Above: Sir Henry Sydney The Fitzgeralds and the Butlers were at perpetual war. The earl of Desmond, the head of the southern Geraldines, was a Catholic, and took the Irisli side; the earl of Ormond, the leader of the Butlers, had conformed to the Protestant faith, and had taken the side of the English all along. By the tyranny and oppression of these two earls, as well as by their never- ending disputes, large districts ... Read More

Above: Poynings Law The accession in 1485, of Henry VII, who belonged to the Lancastrians, was the final triumph of that great party. At this time all the chief state offices in Ireland were held by the Geraldines; but as the new king felt that he could not govern the country without their aid, he made no changes, though he knew well they were all devoted Yorkists. Accordingly the great earl of Kildare, who had been lord deputy for several years, with a ... Read More