireland, into their hands, was communicated to the House. It ran in the following terms : j " His Majesty having considered the letter of the 6th instant, sent to him from the Lords and Commons in Parliament assembled, thinks fit to retiu-n this answer. That, as none can be more deeply affected than his Majesty, with the past and present calamities of his kingdom of Ireland, nor is so nearly concerned in the preservation of his Protestant subjects there, so he will be most ready to apply all future remedies for their deliverance. And as to the particular of the delivering forth\vith of the city and castle of Dublin, the town of Dro- gheda, and all other garrisons in that kingdom, which are held by his Majesty's authority, unto the hands of such as the Parliament shall appoint, his Majesty, being most willing that all those places may be so disposed upon, that they may be best secured from the rebels, and serve most for the safety of his (a) Inq. in Cane. Hib. 262 GENERAL HISTORY. good subjects, doth again earnestly press the propo- sitions, so long expected, for the peace of that and his other kingdoms, may be hastened to him, ex- pecting that they will contain the readiest means, not only of preserving these places which are already in his power, but Hkewise of reducing the rest of that kingdom possessed by the rebels, to his obedience ; and, as his Majesty knows not a more speedy or effec- tual way for attaining these ends, by removing all differences betwixt his Majesty and the two Houses of Parliament, so nothing will be more easily endea- voured by his Majesty than a sohd and lasting peace be forthwith established. ''Newcastle, WthofJuly, 1646." Drogheda and Carlingford were then, however, two of the towns which the confederate Catholics, in their propositions of that year, required should be garrisoned by CathoHcs, a requisition, which, if not then, was soon after in a great measure complied with, at least in the case of Drogheda, as the unfor- tunate Sir Arthur Aston, to whom its safety was intrusted by Ormond, when it was besieged by Crom- well, w^as a Roman Catholic, and it is expressly stated in the Essex MSS. at Stowe, that the majority of his officers and soldiers were of the same persua- sion. In the above year (1646) the Lord Lieute- nant and council instructed Sir Gerard Lowther, Sir Francis Willoughby, and Sir Paul Davis, to proclaim perfect freedom of trade to Dubhn, Drogheda, Dun- dalk, and Carlingford. About this time Peter Pep- GENERAL HISTORY. 263 pard, a native of this town, and a member of one of its ancient families, was distinguished in the more peaceful walks of philosophy; and Comments of his on some of Aristotle's works are still extant in the Manuscripts of Trinity College. In May, 1647, a letter was despatched from the Clerk of the Irish House of Commons, to a certain Colonel in London, which appeared in the " Perfect Diurnal," imme- diately after. It is couched in the following terms : " Noble colonel, you must pardon my last. By rea- son of Captain Rich's sudden going away, the strong and considerable castle of Carlow is delivered up on quarter, which hath much puft up the rebels, who have now an intention to besiege Trim, the most considerable garrison within our quarters, next to Dublin andDrogheda. All our horse are commanded to rendezvous at Skreen, near TaraHill, a champaign country, upon Tuesday next. It is supposed they will make up the number of 700. Two hundred of our foot are to be mounted, and go along with them. The rebels intend with all speed to fall into our quarters with a running army, to sweep away all our cattle, if not prevented by the power of our horse. Captain Stephens, and several other of our army are taken prisoners by Fitz Gerald of Ballysonnan; Mr. Hatfield being in the same company, saved him- self and his money by the swiftness of his horse's heels." In the June of the same year, Colonel Chidley Coote marched out of Drogheda with 500 horse. 264 GENERAL HISTORY. into the county of Cavan, and by the break of day on the following morning, they fell into Owen Roe O'Neill's creats of the Ulster men; took two of the O'Reillys prisoners, and one M'DawHe, three gentle- men of very good note, and leading men amongst the rebels ; killed twenty-five, for they stood not one quarter of an hour, but ran into a bog; took 14 troop horses, 500 cows, 1000 sheep, and 250 plough horses; this is the third piece of service his regiment hath done. In the July following, Colonel Sir Henry Tichburne having marched out of this town, with his son, and " divers colonels, majors, and gentlemen of note, about forty in number, all officers and others of very good quality," were surprised by a horse party of the Irishry, near Balrothery; Sir Henry was badly wounded, his son was slain, as|also Lieu- tenant Colonel Trevor, of Carlingford, and a few more, while Major Gore, Major Gibson, and others were taken prisoners(«). In June, 1649, the Marquess of Ormond, having received intelligence that the parliamentary general, Jones, had sent the greatest part of his horse to Drogheda, " from whence," writes the Earl of Cla- rendon, " he would have been able to distress Or- mond in various ways, and particularly by intercept- ing provisions from the comitry, despatched Lord Inchiquin, with a strong party of horse, to follow them, which he did with such success, that he sur- (a) " A Bloody Fight at Balruddery." GENERAL HISTORY. 1. 265 prised a whole troop, and afterwards encountering Colonel Coote, at the head of 300 horse, routed the party, killing many, and the rest flying in great dis- order into Drogheda." Inchiquin lost no time in sending an account of his success, adding, that he had reason to believe, if he pursued his advantage, and attempted the town, before the rebels recovered from their consternation, it would make but little resistance. Hereupon, it being considered in a coun- cil of war, that Dublin was too completely fortified, and plentifully manned, both with horse and foot, so that it would be a desperate action, to hazard the army by a general assault, and that there were not yet sufficient numbers to invest the place, especially while O'Neill and Monck, with the garrisons 'of Dro- gheda and Trim, lay so convenient to attack them, and that the reduction of the former of those places would secure a correspondence with the North, and give great encouragement to the Scots in Ulster (who made great professions of duty to the king, and had now, under the conduct of the Lord Viscount Mont- gomery of the Ardes, driven Sir Charles Coote into the city of Derry, and there beleaguered him(a) ), it was resolved, that the Lord Lieutenant should con- tinue in his camp with 5000 foot and 1500 horse, to straiten Dublin, and be ready to countenance any stirs or revolts within the city ; and that the Lord Inchiquin, with about the same number of horse and («) Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion. 266 GENERAL HISTORY. 2000 foot, should block up Drogheda, with the as- sistance of Colonel Mark Trevor, who had lately declared for the king, and now helped to beleaguer the town. Inchiquin made an attempt, hereupon, to surprise the town, and on the night of the 27th of June, two of the gates were fired, and 200 men got in, headed by Colonel Worden, but were driven out again by the horse of the garrison. The Marquess of Ormond sent him, on the next day, two pieces of battery to attack the place in form, but, as soon as they were planted, the garrison, wanting men to de- fend their works, and their provisions being almost consumed, was obhged to capitulate. One of the ar- ticles was, that such of the garrison as were so in- clined, 'should march with Fulkes, the governor, to Dublin, but, of about 700 foot and 255 horse, he was attended into that city with no more than 35 horse, and about 100 foot, the rest taking service in his Majesty's army(a). While the royalist forces were thus in occupa- tion of Drogheda, Cromwell, having been appointed by Parliament, General of their forces in Ireland, landed at Dublin on the 15th of August, being not a full fortnight after the defeat ofRathmines. "He brought with him about 9000 foot and 400 horse, and all necessaries for his army, and had a good fleet constantly to attend him"(6). " It was then plain," writes the Marquess of Ormond, in his letter against (a) Carte's Ormond, vol. ii. p. 73. (b) Cox's History of Ireland. GENERAL HISTORY. 267 the Declaration of Jamestown(a), " we were to be on the defensive part of the war, and that he would draw forth suddenly, to recover those places we had gained, and first, we were assured, he purposed to attempt Drogheda. "We, therefore, applied our ut- most industry, to supply that place with what it wanted, placed in it Sir Arthur Aston, as expert and gallant a governor as we could wish for, gave him the same men, and the same number of men, horse and foot that he desired, and furnished him with the full proportion of ammunition, and other provisions, that he demanded, judging, that if Cromwell could be there foiled, or kept before it but for a time, it would much advantage us that had so lately received so great a blow, as required time to recover, and the rebels, in the neck of it, having received so great a countenance and strength as Cromwell brought with him, being the best of the rebels' old army in Eng- land." Within a very short interval of his debarkation, Cromwell proceeded from Dublin, and on the 3rd of September sat down before this town, in conside- rable strength, having sent his cannon and provi- sions by sea. Ormond, convinced of his design, had sent orders to the governor, to burn the town, des- troy the fortifications, and to drive all the cattle before him from the surrounding country, and then secure himself, with those under his guidance, in some other (a) Walsh's Remonstrance, App. 112 268 GENERAL HISTORY. locality. The governor did not, however, obey this advice. The garrison consisted of about 2000 foot and 300 horse, all chosen men, commanded, as be- fore mentioned, by Sir Arthur Aston, a CathoHc officer of the ancient family, who, from the time of Gilbert de Aston, in the reign of Henry the Second, were lords of Aston, near Sutton in Cheshire. Al- though principally distinguished by his services in the royal army, he had spent the early part of his life in continental warfare ; and among the Harleian MSS. (2149), are various testimonies to his military merits in the service of foreign Princes, as letters of Christopher Radzivil, Duke of Berne, Great General of Lithuania, dated in 1623, laudatory of his conduct in the wars there ; a grant of a pension of 700 flo- rins per annum, by Sigismund King of Poland, to him, dated at Warsaw in 1635; the same monarch's letter testimonial to his valour and good conduct, dated at Warsaw in 1630, and stating, that he had been sent to him by the King of England in the Turkish wars, and advanced to a Lieutenant-Co- lonelcy ; a commission from Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, to him, for raising a regiment of English soldiers, and transporting them into his ser- vice in 1631, &c. In 1640, Sir Arthur was appointed by the Earl of Strafford, Colonel General of one of the brigades of the royal army, and, in ten days after- wards, was chosen Serjeant-Major General of that part of the army which attended the king's person. He commanded the dragoons at the battle of Edge- GENERAL HISTORY. 269 hill, and was afterwards Governor of Reading in 1'643, where lie thrice foiled the attempts of the Earl of Essex, but was compelled to resign his command, in consequence of a wound in his head. This acci- dent, according to Clarendon, was esteemed a great misfortune to the king, as *' there was not in his army a man of greater reputation, or one of whom the enemy had a greater dread." After his recovery he was made Governor of Oxford, an office which he filled at the time when the unfortunate Charles the First, by retreating thither, instead of pursuing his way to London, lost his crown and his Hfe. Sir Ar- thur had here the misfortune of having his leg broken by a fall from his horse, under which circumstances, his future services being despaired of, the king set- tled upon him a pension of £1000 per annum. Ne vertheless, on the defeat of the royalists in Englan he transported a considerable body of forces to Ire land, when he was made governor of this town, the fortifications of which had been lately repaired un- der the direction of Ormond. | As Cromwell advanced from Dublin, the Irish forces along the coast, and in the adjoining interior parts of Meath, hastened to obstruct his passage, but as this could not be seasonably eflfected, on account of the promptness of his movements, and the impre- pared state of the Irish, the only opposition they could make, was by sudden onsets, avoiding a gene- ral engagement, and at the same time retreating be- fore him, in order to secure themselves within Drogh- \ 270 GENERAL HISTORY. eda, and there, as well as they could, sustain a gene- ral siege. They at length took that refuge withrn the walls of this town, and closing the gates, resolved to defend the place to the last. Making their first appeal to heaven, mass was solemnly celebrated in the convent of St. Mary's, and prayers offered up in soHcitation of the divine favour and interference. Presently the destroyer appeared before the town, and, having in vain summoned the governor to sur- render, regardless of all regular forms of siege, he boldly planted two batteries against the strongest and most inaccessible positions, one to play upon that part of the wall which stood east of St. Mary's church (and which battery existed to a recent pe- riod), the other against the wall on its south side. Hence he continued to thunder on the town for some hours, but being two or three times repulsed by the garrison, and finding the south part of the wall too strong, he resolved to direct his increased energies from the east of St. Mary's convent, and against that part of the walls uniting with it. Here • the garrison immediately collected their strength, also throwing up six entrenchments, three of them from St. Mary's church to Duleek gate, and three from the east end of said church to the town wall, and so backwards(a), while the Carmehtes of that religious house, devoting themselves to aid the mili- tary, displayed the most heroic intrepidity, combined («) Cromwell's Letters. GENEEAL HISTORY. 271 with such skill in the management of defensive ope- rations, as might not only do honour to more expe- rienced soldiers, but actually struck the mind of Cromwell with doubt, as to the successful issue of his hostilities. He, however, continued to batter the walls for the remainder of that, the first day (being Sunday, the 9th of September), during which he was several times obliged to retire(a). On the second day, he turned cannon against the heart of the town, with a design to demolish some of the principal houses, in which he partly succeeded, beating down the tower of St. Mary's church, and opening two breaches in the south and east wall, but the garrison, redoubling their exertions, prevented his obtaining the eventual advantages he that day had expected from the cannonade ; several of his soldiers fell around him. At length, on Tuesday, the third day of the siege, about four o'clock in the af- ternoon, a most extensive breach was made near St. Mary's, where the enemy had a half moon on the outside, designed to flank an angle of the wall. The garrison defended the breach from behind an earth- work, which they had cast up within, and where they had drawn up the two or three troops of horse (which they had in the town), with the object of encouraging and supporting their foot ; the fort of the mill-mount was also not unserviceable to them lu the defence of the breach. Cromwell, meantime. (a) Cromwell's Letters. 272 GENERAL HISTORY. well knowing the importance of tliis action, resolved to hazard all upon it, and having commanded some guns too be loaded with bullets of half a pound, and fired upon the enemy's horse, who were drawn up somewhat in view, himself, with a reserve of foot, marched up to the breach, and, by this gallantry, giving fresh courage to his men, they advanced with more vigour than on any former occasion, yet were they twice repulsed, but on a third effort. Colonel Wall, ofthe garrison, having been killed at the head of his regiment, and the horse before alluded to, having, under the discharges of the shot, been forced to abandon their comrades, these also began to break and shift for themselves, which the assailants per- ceiving, entered about 6 or 700 men, and followed them so close, that "they overtook them at the bridge, which separated the previous scene of action from the town, and entered pell mell with them into the place"(a), not, however, without considerable loss on their part also, " Colonel Cossel being there shot in the head, whereof he presently died ; and divers officers and men doing their duty, killed and woimd- ed"(6). The scene that ensued paralyzed all Ireland, and can never be mentioned without a thrill of horror. The clergy mingled with the soldiery, as they fled before the ferocious conqueror, perished indiscrimi- nately with them ; " so that," says Lord Clarendon, (fl) Ludlow's Memoirs, fol. p. 116, &c. (b) Cromwell's Letters. GENERAL HISTORY. 273 " except some few, who, during the time of the as- sault, escaped at the other end of the town, and others, who, by mingling with the rebels as their own men, so disguised themselves that they were not dis- covered, there was not an officer, soldier, or rehgious person belonging to that garrison left alive, and all this within the space of nine days after the enemy appeared before the walls, and when very many were even glad that they were engaged before a place, that was like to be so well defended, and to stop their further progress for that season of the year. This, indeed," he adds, " was a much greater blow than that at Rathmines, and totally destroyed and massa- cred a body of above 2000 men, with which, in re- spect of the experience and courage of the officers, and the goodness and fidelity of the common men, the Marquess would have been glad to have foimd him- self engaged in the field with the enemy, though upon some disadvantages." It would appear, that, after the enemy entered the town, quarter had been promised to such as would lay down their arms, and given, until the conquest was complete; but Cromwell, who was assured by Jones that he had here the flower of the Irish army in his hands, the finest forces that could be selected to check his career, resolved by one tremendous blow, to impress on the Irish such a dread of his arms, as might intimidate them from oflFering him further opposition, and he deliberately issued his orders to put the whole of the garrison to the sword; thus, for the attainment of this terrific ob- VOL. II. T ■^ 274 GENERAL HISTORY. ject, tarnishing to latest posterity, the splendour of his military achievements. The most respectable of the inhabitants of the northern portion of the town took refuge within the body of St. Peter's Church, while many others shel- tered themselves in its steeple, which was composed of wood, though the body of the building was of stone. Cromwell, after a short deliberation, con- cluded on blowing up the whole edifice, and for this purpose laid a quantity of powder in a subterranean passage, then running under the church, and open; but, changing his resolution, he set fire to the steeple, and, as the garrison rushed out from the flames, they met death at the point of the sword. He afterwards ordered that the fugitives within the church should be massacred, plundered the build- ing, and defaced its principal ornaments. Some few, who had escaped into Bolton Tower, and the "West Tower which was attached to the west gate, were next subjected to the same unrelenting barba- rity. Alluding to this horrible scene, Cromwell him- self writes, in his bulletin to Lenthal, the Speaker. " Divers of the enemy retreated into the mill mount, a place very strong, and of difficult access, being ex- ceedingly high, having a good graft, and strongly pallisaded. Sir Arthur Aston and divers conside- rable officers being there, our men getting at them, were ordered by me to put them all to the sword; and indeed, being in the heat of action, I forbad them GENERAL HISTORY. 275 to spare any that were in arms in the town, and I think that night they put to the sword about two thousand men. Divers of the officers and men being fled over the bridge into the other part of the town, where about 100 of them possessed St. Peter's church stee- ple, some the west gate, and others a round tower next the gate, called St. Sunday's ; these, being sum- moned to yield to mercy, refused, whereupon I or- dered the steeple of St. Peter's to be fired, when one of them was heard to say in the midst of the flames, ' God damn me, God confound me, I burn, I bum,' The next day the other towers were summoned, in one of which was about six or seven score, but they refused to yield themselves, and we, knowing that hunger must compel them, set only a good guard to secure them from running away, until their stomachs were come down; from one of the said towers, not- withstanding their condition, they killed and woimded some of our men; when they submitted themselves, their officers were knocked on the head, and every tenth man of the soldiers killed, and the rest shipped for the Barbadoes And now give me leave to say, how it came to pass this great work is wrought; it was set upon gbme of our hearts that a great thing should be done, not by power or might, but by the Spirit of God, and is it not so clearly that, which caused your men to storm the breach so courageously; It was the Spirit of God who gave your men courage and took it away again, and gave the enemy courage and took it away again, and gave your men courage T 2 276 GENERAL HISTORY. again, and therewith this great success , and there- fore it is good that God alone have all the glory. It is remarkable that this people at the first set up the mass in some of the places of the town, that had been monasteries, but afterwards grew so insolent that, the Lord's day before the storm, the Protestants were thrust out of the great church called St. Peter's, and they had public mass there, and in this very place near one thousand of them were put to the sword, flying thither for protection. I believe all their friars were knocked on the head promiscuously but two, the one of which was Father Peter Taafie, brother to the Lord Taaffe, w^hom the soldiers took the next day, and made an end of; the other was taken in the round tower, under the report of a lieutenant, and, when he understood that the officers in that tower had no quarter, he confessed he was a friar, but that did not save him. A great deal of the loss in this business fell upon Colonel Cossel's and Colonel Ewer's regiments. Colonel Ewer's having two field officers in his regiment shot ; Colonel Cossel and a captain of his regiment slain; Colonel Hewson's Cap- tain Lieutenant slain. I do not think we lost one hundred men, though many be wounded. I most humbly pray the ParUament may be pleased this ar- my may be maintained, and that a consideration may be had of them, and of the carrying on of afiairs here as may give a speedy issue to the work, to which there seems a marvellous fair opportunity offered by God; and, although it may seem very chargeable to GENERAL HISTORY. 277 the State of England to maintain so great a force, yet surely to stretch a little for the present in follow- ing God's providence, in hope the charge will not be long, I trust it will not be thought by any that have not irreconcileable or malignant principles, unfit for me to move for a constant supply, which, in all human probability, as to outward means is most hkely to hasten and perfect this work. And indeed, if God is pleased to finish it here, as he has done in England, the war is likely to pay itself We keep the field much, our tents sheltering us from the wet and cold; but yet the country sickness overtakes many, and therefore we desire recruits, and some fresh regiments of foot may be sent, for it is easily conceived, by what the garrisons already drink up, what our field army will come to, if God shall give more garrisons into our hands. Craving pardon for this great trouble, I rest, \ " Your most humble Servant, " Oliver Cromwell. " P. S. — A major, who brought off 43 horse from the enemy, since writing the above, told me that it is reported in their camps, that Owen Roe and they are agreed. The defendants in Drogheda consisted of the Lord of Ormond's regiments. Sir Edmund Verney, Lieutenant Colonel, of 400; Colonel Byrne's, Colonel Warren's, and Colonel Wall's, 2100 ; the Lord of Westmeath's of 200; Sir James Dillon's of 200, and 200 horse." \ In a subsequent report, dated 27th September, 278 GENERAL HISTORY. 1649, it is stated, on the same authority, that the officers and soldiers slain at the storming were as follows: " Sir Arthur Aston, Governor; Sir Edmund Vemey, Lieutenant Colonel to Ormonde's regiment; Colonel Fleming ; Lieutenant- Colonel Finglas; Ma- jor Fitzgerald, with eight captains, eight lieutenants, and eight comets, all of horse ; Colonels Wall, War- ren, and Byrne, of foot, with their Lieutenants, Majors, &c. &c., the Lord Taaflfe's brother, an Augustinian friar; 44 captains, and all their lieutenants, ensigns, &c. ; 220 reformadoes and troopers; 2500 foot sol- diers, besides staff officers, surgeons, &c., and many inhabitants." The " Lish Monthly Mercury," for December, 1649, " printed at Cork," thus unfeelingly triumphs in this sad encounter: "Not long after the sally at Dublin, which the enemy, out of modesty, call the battle of Eathmines, the Lord Lieutenant landed at Dublin, with an army so nourished in victory, that they never saw any defeat but those they gave their enemies. The first design we undertook was the gaining of Tredagh, in which Ormond had placed above 3000 of his select men, and Sir Arthur Aston for commander, one as unable to stand to it as to run away, and it may be that's the reason he fell in the service; doubtless he was better for a retreat, since every step he would make a halt. In a word, if the rule be true, of judging Hercules by his foot, one may conclude this a wooden governor; yet he had made so good earthen fortifications, that by GENERAL HISTORY. 279 trusting to his works he showed what religion he was of. Their first retrenchment against us was the church, out of which they were soon dislodged, and I dare say it was the first time they ever went from church unwiUingly, this being done too by some ordi- nances of Parhament, tis not unUkely the grave Pres- byterians (if ever the drowsy assembly come into play again) may question their proceeding, and aver we have a mind our enemies should still continue Papists, by so pregnantly evincing there was no sal- vation for them in our church. At length the breach being found assaultable (more from the vent than the largeness of it), our army were so little courtiers, as to enter the town without so much as knocking at the gate, where all lost their lives but those that saved them. Of the first qualification there were about 3000, of the latter, 30, be it more or less." The town having been thus completely re- duced, and all resistance at an end, humanity would conclude that the lives of such of those, as had surrendered on admitted promises of quarter, and who yet survived, would be spared, however their persons might be disposed of; it was fated other- wise. Cromwell in the most savage but deliberate manner, issued his dreadful mandate, that even these should be put to the sword; and it is said himself witnessed and enforced this commandment of atro- city. The scene of carnage lasted five days, only thirty men being exempted for transportation to ^arbadoes. Yet, how commendable his conduct ap- ■ -•■T-i—T"*' '".i.'ii'i^jfBpippm 280 GENERAL HISTORY. peaxed in the eyes of the British ParHament, is evinced by the resolutions of that House. On the 2nd of October, they ordered that the 1 st of Novem- ber, then next ensuing, should be appointed for a day of public thanksgiving, to be observed in all the churches and chapels within England and Wales, " to render thanks to Almighty God, for his great mercy in giving such wonderful successes to the Parhament's forces in Ireland," and Hkewise directed " that a letter of thanks should be sent to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and to be communicated to the officers there, taking notice that the House doth approve of the execution done in Drogheda, as an act both of justice to them, and of mercy to others, who may be warned by it;" and on the 11th of the same October, they voted £100 to Captain Porter, " who brought the news of the great successes in Ireland, for his pains and travel therein." When the carnage was consummated, the town was given up to plunder (a visitation which led to the destruction of its early records), and the place, with the lands about it, were allotted among such soldiers, as by reason of their wounds or worthiness were deemed the fittest objects of bounty. One native alone is recorded to have received a gratuity of land from Cromwell ; that individual, of the name of Delahoyde, was proprietor of the mill which gave name to the mill-mount, and his having supplied Cromwell's army with meal, during their sojourn here, is assigned as the motive for this grant, the benefit of which some of his de- GENERAL HISTORY. 281 scendants are said still to enjoy. Immediately af- terwards Cromwell proceeded to invest Dundalk. Amongst the officers of rank slain, in cold blood on this awful occasion, were, in addition to those enumerated in Cromwell's Eeports, Colonels Pudsey and Walton; while Sir Arthur Aston, the governor, is said to have been massacred, by literally dashing out his brains with his own wooden leg. " A great dispute there was," says Ludlow, in his " Memoirs" (p. 117), "amongst the soldiers for his artificial leg, which was reported to be of gold, but it proved to be but of wood, his girdle being found to be bet- ter booty, wherein 200 pieces of gold were found quilted." The Marquess of Ormond, in his letters to the King and Lord Byron (preserved in " Carte's Memoirs"), says, that " on this occasion, Cromwell exceeded himself and any thing he had ever heard of, in breach of faith and bloody inhumanity ; and that the cruelties exercised there, for five days after the town was taken, would make as many several pic- tures of inhumanity, as are to be found in the Book of Martyrs, or in the relation of Amboyna ;" while, ac- cording to Echard, when O'Neill heard a rumour of the result, he swore, that if Cromwell had taken Drogheda by storm, he would have but to attempt the storming of hell, and he would take that too. — Some twenty-four pound balls have been, from time to time, discovered in the walls and ramparts of the town, which were, evidently, of the volhes discharged on this occasion, Cromw^ell having been the first ge- 282 GENERAL HISTORY. neral who brought guns of that calibre into Ireland; and some shells, with an iron fuse leaded into them, have also been found, and alike attributed to his assault. Yet, how little such a result was expected in England, is seen from the closing paragraph of the "Mercurius Pragmaticus" of I7th September, 1649, where, having, in the earlier part of the paper, men- tioned, that " Lord Noll" had *' turned his nose to- wards Tredagh, thinking to fire the town, but the sea had formerly so cooled it, that it looked as if he had wrapped it in an indigo bag, to keep it from firing the gun-room ;" they conclude, " more certain news, that Cromwell hath now his iron sides banged to purpose, and is, as one letter speaks, beat back into Dublin, with a very great loss, at least 4000 slain, and 600 taken, himself wounded, but not mor- tal ; the junto," so this royalist journal styled the Par- liament, " have caused proclamation to be made at all seaports, for letters, that this news should not be divulged, but, as secret as they carry it, it is sufficiently known for truth. The king is said to be landed in Ireland, which adds new life and valour in the com- manders and common soldiers, that by the next, you will go near to hear of Dublin being besieged, if not stormed, all their forces being now drawing that way. There is good store of money in the Castle, will make the soldiers storm lustily." With all the terrors of his Irish campaign to fore- token his resoluteness, Cromwell immediately after- W'- GENERAL HISTORY. 283 wards assumed the command of the army against Scotland, and there effected, what neither the Ro- man Cassars nor the EngHsh Edwards could accom- plish, the utter discomfiture of a Scottish army. In 1652, General Ludlow, after scouring the counties of Wexford and Wicklow, and placing garrisons wherever he thought convenient, came to this town, where he met the rest of the parUamentary commis- sioners. Having staid eight days here, he continued his march hence to Carrickmacross, " a house belonging to the Earl of Essex," which he caused to be forti- fied and garrisoned, being advantageously situated to restrain the enemy's excursions(a). In 1656, when an assessment was, by an Act of the Protector and his Parliament, laid on, at the rate of £35,000 per month in England, £6000 in Scotland, and £9000 in Ireland, to continue for three years ; the propor- tion chargeable on the county of Louth with Tre- dagh, was fixed at £590 12*., and that on the county of East Meath, at £1903 18*. Another memorable assessment was, at the same time, ordered to be ap- plotted on the different districts of Ireland, to defray rewards proposed for the destruction of wolves, " which, of late years, had much increased in many parts of this nation ;" the scale proclaimed was, for every bitch dog, £6; every dog wolf, £5; every cub "that preyeth for himself," £2; and for every suck- ling cub, 10 shilHngs. (a) Ludlow's Memoirs, p. 162. 284 GENERAL HISTORY. In the Abstract of that map of the Down Sur- vey, which was made here in 1657, a very interest- ing description of this town occurs, where, speaking of the barony of Duleek, it is written : " This barony hath scaped very well from depopulation, during the late wars, by reason that it hath been defended by an eminent city and garrison, called Drogheda. This city is a very remarkable place for trade, it being the passport to the northern parts of Ireland. It is situated very pleasantly on the mouth of the river Boyne, where she pays tribute to her mother, the main ocean. This city is built of stone low houses, very decent, part whereof is situated on the north side of the river, and part on the south, over which there is a very fair stone bridge. There stood two very fair churches in it, one called St. Peter's, and the other St. Paul's, which were in good repair, un- til the late troublesome times ; St. Peter's church stands on the north side of the bridge, and the other on the south. It hath been several times besieged since the war. It was once gained by the Irish, in 1649, but it was soon after, in the same year, regained by storm, when there were 5000 men slain, at which time, it happened, that the churches were blown up. There is a market kept there once a week, which happens on Saturdays. It affords great stores of provisions, linen, yarn, and cloth. The north part of this barony is meared with a very fine river, called the Boyne, which takes its rise out of the King's County. Through the midst of this barony there ".i^CW-^-t'.* '.If*. V-' jfcuimjpeMJ. '^s'^.ijM •'• T5 i ^■. •3^^ w- rv— ■^- ^ V itrvwj;^. t ™»P1!?TW~ III.lJ|I!lll.Ui,_....|jl|^,,IMl.p%a. T^IW^^^^^" : i ir«"i»J*'!.VW^ GENERAL HISTORY. 285 runs anollier river, called the Nanny Water, over which there are several bridges. These two rivers afford no great store or variety of fish; salmon, trout, and eels, being the best it yields, but no great plenty." On the face of the map, the tide is represented as ebbing and flowing to two miles above the town ; Maiden Tower, and its adjoining pillar, are dis- tinctly exhibited ; while in the margin is sketched a vignette of St. Mary's chiirch and the mill-mount. In the same year, and in aid of that survey, the in- teresting map delineated on the accompanying sheet was taken. It has been reduced, by the kind care and skill of Mr. Merrall, from the original, preserved in the Muniments of the Corporation. It affords no names to the streets, nor key to the pubhc buildings, but the walls are defined, and the towers that strength- ened them, to the number of nineteen at the north side, and eleven at the south; the pubhc edifices m the former section are, St. Peter's church, the Dominican friary, the Tholsel, the Bishop's palace, and the ruins of the abbey ; those at south of the river are, St. Mary's chiirch, the Custom-house, the Castle, and the buildings on the mill-mount. That, notwithstanding this unexampled visita- tion, the town, however, retained some of its wonted commercial importance, appears from many tokens which circulated thence, bearing the respective im- presses of " Samuel Staubridge, of Drogheda, 1653;" " Edward Martin, of Drogheda;" " Andrew Hamlin, of Drogheda, merchant;" "John Ley, merchant, in 286 GENERAL HISTOBY. Drogheda, 1657;" " Richard Jackson, ofDrogheda, merchant;" "John Bellew, of Drogheda, March,;" " John Killogh, of Drogheda, March. ;" " Lebbeus Lownd, groser, Droghada, 1667." Specimens of all these are in the collection of the Reverend Richard Butler, of Trim ; while, in that of the late Dean of St, Patrick's, are some of " Hugh Fowkes, of Drogh- eda," and Francis Poole, ofDrogheda, merchant: and Snelling, at No. 6, has one of " Hen. Coker, of Drohedaes, lerland, a penny tok' for necessary change, 1660." An account of the customs and excise in Irish ports, about the latter period, states the value of the imports at Drogheda as £1911 145. 2d., and of its exports, as £2037 3*, 4d. There were, at this time, in Drogheda, as appears from " The Civil Es- tablishment of the Commonwealth for Ireland," the following ministers of the Independent or Baptist congregation, having respectively the salaries stated at their names : Michael Briscoe, £200 ; Mr, John Hooke, £120; Mr, Thomas Hicks, £100; allowances, which, according to the change in the value of mo- ney, would now be about ten times those respective calculations. In 1659, as appears from Ludlow's Memoirs, Captain Lisle, having dispossessed Lieutenant-Colo- nel Desborough of the governorship of Drogheda, himself succeeded thereto. In 1660, the Corporate Assembly granted forty shillings yearly, towards the rent of a house, for the correction and punishment of vagrants, rogues, and sturdy beggars, as long as GENERAL HISTORY. 28? said house should be so employed. In the eame year, in King Charles's Declaration for the Settle- ment, several clauses were inserted, in favour of Erasmus Smith, whereby the Irish Council was di- rected to satisfy his deficiency, as an adventurer, in some convenient forfeited lands in the county of Louth, " that he might be better enabled and encou- raged, to answer those public pious uses, in incorpo- rating five free schools in Ireland, and to reprise him such lands, now or lately in his possession, that are restored, or restorable, to the former proprietors ;" all which possessions were confirmed to him by a subsequent Act of Parliament. Those so referred to, as in the county of Louth, extended from TuUy- esker to Clogher, and, according to the royal inten- tion, he obtained a charter for the estabhshment of the five incorporated schools in Ireland, one of which is that before alluded to, as still existing here. In 1661, on the occasion of the celebrated " Remons- trance," the only Eoman CathoHc clergyman, who signed it in Drogheda, was the Reverend John Scur- lock. Prior of the Dominicans of that town. Pri- mate Bramhall, about this time, repaired the archie- piscopal palace here, which he had found in a ruin- ous state; and the Corporation soon afterwards granted to him and his successors, the guard-house by St. Laurence's gate, at one shilling yearly rent, with a proviso, " that if any rebellion happen, the same is to be made use of for a guard-house as for- merly, if it shall be thought fit." ■■p9 288 GENERAL HISTORY. By one of the clauses of the Act of Settlement, after reciting that several of the inhabitants and pro- prietors, as well of Dublin as of Drogheda, who con- stantly adhered to the Royal authority, until the withdrawal thereof from Ireland, in 1 647, were since expulsedfrom their habitations and estates in the time of the usurped power, it was enacted, that any such, " who did not at any time adhere to the Papal clergy, or other the Irish rebels, in opposition to the Royal authority; and the heirs and widows of such of them as were dead, should be restored to their former es- tates, and to all their houses, lands, tenements, and hereditaments, freedoms and immunities, respec- tively, in the said city of Dublin, and town of Dro- gheda, and elsewhere." In 1664, the corporation petitioned Lord Ossory and the Privy Council, for permission to erect a wooden bridge over the Boyne, at the estimated ex- pense of £3000, and prayed an aid for that object; whereupon the Attorney-General was directed to frame a bill to effectuate their wishes, and such a bill was accordingly drawn up, entitled " An Act for repairing the bridge over the river Boyne, in the town of Drogheda," read twice in the house and committed; but, on the report of the committee it was rejected, as "a bill not fit to pass into a law." A wooden bridge, however, appears to have been soon afterwards constructed. In 1665, the Assembly directed the Mayor to make a solemn perambulation of the franchises, with GENERAL HISTORY. 289 the usual train and ceremonies, while they at the same time took more important measures to enforce a proclamation of government, " that no master of a vessel should come ashore, nor suffer passengers to land in any part, without license first obtained from the magistrate," a prohibition rendered necessary by the existence of a prevalent contagion in Eng- land. In 1606, and the immediately subsequent years, occurred various royal grants from King Char- les the Second, of which the following, in Drogheda or its immediate vicinity, are deserving of notice. In 1666, Arthur Earl of Anglesey passed a patent for various parks of arable pasture, and furzy land, sundrj^ orchard plots, garden plots, gardens, and ca- bins within the liberties of Drogheda, as well on the Meath as on the Louth sides. In the following year, John Bysse, Esq., then Chief Baron of the Exche- quer, and Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton, had a grant to them, in trust for the (1649) oificers, whereby va- rious tenements in Pillory-street, Fair-street, Scarlet- lane, South Key-street, St. John's-street, St. James's- street, and St. John's-lane ; several parcels of land within the liberties at both sides of the river ; a park and garden plot without Duleek gate ; a park near West Gate; two parks west of Monemore, a meadow in Yellow Batter, &c., were conveyed to them. This patent, however, contains a saving to the corporation of Drogheda of their right to certain parcels included in the grant. Sir George Rawdon, Baronet, and "Wil- liam Brett, had at the same time a grant on a similar VOL. 11. u ■■'••~•'"^^'•;r^ 290 GENERAL HISTORY. trust, of a tanhouse and other premises in this town, as had also Captains Thomas Stewart and Hugh Montgomery, of premises in West-street, Harp-lane, St. Laurence's-street, Shop-street, Bachelor's-lane, Deer-street, and Pillory-street, saving certain claims therein of Thomas Delahoyde, Christopher Cheevers, Richard Mortimer, Alderman George Peppard, &c. Colonel Clayton and Captain Lindsay were so con- stituted trustees for the same object, of certain pre- mises in Pillory-street. In 1668, Sir Hans Hamilton had a similar grant of other premises here, as had William Montgomery of a house in Shop-street, called the Queen's Head ; a small garden and old walls in St. James's-street; part of a new building in St. Lau- rence-street, and other tenements in Pillory-street. Sir Arthur Forbes, Bart., Colonel Stewart, and Cap- tain French, were in like manner made trustees of a slated brewhouse, a malthouse stone walled, on the south quay, and other premises in this town. In 1669, William and Henry Finch, and Captain Tho- mas Mills passed patent on like trusts, for other pre- mises in Drogheda, while Jenico Viscount Gormans- ton, in the same year had agrant(m#er alia) of cer- tain messuages in St. Laurence's-street, Booth-street, St. Peter's- street, St. Sunday's-street, Back-lane, St. John's-street, a messuage in St. Peter's-street, near the commons called the Cowlies, with part of the com- mons; an orchard without St. Laurence's gate, a messuage near the Tholsel, and a garden on the big hill, with sundry other premises, and a privilege to GENERAL HISTORY. 291 be toll and custom free ingate and outgate. In 1670, Bartholomew Doyle had a grant of a dwelling-house on the quay, at the Louth side, while Sir Robert Booth, Justice of the Common Pleas, and Sir Aud- ley Mervyn, Prime Serjeant, passed patent in the following year, for premises on the same quay. Va- rious other evidences of the transfer of property here at this period, are to be found in the enrolled Certi- ficates for Adventurers and Soldiers, the Decrees of Innocents, and the Adjudications in favour of the (1649) officers, all of record in the Rolls of Chan- cery. In 1666, the corporation directed the pulling down of the old cross that had existed in the town, and the erection of a Court of Guard, at their expense ; they also at the same 'time ordered, that every house to be built within the town walls for the future should be slated, and that every building lease should contain an imperative clause for that object. In 1 668, the amount of customs and excise in the chief ports of Ireland was as follows: Dublin, £33,137; Cork, £10,236; Galway, £4863; Youghal,£4795; Kinsale, £3697; Londonderry, £3327; Carrickfergus,£3085; Drogheda, £3037; Ross, £1578, &c. In 1669, the corporation passed a resolution, " that, forasmuch as the town was in want of an able and sufficient Doctor in physic, there being none inhabiting in or near the same, and being informed that Dr. Laurence Taaffe is an able physician, and would willingly in- habit in the town, if he might have a pecuniary al- u2 292 GENERAL HISTORY. lowance for his encouragement, it was therefore or- dered that he might have £10 for his yearly salary, settled upon him, and that he shoidd be free of all taxes from the time of his inhabiting within the town." In 1676, besides sundry entries for disburse- ments on repairs of the walls, the corporation books exhibit other resolutions of interest. Twenty pounds was voted to Charles Wilson, for clearing the swash mouth of the river of Boyne, " so that it is now navi- gable according to his agreement with this corpora- tion." Two aldermen were also appointed " to re- ceive the benevolence of the inhabitants of this town for the rehef of those of Athy, who had suJffered greatly in the late wars, and the Mayor and Alder- men were empowered to add what they thought fit out of the tOAATi purse, to make the sum of value; and lastly, it was ordered that the Aldermen, accor- ding to their turns, should attend church in their gowns, in the forenoon and afternoon of Sundays. In the following year the corporation petitioned, that the Drogheda militia might be independent of the Louth, and that the mayor for the time being should be its colonel. In 1678 " a proclamation issued, forbidding the Papists from coming into the Castle of Dublin, or any other fort or citadel, and ordering the markets of Drogheda, Wexford, Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Youghal, and Gal way, to be kept without the walls, and that no Papist should be suffered to reside, or dwell in any garrison, except such as had been inhabitants IF^" GENERAL HISTORY. 293 there, by the space oftwelve months before, and that the Papists should not meet in unusual numbers, or at unreasonable times Not long afterwards the Lord Lieutenant and Council, by their letter ordered the Popish inhabitants to be removed from Galway, Limerick, Waterford, Clonmel, Kilkenny, and Dro- gheda, except some few trading merchants, artii&cers, and others necessary for the said towns and garrisons, and by virtue thereof many were expelled ; but by the stupidity of the Protestants, and at their request, and upon their security, the Papists were readmitted into these towns"(a). An individual of the name of John O'Heyn, was one of those who, in conse- quence of this intolerant tyranny, were obliged to withdraw from this town. He was by birth of Gal- way, became a Dominican friar of the convent of Athenry, thence pursued his studies at Burgos, and afterwards at Salamanca; taught philosophy in France and Louvain, and then was made master of the no- vices in the convent of his order in this town. On his expulsion from Drogheda, he betook himself again to Louvain, whence, after some years of exile, he returned to Ireland, and, continuing there during eight years, was again expatriated in 1698, and ap- pears to have soon afterwards closed his life, as chronologer of his order, in the L:ish College at Louvain. j In order to control promiscuous mendicancy and (o) Cox's History of Ireland. y 294 GENERAL HISTORY. imposition here, the Assembly, in 1682, ordered, that no person should be admitted to beg within the cor- poration, but such as were licensed by the mayor, and three or four of the aldermen ; and every alder- man was empowered to command the town consta- bles, to apprehend all idle vagrants, and commit them to the house of correction. In 1683, the as- sembly voted an address " to congratulate his Sacred Majesty on his royal brothers' most happy delive- rance from the late most damnable conspiracy against them," and, on the demise of that monarch soon af- terwards, adopted an address to James the Second, on his happy and peaceable accession to the throne of his ancestors, acknowledging at the same time, their satisfaction in his Majesty's gracious declara- tion, to maintain the religion and laws estabhshed in Church and State, together with their unfeigned resolutions to serve his Majesty, in defence of his royal authority, with their lives and fortunes. In further testimony of their joy at his accession, when his coronation was being celebrated, they ordered that a hogshead of wine should be drank on the oc- casion at the Tholsel door, and beer, with tobacco and pipes, given to every foot company to drink the king's health, all charges being defrayed by the cor- poration. About this time, in pursuance of the Com- mission of Grace, Christopher Cheevers passedpatent for certain lands in the county of Meath, together with Carnaghtown, 196 acres, and a mill thereon ; Ballymakenny, Halton, and Skellies, part of the GENERAL HISTORY. 295 same, excepting the glebe land thereon; sundry parks outside Drogheda ; four houses in Peter-street ; a horse-mill, and plot in Fair-street, and several other plots and tenements within the liberties, to hold in socage for ever. Other patentees, under the same commission, were Thomas and Christopher Peppard, Alderman Edward Singleton, Alderman Daniel Tomlinson, and Patrick Plunkett. 1 In October, 1686, on its being intimated, that the Earl of Clarendon, then Lord Lieutenant, was to visit the town, the Assembly ordered, " that there be all due preparations made to receive his Excel- lency, and that provision be made to give him a de- cent treat at the Tholsel, at the discretion of the mayor." A gold box was also directed to be pre- pared, to present to him with the freedom of the corporation, and all charges to be defrayed by them. His Lordship's account of this visit, is given in his letter to the Earl of Kochester, preserved in " Singer's Correspondence." It is dated from Dublin Castle, October 23rd, 1686. " I went on Tuesday to Drogh- eda, as I told you in my last I intended. I lay at Mellefont, the Earl of Drogheda's, being earnestly invited thither. The next morning I came back to the town, and saw nine companies of Sir Thomas Newcomen's regiment (who are there quartered), drawn out, and exercised. They seem to be very good men, are very well sized, and as adroit as can be expected from new men. I dined at the mayor's, in the evening I returned to Mellefont ; and the next 296 GENERAL HISTORY. |i |i; day, being Thursday, I came hither, as I resolved i|i my going out. When I was at Drogheda, the pad I of the 14th instant from England arrived, wh; 'i filled the town with news. Captain Taafie, L( :, Carhngford's brother, declared, that his letters t< ! him, that his captain, my Lord Blessington, was ] out, but he could not yet tell who was in his roo: that my Lord Roscommon was discharged, and v to have £500 per annum pension; that Colonel R sel was to be Lieutenant-Colonel of the Duke Ormond's regiment ; and that Colonel Anthony I ;!!! milton was to have Russel's regiment ; and that I i Lutterel was to be Lieutenant-Colonel to Sir T] ! mas Newcomen, in the place of Anthonj^^ Hamilt< ■i; and that there were to be other alterations in 1 army. I am sure, I know nothing of all these chan^ and perhaps, it is not very usual in other armies, private captains to leap over old officers' heads, be lieutenant-colonels, but the favour of great n III goes far. Perhaps these reports are not true, t ill whether they are or no, it seems I am to be the 1 "j; who is to know them, as I was the last time ; 1 ': the King's will be done. The pubhc News-let from London was likewise produced. I read it r i self, and, amongst other intelligence, it is said, J Fitz James is speedily to go Lord Lieutenant to ] ! land, and the Earl of Tyrconnel is to be his Depv .... I am so accustomed to mortifications, th£ hope I know how to bear this, with that resignat which becomes me, though I confess, if I am recal GENERAL HISTORY. 297 in disgrace, it will go very near me. . . . This has been a great day here, kept solemnly by Act of Par- liament, and having, upon that occasion, had much company, I do not write so composed as I should." On the same day, the Viceroy received " the terrible news of the King's displeasure." I In the following year, his successor. Lord Tyr- connell, in one of those indiscreet attempts to enforce authority as by prerogative, and which ultimately led to the subversion of his royal master's dynasty, assiuned to direct, that Mr. Ignatius Peppard should be elected mayor of Drogheda, and, although the corporation remonstrated against such an innovation on their laws and customs, as to elect one a mayor, who had not been previously an alderman, Peppard was, nevertheless, afterwards sworn. He died im- mediately after his mayoralty, when, on an inquisi- tion post mortem, he was found to have been, at the time of his decease, seised in fee of one house in Deer-street, called the Blue Boar's Head, and other houses near the quay ; two messuages situated in the bull-ring ; sixteen acres outside Duleek gate, near the bog of Beamore, &c., the title to all which, he acquired under a lease from the corporation. It ap- pears, indeed, from the celebrated case of Peppard versus the Mayor of Drogheda, reported in the se- cond volume of Browne's Parliamentary Cases, that King James's corporation assumed to themselves the power, of not only making leases for long terms of years, but also reversionary leases, by one of which, il; 298 GENERAL HISTORY. the subject of the above suit, they afiected to d< 'i to Christopher Peppard Fitz George, an imine relative of the said mayor, the house or hospi I St. James, without St. James's gate, with all the suages, houses, wind-mill, lands, tenements, hi taments, and appurtenances, thereunto belongin sixty-one years, after the expiration of a term of v there were then fifty-two years unexpired, at the yearly rent of £8 lOs. It maybe added, that o ! expiration of the old lease, the corporation, hi i| ij in vain demanded possession of the premises, ( I , bited a bill in Chancery for their recovery, and I accordingly decreed them discharged of the r : ; sionary lease, a decision, which was confirmed, o j: peal to the English House of Lords. The constit members of King James's corporation have i enumerated, in the portion of this work treatii the Corporate History; and it is but here to I ,' that the Lord Lieutenant of Louth and Drod r . . - I appointed by him, was the Lord of Louth ; anc Deputy Lieutenants, Roger Belle w and John E ;: It may be here mentioned, in reference to families jected to notice at this time, that, when Tyrco : issued a proclamation, dated 11th April, 1687, pointing, in the several counties of Ireland, infl tial individuals, to aid the Commissioners of R nue in the collection thereof; those nominated the county Louth were, John Taafie, Arthur Brc low, alias Chamberlain, Murtough Mac Guinr Thomas Bellingham, Patrick Bellew, and Ricl GENERAL HISTORY. 299 Bolton, Esquires ; those for Meatli were, Sir Edward Tyrrel, baronet, Thomas Loftus, Stafford Lightbume, George Pepper, Henry Cottingham, Walter Nangle, Hugh Eeilly, and Hugh Bowen, Esquires ; and for the county of the town of Drogheda, its Mayor or Recorder for the time being. Another similar pro- clamation immediately afterwards, in especial aid of the hearth-money collection, appoints Murtough Mac Guinness, Thomas Bellingham, Richard Bolton, Ti- mothy Armitage, John Babe, Henry Baker, Nicho- las Garland, and Hugh Garland, Esquires, overseers for Louth ; Sir Arthur Rawdon, baronet. Sir John Dillon, Sir John Fleming, Sir Garret Aylmer, knights, Nicholas Cusack, Thomas Bellew, Thomas Loftus, Joseph Pratt, Stafford Lightburne, Robert Longfield, and Henry Draycot, for Meath ; and the Mayor or Recorder of Drogheda, as before, for the county of that town. j On the 12th of March, 1688 (old style). King James the Second, abandoning his Enghsh throne, by reason of the desertion of his cherished favourites, and the open rebelhon of his own children, landed at Kinsale, where he was received with all imagina- ble joy by his Catholic subjects of Ireland. Remain- ing there only until the money, arms, and ammuni- tion he had brought with him, was put on shore, he, on the 14th, proceeded to Cork, where his ill-selected Viceroy, Tyrconnel, met him, and gave his account of the state and condition of the kingdom. On the 24th, the monarch made his entry into Dubiin, " ac- 300 GENIjRAL HISTORY. companied with all the marks of duty, honour ! affection imaginable ; the streets were lined wit] i diers and hung with tapestry, covered with gi :i and strewed with flowers and green leaves ; th Ij pearance of the magistrates, nobility, gentry, jui and of all ranks of people, was suitable to the solemn ceremony of that kind, and performed : I the greatest order and decency imaginable. The I riding on horseback, was more discernible tc j people, whose loud and joyful acclamations, i ,|| him some sort of recompense for the indignit !:i; had suffered from his other subject8"(a). i Soon afterwards, he made a march of perj |i: inspection northward, returning from whict I'' I passed through Newry on the 3rd of April, 1 |;| and on the 4th, was received in this town, ;■ much apparent testimony of allegiance ; while I I Recorder, Henry Dowdall, presented to him the ill lowing address of the town authorities: " Mos cred Sir," said this officer, in his memorable come, " Among the many miracles which ador most every step and passage of your most sa Majesty's life, we think none more conspicuous, ti in all its circumstances and providential accid^ than your Majesty's late more than miraculous! ing, in this your ancient, loyal and long suffering 1 dom, a blessing, by so much the more surprising how much the less expected : a blessing, of whicl (a) Clarke's Life of James II., vol. ii. p. 330. GENERAL HISTORY. 301 ancestors never could dream, when their thoughts were proudest : a blessing, for which we ourselves never could hope, when our misfortunes allowed no other consolation, but what we were forced to seek in dubious prophecies, or in our almost worn and tired devotion : a blessing, in fine, which late poste- rity will scarce believe, be it ever so credulous." After some paragraphs of fulsome panegyric, adapted to the circumstances and taste of the age, he pro- ceeded : " And, though we cannot but utterly abhor and detest the first moving cause of this your most gracious visit, yet cannot we but praise a^d bless providence, for having raised to us, on the perjury, treachery, and perfidiousness of others, a fair oppor- tunity of exerting those loyal principles, which our slaughtered ancestors signed with their blood, and avowed with their dying groans. Yes, sacred Sir, it must make for the credit of long wronged Ireland, that she still sufiered for, and with her royal master, and if now there be found in her any distemper or peccant humours, it proceeds from the too great ful- ness of pampered traitors, who, gorged with the fat of loyal sufierers, must, at length, have broke out in the old sores and ulcers of rebellion. But since it pleased God, and you, great Sir, to have preserved the head and heart still sound, the mahgnance of the distemper being now cast into the extremity of one limb, and the sore being brought to maturity, yoiu- Majesty may with safety apply a discretionary medicine. What remains to me, great Sir, is, humbly If 302 GENERAL HISTORY. to implore your Majesty's acceptance of a sacri which, this day I am commissioned to offer, hearts and hands of thip adoring crowd, the Hves fortunes of all these the ancient inhabitants of " Majesty's most loyal town of Drogheda : that 1 blood is sincere, and proof against the scurvy o bellion, witness these walls ; witness the pavem consecrated by the gore of their ever faithful pr nitors. We will conclude, great Sir, with a s prayer, and it is, not that your Majesty either tect us in, or restore us to, our lost property, churches, or our benefices, no, our loyalty is S( raphic, that it rejects all these drossy alloys of interest, but it is, sacred Sir, that heaven, whose ling we are sure you are, may grant to your i sacred Majesty, after having dashed to pieces treasonable and traitorous associations and cons] cies, and after having soared, like a sun in its meridian, over the heads of all your enemies unnaturally rebellious subjects, after having disn bered rebellion itself, that infernal hydra, and dr it into its hellish mansions, where, we were sui took its first breath, a happy, a speedy, a safe a glorious return to your ancient Imperial thrc in success, a Csesar; in conquest, an Alexam and in religion, a Constantine." This Eecorder Dowdall, was afterwards a m ber of the Parliament which James convened in I lin in the following month, and which was atten< from this vicinity, by the following Protestant pe GENERAL HISTORY. 303 the Primate of Armagh (Doctor Boyle), the Earl of Drogheda, the Bishop of Meath, and Lord Dun- dalk (Gorge): and by the following Catholic peers; the Earl of CarHngford, Viscoimt Gormanston, Viscount Dowth, Viscount Mount Leinster, Lord Slane, Lord Trimlestown, Lord Louth, and Lord Duleek; while amongst the commoners were Henry Dowdall, the said Recorder, and Aldermen Christo- pher Peppard Fitz George, as members for Dro- gheda ; Thomas Bellew and WiUiam Talbot, for the county of Louth; Hugh Gemon and John Babe, for the borough of Ardee ; and Sir William Talbot and Sir Patrick Barnewall as members for Meath. Any detail of the Acts of this Parliament would be foreign to the present history, further than to observe, that the following individuals connected with Dro- gheda, were intended to be affected by the Act of Attainder passed therein : Thomas Grenogue, John Heeny, innkeeper, Nehemiah Elwood, and Lieutenant John Newton, while the ensuing class were pro- claimed as absentees : Joseph Dunbar, gentleman ; Dean Tobias PuUen; William Greaves, vintner; Cap- tain Hugh Montgomery; Jones Elwood, gentleman; Edward Singleton, gentleman; Robert Foord; Tho- mas Newton, senior; Thomas Newton, junior; Tho- mas Meade ; William Newton, chandler ; Robert Hardman, merchant ; John Leigh ; Joseph Tomlin- son; John Sandisford; Thomas Willis; and Kirton, gentleman. | While this Parliament was yet sitting, "on Whit- 304 GENERAL HISTORY. sun Monday, the town of Drogheda was alarmed t two officers, who rode through it towards Dubhi telling them, that the Scots were within six mile and had taken the great guns, carriages, ammunitioi and provisions, that were going to Deny, and ha killed the convoy, whereupon, the townspeople in mediately planted their guns, and shut up the gate having only two companies of the new raised mei and a few horse of the Lord Galmoy, in the towi An express was sent immediately to Duleek, wher the Commissioners of Inquirj'- into the estates ofth absentees, were met (being busied in swearing an examining the tenants of the Earl of Drogheda, an others, as to what rents they paid, and what arreai of rent were due), requiring them to repair to th town, and bring with them what strength they coul for its fortification. Some being sent out to kno-^ the truth of the matter, returning, told them it wa only a false alarm, though it was generally said an believed, that several cart loads of their ammunitior provisions, and arms, were intercepted and taken b the people of Ballyshannon and Enniskillen." Th pamphlet, from which this notice is extracted, wa originally printed in 1689, and is preserved in Lor Somers's Tracts. Immediately following this pas sage, is a comment on the legislative body sitting in Dublin, which, as a contemporaneous expositio] of the fatuitous policy, and delusive jealousies, tha marred their councils, and led to the speedy de feat of their presiding Sovereign, seems intimately GENERAL HISTORY. 305 connected with the events, the catastrophe of which Drogheda was fated to witness. I " There has been a motion in the House of Com- mons, for naturalizing all Frenchmen, insomuch, that some said in the House, that they ought to have a day of thanksgiving for the coming of the Prince of Orange into England. They are preparing for ano- ther court of claims, and reducing the fees of all offi- ces, throwing all forfeitures into the stock of repri- sals, into which stock the late king has thrown his private estate that he had in Ireland. The old pro- prietors are taking possession daily, before the Act that makes void the settlement of Ireland passeth, some of them paying the quit-rent to get into pos- session. Eight Protestant peers, four being spiri- tual, and four temporal, entered their protest at the Bill passing the Lords' House, and Mr. Justice Daly opposed it to that degree, that, in his passion, he said many things that were highly resented, the substance whereof was, that, instead of being a Parliament, as we pretend, we are more like Massaniello's confused rabble, every man making a noise for an estate, and talking nonsense, when our lives are in danger ; we expect a sudden invasion from England, and a bloody war hkely to ensue, as persons altogether unmindful of the ruin that hangs over our heads ; and, without taking any care to prevent it, we are dividing the bear's skin before she is taken. All the honour, we do his Majesty, is, by reflecting on his royal father and brother as wicked and unjust princes, charging VOL. 11. X 306 GENERAL HISTORY. them with enacting those laws, that were contrar to the laws of God and man; which the House summec up in six articles against him. They would hav^ been contented with a submission, but he refuse( any, saying he would go to Jamaica rather, yet hi friends prevailed on him at this juncture, to ask th pardon of the House, and yesterday he was to hav come into the House of Commons; and accordingl} the House being sat, the Usher of the Black ro< went in, and acquainted the Speaker that Mr. Juj tice Daly was at the door, upon which, it was put t the question in the House, whether his asking c pardon should be a sufficient satisfaction for them t pass by his miscarriages, and, it being carried in th affirmative, Mr. Nugent, of Carlingstown in th county Westmeath, a member of the House, was oi dered to go and acquaint him that the House wa resolved to accept of his submission, that so ther might be admittance for his coming to receive pai don of the House. Mr. Nugent, returning into th House, told the Speaker, that Mr. Justice Daly wa very thankful, and ready to come in to make hi submission, and at the same time said, Mr. Speakei I have other great news to tell you, viz., London deny is taken ; upon which, there was three grea shouts set up in the House, and throwing up thei hats, they cried out, ' no submission of Mr. Daly but afterwards, some of the members (none of Mi Daly's friends), finding it false, thought it was som trick put upon them, and threatened Mr. Nugent t •:-.^?f!S^' GENERAL HISTORY. 307 bring him on his knees before the House. They are now passing an Act, that all leases, above one and twenty years, of any corporation in Ireland, shall be void, and it is doubted whether Dublin will be ex- cepted ; they are Ukewise laying a duty of fifteen shillings per ton upon sea coals, and taking away the Poundage Act, which, in corporations, is the clergy's support ; the Ulster Act of tithes ; and the Act for impropriations and augmentation lands ; that so, by taking from the clergy their maintenance, the churches may fall of themselves ; an Act attainting sundry persons by name; and another, granting Xl 5,000 per month for suppHes to King James." It is but justice to the memory of the unfortu- nate James, here to contrast with the proceedings of that Parliament, the speech with which he opened it ; it aiFords a striking illustration of how far the best intentions of a monarch may be carried away, by the impetuosity of the party spirit around him. " The exemplary loyalty which this nation expressed to me, at a time, when others of my subjects so un- dutifully misbehaved themselves to me or so basely betrayed me, and your seconding my Deputy, as you did, in his bold and resolute asserting my right, in preserving this kingdom for me, and putting it in a posture of defence, made me resolve to come to you, and venture my life with you in defence of your H- berties and my own right; and to my great satisfac- tion, I have not only found you ready to serve me, but that your courage has equalled your zeaL I have X 2 '^^^ 308 GENERAL HISTORY. always been for liberty of conscience, and again invading any man's right or liberty, having still mind, the saying of the Holy Writ, — ' Do asyou wou be done to, for this is the law and the prophets.' was this liberty of conscience I gave, which my en mies, both at home and abroad, dreaded to have e tablished by law in all my dominions, and made the: set themselves up against me, though, for differei reasons ; seeing, that if I had once settled it, my pe pie, in the opinion of the one, would have been tc happy, and in the opinion of the other, too grea This argument was made use of to persuade the own people to join with them, and so many of m subjects to use me as they had done, but nothin shall ever persuade me to change my mind as 1 that; wheresoever I am master, I design, God willini to establish it by law, and have no other test or di tinction but that of loyalty ; I expect your concu rence in so Christian a work, and in making Iqm against profaneness, and against all sorts of 'debaucl ery. I shall most readily consent to the makiu such laws, as may be for the good of the nation, th improvement of trade, and relieving such as hav been injured in the late Act of Settlement, as fa forth as may be consistent with reason, justice, an the public good of my people ; and I shall do m part to make you happy and rich. I make no dout of your assistance, by enabling me to oppose th unjust designs of my enemies, and to make this m tion flourish," ".*!«W-." GENERAL HISTORY. 309 The rumours of an invasion of Ireland, from England, were in a few weeks verified. Monsieur Schomberg having landed on the 13th of August, at Bangor, near Belfast, accompanied by a considerable and well appointed army. King James hereupon, with the concurrence of Lord Tyrconnel, some of the French officers, and many of his own subjects, despatched the Duke of Berwick to command the troops about Newry, and to keep the place as long as he could; he next ordered Sir Charles Carny to quit Coleraine, and come off by the way of Charlemont, lest he might be intercepted by the enemy; and on the 26th of August went himself to Drogheda, to en- courage his own men and be nearer the enemy, that he might better observe their motions. He took with him one hundred of his horse guards, two hundred of Parker's regiment of horse, which were all at that time in a condition to march, and left the Duke of Tyrconnel (who was then unwell), behind at Dublin, to expe- dite troops after him, as fast as they could be got into a condition to march. I Schomberg, immediately on his landing, besieged Carrickfergus, which he took, but not without a re- sistance of eight days, and soon afterwards possessed himself of Dundalk. A scarce pamphlet, dated 2nd September, 1689, and entitled " An account of Duke Schomberg's march towards Dublin," contains the following passages in reference to the state of the country at this juncture : " His Grace Duke Schom- herg intends to take in Charlemont, being upon liis 310 GENERAL HISTORY. march towards Dublin, having only the Newry p£ and Drogheda to take, the Irish daily imploring pi tection as he marches The fine woods at Si try and Clontarf are all cut down, and the ways p lisadoed between Swords and Dublin, and Ki James threatens to fight the Enghsh between D: gheda and Dundalk, and intends to march his ari thither, having fortified the town of Drogheda wi all the care and diligence they are capable of, whi truly is not much, for a safe retreat in case the enei should be beaten, thinking that they may endure winter's siege, and then they may be reUeved by t French at spring, the Irish bragging that they ha left the North for the Enghsh to make themseh graves." It was on the day of the date of this pubhcatic that King James issued his proclamation " from c Court at Drogheda," which declared, " we will cai 40*. sterhng, to be paid to any soldier, whether ( thoHc or Protestant, English or stranger, now se: ing under the command of Marshal Schomberg, w will come and enlist himself in our army, and as the officers, that we will give them the same co mand that they had in the enemy's army, and a will prefer them to better employments as theysh deserve." This monarch's troops having come i he formed a camp, and found his men, both office and soldiers, hearty and resolute, as men who fel conviction that nothing but victory could seci them from losing their liberty, their estates, and «*;?¥'W -ff---^**!': GENERAL HISTORY. 311 ligion; nevertheless the French ceased not persuad- ing the king to retire towards Athlone, and by con- sequence to desert Dublin. " Even the very night before the Duke of Tyrconnel came to Drogheda, who brought with him the remainder of the troops, they pressed him with more vehemence than ever, to come to some resolution, as they called it, which was in effect to abandon all; but the king told them, that if once he made a step back, the whole country would be so disheartened as to give all up, that the newly raised troops would dwindle away to nothing, and that whoever had anything to lose, would run into the enemy to seek protection. This reasoning not sufficing, but, on the contrary, the arguments and earnestness of those who urged a retreat having been redoubled, the king told them, with more than usual warmth, that he would not do so irrational a thing; that he was positively resolved to fight the enemy, it being neither agreeable to his temper nor reputa- - tion to abandon Dublin, and make so shameful a retreat, unless he was forced to do it. The next day the Duke of Tyrconnel came up and gave the king an account of the condition and number of hie troops, and what he had left with Mr. Simon Luttrell, the Governor of Dublin; upon which his Majesty called the Ambassador, and all the general officers, to con- sult what was fit to be done; the Duke of Tyrconnel and the rest of his own subjects, were unanimously of his own opinion \ the Duke, moreover, assured them there was not corn enough in Connaught to sub- 312 GENERAL HISTORY. sist 20,000 men for two months, upon which the king resolved, now he had got his army together, which consisted of near that number, to advance towards the enemy, as they came not towards him, but re- mained still at Dundalk, though their cannon and stores were put on shore, and the Enniskilliners had joined them with two regiments of horse, as many of foot, and one of dragoons, such as they were; accord- ingly, upon Holyrood day, the 14th of September, they marched from Drogheda to Ardee. The French Ambassador was for this march, but not Monsieur Rosen, who, according to his wonted caution, would never give any advice, but retire and avoid fighting, not that he wanted courage, for no man had more, or more experience in war ; but it was his misfor- tune to be over-cautious, besides he had writ into France, as the king was informed, that it was impos- sible for his Majesty to get an army together, and when he saw the Qpntrary, had a mind it should do nothing"(a). With the wish, however, of a prompt encounter with Schomberg, King James advanced to Ardee, " which," says a Report, dated October 16, 1689, " is now his head quarters, and where salt, brandy, and to- bacco are not to be had." Not finding Schomberg there, he advanced as far as the bridge of Aflfane, and subsequently removed to that of Maplestown, where he learned that his opponent had begun to (a) Clarke's Life of James II. vol. ii. p. 377. GENERAL HISTORY. 313 fortify Dundalk as his winter quarters, his army being encamped on the other side of the river, while he kept with himsfelf in the town, and within the en- trenchments (at which they were then working), two battahons of horse and a battalion of foot. King James, willing to profit by the eagerness of his ad- herents, drew up his forces in battle array, but Schomberg declined hazarding his master's cause at that juncture, as he well might, with an army then languid and distempered, suffering under the fatigues of their recent march, the inclemency of the chmate, and the deprivation of food, fuel, and covering; whereupon, James, instead of ordering an assault upon a camp, that, as Story suggests, " it certainly was not impossible to force," with that fatuity and in- decision, which marked his progress in Ireland, and which, on this occasion, induced even Marshal Rosen to say, " if you possessed a hundred kingdoms you would lose them," fell back upon Ardee, where he remained until the 3rd of November; when, breaking up his camp, but leaving six battalions of foot, and fifty horse, in Ardee, and other detachments in its vicinity, he returned himself to Drogheda, where he kept as his own guard six battalions of foot, and sent the rest into winter quarters. On the 8th, finding that Schomberg (who in truth was theretofore ex- pecting supplies of men and provisions from Eng- land), had also decamped northward with a large number of sick soldiers, James returned to Dublin, after sending a detachment to occupy Dundalk, and 314 GENERAL HISTORY. leaving but three battalions in Drogheda, and thus ended the campaign of 1689. Soon afterwards, a printed notification entitled, " Great and good News from Ireland," was indus- triously circulated in the sister country, with the obvious intention of urging the desired arrival of King "William to confront his rival. It stated that " Advice came to King James at Dublin, that the famous town of Drogheda was lost, Duke Schomberg having detached a strong party of horse, foot, and dragoons, consisting of 5000 men, under the com- mand of Lieutenant-General Douglas, who, investing the place, immediately ordered their miners, and raised a strong battery of whole and demy cannon, which in a little time made so great a breach in the old wall, that our men, after having filled up the ditch, entered the town pell-mell, and put all that did not immediately lay down their arms to the sword. All the prisoners profess themselves willing and glad to be taken from the misery they feared would come upon them, by which you may judge what may be expected if our king were once over." The rumour, however, was utterly without founda- tion. Another Eeport of more veracity, referring to the 20th of March, 1689, states the recent death of Marshal de Col, Governor of Drogheda, and of Co- lonel Mortles; and adds, that the forces of James, at Dundalk, Ardee, Cavan, Castle-Blaney, and Drogheda, were in a bad condition, dying in great numbers for want of provision and other conveniences, and that GENERAL HISTORY, 315 in Ardee alone, there were at that moment 300 sick. A third pamphlet of the time states a circumstance, so thoroughly in keeping with the fatuity that influ- enced King James's actions, as to leave little doubt of its occurrence. " On Saturday last, passed through Chester for London two gentlemen, who lately made their escape from Dublin, by whom, amongst other relations, we have it confirmed, that three regiments of French marched into Dublin, upon whose arrival King James ordered Colonel Dorrington and Colonel Fitz James, to march their forces towards Drogheda, and to deliver their posts to the French; which so alarmed the chief of the Irish, that, after a short con- sultation amongst the principal of their officers, it was agreed, that Dorrington, accompanied with some others, should wait upon the late king, to know if by this his Majesty's orders it was intended, the French should have the guard of his person, which, after some small time of cabinet consultation, the king declared it to be his pleasure; which words so surprised and incensed Dorrington and his party, that immediately himself. Colonel Barker, and about twelve other chief officers went to the king, and de- livered up their commissions, telling him withal, that many more resolved to do the like. The proceed- ing startled the late king and his council, and put them on this medicine, to prevent the evil conse- quences, of disobliging either faction, that the oldest battahon of Irish guards should keep their place as before, and that a battalion of French should join 316 GENERAL HISTORY. with them ; but this decision pleased neither party, and some high words happened even almost to blows; though Tyrconnel did not pubhcly appear in these disturbances, neither was he comprised, as has been said." In June, 1690, King James receiving intimation, that his kingly rival was soon expected in Ireland, thought fit to commit the government and charge of Dublin to Colonel Lutterel, and to advance himself with about 6,000 French foot, old experienced sol- diers, to join the rest of his forces, intending to pe- netrate northward as far as Dundalk, to eat up the forage thereabout, and preserve the county Louth behind him. On the l6th of that month, he pro- ceeded to Castletown-Bellew, where he encamped, on the southern bank of the river that falls into the sea at Dundalk, and having that town on his right hand. His movements were, as it might be supposed, narrowly observed by the opposite party ; and, in a letter from Mr. Francis Gore, dated 19th of June, 1690, "from the bridge between Dundalk and Newry" (i. e. Flurry-bridge), to the Honourable Lieutenant- Colonel Purcel, Governor of Newry, and which is preserved in the Manuscripts of Trinity College, Dub- lin, the following account is given, as gleaned from prisoners : " King James has 20,000 men encamped about Bedloe's Castle (Castle Roche), and this night they expect 10,000 French ; their artillery is not yet come up to them, but expected in one day or two. Their King is at Dundalk, and soon designs to re- GENERAL HISTORY. 317 move thence to Armagh, where they hear, the great- est number of our army lies now. The prisoner gives you an account of as many regiments as he can think of, which are, T3a'conners two regiments of horse and dragoons ; the Royal regiment, 3 ; Gordon and Neill's regiment of foot, 4 ; Mac Gillicuddy's regi- ment of foot, 5; Lord Dungan's regiment of dra- goons, 6; Colonel Parker's regiment of horse. Bri- gadier Maxfield's regiment of dragoons, 7; Lord Galmoy's regiment of horse, 8 ; and several regi- ments of foot, whose colonels he knows not." James, however, having learned that William had landed on the 14th at Carrickfergus, and was preparing to march with a vast army forthwith to Dundalk, did not think his present position tenable against such assailants, and, therefore, retired on the 23rd towards Ardee, where his artillery joined him, and thence, ultimately, on the 28th of June, crossed the Boyne, and encamped upon the" opposite side, having his right wing towards Drogheda, and his left pointing up the river. There, considering it a point, which, though not the most strong for himself, was the most exposed for permitting the advance of a hos- tile army, he resolved to await and oppose his rival, although himself had not above 20,000 men, of whom only the 6,000 French could be considered expe- rienced soldiers, but the rest being fresh, ill-disci- phned, and half armed, while William's attacking army was composed of between 40 and 50,000, all disciplined veterans, familiar with victory, encou- -":^^^ 318 GENERAL HISTORY. raged with pay and plenty, and animated by a fear- less leader. It is also to be recorded, that, between Schomberg's and William's train of artillery, there were fifty pieces, thirty of which were particularly noted for their large size and calibre ; while James had at the first but twelve field-pieces, six of which he was infatuated enough to send off with part of his baggage to Dublin the night before the battle. Neither is it to be forgotten, that the soldiers and adherents of King James were paid in the most debased coinage. Sir James Ware states, that, " even brass failing to answer his exigencies, a new con- trivance was, just before this battle, set on foot, of impressing pieces of a debased white metal hke pewter, and these, it is said, were intended to be passed at the currency of a crown, and a proclama- tion was prepared for authorizing their issue, had not the subsequent success of King William put a stop to the project. These pieces were stamped about the edge with this inscription, contrived pos- sibly to prevent the clipping of the valuable stuff: ' Melioris tessera fati. Anno regni sexto.' " With all these inauspicious circumstances. King James's council of officers further reminded him, but in vain, that the naval armament of France was completed, and the fleet perhaps already on the Eng- lish coast ; that Louis had promised, as soon as the squadron attending on William should retiu"n, he would send a fleet of frigates into the Irish seas, to destroy his transports; that he would be thus fatally ■^•-■^:?55^-:' GENERAL HISTORY. 319 detained in Ireland, while Britain was threatened by foreign invasion, and the domestic enemies of the reigning prince concocting an insurrection. In such circumstances, they advised him to wait the event of these designs formed in his favour ; not to hazard an engagement against superior numbers ; to strengthen his garrisons ; to march to the Shannon with his cavalry and a small body of foot, and thus to maintain a defensive war against an enemy, that, in a strange and unfriendly climate, without provi- sions or succours, must gradually perish by disease and famine. Their monarch, on the contrary, as be- fore, contended, that to abandon the capital, were to confess himself subdued ; that his reputation must be irreparably ruined ; that the Irish, who judged by appearances, would desert ; and, what was of still more moment, his friends in England and Scotland must be dispirited, and deterred from their attempts to restore him. He expressed satisfaction that he had at last the opportunity of one fair battle for the Crown ; he insisted on maintaining his present post, and from such animated language his officers con- cluded, that he meant to take a desperate part in the engagement ; yet, with an ominous precaution, that betrayed the broken spirit of a once gallant and skilful commander, he despatched Sir Patrick Trant, one of his commissioners of revenue, to Wa- terford, to prepare a ship for conveying himself to France, in case of any untoward consequences. King Wilham was equally anxious and sensible ) y -- J.- •',yw^.:T"fZ^- 320 GENERAL HISTORY. it was his interest, to bring the contest to an imme- diate decision ; and, on the last day of June, 1690, at dawn of morning, he moved his army forward in three columns towards the Boyne. After refreshing his troops out of view of the Irish, at the back of the eminence now occupied by Townley-hall, and where the stone, on which himself breakfasted, is still traditionally pointed out, he placed himself at the head of his advanced guard, and passing through the glen, that seemed to open an avenue for him, and which is still popularly styled King William's glen ; he appeared, by nine o'clock, within two miles of Drogheda, on a no less favourable field for dis- posing his forces, in front of the fords of Oldbridge. Observing the eminences of TuUyallen at his left, he rode to their summit, with his principal officers, to take a view of the enemy. On their right, full in view, was their then friendly town of Drogheda, filled with Irish soldiers ; westward of the town, on the further banks of the river, their camp extended in two lines, with a morass on the left, difficult to be passed ; in their front was that tongue of land, bounded by the Boyne, which afterwards became the field of the fiercest fight; while the Boyne itself, there, in most places deep and dangerous with rugged banks, was yet further defended by breast- works, and mar- gined with huts and hedges, convenient to be lined with infantry; on the hill at their rear, appeared the church and village of Donore, but other eminences to the south-west, intercepted any further view of -;*i^>2' GENERAL HISTORY. 321 their encampment ; so that Scravenmore, one of Wil- liam's generals, who counted but forty-six regiments, spoke with contempt of the enemy's numbers; when King Wilham replied, that more might be concealed behind these hills, and many be stationed in the town, *' but it is my purpose," he added, " to be speedily acquainted with their whole strength." As his army was marching into camp, he advanced within cannon range of the ford at Oldbridge, with the object of closer observation, and dismounted, while Berwick, Tyrconnel, Sarsfield, and some others of James's generals, rode slowly along the opposite bank. On remounting, a ball, from a field-piece con- cealed by a hedge, hit the bank of the river, and taking a slanting direction, grazed his right shoulder, tearing his coat, and slightly lacerating his flesh, but, though a report of his death was quickly circulated, he sustained no other injury than a temporary diffi- culty in using his sword arm, and that difficulty he did not permit long to retard his personal military service(a). On the night of the same day, he called a coun- cil of war to receive his orders, and then directed the plan of attack for the ensuing morning, which was, that the river should be passed in three diffe- rent places; by his right wing, commanded by Count Maignard de Schomberg, son of the Duke, and Ge- («) It is said, that, during the whole time this scar was kept open and discharged matter, his Majesty continued perfectly free from his asthmatic complaint. VOL. IL Y 322 GENERAL HISTORY. neral Douglas, on the west, towards Slane, where the river was in almost every place fordable, and on the success of which, might be attained the advantage of out-flanking the Irish army, and cutting off their communication with that pass of Duleek, which af- terwards preserved them on their general rout ; the centre was directed to cross the river, under the command of Duke Schomberg, in front of James's camp, leaving the left wing to be led over by the king himself, at a ford between his centre and the town of Drogheda. The movements of the next day being thus arranged, and " Westminster," de- clared the pass-word for the night, as stated in his "Royal Diary," he, at midnight, once more rode through his camp with torches, inspected every post, and issued his final orders for that important en- gagement, of which a short narrative here may not be deemed irrevelant. Early on the following morning, Tuesday (July 1st), "the day being," as Story says, "very clear, as if the sun itself had a mind to see what would happen," the right wing, the cavalry of which was commanded by Count Schomberg, and the infantry by General Douglas, marched towards Slane, which should have been considered the key of King James's position, and, therefore, the earhest, and best guarded, but to their surprise, they were even permitted to cross the river without any opposition, and, although they were met on the other side by Sir Neill O'Neill's regiment of dragoons, which, on a partial adoption GENERAL HISTORY. 1 323 of General Hamilton's advice, King James had or- dered to be stationed over night at the ford, and, al- though this little band acquitted themselves with great gallantry, yet, the superior number of their opponents, above 10,000 horse and foot, soon com- pelled them to retreat, with the loss of their colonel, and (according to Story) seventy of their men; where- upon, without hesitation, they forced their way through corn-fields enclosed by deep ditches, beyond which lay a morass still more embarrassing, yet into which the infantry were ordered to plunge, while the horsCj by a firm passage to the right, effected their own way, although with fatigue and difficulty. The left wing of James's forces, astonished at the boldness of this movement, fled instantly towards Duleek, not without suffering great loss in their flight, being vigorously pursued by Count Schomberg. In the mean time, when it was supposed, or, as Story has it, communicated by an express from Ge- neral Douglas to his King, that the right wing had made good their passage, the infantry in the centre was set in motion; the Dutch blue guards, followed by the Huguenots, Enniskilleners, Brandenburghers, and Enghsh, plunged into the stream where it wound about the tongue-like promontory of Oldbridge, the only field that seemed to open between the high southern banks; and there they boldly advanced in front of the enemy's lines and breastworks, check- ing the flow of the river by their numbers, and causing the water to rise so high, that, although they y2 324 GENERAL HISTORY. had only the natural current to wade through, the tide not being then on the ebb or flow in the Boyne, the infantry were obliged to carry their muskets above their heads. When they were about midway in the water, the Irish army fired from behind the hedges, breastworks, and cabins, which somewhat protected their front ; a volley from the river, how- ever, drove them back, at sight of which, a squa- dron of General Hamilton's horse bravely charged the Brandenburghers. That squadron was, neverthe- less, also repulsed; but in its retreat, fell upon the ad- vanced Huguenots, broke their lines, and killed their General, La Caillemotte, after which, in the neces- sity of its flight, this diminished troop, wheeling through the village of Oldbridge, with the object of joining the Irish army, was almost utterly cut down by the Dutch and Enniskilleners. Soon afterwards, the Duke Schomberg, while rallying the scattered Huguenots, now without a commander, was assailed by a detachment of King James's Guards, from whom having received three sabre cuts, and at last a more fatal pistol ball, he fell dead from his horse into the river. Other accounts are given of the manner in which this memorable hero died, but as that, here adopted, is not only so related in King James's Me- moir, but also in the London Gazette of 10th July, 1690, it seems more conformable to the truth. The celebrated defender of Derry, the Reverend George Walker, whose passion for military glory had hur- ried him unnecessarily into this engagement, received GENERAL HISTORY. | 325 about the same time, a wound in his belly, and in- stantly expired. After an uninterrupted firing of an hour, the dis- order on both sides occasioning some respite, the centre of the English army began to recover from their confusion; while the Irish retreated to Donore (near the old church of which their Sovereign had re- mained during the engagement, surrounded by his guards), and here, drawing up in good order, once more advanced to the fight. William, who, accom- panied by the Prince of Denmark, another son-in- law of James the Second, had crossed the river at a ford within a mile of Drogheda, with the left wing of his horse, including the Dutch, Danish, and Eng- Hsh cavalry, now placed himself at the head of his army, and when the enemy had, in a rally, advanced from Donore, almost within musket shot of his in- fantry, he was seen sword in hand, animating his squadrons, and preparing to renew the engage- ment. James's troops, however, after a short halt, again retraced their steps to Donore, but there facing about, charged with such success, that the English cavalry, though commanded by William in person, were repulsed. His assailants were in their turn gallantly charged by the Enniskilleners, supported by the Dutch, and ultimately by all the English army, when the battle was for some time maintained with equal bravery by both parties; imtil, the Irish infantry having been broken, and Hamilton's ca- valry, after a furious charge, also routed, James and 326 GENEBAL HISTORY. his troops retreated through the pass of Duleek, over the little bridge, which was then the only safe mode of crossing the Nanny-water thereabouts, the banks higher up being impracticable by reason of a bog. When Count Schomberg, informed of his father's death, and his zeal being thereupon fired by a spirit of revenge, hotly pursued the fugitives, covering the ground with carnage ; but King James had no sooner passed Duleek, than Tyrconnel and Lausun, with some horse and foot, turned upon the pursuers, " and made so good a countenance, that they suffered them to pass quietly over the brook, and bring away five of their six pieces of cannon, the other, being bogged, was lost." Then it was, that, by King WilUam's com- mand, the Earl of Portland obliged Count Schomberg and his forces to return to the commons of Duleek, where that monarch's infantry had encamped, and there all remained under arms that night, while the main body of the fugitives effected their retreat, in such order as was commended by their enemies, to another great defile on the Dubhn road — the Naul. The loss on James's side was computed to be about 1200, while on "William's it scarcely amounted to one-third of that number. The chief persons of dis- tinction slain on the former were, besides Sir Neill O'Neill, the Lords Dungan and Carlingford, the Marquess d'Hoquincour, Colonel Green, and many others. On the latter were, as before related, Schom- berg, Caillemotte, and Doctor Walker. Of Duke Schomberg, who, at the advanced age of w GENERAL HISTORY. 327 82, here closed his long military career, Harris, in his " History of Wilham the Third," says, " he was de- scended of a very ancient and noble family in the Palatinate, and was the son of Count Schomberg (slain at the battle of Prague, in 1620), by his first wife, an English lady, daughter of Lord Dudley. Forced by the calamities of his country to abandon it, the Duke retired to Holland, where he eerved, first in the army of the United Provinces, under Frederick-Henry, Prince of Orange, and after be- came the particular confidant of his son, William the Second; on whose death, in 1650, he engaged in the service of France, and gained so high a reputation, that, next to the Prince of Conde, and Marshal Tu- renne, he was esteemed the best general there, though, on account of his firm adherence to the Protestant religion, he was not raised for a considerable time to the dignity of Marshal. In November, 1659, he oflfered his service to King Charles II., to aid his restoration to the throne of England, and in the year following, the Court of France, being solicitous for the interests of Portugal against the Spaniards, sent him to Lisbon, and in his way he passed through England, in order to concert measures with King Charles, for the support of the former kingdom. He advised that king to set up for the head of the Pro- testant rehgion, which would keep the princes of Germany dependent, make him compeer of their af- fairs, and, by gaining him great credit with the Hu- guenots, keep France in continual awe of him. He . ;-.,-'I-il 328 GENERAL HISTORY. advised him also to employ such military men as had served under Cromwell, whom he thought the best officers he had ever seen; and above all to keep Dunkirk, which would be a check both upon France and Spain, but in every particular his council was rejected. After his arrival in Portugal he com- manded the Portuguese army with such success, that Spain was forced to make peace with them and to acknowledge the House of Braganza lawful heirs to that Crown; for which eminent service, he was created a Grandee of the kingdom and Count of Mertola, with the grant of a pension of £5000, sterling, to him and his heirs. In 1672, he com- manded the French armies in Catalonia, and in 1676, the French king, when -returning to Paris, confided to him the command of his army in Flanders, soon after which he obhged King William, then Prince of Orange, to raise the siege of Maestricht, and, though a Protestant, had the baton of Marshal of France conferred on him ; but, when the persecution and sup- pression of the Reformed religion began in that kingdom, in 1685, he desired leave to return into his own country, which was denied him, and all he could obtain was a license to go to Portugal. "When he went thither, though he had preserved that nation from the yoke of Castile, yet there were those who represented to the king the protecting a heretic in so odious a light, that he was forced to send the Marshal away. He thereupon retired to England, and, passing through Holland, entered into «. parti- GENERAL HISTORY. 320 cular confidence with the Prince of Orange, abd being invited by the Elector of Brandenburgh to Berliij, was made Governor of Prussia, and constituted Gene- ralhssimo of his armies ; he was also treated by the young Elector with the same regard his father had expressed for him, and in 1688, was sent by him to Cleves, to command the troops raised by the Empire for the defence of Cologne." When the Prince of Orange was preparing for his expedition into Eng- land, the Marshal obtained leave of the Elector to accompany him, and upon his advancement to the throne, Schomberg was created a Baron, Earl, Mar- quess, and Duke, with a succession of honours, whose well-merited rapidity has only been equalled in the present times in the career of a noble individual, whose acquirements and achievements bear many striking similitudes with the subject of this notice. Schomberg, too, was as great in council as at the head of an army, and withal a man of great calmness, application, and conduct, true judgment and imdevi- ating probity; courteous and affable, yet had an air of grandeur that ever commanded respect. Immediately after the battle his remains were removed to St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, where they lay until the 10th of July, when they were so- lemnly deposited under the communion table. The interment is noticed in the Register, but being in pencilHng, is now somewhat illegible. Dean Swift made repeated applications to the descendants of this veteran warrior, to contribute to the erection of a 330 GENERAL HISTORY. monument to his memory, and in particular on the 10th April, 1728, wrote to Lord Carteret in the fol- lowing terms : " The great Duke of Schomberg is buried under the altar in my Cathedral. My Lady Holderness is my old acquaintance, and I writ about a small sum to make a monument for her grandfa- ther; I writ to her myself, and also there was a letter from the Dean and Chapter, to desire she would or- der a monument to be raised for him in my Cathe- dral. It seems Mildmay, now Lord Fitz Walter, her husband, is a covetous fellow, or whatever is the matter we have had no answer. I desire you will tell Lord Fitz Walter, that, if he will not send £50 to make a monument for the old Duke, I and the Chapter -will erect a small one of ourselves for ten pounds, wherein it shall be expressed that the pos- terity of the Duke, naming particularly Lady Holder- ness and Mr. Mildmay, not having the generosity to erect a monument, we have done it of ourselves: and, if for an excuse they pretend they will send for his body, let them know it is mine, and rather than send it I will take up the bones, and make of it a skeleton, and put it in my Register Office, to be a memorial of their baseness to all posterity. This I expect your Excellency will tell Mr. Mildmay, or, as you now call him. Lord Fitz Walter; and I expect likewise, that he will let Sir Conyers D'Arcy know how ill I take his neglect in this matter, although, to do him justice, he averred that Mildmay was so avaricious a wretch, that he would let his own father GENERAL HISTORY. 331 be buried without a cofBn to save charges." Receiv- ing no answer to this or his other applications, with the sanction of his Chapter in full assembly, the Dean caused a large slab of black marble to be erected in the Cathedral, with an inscription much to the effect which he threatened. King William after the battle created his son Count Schomberg (who so signalized himself on the eventful field), Baron of Tara, Earl of Bangor, and Duke of Leinster, all which Irish honours became extinct by his death without male issue. — Caillemotte, who had served Schomberg in most of his campaigns, found an humbler grave, which is still traditionally pointed out as a well-preserved mound, between two old elms, within Mr. Coddington's classic demesne at Oldbridge. In his instance, also, King WiUiam's gratitude was evinced in the person of his elder bro- ther, the Marshal Ruvigny, on whom he conferred the command of Schomberg's regiment of horse. — Doctor George Walker, rendered famous for his de- fence of Londonderry, had been, in 1662, instituted to the rectories of Donaghmore and Erregal-Kee- rogue, in the county Tyrone. On the revolution he threw aside the gown, raised a regiment to main- tain King William's cause, early threw himself into Derry to promote that object, was chosen its gover- nor, and by his eminent services effected the rais- ing of the siege. After that event he passed over to England, where he was graciously received by their Majesties, obtained the thanks of the House of r-T 332 GENERAL HISTORY. Commons, and a grant of £5000. It is said that King William, on this occasion, appointed him Bishop of Derry, " that so he might receive the reward of his great service in the place where he did it." That see was not, however, in point of fact then vacant, though by a curious coincidence it became so, by the death of Doctor Ezekiel Hopkins the day before the Battle of the Boyne; there, however, he fell, as above mentioned, the victim of his fanatical loyalty; he was buried near the church of his rectory of Donagh- more, where a monument to his memory was erected by his widow. One other instance of King William's gratitude, for service rendered to him on this day of his destiny, is recorded in the person of Toby or Theobald Mulloy, a captain of Dragoons, who, when the monarch's horse was shot under him, promptly averted the probable results of the crisis by substi- tuting his own; the royal recollection of which inci- dent is evinced in a letter from Secretary South- well, dated at King's- Weston, in 1690, after King William's return from Holland, and the original of which is preserved in the Manuscripts of Trinity College. " Sir," writes Southwell to George Clarke, the King's Secretary of War in Ireland, " you wUl not be angry to know that I have the honour to en- tertain his Majesty at my house, after I had been with him one night at sea. He lies tomorrow at Bad- minton, and then hurries away for London. I hope you had what I enclosed you to my Lord Marlbo- rough; I fear in that hurry I forgot to undersign it. GENERAL HISTORY. 333 I entreat you to put my name thereto, if it be still in your hands; and this was the last command I had from his Majesty, that I should write to you his will and pleasure that Captain MuUoy have the first troop that falls in Colonel Wolseley's regiment. I am doing forty things at once, and therefore wonder not if I say nothing, but ever am. Sir, yours, &c., " KoBERT Southwell." This Captain MuUoy lived to the year 1734, when he was buried in the church of Ardcame, county Roscommon. Coote MuUoy, Esq., of Oakport, De- puty Lieutenant, and present High Sheriff of that county, deduces his very ancient line of pedigree di- rectly through this gallant soldier. The other officers, who fell on William's side, were, according to tradi- tion, buried about a mile from the town of Oldbridge, where there is a piece of quarry ground, and beside it now a lime kiln and a cabin, close to the Irish ram- parts ; it is said to have been then an osier garden. At several points of the battle field, which extended from the bridge of Slane nearly to Drogheda, many remains of earthworks, and other traces of mihtary operations, are still to be seen. The whole ground, indeed, on which the desti- nies of the three kingdoms were decided, where two kings in person contended for their djmasties and faith, throughout one long summer's day, and the royalty and hopes of the Stuarts were extinguished for ever, should be a scene of paramount interest to every in- dividual in the British Empire. " This view," writes 334 GENERAL HISTORY. Arthur Young, in his Tour of 1776, *' from a rising ground which looks down upon it, is exceedingly beautiful, being one of the completest landscapes I have seen. It is a vale, losing itself in front between bold decHvities, above which are some thick woods and distant country. Through the vale, a river winds, and forms an island, the point of which is tufted with trees in the prettiest manner imaginable ; on the other side, a rich line of wood. To the right, on a rising ground on the banks of the river, is the obelisk, backed by a very bold declivity, to the foot of which I walked ; it is founded on a rock that rises boldly from the river, and is a noble pillar, ad- mirably placed. I seated myself on the opposite rock, and indulged the emotions which, with a me- lancholy not unpleasing, filled my bosom, while I reflected on the consequences that had sprung from the victory here obtained; liberty was then triumph- ant"(a) ! And so should every lover of constitutional freedom respond, if that day of triumph, as it dissolved the empire of a race, infatuated, imbecile, and ungrate- ful, had introduced peace and toleration in Ireland ; encouraged the industry, developed the resources, and won the allegiance of a chivalrous and long per- secuted people ; assimilated the laws, and associated the hearts of the sister countries ; repressed their ri- valries, and fostered their mutual interests; then, indeed, would it have been the triumph of liberty ; (a) Young's Tour, vol. i. p. 145. w 334 GENEBAL HISTORY. Arthur Young, in his Tour of 1776, " from a rising ground which looks down upon it, is exceedingly bisautiful, being one of the completest landscapes I have seen. It is a valcj losing itself in front between bold declivities, above which are some thick woods and distant country. Through the vale, a river winds, . and forms an island, the point of which is tufted with trees in the prettiest manner imaginable; on the otiier side, a rich line of wood. To the right, on a rising ground on the banks of the river, is the obelisk, backed by a very bold decHvity, to the foot of which I walked ; it is founded on a rock that rises boldly from the river, and is a noble pillar, ad- mirably placed. I seated myself on the opposite rock, and indulged the emotions which, with a me- lancholy not unpleasing, fiUed my bosom, while I reflected on the consequences that had sprung from the victory here obtained; liberty was then triumph- ant"(a) ! And so should every lover of constitutional freedom respond, if that day of triumph, as it dissolved the empire^of a race, infatuated, imbecile, and ungrate- ful, had iniroduced peace and toleration in Ireland ; encouraged the industry, developed the resources, and won the allegiance of a chivalrous and long per- secuted people ; assimilated the laws, and associated the hearts of the sister countries ; repressed their ri- valri^ and fostered their mutual interests; then, indeed,- would it hatv« been the triumph of liberty; "^ (o) Young's Tour, vol. i. p. 145. ■W^-']£^ ' - ^ i-^J™ V^ ■-i^jf- E:»jft iiOUrt:- -''-.jr^t^ ■■ JTi jg, ^Safea^^i'^ IOl^JV^'l.-.; >iv:i^f. ->-f-i "^MfW.' VV>*,«f i^-jg:^ r^-vr^f^r - \,- - Sl-^T >^ K- ■ ' :»» GENERAL HISTORY. 335 but the taunting orgies, with which the anniversaries of that battle have been celebrated, and more espe- cially in the town which is the subject of the present history ; the party excitements, amidst which bon- fires were kindled, cannons fired, bells rung, flowers debased, and even the social board infuriated, were wholly unworthy of the great man, and the great principle that led in the revolution. PubHc opinion is, however, happily righting itself; and, it may be fearlessly asserted, that every hour, the moral and substantial union of the countries is deferred ; every withholding of even and universal legislation through the empire, detracts from the peace of the one coun- try, the revenue of the other, and the power and happiness of both. | It must not be omitted, that memorials of ano- ther character are also confidently produced, in tes- timony of the achievements of this day. In the Thol- sel of Drogheda, as before mentioned, are preserved kettle-drums that were captured from James ; in Townley Hall is the sword of the victorious monarch; and at Mr. Thompson's of Ravensdale, the lacerated and stained buff jerkin which he wore, when the ball grazed his shoulder. | It is also to be noted, that, consequent upon the coming of King Wilham into Ireland and this vic- tory of the Boyne, various medals were struck, of which, plates and descriptions are given in " His- toire de Guillaume 3, par N. Chevalier." Of the for- mer class, one represents a unicorn as bounding from L. 33G GENERAL HISTORY. the sea shore over the sea, which is covered with transports; three frogs are represented as croaking, to deter the flight of the animal, who is, however, spring- ing forward as not to be retarded : motto," Non metam abjecta morantur," with, on the exergue, " Trajectus in Hiberniam, 1 690 ;" on the reverse, Amsterdam is typed as a female, with a Hon supporting a crowned '/ shield and a sceptre at her front, and behind her a three-headed hydra vomiting flames : motto, " Quan- tum discriminis hie est ;" on the exergue, " Amstla redux." — A second, with the same face, exhibits on the reverse the bust of King William, with all his titles. — A third has in front his bust, with the motto, "Gulielm. iii. D. G. Brit. Rex. Araus. Pr. Belg. Gub.," and on the reverse an eagle, descending from its flight over a sea covered with shipping, as about to rest on an island, which presents a city or town to receive him ; the eagle bears in his beak an olive branch, and a branch of the orange tree with the . fruit : motto, " AHs non armis," and on the exergue, " Trajectus in Hiberni. Lond. ^ June, 1690." — A fourth gives the King's bust with his titles in front, and on the reverse appears Ireland, as a female figure, supplicating Jupiter and Neptune to relieve her from her suflferings. Jupiter holds the thunderbolt in his hand above, while Neptune, symbohcal of King William, rises from the sea, Phoebus giddily career- ing between them, as hazarding the conflagration of the world: motto, "Nisitu, quistemperet ignes?" — Of the class, commemorative of the battle of the ^'i-H^''^-^, GENERAL HISTORY. 337 Boyne, the first has on the face, King WilUam's bust, with the motto, " Gul. iii. M. Brit. R. de Jac. etLud. tri- umph.;" on the reverse he appears, crossing the Boyne on horseback in front of his men, the Irish army with their cannon in disorder on the opposite bank: motto, " Et vulnera et invia spernit ;" on the exergue, " Ejecit Jacobum, restituit Hiberniam, 1690." — Ano- ther only differs in the words inscribed round the bust, which give the King his full titles of govern- ment, " Guilh. iii. D. G. Mag. Bri. Fran, et Hib. Rex." — A thi^d presents his bust, inscribed as on the last, while on the reverse, he appears careering on horse- back in the foreground, after crossing the river, his army in full pursuit of the routed Irishry; James flying from the hill above, Lausun following him; -^he Duke Schomberg and Doctor "Walker being represented at right of WilUam, as borne dead from the field : motto, " Apparuit et dissipavit," and on the exergue, " Liberata Hibernia, 1690." — Another, with the same reverse as the last, while on the face. King William stands at full length, habited as a Roman, in front a tripod, on which is a censer of incense; Ireland kneels at his feet, resting her right hand on a shield, whereon the harp is inscribed ; James flying before him ; King WilUam's left hand is on the tripod, while with his right he crowns Ireland with a cap of liberty : motto, " Focos servavit et aras," and on the exergue, "Expuls. Gal. et rebel. Dublin, tri- umphans intravit." — The bust of Schomberg fills the face of a fifth medal : motto, "Fredericus Mareschal- VOL. II. z 338 GENERAL HISTORY. cus Schomberg ;" on the reverse, the full figure of that veteran, clad as a Roman, holding in his right hand a freshly planted scion, and standing beside a pyramid, round which are hung the armorials of France, the Empire, Portugal, Spain, and Ireland, being the nations where he had done service, and acquired his own honours : motto, " Plantavit ubique feracem ;" on the exergue, " Continuatis triumphis, obdurata in Deum fide, in Hiber. militanti, 1690." Round the margin are the words, " Pro religione et libertate mori vivere est." — Another to the King him- self, gives his bust and full titles of government, as before, on the face, while on the reverse Minerva stands at full length, holding a spear in her right hand, and resting her left on the gorgon's-head buckler ; behind her, the Irish army in rapid flight from DubUn, whose churches are seen in the back ground : motto, " Victis ac fugatis Hibernis." — A seventh medal shows the King, with all his titles of government, in front ; on the reverse, his full figure, presenting an olive branch to kneeling Ireland ; be- hind him stands a figure of Fame, with a palm branch in one hand, and placing with the other a crown of laurels on the monarch's head : motto, " Hibernia restituta ;" on the exergue, " 1690 ;" and round the margin, " Armis jungit amor nunc tertia regna duo- bus." — Another medal, with the same object, illus- trates the flight of the ill-fated James, presenting his bust in the front : motto, " Jacobus 2, Britan. Rex, Fugitiv.;" on the reverse, a stag bounding in full GENERAL HISTORY. 339 flight through mountains (alluding to the royal ex- ile's flight through Wicklow) : motto, " Pedibus ti- mor addidit alas," and on the exergue, " Fugit ex Hiberni^, 2 July, 1690." There is also a fine paint- ing, commemorative of the battle, in that beautiful room of the present Bank of Ireland, which was for- merly appropriated to the Irish House of Peers. It is executed on tapestry, by a Dutch artist, and is in tolerable preservation, representing the fight at the moment Schomberg was shot; but the scene was evidently never visited by the draftsman, and is ut- terly misconceived. The Duke is represented fallen from his horse, pale and bloody at the forehead. King William is immediately behind him, on horseback, and leading on his forces; in the near front is the church of Donore, and in the intermediate space the melee of the battle rages; in the distance, Drc^heda is partly exhibited. At the centre, on the top of the tapes- try, is worked a bust of KingWilUam, with the motto, "The Glorious Battle of the Boyne;" in the lower corners are figures of Fame blowing the trumpet, the figure at left being surmounted with a medallion representing the surrender of Drogheda, and above it another, the bust of Duke Schomberg ; while the figure at right is similarly surmounted by a medal- lion, representing King William in the act of leading on the Enniskillener?, above which is another bust, that of General Ginkle, afterwards created Earl of Athlone. This is probably the view which Bryan, in his " Dictionary of Painters," speaks of, ag drawn z2 ...;,^.--iB^ 340 GENERAL HISTORY. by John Wyck, a distinguished artist of Haerlem, The opposite side of this noble room is similarly ornamented with a view of the siege of Derry. The night after the battle, King William's troops lay on their arms at Duleek, and on the following morning, their King despatched Brigadier de la Mel- loniere, with 1000 horse and a party of foot, to sum- mon this town, then defended by a garrison of 1 500 men, under Lord Iveagh. According to his instruc- tions, de la Melloniere informed the garrison, that on their hesitation, he should bring up his cannon, when they must expect no quarter. " If we gain the place," writes a correspondent at this crisis, " we expect great stores of all sorts, which are laid in there." After a parley, however, the garrison surrendered, on condition that they should be convoyed to Ath- lone, as the nearest fortified Irish town, and on these terms they marched out with their baggage, leaving behind them their arms, stores, and ammunition ; or, as a pamphlet of the day sneeringly relates the oc- currence, "the famed town of Drogheda, finding the late king's army was beaten from the very pass that should cover the town, on which account they could have little hopes of relief, has capitulated; the offi- cers to go out with their swords only, and the com- mon soldiers to go home with their hands in their pockets, leaving their arms behind them." Imme- diately after, Colonel Cutt's regiment took possession of the place, and preserved it from violence, while the second, afterwards styled the great, Duke of Or- -■^^; GENERAL HISTORY. 341 mond, was despatched with his uncle, Henry Lord Auverquerque, and nine troops of horse, to secure and take possession of Dublin, This nobleman, then but twenty-five years of age, was one of the first of the nobility that went over to King William, by whom he was constituted High Constable of Eng- land for the coronation. A few extracts from a diary kept by Colonel Bel- lingham, an ancestor of Sir Alan, while serving un- der King William, and which is preserved in the possession of his family, may be not uninteresting in reference to the battle of the Boyne. " June 27th, ] 690. Very hot. About two this morning I moved towards Dundalk, and entered it about six, with Lieu- tenant-General Holmes, and Major-General Kirke; the town was wholly desolate, but strongly fortified; no inhabitant left but Captain Bolton and his wife, who are both stript. Our army encamped about a mile south of Dundalk, being now entire, Doyle's party having joined ours. J. White and I went as far as Lurgan-race, and sate there some time, eating bread and cheese. The king resolved to attack the enemy this night, in theij" quarters, at Ardee, but, hearing by some dragoons, who were at the very gate, and killed two of their men there, that the enemy was retired, he put ofi'his resolution. I waited on the king at supper, when he discoursed me most of the time, and was extremely pleasant and cheer- ful. — 28th. Very hot. I waited on the king to Ar- dee ; from thence was ordered by him to go with '■'TP^IJ^^f^^! 342 GENERAL HISTORY. Generals Ginkle and Gamboon, to view all the river for encamping. We went as far as Cappock-bridge, and so returned to our camp near Dundalk. I staid some time by the way at Gemonstown [the Colonel's estate, and afterwards called Castle Bellingham], and found several of the tenants, with their cattle, had stayed at home at my instance. The enemy are retired beyond the Boyne. — 29th. Excessive hot. I was very early this morning with General Ginkle, who gave orders to Colonel Matthews, to let me have what dragoons I wanted for the security of my te- nants or their cattle. I marched with Colonel Mat- thews, and came to Gemonstown about eight in the morning. — 30th. Very hot. I called at Mr. Town- ley's on our march towards the Boyne. I was some time with the king on the hill of Tullaghesker, from which he viewed Drogheda, and then went towards Oldbridge. On the south side of the Boyne lay the enemy's camp, which the king going to view, he was hit by a cannon shot on the shoulder, which put us into the greatest consternation imaginable. The can- non fired at each other all the afternoon. We drew a great body of our horse ,up on the hill, in sight of the enemy. We fired several bombs, some of which did execution, and our cannon dismounted two of the enemy's batteries. — July 1st. A joyful day; ex- cessive hot. About six this morning, the king got on horseback, and gave the necessary orders. Ge- neral Kirke ordered me to bring him some accoimt from the enemy. I brought him a youth, one Fyans, ; « M«y ^r**'*r5|W7™»-9T?''^^ GENERAL HISTORY. 343 who came that morning from Drogheda. I carried him to the king, who was then standing at the bat- tery, seeing his cannon play at the house of Old- bridge. He had sent early a strong detachment of about 15,000 men, with Douglas, towards Slane, who passed the river without any opposition, and put the enemy to the rout who were on that wing ; he sent another detachment of horse to the left, to go over at the mill ford, but, the tide coming in and the ford bad, the passage was very difficult, most of them being forced to swim, insomuch that they could not come up time enough to assist our foot, who went over the ford at Oldbridge. About eleven of the clock, the enemy had laid in ambush behind the ditches and houses on the other side of the water, who fired incessantly at our men as they were pas- sing the river, who, as soon as they arrived on land, immediately put their musqueteers to the rout, and advanced farther into the field in battalion. Here the brave old Duke Schomberg was killed, and Doctor Walker and Colonel Caillemotte mortally wounded. - The enemy advanced towards us, and made a brisk effort upon us, but we soon repelled them, with con- siderable loss on their side ; they made two other attempts upon us, but were still bravely beaten back, and when our horse of the left came up, the enemy quite quitted that field, having left several dead bo- dies behind tj;iem. It was there we took Lieutenant- General Hamilton. The enemy's horse of Tyrcon- nel's regiment behaved themselves well; but our , .. -,— .— Tl'r. J^-lJJJiJW^^ '■ 344 GENERAL HISTORY. Dutch, like angels. The king charged in person at the head of the Enniskilleners, and exposed himself with undaunted bravery. He pursued almost as far as the Naul, and left them not until near 10 o'clock at night. I was his guide back to Duleek. We killed about 2,000 of their men, besides Lords Car- lingford, Dungan, and several other officers of note killed and taken prisoners. We lost not above 200 in the whole action, many of which were killed by our own men through mistake. I returned to the camp at Oldbridge, having left the king in his coach at Duleek, where he staid that night. I was almost faint for want of drink and meat." How sadly contrasted with these results of tri- umph were the fortunes of the fallen James. Hur- rying through Dublin to Waterford, and, causing the bridges on his course to be broken down behind him as he passed, he embarked at the latter port for France, and was in a few days a neglected exile, in the mimic Court of St. Germains. Soon afterwards three hundred of the refugee Swiss and Germans, belonging to his French allies, deserted to William's army, while yet more o'f these allies, proceeding to Kinsale, embarked thence for the continent, and al- though Lausun, with the remainder, accompanied Tyrconnel and the Irish to Limerick, yet he also em- barked thence for France ; the Earl of Tyrconnel, however, sailed in his fleet thither, and on his arri- val procured his disgrace by reason of his miscon- duct while in Ireland. GENERAL HISTORY. 345 A letter of Sir Thomas Clarges, written on 28th May, I69I, to Secretary Clarke, thus alludes to this departure of Lausun and his forces, as well as to other topics of the day. " This is to acknowledge the favour of your's of the 20th instant. It is very un- fortunate, that in a year, when we have the greatest and best provided fleet that ever was set forth in England, the landing of the succours from France could not be prevented; but I hope the success of this campaign will end the war, and make the French as weary of Ireland as they were after the battle of the Boyne, when Monsieur de Lausun, and his country- men, left that kingdom as lost to them and their friends. Peter Birch is with the king in Flanders, where there are preparations for great actions, when there shall be forage on the ground. The Swedes, Danes, and Hanoverians have quitted the confede- racy, but the Duke of Zell, brother to the last, is now in person with his troops with the king. On Sunday Doctor ToUeson, the Lord Elect of Canterbury, will be consecrated at Bow Church. We had news on Monday that my Lord of Lincoln was dead, and then Doctor Tennison was to succeed, whereupon I got the Queen for Doctor Birch to succeed to St. Mar- tin's, which is granted Yesterday advice came that the bishop is recovering, but whatever becomes of him, the character the Queen has received of him (Birch) will be of advantage." I On the 14th of October in the same year, an or- der issued from the Council Chamber of Dublin I '"'"■^Sisrj*"^^ ! 34G GENERAL HISTORY. Castle to said Secretary of War, in these words. " Upon a debate wliicli happened this day at the Council Board, I am commanded by the Lords Jus- tices and Council Board, to signify to you their Lord- ships' desire, that in order for public service you will forthwith cause two copies to be made of the several articles, upon the surrender of the places fol- lowing, viz., Drogheda, "Waterford, Cork, Kinsale, Galway, Bophin, Sligo,and the garrisons thereabouts, and Limerick, as also the prolongation of the times given by the General, upon the late proclamations of the Lords Justices, for the encouragement of the Irish to lay down their arms, and submit to their Majesties' government. You are also desired, with the particulars aforesaid, to send one of his Majesty's proclamations, published when he went first to Kil- kenny; and all the particulars aforesaid you are de- sired to send to their Lordships, as soon as conve- niently you can"(a). The project for winter quarters, settled at this period, assigned to Drogheda one re- giment of foot; to Dublin, two of foot and one of horse; to Belfast, one of foot ; to Carrickfergus and Blackwater, one of foot; to the county of Down, two regiments of dragoons; to the barony of Glenarm, one of horse, &c.(6). A dearth of provisions continuing in Drogheda, the corporation, in this year (1691), ordered that no innholder within the town should charge above four (a) MSS. in Trinity College, Dublin. (b) Id. GENERAL HISTORY. 347 pence per night for hay, during twelve months from thenceforth; nor more than six-pence per peck for oats. They, about the same time, by a vote, reciting, that several of the inhabitants had left their dwelhngs to avoid, as it was supposed, the burden of quarter- ing officers and soldiers, and other charges within the borough, directed that the Mayor and Sheriffs should equally assign the officers and soldiers on all the in- habitants, and that any person removing out of the town, and thereby expecting exemption, or refusing to bear their proportions, should thenceforth be de- barred from any benefit or grant of any lease of any lands, and should also lose the benefit of their free- dom. Consideration being likewise taken of the ne- cessity of relieving the poor, it was ordered that certain persons named should inquire, what poor were fit to be suffered to beg, or continue in town; and to make such rules for their better ordering, from time to time, as should be deemed meet ; and that the mayor should be empowered to applet such reasonable cess on the inhabitants, as might be absolutely necessary for the relief of the present suf- ferers, the Recorder's opinion being first taken on the legality of making a by-law for such a cess. On the 19th of April, 1693, the Lord Lieute- nant, Viscount Sydney, visited Drogheda. The fol- lowing account of his entry and reception appears in the DubUn Intelligencer of that year, " April 19th. This day his Excellency, accompanied with several persons of quahty, set out for Drogheda, and was vw^ 348 GENERAL HISTORY. met a mile this side of the town by the Lord Dro- gheda, the Sheriffs of the city, and the miUtia county troop, who attended his Excellency to the gates of the town, where he was received by the Mayor, Governor and Aldermen, in all their formalities. At the entry of the gates the mayor made a speech, and delivered up the keys to his Excellency, who imme- diately returned them to him, who invited his Ex- cellency to the Tholsel, where he was presented with his freedom in a gold box, and several of the gen- tlemen, who attended his Excellency, were likewise made free, after which he had a sumptuous enter- tainment. From thence his Excellency went to the ■ Earl of Drogheda's, at Mellefont, where he lay that night, and on his return to Dublin, the day following, he dined at Colonel Coote's at Gormanstown." From 1691 to 1696, the following persons of this town and its vicinity were on outlawries attainted, Christopher Bathe, Esq., John Bird, Oliver Bird, An- drew Bathe, James Bellew, and "Walter Babe, mer- chants of Drogheda; Christopher Cheevers of Cam- town; John, Patrick, James and Robert Cheevers of same place; Robert Conly, merchant; Bryan M'Cabe, yeoman; Thomas CuUen, merchant; Thady Duff of Pill town, county Meath; Henry Dowdall of Drogheda, Esq.; Christopher Dowdall, John Dowdall, and Ro- bert Dermott, merchants of Drogheda; John, Lord Baron of Duleek ; Patrick Dowdall, of Termonfeckin ; Jenico Viscount Gormanston; Nicholas Gemon of Julianstown ; Bartholomew Gernon, merchant of GENERAL HISTORY. 349 Drogheda; Doininick Gwyre, clerk ; John Hamlin, merchant; Joseph Hame, clerk ; Hugh Johnston, otherwise Kellj, clerk ; Patrick Ley and John Ley, gentlemen, Richard Mortimer, gentleman; Thady Maly, gentleman; Patrick Mahon, bookseller, all of Drogheda; Edward Morgan, Henry Mortimer, and William Mitchell of same, merchants; James and Te- rence Netterville of Dowth, gentlemen; Nicholas Lord Viscount Netterville of Dowth ; Christopher Fitz George Peppard; Thomas Fitz George Peppard, Christopher Fitz Ignatius Peppard, and WilHam Pep- pard, merchants; Andrew Peppard, clerk ; George Fitz Thomas Peppard, Christopher Fitz Thomas Pep- pard, and Ignatius Fitz Thomas Peppard, gentlemen; Randal Plunkett of Greenhills, gentleman ; James Ray, gentleman; Bartholomew Skelly, merchant; Patrick Tyrrel, clerk; Stephen Tuite, surgeon; and John Tee- ling, clerk. The lands forfeited on this occasion in the county Louth and Drogheda, amounted to 22,508 acres, valued at £32,310. In direct reference to these attainders appears in the Parliamentary Papers, a petition of Folliott Sherigley to the Irish Parlia- ment, praying that House to represent the service done by him, in securing the muster rolls and books of entry of the Irish army, after the rout at the Boyne (whereby the commanding officers who served in the Irish army were known to the Lord Lieutenant), as well meriting favour and patronage for the petitioner, and which petition was thereupon duly entertained. In 1697, a return was ordered of all the seamen, ,. ,., ,. 350 GENERAL HISTORY. watermen, &c., in Ireland, when the statement, in re- ference to Drogheda, reported 22^seamen and 56 fish- ermen, making a total of 78, of which number 61 were described as ' ' Papists ;" and in the following year a census, of an ecclesiastical nature, states the number of Roman Catholic clergy resident in this town, as but two seculars and four regulars, great numbers of this class having been, as alleged, " shipt off," by Act of Parliament, their passage and provi- sions being paid for by the government. In the latter year (1698), when a supply of £120,000 was voted by Parliament to be assessed for the defence of the State, to be paid by four equal payments within two years, it was ordered that the county of Meath should pay £1460 to each such instalment: the county of Louth £520; and the town of Dro- gheda £110. The Commissioners for ascertaining the respective proportions in the former county were, amongst others, the Lord Moore, Sir Henry Tich- burne. Sir John Dillon, WilUam Napper, James Hamilton, of TuUymore, Garret Wesley, Doctor Molyneux, William Elwood, Samuel Jackson, Henry Coddington, Faustin Cuppaidge, Robert Smith, Hugh Morgan, John Keating, Doctor Stearne, &c. Amongst these appointed for the county of Louth were Sir Henry Tichburne, Sir Thomas Fortescue, Blaney Townley, Edward Singleton, John Smith, Henry Tenison, &c.; and for the town of Drogheda were the Mayor, Recorder, and Sheriffs, the Lord Moore, Sir Henry Tichburne, Edward Singleton, '^m^ GENERAL HISTORY. 351 Richard Jackson, Thomas Percival, William Elwood, Henry NichoUs, Richard Pitt, John Graham, Joseph Tomlinson, William Newton, James Mead, Henry Ogle, and George Hardman, Aldermen: Caleb Gay and John Leigh, Esquires. | Of the claims entered and prosecuted in 1702, at Chichester House in Dublin, on the occasion of demands and rights attaching upon the forfeited es- tates, the following connected with Drogheda, were established ; Thomas Stoker, as Administrator of John Stoker, for a terra of 31 years, from 1669, of a house in Peter-street, and a garden plot in Fair-street, forfeited by Christopher Cheevers, — John Curtis as assignee of a term for 61 years, from 1652, of a close and garden in Windhiller-lane, forfeited by Nicholas Peppard; Anne Ley, as widow of John Ley, claimed dower of the town and lands of Portlester, a house in Deer-street, &c., forfeited by Patrick Ley. Mary Peppard, by Nicholas Peppard, her husband, for a jointure to herself, and a remainder in tail to her right heirs, of several messuages in this town, and other premises forfeited by Nicholas Peppard. Robert Conly, as mortgagee of two houses in Shop- street, and an orchard near St. Peter's chiu-ch, for- feited by the said Nicholas Peppard. Christian Newton, on behalf of herself and three infant children claimed the residue of certain terms of 41 years, in two houses in Peter-street, forfeited by Christopher Cheevers. Henry Earl of Drogheda, for X600, the penalty of a Statute secured upon a house in Deer- -.'ilSH'^MW^-^i,!! >Jpii;f^9^«Q^|pr 352 GENERAL HISTORY. street, called the Blue Boar's Head, and other houses forfeited by Christopher Peppard. Christopher Pep- pard St. George, for a residue of a term of thirty-one years, from 1684, of eight acres, parcel of the dis- solved Hospital of St. James, and other lands within thfe liberties of Drogheda, forfeited by Christopher Cheevers. Gregory Ward, for the remainder of a term of 31 years, from 1687, of " a pair of walls on the Bull ring in Drogheda," forfeited by Christopher Peppard Fitz Ignatius. James Bathe a minor, by his guardian, Stephen Bathe, claimed an estate for hfe to himself, and certain remainders in tail male to his issue, in the town and lands of Lady-Kath, Cashel, two tenements in Slane, and several tenements in Drogheda, forfeited by Christopher Bathe. In 1 703, as appears by the Book of Postings and Sales of the Forfeited Estates, the chief purchasers within Drogheda and its liberties were Aldermen Henry Ogle, John Graham and Thomas Stoker, Mr. Newton, Mr. Robert Curtis of Dublin, Mr. Charles Campbell of the same, and Mr. Thomas Bellew of the same. Accordingly the following grants appear of record in the Rolls of Chancery. To Alderman Henry Ogle, all that piece of ground called Mattock's Park, 7a. 1r. within the liberties, consideration, £57 135., annual rent 6d. To Alderman John Gra- ham, a stone slated house, and garden, a thatched tenement and garden, two thatched cabins, and a park with a garden, three other houses and gar- dens; consideration, £211 5*. and annual rent, 7*. 6d. i>3f GENERAL HISTORY. 353 To Alderman Thomas Stoker, two houses, with a horse-mill and garden adjoining, consideration, £74, annual rent, Is. To John Newton, the town and lands of Carnaghtown, Ballymakenny, and Succlets- hamlets, 539a., consideration, £2015, annual rent. Is. To Robert Curtis, three small parks near Sun- day's gate, containing 10a. 3r., purchase money, £166. To Charles Campbell, "eight acres of arable land within the dissolved hospital of St. James's, bounding on the east, west, and north to the lands of St. James, and south to the road ; ten acres of pas- ture and furze on the mountains of St. James's, so anciently called, bounding north and east to Taylor of Swords's lands, south to Fisher's Batter, and west to the town lands; three acres of rough meadow, near the causeway leading to Dublin, bounding east and north to said causeway, west to the town grounds, and south to said Taylor's lands; a park westward of Yellow Batter, 4a. ;" total, 25a., consideration, £199, annual rent, 2^. The last mentioned patentee had also a grant of a house, garden, and rear in Deer- street, called the Blue Boar's Head; a house, garden, court, and rear, on the south quay, or south side of the river ; a house and rear on the Bull ring, near Beamore bog, 16a., consideration, £30, total annual rent, 6d. He also passed patent for a house in Shop- street, alias Booth-street, bounding north to the Tholsel, east to Shop-street, and west to Brandon's lands; a parcel of ground, with a garden and two cabins thereon, bounding west to St. Peter's church- VOL. II. 2 A 354 GENERAL HISTORY. yard, north to Peppard's land, east to the town lands, and south to a lane leading from Pillory-street to the town wall; another house in Shop-street, south of the first mentioned house, bounded north there- with, west with the town grounds, south with Robert Hardman's house, and east with Shop-street, pur- chase money, £10 ; and lastly, the aforesaid Tho- mas Bellew passed patent for a tenement and garden plot, within the town wall near Butter gate, purchase money, £25. In 1704, the Assembly voted, that the Duke of Ormond should be entertained in "the Queen's Chamber, within the Tholsel," at the charge of the corporation, and the freedom of the town presented to him in a gold box. In the following year the same body passed a resolution, that, whenever Mr. Rochfort would resign the Recordership, "Mr. Henry Singleton (son of Alderman Edward Singleton), who is now a student at the law in the Inner Temple, London, shall succeed him in the Recordership of this corporation." [This distinguished individual was, in 1725, appointed Prime Serjeant, and, on the removal of Sir James Reynolds, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in Ireland, to the English Bench, as puisne Baron of the Exchequer, in 1739, was pro- moted to the Chief Justiceship so vacated. In 1740, in consequence of his services in advising and con- structing by-laws for regulating the corporation of Derry, the Irish Society ordered a valuable piece of plate to be presented to him, but he wholly dechned ■•'^^^p*^ GENERAL HISTORY. I 355 its acceptance. In 1753, he was appointed Master of the Rolls, and, during all his career, passed every interval, that was not officially engaged in Dublin, at Drogheda, where he had a fine residence on a plot of ground north of Fair-street. He died, however, in Dubhn, in 1759, and was buried in the ancient burial ground at Glasnevin]. I In 1706, the Assembly voted an address to her Majesty on the successes of the Duke of Marlborough. In two years afterwards Dean Cox acquainted the Assembly, that one Fleming, a Presbyterian minister, had preached in their town, and desired to know, if he had any invitation or authority for so doing, when it was unanimously declared that he had none, which, on being sent for, Mr. Fleming admitted, only aver- ring that he was sent thither by the Presbytery of Armagh, of which he was chairman; whereupon, at a general session of the peace held soon after, before the Mayor and other magistrates and justices, the following presentment was made : " Whereas the Pro- testant inhabitants of the ancient and loyal town of Drogheda have lived in peace and unity among them- selves, and in a unanimous obedience to the Church of Ireland, by law established, without the least ap- pearance of dissension, and have so continued ever since the late happy revolution and reduction of this kingdom, accomplished by the unparalleled courage and conduct of his late Majesty, King WiUiam, of glorious memory; and whereas the said town of Drogheda hath been constantly supplied with a very 2 A 2 "■"'"fww^'iwi.ijip^ijijpiwii 356 GENERAL HISTORY. learned orthodox ministry, having at present a very- reverend and learned minister, and two assistants, cu- rates, who have hitherto preserved the Protestant in- habitants of the said town of Drogheda in the same unity and conformity to the said Established Church, by their residence, and a faithful discharge of their duty, in preaching twice every Sunday, in reading public prayers morning and evening early, in admi- nistering the holy sacrament of the Lord's Supper monthly, in catechising children, and duly perform- ing all other religious offices; and whereas the nor- thern Presbytery of Ireland, not content with the gracious indulgence and bounty of our most gracious Sovereign Lady, Queen Anne, extended to them, have within this month past sent out missionaries to frame and set up a conventicle in this town of Dro- gheda aforesaid, to disturb the peace and quiet of the Protestant inhabitants of the said town, where there hath been no such meddling near these 28 years past, and do bring strangers out of the north of Ireland, and from other parts of the country many miles distant from this town, to countenance the setting up of the said conventicle in this said town of Drogheda, and to make proselytes, and seduce the poor ignorant sort of people from their adherence to the Established Church of Ireland, and conformity to her Majesty's laws ; we, the Grand Jury of the county of the town of Drogheda aforesaid, duly im- pannelled and sworn, having taken into our conside- ration the proceedings of the said northern Presby- tery, and their missionaries in the town of Drogheda f^wf^l^^^^^ GENERAL HISTORY. 357 aforesaid, do present and declare that there is no occasion for such meetings in this town of Drogheda aforesaid, there not being any of their persuasion in this town, but such as the said missionaries bring to meet them from other places, or some few inconsi- derable proselytes they have lately made, and those for the most part very scandalous ; and that the per- mitting such a meeting in the said town, will only tend to create faction, schism, and disunion among the Protestant inhabitants of said town ; therefore, we do present and desire, that the Right Worshipful the Mayor of Drogheda aforesaid, and other the ma- gistrates of said town, will discourage and discoun- tenance such meetings or conventicles, by putting the laws in execution." And, under the sanction of this presentment, and on the certificate of the Pri- mate, the Mayor committed Mr. Biggs, a Presbyte- rian minister, to prison. Dean Swift, alluding to this occurrence, wrote to Archbishop King : " The affair of Drogheda has made a noise here, and, like every thing else on your side, is used as a handle. I have had it run in my ears from certain persons. I hope you are prepared to take off the sacramental test, because that will be a means to have it taken off here among us ; and that the clergy will be for it in consideration of the Queen's bounty ; and that men in employment will be so wise as to please the Court and secure themselves ; but to think there is any design of bringing the Scotch into offices, is a mere scandal." w,,j^«vir.-T»^^ ♦nip*-" L.L.. (| I . Hi.L.jpymiiji 358 GENERAL HISTORY. By vote of the Assembly, in 1709, in considera- tion of the advantages this town has had, by the foun- dation of a school, settled therein by Erasmus Smith, Esq., deceased, it was ordered,that Samuel Smith, son and heir of said Erasmus, and Hugh Smith, another of his sons, being both then in the town, should be presented with the freedom of the corporation, and they were accordingly admitted. In August, 1712, the Body voted an address to the Queen, in favour and approval of the government of the Duke of Or- mond, and, on the 30th of March following, resolved that His Excellency Sir Constantine Phipps, should be presented with the freedom in a gold box, and entertained in the Tholsel. In October, 1715, they directed, that a constable and fourteen Protestants should mount guard with firelocks every night, and that the bye-watches without the gates should ap- point the guard at eight o'clock p. m., and take such orders as the mayor would direct ; and that all Pa- pists should hire Protestants to mount the town- guard, on pain of being distrained for their neglect, and the Assembly should indemnify the mayor in so distraining them; and in May, 1718, they passed their resolution, that for the future, the constable of the night should lock all the bye-gates at 10, and the West-gate, and Dublin gate, at 12 o'clock. It appears by a Return of the Commissioners of Array to Parliament, that the military force, at this time in Drogheda, consisted of one independent troop of dra- goons, and two independent companies of foot. '•'■■BVM!",HH» GENERAL HISTORY. I 359 About this time, H^nry Jones, a poetical and dramatic writer of some repute, was born at Bewly near this town. In a httle History of Drogheda, pub- lished by a Mr. Johnston in 1826, it is mentioned, that the celebrated Earl of Chesterfield, when Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, having resided part of his time at Bewly, extended very liberal encouragement to this person, who theretofore laboured in the hum- ble occupation of a bricklayer. The Earl soon be- came acquainted with his talents as a poet, and took him into patronage, and even, it is said, not only vo- lunteered to correct his tragedy of " The Earl of Essex," and prevailed upon the managers of Covent- Garden to bring it out on the stage, but likewise shared his purse with him. Jones frequently dined with the Earl, and was at last taken into his house as a companion. He encouraged him to go up to DubUn, and afterwards brought him with him to England, where he continued to befriend him. Prior to taking leave of his native place, Jones addressed a poetical epistle to the corporation, giving them some advice for the better regulation of the town, which they thought right to adopt, and rewarded him with a present of twenty pounds. This imfor- tunate individual, however, regardless of ordinary economy, after experiencing many reverses of for- tune, which his own imprudence brought upon him, died in a London workhouse in 1770. Another more celebrated individual, Laurence Sterne, who was born in 1713, passed, as appears from his letters, 360 GENERAL HISTORY. a short period of his childhood here, whence his fa- ther and family removed to Mullingar. In 1720, the corporation granted to the Primate certain premises within the town, as an accommoda- tion to his archiepiscopal residence ; but, although Armagh has been resumed as the head of the See, and the Primates have long ceased to reside, or hold any visitations at Drogheda, the property has not been restored to the corporation, and is still held as under the Archbishops of Armagh, In this year was born, in Drogheda, Ackland Kane, a celebrated harper. " His love of adventure early led him to Rome, where he played before the Pretender, then resident there ; he afterwards travelled into France and Spain, where the Irish, of whom there were at that time a great number residing at Madrid, pa- tronized him very liberally, and introduced him to the notice of his Catholic Majesty, who is said to have contemplated settling a pension on him. Kane's preferment was, however, marred by his own indis- cretions, and, after exhausting the patronage of his countrymen at the Spanish Court, he was obliged to set out for Bilboa, on his way home, on foot, and carrying his harp on his back. He is described as a very strong, tall, and athletic man, and is asserted to have outstripped the post on this journey, which may appear the less extraordinary, when the state of the roads in Spain at the time is considered. He does not appear to have spent much time in Ireland, for we find him very famous throughout Scotland GENERAL HISTORY., 361 for a long period before his death, which occurred some time about the year 1 790. His chief haunts in Scotland were about Blair- Athol and Dunkeld, but he was also widely known throughout the Lowlands and Isles. In a tour through the Isles, in 1775, he was at Lord Mac Donald's of Skye, where he recom- mended himself so much by his performances, that Lord Mac Donald presented him with a silver harp key, that had long been in the family. Ackland does not appear, however, to have been always so successful in recommending himself to the good of- fices of his patrons, for Mr. Gunn relates of him, that the highland gentry occasionally found it necessary to repress his turbulence, by cutting his nails, and so rendering him unable to play till they grew again to their proper length. Mr. Gunn states, that he was often spoken of by Manini, at Cambridge, with rap- ture, as being able, though blind, to play with accu- racy and fine efiect, the treble and bass parts of many of Correlli's correntos, in concert with other music. Had he been but moderately correct in his conduct, Ackland Kane might, unquestionably, have raised the character of the wandering minstrel higher than it had stood for a century before"(a). The first stone bridge was erected here in 1723, and in the following year night lamps were intro- duced in the streets, the mayor directing that a num- ber of them should be fixed up at the corporate ex- (a) Bunting's Ancient Music of Ireland. I ■ ■^Tr^ri 362 GENERAL HISTORY. pense, in such places as he would assign as most convenient. In 1725, the Assembly ordered, that the Lord Lieutenant should be treated in the king's chamber at the Tholsel, and the freedom presented to him in a gold box ; and in two years afterwards, they paid a similar compliment of the freedom, with a costly entertainment, to the Primate, Doctor Boul- ter. In 1729, the estates of Alderman Wilham Gra- ham in this town and vicinity, were the subject of an EngUsh (private) Act of Parhament, whereby provi- sions were made for facilitating their improvement, and these were confirmed, with amendments, by ano- ther private English Act in 1743. [This gentleman resided chiefly at Flatten ; was Member of Parlia- ment for Drogheda, from 1727 to the time of his death, and a privy councillor ; in 1729 he married a daughter of Lord Lansdown, and died in 1748]. The produce of the excise here, which, for the year 1700, was returned as £2699, was stated to Parliament as but £1878 for the year 1730. At the close of 1731, the Duke of Dorset, Lord Lieutenant, was entertained, in his progress through the town, at the Tholsel, by the corporation, who, on that oc- casion, granted to him the freedom of the town, in a gold box. At the Spring Assizes held for the town and county of Drogheda in 1743, the Grand Jury presented five persons, all then, or late of "Westgate- ward without, as regulars, or reputed regular friars of the Dominican order ; five others, all then or late of Bachelor's-lane, as regulars, or reputed regular DROCflE DA . 9fJt¥ELL*S MJ9P Jhthfish^ii in Sc4ti^ of }*errh^s ^HH-iH^ JO #p RCPCRCNCC. 1 Corn MeiH^t. 2 MarkM Cross. 2> T/voUmL. 4- 77ke Zon^ H'un.tUs^ fictltux. 5 lord Ciif Justice Sin^lMans (?*• 6 jr n!e£ri(i^ ^>w Schtiol 8 OW Barfiament^&tuse. 9 7Ae ifi// Mount. \iiSfMaJ-ys Cfua^sh, Ytxrd.. GENERAL HISTORY. 3G3 friars of the Augustinian order ; and four, then or late of Broadstone-well, as regulars, or reputed regu- lar friars of the Franciscan order. In 1745, the in- spectors of barracks informed Parhament,that a sum of £314 was required for the repair of the barracks here, which were in a very ruinous condition, by rea- son that the barrack-master, Cuthbert Brown, resided in England, acting by deputy ; and that so great fa- vour had been shown to him, that one gurety was accepted for him, a resident of England, and .who ex- ecuted his bond at the place of his' residence. In 1749, the map of the town, of which the annexed is an engraving, was drawn by Ravel. The fortifica- tions and walls of Drogheda appear to have been then supported by eleven towers or castles on the Louth side, and seven on the Meath side, but no names are identified with those towers, except in the instance of three, Pigeon Tower, Taylor's Hall, and Shooting Tower, corruptly called Tooting Tower, and the castles that guarded the respective gates^ The public buildings and places of interest are"^ pointed out through the marginal references. In 1756, the corporation, in consequence of a prevalent scarcity, voted £1000 for the purchase of oatmeal, to be retailed in small quantities to the poor, when the market price was too high for them to buy at. The former Recorder, the Right Honourable Henry Singleton, then Master of the Rolls, also lent another £1000 for the same purpose. De Burgo gives a list of the Dominican friars at this time residing in Drogh- ■■T.75WW ,«lil^liiiiii!>i^i;p^i|^lpq;;pM|i|IL>li|Jl)(l>i!t.'J>|i WH-i 364 GENERAL HISTORY. eda, as follows : Eugene Lennon, prior ; Dominick Mac Mahon, sub-prior; Thomas Netterville, John Byrne, Vincent Meany, James Hall, Walter Morilly, and John Egan. He also names the nuns of the Sienna, as, Elizabeth de Burgo (daughter of Vis- count Mayo), prioress ; Maria O'Kelly, sub-prioress ; Alicia Eice, Rose O'Ferrall, Catherine Cruise, Bar- bara Esmond, Margaret O'Reilly, Sarah Dillon, Ma- ria O'Daly, Maria O'Reilly, Catherine O'Reilly, Sarah O'Kelly, Eleanor Keating, Catherine O'Kelly, Maria Allen, Maria O'Donnellan, Ahcia O'Kelly, Johanna Purcel, Maria Nugent, Maria French, Elizabeth O'Kelly, Maria Mac Egan, Maria Kirwan, Susanna Berford, Anne Blake, Eleanor Fottrel, Margaret Ho- rish, and Maria Maguire. The Dublin Gazette of May, 1761, notices, that " on Thursday last, the liberties and franchises of the town of Drogheda, were ridden and perambu- lated in a very grand manner, the different corpora- tions vieing with each other in the elegance of their appearance." In 1763, the merchants of this port petitioned for an aid in favour of the huen ma- nufactures, and for the intervention of Parhament in redressing certain abuses in the butter trade of the town, which was then considerably on the in- crease. In the following year, the old Tholsel was taken down. In 1766, the first measures were taken in Parliament, for regulating the Watch in Drogheda; while its Annals, in 1767, relate a memorable riot which took place in its streets, in consequence of the ■■-. • 'v^ij^n^.,- ■ GENERAL HISTORY. 365 mob rising to prevent the exportation of cattle to England; a considerable number of bullocks and cows were then blindly sacrificed to their rage. About this time lived here, O'Dornan, an excellent Irish scholar, of whom Mr. Wills makes mention in his " Lives of Illustrious Irishmen," as having been once the possessor of the celebrated Book of Ballymote. This very interesting Manuscript, is a large vellum folio volume of 548 pages, which, in 1522, was pur- chased by Hugh Dhu O'Donnel, for 140 milch cows, and after various intermediate transmissions, is now the property of the Royal Irish Academy. In 1770, the Assembly ordered, "that the salary of Benjamin Rencher, as musician to this corpora- tion, should be augmented from five to eight guineas per annum, he supplying a proper band of music, to attend the corporation on the usual days during pleasure. In three years afterwards, Edward Cald- well, a merchant of the town, preferred a petition to Parliament, setting forth, " that, it having been for some years past the general sense of the principal inhabitants thereof, and of the gentlemen who reside near it, that the flesh market of said town was situ- ated in a very inconvenient place, the same being in the open street, which is the great thoroughfare from Dublin to the north of Ireland, the petitioner, being encouraged by said gentlemen and by the principal butchers of said town, did in the previous year con- tract for a large and commodious piece of ground, at the yearly rent of £65, whereon the petitioner has. -' njii*j«Hiiai ^rm^fffm^Jif 366 GENERAL HISTORY. at an expence of £1000 and upwards, erected and built a complete set of stalls and shambles, but that, notwithstanding such expenditure, the butchers, in- stigated by the shopkeepers and other inhabitants, who reside in the street where the market had been theretofore held, decline to resort to petitioner's market, and persist in exposing their meat in the open street, to the great annoyance of passengers; and pe- titioner prayed relief, the justice and manner of affording which were referred to a committee of the House. In the same year (1773), Earl Harcourt, being Lord Lieutenant, visited the town, was enter- tained with the usual state, and presented with the freedom. In 1774, certain persons were empowered " to purchase the hull of a large Dutch vessel, then lately wrecked in the harbour, for the purpose of sinking it in a proper part of the river, byway of a pier head, and in order to help in deepening the channel thereof" In 1775 the Assembly ordered that Messrs Joseph Har- pur, William Cheapem, and James Petrie, surgeons, should receive from the corporate funds the sum of ten guineas each for their care and attendance on the poor of the town, and at the same period directed a petition to be forwarded to the Lord Lieutenant, stating " that there had been a tower called Maiden Tower, stand- ing on the shore near the bar, at the mouth of the river Boyne, below high water mark, within the ju- risdiction of the county of the town of Drogheda, and also one other small tower, nearly adjoining the . *:r*»57r GENERAL HISTORY. 367 said Maiden Tower, above high water mark, which towers are of singular service to mariners who navi- gate vessels bound to the portofDrogheda, and also to all others coming from the northward, who are bound to the port of Dublin;" and the petitioners stated, "that same were now much out of repair and became less conspicuous, and consequently less ser- viceable than they used to be, the bright colouring of the same being worn off, and scarcely to be dis- covered by mariners ; that they had lately employed persons to repair said towers, but were obstructed by James Brabazon, tenant to Lord Mornington, whose estate is contiguous to said towers, and said Brabazon represents he is instructed to prevent their doing this public service, and they prayed his Excel- lency in right of the royal prerogative for repairing beacons, towers, and other land marks, to make order in the premises." j In 1777, the corporation directed that a town clock and bell should be put up by the Mayor at the Mayoralty House, and in the same year the freedom of the town was presented to Lord Brabazon for his patriotic services. In 1779, by a vote of the Assem- bly, it was directed that one hundred firelocks, with accoutrements, should be provided by the corpora- tion for the Protestant inhabitants, if they could not be obtained from government gratis. Walker's Hi- bernian Magazine of May, 1780, gives a notice of another riot here, that, as characteristic of the state of the times, seems worthy of insertion. " This r^it»wyMMMi|^ "V. '■ ' ■"■■ y -. r'-T'^ '*!.''• ^''}>''a!»VM«iWf*fi^^j>ipi|L.iaw^lMVi<.. ■ .-r^Ti Tifay - ^.y4^«.a-«4f t «t »"<.-'•*>•«* BEWLY. 395 worthy of notice, studded, as it is, with the armorial bearings and portraits of the family and connexions of its founder, with two of King William and Queen Mary respectively, and exhibiting, on the mouldings and casings of the several doors that open into it, most curious carvings of musical instruments. There is also depicted on one wall, an interesting view of Drogheda with its fortifications, supposed to have been executed in 1718. On the grounds near the shore, a handsome Swiss-like cottage has been re- cently erected. This parish ranks as a rectory, with cure, in the diocese of Armagh, and gift of the Lord Primate. It comprises 1000 acres of good land, statute measure, 10 of lake, and about 218 of tideway of the Boyne; while its population is estimated as 688 persons, about one-fifth of whomareof theEstablishedChurch. The rent-charge, amounting to <£74, is payable to the incumbent, who had also formerly an allowance of £40 per annum, out of Primate Boulter's fund. The present church, which is situated near the manor- house, was erected about thirty years since, at an expense of £550 British, granted for that purpose by the late Board of First Fruits, and already con- tains some handsome marble monuments to the Mont- gomery family, and one to theDonaghs of Newtown- Stalebane ; and in the graveyard is a curious stone, with the figure of a skeleton in alto relievo. The old church was founded at the close of the thirteenth century, and was dedicated to St. Brigid, by John 390 ENVIRONS. Plunkett, hereditary lord of the manor, and from whom have lineally descended the Earls of Fingal, the Lords Dunsany and Louth, &c. His right of presentation thereto was shortly afterwards disputed in the Court of Exchequer, when he pleaded, that Bewly, being distant two leagues from the church of Termonfeckin, and the intermediate land, in the winter and rainy seasons, being covered with water at times to such a depth, that travellers could not pass, whereby the tenants were precluded from at- tending divine service in that church, and many wo- men after childbirth had, in consequence, died with- out the sacraments, that therefore, John Plunkett and Alicia his wife had, after due application to the Primate, founded the church of Bewly within their manor ; and that, therefore, to them, as lords of the soil, accrued the right of advowson or presentation to the church, and judgment was, thereupon, pro- nounced in favour of the right of said John(a). It was afterwards, from the earliest period of ecclesias- tical taxation, valued and rated at £6 2s. Id- ster- ling. In 1381, its parson, Andrew Waryng, incurred the forfeiture of two-thirds of the issues and profits of his benefice, by reason of absenteeism, but after- wards obtained pardon, and a remission of the pe- nalty. In 1418, Walter Plunkett obtained a royal confirmation of his rights in Bewly, Carrstown, Ter- monfeckin, Tallqnstown, Brownstown, Louth, &c., (a) Rot. 9, 10, and 11 Edw. II., in Scacc. Hib. BEWLY, 397 of the greater portion of which his descendant, John Plunkett, suffered recoveries in 1549, and from him these estates descended lineally through George, William, and Thomas, to Wilham Plunkett the younger, by whom they were forfeited, in the con- fiscations consequent upon the civil war of 1641, as before suggested. Bewly House was the head-quar- ters of Sir Phehm O'Neill, during the siege of Drogh- eda, and Richard Plunkett of Bewly was a Colonel in his army, one of whose letters, relative to an ex- change of prisoners, is given in Dean Bernard's His- tory. That dignitary also states, that Lieutenant Greenham, with a party of Captain Gibson's company, was stationed at Bewly, while Captain Constables was at Mellefont, and he adds, " they let few days pass without reaping some of the rebels' heads." Sir Henry Tichburne, on obtaining the grant before alluded to, and having purchased some charges affecting the es- tates, made Bewly thenceforth his residence, and there died in 1667. Lord Chesterfield, during his yiceroyalty in 1746, sojourned here for some months. The succession of incumbents at Bewly has been, as far as ascertained 1381. Andrew Waring. 1490. John Warr. 1549. Thomas Bocun. 1618. John Wright [on the presentation of Pa- trick Plunkett]. 1622. Henry Leysley. 1634. Thomas Seele [col- lated. He was after- wards Dean of St. Pa- trick's]. 1682. Tobias Pullen [in- stituted]. 1719. Rich. Farrer [colF ] 398 ENVIRONS. 1752. Robert Symonds lated]. [collated]. 1827. John Smytlie [col- 1757. David Smyth [col- lated]. lated]. 1831. Edward Groome 1783. Jerome Alley [col- [collated]. Contiguous to Bewly, on the water side, is Queens- borough, a neat little village, resorted to in the bath- ing season, by the townspeople of Drogheda. Imme- diately on its entrance, is the not less beautiful than tastefully laid out villa of Mr. Ralph Smyth, Sheriff of Drogheda, and at a short distance beyond which, on the strand, is Baltray, now but an unimportant fishing village, although accounted by Holhngshed, in the time of Queen Elizabeth, one of the chief ha- ven towns of Ireland. A little rivulet here empties itself out of the estuary of the Boyne, while the road leads hence through plantations, to the prettily situated village of TERMONFECKIN. A manor appertaining, from time immemorial, to the Archbishops of Armagh, and for centuries their country residence, when the palace was kept in Drogheda. The village, once a town of note, is si- tuated on a rivulet, which, here passing under a handsome cut stone bridge of two arches, after en- closing a little island on which Mr. Mac CUntock has raised a cottage ornee, falls into the adjacent sea. A mouldering square tower, with a port- cullis-like front, affording, from its summit, a fine prospect, yet remains, to mark where the castle TERMONFECKIN. 399 of the Primates was constructed, on the highest point of the village, overlooking sea and land, as much for their defence as their dignity ; close to it stood, until lately, a circular tower of the outworks, but this, with other portions thereof, and the barbi- can, have been long since removed. Views of its earlier appearance are to be found in Wright's Louth- iana, and Grose's Antiquities. The parish comprises 6382 statute acres, of which, seventy-eight are tide- way of the Boyne ; its population has been reported as 3,344 persons, of whom only about one-tenth are of the EstabHshed Church ; the rectory and vicarage are united, by Act of Council, to the rectories of Kill-clogher and Maine, and the union thus consti- tuted, is in the patronage of the Crown. A shady avenue leads from the village, by a well of ancient reverence over-arched with rubble stone, to the church, which is a plain but neat edifice. Within it is an assemblage of handsome marble monuments, such as are rarely found in the church of a rural Irish district. Next the communion table, one, of white marble, is erected to the memory of Alexan- der Mac Clintock of Newtown-House, who died in 1796, and to his descendants. Next it is another very handsome, to Mr. Wallop Brabazon, who died in 1831. Beside it, one to the first wife of said Mr. Brabazon, Jane Brabazon alias Du Pre, daughter of Josias Du Pre of Wilton Park, Buckinghamshire; she died at Hung Road, near Bristol, in 1796, aged 31. Next occurs a white marble mural monument, 400 ENVIRONS. to Captain Thomas Hawkshaw, " late of the 5th Regi- ment of Foot, who died in 1793; and to his son Thomas, who died in 1802; and to his son Wallop Bra- bazon Hawkshaw, late Lieutenant of the Vigo man- of-war, who died in 1813." The above Captain Tho- mas Hawkshaw was, as stated on the monument, son to the Reverend John Hawkshaw of the county Mo- naghan, and the monument was erected by his wi- dow, Vincentia Brabazon. Last at this side, next the entrance, is a black marble slab, to Anthony Bra- bazon of Carstown, Esq., who died in 1771 ; he mar- ried Mary, daughter of Philip Donagh, Esq., and, as the monument adds, Captain James Brabazon, father of said Anthony, married Mary, daughter of Henry Colley, Esq., of Castle Carberry ; he was, as thereon set forth, "sixth son of James Brabazon, second son of Sir Anthony Brabazon, brother to the first Earl of Meath." This marble also records the death of Mary, relict of the aforesaid Anthony, in 1 793. On the opposite side of the church, is a yet solitary white marble slab to Mr. George Pentland of Black- hall, who died in 1834; his wife Mary; and his el- dest son Robert. — In the shades of the surround- ing graveyard are tombs, commemorating the Jennys and Brabazons, from 1 709 ; the Mac Clintocks, from 1 796 ; the Pentlands of Blackhall ; the Ledwiches and Mac Evoys ; and one of 1504, to the memory of John de Palatio, sub-dean of Armagh. There is also here, one of those fine old stone crosses, which marked ecclesiastical jurisdiction and communities ; TERMONFECKIN. 401 it is curiously carved and ogied down its pedestal ; the arms are enclosed within a circle, and are carved, on the one side with the crucified Saviour, and an- gels at his head and hands, while on the other side appears a figure, intended, as it would seem, to re- present St. Patrick. There is, in the village, a Roman Catholic chapel, a plain thatched edifice in the T shape. There is also here a National School, which is attended, on the latest Report, by 180 boys and 79 girls. t The name of Termon-Feckin suggests the immu- nities and exemptions anciently annexed to the lo- cality, as the termon or erenach lands of St, Fechin, who founded a monastery here in the middle of the seventh century. To this holy man, who was Abbot of Fore, the religious house of Ballysadare also owed its origin. The Irish Annals record the deaths of Abbots and Archennaghs of this house, down to the time of the English invasion, imme- diately previous to which, a chief of the MacMahon sept founded and endowed an abbey here, for regu- lar canonesses, under the invocation of the Blessed Virgin. Its possessions afterwards vested in the superior of the nunnery of Clonard, to whom this house of the canonesses became subservient, as was recognized by Pope Celestine the Third, in 1 195 ; and a plot adjoining the village is still known by the appellation of the Nunnery land. The abbey, however, which was dedicated to St. Fechin, was, together with the church of Kill-clogher, and the VOL. IL 2d 402 ENVIRONS. tithes of the parish, appropriated to the Prior of Louth, who claimed certain privileges of fishery in the Boyne in right thereof, against the Prior of Lanthony, which were the subject of htigation, and of an ultimate appeal to the Pope, in the com- mencement of the fifteenth century. The Prior of Louth had, likewise, the first voice in the election of the Prioress. The manor and lands of Termon- feckin, soon after the English invasion, passed by royal grant to the Primate, and accordingly, Rich- ard de Rupella appears, on record, assigning to John Fyfide, all the land and tenements which he had in Termonfeckin by grant from William Martell, to hold to said John in fee, as freely as said Richard held same, rendering yearly to the Archbishop of Armagh and his successors, one pound of cumin, and to the chapter of the church of Armagh, one pound of wax at Easter. Early in the fourteenth century, an attempt was made on behalf of the Crown, to divest the Prior of Louth of the advOwson of this benefice, but it was ultimately, after protracted liti- gation, decided to appertain to that Prior, and early presentations of his are on record. In 1385, Rich- ard Moore, vicar of Termonfeckin, was one of those sent by Richard the Second, on an embassy to the Court of Rome. In 1442, the Primate summoned all the parties interested, to appear here before him, to show cause, if any existed, against the projected union of the dioceses of Connor and Down ; and in the following year. Primate Prene, who had been in early life rector of this parish, died, and was buried TERMONFECKIN. 403 here. There was, at this time, a chantry in the cha- pel of St. Nicholas, in the church of Termonfeckin, which Anna Bocombe endowed with the lands of Lobingstown, Rathmerichan, Bardeston, and five acres of land in Drumconrath ; this alienation was made in 1463, without the royal license, and at which time John Sanders was vicar of said chapel. In 1470, Thady, Bishop of Down and Connor, made his obei- sance here to John Bole, the Primate, and, "laying his hand on his heart, and looking on the gospel," he swore obedience to the church of Armagh, its Arch- bishop, and his successors. In 1471, in the Parlia- ment of Dubhn, the demesnes of Richard Verdon of Termonfeckin, were discharged from the payment of subsidies, the custom in the county of Louth being, as therein recited, that no gentleman should pay subsidies for lands occupied by himself; and in 1508, Malachy O'Cluan was here consecrated Bishop of Killala. I The Crown, soon afterwards, on the dissolution of monasteries, acquired the advowson hereto, as well as the tithes of the parish, on which occasion, the respective rights of the religious houses, here and hereto, were ascertained by inquisitions, and sub- sequently demised or granted to several patentees. In 1543, Primate Dowdall, the last of the legally ac- knowledged Roman Catholic Primates, was interred here. In 1613, Primate Henry Ussher died in this village, and in 1617, the manor was valued to the First Fruits at £23 \9s. 6c?., and the rectory at £9 7s. 2d2 404 ENVIRONS. Sterling. In 1621, after the succession of Primate Hampton to the See, his possessions in right thereof were, on inquisition, found to comprise the manor, castle, town, and lands of Termonfeckin, to which appertained one great castle, and a carucate of land in Termonfeckin ; thirty acres in Betaghstown in said parish; the town and land called Colnerstown, containing half a carucate ; Bullraye, sixty acres ; Kill-clogher, sixty acres ; the Dales, sixty acres ; All- mondston, thirty acres ; Ballygander, sixty acres ; 6ne carucate in Newtown-Monasterboyce, and five acres of the meadows ; sixty acres in Oldtown-Mo- nasterboyce ; Curragh, thirty acres ; one carucate in Rusteagh ; one water-mill in Termonfeckin ; the par- sonage and tithes of Bally makenny, with all the mes- suages, lands, and tenements, lying within and upon the east side of the river of Termonfeckin ; the cus- tom of fish in every boat, which shall come ^within the harbours and creeks of the said town of Kill-clo- gher, that is to say, the best fish in every boat which shall come in there. It was also thereby found, that said Archbishop was seised in fee of the manor, cas- tle, &c., of Dromisken, to which belonged one castle and a carucate of land in Dromisken, &c. In 1 630, Primate Ussher entertained here his celebrated suf- fragan. Doctor Bedell, Bishop of Kilmore ; and, in ten years afterwards, removed into England, whence he never returned to his province. In the confisca- tions consequent upon the civil war of 1641, the for- feiting proprietors within this parish were Stephen and John Dowdall, William, George, and James TERMONFECKIN. 405 Plunkett, Edward Brabazon, John TaafFe, Christo- pher Dardis, &c. ; while the chief patentees were Co- lonel William Legg, and Erasmus Smith. In 1661, Primate Bramhall made arrangements for rebuilding the episcopal house here, and for enclosing the park. Many of the Roman Catholic Archbishops of Ar- magh also made Termonfeckin their residence. Of these was the ill-fated Doctor Oliver Plunkett, up to the time of his unjustifiable arrest in 1680. The succession of the incumbents to this bene- fice, as far as ascertained, was as follows : 1369. Stephen Stanton. 1747. William Hender- 1385. Richard Moore. 1414. John Prene. 1461. John Sanders. 1620. Luke Ussher. 1695. Rowland Singleton. 1741. Benj. Barrington. son. 1767. Richard Gorges. 1802. George Lambert. 1805. William Jones Armstrong. 1827. John Kerr. About a mile north of Termonfeckin, on the way to Clogher-head, is GLASSPISTOL, of whose ancient castle is yet traced one fine square, with a projecting angular tower also square, and all thickly covered with yellow lichen. Before the Dis- solution, this townland was the property of the Prior of Louth; it afterwards passed to the Dowdall family, on whose attainder, in 1641, it was granted to Eras- mus Smith and James Graham. The last locality which claims to be included in this direction, is 406 ENVIRONS. CLOGHER, OR KILL-CLOGHER, "which, though distinguished in the earhest ages of Christianity, by the foundation of a rehgious esta- bhshment, of which, St. Nectan, the nephew of St. Patrick, was Abbot or Bishop, is now but a poor straggling village of about eighty houses, or rather cabins, and 600 inhabitants, who are chiefly engaged in the fishery. It is built on the ascent of the truly stony eminence that gives name to Clogher-head, whence, a most extensive view is attained over sea and land. Dunany point and church, Barmeath, Rokeby Hall, Walshestown chapel, and Collon hill, are especial objects in the panorama, from the point first mentioned to Termonfeckin. On the ascent of this promontory are seen extensive ruins of the old church, still singularly perfect; presenting an aisle of sixteen yards in length by six in breadth, and a choir of ten by five, divided from each other by an arch of ten feet span ; the doorway is a pointed arch, through wjoicli opens a pretty vista of the village and the sea ; the windows appear to have been originally pointed arches, rebuilt into squares. Within these ruins there are no monuments, but the baptismal font still asserts there its parochial privileges. In the graveyard is a large enclosed monument to Brabazon Newcomen, who died in 1766, and whose descendants are still proprie- tors here ; but their former mansion-house, de- mesne, and garden, at Calliaghstown, present only images of desolation and decay. The parish contains CLOGHER OR KILL-CLOGHER. 407 ] 861 statute acres, chiefly under tillage, while its po- pulation amounts to 1371 inhabitants. The rectory and vicarage are in the union of Termonfeckin. On the north side of Clogher-head there is a natural little cave in the rocky cliff, about eleven perches by four at high water. The Commissioners of Irish Fisheries granted sums for its improvement, which, with aids from the neighbouring gentry, farmers, and traders, have been appropriated to excavations, to cutting a passage through the beach into it, and to the erection of a pier. OS this head E. N. E. lie Maguire's-Bank, Rough-Ground, and New-Bank, ex- tending six or seven leagues to sea, and stretching six leagues in length, in from five to fifty fathoms water; they afford to the fishermen a great abun- dance of cod, haddock, conger, ling, mackarel,. whit- ing, herrings, hake, ^nd all kinds of flat fish. At the close of the fifth century, St. Nectan, as suggested above, was Bishop here, at which time, and for a long period after, the locality was called Kill- Finnabor. A greatportionof the land of this parish also was in ancient time annexed to the See of Armagh, and was as such, during its vacancy in 1257, vested in Commissioners for the Crown, while the tithes formed part of the endowment of the Priory of Louth. In 1388 the king granted license to Edmund Berle, to alienate two-thirds of the manor of Kill- Clogher, with the reversion of another portion held by Sir Mam'ice Fitz-Eustacc, and to enfeoff Robert StakcboU and others therewith; and in 1400, John 408 ENVIRONS. Wormington and John W}Titer, chaplain, being seised in fee of five messuages and five carucates of land in Kill-clogher, which were held of the king in capite by knight's service, conveyed same abso- lutely to Jenico Dartditz and wife, to whom in three years afterwards the king granted " all the corn in a certain haggard within the parish of Kill-clogher, in the county Uriel, which had come to the king by reason of the forfeiture of Richard Fitz -Richard. In a Parliament held in Dublin, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Edward the Fourth (1475), an Act was passed (unprinted), authorizing Lord Portlester to repair the port of Kill-clogher, and to charge and dis- train the boats frequenting same for certain dues to- wards his reimbursement. After the dissolution of monasteries, the Crown, having acquired the tithes of Kill-clogher parish in right of the Priory of Louth, granted them, according to the policy of the day, for determinable interests to various lessees; the parish then included the townlands of Kill-clogher, Glasspis- tol, Calliaghstown, Almonston, Castlecoe, and Gan- derston, alias Ballygander, By a subsequent inqui- sition the Primate's rights in the lands were found to extend to 60a. in Kill-clogher, 60a. in the Dales, 30a. in Almonston, GOa. in Ballygander, &c. ; and lastly, by another inquisition of 1633, Thomas Viscount Merrion was found seised in fee of the town and lands of Kill-clogher, containing four messuages, and 180a., then held by him in capite by knight's ser- vice. MONASTERBOYCE. MONASTERBOYCE. 409 Westward of Clogher, about four miles distant from Drogheda, are situated the very interesting ruins of Monasterboyce. They are all comprised within a small cemetery, and consist of the shells of two chapels, of a simple but massive construction; one of these, within which is the baptismal font, de- noting it to have been the parochial church, measures in the aisle fifteen yards by six, and is now termi- nated at east by a fine circular arch, four yards and a half in width, which divided aisle and choir, but no trace of the latter portion of the edifice is now discernible. The second chapel measures thirteen yards by five, and is entered by a small Saxon arched doorway. Immediately near this stands a finely pre- served specimen of those Pagan round towers, the era and uses of which will be found treated upon and illustrated in the Essay before alluded to by the author of this work. That, at present under consi- deration, is seventeen yards in circumference at the base, the inner diameter being three yards. It is cal- culated to be ninety feet in height, and diminishes gradually from the base. The door, which is five feet six inches in height, and 22 inches in width, is formed of a circular arch, and stands six feet from the ground. Immediately over it is a pointed arched window, but all the other windows are, as usual, small square holes. It was divided within into five 410 ENVIRONS. Stories, by rings of stone slightly projecting. Be- tween the two chapels is a peculiarly fine stone cross, popularly named after St. Buite. It measures about eighteen feet in height, and is apparently of one stone, comprising the cross, which projects its arms from a circle, and rests on a four-sided pedestal, the sides of the pedestal, cross, and shaft being elabo- rately sculptured in relief, which, though much de- faced, appear to have represented in departments scriptural subjects, amongst which Mr. Wright, in his Louthiania, affects to distinguish the Saviour; St. Patrick, having at his feet an angel with a pair of scales; St. Buite; and Adam and Eve, with the tree between them. It is undoubtedly one of the most ancient religious relics of Christian discipline now in Ireland, and is said to have been sent from Rome and erected by order of the Pope. At the south side of the grave-yard stands another cross, perfect, similar in its shape, and scarcely less beautifully or- namented. It stands sixteen feet high, and, in the numerous devices down its fronts, is considered to exhibit a history of the creation, the temptation by Eve, &c., while on the one side of the cross portion, the crucifixion is represented, with the spearmen transfixing our Saviour, and on the other St. Patrick; each of those crosses terminates conically, while the upper section of a third, which still stands on the east side of the cemetery, exhibits also the cruci- fixion and the spearmen in the front of the cross part, but the top of this is flat. Sir Richard Colt MONASTERBOYCE. 411 Hoare observes of these crosses, that neither the sister kingdom, nor the principaUty of Wales can produce their equals. Wright, in the " Louthiana," gives fine engravings of them, as does Grose of the whole scene: the latter compiler mentions, that three Anglo-Saxon coins were found in digging a grave near St. Buite's cross, two having the words " Edmund Rex," and the other " Ethelstan." The burial place is much used, but contains no monument of note. The pa- rish, to which this locality gives a name, extends two miles in length by one and a half in breadth, com- prising within its circuit, 2316 statute acres, mostly good land, and profitably cultivated, with a popula- tion of 801 persons. At the close of the fifth century the religious house was founded by St. Buite, the son of Bronnagh, from whom it derived the name of Monaster-Buite, corrupted into its present appellation. The founder dying in 521, was buried in the ground which his faith and piety had consecrated. About the year 591, this abbey was visited by St. Columba, the founder of the celebrated monastery of lona, who undertook the conversion of the northern Picts, and penetrated as far as the Orkneys ; on this occasion he caused a tomb to be erected to St. Buite, and consecrated the additional chapel here. It may be re- marked, that there is a denomination of land in this Barony of Ferrard, called Columbkille, a moiety of which, together with moieties of several other lands in the same barony, was conveyed, about the year 1 412 ENvmoNS. 1768, for the residue of a term of years by William Byrne of Dundalk the lessee, on trust that all the rents, issues, and profits thereof should be yearly divided and distributed in such proportions as the trustees might elect, amongst the most indigent house- keepers and inhabitants of the parishes of Dundalk, Killingcoole, Darver, Louth, and Killany, " without respect, or distinction, as to age, sex, religion, or persuasion, but to those most worthy of compassion, and of good character." Subsequent to the time of Columba, the Irish Annalists notice the deaths of successive abbots of this house in 632, 759, 762, 800, 836, 844, 853, 864, 875, 881, and 887. In 922 say the Four Masters, Muireadach Mac Donell died Ab- bot of this house, " the head of all the preachers from Slieve Fuad (in county Down) to Leinster," and next in succession to the abbacy or bishopric of Ar- magh. In 933 died the Abbot Maolbrigid, as did the Abbot Dubhda-boireann in 964. In 968, this monastery was devastated by Donald, King of Ireland, in an expedition which he undertook against the Danes. In 1004, died the Abbot, Donald Mac Ma- rinia, " a holy and reverend priest;" and in 1052, Flan, a professor of this abbey, and an eminent an- tiquary died; some of his works survive, and in par- ticular, a metrical History of Ireland by him is yet extant in the manuscripts at Stowe. In 1097, the belfry of this Abbey was, according to the Four Masters, destroyed by fire, with its valuable contents of books and precious articles. This, and similar IS?--- MONASTERBOYCE. 413, records, in relation to other ecclesiastical houses, are important as establishing the use of distinct erections for belfries and repositories, and negativing the con- clusion of some, who insist the towers were originally erectedfor such respective purposes, although in form, height, narrowness, and internal construction, utterly unfitted for any of those objects. In 1017 died the Abbot Eogan Mac Eachtearn, Vicar of Buite. In 1392, King Richard committed to John, Archbishop of Armagh, then Primate, the custody of two caru- cates of land in the new town of-Monasterboyce, eighty acres in Betaghstown, near Termonfeckin, and ninety acres in the townland of Ballygander, which are stated to have been parcels of the tempo- ralities of said Archbishop. In 1 522, John Rawson, Prior of Kilmainham, demised for a term of years to Oliver Plunkett, of Uriel, gentleman, and Nicholas Chamberlain, chaplain, their heirs and assigns, the churches and tithes of Monasterboyce, Dysard, and Clonkeen, and the oblations, rents, and services, arising annually out of Termonfeckin, Dunleer, and Dunany, at the rent of £10 135. 4d. per annum, said lessees being bound to keep up and support, at their own expense, the churches of Monasterboyce, Dysard, and Clonkeen, and all burdrens attending same. This lease was renewed in 1538, for sixty years. In 1542, it was found on inquisition taken, that the Prior of the great House of Kilmainham was seised (inter alia) of two messuages ; 60a. of land and bog in Mountsterbute, annual value 66s. Sd. ; a •^^!*nn(n. iii.ui ^Mmt^mm^gfgfmmflK^ 414 ENVIRONS. messuage and 4a. of land in the town of Mayne, &c. The Primate's possessions in Monasterboyce are be- fore alluded to in the notice of Termonfeckin, An Ecclesiastical Return of 1622, states Monas- terboyce as appropriate to Lord Louth, who had, by virtue thereof, all the tithes, great and small, of the parish ; while the Easter offerings, and the personal dues on marriages, christenings, and burials, were assigned for the curate. Ambrose Hook was at this time the incumbent. Evidence of a strictly legal nature, relative to the " Rectory of Monasterboyce," may be found in the Certificates for adventurers and soldiers enrolled in the office of the Chief Remem- brancer. In 1682, the rectory and vicarage of this parish were united by Act of Council with those of Dunleer, Moylary, Dysert, and Keppock, and the vi- carage of Drumcar, of all which union, the rectory of Dysert alone has been taxed to the First Fruits. Early in the eighteenth century, the Burtons, of Bur- ton Hall in the county Carlow, acquired the fee of a portion of Monasterboyce, which passed in 1 765 to Doctor Smyth of Dublin, whose interest was re- cently purchased by Mr. William Drummond Delap, who has erected a handsome and spacious mansion on the premises. South-east of this locahty, but within the county of Louth, stand the remains of the once magnificent and most celebrated monastic foundation in this part of Ireland, the Cistercian Abbey of MELLEFONT. MELLEFONT. 415 They are situated about four miles and a half from Drogheda, in a sequestered valley watered by tlie prettily winding Mattock, which here enters a remarkable cleft or ravine, and is the boundary be- tween the two counties of Louth and Meath ; the eastern or Louth side is composed of limestone rock, rude and rough, in some places thinly covered with a scanty turf, but in others entirely exposed. On the western or Meath side, the bank rises nearly per- pendicular from the margin of the stream, to about thirty feet in height, and is wholly composed of clay. At a short distance down the valley, a projection of the naked rock approaches to within a few yards of the river, and here, a portion of the entrance to Mel- lefont yet stands, a massive square tower, carried up on one side to a considerable height, and forming a strong protection against the frequent assaults, to which, from its position immediately outside the Pale, it was for centuries exposed, connected as it was with the rock ledges on the Louth side by a wall, that only admitted ingress through a large cir- cular arch, under which the head-race of an exten- sive flour mill is now conducted. On passing this arch, the first edifice, that attracts attention, is that called the baptistry, a building of great beauty, but now so completely dilapidated, that it is difficult to conjecture its former appropriation. It was once octagonal, with an arched entrance at each face; only 416 ENVIRONS. five sides now survive, each resting on an arcli of graceful form ; the roof is wanting ; but, while a ledge runs inside, at a height that evinces it once sup- ported the flooring of another room, the corbels are yet fixed in the walls, from which the arches sprung to support that roof The ornamental parts of this building were of red granite, and were, it is thought, formerly painted and partly gilt. An engraving of the whole, in its more perfect state, is given by Wright, in his Louthiana. Near it is a holy well, which, after being lost in the ruins for many years, was discovered and re-opened in 1826; between this and the baptistry are the vaults and fallen, though still stubbornly cemented, walls of a large edifice. Next the octagonal structure are the ele- gant remains of St. Bernard's chapel imbedded in the rock, the floor being considerably lower than the outer surface. It consists of a crypt or underground chapel, and an upper apartment; the former was a chaste specimen of most elaborate and finished work- manship; the roof is plainly groined with arches springing from clusters of columns on the side walls, with foliage-ornamented capitals; the windows are also groined and pillared at the angles, the bases of the pillars representing grotesque heads, apparently pressed flat by the superincumbent weight; the mul- lions are all destroyed, but some portions of the tra- cery of the tops remain, and a handsome lozenge or nail-headed moulding is continued round the interior of each, below which a projecting basement runs MELLEFONT. 417 about a foot high, and eight inches broad, the bases of the centre column of each cluster descend to the floor, but those of the other two, for each cluster is composed of three, only descend to and rest upon the basement. This crypt is lighted from an eas- tern window of two lights, enriched with delicate tracery, and with two windows of a similar design at each side. The stone casings of these windows have been carried away, and, above all to be regretted, is the removal of the richly sculptured and deeply receding pointed arched doorway, that once graced this interesting ecclesiastical rehc. Plates of the build- ings here are preserved in Grose, in the second vo- lume of the Dublin Penny Journal, and in Wright's Louthiana. Above St. Bernard's chapel, near the summit of the hill, is a cemetery, now unenclosed and disused, having in its centre the remains of a building of a comparatively recent date, evidently erected since the Reformation, and for the service of the Established Church; the belfry is double arched, and the casings of the doors and windows seem transferred from the elder buildings of the valley. The parish, in which Mellefont is situated, forms, with Tullyallen, a perpetual curacy, comprising a population of 3964 persons. j In 1142, DonoghO' Carrol, prince of Uriel, erected an abbey here for monks of the Cistercian order, with which St. Bernard furnished it from his own abbey of Clairvaux; it was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, and was one of the earliest of that order in VOL. II. 2 E "TI^WW^-'^^W)! 'ff^l^ ■U-.W-TJ^Pi-lWI^.f'i 418 ENVIRONS. Ireland. Christian O'Conarchy, its first abbot, was afterwards made Bishop of Lismore. Moore gives a more detailed account of the origin of this estab- lishment. " St. Malachy," he writes, " at the cele- brated Abbey of Clairvaux, formed that friendship with the famous St. Bernard, the cordiality of which reflected honour on both, and of which there remains so interesting a memorial in the life of our eminent Bishop, written by St. Bernard. Approving of the system followed at Clairvaux, Malachy had left there some of his companions, to be instructed in the regulations and practice of the establishment, and it was by these Irishmen, on their return to their own country, accompanied by some monks of Clairvaux, that this house was founded"(a). In 1151, Malchus, brother of the first Abbot, appears on records as principal of this house, and in his time, some say, a session of Cardinal Paparo's Synod was held here. In 11 57, a more undoubted and scarcely less remark- able assembly of prelates and nobles was held here. Murtogh O'Loghlen, King of Ireland, attended on this occasion, and many of the petty princes, amongst whom are named Tiernan O'Rourke, O'CarroU, &c. while the Pope's Legate, and seventeen Bishops, re- presented the Irish hierarchy. Amongst the poli- tical acts of this body, is recorded their expulsion of Donogh O'Melaghlin, from the kingdom of Meath, and the substitution of his brother over that pro- (a) Moore's 'History of Ireland, vol. ii. p. 190. MELLEFONT. 419 vince; while the ecclesiastics more especially eflfected the foundation and liberal endowment of this noble house, Murtogh O'Loghlen offering on the occasion one hundred and forty cows, sixty ounces of gold, and a townland near Drogheda, called Finabhuair- Naninghean " to God and the Church for the good of his soul ;" O'Carrol, Prince of Uriel, gave sixty other ounces of gold; and the wife of Tiernan O'Rourke and daughter of O'Melaghhn, that Der- vorgilla, to whose abduction is popularly attributed the Enghsh invasion, here, in the pride of beauty and homage of innocence, gave likewise sixty ounces of gold, with a chahce of the same precious metal, for the high altar of the Blessed Virgin, and rich vestments for every other altar that it was intended to erect within the church. In 1168, Prince Donogh, the founder, died, and was interred here; and, in 1177, Charles O'Buacalla, then abbot of this house, was elected Bishop of Emly, where he died within a month after his consecration. | About the year 1 1 82, Henry the Second granted to the abbot and convent of this house a confirma- tion of their possessions, as appears by an Inspex- imus of King John, renewing same, and which are therein set forth as the site of the Abbey, the granges of Kulibudi and Ogumgatran, Mell, " Drochetatha," Rathmolan, and Linnavar, Teachlenny, Rosnarigh, Culen, Cnogva, Kalcalma, TuUachnacomary, Callats, and Finnagh, with all their appurtenances. He fur- ther confirmed to them Hugh de Lacy's gift of two 2 E 2 •• 7 420 ENVIRONS. carucates of land, named Crocli and Infert, and Ro- bert of Flanders' gift of a carucate of land in Crevoda, and about the same time said Hugh de Lacy further granted to this abbey the lands of Ballynashanlah (Ballymacscanlon). In 1189, Rodolph, or Ralph Fletham, Abbot of Furnes, died here(a), as did Murrough O'Carrol, Prince of Uriel, who was in- terred beside his relative, the founder. By a canon of 1190, Abbots of the Cistercian estabhshments in Ireland were licensed to absent themselves for three years, as occasion might require, under the control of the Abbot of Mellefont. In 1193, the aforesaid Dervorgilla, nearly thirty years after her fall, closed her days in penitence in this abbey, in the 85th year of her age. In the same year the relics of St. Mala- chy, Archbishop of Armagh, were brought from Clairvaux into Ireland, and received with great ho- nour as in other Cistercian monasteries. In 1194, the Abbot Moelisa was promoted to the see of Clogher, and in 1201, Thomas O' Conor, Archbishop of Armagh, died, and was interred here. In 1203, King John granted a new charter to this abbey, con- firming to them " of his own fee," the lands of Lis- namagh, the grange of Salt-House, the lands of Leacht Barra, Dumvabar, Eglas-Mocabdes, and Mul- lachois, which they had in possession before the ar- rival of the English, the grange of Balcinet-Edugan, containing four carucates; the land of Ibar Tinge, (a) Chronicon Mannise. MELLEFONT. 421 and that of Incean, which was granted after the ar- rival of King Henry the Second, together with their free customs and fishery on both sides of the river Boyne. In 1206, Benedict and Gerald, friars of this abbey, were presented to King John, and made a tender to his Majesty of three hundred marks of sil- ver, and three of gold, on behalf of Eugene, Arch- bishop of Armagh, for restitution of the lands and Hberties belonging to that see. In 1211, the Abbot Thomas was a subscribing witness to the charter of confirmation, granted by Eugene, Arch- bishop of Armagh to the hospital of St. John of Ardee, and in 1219, Cormac O'Torpa, Abbot of this house, was made Bishop of Achonry, from which see he retired hither in 1226, and here in that year died and was interred. In 1220, Nicholas de Ver- don, having sued the Abbot of this house for a caru- cate and a half in Mellefont, which said Abbot held by gift of the king's father, the proceedings of Ni- cholas were by royal order directed to be suspended, on account of his Majesty having been prevented, by reason of his tender age, from warranting the premises as he ought. In the following year the correction of Mellefont was committed to the Abbot of Clairvaux, soon after which, on the occasion of the war against Hugh de Lacy, the Abbot having given forty marks and 300 cows towards its prose- cution, the justiciary received a mandate in 1225 for reimbursing this house on foot thereof In 1227, Luke Netterville, Archbishop of Armagh, was buried 422 ENVIRONS. here, and in the same year Gerald, a monk of this house, was elected Bishop of Dromore. In 1229, the king granted to the Abbot and convent a Tuesday market in their town of Collon, with an exemption from all tolls and customs throughout this kingdom, and in 1238, this house had a further royal confir- mation of all that it had acquired from Henry the Second, as before mentioned, and in 1253, another, with a prescribed privilege that they should not be sued concerning their possessions, except before the Chief Justice. In 1269, David O'Brogan, who had been a monk of this abbey, and afterwards Bishop of Clogher, was interred here. In 1275, the Abbot petitioned the Chapter of the Cistercians, that there might be a commemoration of St. Malachy, St. Patrick, and St. Brigid, in all houses descended from Mellefont. In 1290, the Abbot was summoned to answer Ralph de Picheford, for obstructing him the said Ralph in his rights of husbote and heybote in the woods of Ferney, and for certain intrusions on the said Ralph's freehold of Dowth. In 1300, the Abbot had a letter of credence addressed to him in reference to the ex- pedition against the Scots, for which the king's forces were summoned to Carlisle, and he was re- quired on that occasion to furnish his aid to the Viceroy John Wogan. In the same year he was sued for acquiring sixty acres of land in Collon, contrary to the Statute of Mortmain, when the jury fovmd, that twenty -four acres of the said land amount- MELLEFONT. 423 ed to the yearly value of twenty-four shillings. In 1306, the temporalities of this abbey were seised into the king's hands, as well on account of the endless disputes and contests for the succession to the abbacy, as because the possessions of the said house, the advowson and patronage of which belong to the king, have been wasted and aUened away(a). The depredations, committed by the De Verdons on the lands of Mellefont in 1311, are fully detailed in the General History of Drogheda. In 1322, it was or- dained that no person whatsoever should be admitted into this abbey, until he had taken an oath that he was of EngUsh descent ; a chapter of the order, however, in 1323, expressed its " detestation of such damna- ble division, introduced by the enemy of the human race," and warned all the Cistercian Abbots, and es- pecially those of Ireland, of whom grievous com- plaints had been made, " that they should remove such walls of separation, and indifferently admit all persons of all nations." In consequence of which King Edward the Second, in 1324, complained to the Pope against this infringement of the law, and in 1325, Nicholas of Lusk, then Abbot here, was not only fined, but, as it would seem, superseded for transgressing the above ordinance, which was some years afterwards yet more enforced in the Acts of the Parliament of Kilkenny. In 1327, Eobert Brian, and John D'Arcy, passed their security, that the (a) Communia Plac. 35 Edw. I. in Berm. Tiirr. 424 ENVIRONS. Abbot of Mellefont should appear before tlie Jus- tices in Eyre, in Drogheda, and produce there Friar Geoffry de Ballybaldrick, Friar Nicholas, lately Ab- bot of this house, and Friar Luke de Caryg, debtors to the king. In two years afterwards, the Abbot paid into the Exchequer, as Governor and Control- ler of the Irish Cistercian establishments, a total sum of £41, for the Abbots of Granard, and Hore Abbey near Cashel, and also for Ralph the late Abbot of Newry. In this latter year, 1329, Edward the Third confirmed the possessions of Mellefont with right of free warren in all their Lordships of CoUon, Bal- lymacscanlon, Salons, Culboyg, Grangegeith, New- town of Monkland, Ballyfeddock, Ferney, SUeu- broght, and in their granges of Oldbridge, Staleen, Rosnaree, Knowth, Dowth, Couldboyde, and New Grange, situated in the counties of Meath and Louth respectively, "provided always these lands be not within the boundaries of our forest." In 1333, the Abbot Michael granted to Nicholas Taafie an annuity of 100 shillings, and two suits of clothes, payable out of the lands of CoUon, in consideration that said Nicholas should perform the duties of seneschal of their lordship. In 1348 theyhad afresh royal confirma- tion of their estates in perpetuity, with a renewal of the rights of free warren as before, and a privilege of erect- ing a prison on any of their lands in the county of Meath, with cognizances of infangthef, outfangthef, waif, and stray, in all their lands and fees; and li- berty to erect agallows, pillory, and tumbrel, inCollon, X MELLEFONT. 425 with the custody and assay of weights and measures therein. They had also license to acquire twenty librates in the waste lands of the marches, and a bur- gage holding in the borough of Drogheda, or in the suburbs thereof, for a habitation for themselves and their suite, at the meetings of Parliaments, Great Councils, &c., in said town. In 1351, Friar Reginald, the Abbot of Mellefont, was found guilty of having, contrary to the Statute, and in time of war with France, collected, within two years, of his own mo- ney, and from the Abbots of Boyle, Knockmoy, Bec- tiflf, and Cashel, the sum of 664 florins, and of hav- ing remitted half thereof to the Abbot and convent of Clairvaux in France. In 1358, the Abbot ob- tained judgment on his title to three weirs upon the Boyne, at Rosnaree, Knowth, and Staghlyn. In 1366, however, he was indicted at Trim, for erecting an unlawful weir at Oldbridge, on the same river, when the jury found, as fully set out in the foregoing no- tice of the Boyne, and the Court thereupon ordered the weir to be reduced to a certain breadth and space, and committed the Abbot to gaol. The im- prisonment was, however, remitted, on his paying the fine of £10 to Roland de Shalesford, sheriff of the county of Meath ; yet, in 1369, his successor, John Terrour was indicted, not only for a similar offence in obstructing the king's right of passage on the Boyne, but also for remitting forty marks to Clairvaux, and for being elected to his dignity with- out the king's license first obtained. The Abbot, in 426 ENVIRONS. his defence to the latter charge, reUed, that Melle- font was subject to Clairvaux, am^, as it would seem, that his remittance was made when no hostilities ex- isted with France. In 1373, the Abbot was summoned to attend a Parhament at Dublin, when, on the occasion of a subsidy voted to the Lord Justice William de Winde- sore, a sum of one hundred shillings was, amongst others, particularly directed to be levied from the Abbot of Mellefont. In 1377, the same Abbot was summoned to attend a Parliament a^ Tristledermot (Castledermot). It may be here observed, that the superior of this House was not only a recognized Peer of Parliament, but had precedence there of all other abbots in Ireland. In 1380, the king issued his special mandate, that no mere Irishman should be permitted to make his profession in this abbey, and that the Statutes prohibiting such practices should be strictly observed. In the following year, the Abbot was summoned to a Parliament to be held in Dublin, and, at the same period, had another legal adjudication in favour of his rights in Oldbridge, Staghlyn, and Knowth. In 1382, he attended ano- ther Parhament in Dublin ; and in 1400, had a royal confirmation of the Abbey lands, manors, and hber- ties. In this patent, which is of record in the Tower of London, all former charters are recited as referred to. In 1402, the king granted his pardon to the Abbot and convent of this house, for their permit- ting the professions of Irish monks in their esta- MELLEFONT. 427 blishment, nevertheless, on their payment of a fine of £50. In 1409, the Abbot obtained license to dis- train for certain services, then in arrear to him and issuing out of the lands of CoUon, in the occupancy of Walter Hore, as tenant of the fraternity. In 1415, Leynagh Bermingham, WilHam Davison, and John D' Alton, were committed to the custody of the Ab- bot, to be by him kept as hostages for the allegiance and good behaviour of their respective fathers. In the same year, the Abbot was sued before the Barona of the Exchequer, to account for certain Crown debts, out of the profits of his possessions, when he pleaded the Lord Deputy's acquittance therefore, and was accord- ingly discharged. In 1424, the Abbot, together with the Archbishop of Armagh, Bartholomew de Ver- don, "chivaler," and Nicholas Taaffe, were appointed Justices and conservators of the peace in the county of Louth, with commission of array and other pow- ers. In 1471, it was enacted in ParUament, that all grants, fees, annuities, rent-charges, leases, and offices, made by John, the late Abbot of this house, and his convent, should, from that time, be null and void, excepting, however, all grants made for advice and to Council. By an Act of the same session, reciting, that this fraternity had created divers burgesses in the town of Collon, and given them certain houses and lands in said town, in the name of burgages, on the express condition of constant residence, with an express proviso also, that no alienation of any of said burgages should take place, except to such persons *^fJTV9**^.:wvnip'^^^Tvy^*i^^' M »L I J M i| Jiywnf^^fvnimiiiuiii^ j'Wkiiifu > J 428 ENVIRONS. as would reside ; and further reciting, that said con- ditions had not been performed ; it was therefore enacted, that the Abbot and convent might, in cases where the covenant or proviso was not observed, re- enter and rebuild, and hold the same, until they were reimbursed for their expenses. About the same time, it was also ordained, that the abbot should be under the king's especial protection for one year, from Mi- chaelmas then next ensuing; and that no action whatsoever should be maintained against him during that interval. In 1472, at the Parhament of Naas, it was enacted, that the town of CoUon, then waste, should be rebuilt by the burgesses thereof within a given time, and, if not then completed, that the Ab- bot of Mellefont might enter thereon, and possess the same as in his original right. In 1479, on the petition of said Abbot, it was provided by Parha- ment, that the spiritual jurisdiction, which did for- merly belong to this abbey, should be-re-assumed, renewed, and confirmed; and in 1488, (the Abbot received the king's pardon for the offences he had done, in being an abettor of the rebeUion raised by Lambert Simnel. At the dissolution, this House is said to have contained one hundred and forty monks, Richard Conter being their abbot, to whom, on the confisca- tion of their estates, a pension of £40, for the term of his life, was as usual granted. Immediately after- wards, an inquisition was taken as to the extent of those estates, when it was found, that this fraternity MELLEFONT. 429 was seised of certain estates and rights at Oldbridge, Sheephouse, Ramolane, Donore, Glasshalyne, Grang- eith, Kerderagh, Ballyfaddock, Kennoyth, Kelly- stone, Cracamothane, Monkton, Rossmore, Gylton, Dromenhalt, Newton of Knockamothan, Radrenagh, Calm, Staneragh, Baleregan near Donore and below the parish of Mellefont, Monamore, the rectory of Babestone, and the chapels of Grangeith and Knock- amothan, parcel of the rectory of Mellefont, all lying in the county of Meath ; and also of certain premises in Drogheda ; while, an inquisition of a subsequent date, ascertained their possessions in Ballymacscan- lan, and other places in the county Louth. There is also a Roll of their possessions, as well in Meath as in Louth county, of record in the Vice-Treasurer's of- fice. In 1566, a lease, of the abbey and its extensive possessions in Louth, was granted by Queen Eliza- / beth to Sir Edward Moore, who then entered te- land as a soldier of fortune. His son. Sir Gerald, afterwards the first Lord Moore, had a grant in fee of the same, and fixed his residence here, convert- ing the abbey buildings, with additions, into a spa- cious and defensible mansion. In 1576, Sir Henry Sydney, Lord Deputy of Ireland, resided here for somes, time, and many of his State Letters are dated hence. In 1601, WiUiam Bathe of Athcarne, county ^Jmeath, was found seised in fee of sixty acres of land in the townland of Collon, county Louth, held from the Queen, as of the abbey of Mellefont, at a certain annual rent, and being of the annual value of ten ' -'-"wip'r' ^'^Ki^fTWT'v^m^^ 430 ENVIEONS. shillings. In the following year, the celebrated Irish chieftain, Tyrone, tendered his submission to the Lord Mountjoy at Mellefont, kneeling before him, and afterwards signing an humble declaration of his allegiance. It was here also, about'this time, the same Viceroy received the intelligence of the Queen's death. By inquisition of 1612 it was found, that this abbey was possessed of certain premises at Legan wood ; twelve acres of great timber at Killing-wood ; Ar- dagh, twenty acres, being the demesne lands ; and the grange and town of Tullyallen, containing twenty- seven messuages, and 218 acres; Mell, two mes- suages and 100 acres ; Ballymear alias Ballynemer- ry, two messuages and sixty acres; Sheepgrange (tithe free), eight messuages and 245 acres; Little Grange, four messuages and sixty-two acres ; Back- rath, two messuages and sixty-three acres ; Cubbage, four messuages and 103a.; Ballygatwran (tithe free), six messuages and 132a.; Salthouse, seven messuages and 238a. ; Staleban, eleven messuages and 160a. ; Vinspocke, six messuages and 90a.; Morragh (tithe free), eleven messuages and 100a. ; Ballypatrick, eight messuages and 120a. ; a water-mill and 23a. in CoUon, with £6 Ids. 4d. annual rent out of said town, and the tithes thereof; Bally macscanlan (tithe free), a castle and 120a.; Crevagh (tithe free), 60a.; Ballynconnell, 60a. ; Killane, 60a. ; Ballynkeran, 60a. ; eleven other messuages and 140a. in: CoUon ; three salmon weirs and two water mills on the Boyne, to- gether with all the tithes, altarages, works, and cus- !»'■ MELLEFONT. 431 toms, of the tenants of the aforesaid premises, so far as the same are chargeable therewith. Another in- quisition, of the following year, finding the estates of Sir Gerald Moore, Viscount Moore of Drogheda, in the manors of Mellefont, CoUon, and Ballymacscan- lan, more expUcitly defines their extent in lands, rec- tories, advowsons of rectories and vicarages, tithes, &c., of all which possessions. Lord Viscount Moore obtained a confirmatory patent in 1640 ; but, in the next year, occurred the storming of the castle here, as before related. In 1653, Lord Moore's estates were sequestered ; but on the 10th of October it was ordered, that his house at Mellefont, the park with the deer therein, and 300a. of land, in such places next adjoining as he would choose, should be exempted from extents, for the maintenance of him- self and his family. The above Sir Gerald Moore was the first of his family ennobled by Eang James with me title of Baron of Mellefont, the other peers of that monarch's creation having been Rory O'Don- nell. Earl of Tyrconnel ; Sir Arthur Chichester Baron of Belfast; Brabazon, Baron of Ardee; Boyle, Baron of Youghal; Ridge way. Baron of Galen; Tou- chet, Earl of Castlehaven and Baron Orier ; Lam- bert, Baron ofCavan; Hamilton, Baron of Strabane; Blount, Baron Mountjoy; Mac Donnell, Viscount Dunluce ; Wingfield, Viscount Powerscourt ; Pres- ton, Earl of Desmond ; Dockwray, Baron of Cul- more; Blaney, Baron of Monaghan; Power, Viscount Valentia ; and Butler, Viscount Tullagh. Mellefont, 432 ENvmoNs. therefore, as the " caput dignitatis" continued, for some years afterwards, to be the residence of this so ennobled family, until their ultimate removal to Moore Abbey, near Monasterevan. A very interesting road leads hence into Drogh- eda, at the back of the noble demesne of Townley Hall, through the glen, consecrated in Irish History, by its being the avenue of King William's advance to the Boyne, and hence along the banks of that river, beside the obeUsk, and in view of the battle field, into Drogheda ; there is, however, yet ano- ther, the following, locality, at the same side of the Boyne, that should not be excluded from a memoir of the environs of that town, DOWTH. This locality, one of the most interesting that could engage the attention of the antiquarian, is si- tuated about midway between Drogheda and Slane, along the northern margin of the Boyne. Imme- diately after the EngUsh invasion, it was the well se- lected site of one of those castles, which De Lacy caused to be constructed for the defence of the Pale, and, in the military subinfeudation, which stationed the boldest and bravest warriors on the marches, the progenitor of the Viscounts NettervillC had from him a grant of the manor of Dowth. Accordingly, in 1307, Nicholas de Netterville appears on record, suing the Prior of Lanthony for the advowson of Dowth; and in 1381, the Eoyal Escheator having pipij«l» . "ip^RaHiwi|uu . V. vm'mi 434 ENVIRONS. Lord Netterville in memory of his father, the Lord Nicholas, his wife Anne, and their daughter Cathe- rine, " who be interred near ;" below this is another small slab, to the Honourable Mrs. Frances Blake, sister of the said Catherine. The two doorways at each side of this river are Saxon arched, while the windows in the gables were pointed. But the paramount attractions of Dowth are the even yet crowded vestiges of the early Magian, or, as it is by some termed, the Druidical worship, that acquired for Ireland, as has been shown, the title of *' the Sacred Island," for centuries before it was the " Isle of Saints ;" the fine mounts, magnificent raths, extensive forts, wondrous caves, here, and in its im- mediate vicinity, all marking it out as an undisturbed, unexplored theatre for antiquarian investigation. A descriptive and accurate account of this myste- rious district, from the pen of Governor Pownal, was, so long since as the year 1770, read at the So- ciety of Antiquaries of London, and has been re- cently republished in Mr. Higgins's admirable work, " The Celtic Druids." Some of its aetails, with the result of more recent observations, \^e due to the subject. The approach from Drogheda, immediately where it enters upon Dowth, presents, on the left hand, the imperfect remains of the sanctum or inner circle of a Pagan temple. The stones are large mas- sive trilethons, and some upwards of six feet above the ground. There remain four of these stones set together at short distances, four others at wider in- tervals of the circle, and three more mutilated and '^:^PWv'- DOWTH. 435 displaced by the quarrying of the rocky knoll on which the circle stood. The diameter of this circle, in its perfect days, might be about thirty feet. South of this singularly coroneted eminence, is an oval fort, measuring about forty-eight yards by thirty-two. This is but ^little raised above the surrounding ground, and is spread over sandstone rock, of that porous, and naturally cavernous aspect common to such stone ; it had a foss, now nearly choked up. Beyond these, and just before reaching the house of Dowth, is a remarkably fine and perfect fort, the ramparts bold and steep, measuring outside, where perfect, about twenty yards, seven on the top breadth, and fourteen in the inner descent, while the bowl thus enclosed, extends about one hundred and sixty yards. No moat is now traceable as having ever surrounded it. Passing the house, a small mount is discoverable, between the house and the castle ; it is at present enclosed by a wet foss. Beyond this is an immense barrow, from the summit of which a vast expanse of the counties of Louth and Meath, and of the windings of the Boyne, is discernible. Openings at its base disclose sections of such an ex- tensive and well-constructed cavern passage, as has been discovered within New Grange, as hereafter particularly mentioned; and a similar barrow, equally near to this, on the lands ofKnowth, |>romises equal gratification to antiquarian research. The barrow at Dowth has been inappropriately disfigured by the erection of a modern temple, now itself in ruins. 2 F 2 miiffffptfinmm^mmmww^f^^if^^^'' mm»,>viuw"f.mfi\ 436 ENVIRONS. Descending hence, in the direction of Slane, a suc- cession of mounts, at left, on the low grounds ad- joining the Boyne, leads the visitor to the truly royal monument of NEW GRANGE. " As most, if not all the barrows which we know of," writes Mr. Pownall, " are formed of earth, you will, upon your approach to this, be surprised to find it a pyramid of stone, compiled of pebble or coggle stones, such as are commonly used in paving. The labour of collecting such a prodigious mass of mate- rials, although they had lain near the spot, would have been a work almost inconceivably great ; but, what conceptions must we have of the expense of labour, of time, and of the number of hands neces- sary to such a work, when we understand that these stones must have been brought hither, not less than twelve or fourteen miles, from the sea coast, at the mouth of the Boyne. When I add to all this, that, upon a calculation raised from the most moderate state of its measurements, the solid contents of this stu- pendous pile amount to one hundred and eighty-nine thousand tons weight of stone, your astonishment must, I think, be raised to the highest pitch I make the altitude to be about fifty-six feet, from the horizontal line of the floor from the cave, to which adding the segments of the curve of the ground on which it stands, being about fourteen feet more, I make the altitude of the whole about seventy feet. The periphery is curvilinear, not rectilinear, and the base NEW GRANGE. 437 covers about two acres of ground, while the summit, which is still nearly a circular plain, measures in dia- meter about forty yards." This prodigious barrow was encircled at the base, with a series of enormous unhewn stones, set upright, of which nine are still in their erect posture, the tenth prostrate ; those, that are standing, measure from seven to nine feet in height above the ground, and, on a rough estimate, may be supposed to weigh from eight to twelve tons each. Three of these stones are within nine yards of each other ; the next distant eighteen yards ; the next, which is a little out of its place, eighteen yards more ; the next, thirty-six ; the next sixty-three ; so as to induce the conclusion, that, in its original state, erect stones occurred at every nine yards, while it is no less probable, that there were yet more inter- mediate, but the spot has been, in former years, ut- terly wasted. It served as a stone quarry to the vi- cinity, and the surrounding roads were paved from this repository. In its heart, is a singular cave and gallery, of which Mr. Pownall gives a very fuU ac- count, accompanied with plates. The mouth of the gallery, which led into the central cave under the perfect state of the monument, lay concealed and shut up near forty feet within the body of the pile. It is formed by large flat stones ; those which com- pose its sides are set on edge, and are of different altitudes, from two to seven feet high, and of various breadths, from two to three feet six inches, while the thickness of some of the large ones ie from one ' ^■'-m 438 ENVIRONS. foot and a half to two feet. This gallery, the roof of which is formed of long flat stones, laid trans- versely, extends sixty-two feet in length, and termi- nates in a dome, which springs at various unequal heights from eight to nine and ten feet, on different sides, forming at first a coving of eight sides. At the height of fifteen or sixteen feet, the north and south side of this coving run to a point, and the coving continues its spring with six sides ; the east side coming to a point next, it is reduced to five sides ; the west next ; and the dome ends, and closes with four sides, not tied with a key stone, but capped with a flat flag-stone of three feet ten inches by three feet five ; the construction of this dome is not formed by key stones, whose sides are the radii of a circle, or of an ellipsis converging to a centre ; it is combined with great long flat stones, each of the upper stones projecting a little beyond the end of that immediately beneath it ; the part projecting, and weight supported by it, bearing so small a propor- tion to the weight which presses down the part supported ; the greater the general weight is which is laid upon such a cove, the firmer it is compacted in all its parts. ... Upon the whole, this cemetery or kistvaen, is an octagon, with a dome of about twenty feet in height, and of an area, which may be circum- scribed within a circle of seventeen feet. From this centre, issue, at the sides of the dome, and at the part opposite where the gallery enters, niches, or, as Mr. Pownall styles them, tabernacles, giving the NEW GRANGE. I 439 whole the exact appearance of a cross, the arms of which extend twenty feet in length. Each of these tabernacles is constructed at its sides of two stones standing erect, while the back is formed by a large flat stone laid edgeways at its length ; and each of these recesses is covered with one large flat stone, sloping towards the back. The northern tabernacle has for its floor a long flat stone, six feet eight inches long, by four feet eleven inches broad ; the two side niches have no other floor but the natural ground ; they have each of them, however, a rock basin placed within them. In the whole work appears no sign of mortar or cement. " In the centre recess, oppo- site the entrance," writes Miss Beaufort, in her ad- mirable Paper "on Ancient Architecture in Ireland," (published as a Prize Essay in the Royal Irish Aca- demy Transactions, vol. xv.), " is a large flat stone, probably the stone of sacrifice ; and from the thick blackness of smoke observable there, and no where else, it has been evidently used, either for that pur- pose, or for the preservation of the perpetual fire, such as was kept continually burning in their sacred caves by the Brahmins of India, the Magi of Persia, and the Gaurs or Druids of England and Ireland. When New Grange was first opened in 1 699, it con- tained the two rock basins at opposite sides, and in the circular area, a pillar stone, on each side of which lay a human skeleton. There were also found, underneath the pillar stone, two gold coins, one of ' the Emperor Valentinian, and one of Theodosius, r'^r*'w,-:^**7»"''W ■ qiijiiiiiiui.ui.ipp;|pn|B 440 ENVIRONS. from which it may be judged, that this cave temple was constructed before the invasion of the Danes, to whom this cairn has been sometimes attributed." There have also been dug up here recently, as com- municated by Sir William Somerville to the Author, a massive gold ring, with a paste centre ; a slight gold chain of very delicate workmanship ; two gold bracelets of a twisted pattern ; a very beautiful gold ornament, about two inches in length, but narrow in width, in which was set a paste imitation stone. There were found at the same time, but not pre- cisely in the same part of New Grange, a denarius of Geta, and two brass coins utterly defaced, and coins of Constantine yet more recently, in excavating the entrance of the cave. " This tumulus, it may be observed," to continue in the words of Miss Beaufort, "unites in itself the artificial mount or high place, the sacred funeral cave, the pillar stone (for such, it is said, once stood upon its summit), and the circle of upright stones. The resemblance of this remarkable cairn to the Egyytian pyramids, struck Governor Pownall so forcibly, that he does not hesitate to avow his opinion, that it was constructed for the same purposes ; while Mr. Faber observes the like- ness it bears to some of the most ancient Indian pa- godas, built to resemble a large cavern. In New Grange, he remarks, we have the narrow passage, the central chamber rising into an oviform dome, like that at Canara ; the cistern for purification ; and the mystic cross, a figure very frequently adopted in the NEW GRANGE. 441 construction of temples ; such multiplied peculiari- ties serve to show, that the tumulus of New Grange was thrown up, with the very same ideas which pre- vailed among the Babylonians, Hindoos, and Egyp- tians." It may be here added, that Strabo, in his Geography (vol. ii. p. 779), describes the outer ap- pearance of a temple of the Sac£e, who inhabited Armenia, &c., in terms that much assimilate it to the edifice under consideration. The Boyne forms in the distance a partial semicircular boundary to the grounds on which this monument stands, and be- tween them are two small barrows. Adjacent to this, at Knowth, is a very similar mount, which has never yet been explored, but in which, about a century since, was discovered an urn, enclosed in a square stone box, about five feet long, and four broad, made of four rude large flag-stones set together edgeways. The urn itself was one great heavy stone, of an oblong round figure, somewhat of the shape of the upper part of a human skull, but five or six times as large. It was of a sandy greet like freestone, much coarser, however, and harder ; its length about sixteen inches, breadth twelve, and height eleven ; its cavity shallow, not above five inches deep, rudely hollowed, by cutting out some part of the stone, in which were found loose fragments of burned bones; while the outside was adorned with rude lines and carving. About midway between this and Drogheda, in a place called the hill of Bath, many other urns have been recently dug up. The largest was 442 ENVIRONS. about sixteen inches inheight, and sixteen in diameter at its greatest girth, of a shape nearly conical, flattened at the apex, and from its greatest diameter, about twelve inches from the apex it gradually lessens to a diameter of fourteen inches. It was formed of yel- lowish clay, and simply ornamented around the lower border. Under this urn (writes an eye-witness), and resting on the earth, were considerable fragments of human bones, some of which bore evident marks of fire. This, and the minor urns which surrounded it, were discovered about eighteen inches below the present surface of the field, but it appears that a few years since, a stratum of earth, about three feet in thickness, was removed to fill up a quarry hole. That this spot was selected for the purpose of gene- ral sepulture is probable, from the fact, that upwards of one hundred urns were unintentionally destroyed by the owner of the land in his agricultural labours, and many more, it is conjectured, remain in this " Potters' field," where much of the line has not yet been disturbed. Several urns similarly constructed have been found in other difierent parts of Ireland, some of them of difierent shape, and generally orna- mented highly; but these, from their comparative plainness, would seem to be of the highest antiquity. It was intended to have here appended some notices of the use and era of the several monuments, that are alluded to as existing in this mysterious district, the origin of Magism in Ireland, its communication inDru- idism to England, and subsequently to Gaul, and the y COLPE. 443 corruptions and changes that religion underwent in transmission; the project, however, would extend to a length incompatible with the present undertaking, and the Author must, therefore, now only refer to what he has already compiled on the subject in his " Essay on the Ancient History, &c., of Ireland." The environs of Drogheda, on the southern banks of the Boyne, are not less deeply interesting. COLPE. The parish of this name, filhng the eastward of this district, claims the earhest observation. It com- prises 5785 acres, divided into twelve townlands, viz., Colpe, Mornington, Donnycarney, Betaghstown, Ballymad, Pilton, Stameen, Stagrennan, Newtown, Paynstown, Beamore, and Beabeg. On the first is situated the parochial church, a small edifice, amply sufficient however for the ordinary congregation that resorts to it. It exhibits no mural slabs or monu- ments, but in the surrounding cemetery are tombs commemorative of the Hamills, Kellys, Hoeys, Ma- granes, &c., of Drogheda. One to Thomas Belle w, obiit, 1729, another to Wilham Shepherd of Bettys- town, died 1830, and an enclosed monument to Fran- cis Brodigan, Esq., formerly of Drogheda, who died in 1831, erected by his son Thomas. "Here also," it adds, " lie the remains of Francis Cheevers, and Jane his wife ; grandfather of the aforesaid Francis Brodigan, and son of Jerome Cheevers of Macetown Castle, in this county." [This Jerome Cheevers was '- •;:t'^"?>5f»;f^ 444 ENVIRONS. the only brother of Edward Cheevers of Macetown, who married Anne, sister of the gallant Sarsfield, Earl of Lucan, and was himself created Viscount Mount Leinster, by James the Second. He was aide de camp to the unfortunate monarch at the Battle of the Boyne. Although specially included in the Articles of Lime- rick, this devoted loyalist relinquished the benefit of the capitulation, and accompanied his sovereign into exile, where he died without issue. It may be permitted here to add of the illustrious family, from which this individual was descended, that they were at the earliest period of authentic history, lords of Chievres in Hainault, that one of them accompanied the Conqueror to England, and that Sir William Chevre, his descendant, was one of the warriors in the train of Strongbow, from whom he received a knight's fee in Wexford, and became founder of a family traceable in that county down to the afore- said Viscount]. South of the church of Colpe is a mount, which was erected, according to tradition, over that Colpa, the brother of Heremon the Mile- sian leader, who, having been drowned in the bay here, gave it the name which was subsequently as- signed to the townland, and ultimately to the whole parish. On its shore St. Patrick made his first successful entry into Ireland; on its shore four centuries after- wards the tyrant Danes effected their earliest ravages in this country; and here, soon after the English in- vasion, Hugh de Lacy, the Palatine of Meath, founded COLPE. 445 a monastery for canons regular of St Augustin, de- dicating it to St. Columb, and making it a cell to the noble priory which his ancestor and namesake had founded at Lanthony in Monmouthshire. The Palatine endowed this estabhshment with the tithes of Coungerie and Donnycarney, the church of Mari- nerstown, with the tithes of the fishery; the church of Aney; the church of the valley of Clonalvey; the church of O'Garastown, county of Meath; those of StamuUen, Kilmessan, Kilcooley, Delvin, Kilhmethe, Kilsharvan, Dunboyne, Rathbeggan, Kilruy, and Drumrath; the church of the village which was Re- ginald deTurberville's (i.e. Ballymadun); the advow- son of the vicarage of Lillen; the land of Ballybin; and the land which Gilbert de Cornwall held in the lordship of Ratoath, with all the chapels and appur- tenances of said churches, together with all lands belonging to said ecclesiastical benefices, and the right of patronage of said churches, with their cha- pels and appurtenances. In 1411, William Tymset, styled Canon of Lanthony, otherwise Canon of the house of St. Columb of Colpe, sued out a royal par- don for any matters in which he might have incurred the royal displeasure. The Abbot of Duleek, where Hugh de Lacy had founded another cell, also made dependent on Lanthony, was, as the Irish represen- tative of that religious house, rector of the church of Colpe, while the right of presentation to the vicarage appertained to the priory of Duleek. In 1536, pre- vious to the general dissolution of monasteries, Colpe, I ltiiqqj<,RffU,,|pjl WUj^U «.I.,U W : T-^ff-TSJ^ 446 ENVIRONS. as one of the dependencies of Duleek, was suppressed, when its prior was found entitled to receive certain measures of corn, called couples, off the several town- lands of the parish. An inquisition of the same pe- riod finds, that the Priory of Lanthony was seised of (inter alia), the tithes of " little and much Stameen," Donnycarney, Marinerstown, Betaghstown, Bally- mad, Painstown, Pilton, and Beabeg; the tithes of St. James's, Newtown, Stagrennan, and those of the manor of Colpe, comprising 1 80 acres, all within the parish of Colpe, and which, subject to certain rights of the Bishop of Meath, vested in the Crown upon the said suppression. In 1558, the grange here, de- scribed as comprising eighty acres arable and forty of pasture, with " a great house of stone thereon, and other appurtenances, was, together with two gardens in Marinerstown, demised by Philip and Mary to Henry Draycot. [This individual, who resided at Marinerstown, and was Remembrancer of the Irish Exchequer, obtained an enlarged reversionary patent of the said premises from Queen Elizabeth, and be- came the founder of a family here. He died in 1572, when a post mortem inquisition finds that he was, at the time of his decease, seised in fee of all the tithes in the lands of Marinerstown, Great Beaubeck, Little Beaubeck, and in the fields of the same, parcel of the possessions of the prior of Lanthony, and of all the tithes of the churches and vicarages which were parcels of the monastery of the Virgin Mary of Duleek, and which he had acquired by grant COLPE. 447 from Queen Elizabeth]. The great bulk, however, of the estates of Lanthony and of both the religious houses of Duleek, in this parish and its vicinity, was granted by King James to Sir Gerald Moore. In 1 639, John Draycot, knight, died seised in tail male, with reversion to the Crown, of the site, &c., of the dis- solved monastery of Colpe, and of four messuages and 100 acres in the town of Colpe; and of the town and land of Marinerstown, 120a.; Beaubeck, 340a.; and of all the tithes of the said premises. In 1641, as before related. Lord Moore, in a sally from Dro- gheda, took the Castle of Colpe. The forfeiting proprietors within this parish, in the immediately subsequent confiscations, were John Bellew, John Draycot, John Bathe, Nicholas Dowdall, John Goul- ding. Valerian Wellesley, and John Barnewall, all described as '* Irish Papists;" of whose estates the Earl of Anglesey, Henry Draycot, Alderman George Peppard, Nathaniel King, and Richard Duffe, be- came the chief patentees. The abstract of the Down Survey says of this parish : " There stands an old church at Stagrennan, and another in Mornanton, with two good houses, and a corn mill in repair, and the walls of an old church in Colpe, and a ha- bitable castle, and two farm houses. In Great Sta- meen there is a great stone house in repair, and a corn mill, and in Donnycamey a habitable castle and a farm house." In 1666, Henry Osborne had a grant of (amongst other lands) a portion of Bally- mad, in this parish, as well as of a part of Julians- 448 ENVIRONS. town. In 1793, the vicarages of Colpe and Kilshar- van were episcopally united, which arrangement was, on the recommendation of the Ecclesiastical Com- missioners, subsequently perpetuated. In 1806, the present church was erected, chiefly by the aid of a grant from the late Board of First Fruits, who, in 1811, granted £450 for purchasing a glebe, and lent a further sum towards building a glebe house here. In the Roman Catholic arrangement the parish of Colpe forms part ofthe Union of St.Mary of Drogheda. Mornington, more anciently and appropriately called Marinerstown, the second townland of this pa- rish, had a church also dedicated to St. Columb, dis- tinct from that of Colpe, and was formerly accounted a several parish, but has since merged into one bene- fice, as Colpe cum Mornington. The ruins ofthe old church are close to the shore ofthe haven, a slab on the side wall marks ground appropriated, in 1794, for the interment of James Brabazon of Mornington, Esq., recorded as allied in the male line to the Earls of Meath, and in the female to the Earls of Morning- ton. There are also in the little cemetery, tombs to Mrs. Jane Brabazon, of this family, who died in 1815; to the Matthewses of Colpe; the Duffs and Hammonds of Drogheda, &c. Beside this ruin is a fine new Roman Catholic chapel, and at a short dis- tance Mornington House, erected on the ancient in- heritance of the Wellesley family. So early as the year 1200 this locality is described in records as " Villa Marinarii." In 1301, Nicholas de Geneville COLPE. 449 had seisin from the Crown of the manors of Culmul- len, Marinerstown, &c. Soon afterwards Richard de Wesley, knight, having married Johanna, daughter of Sir Nicholas de Castlemartin, acquired in her right {inter alia) the Lordship of Marinerstown. In 1386, the custody of the manor was, by the king, com- mitted to Edward Berle, same being, as is recited, in the Crown, by reason of the death of Simon Cu- sack, knight and the minority of his heir. In the following year the king committed to the Abbot of Furnes, the custody of one messuage, one carucate, and sixty acres in Marinerstown, which had been held by his religious house, but had lately accrued to the Crown, and were in the hands of the Marquess of Dublin, who disputed the title of the abbey there- to. In 1398, GeofFry, son of Thomas, son of John Cusack, knight, conveyed to trustees his manors of Dengan, Marinerstown, Donnycarney, Culmullen, &c., which deed was, in 1421, exemplified oninspe.v- imus in Chancery at the request of Thomas Cusack. Although the manorial rights were in the Cusack family, two-thirds of the lands of Marinerstown and Donnycarney belonged to Mortimer Earl of March, and in the Chancery Rolls is recorded a Crown grant thereof in 1 403, during the minority of Ed- mund, the son and heir of Roger Earl of March, with services, wreck of the sea, &c. The manorial rights passed, by marriages with co-heiresses, to Tho- mas Fleming of Slane, knight, and Richard Wellesley ; the latter, with his wife Johanna, had, in 1422, par- VOL. II, 2 G ^.■.T-n-w!.^^--i'r-j.r-;;*j-..:..i-H»-^ .^,1*1 Jl!^niW;,Ui|VINpin^ 450 ENVIRONS. don for all intrusions, &c., on the lands of Mariners- town, Donnycarney, Pilletstown, &c., and a confir- mation of all their rights therein. On the dissolu- tion the church here was described, as '* the Church of St. Columb of Marinerstown, a cure with a salary of £1, Sir John Draycot impropriator;" the tithes of " Wellesley's farm" were at the same time found to appertain to the Abbey of Duleek, while the tithes of the fishery were in 1604 granted by King James to Sir George Carew, Vice Chamberlain to the Queen, as "parcel of the rectory of Colpe, the estate of the late Priory of Lanthony, near Gloucester." A subsequent inquisition of 1624 finds, that " Gerald Weslie, late of Dangan, Irish Papist, died in 1603, seised in his de- mesne, as of fee, ofthemanorofDangan,andof the ma- nor of Marinerstown alias Mornanton, containing two messuagesand 120a., and ofacapital fishery, commonly called the lord's Fishery." In 1721, Draycot Talbot mortgaged 200a. of Momington, and 80a. of Colpe, with all the tithes, great and small, to "William Col- ville ; he subsequently sold same to Walker, who assigned to Francis Leigh of Drogheda. At the extremity of this townland, on the beach at the mouth of the Boyne, is an ancient tower, called the Maiden tower, from having been erected in the time of Elizabeth(«). It is about sixty feet in height, in (a) A charter of her Majesty, granting certain tolls and cus- toms to the corporation of Dublin, in aid of erecting at Poolbeg a tower, similar to that recently buUt at the entrance of the harbour of Drogheda, at once establishes the era and use of the latter edi- fice. See also of this curious structure, ante, p. 366. ■ iT7r'^ywm<9-^!i^'Vfrv \ v - '^V Vf: ;7» .-3i^-«*;ii*L^i,iJ^.j/»WJi^j^|,|pi(yii_L|^)|(M COLPE. 451 form about three yards square, and so narrow within, as only to admit a flight of 55 steps to the top terrace, which is battlemented, and commands a most exten- sive look out over sea and land, the whole expanse of the former from Mourne to Bray Head, and of the latter far into the counties of Meath and Louth. It has no windows, and is only Ht through loopholes at different aspects. It stands upon oak piles, and be- side it is a sihaller obelisk, or solid round tower, about fifteen feet in circumference, and forty in height, based upon a square pediment, and tapering cone-like to its summit. These two objects, it is said, when brought in a Hne from the offing, marked (as the harbour formerly opened itself) the precise angle necessary to make, in order to strike the entrance over the bar into Drogheda. Mornington, it but re- mains to add, gives titles of Earl and Baron to the Wellesley family. Donnycarney, the third townland stated in this parish of Colpe, still exhibits the gable of " the habi- table castle," alluded to in the Down Survey, in the shadow of which a smith has estabhshed his forge. A National School founded here gives education to 74 boys, and 23 girls. Betaghstown, now called Bettystown, is remarkable for its fine strand, com- fortable hotel, and commodious bathing lodges. This townland of Colpe parish was, in I6II, granted by King James to Robert Bamewall of Dunboe, as 160a. to hold in fee, at the annual rent of £5 6s. 6d. Its rectorial tithes subsequently vested in Graves 2g2 '0 I 'm f*x- COLPE. 451 form about three yards square, and so harrow within, ^,, as only to admit a flight of 55 steps to &e top terrace, * which is battlementedi and commands a most exten- sive look out over sea and land, the whole expanse of the former from Moume to Bray Head, and of the latter far into the counties of Meath and Louth. It has no windows, and ia only lit through loopholes at differenfc^aspects. It stands upon oak piles, and be-'; side it is ja-irpBiller obelisk, or solid round tower, aboul.#fi^n^^t ia iireuHiference, and forty in heigl]dt;%ased7J.pon ^'square pediment, and tapering * cone^hke to its simimil ' These two objects, it is said,^ when teought in a line from the offing, marked (as the^harbour formerly opened itself) the precise angle necessary to make^ in order to strike the entrance over the bar into Droghteda. Mornington, it but re- mains to add, gives titles of Earl and Baron to the Welle^ey family. j .Donnycamey, the third townland stated in this - pariah of Colpe, still exhibits the gablfe of " the habi- table" castle,'* alluded.to ill the^own Survey, in the sha3©W of which a smith has established his forge. A Iffttionai School founded here gives education to. 74 IJQyd, and 23 girls. Betaghstowf^, now called Bettystown, is remarkable for its fin% strand, com-^^ fortable hotel, and commodious bathiag lodges. This townland of Colpe parish was, in 1611 j granted by King Jame§ to Bobert Bamewjall df I>unboe, as l60A.toholdinfee, attheannualrentof £5 6s. Qd. Its lectoiial tithes subsequently verted* in Graves 2g2 452 ENVIRONS Chamney, and were by him sold to Francis Bur- ton. Pilton, i. e. Pilot's-town, deriving its name, like many localities in England, and some in Ireland si- milarly situated, from its having been an advanced station for pilots, in the navigation of the mouth and creek of the Boyne, was, in records of the fourteenth century, and long afterwards, styled with an alias, " English Colpe." On the suppression of certain monastic establishments in the time of Henry the Eighth, under the Act of Absentees, it became a manor of Gerald Wellesley, progenitor of the illus- trious house of Wellesley. The proprietorship of this townland was afterwards acquired by a family of the name of Duff, on a marriage with the heiress of which line, it passed, in the commencement of the eighteenth century, to Edmund Malone, a relative of the celebrated Prime Serjeant, and himself an emi- nent lawyer. It is at present, with other portions of the parish, the estate of Thomas Brodigan, Esq., whose strikingly beautiful mansion stands in the cen- tre of the townland, within a park of 200 statute acres, that for scenic effect and skilful cultivation, presents, in the view from the Dublin and Drogheda Railway, an ornamental and gratifying foreground. The house, of which the annexed engraving gives a more intelligible conception than could any verbal details, is of a compound architecture, presenting a pleasing combination of the Italian with the Grecian style, in which the lightness of the latter prevails. w \ W^'^^^i^"?^ 'i?^^^ ^'^^'^i 452 ENVIRONS ^ phainQey, and were by him sold to Francis Bur- r ton. ^ . . .. Pilton, i. e. Pilot's-town, deriving its name, like '■■'•' n^iany localities in' England, and some in Ireland si-^ milarly situated, from its having been an advanced atetipn for pilots, in the navigation of the mouth and . creek of the Boyne, was, in records of the fourteenth cetttury, and long afterwards, styled with an alias, ll»^^J^fi^^h Qo\p^." On the suppression of certain nronastjiic fesfcabliehments in the time of Henry the '^: Eighth, : ito<3e.r the Act of Absentees, it became a manoir of .Gerald Wellesley, progenitor of the illus- trious house of Wellesley. The proprietorship of this towuland. was afterwards acquired by a family of the name; of.Duff, on a marriage with the heiress of which line, it. passed, in the commencement of the eighteenth century, to Edmund Malone, a relative of the celebrated Prime Serjeant, and himself an emi- nent lawyer. It is at present, with other portions of the parish, the estate of Thomas Brodigan, Esq., whose strikingly beautiful mansion stands in the cen- tre df tlje" townlaind, within a park pf 200 statute acres, that: for scenic effect and skilful cultivation, ^,i presents, in 1^ view from the Dublin and Drogheda Railway, an canamental arid gratifying foreground. The house, of which the annexed engraving gives a more intelligible ooriceptiori than could any verbal details^ is of a cojtnpound architecture, presenting a pleasing cotijbinatidn of the Italian^with the Grecian 9tyle, in which the lightness bf the latter prevails. . :# « ■. !- -^1-C- II -^ITt -V*". ^. ^ lU ■■■A t \liKx,'% J/ COLPE. 453 Of the remaining townlands of this parish, Bea- more and Beabeg alone seem to require any particu- lar notice. At the former was anciently a precep- tory dependent on the priory of Kilmainham. On the dissolution, the tithes of this farm were granted to Henry Draycot, from whose family they passed to that of Talbot, and were, in 1723, sold by Draycot Talbot to Thomas Pearson, who bequeathed them, with the dwelling-house and demesne, town and lands of Beamore, to his niece Hester, Countess of Charleville. Its gardens, of the Dutch style, were long admired. Beabeg was, before the English in- vasion, denominated Killokeran, by which name, Walter de Lacy, in the time of King John, granted it to the church of St. Mary and St. Laurence of Beaubec in Normandy, together with the liberty of keeping a boat on the Boyne, toll free, a grant which Henry the Third afterwards confirmed, to be held in free and perpetual alms. It was thereupon con- stituted a manor, designated as Beaubec, with a de- pendent cell or church. In 1 332, the Abbot of Beau- bec obtained a license from Edward the Third, to assign his rights here, with a fishery, and certain chief rents out of Marinerstown and Drogheda, to the Abbot of Fumes in Lancashire, which transfer was subsequently effected, and the king's Escheator was directed to deliver possession accordingly ; and many ensuing royal confirmations are recorded. On the earlier monastic confiscations in Ireland, King Henry the Eighth granted " Great and Little Beaubec," with V 454 / / MJ^ENVIRONS, courts leel( and view of frank pledge therein, to Sir John Dratycot, whose descendants continued to in- it^same until the Revolution. South of the parish of Colpe, lies that of JULIANSTOWN, containing the townlands of Julianstown, Damans- town, Rogerstown, Ninch, Leytown, Ministown, and Smithstown, comprising in the total, according to the Trigonometrical Survey, 3065a., and a total po- pulation, according to the recent census, of 816 per- sons. There are a parish church and a chapel ad- jacent to it, in the village of Julianstown. In 1380, Thomas Tuite, Knight, was seised of premises here, which, on his decease, passed to his son and heir John Tuite. The rectory and tithes of the parish were, at this time, appropriated to the Priory of the Blessed Virgin of Duleek, and, soon after the sup- pression of that house, were granted to Sir Gerald Moore. In 1635, Peter Barnewall was seised of a castle and 80a. here. In the civil war of 1641, a victory was obtained here by the insurgents, which considerably promoted their cause, and so increased the number of their adherents, that they not only felt confident of reducing Drogheda, but even medi- tated marching with their united forces to invest the capital. The Abstract to the Down Survey of this parish describes it, as " meared with the Nanny wa- ter, over which there is a fair bridge called Julians- town bridge, on which river there stands a corn-mill JULIANSTOWN. 455 belonging to Smithstown. In Smithstown there stands a fair stone house, in repair, and another in Rogerstown ; in Julianstown, an old church and two farm-houses; and in all the otheir townlands store of cabins." The river Nanny, which empties itself into the sea through this parish, takes its rise near Navan, and, running in an easterly direction, shapes its course through the romantic glen of the Diamond-rock, whence, entering the beautiful de- mesne of Sir William Somerville, it there expands itself into a fine sheet of water, proceeds at foot of the old church of Tymole, and by the castle of Ath- carne to Duleek, thence, at foot of the hill of Bel- lewstown, by Mount-Hanover and Cooper-hill and under Dardistown castle, whence it flows into Kil- sharvan by the extensive bleach-green of Mr. Arm- strong, winding gracefully hence through this parish, imder the turnpike and railway bridges, by Ninch and the handsome demesne of Colonel Pepper, it falls into the sea at the now obscure village of Ley- town, but which, in the fourteenth and fifteenth cen- turies, was a place of great commercial importance. Washed by the same river, the parish of KILSHARVAN * next presents itself, lying westward of Julianstown. It contains 2096a. in the townlands of Kilsharvan, Shallon, Crofty, Balloghan, Calliaghtown, Gafl&iey, Andgor, New Haggard, and Balgeene. Limestone abounds in this district; and on the Nanny, near the 'i!^y>^-r^ymf^-r^*.mi^.VV-^'^-^rwt^ i,i.p.^i.l)j4n^,^j||ijH^^g|^]ip . ^IW^jmjjMfJiffiJ^ 456 ENVIRONS. ruins of the old parochial church, are the extensive bleach works of Mr. Armstrong. The church, here alluded to, was dedicated to St. John the Baptist, and still exhibits extensive remains solemnlv embowered in trees ; the aisle and choir, divided by a fine semi- circular arch, are distinctly traced, the former mea- suring fifty feet by eighteen, the latter thirty-three feet by sixteen ; the entrances are by circular arches ; the side windows are square, deeply recessed, with mullions and tracery, and having a bold projecting label moulding. Within this are monuments to the Tonges of Shallon, from 1765; to Ehnor, daughter of Richard Aylmer, and wife of John Harford, Esq. of New Haggard, obiit 1741, &c. ; while in the sur- rounding graveyard, are sundry tombstones comme- morating Macans of Drogheda, Mac Granes of Ju- lianstown, &c. At Mount-Hanover, in this parish, a National School gives instruction to 111 boys and 66 girls. — Balloghan is celebrated for a holy well dedicated to St. Columb ; in a niche over it is a sta- tue representing a monk, with a canon's cap, and a girdle round his waist. — Crofty, another townland herein, is a scene of considerable historic interest. On the breaking out of the civil war of 1641, Lord Gormanston, who took an active interest in the proceedings, caused the resident noblemen and gen- try of the county Meath to assemble on this hill. The Lords Fingal, Slane, Louth, Dunsany, Trimles- ton, and Netterville, with upwards of 1000 of the leading gentry, responded to his summons, and here. KILSHARVAN. 437 according to a preconcerted arrangement, they were met by Roger Moore, and others of the leaders of the Ulster movement, attended by a detachment of their forces. The representatives of Meath advanced, and Lord Gormanston, with great solemnity, de- manded for what purpose they had entered the Pale in arms; Moore replied, that they had taken up arms for maintenance of the king's prerogative, and to make the subjects of Ireland as free as those of England. He was again required to declare, whether these were the real motives, without any private or sinister views, when, on his earnest asse- veration of sincerity, Gormanston and his party de- clared, that they would unite with them for such purposes, and prosecute all those as enemies, who would refuse to assist their righteous cause. The interview was closed by the appointment of another meeting, to be held on the hill of Tara(a). The rec- tory of Kilsharvan was, from a very early period, ap- propriated to the Priory of the Blessed Virgin of Duleek. The Abstract to the Down Survey of this parish says : "There is in Kilcarvan a ruined church; in Shallon, a castle and house in repair ; in Crofty, another farm-house; inBalloghan, another, and a re- markable well called St. Columb's well; in New Haggard, another house ; and in Balgeene, a few ca- bins. The Nanny river flows through the South side of it, over which there is a bridge called Dar- (a) Leland's Hist. Ireland, vol. iii. p. 153. 458 ENVIRONS. distown bridge." By this Survey it appears, tjiat the chief forfeiting proprietors within this parish were WiUiam Stokes, WilUam Plunkett, Edward Jans, Bartholomew Moore, Simon Barnewall, George Talbot, and Eobert Allen, all described as '* Irish Papists." The chief patentees of their estates were the Earl of Anglesey, and Alderman George Peppard. DULEEK Succeeds in the circuit, but its records are of such extensive historic interest, that only an epitome would be here justifiable. Of such antiquity and importance, indeed, was this town considered, that it gave name, in its immediate precincts, to a parish called Duleek- Abbey parish, in a much wider range to Duleek parish, and in a considerably larger scope , to the barony in which it is situated, one so extensive as to be subdivided into Upper and Lower Duleek, as partitioned by the Kiver Nanny. It also gave title of Baron to the family of Bellew, and returned two ' members to the Irish Parliament. In the village are several objects Of interest, a spacious church, a very handsome Roman Catholic chapel, " erected by . the exertions of the Rev. Mr. Kearney in 1812;" a, fine Sessions house, an extensive flour and corn mill, and above all, the magnificent ruins of the Priory of the Blessed Virgin, situated near the church, and the now scanty remains of the earher abbey of St. Cienan. The area of the former beautiful ruin ex- tends 100 feet in length by twenty-one in breadth, DULEEK. 459 finely terminating at the western extremity in a square castellated belfry, luxuriantly clothed with ivy. Under the east window is inscribed, " This win- dow was made by Sir John Bellewe, knight, and Dame Ismay Nugnt, his wife, in the yeare of our Lord 1587;" the armorials of both families are given, with the initials of husband and wife. Near it is a mo- nument, stating that it was erected by Dame Mary Bermingham, to commemorate her husband, John Lord Bellew, who was shot in the belly at Aghrim." " As soon as he found himself able to undertake a journey, he went to his lady in London, where he died, 12th January, 1692. He was laid in a vault in St. Martin's till the April following, when the body was brought hither for interment." Near this is a tombstone carved with a figure and crozier, in alto rehevo, commemorative of some now unknown prelate. A slab inserted in the inner wall denotes the burial place of Laurence TaafFe, who died in 1709; of Stephen Taaffe, who died 15th August, 1730, and his three successive wives, viz., 1st. Alice Plunkett, one of the daughters of Lord Louth, who died in 1707; 2nd. The Honorable Mabella Barne- wall, one of the daughters of Henry Lord Viscount Kingsland, by the Lady Dowager of Louth, who died in 1711; and 3rd. Bridget Burke, one of the daugh- ters of Sir John Burke, Baronet, who died in 1716, &c. &c. There is also in the grave yard the upper section of an old stone cross. In the low ground \ 460 ENVIRONS. within a demesne, the property of the Earl of Tho- mond, is the castellated gateway that once led. into the Abbey of St. Mary. The park, in which it stands, is meared by the Nanny, over which here is a narrow ^ and very ancient bridge, having, encased in the bat- tlement, a flag, stating that, " this bridge and the^ causewaye were repaired and bnilded by William Bathe of Athcame, Justice, and Genet Dowdall, his wife, in the year 1587, whose souls God take in his mercy. Amen !" An old moat, which once stood in Duleek, has been almost totally carried away for agri- cultural uses. This place derived its name Damh-liac (i. e. the house of stone) from the church which St. Cienan founded here, on the earliest introduction of Chris- tianity in Ireland. He was baptized by St. Patrick in 450, by him appointed Abbot over this house, and endowed with the Apostle's copy of the Gospels. i This was for ensuing ages the seat of a rural bi- shopric, until, on the ecclesiastical arrangements of the twelfth century, it merged in that of Meathf During the days of Danish tyranny it was frequently burned and plundered. After the victory obtained at Clontarf over that people by Brian Boroimhe, the corpse of the fallen victor, and that of his son Mur- rough, their funer^ solemnities of the first night having been celebrated at Swords, were carried to the abbey here, whence, on the third day, they were conveyed to that of Louth. In 1106, Donald, Arch- bishop of Armagh, died here. In 1169, the abbey DULEEK. 461 suffered considerably by fire, and in two years after- wards was plundered by Milo de Cogan and his forces. In 1 182, Hugli de Lacy built the cell here, before alluded to. In 1284, Theobald de Yerdon, being possessed of the manor of Duleek, obtained a grant for a weekly market and an annual fair here. In the fifteenth century the Lordship of Duleek was vested in the Fleming family, at which time a char- ter was granted to the town. The unfortunate Archbishop Allen was seised of certain houses and lands in Duleek, which became a subject of bequest in his will of 1505. By the Act of Absentees (28 Hen. YIII. c. 3), the Priory of Duleek, as appertain- ing to that of Lanthony in Gloucestershire, was sup- pressed, and confiscated to the Crown, with all its manors, tithes, churches, chapels, advowsons, parson- ages, &c., which were subsequently granted to Sir Gerald Moore, while Sir John Draycot passed patent for the possession of the Abbey. On the morning before the battle of the Boyne, King James heard mass and a, sermon in St. Mary's church here, and, after that fatal day, retreated over the commons of this town, and by the ancient bridge above alluded to, having been sorely harassed in, his march by the Duke of Schomberg, until Bang Wilham checked the pursuit, as fully detailed ante, in the General History, and encamped himself on those commons, where traces of his entrenchments are yet visible. Within the parish of Duleek, are two objects of ar- chitectural and historic interest, that should not be mr- 462 ENVIRONS. overlooked, Athcarne and Flatten. The former, however, being without the line that we have neces- sarily circumscribed for the Environs, permits it only to be said here, that it stands on the margin of the picturesquely winding Nanny, is a noble specimen of the architecture of the Elizabethean age, erected, as it then was, by a member of the De Bathe family, has been tastefully modernized by. the present pro- prietor, Mr. Gernon, and, with the venerable air of antiquity carefully preserved without, exhibits all the comforts and luxuries of domestic indulgence within. FLATTEN, Now the seat of Mr. Reeves, is built upon the site of the ancient castle erected here in the time of Edward the Third, by Sir John D'Arcy, who came to Ireland in 1329, as Lord Justice for the King here, and became the foimder of that historic fa- mily in this country. His grandsOn, Sir John D'Arcy of Flatten, was constituted Sheriff of Meath during the royal pleasure. His heir male in the fourth de- gree of lineal descent. Sir WilHam D'Arcy of Flat- ten, was the sturdy individual, who distinguished himself by carrying Lambert Simnel on his back through Publiu, after he had been crowned in the cathedral of Christ Church, for which offence he was obliged to do homage and fealty to Sir Richard. Edgecombe in 1488. This individual, in 1506, ob- tained the then necessary royal license for the en- joyment of his estates of Flatten, &c., in the form of FLATTEN. 463 a pardon of intrusion, directed to him, with the fol- lowing numerous aliases, " William D'Arcy, late of Flatten, Esq. ; otherwise William D'Arcy, late Sheriff of Meath; otherwise William D'Arcy,- knight, late Receiver-General of all the king's revenue? in the counties of Meath, Louth, Dublin, Kildare, and Drogheda; otherwise William D'Arcy, Knight, De- puty Treasurer to Gerald, son and heir of the Earl of Kildare, Treasurer of Ireland; otherwise William D'Arcy of Flatten, Knight; otherwise William D'Ar- cy of Rathwyre, Knight." This fine seat, on the for- feiture^^-©f-l690, was confiscated, by the. attainder of Nicholas D'Arcy, then its lord, on whose death, with- out issue, the hne of this noble house became extinct in the elder branch, but was continued through a ju- nior grandson of the above Sir William D'Arcy of Dun- mow, to the present heir male of the house, Mr. John D'Arcy of Hyde-Fark, in the Co. Westmeath. Flatten, however, passed by a fresh patent and mesne assign- ments into the Graham family, by one of whom the pre- sent edifice was erected ; the hall, the pavement, the broad flight of stairs, the gallery, the pillars on which it rests, the drawing-room, the oaken parlour, are all beautiful specimens of architectural taste. The ori- ginal structure was three stories high, but the upper was taken off by Mr. Reeves. Near it are the un- roofed walls of the little chapel, which had been the burial place of the first proprietors of Flatten ; within it are, a holy water font, a stone carved with the cru- cifixion, and two projecting stone resters, one at each side of the altar. ■ 'fffi.^w^ ^^i^9!f9^ i;ww^w^!«. J y M i^'^:: 464 ENVIRONS. Close to Flatten is the locality of DONORE, the last, but certainly not the least interesting no- ticed in this section of the'history. The parish has a population of 1489 persons, and contains, on the recent Trigonometrical Survey, 3661a. 3r. 38p., in six townlands, Donore, Oldbridge, Sheephouse, Rath- muUen, Stalleen, and Cruise-rath. On that of Do- nore, is a villa^ of cleanly whitewashed cottages, a National School, which gives instruction to 110 ' boys and 58 girls, a new chapel of rectangular form, long but narrow, and without galleries, of sufficient area, however, for its present congregation ; but the scene of greatest attraction here, is the old grave- yard and church. The former is small, and thickly filled with undistinguished tombstones ; the walls of the latter scarcely traceable above the human clay that has been gathered round them since the Refor- • mation ; one solitary tombstone, erected soon after that event, usurps the place of the altar, recording, that " Here lieth the bodie of John Genet of Old- bridge in this tomb, who departed this life, 1609. \ " All people that on earth draw breath, In health prepare for the hour of death, The poor, the world, the heaven, the grave, His alms, his praise, his soul and body have." If the calculation of the date 1609 be, as it seemed on the closest scrutiny, correct, this stone ; .' ■^J'^^^^^ DONORE. 465 \ suggests very singularly interesting associations. From that graveyard, tlie ill-fated Stuart, as hSs been be-' fore related, witnessed tlie vicissitudes of a day, which his own folly accelerated. From the ruins of this church (for the position of the tombstone proves that it was then in ruins), the already more than half dethroned monarch distinguished, at a too prudent distance, every evolution of that day, when the des- tinies of his race, and of three kingdoms, were de- cided. He could see the glen, down which his royal rival led his veterans on the preceding day, the hill on which was struck the first accidental blow, that, before the battle began, had nearly achieved the victorjr, the river, successively the scene of Caille- motte^ and Schomberg's and Walker's last enthusi- astic moments, where their fidehty was consummated with their hearts' blood ; the batteries, whence the cannon of both armies responded their royal but deadly interchange. The huge gray rock was below him, that was yet to commemorate, in sculptured obelisk, the dethronement and exile of his line ; and, possibly, he sat (where the visitor may still sit and ruminate) upon that cheerless monument, the lettered stone whose writing needed no interpreter, tlie rough mortuary that had displaced the altar of his faith, the mocking throne, too aptly suited for a subverted sovereign. | Beyond the scope of these environs, yet within the circle of a few miles, the visitor of Drogheda will find many scenes of historic, picturesque, and VOL. II. 2 H '■^T^. Lij .m:MifMjmwmpfmtmi^!'isnfffifHff^m^'- 466 CONCLUSION. architectural interest, well "worthy of his attention, but unavoidably excluded from this more circum- scribed sketch. Of these may be particularized, Dunany, Castle-Bellingham, Rokeby Hall, Barmeath the noble seat of Sir Patrick Bellew, Oriel Temple, CoUon, Slane, Duleek, Somerville, the seat of the truly liberal member for this town, Athcarne, Gor- manston, and Ballygarth. The two latter, however, demand their individual notices in the Railway Me- moir prefixed to this work. In closing this history of one important district of Ireland, Drogheda and its Environs ; in endea- vouring to illustrate scenes of frequent political ex- citement and national importance, that have been enacted there, however abjured are the labours and researches of Irish literature by the wealthier class of authors, however unapproachable to those who require remuneration for their honest industry, how- ever unauspicious even for the zealous few, amongst whom the author of this work would rank himself, who could afibrd to be contented with but indemnity for outlay, he yet feels satisfaction in thinking, that he has thus far, and with his earlier works, contri- buted to the dispassionate, yet uncompromising de- velopment of his country's annals. The history of that country has been too long consigned to impolitic oblivion ; its records, its archives, its state papers, its manuscripts, are jealously withheld from even those who would sacrifice much to advance the literary character of the country, at a time, when its national aspect becomes more momentous, and its resources ■i^ar CONCLUSION. 467 and scenery more the subject of inquiry and per- sonal investigation. The writer of these volumes having, for many years, devoted time and income to this national ob- ject, has compiled upwards of one hundred volumes of manuscript collections, illustrative of Irish locali- ties and pedigrees, the records and histories of counties, cities, and corporate towns, the achieve- ments and honours of families, the rights of lay and ecclesiastical patronage, of manors and royalties ; he has actually heretofore, to a great extent, digested the materials for histories of the counties of Antrim, Louth, Wexford, andWicklow, of portions of those of Meath and Tipperary, of the course of the Shan- non, &c., but, failing to inte?;est adequate local en- couragement, they are reluctantly withheld from the public, and will all possibly perish with him. The truly splendid encouragement, which induced the present undertaking, has been alluded to in the pre- face, and it is now a pleasing duty to announce, that under the liberal auspices of a single nobleman, who has allocated £200 towards the publication, the au- thor has undertaken to edit that interesting portion of the early history of Ireland, which, having been drawn up by the monks of the noble abbey of Boyle, was styled " the Annals of Boyle ;" the origi- nal is preserved in the British Museum, and of this a translation shall be given in the text, the chasms of the chronicle being supplied from other sources, and the numerous names of persons and places, that occur in the Annals, illustrated by notes, topogra- ' ■^v'C""'WWM»j'Tr^*!»v,uv!'' ii., 203. 260. 294. 303, 348, 351-2, 378, 380, 443-4. Cheshire, i., 1J«, J36, 213, 253-4- 6, 258. Chichester. i., 130-1; ii.. 206-7, 431. Clarke, L, 36; ii., 63. Clifford, ii., 389. Clinton, ii., 62-7, 84, 183. Clonard, ii., 401. Clonfert, ii.. 151. Clonkeen, ii.. 413. Clonmacnoise, i., 93. Clonmel, i.. 162 ; ii., 293. Clonmore, ii.. 63. Clontarf, ii., 33. 310, 460. Clynn, ii., 88-9. Coddington, i., 36, 265; ii., 331, 350. Cogan.ii., 84, 461. CoUey. ii., 400. Collon, ii.. 12, 49, 68, 422, 424, 427.429.430-1. Colpe, i., 17 ; ii., 2, 5, 16. 243-4, 443, &c. Connaught, ii., 78, 199. Cooley, ii., 83, 115. Coote, ii.. 263, 265, 348. Cork, i., 122, 12.5, 129. 155, 160, 162, 166, 182; ii., 48, 81, 90, 96, 112. 120, 132, 143-4, 146, 196.216, 291-2,346. Cormac (King of Ireland), ii., 13, &c. Cottenham, ii., 104 299. Courcey de. ii., 42, 44, 67. Courtney, i., 167 ; i"., 100-1. Cox, i., 24-6, 32, 64; ii., 355. Crawford, i., 47. Crofty, ii., 166, 256. Cromwell, ii., 266, &c. Cruise, ii.. 63, 66, 83, 364. Cuppaidge. ii., 350. Curtis, ii.. 351, 353. Cusack. i./'44. 48; ii., 59, 63, 67, 78-9, 84, 299, 449. Dalkey, ii., 88, 104, 153. IXDEX OF NAMES AND PLACES. 471 D'Alton. i., 169; H., 163,427. Daly, ii., 303. Darcy, i., 128. 143, 198; ii., 83-6, 127,163, 183,202.234,330,388, 390, 423, 462-3. Dardia, i., 38, 40, 76, 129, 198, 215 ; ii., 106-9, 110, 113, 164, 217, 260, 405, 408. Davis, i., 36, 117; ii., 262. De-la-Field, ii., 202. De-la-Hoyde, i., 48, 132, 192, 199, 216, 247, 259; ii., 84, 94, 147, 183, 260, 280. - Delany, i., 66. Delap, ii., 414. Dempsey, ii., 70, 87. Derry, ii., 186, 265, 304, 331. Dervir, ii., 91. Desmond, Earl of, i., 125, &c. ; ii., 82 -4, 86, 147, 149, 151, r53-6; 212. Dillon, ii., 63, 165, 203, 254, 258, 277, 296, 299, 350, 390. Dodd, ii., 63. Donagh, ii., 395, 400, Donegal, ii., 199. Dongan, ii., 106, 317, 326, 344. Donore, ii., 320, 325, 429, 464, 463. Dorrington, ii., 315. Douglas, ii., 314, 322, 343. Dowdall, i., 19, 76, 127-8, 132-3, 188, 198-9, 248, 250, 259; ii., 183-4, 202, 216-7, 252-3, 260, 300, 302-3, 348, 390, 403-5, 407, 460. Dowell, ii., 69. Down County, ii., 346. Dowth, ii., 14, 424, 432, &c. Doyle, i., 44; ii., 291, 341. Drake, ii., 183. Draycot, i., 45, 197; ii., 221, 246, 254, 299, 390, 446-7,450,453-4, -461. Dromgoole, i., 36, 102, 199 ; ii., 202, 217. Dromin, i., 189. Dromisken, ii., 126, 226, 404. Dublin, i., 106, 122, 125-6, 144, 166, 160, 162, 166, 178, ; ii., 28, 48, 60, 58, 64, 81-2, 84-8, 90-4, 102-3. 106-6, 109. 112, 116,120. 122, 126-7, 131-2, 136-40, 142, &c., 161, &c., 160-1, 164, 169, 171-2, 179, 187-9, 190, &c., 200 -1,208,211-2.225,228-9,234-5, 237, 243. 250-1, 25.3, 256, 258, 261-3, 265-7, 288,291,310,313 -5,341,346, 426. Duff, i., 247-8 ; u., 122, 348,4-47-8. 452. , ■"' Duleek, i., 42, 441, 126, 131 ; ii., 40, 147, 164-5,-15102, 256, 270, 284, 304, 322-3, 326, 340, 344. 398, 433, 445, 447, 454, 458, &c. Dunboyne, ii., 127, 157. Dunbrody, ii., 119. Dundalk, i., 18, 43, 141, 154, 183 &c., 193, 206 ; il., 28, 50. 61 63-4, 73, 157, 164-5. 183, 188-9, 191, 194, 196, 800, 206, 209 212, 216, 226, 247, 249, 259' 262, 309, 310, 31^-3, 316,341-2' 391. Dundrum, ii., 194. Dungarvan, ii., 146, 136, 196. Dunleer,\\., 413, 414. Dunmow, ii., 127. Dysart, ii., 378, 413, 414. Elcock, i., 108, 248. Elwood, i.. 118. 132, 188, 199, 200; ii.. 303, 330-1. Ennisiillen, ii., 304, 312. Esker, ii., 108. Esmond, ii., 364. Evans, i., 252, 254, 4c. ; ii., 370. Fagan, i., 36. Fairtlough, i., 36, 251, &c. ; ii., 370. Faugkart, i., 94 ; ii., 74, 80, 208. Ferguson, i., 36,47. Ferney, ii., 191. Ferrard. ii., 202, 216. Fisher, i_., 36 ; ii. 379. Fitzeustace, ii., 117, 159, 407. Fitzgerald, ii., 148, 187-8, 198 204, 263. 278. Fitzmaurice, ii., 70, 204. Fitzpatrick, ii., 33, 70. Fitzwilliam, i.. 42 ; ii., 198. Fleming, i., 16. 38, 122, 167, 171 199. 248 ; ii.. 40, 49, 69, 63, 7o', 86, 126, 181. 202. 878, 299,303, 355. 390, 449, 466, 461. Forbes, ii., 290. Fore, i., 178; ii., 107-8, 120, 134. Fortescue, ii., 224, 226, 243, 350. Foster, i., 246, 254, 260. French, i., 36 ; ii., 290, 364. E^*^- ^vT'^^^mrfr^f^ifigm^WT*' 472 INDEX OF NAMES AND PLACES. Furlong, ii., 50. Galway, ii., 117, 137, 139, 140, 146, 195-6, 216, 291, 293, 346. Garistoum, ii., 127, 250. Geneville de, i., 97 ; ii., 47, 52, 59, 83, 448. George, ii., 199, 250. Gemon, i., 76, 119, 165, 197, 244, 247 ; ii., 63, 67, 84, 91, 94-5, 183-4, 303, 348, 462. Gernonstown, ii., 58, 342. Gibson, i., 36 ; ii., 224, 264, 397. GiU, ii., 104. Glanville, ii., 43. Glaspistol, i., 114, 127 ; ii., 406. Glenarm, ii., 346. Gore, ii., 264, 316, (Jorge, ii., 303. Gough, ii., 216. Graham, i., 61, 119, 188, 196, 199, 245, 249, 250, 253-4; id. ii., 351, 352, 362, 405, 463. Granard, i., 93 ; ii., 134, 424. Green, i., 249 ; ii., 259, 326. GreenhilU, ii., 230. Grey, ii., 155. Hainillr*-., 215; ii., 369, 443. Hamilton, i., 21 ; ii., 227, 289, 290, 296, 323-5, 343, 393,431. Hampton, i., 21-2; ii., 213-14,218, 404. Hardman, i., 36, 177, 245-7, 250, 251-2 ; ii., 303, 351. Hawkshaw, ii., 400. Heron, i., 37; ii., 144, 160. Hewson, ii., 276. Hill, i., 130-1, 176, 245, 247. Hollywood, ii., 66. Holmes, i., 136, 255, &c.; ii., 341. Holt, ii., 102-3. Hore, ii., 114-5, 119,427. Howard, ii., 131. Howth, ii., 88, 122. Hussej, ii., 165, 183, 390. Hutchinson, i., 25. Jaclcson, i., 199; ii., 350-1. Jebb, i., 35, 116-6, 248, 253-4, 256. Inismott, i., 205. Jones, ii., 224, 273, 359. Juliatutown, ii., 98, 246, 454-5. Kavanagh, ii., 40, 91. Eeatinge, ii., 350, 368. Kells, u, 178; ii., 14, 134, 168, 207, 392. KeUy, i., 51, 248 ; ii., 61-2, 443. Keppock, ii., 49, 58, 96, 110. Kildare, ii., 24, 94, 120, 164, 172, 176, 179, 205. Kilkenny, i., 166-7, 162, 176; ii., 51-2, 69, 79, 82, 87, 97, 146, 167, 165, 176, 257, 293. Killaneer, i., 12, 61, 112, 116, 206, 210 ; ii., 49. -KilUClogher, i., 17; ii., 108, 399, 401, 404, 406, &c. Kilmainham, ii., 50-1, 87, 194, 413, 453. KilmaUoek, ii., 143, 146. KUsallaghan, ii., 158, 256. Kiharan, ii., 68, 118. Kihharvan, ii., 455, &c. King, i., 37 ; ii., 238, 447. Kimale, ii., 120, 143, 146, 196, 216, 291, 346. Knochto, ii., 181. Lacy de, i., 42, 91, &c., 133, 138, 141, &c., 154, 162; ii., 39, &c., 65, 67, 70, 77-8, 419, &c., 432, 444, 461. Lagan, i., 173. Ledwich, i., 48-9, 248 ; ii., 400. Leigh, i., 34, 37, 44, 46, 61, 66, 100, 128, 192, 244, 249, 251-3, 259. Leintter, ii., 42, 49, 91, 201, 206. Leland, i., 37, 258. Leslie, i , 21-2, 32, 37. Leyns, i., 84, 164, 183-4; ii., 269. Leytoxon, i., 146; ii., 189. Liffey, ii., 25, 45, 58, Limerick,\., 122, 125, 129,144,166, 162; ii., 28, 48, 74, 81, 84, 120, 126, 139, 140, 144, 146, 196, 216, 292-3, 344, 346. Lindsay, i., 290 ; ii., 29, 37, 47. LUmullen, ii., 190, Loftus, i., 20, 24, 27, 33; ii., 198, 211, 259, 299. Londonderry, ii., 216, 291. Lough Foyle, ii., 216. Louth County, ii., 29, 34, 37, 45, 50, .^ ^^^■'. INDEX OF NAMES AND PLACES 473 53. 67, 91-2, 94. 103, 1 14-6, 120, 122-3. 127, 161, 163, 165. 167, 172-3,175, 179,181-2,189,283, 396. Lowther, ii., 262. Lucy do, ii., 82-3. -... Ludlow, ii., 283. Lumbard, ii., 110-11. Luttrel, ii., 189-90, 296, 311, 316. Lynch, L, 76 ; ii., 137, 143-4. Mao Carthy, ii., 69, 72. Mac Cllntock, ii., 398-9. Mac Donnell, i.. 119, 122, 130 ; ii., 106. 109, 361, 431. Mac EToy, ii.,_400. Mac Guinness, ii., 69, 258, 298-9. Mac Mahon, i., 52, 122 ; ii., 16. 69, 168, 171, 221, 233, 246, 364. Mao Murroogh, ii., 38, 64-6, 69, 87, 100, 206. Magee. i., 33, 36, 37. Maguire, i., 17 ; ii., 16, 69, 211, 364. Maine, ii., 399. Malahide, ii., 122. Mallaghidart, ii., 168. Malone, ii.. 253, 452. Malpaa, ii., 70, 80. Malpat Bridge, ii., 160. Man, Me of, ii., 28, 44, 46, 86. Mandeville. ii., 72, 74, 82, 84, 86. Mandevillei-town, ii., 79, 108. Matthews, i., 220; ii., 342. Maynooth, i., 179. Meade, i., 25, 37, 188, 245, 249-52 ; ii., 303, 351. Meath, ii.. 33-4. 37. 40-2, 44-6, 53, 64-5, 90, 94, 103, 112. 120, 122-3, 146, 147, 161, 164, 167, 172-3, 176, 179. 182, 188-9, 203, 252, 256-«, 269, 283. MelUfont, i.. Ill ; ii., 43-4, 49. 60, 194, 201, 228, 348, 388-9, 391, 394, 397, 415, &c. Molyneux, ii., 350. Monjjfgiwy|i:" 474 INDEX OF NAMES AND PLACES. O'Hanlon, 1., 122; ii., 16, 69, 208 -9. O'Kelly. ii., 57, 70, 364. Oldhridge, ii., 230, 320, &c., 333, 343-4, 382-3, 389, 392, 424, &c. Oldcastle, ii., 134. O'Loghlen, ii., 419. O'Melaghlin, ii., 34, 39, 54, 70, 83, 418-9. O'Mulloy, ii., 209. O'NeiU,*!., 122-4 J ii., 64, 69. 83, 87,103.181-2,185,191, c.,205, 208-210. 230, 234, 237, 239. &c., 258, 264, 281, 322, 326, 391,394, 397. O'Reilly, i., 51, 66, 66. 93, 120. 179 ; ii., 51, 69, 83, 87, 93, 113, 134, 159, 160, 239, 264, 364. Ormond, Earls of, ii.,50-1, 84, 120. O'Ruarke, ii., 34, 418, 419. Osborne, i., 37, 201,250, 259. O'Toole, ii., 57, 77, 87, 100, 158. Outlaw, ii., 81, 86, &c. Parker, i., 37 ; ii., 317. Pentland, i., 257, &c. ; ii., 370, 400. Perciral, ii., 351. Phelps, i., 188, 249, Phepoe, ii., 69, 83, 390. Peppard. i., 25, 136, 192, 197, &c. 201, 244, 248, 250 ; ii., 43, 63, 65,67,76,221, 265, 290, 295, 297-8, 303, 349, 351-2, 465, 458. Flatten, ii., 85, 247. Plunket, i., 33,37, 52, &c., 94, 128, 192, 197,246; ii., 119,165, 164, 181, 183-4, 200. 202, 216-17, 242, 253, 255, 258, 260, 290, 295, 303, 349, 379, 380, 390, 394, &c., 405, 414, 447, 466, 458-9. Ponsonby, ii., 259. Porter, ii., 254, 280. Portrane, ii., 122. Power, i., 188 ; ii., 70, 77, 81, 169, 431. Poynings, ii,, 173, 178. Pratt, ii., 299. Prendergast, ii., 60. Preston, i., 98, 122, 197-8 ; ii., 77, 79, 108. 126, 164, 173, 181. 202, 242, 254, 303,348, 431, 457. Pollen. i„ 24, 32, 35 ; ii.,397. Purcell. ii., 316, 364. Queens-borough, ii., 398. j Rathcroghan, ii., 51. Rathesker, ii., 68, 249. Rathmines, ii., 266, 267,273, 276. RathmuUen, ii., 49, 230, 233. Ratoath, ii., 85, 147, 158. Rawdon, ii., 289. 299. Read, i., 37 ; ii., 254, 378. Roche, i., 37, 117, 163, 243, 246- 7 ; ii., 53,61. 70.78. Roche's Castle, ii., 163. Rogerstown, ii., 122. Rosnaree, ii., 15. Ross, i., 158, 162; ii., 146, 200, 291. Rush. ii.. 122, 167. Russel, i.,32, 192, 199 ; ii. 113. Saggard, ii., 108. St. Lawrence, i., 33, 85, 118-9, 181; ii., 121, 181, 212, 217. St. Leger, ii., 190, 194. Salmon-Leap, ii., 58. Santry, ii., 310. Sarsfield, ii., 198, 321. Savage, ii., 69, 83, 84. Saunders, ii., 106, 172, 403, 406. Schoales, i., 37, 49, 61, 72, 251, &c. Schomberg, ii., 309, &c. Serine, ii., 153, 263. Scurlog, ii., 287, 390. Segrave, i., 114 ; ii., 134, 150. Shannon, ii., 45, 319. Shegog, i., 37. Shepheard, i., 46, 199, 210, 250, &c. ; ii., 443. Simcocks, i., 43, 163, 170, 172-3, 243, 247; ii., 97-8, 110. Singleton, i., 34, 201, 244-5, 250-1, 254, 269 ; ii., 295, 303, 360, 354, 363, 405. Skeffington, !., 257 ; ii., 195. SkeUy, ii., 349. Skerries, ii., 194, 200, 234. Slane, ii., 3, 22, 33, 40, 182, 202, 249, 256, 257, 322, 432. Sligo, ii., 346. Smith, i., 37-8, 49, 76, 199, 246, INDEX OF NAMES AND PLACES. 475 251, 254, &c.; ii., 137, 350,558, 370, 380, 394, 398, 406. Somerville, i., 221, 246. Stackpoole, ii., 407, Stameen, ii., 243, &c. Steele,!., 38. Sterue, ii., 359. Stillorgan, ii.. 111. Stoker, ii., 351, 353. Stokes, ii., 85. Strangford, ii., 194, 196. Strongbow, ii., 39, 66, 206. Suck, ii., 45. Swords, i., 129 ; ii., 219. 228, 460, Sydney, ii., 198-9, 200, 347, 429. Taaffe, i., 198, 247 ; ii., 59. 84, 160, 162, 166, 183-4, 217, 276, 278, 291, 296, 298, 326, 344, 405, 424,427.459. Talbot, i., 174, &c.; 188, 197, 247, 260; ii., 113, 121, 123, 157, 193, 202, 263. 258. 2^8-9, 303, 309, 311. 316, 321,/344, 450, 453, 458. / Tandy, i., 49, 257, 260 i ii., 373. Tara, ii., 2, 14, 19, 24, 33, 266, 309. / Taylor, i., 163, 174, 189, 210; ii., 59, 157. Tenison, i., 32 ; ii., 345, 350. Termonfeckin, i., 17; ii., 396, 398, &c. Ternan, ii., 218, 220, 394. Thompson, i., 188, 247. Tichbourne. i., 44, 200, 249. 250; ii., 226. 258-9, 350, 379, 394, 397. Timolin. ii., 88. 94. Tintem, ii., 158. Tomlinson, ii., 295, 303, 361. Townley, ii., 342, 360. Trant, ii., 319. Travers, i., 122; ii., 37. Trevor, ii., 227, 237, 266. Trim, i., 97-8, 178 ; ii., 40, 59. 78, 104, 108, 114, 126, 136, &C., 142, &c, 157, 160, 171, 175, 195, 256, &C., 263, 265, 388, &C., 425. Tuite, i., 70, 79, 98, 170, 349, 454, ii., 92, &c. Tullyallen, ii., 49, 230, 320, 430. Tullyeiker, ii., 228, 287, 378. Turvey, ii., 157. Tyrrel, i., 24, 192, 193; ii., 40, 86, 260, 299, 349. Uhter, ii., 34, 43, 46, 72, 87, 106, 157,197, 199, 211, 240, &c., 266, 307. Ussher, i., 20, 22; ii., 214, 220-1, 226, 403, &c. Vanihonirigh, ii., 373. ' Verdon de, i., 97, 141-8, 146, 154, 166,244 ; ii., 44, 47-8, 62, 60, &c., 80, 83-4, 108, 118, 183, 202, 217, 264, 403, 421, 423, 427, 461. Vere de, ii.,41, 98, 101. Walker, i., 25; ii., 324, 326, 331, 343. Wall, ii., 272, 277, 278. Walsh, i., 174; ii., 258, 260. Warren, i., 199, 260; ii., 277, 278. Waterford, i., 122, 125, 128, 144, 165, 168, 162, 166, 166, 182; ii., 39, 48, 66, 81, 84, 90, 120, 128, 132, 138, &c., 144, 146, 157, 169, 196, 216, 292-3, 344, 346, Wellesley, i., 260 ; iL, 83, 118, 121, 147, 157, 184, 350, 447, &c. Wemyss, ii., 228, 260. 1 Westmeath, ii., 170, 211. j Wexford, i., 164, 262 ; iL, 36, 120, 146, 179,196,283, 292. White, i., 32, 66, 166-6, 169, 199, 247 ; ii., 63, 105, 261, 341. Wicklow, i., 154 ; ii., 122, 157, 189, 196, 206, 283. Wilson, ii., 292, 303. Winter, i., 47 ; ii., 408. Wogan, ii., 62, 164, 422. Wright, i., 176; ii., 397. Wynne, i., 33, 38. Wyse, ii., 117. Youghal, ii., 120, 143, 146, 196, 216, 291-2. THE END. /' 7