The End Of Henry VIII
English Titles were given to Irish Chiefs.Con Bacach was not the only Irish chief on whom an English title was bestowed. Macgillaphadrich was made Baron of Upper Ossory ; O’Brien, Earl of Thomond ; while the ” Old Foreigners of Ireland,” Mac William Oughter (Burke) became Earl of Clanrickard.
During the closing years of Henry’s reign, Ireland was fairly tranquil and even prosperous. In January 1547, Henry VIII died. Though the officials who exercised power in his name in Ireland had been guilty of not a few acts of cruelty and treachery, yet their rule, as compared to that of their successors under the later Tudors, might be described as mild ; while the King himself, in dealing with the native rulers, showed, on several occasions, a moderation scarcely to be expected in the man under whose tyrannical sway such brutal deeds had been done in England.
In Ireland, though the extent of territory under the direct authority of the English Government had not been much extended, yet certainly the power of the Crown, and the respect for it felt by both the Anglo-Irish nobles and the Celtic chiefs, had greatly increased. To the former the destruction of the House of Kildare had been a terrible lesson; while the latter had seen those who stood highest amongst them make ” submissions ” to the King and solicit titles at his hands.
PRINCIPAL DATES
Conn Bacach O’Neill created Earl of Tyrone ——1542
(Death of Henry VIII. Edward VI succeeds Mm) –1547
