over Leinster. O'Doran his chief brehon, who had been spending the Christmas with him, died on the same day; and there are good grounds for suspecting that both were poisoned by a woman who had been instigated by some of Mac Murrogh Kavanagh's enemies. He was the most heroic and persevering defender of his country, from Brian Boru to Hugh O'Neill; and he maintained his independence for nearly half a century just beside the Pale, in spite of every effort to reduce him to submission. CHAPTER XXV. HOW IRELAND FARED DURING THE WARS OF THE ROSES. ITTLE or no change in Irish affairs marked the short reign of Henry V., who ascended the throne in 1413, and who was so engrossed with France that he gave hardly any attention to Ireland. There was strife everywhere, and the native chiefs continued their fierce inroads on the Pale. Matters at last looked so serious that the king sent over an able and active military man as lord lieutenant, Sir John Talbot Lord Furnival, subsequently earl of Shrewsbury, who became greatly distinguished in the French wars. A.D. 1414 He made a vigorous circuit round the Pale, and reduced O'Moore, Mac Mahon, O'Hanlon, and O'Neill. But this brought the Palesmen more evil than good; for the relief was only temporary; and when the brilliant exploits were all N over, he subjected them, in violation of the Statute of Kilkenny, to coyne and livery, having no other way of paying his soldiers, exactly as the earl of Desmond had done eighty-five years before (p. 164). No sooner had he left than the Irish resumed their attacks, and for years incessantly harried and worried the miserable Palesmen, except indeed when kept quiet in some small degree by the payment of Black rent. The accession of Henry VI. (in A.D. 1422) made no improvement in the country, which continued to be everywhere torn by strife: and the people of the Pale fared neither better nor worse than those of the rest of the country. But what greatly added to their misfortunes at this time was a long and bitter feud between two of the leading Anglo-Irish families, the Butlers and the Talbots, which was carried on with such violence that it put a stop to almost all government business in the Pale, and brought ruin on thousands of the poor people. For more than twenty years this fierce dissension continued; while within the Pale all was confusion and corruption. The leading English officials forced shopkeepers and others to supply goods, but hardly ever paid their debts; while at the same time they robbed the king of his lawful revenues and enriched themselves. During this time the soldiers were under little or no restraint and did just as they pleased. In harvest time they were in the habit of going, with their wives, children, servants, and friends, sometimes to the number of a hundred, to the farmers' houses in the country round Dublin—all inhabited by the people of the English colony-eating and drinking, and paying for nothing. They robbed and sometimes killed the tenants and husbandmen; and their horses were turned out to graze in the meadows and in the CHAP. XXV. v.] IRELAND DURING THE WARS OF THE ROSES. 179 ripe corn, ruining all the harvest. Some little relief came when Richard Plantagenet duke of York, a distinguished man, a prince of the royal blood and heir to the throne of England, was appointed lord lieutenant. He won the affections of the Irish both of native and English descent, by treating them with fairness and consideration; a thing they had been little accustomed to. The native chiefs sent him, unasked, as many beeves as he needed for his great household: a record creditable to both sides, for it showed that he was a kind and just man, and that they could be grateful and generous when they were fairly treated. He was appointed for ten years; but he had not been in Ireland for more than one year when Jack Cade's rebellion broke out; on which he went to England in 1451 to look after his own interests, and during his absence Ireland was governed by deputies appointed by himself. During this heartless and miserable tumult it is pleasant to be able to record that the native people still retained all their kindly hospitality and their ancient love of learning. This is shown by what we read of Margaret, the wife of O'Conor of Offaly, a lady celebrated for her benevolence. Twice in one year (about 1450) she invited to a great banquet the learned men of Ireland and Scotland: poets, musicians, brehons, historians, &c. The first meeting was held at Killeigh, near Tullamore, when 2700 guests were present; and the second at Rathangan in Kildare, to which were invited all who had been absent from the first. Lady Margaret herself was present, and she sat like a queen high up in the gallery of the church in view of the assembly, clad in robes of gold, surrounded by her friends and by the clergy and brehons. All were feasted in royal style, seated according to rank after which each : learned man was presented with a valuable gift: and the names of all present were entered on a roll by Mac Egan chief brehon to the lady's husband. For the past century and a half the English kings had been so taken up with wars in France, Scotland, and Wales, that they had little leisure to attend to Ireland. Accordingly we have seen the Irish encroaching, the Pale growing smaller, and the people of the settlement more oppressed and more A.D. 1454 miserable year by year. But now began in England the tremendous struggle between the houses of York and Lancaster, commonly known as the Wars of the Roses, which lasted for about thirty years, and during which the colony fared still worse. The Geraldines sided with the house of York, and the Butlers with the house of Lancaster; and they went to England, with many others of the Anglo-Irish, to take part in the battles ; going and returning as occasion required, and generally leaving the settlements in Ireland almost wholly unprotected during their absence. Then the Irish rose up everywhere, overran the lands of the settlers, and took back whole districts. The Pale became smaller than ever, till it included only the county Louth and about half of Dublin, Meath, and Kildare. At one time not more than 200 men could be got together to defend it. When the Yorkists prevailed, and Edward IV. was proclaimed king (1461), the Geraldines, both of Desmond and Kildare, were in high favour, while the Butlers were in disgrace. These two factions enacted a sort of miniature of the Wars of the Roses in Ireland. Among many other encounters, they fought a battle at Pilltown in Kilkenny in 1462, where the Butlers were defeated, and 400 or 500 of their men killed. As showing how completely these Anglo-Irish families had adopted the Irish language and customs, it is worthy of mention that the ransom of Mac Richard Butler, who had been taken prisoner in the battle, was two Irish manuscripts, the Psalter of Cashel and the Book of Carrick. A fragment of the Psalter of Cashel is still preserved in the Bodleian Library in Oxford, and in one of its pages is written a record of this transaction. Thomas the eighth earl of Desmond-the Great Earl as he was called-was appointed lord deputy, in 1463, under his godson the young duke of Clarence, the king's brother, who though appointed lord lieutenant, never came to Ireland. Desmond was well received by the Irish of both races. He loved learning as well as any of the native princes, and he showed it by founding a college "The Colledge," Youghal, as drawn by Dinely, time of Charles II. in Youghal, which was richly endowed by him and by the succeeding earls, and which long continued to flourish. Some of the events that took place about this period give us curious glimpses of those wild and lawless times. In 1466 Earl Desmond was defeated in open |