The new Deputy found Irish affairs in what appeared to him to be a dangerous condition. Several of the chiefs, and notably the new Earl of Tyrone and Manus O'Donnell, were looking abroad for help against the Irish Government, of which their fear rather than their affection or esteem had increased. Scotland was now governed by a Regent, Mary of Lorraine, mother of the child-queen, Mary Stuart. The Regent, herself a French princess, »vas in close touch with her native land, which ... Read More

A new English family now comes into Irish history—that of the Talbots. In 1414 Sir John Talbot, afterwards Lord Furnival and Earl of Shrewsbury, came to Ireland as Lord Lieutenant for six years, and on two other occasions (1423 and 1446-9) he occupied the same position. He was a famous soldier, and won great distinction in the French wars, but in Ireland his achievements were not remarkable. He got his brother, Richard Talbot, appointed as Archbishop of Dublin, and made him Lord Deputy. ... Read More