During the War of the Roses (1413 – 1485)
Above: War of the Roses
Henry V, who ascended the throne in 1413, was so engrossed with France that he gave hardly any attention to Ireland ; so that there was little or no change in Irish affairs during his reign; and there was strife everywhere. Matters at last looked so serious that in 1414 the king sent over an able and active military man as lord lieutenant, Sir John Talbot Lord Furnival, subse- quently earl of Shrewsbury, who became greatly dis- tinguished in the French wars. 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 over he subjected them, in violation of the Statute of Kil- kenny, to coyne and livery, having no other way of paying his soldiers. No sooner had he left than the Irish resumed then- 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 1422, made no improvement in the country, which continued to be everywhere torn by strife. Ireland was now indeed, and for generations before and after, in a far worse condition than at. any time under native management, even during the anarchical period after the battle of Clontarf. The people of the Pale probably fared neither better nor worse than those of the rest of the country. But to add to their misfortunes, there arose, about the time ol the king’s accession, a deadly quarrel between the But- lers, headed by the earl of Orrnond, and the Talbots, headed by Richard Talbot archbishop of Dublin and Ins brother lord Furnival, who came twice again to Ire- land as lord lieutenant. This feud was so violent that it put a stop to almost all government business for many years.
Meantime in 1423 the Irish of Ulster made a terrible raid on Louth and Meath, defeated the army s’:nt against them, and carried off great booty; till at last the inhabitants had to buy peace by agreeing to pay black rent. In 1449 Richard Plantagenet duke of York, a prince of the royal blood and heir to the throne of England, was appointed lord lieutenant for ten years. He won the affections of the Irish both of native and English descent, treating them with fairness and consideration.
In an act of parliament of this time we have a frightful picture of the condition of the colonists of the Pale. In time of harvest companies of the soldiers were in the habit of going with their wives, children, ser- vants, and friends, sometimes to the number of a hundred, to the farmers’ houses, 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 ripe corn, ruining all the harvest.
