Above: Map of Connacht

The parts of Ireland affected by the wars of Shane O’Neill had been Ulster, some parts of Connacht, and north Leinster ; now the southern province, which had been flourishing in comparative peace, was to take its turn in misfortune. Of the southern nobility the Earl of Desmond was by far the most powerful. The territory over which his sway or influence extended stretched from Duncaoin (Dunquin W. of Ventry) in Kerry to ” the Meeting of the Three Waters ” where the Suir, Nore and Barrow meet in Waterford ; and from the great island of Ard Nemidh (Queenstown) to Limerick ; and it comprised some of the richest land in Ireland. The Desmonds, like the Kildares, descended from Maurice Fitzgerald, who had come to Ireland in Henry’s day.

In 1558 the head of the house was Gerald, 16th Earl. He was the eldest son of his father’s second marriage. The first had been declared void, on the ground of consanguinity, and the son who was born of it, known afterwards as Thomas Ruadh Fitzgerald, illegitimate. Gerald of Desmond has gained a place in Irish history chiefly through his misfortunes. He was a man without either intellectual capacity or moral strength. Vacillating and timid, he let the time for action pass, and finally was forced, by mere fear for his own safety, into rebellion, when those on whose aid he might have relied, if he on his part had assisted them, had one by one been crushed.His younger brother, John, was much his superior ; but by far the most notable of the family then alive was their cousin, James Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald. In 1565 the Earl of Desmond, who hitherto had been a most loyal subject, came under the displeasure of the English Government, owing to a quarrel with the Butlers, which had ended in a regular battle at Affane near Lismore. He and his brother, John, were summoned to London and imprisoned in the Tower.

Above:Picture of Sir Humphry Gilbert

In Ireland James Fitzmaurice took up his cousin’s cause, went into rebellion and raided far and wide. Sir Humphry Gilbert went on a sort punitive expedition, and slaughtered without mercy, men, womenid chddren, but this failed to crush the rebellion. The Deputy, Perrott, same year Desmond returned to Ireland, leaving his only son as a hostage and having promised to give up all his feudal independence. In 1574 James Fitzmaurice left Ireland and betook himself to Rome.James Fitzmauriee Fitzgerald Plans an Invasion of Ireland.

_{n doing this he had a distinct object in view. He seems to have understood, better than almost any of his contemporaries, the aim of Elizabeth’s policy, both civil and religious, and the great chances of success afforded it by the dissensions of the Irish amongst themselves. He thought of enlisting the help of the Catholic powers of Europe, and especially of thePope, for the upholding of the Faith in Ireland. At the Roman Court he encountered a certain Thomas Stukeley, an adventurer, who had already played a part on many stages and who was now posing as a champion of the Irish Catholics.The Pope was persuaded to fit out a force of r,ooo men, which was placed under the command of Stukeley. The expedition sailed from Civita Vecchia in the winter of 1578. It was to be joined at Lisbon by James Fitzmaurice, and was then to proceed to Ireland. When Stukeley reached Lisbon he found Sebastian, the young King of Portugal, preparing for a campaign in Morocco against the Moors. Unfortunately, he allowed himself to be persuaded to join this expedition with his army. On the fatal field of Alcazar, Sebastian fell with the flower of his army, and there, too, Stukeley ended his strange career.}

_{Expedition of James Fitzmaurice : Its Failure.—When James Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald reached Lisbon, his expected army had disappeared. Nothing remained for him but to gather together a new force ; for he was resolved not to abandon his scheme for invading Ireland. He could only collect some 600 men, of whom eighty were Spaniards ; the rest mostly Italians.With this small force he landed at Dingle in July 1579. He issued two proclamations, of which one was written in English and addressed to the Anglo-Irish nobles ; while the other, in Latin, was directed to the Irish chiefs.}

_{Above: Picture of Smerwick Harbour}

_{The substance of both was practically the same ; he asked them to help him in this war, which he had undertaken for the defence and upholding of the Catholic faith in Ireland against a heretic Queen. There was little response anywhere to his appeals. Desmond, his kinsman, anxious only to secure his own safety, did not stir. Few of the nobility or the chiefs had yet realised how their religious liberty and feudal or tribal independence were menaced. Meanwhile, Fitzgerald’s little army established itself in the fortress of Dunanore (”Oun an OffO on Smerwick Harbour, and waited for the help that never came.}