READINGS IN IRISH HISTORY

New Zealand Tablet, 1 November 1917, Page 9

READINGS IN IRISH HISTORY

By “Shanachie.”

RICHARD 11. AND ART MacMURROGH KAVANAGEL Were it possible for us to take a glance into the Cathedral of Christ’s Church in Dublin on the evening of the 24th of March, 1395, we should be able to witness a strange scene: the four provincial kings of Ireland devoutly keeping the vigil preparatory to knighthood. They had been induced to accept that honor from Richard’s hands. They had apologised at first, saying they were all knighted at the age of seven : but. the ceremony as performed in the nest of Christendom was represented to them as a great and religious custom. Accordingly they were knighted by Richard on the Feast of the Annunciation. The four kings were lodged in the same house during their stay in Dublin, and as it seems, they discussed plans for the future. The Earl of Ormond, who knew the Irish language and had been appointed by the King to look after the wants of his guests, brought forward a charge of conspiracy against MacMurrogh arid had him placed in confinement in the castle. The Leinster chief was, however, soon released, but not before a promise of submission had been wrung- from him and hostages given as a guarantee of his good faith. By this time Easter had passed, and now Richard broke up his • winter quarters, and summoned parliament to 'meet' - at Kilkenny. What acts were passed in this assembly we do not know; nothing has ever come to light. -_l' ‘ ' Early in May a deputation, headed by the celebrated William of Wyckham, arrived from England invoking the personal presence of the King to quiet the * disturbances of the Lollards, a sect of religious fanatics, ; who at that time were causing trouble in Church and State in England. ; With this invitation Richard 1 deemed it prudent, to comply. He appointed his youthful cousin, the Earl of March, and. heirapparent' to the English crown, his lieutenant in Ireland. -Then' he ‘ sailed ■ for England, whither he was accompanied by most of the great nobles who had passed over with Him to the Irish wars. c■> i' 1 UjJ During the - three years the Earl of March held the supreme'direction : of affairs in Ireland p the struggle between the ' Irish, the Anglo-Irish, and those of English birth knew no" cessation -in - Leinster. ’/Some'form

of submission had ' been 1 wrung - from MacMurrogh ! be•!fore ■' his release ! from'Dublin Castle/ - in ? the :; spring f of 1395, but -this'’ engagement, extorted !: uhder'P’sucht circumstances, from a guest towards whom , every law of hospitality had been violated, ’ he did not Teel bound to keep. In the same year an attempt was made to entrap him at .a banquet given' in one of the castles of the ' frontier, but warned by his bard, MacMurrogh made good his escape. After this double violation of what among his countrymen was always held 1 sacred, the privileged character of a guest, he never again placed himself at - the mercy of those whom he had reason to suspect were his enemies, but prosecuted the war with unfaltering determination: In; 1397 : MacMurrogh 'captured the castle and strong town of Carlow. and in July of the. following year he fought and won a battle at Kells, Co. Kilkenny. Here fell the heir-apparent to the English crown. The. news of this disaster filled “the Pale’’ with 1 consternation and aroused the vindictive temper of Richard/" As soon as circumstances permitted he began to make ready for his second expedition to Ireland. ’ ’ • ; ; tf ’ !1 A French knight, named Creton, who accompanied this expedition, has left us a very vivid account of its progress. As before, the King sailed from Milford Sound, and in two days the fleet hove in sight, of 'the tower of Waterford. Richard landed with his forces on the Ist of June, 1399. They found the people of this English stronghold had been reduced by war to a very pitiable condition. Little, .. however, did ’those proud cavaliers of Richard 11. dream that, before a few weeks, they would themselves be reduced to similar straits. From Waterford the King marched to Kilkenny at the head of an army somewhat smaller than that of 1394. From the latter town Richard sent a messenger to MacMurrogh. calling upon him to surrender. The gallant Leinster chief sent back a characteristic answer: 4 He would neither submit nor obey him in any way; he was the rightful King of Leinster and he would never cease from war and the defence of his country, until his death.” It was a defiant attitude for an . outlawed chief with “ three thousand hardy men to . assume towards a King who was marching against him ,with- at least ten times that number and with all the resources of England and the well-disposed Anglo-Irish at his back. Art MacMurrogh, however, was a brave and spirited chieftain, and he knew the mettle of his men, “who did not appear,” says the French knight, “to be much afraid of the English.” Meantime MacMurrogh’s uncle made a most humble submission to Richard, and the King, hoping that Art would yield, sent him a second messenger, promising that if .he would come and submit, as his uncle had done, he would receive mercy and pardon and be endowed , with castles and lands. Again the Leinster . chief made answer that he would do no such thing, that for all the gold in ,the world he would not submit, but would continue to war on the King as far as in him lay. ;.,; pj Decimated by disease and hunger, the English sent word to Dublin for food; that city sent supplies by sea, and the army hastened eastward to Arklow, where the ships put in, laden with food. The , starving soldiers . rushed into , the sea, forcibly ~ seized on the - provisions, even fought amid the ; waves for a .morsel - of bread, ,drank all the wine they could lay hold of, ; and the French chronicler declares, that, he saw fully; a . thousand drunk on the wine of Ossy and ... Spain. • 0 ~,, On his march along the sea-coast to Dublin Richard : received , a,, message , from .Art.. MacMurrogh proposing ; terms of peace. - Art’s reason for, .so doing is said- to have been that some of his chiefs had become overawed by the great display of . the King’s power. The u news, we are told, , “brought much joy .to . the English • camp.” . The Earl of Gloucester , was sent to > confer with him but-they could not come, to terms, for MacMurrogh insisted ;on . holding . his territory without • any. reserve. -The. French knight, who ; was An, eyewitness y, , described t; the meeting. thus : i t// Between'two woods, ~at some distance , from 7 the sea, 7 I ; beheld- Mac- . Murrogh- and 7 a body of the Irish, more than .[l; ; can

number, descend the mountain. He had a horse without housing or. saddle, which was so fine and good, that it had cost him, they said, four hundred cows: K -•„ . In coming down, it galloped so hard, that, in my opinion, I never saw hare, deer, or any other animal run with such speed, jln his right hand he bore a great long dart, which he cast with much skill. . . He was a fine big manwonderfully active. To look at him he seemed very stern and savage, and an able man." The King resumed his march to Dublin. Reinforcements having reached him from England, he divided his army into three parts and sent them in pursuit of MacMurrogh, promising a hundred marks in pure gold to the man who would bring him in alive or dead. In a few days news arrived of an insurrection in England, and the King hastily returned home. On his arrival in England he was made prisoner and some years later put to death in the castle of Pontefract. In 1417 Art MacMurrogh died. His stormy career ended peacefully, though there is not wanting a suspicion that he was poisoned by his enemies. He had defended his province from the age of sixteen to sixty, and had been at the head of the Leinster clans for forty-two years. "He was," says the Four Masters, "a man distinguished for his hospitality, knowledge, and feats of arms, a founder of churches and monasteries by his bounty and alms." "He was the ablest, the most skilful, the most successful chief whom Ireland had sent to combat the English since Strongbow first landed on her soil."