The policy inaugurated by Queen Mary of establishing English colonies in Ireland, as a means of extending the authority of the Crown, seemed to her sister worthy of imitation. She gave permission, on request, to certain private individuals to ” plant ” specified portions of land, which, if they succeeded in their enterprises, they could hold from the Crown. The rights of the Irish proprietors who were to be dispossessed were not considered.

The first two of these attempted colonisations—that of Chatterton in part of Co. Antrim, and of Thomas Smith in the Peninsula of Ards, Co. Down—were entire and almost immediate failures.

The enterprise of Walter Devereux, Earl of Essex, was planned on a more extensive scale. He obtained a grant from the Queen of almost the whole of the Co. Antrim, and also the loan of a sum of money. The territory included in the grant belonged, as a whole, to the O’Neills of Clanaboye, a junior branch of the house of which O’Neill of Tyrone was the head, but the south-east portion had long been inhabited by the Scotch MacDonnells, some of whom held their lands under a Crown grant. Sir Brian Macphelim O’Neill had all his life been a peaceful and loyal subject, and it was difficult to find a pretext for attacking him. Essex, in point of fact, did not allege any pretext.

He merely ravaged the lands of both the Irish and the Scotch with strict impartiality. Naturally, he met with considerable resistance, and soon discovered that the difficulties of the plantation were much greater than he had supposed. The friends who had accompanied him, in the hope of speedily enriching themselves, grew disgusted and returned home. His soldiers, too, deserted him, or clamoured for higher pay. Essex, driven to desperation, endeavoured to overcome his enemies by treachery, and was guilty of two crimes whose atrocity is almost without parallel even in that age of cruelty and violence.

In 1574 he pretended to make peace with Sir Brian O’Neill, and was by him invited to a banquet. He accepted the invitation, but, in the midst of the festivities, he ordered his host and hostess, together with the brother of the former, to be seized and held captive, while their friends and the members of their household, to the number of 200, ” men, women, youths and maidens,” were put to the sword. The prisoners were then conveyed to Dublin and there executed. Essex asserted that he had discovered that Sir Brian was plotting against him, and that he was only executed after a fair trial. But no proof of the alleged plot was offered, nor is any record or notice of the alleged trial anywhere to be found.

Having, as he imagined, spread terror among the Irish by this act, Essex now endeavoured to produce a similar impression on the Scots. In July 1575, Sorley Boy Mac Donnell, the Scotch leader, asked for peace, and Essex either sent or pretended to send to England to ascertain on what terms he might receive his submission. Meanwhile, however, he directed a certain Captain Norrys to land a force of 300 men on Rathlin Island. Here, in a castle of some strength, Sorley’s clansmen and the chief himself had placed, for safety, those of their families and relatives who could not take part in the war—women, children, and old men, the wounded and the sick—with but a small number of soldiers to guard them. Norrys assaulted the castle, and the cowardly commander yielded it up, stipulating only that the lives of himself and his family should be spared. All the rest were massacred.

Those who took refuge in the caves overhanging the sea were dragged out and hurled over the cliffs. Only a narrow strip of water divides Rathlin Island from the Antrim Coast, and from the shore the unfortunate chief could see the flames of the burning houses, and perhaps even the forms of the victims, some of whom were his own children. No wonder that he ” was like to run mad with sorrow.” But, to the English commander, his grief afforded merely satisfaction and perhaps amusement. Nor did the Queen view the matter otherwise. ” Give the young gentleman, John Norrys, to understand that we will not be unmindful of his good service,” she wrote to Essex, on receiving his account of the massacre.

From neither of these crimes did their perpetrator reap any real benefit. Sir Brian O’Neill’s son took Belfast Castle, and, in revenge for his father’s murder, cut up alive jthe English soldiers whom he captured. Sorley Boy raided the country and defeated the Carrickfergus garrison. Essex in vain attempted to find some speculator willing to buy his share in the unfortunate “plantation.” Oppressed by grief and anxiety, he fell ill and died in Dublin (September, 1576). We are told that his end was most edifying.

For some years after this no attempt was made to push the Plantation policy. It had become evident that plantations in Ireland could not be carried out by private individuals on a scale sufficiently large to give them a fair chance of success. A State plantation, however, was an enterprise which so prudent a princess as Elizabeth would only undertake should an opportunity exceptionally favourable present itself.

A Plantation of Munster Decided on : Conditions of the Plantation.— Such an opportunity appeared to be afforded by the State of the Desmond territories after the final suppression of the revolt and the death of the Earl. A Royal Commission declared that 574,628 acres were forfeit to the Crown,* and some of this land was second to none in Ireland in fertility. No expensive military force would be needed, for there was no resistance to be feared. The survivors of those who had tilled the fields and herded the cattle were scattered and disorganised, usually hiding in the woods and mountains. If any of the poor Irish folk remained, they could be made useful as hewers of wood and drawers of water for the new English colonists.

The advantages of the proposed plantation were made known in England by proclamations, and it was hoped that many young gentlemen would come forward, eager to enrich themselves by becoming proprietors of Irish estates. The terms offered certainly appeared favourable, and the conditions easy. The lots were to be of 12,000, 10,000, 8,000, 6,ooo or 4,000 acres. For some years they would be rent free ; but afterwards a small head rent, in no case exceeding 3d. an acre, would be charged for the arable land ; mountain, bog and heath were not to be reckoned. The head-planter of each estate should farm a certain number of acres himself, but could let the rest, or, if he wished, sell it to English tenants. Both he and they must live in the English manner, and must not intermarry with, the Irish. They would be required to render military service if called upon.

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