The Two Hughs Prepare for the Insurrection
Hugh Ruadh’s first care was to strengthen his position at home. He brought his tributary chiefs into due subordination, using fair words to the obedient, and raiding the lands of those who questioned his authority.
By the good offices of the Earl of Tyrone he reconciled himself with the Deputy, who ” received him very kindly,” when he came to Dundalk to meet him. This was a wise move on Hugh’s part, for it discouraged his enemies. Since the overthrow of the Desmonds, the English, though as Jittie loved as ever, had begun to be feared throughout Ireland, and their friendship to be regarded as a valuable asset by the rival parties in clan disputes.
As O’Donnell did in Tirconnell, so did O’Neill in Tir Owen. Old Turloch Lynnach resigned to him the title of ” O’Neill,” but in his communications with the English authorities he still signed ” Tyrone.” Ulster was now united under the two chiefs, each supreme in his own territory, while outside the boundaries of both they were of co-equal authority. It was not a good arrangement, nor one that could have permanently endured, but all through the war it worked surprisingly well. The time had now come when an attempt should be made to draw
the chiefs and nobles of the other provinces into the confederacy. Munster, as we have seen, was quiet, and, on the whole, prosperous, but elements of discontent were not wanting. Many of the large estates had remained in the hands of the English ” Undertakers,” and the ancient proprietors were reduced to the condition of tenants, or else wandered as outlaws in the woods.
In Connacht, as long ago as 1585, Sir John Perrott had attempted a land settlement, generally known as ” the Composition of Connacht.” The chiefs and the clansmen were invited to agree to an arrangement by which they should hold their lands by English tenure, paying a rent of ten shillings to the Crown for every quarter (120 acres) ” bearing horn or corn.
” Many were willing, and things would probably have gone well, but for the selection of Sir Richard Bingham as head of the Commission appointed to negotiate with the proprietors. He tried to coerce, by violent measures, all who even hesitated to agree to the ” Composition.” He raided their lands, drove off their cattle, and murdered their people, sparing neither women, children nor old men.
Soon a great part of the province was in revolt. Many chiefs and nobles, treacherously seized on some frivolous pretext, suffered death at his hands. By 1593 resistance in Connacht had been stamped out; it lay still, in the quietness of exhaustion and despair. In Leinster, though the movements of Fiach Mac Hugh O’Byrne and of Owney O’More were being watched with some anxiety, there was no special disorder. Such was, in general, the state of Ireland when the great Insurrection was about to begin.
