TOWN LIFE IN MEDIEVAL IRELAND'

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXIX, Issue 38, 19 September 1901, Page 3

TOWN LIFE IN MEDIEVAL IRELAND'

Among the publications devoted to the history of families and places in Ireland there are few can compare with ,the Journal of the Cork Archaeological Society, which id a mine of information regaraing medieval Ireland. Among the many interesting articles in the lat-t number is one dealing with town life in Ireland during the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeeth centuries. The article which is the result of considerable research among State papers and other sources of information, contains many curious items of information regarding the government of the town?, the ruling families, local taxos, and the arbitrary grades into which society was divided. ' The mention of mounted men or knights (says the writer, Professor Butler) among the population of New Rosa brings us to one of the most curious features of municipal life in Ireland— the growth of a city aristocracy, who, while still remaining merchants, were counted as of noble blood, having a right to a coat of armor, then tht* distinctive mark of a gentleman and marrying on equal terms with the neighboring country gentlemen. . . . The Irish merchant families who emigrated to Franoe and Sp-un during the penal days were able to prove to the satisfaction of the governments of these countries that they ranked as noble in their own laud. Accordingly in their new homes th*>y were granted all the right* enjoyed by the native nobles— moht valuable rights these were too— which in Spain at all events were not, a* a rule, enjoyed by the meicmtile class ' We find if we look up the lmt of majors and sheriffs of Irish towns that at first, thtse posts were held in turn by a wide circle of families. As time goes on, however, the circle grows smaller and the same names occur again ai.d again, until finally the whole direction of city affairs fall* into the bands of a small group of " city nobles as we may call them. THK CITY OV THE TRIBES. „. .The most famoufl group of these burglar oligarch* were the • tribea of Galway, the 14 families named in the couplet— Athy, Blake, Bodkin, Browne, Dean, D'Arcy Lynch Joyoe, Kirwan, Martin, Morris, Skerrett, Ffon't, Ffrenoh, who for 260 years so monopolised the government of the city that in that time only two outsiders appear m thf list of ma> ois Tueje 14 faroil.es, as well K » . ,m. lessor ones, attained great wea'ti by their trade with SPS P in. GaWay i a Mill full of their hou-ei, built square, round » courtyari in Spanish fasbi. n and of ■olidstond or native marble. It i, to the Crounvelnans that the

name ' tribes ' ii due. They found the oity families bo clannish, that they (fare them thia nickname, afterwards adopted as ft title of honor by the families themselves. In Kilkenny there were 10 noble houses— Archdeckin, Archer, Colley, Langton, Ley, Knarewborough, Lawless. Raggett, Rothe, and Shoe, the last-named being one of the richest and most noted of all. In Limerick the Archers and Whites were the most prominent among the townsmen, the former family counting 29 mayors between 1400 and 1500. Id Waterford the most noted names were Wise and I'obbyo. COBK AND KILKENNY. Coming to Cork, we fiud for the first 200 years or so of which we have records a great variety of names and races in the list of mayors. Borne are quite evidently Frenob, as De la Hoyd and Lavallin. Of course, at first, in this period surnames were often non-existent or very fluctuating, and there was also great confusion of language, so that the same perpon is indifferently referred to as Albus or De Alb's, or Le Blanc, or White. But gradually in all tke towns certain names f-tand out from the rest. In Cork the first Coppingfir appear on the list of mayors in 1319, the first Skiddy in 1338 From 1434 on most of the names occurring before disappear, and instead comes a small group succeeding one another in almost a monotonous succession until the downfall of the municipal government in 1646. In the 212 years of this period outsiders only reached the chair of office 17 times. One hundred and ninety-five were chosen from 11 families in varying proportions. It is to be remarked that this restriction of the ohief magistracy to a few families coincides with the revival of what is generally looked on us the Danish element in the city. The original AngloFrench colony seerrs to have worn itself out, the Gardiners, the De Kerdiffs, the Dispensers disappear ; and in their place come CoppingerH, Skiddys, Meaghf or Meads, Galways, and Goulds, families tbe chief of which constant tradition declares to be sprung from the Ostmen. In Kilkenny, in the same way, the older names, very largely Fiench, disappear about this time, and the 10 families which henceforward ruled the municipality nearly all have names of a distinctively Saxon type. In the 55 years after US4, the Skiddys and Galways practically governed Cork city, there being 18 mayors of the former and 16 of the latter family. It is to be noted that this does not mean that one man of each of these families was elected again and again ; the Christian names show that these families mußt have counted many members, and that, as a rule, the same person was not re-elected more than three or four times. THE MARATIMK TOWNB. The seaports about this time seem to occupy a semi-independent position, both with regard to defence, and the collection of dues. We read of a sea-fight between the citizens of Waterford and the Poers, the latter being assisted by the O'Heidriscollsor O'Drisoolls, a clan that occupied a district round Baltimore. Tbe whele coast of West Cork and South Kerry was then frequented by fishermen from France and Spain. In 1537 the O'Driecolls attacked four Portuguese ships laden with wine for Waterford. The oitizens of Waterford hearing of this determined to teach the offending clan a lesson, and with three ships carrying 400 men they sailed for Baltimore. . Their artillery soon overcame all resistance, and they laid waste the islands of Sherkin and Clear, destroyed four castles, ' including a most pleasant seat of O'Driscoll's, with a hall, an orchard, and a grove,' the Franciscan Priory on Sherkin, the mill, and all tbe villager on the islands, together with more than 50 pinnaces, and carried off O'Driscoll's great galley as a trophy. It mupt be remembered that in medieval times the towns were in mofrt cases in the hands of men of French, Danish, or English de:-cer.t, the native Irish and the Normanß keeping to the country. 'Jim exclusiveness helped to weaken the towns, whilst the country districts increased in power. Intermarriage between the Irish and Normans was general, although prohibited by law, so that in the time of Edward 111. the colonists in the country districts had become ' more Irish than the Irish themselves.' The towns, however, by stringent enactments, excluded from the franchise any citizen who married an Iri~h wife. Thus the towns became isolated as if in a foreign land, the surrounding country being inhabited by the ' Irish enemy ' and the Norman barons and their retainers. TOWN AGAINST COUNTBT. As early an 1333 the De Burghs of Connaught had solemnly renounced all allegiance to the king. Appearing on the banks of the Shannon before the walls of the royal castle of Athlone, the chiefs of this house stripped off, in sight of the garrison, their English garments, and assumed instead the saffron-dyed shirt and many colored tonntle of the native chiefs. Instead of De Burgho they took the Irish name Mac William, and adopted the Irish laws and manner of life. By this revolt, Gal way and Athenry were completely cut off from intercourse with the central government at Dublin, except by sea. Ie was nearly two centuries before an English governor or English troops penetrated again to the City of the West ; the townsmen were left to fight their own battles as best they could against the ever-encroaching enemy. The tame was the case with the other towns. Wexford was isolated from Dublin. The towns being thus left practically republics, free from all outside oontrol, but compelled to fight every day for existence, it would seem that it was found best to giv« the direction of affairs into the hands of a few leading families, and that the important role played by these families in civic matters made them be looked on as equals by the Irish ohiefs and Regenerate English gentry ou'nide the walls. For 250 years the chief magistrates, with only two exceptions, were drawn from the limited circle ot a few powenul families.

EXCLUDING THE NATIVE IBIBH. We find various regulations in foroe in later timea in the towns to secure that the Irish element should not gradually pain an entrance into them by marriage or commercial relations. In 1512 it wh ordered in Limerick that no citizen should be admitted on the panel, m., as a full burgess, unless 'he could speak English well, Wear English apparel, namely, gown, donblet, and hosen, be a married man, and have his hall, bedchamber, epens and kitchen with complete harness.' In Galway, abont the same time, it was ordered that ' no man of this towne shall hoate or receive into their houses at Christmas, Batter, nor feaate elles, any of the Burkes, Mac Williams, Kellies, nor no sept elles, without license of the mayor and con noil, on payn to forfeit £5 ; and that neither O nor Mao shall strut ne swagger through the streets of Galway.' Other laws of Galway were ' that no one was to bay cattle oat of the country parts except from true men. That no man lend or sell galley, boat, or barque to any Irishman. If any man shall bring any Irishman to boast or brag in the town he shall forfeit 12d. That no Irish judge shall plead in a man's cause or matter within the town or country ; for it agrees not with the King's laws, not yet with the Emperor's, in many places.' Limerick was bo completely isolated at this period that, in 1450 all proTisions were bronght from France, and Henry VI, gave leave to a merchant of St. Malo to traffic with the city at all seasons, and in all commodities, even when France should happen to be at war with England. 'We hare, unfortunately (continues Professor Butler), but little information as to the life in these towns daring the period of straggle for their existence. In the country districts, among the despised natives, learning was highly valued. Schools were supported in quiet parts of Clare and Donegal, removed from the track of war, by the liberality of the O'Briens and O'Donnells. The old legends were transcribed, the family history of the clans carefully recorded, lives of the old time saints or of contemporary, kings were compiled. Bat in the English colonies, where the energies of the townsfolk were all employed between commerce and the effort to keep off the Irish enemy, there seems to have been no literary activity ; we have practically no works in English or French composed in Ireland from the days of Edward 111. to those of Elisabeth ; an attempt to found a university in Dublin in 1311, and later on in Drogheda in 1465, met with no lasting success. LIMEBICK. With the accession of the Tudors our knowledge becomes more definite. Galway, in all respects, governing itself like one of the free cities of Germany and Holland, had grown wealthy by its trade with Spain, and the numbers and high spirit of the citizens made them secure againat the attacks of the clans. In the early days of Henry VIII., 1524, we find a trifling dispute between a Galway and a Limerick man leading to a naval war between the two cities. The King interposed to patch up mutters, but in the whole affair both communities seem to have acted without any regard to the royal authority. In tl^se d^ys Limerick had grown very prosperous through its foreign trade, and it is described in 1536 as being ' a wonderous proper city, and a strong, and standeth environed with the river of Shannon, and it may be called a Little London for the situation and the plenty.' The island portion, or English town, was fortified by a wall with 24 towers ; round the Irish town were twelve towers. The whole circuit of the city was twelve miles. There were five shurohes and five monastic establishments, and many towered houses (such as existed in continental towns), castles as they were called, belonging to the richer inhabitants. They had no conciliation or compulsory arbitration acts in those days to interfere with trade, still the merchants had to put up with many restrictions on traffic by the neighboring chiefs. These charges resemble in a sense the octroi does collected in many continental towns in the present day. The Irish lords round Limerick made a good thing out of traders to that city. We find that Mahon O'Brien, ot Carrigogunnil, took 2d for each barrel brought into Limerick, unless the barrels contained wine, when only Id was charged The two lords of MacNamaraa took 2d on every barrel, horse, or oow, and the extremely novel tax of 6s 8d on every man wearing a cap. O'Keane, of Kilruah, imposed a due of 6s 6d on every ship going to Limerick. Finally the great O'Brien, Lord or King of Thomond, took whatever taxes were paid to his sub-chiefs on sea-borne goods, or on commodities coming from Glare. On the other side of the town another O'Brien, Lord of Coonagh, took 20d per load on all exports from Limerick to Waterford ; yet strange to fay, he only levied 5d per load on goods from Waterford to Limerick. In the medieval times the Lady Catherine Poer, who ruled a great part of Waterford, not only made her tenants feed her hunting dogs on bread and butter and milk, but if any horse or cow was stolen in her territory she fined the owner five marks for carelessees*. The ' Leys et usages de la Cite of Diuelin,' dating from about 1300, had a provision from which it appears that if any native in the position of a serf fled from his lord and remained for a year and a day within the city by the consent of the mayor and commonalty •a their serf, and was not within that time claimed by his lord, then the lord could never recover him, after which the serf might, under certain conditions, become a free citizen, and eventually obtain full civic rights. ___^___^___^__

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