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James Fitzpiers Fitzgerald, Captain Thomas Lee, and the problem of ‘secret traitors’: conflicted loyalties during the Nine Years’ War, 1594-1603

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2015

Ruth A. Canning
Ruth A. Canning*
Affiliation:
University College Cork
*
*School of History, University College Cork, racnnng@gmail.com
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Abstract

Existing evidence pertaining to Ireland’s Nine Years’ War (1594–1603) strongly lends itself to the impression that the majority of Old English Palesmen, at least those of higher social status, chose to support the English crown during this conflict rather than their co-religionist Gaelic Irish countrymen. Loyalties, however, were anything but straightforward and could depend on any number of cultural values, social concerns, and economic incentives. Nevertheless, James Fitzpiers Fitzgerald, a ‘Bastard Geraldine’ who served as sheriff of Kildare, seemed to have been driven by a genuine sense of duty to the English crown and establishment. With the outbreak of hostilities in the 1590s, Fitzpiers proved to be a devout crown servitor, risking life and limb to confront the English queen’s Irish enemies. But, in late 1598 he suddenly, and somewhat inexplicably, threw his lot in with the Irish confederacy, defying the government he had once championed. During the ensuing investigation, the Dublin administration accumulated much damning evidence against Fitzpiers, including a patriotic plea from rebel leader Hugh O’Neill which urged Fitzpiers to defend his Irish homeland from the oppressions of English Protestant rule. Yet, at the very same time, a counter case was made by Fitzpiers’s controversial English friend, Captain Thomas Lee, which argued that Fitzpiers’s actions were more loyal than anyone could have imagined. Through an examination of Fitzpiers’s perplexing case, this paper will explore the complicated nature of allegiances in 1590s Ireland and how loyalties were not always what they seemed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Irish Historical Studies , Volume 39 , Issue 156 , November 2015 , pp. 573 - 594
Copyright
© Irish Historical Studies Publications Ltd 2015 

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References

1 For discussions on Old English uprisings during 1570s and 1580s see Walshe, Helen Coburn, ‘The rebellion of William Nugent 1581’ in R. V. Comerford, Mary Cullen, Jacqueline R. Hill, and Colm Lennon (eds), Religion, conflict and coexistence in Ireland (Dublin, 1990), pp 26–52Google Scholar; Maginn, Christopher, ‘Civilizing’ Gaelic Leinster: the extension of Tudor rule in the O’Byrne and O’Toole lordships (Dublin, 2005)Google Scholar; idem, , ‘The Baltinglass Rebellion, 1580: English dissent or a Gaelic uprising?’ in Historical Journal, xlvii, no. 2 (Jun. 2004), pp 205–232Google Scholar.

2 Brady, Ciaran, ‘Conservative subversives: the community of the Pale and the Dublin administration, 1556–86’ in P. J. Corish (ed.), Radicals, rebels and establishments (Belfast, 1985), pp 26–28Google Scholar. Lennon has posited that government reaction ‘provoked a variety of responses under the general aegis of the movement for the defence of the Catholic heritage’: Lennon, Colm, ‘The Counter-Reformation in Ireland, 1542–1641’ in Ciaran Brady and Raymond Gillespie (eds), Natives and newcomers (Blackrock, 1986), p. 86Google Scholar.

3 Sir Geoffrey Fenton to Burghley, 29 Feb. 1596 (T.N.A., SP 63/186/90).

4 Morgan, Hiram, ‘Hugh O’Neill and the Nine Years’ War in Tudor Ireland’ in Historical Journal, xxxvi, no. 1 (Mar. 1993), pp 25–26Google Scholar.

5 Maley, Willy (ed.), ‘The Supplication of the blood of the English most lamentably murdered in Ireland, Cryeng out of the yearth for revenge (1598)’ in Analecta Hibernica, no. 36 (1995), pp 36–37Google Scholar.

6 Thomas Lee, ‘The Discovery and Recovery of Ireland with the Author’s Apology’ c.1599–1600 (B. L., Additional MS 33,743), ed. John McGurk, www.celt.ie/history (24 July 2010). Lee was not alone in this impression and similar views were expressed by other authors: Fynes Moryson, Shakespeare’s Europe, ed. Charles Hughes (London, 1903), pp 205–7; ‘A Direction to the Queenes Majestie how to conquer Ireland’ 1599 (B.L., Harley MS 292, f. 173); Exeter College, Oxford, MS 154, ff 66r–66v; Maley (ed.), ‘The Supplication’, p. 71.

7 Lee, ‘The Discovery’, f. 5.

8 Ibid., f. 7.

9 Lord Deputy Russell to Robert Cecil, 22 Sept. 1594 (T.N.A., SP 63/176/33).

10 Lee, ‘Apologie’, f. 17.

11 For example, see John Morgan to Lord Deputy Russell, 10 July 1596 (T.N.A., SP 63/191/18); Marshal Sir Henry Bagenall to Russell, 23 Dec. 1596 (ibid., SP 63/196/31(VII)); memorandum by Captain Stafford, May 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(2)/54); Lee, ‘Apologie’, f. 34.

12 Moryson, , Shakespeare’s Europe, p. 204Google Scholar.

13 Ibid. Moryson held the same opinion of Old English and Irish military servitors: ibid., pp 205–6.

14 For example, see Fenton to Cecil, 20 Apr. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(2)/16); unknown to Fenton, 18 Apr. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(2)/16(I)).

15 Unfortunately, due to the lack of evidence concerning specific conspiracies and persons, very few cases of secret treasons may be drawn from existing official records.

16 See, for example, Morgan, Hiram, ‘Faith and fatherland or Queen and country?’ in Dúiche Néill, ix (1994), pp 1–49Google Scholar; Perrott, James, The Chronicle of Ireland, 1584–1608, ed. Herbert Wood (Dublin, 1933), pp 156–157Google Scholar.

17 Clifford to Burghley, 22 Jan. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(1)/28); extracts of a letter to Fenton, 20 Jul. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(2)/110(I)); Perrott, Chronicle of Ireland, ed. Wood, p. 144; Nicholls, K. W., ‘Richard Tyrrell, soldier extraordinary’ in Hiram Morgan (ed.), The battle of Kinsale (Bray, 2004), pp 161–178Google Scholar.

18 See, Falls, Cyril, Elizabeth’s Irish wars (London, 1996), pp 213–229Google Scholar; Hayes-McCoy, G. A., Irish battles (Belfast, 2009), pp 106–131Google Scholar.

19 Ormond to privy council, 21 Oct. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(3)/117); Norreys to privy council, 23 Oct. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(3)/124); lords justices and Irish council to privy council, 3 Nov. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(3)/142); Captain Thomas Reade to Cecil, 20 Nov. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(3)/167); Thomas Reade to Cecil, 1 Dec. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(4)/3); Garrison Plot by Reade, n.d. (ibid., SP 63/202(4)/19(I)); Fenton to Cecil, 22 Dec. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(4)/40); Ja[mes] Foxe to [Robert Devereaux], Earl of Essex, 9 Nov. 1598 (, H.M.C., Salisbury MSS, viii, (London, 1899), p. 433Google Scholar).

20 Lords justices and Irish council to privy council, 23 Nov. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(3)/168).

21 Loftus, Gardener, Bingham and Irish council to privy council, 31 Oct. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(3)/135).

22 I am extremely grateful to Kenneth Nicholls for providing me with much valuable genealogical information on Fitzpiers’s lineage.

23 Philip O’Sullivan Beare declared Piers Fitzjames, identified as Fitzgerald, Peter, ‘a heretic’: O’Sullivan Beare, Chapters towards a history of Ireland, ed. M. J. Byrne (London, 1970), p. 75Google Scholar. See also FitzGerald, Walter, ‘Walter Reagh Fitz Gerald, a noted outlaw of the sixteenth century’ in R.S.A.I.Jn., fifth series, viii, no. 4 (Dec. 1898), p. 302Google Scholar.

24 Many official recommendations for local supplicants usually made some comment to infer that the individual was either a recusant or ‘forward in religion’.

25 O’Sullivan Beare maintained that the state had rewarded Piers Fitzjames’s savagery against the Gaelic Irish with a magistracy: O’Sullivan Beare, Chapters towards a history of Ireland, p. 75; Dr Meredith Hanmer to Burghley, 23 Mar. 1594 (T.N.A., SP 63/173/94).

26 Complaint of James Fitzgerald, 18 Mar. 1594 (T.N.A., SP 63/173/91(VI)); Hanmer to Burghley, 23 Mar. 1594 (ibid., SP 63/173/94).

27 Generations of conflict had resulted in similar strikes and counter-strikes between the Old English and their Gaelic Irish neighbours. It would be impossible to prove that this was as unprovoked assault; according to O’Sullivan Beare, Piers Fitzjames had brought this on himself since Walter Reagh only sought retribution for an earlier attack committed against him: O’Sullivan Beare, Chapters towards a history of Ireland, p. 75. For comments on petty border feuds, see, ‘An Abstracte of mysorders and evill rule within the lande of Ireland’ (B.L., Add. MS 48,017, ff 164-165b). It appears that Walter Reagh sustained injuries during this attack and he was soon captured by the authorities and hanged at Dublin: Bagwell, Richard, Ireland under the Tudors (3 vols, London, 1885-90), iii, 246–247Google Scholar.

28 Complaint of James Fitzgerald, 18 Mar. 1594 (T.N.A., SP 63/173/91(VI)); Fitzgerald to Cecil, 2 Sept. 1594 (ibid., SP 63/176/3).

29 Fitzpiers’s mother was the sister of Edward Fitzgerald. It is possible that this Edward Fitzgerald was the same Edward who served as the earl of Kildare’s steward in Lecale.

30 James Fitzgerald to Cecil, 2 Sept. 1594 (T.N.A., SP 63/176/3); petition of Edward Fitzgerald, 2 Sept. 1594 (ibid., SP 63/176/4); William Smythe to Burghley, 25 Jan. 1595 (ibid., SP 63/178/20).

31 Petition of Edward Fitzgerald, 2 Sept. 1594 (T.N.A., SP 63/176/4).

32 Complaint of James Fitzgerald, 18 Mar. 1594 (T.N.A., SP 63/173/91(VI)); petition of Edward Fitzgerald, 2 Sept. 1594 (ibid., SP 63/176/4).

33 Petition of Edward Fitzgerald, 2 Sept. 1594 (T.N.A., SP 63/176/4).

34 These forces were to be raised within Ireland: James Fitzgerald to Cecil, 2 Sept. 1594 (T.N.A., SP 63/176/3).

35 Ibid.; petition of Edward Fitzgerald, 2 Sept. 1594 (T.N.A., SP 63/176/4).

36 ‘My L[ord]s Iournall begining on Midsomer daye the 24th of June 1595’ (Lambeth Palace Library, Carew MSS, 612/270), hereafter cited as Russell’s Journal.

37 Lord Deputy to privy council, 6 Apr. 1597 (T.N.A., SP 63/198/69).

38 Russell’s journal (Lambeth Palace Library, Carew MS 612/270).

39 ‘Several books of payments made by the Treasurer at Wars’, 13 Mar. 1599 (T.N.A., SP 63/203/76).

40 O’Neill to James Fitzpiers, 11 Mar. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(3)/168(II)). This letter was part of an enclosure sent from the Irish council to the privy council on 23 Nov., 1598. It is unclear when the state came to possess O’Neill’s communication; however, since there is no prior mention of this letter, it is assumed that they had only acquired it very recently.

41 Ormond to privy council, 17 Dec. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(4)/34); list of gentlemen, 14 Dec. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(4)/26).

42 Morgan, Hiram, ‘Policy and propaganda in Hugh O’Neill’s connection with Europe’ in Thomas O’Connor and Mary Ann Lyons (eds), The Ulster earls and baroque Europe (Dublin, 2010), pp 18–52Google Scholar.

43 O’Neill to James Fitzpiers, 11 Mar. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202 (3)/168 (II)). See also Ruth Canning, ‘War, identity, and the Pale: the Old English and the 1590s crisis in Ireland’ (Ph.D. thesis, University College Cork, 2012). Hiram Morgan has also identified the significance of the letter in O’Neill’s conception of fatherland ideology: Morgan, , ‘Hugh O’Neill and the Nine Years War’, pp 21–37Google Scholar.

44 Letter by O’Neill, O’Donnell, O’Rourke and McWilliam sent into Munster, 6 July 1596 (Cal. Carew MSS, 1589–1600, p. 179); O’Neill to David, Viscount Buttevant, Lord Barry, 25 Feb. 1600 (T.N.A., SP 63/207(1)/130).

45 Richard Hadsor, the earl of Essex, and Philip O’Sullivan Beare held similar opinions, that private interest, rather than public duty, dictated the actions of individuals during this period. For examples see ‘Discourse by Richard Hadsor’ (B.L. Cotton MS Titus BX, ff 79–84); Essex to privy council, 29 Apr. 1599 (T.N.A., SP 63/205/42); Morgan, Hiram, ‘“Making Ireland Spanish”: the political writings of Philip O’Sullivan Beare’ in Jason Harris and Keith Sidwell (eds), Making Ireland Roman: Irish neo-Latin writers and the republic of letters (Cork, 2009), pp 93–94Google Scholar, 102–6. For a discussion of earlier violent competitions between factions and internal rivals, see Edwards, David, ‘The escalation of violence in sixteenth-century Ireland’ in David Edwards, Pádraig Lenihan, and Clodagh Tait (eds), Age of atrocity: violence and political conflict in early modern Ireland (Dublin, 2007), pp 34–78Google Scholar.

46 For an analysis of the historiography relating to O’Neill as a nationalist, see Morgan, ‘Hugh O’Neill and the Nine Years War’ pp 21–37. Prominent amongst those who have portrayed O’Neill as an early nationalist was John Mitchel: see Mitchel, , The life and times of Aodh O’Neill (Dublin, 1845)Google Scholar.

47 For example, see, John Morgan to Russell, 10 July 1596 (T.N.A., SP 63/191/18); memorandum by Captain Stafford, May 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(2)/54); Lee, ‘Apologie’, f. 34.

48 For a discussion of O’Neill’s manipulation of Ulster politics, especially his elimination of competitors, see Morgan, Hiram, ‘“Slán Dé fút go hoíche”: Hugh O’Neill’s murders’ in Edwards, Lenihan, and Tait (eds), Age of atrocity, pp 95–118Google Scholar; Hayes-McCoy, G. A., ‘Strategy and tactics in Irish warfare, 1593–1601’ in Irish Historical Studies, ii, no. 7 (Mar. 1941), p. 257Google Scholar.

49 O’Neill to [Henry Fitzgerald,] earl of Kildare, 8 Apr. 1594 (T.N.A., SP 63/174/37(XIII)).

50 For an official report on these attacks on Kildare, see ‘Advertisements sent to Sir Henry Duke by several espials’, 20 Feb. 1595 (T.N.A., SP 63/178/53(V)). See also ‘Advertisements delivered by Captain James Fitzgarrett’, 12 Aug. 1596 (ibid., SP 63/192/7(XI)).

51 O’Neill to Kildare, 8 Apr. 1594 (T.N.A., SP 63/174/37(XIII)). See also ‘Advertisements delivered by Captain James Fitzgarrett’, 12 Aug. 1596 (ibid., SP 63/192/7(XI)). Fortunately for Kildare, following the discovery of O’Neill’s letter, Lord Deputy Fitzwilliam assured Burghley that there was no reason to doubt the earl: Fitzwilliam to Burghley, 5 May 1594 (ibid., SP 63/174/38).

52 Bingham complained that ‘Collier the constable was maried to one of the Moores, and by that meanes as it shold seeme, was the castilier drawne to be a villaine’, Bingham to Loftus and Gardener, 27 Nov. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(3)/172).

53 Once in possession of the building, Owny McRory proceeded to tear it down: ibid.; Ormond to privy council, 17 Dec. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(4)/34).

54 Bingham to Loftus and Gardener, 27 Nov. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(3)/172).

55 Ibid.

56 Reade to Cecil, 1 Dec. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(4)/3).

57 Ormond to privy council, 17 Dec. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(4)/34).

58 Bingham to Loftus and Gardener, 27 Nov. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(3)/172); ‘The greevances of the Englishe Pale’ 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(4)/60).

59 Loftus, Gardener, Bingham and Irish council to privy council, 31 Oct. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(3)/135); lords justices and Irish council to privy council, 3 Nov. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(3)/142).

60 Bingham to Cecil, 6 Nov. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(3)/150).

61 Fenton to Cecil, 5 Nov. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(3)/147).

62 James Fitzpiers to Loftus and Gardener, 18 Nov. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(3)/168(III)); Loftus and Gardener and Fenton to privy council, 7 Nov. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(3)/152).

63 Kildare to Loftus and Gardener, 7 Nov. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(3)/152(II)); Foxe to Essex, 9 Nov. 1598 (H.M.C., Salisbury MSS, viii, p. 433).

64 James Fitzpiers to Loftus and Gardener, 18 Nov. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(3)/168(III)).

65 McGurk, John, ‘Hugh Ó Neill, 2nd earl of Tyrone & Captain Thomas Lee, double-agent’ in Dúiche Néill, xv (2006), p. 13Google Scholar; Morgan, Hiram, ‘Tom Lee: the posing peacemaker’ in Brendan Bradshaw, Andrew Hadfield, and Willy Maley (eds), Representing Ireland: literature and the origins of conflict, 1534–1660 (Cambridge, 1993), pp 145Google Scholar, 158; ‘Substance of speeches between Captain Lee and Richard Hoper’, 24 Nov. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(3)/171(IV)).

66 Ibid. It is possible that there may have been an inheritance dispute between Fitzpiers and Ormond since they were distant relations. I am grateful to Kenneth Nicholls for pointing out this genealogical link. Similarly, Richard Bagwell indicated a genealogical connection between Fitzpiers’s family and the earl of Ormond, stating that Fitzpiers’s father was a ‘kinsman’ to the earl: Bagwell, , Ireland under the Tudors, iii, 246Google Scholar.

67 James Fitzpiers to Loftus and Gardener, 18 Nov. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(3)/168(III)).

68 Ibid. His friend Lee was of the same opinion, stating that if Fitzpiers ever ventured to meet Ormond, the earl ‘would surely hang’ him: ‘Substance of speeches between Captain Lee and Hoper’, 24 Nov. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(3)/171(IV)).

69 Lords justices and Irish council to privy council, 23 Nov. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(3)/168).

70 Sir Ralph Lane’s project for service, 23 Dec. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(4)/46(I)).

71 Ibid.

72 Reade to Cecil, 20 Nov. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(3)/167).

73 For example, Lee’s plot can be compared to another proposal drafted by Sir Ralph Lane around the same time: Lane to Cecil, 23 Dec. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(4)/46); Sir Ralph Lane’s project for service, 23 Dec. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(4)/46(I)).

74 Lee, ‘Infformacion giuen to Queen Elizabeth against Sir William Fitzwilliams, his gouernmente in Irelande’ (c.1594), ed. Hiram Morgan, (www.celt.ie/history) (12 June 2011); Lee, , ‘A brief declaration of the government of Ireland’ (1594), in John Lodge (ed.), Desiderata curiosa Hibernica (2 vols., Dublin, 1772), i, 87–150Google Scholar; Lee, ‘Discovery and Recovery of Ireland with the Author’s Apology’.

75 Morgan, , ‘Tom Lee’, pp 132–165Google Scholar.

76 Sir Charles Calthorpe, attorney-general of Ireland, to Burghley, 28 Mar. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(I)/94).

77 This article outlines only one of Lee’s many ambitious and controversial projects. His career and writings have received more detailed scholarly attention from Hiram Morgan, John McGurk, and James Meyers: Morgan, ‘Tom Lee’; McGurk, , ‘A soldier’s prescription for the governance of Ireland, 1599–1600: Captain Thomas Lee and his tracts’ in Brian Mac Cuarta (ed.), Reshaping Ireland, 1550–1700: colonization and its consequences (Dublin, 2011), pp 43–60Google Scholar; McGurk, , ‘Hugh Ó Neill’ pp 11–25Google Scholar; Myers, J. P., ‘“Murdering heart … murdering hand”: Captain Thomas Lee of Ireland, Elizabethan assassin’ in Sixteenth Century Journal, xxii, no. 1 (Spring, 1991), pp 47–60CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Myers, , ‘Early English colonial experiences in Ireland: Captain Thomas Lee and Sir John Davies’ in Eire-Ireland, xxiii, no. 1 (Spring, 1988), pp 8–21Google Scholar.

78 Lee, ‘Apologie’ f. 15.

79 An act of Council, 14 Nov. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(3)/171(I)).

80 Report of certain speeches between Lee and Thomas Jones, bishop of Meath, 18 Nov. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(3)/171(V)).

81 Loftus and Gardener, and Irish council to Cecil, 27 Nov. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(3)/171); Act of council, 14 Nov. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(3)/171(I)); interrogatories ministered to Lee, 22 Nov. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(3)/171(II)); Lee’s answers, 22 Nov. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(3)/171(III)); substance of speeches between Captain Lee and Hoper, 24 Nov. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(3)/171(IV)); report of certain speeches between Lee and bishop of Meath, 18 Nov. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(3)/171(V)).

82 Act of Council, 14 Nov. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(3)/171(I)).

83 Interrogatories ministered to Lee, 22 Nov. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(3)/171(II)); Lee’s answers, 22 Nov. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(3)/171(III)).

84 Ibid.

85 Ibid.

86 Substance of speeches between Captain Lee and Hoper, 24 Nov. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(3)/171(IV)).

87 ‘Brian Reogh O’More to Teig McMortogh and Lysagh Oge and their followers’, 20 May 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(2)/39); Lee’s answers, 22 Nov. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(3)/171(III)).

88 Substance of speeches between Captain Lee and Hoper, 24 Nov. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(3)/171(IV)).

89 Ibid.

90 Act of Council, 14 Nov. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(3)/171(I)).

91 Lee reported that he had directed Fitzpiers to go to Kildare and ‘perswade the erle to stand firme in his dutie’; Fitzpiers was also to arrange a private appointment for Lee to speak with Kildare privately. But there was a shady element in Lee’s dealings with Kildare. As part of Lee’s efforts to secure the continuing loyalty of Kildare, but with an obvious benefit to himself, Lee attempted to arrange a marriage between Kildare and his own daughter instead of Ormond’s: Act of Council, 14 Nov. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(3)/171(I)); Lee’s answers, 22 Nov. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(3)/171(III)); substance of speeches between Captain Lee and Hoper, 24 Nov. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(3)/171(IV)).

92 Fenton to Cecil, 5 Nov. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(3)/147).

93 The Irish council complained that Ormond’s constant absence from the council table for supposed military service was a great hindrance to the government, especially since the lord general did not seem particularly active in military exploits. They also claimed that Ormond neglected to maintain constant correspondence with the rest of the council: Loftus and Gardener to privy council, 1 June 1598 (ibid., SP 62/202(2)/56); lords justices and Irish council to same, 3 Nov. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(3)/142); Cecil to Ormond, 17 Nov. 1598 (Cal. S.P. Ire., 1598–1599, p. 350); Wallop to Cecil, 3 Feb. 1599 (T.N.A., SP 63/203/32). Hiram Morgan has also raised some significant questions regarding Ormond’s conduct during the war: Morgan, ‘Tom Lee’, pp 158–9.

94 Edwards, David, The Ormond lordship in County Kilkenny, 1515–1642: the rise and fall of Butler feudal power, (Dublin, 2003)Google Scholar; David Edwards, ‘Butler, Thomas, tenth earl of Ormond and third earl of Ossory (1531–1614)’, in Oxford D.N.B.

95 Thomas Jones, bishop of Meath, to Ormond, 11 Dec. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(4)/34(XI)); Loftus, Gardener and council to Ormond, 11 Dec. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/203/15(II)); Loftus, Gardener and council to Ormond, 23 Dec. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/203/15(III)); William Hartepoole (Harpole), Constable of Carlow, to Ormond, 16 Jan. 1599 (ibid., SP 63/203/15(VII)).

96 Lee’s answers, 22 Nov. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(3)/171(III)); report of certain speeches between Lee and the bishop of Meath, 18 Nov. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(3)/171(V)).

97 Lee’s answers, 22 Nov. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(3)/171(III)); report of certain speeches between Lee and the bishop of Meath, 18 Nov. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(3)/171(V)); substance of speeches between Captain Lee and Hoper, 24 Nov. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(3)/171(IV)).

98 Report of certain speeches between Lee and the bishop of Meath, 18 Nov. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(3)/171(V)); substance of speeches between Captain Lee and Hoper, 24 Nov. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(3)/171(IV)).

99 Report of certain speeches between Lee and the bishop of Meath, 18 Nov. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(3)/171(V)).

100 Substance of speeches between Captain Lee and Hoper, 24 Nov. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(3)/171(IV)).

101 Report of certain speeches between Lee and the bishop of Meath, 18 Nov. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(3)/171(V)).

102 Lee’s answers, 22 Nov. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202(3)/171(III)).

103 Interrogatories ministered to Lee, 22 Nov. 1598 (TNA, SP 63/202(3)/171(II)); Lee, ‘The Discovery’ ff 88–9.

104 Lee, ‘Apologie’, f. 25.

105 Ibid., f. 18; Loftus, Gardener and Irish council to Cecil, 27 Nov. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(3)/171).

106 Act of Council, 14 Nov. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(3)/171(I)).

107 Lee, ‘Apologie’, f. 23.

108 Ibid., ff 26–27.

109 Sir Ralph Lane’s project for service, 23 Dec. 1598 (T.N.A., SP 63/202(4)/46(I)).

110 Sir George Carey to Cecil, 26 May 1599 (ibid., SP 63/ 205/67).

111 Lee, ‘Apologie’, ff 28–9; Captain Thomas Lee to Cecil, 19 Dec. 1599 (H.M.C., Salisbury MSS, ix, pp 414–5); Litton Falkiner, C. (ed.), ‘William Farmer’s Chronicles of Ireland from 1594–1613’, in English Historical Review, xxii, no. 85 (1907), p. 112Google Scholar; portion of a manuscript history, May 1599 (Cal. S.P. Ire., 1599–1600, pp 52–3); Sir Warham Sentleger to Cecil, 30 Apr. 1599 (T.N.A., SP 63/205/44); journal of lord lieutenant’s journey into Leinster, 9-–18 May 1599 (ibid., SP 63/205/63(I)).

112 ‘A note of the principall leaders, commaunders and other … executed’ 13 Jan. 1599 (T.N.A., SP 63/203/10).

113 Ormond to privy council, 24 Jan. 1600 (ibid., SP 63/207(1)/40); Lord Justice Carey to Cecil, [11 Feb.] 1600 (ibid., SP 63/207(1)/97); Fynes Moryson, ‘The rebellion of Hugh earle of Tyrone’ in Moryson, An Itinerary, Part II, (1617), pp 60–1.

114 Mountjoy to Cecil, 9 Apr. 1600 (T.N.A., SP 63/207(2)/97); Mountjoy to privy council, 9 June 1600 (ibid., SP 63/207(3)/93).

115 Lee is famously known for his attempted ambush of the queen in order to obtain the release of Essex: McGurk, , ‘Hugh Ó Neill’ pp 11–25Google Scholar; Morgan, , ‘Tom Lee’, pp 157–158Google Scholar; Myers, , ‘Murdering heart … murdering hand’, pp 47–60Google Scholar; Myers, , ‘Early English colonial experiences’, pp 8–21Google Scholar.

116 Edwards, , Ormond lordship, pp 264Google Scholar, 337.