Difficulties of the English Government
Conciliation Resolved On.— When Lord Leonard Grey left Ireland, in 1540, the strength of the Geraldine League was, to a considerable extent, broken, but yet of the end of the war there was no sign. It had lasted already over six years; there seemed no reason why it should not last six more, or even longer . No sooner was one chief crushed than another rose ; while a raid was being avenged by a counter invasion of the raiding clan’s territory, cattle were carried off by another clan behind the back of the Deputy’s army. Henry, for various reasons, earnestly desired peace in Ireland. Silken Thomas had sought aid from the Continent; others might follow his example, and meet with a more favourable response from the European sovereigns.
The Irish war, moreover, was extremely expensive. Henry, having no standing army, had to hire volunteer soldiers, who demanded high pay, and, in England at least, were hard to get on any terms. Then, in Irish campaigns, the army melted away by disease at a terrible rate. The soldiers, too, were often found not very efficient; for they were ignorant of the country, and did not understand the guerilla warfare in which the Irish were adepts. All this grieved the King, who grudged every pound spent on a barbarous island, from which neither glory nor revenue was to be obtained. Robert Cowley, an official of whom we hear much, suggested the complete extermination of the native Irish. This scheme was not adopted. It was pointed out that it would be ” a marvellous and sumptuous charge and of great difficulty “—in other words, extremely expensive and not certain to succeed.
Since then neither armed force could be exercised effectually to crush the Irish resistance, nor the utter destruction of the rebellious race be compassed, Henry resolved on making a trial of the policy of conciliation.
Sir Anthony St. Leger, the new Deputy, arrived in Ireland in the August of 1540, and, before the end of the summer, had accomplished much, both by arms and by diplomacy. O’Toole, O’Byrne and several other chiefs were induced to accept terms, and, early in the following January, the Earl of Desmond also submitted, and his example was followed by many over whom he exercised a more or less undefined superiority or influence. The ” submissions ” drawn up by the English authorities, and agreed to by the chiefs, vary a good deal in details.
The chief usually promised to be obedient and loyal to the King; to pay him certain rents or dues for his land, and to hold it by knight service or other specified tenure; to attend the King’s hostings with a certain number of men, and not to maintain or protect rebels. There is no implication that the chief’s lands are to be brought under the operation of the ordinary English law, or his internal administration interfered with. The Irish writers regard these transactions as treaties or alliances between practically independent princes, and speak of them as such.
The English Government gained this important advantage; that these chiefs were henceforth in certain fixed and direct relationship to the Crown, and now, if they opposed the King, they might be looked on as rebels. ” The Lordship of Ireland,” though still shadowy enough, was a little more real than before.
