bull, granting to all who would take up arms under him "the same indulgence granted to those who fought against the Turks for the recovery of the Holy Land," the indulgence to extend "during the lifetime of James and his brother John." * At Rome, under the name of Stukely, was an Irish refugee, supposed to be a chief of the Kavanagh or McMurrogh family. Created by Gregory, Marquis of Ross and Duke of Leinster, he had command of two thousand Romans for an invasion of Ireland. Desmond was to precede him, after a rapid visit to France and Spain; and accordingly we soon find the successful emissary on the coast of Kerry. With such troops as he had, he marched towards Connaught to form a junction with the Burkes, was intercepted, and mortally wounded. Calling to him Dr. Allan, afterwards cardinal, his then chaplain, he confessed his sins, received extreme unction, and expired.

The Romans, under Stukely, had put into the Tagus. just as Don Sebastian was departing on his Moorish expedition. Allured probably by some promises of future aid, he accompanied the Portuguese hero to the African shore, and fell on the bloody field of Alcaquivir, in that ferocious mêlée where Don Sebastian and his rival, Muley Moloc, both perished.

John, brother of the late James, and of the earl, now took the lead, and continued the war. At Monow, in Limerick, he routed the English, under the Duke of York, so badly, that the Earl of Ormond from England, and Lord Deputy Grey from Dublin, were ordered to Munster with reënforcements. As a set-off, eight hundred Italian and Spanish veterans, under Stephen San Joseph, arrived from Spain, on the coast of Kerry. Hearing of the approach of a powerful army, they fortified themselves in an island called Oillan na Oro, calling their works "Fort Del Oro." The position was a vital one, since by it Spain could command a harbor and landing-place in Ireland for future operations, and San Joseph seems to have made a very resolute defence. The grand

* O'Daly's History of the Geraldines; where several bulls in relation to the Catholic wars of Ireland are given.

inquisitor of Portugal, O'Daly, a native of the district, and contemporary of the event, thus records the siege of Del Oro :

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"After the viceroy had invested the Golden Fort by sea and land, and kept up a continual fire on it for "about forty days, the English began to be weary of "their fruitless attempts, and to dread the rigors of the coming winter. They knew, moreover, that they could "not take up their winter quarters in the open field against a garrison 'so well furnished with guns and "provisions. And, having maturely weighed all these "matters, they resolved to seize by fraud that which "their arms could not achieve.

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"Having sent the Spaniards a flag of truce, they de"manded a parley. In the Spanish garrison there was "at that moment an Irish cavalier, named Plunket, who "protested against any overture, and vainly sought to "dissuade San Joseph from visiting the English com"mander's camp; but he was not listened to, and San "Joseph at once proceeded to the viceroy's quarters, "bringing Plunket with him to act as interpreter. They were received with the greatest blandness and courtesy "by Grey, who promised the Spanish commandant the "most honorable terms if he would surrender the for"tress. Now, Plunket interpreted all the viceroy ad"vanced as the very opposite of what he really said"namely, that the garrison had no chance of escaping "destruction if they did not throw themselves altogether 66 on the mercy of the English, and beg terms of him. Greatly did Šan Joseph marvel at this insolence, which "denied him and his honorable terms; as he then held a "place which, in the opinion of all, was deemed one "of the strongest in Ireland, and amply provisioned to "hold out many months' siege. Whereon Plunket in"terpreted that the commander had made up his mind "never to surrender the garrison; and, consequently, that "it was only sacrificing his men if the viceroy sat any "longer before it. But the expression of Plunket's "features, and the fiery indignation of the Spaniard, "caused Grey to suspect that his words had not been

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"fairly interpreted; and then Plunket was bound, hand "and foot, and committed to prison, another interpreter "having been procured to supply his place.

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"San Joseph, having returned to the fort, reported to "his men that he had obtained the most unexception"able terms, and that, seeing the defence of the fortress "utterly impracticable, he had resolved to consult the 66 safety of his soldiers. But even in his chains did "Plunket cry out, 'Treason! treason! Mind you, that on the holding of the fortress all the hopes of the Catho"lics depend. The very inclemency of the season must compel the viceroy to quit the field ere long. The "Geraldines,' continued he, 'are hastening to aid you "with men and supplies. Abandon your position, and "the hopes of the Catholics are forever lost!' Of "Plunket's opinion were Hercules Pisano and the Duke " of Biscay; but the soldiers gave willing ear to their "commander, who, preferring life to glory, forfeited both; "for the place being surrendered in the month of De"cember, the entire garrison was put to the sword, with "the exception of the Spanish commander, who was " contemptuously driven out of the kingdom. Plunket, "too, was reserved for a more painful death. A short "time after the rendition, he had all his bones broken by "strokes of a hammer, and thus gave up the ghost. "Ever after did 'Grey's faith' become an adage among "the people, whenever they would speak of consum"mate perfidy. Behold what value these English at"tached to treaties, oaths, and honor, which amongst 66 savage nations are esteemed inviolable."

Sir Walter Raleigh, then in his thirty-fifth year, and already favored by his queen, won his first laurels and several thousands of Desmond's acres, by superintending the details of the massacre after the surrender of the fort. This date is November 9, 1587.

In the same year, John of Desmond was surprised and slain near Imokilly, and soon after Elizabeth published an amnesty to all who were in arms, except the brotherless earl and two of his allies. The outlawed Desmond, defeated in his attempts to raise another insurrection,

was assassinated in a forest in Kerry, in the month of December. He was the last of his line who exercised sovereignty over South Munster, from the Blackwater to the Shannon.

The fate of this illustrious family is worth summing up. We have seen the earl and his two brothers die by the sword. A fourth, Thomas, had previously died on his bed. They all had children; but one only apostatized -the earl's son, from his childhood a hostage in London. The sons of James and John being abroad, and the son of the earl a hostage, the son of Thomas was elected chief. Elizabeth, thereupon, released the young earl, whó, on entering Kilmallock, his father's town, was received with acclamations, the people showering wheat and salt on him from the housetops, emblematic of the safety and plenty they wished him. The Sunday following, they were surprised to see him turn his steps towards the heretical church from which they strove "to dehort him." He persisted, however; but on coming out, they hooted and spat upon him. From that day he never was followed or spoken of by name in Desmond. Thomas, taken captive, after a confinement of seven years in the Tower of London, died in his chains.

The two sons of James, educated at Alcala, perished in the Armada of 1588, upon the Galway coast.

Another James, shipwrecked in Scotland, escaped to Spain. He was created count there, at the instance of the grand inquisitor, O'Daly, a clansman of his ancestors. Charged with the defence of a Spanish town, he refused to surrender it to the French, and was starved to death. His descendants, so late as the middle of the last century, were historical men in Spain.

So perished this illustrious Catholic family, whose once fertile principality, in contending for the faith, was "reduced to a heap of carcasses and ashes." ‡

*Pacata Hibernia, p. 164.

+ O'Daly's History of the Geraldines, p. 179, (Meehan's translation.) Duffy, Dublin, 1847.

Pacata Hibernia.

Here we give some of the confiscations in the south of Ireland which followed the insurrection of the Desmonds:

Ib. Richard and Alex. Fitton,

3,747

Ib. Edmund Manwaring, Esq.,

Ib. Waterford and Tipperary, Sir Edward Fitton, 11,515

Ib. Wm. Trenchard, Esq.,

12,000

Inverary, Thomas, Earl of Ormond,

Thus a new aristocracy was created in Munster on the ruins of the old-an order in its origin and nature anti-national and anti-Catholic. Other provincial confiscations in the succeeding reigns completed this design, first entertained by Henry, and first regularly undertaken by Elizabeth. The manifold evils which followed then, and which still follow, from such an iniquitous division