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Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2016

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After the Conquest of Ireland by Henry the 2nd most of the Lands in Leinster & Munster were Distributed among those English who Served in that or the Succeeding Expeditions of our Kings into Ireland. From those English were Derived most of the Great Families in Ireland: Few of the Old native Irish remaining in those provinces besides those of Bryan or Maccarty of any Great Notte or Titles.

Some of the Great English Families were Generally Imployed in the Cheif Government of this Province ‘till the tyme of Henry the 7th but Cheifly those of Ormond or Kildare.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Irish Historical Studies Publications Ltd 2005

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References

1 The British Library catalogue identifies this hand as that of Lord Somers. However, I am assured by Patrick Kelly that it is not. I am grateful to Dr Kelly for clarification on this point.

2 Between the departure of Sir Edward Poynings from Ireland (20 Dec. 1495) and the appointment of Sir William Skeffington as lord deputy (22 June 1530) only two English appointees occupied the post of lord lieutenant: Thomas Howard, earl of Surrey, and Henry Fitzroy, duke of Richmond and Somerset. Otherwise the positions of lord lieutenant and/or lord deputy, justiciar and/or lord justice were retained by the Butler earls of Ormond and the Fitzgerald earls of Kildare, or their respective clients. But from 1534 to 1695 the positions of lord lieutenant and/or lord deputy had only three Irish occupants: James Butler, twelfth earl and first duke of Ormond (1643-50, 1662–9, 1677–85); Richard Talbot, earl and duke of Tyrconnell (1687-90); Ulick Burke, marquis of Clanricard, who was appointed royalist lord deputy by Ormond in 1650 but who submitted to parliament in 1652. However, the interim post of lord justice was often occupied by Irish appointees.

3 10 Hen. VII, c. 4 [Ire.] (1494/5).

4 3 & 4 P. & M., c. 4 [Ire.] (1556).

5 10 Hen. VII, c. 22 [Ire.] (1495).

6 Presumably the Desmond rebellion (1579-83) and the Nine Years War (1594-1603), both of which saw varying degrees of Spanish involvement.

7 Thomas Wentworth, Viscount Wentworth and earl of Strafford (1593-1641), lord deputy of Ireland (1633-40) and subsequently lord lieutenant (1640-41). He was executed on 12 May 1641.

8 The principal figure to adopt this perspective was the Galway lawyer Patrick Darcy (1598-1668), returned as M.P. for County Tyrone in May 1641. Darcy opposed Wentworth’s policies in the 1634 parliament, in which he sat for Navan, and his speech to a committee of the Irish parliament on 9 June 1641 was deemed a key assertion of parliamentary prerogative. Subsequently published as An argument delivered by Patrick Darcy, esquire ... (Waterford, 1643), it was reprinted in numerous editions. See Clarke, Aidan, ‘Patrick Darcy and the constitutional relationship between Ireland and Britain’ in Ohlmeyer, (ed.), Political thought in seventeenth-century Ireland, pp 3555Google Scholar.

9 16 Chas I, c. 33 [Eng.] (1642).

10 ‘An act for the speedy and effectual Satisfaction of the Adventurers for Lands for Ireland, and for the Arrears due to Soldiers there, and of the Publique Debts, and of the Encouragement of Protestants to Plant and Inhabit Ireland’ (1653) (Firth, C. H. and Rait, R. S. (eds), Acts and ordinances of the Interregnum, 1642–1660 (3 vols, London, 1911), ii, 722-53)Google Scholar.

11 A blank space has been left in the original text.

12 14 & 15 Chas II, c. 2 [Ire.] (1662).

13 17 & 18 Chas II, c. 2 [Ire.] (1665).

14 Henry Sidney, Viscount Sidney and first earl of Rorrmey (1641-1704), lord justice and subsequently lord lieutenant of Ireland. Sidney saw military service in Flanders in the 1670s, becoming acquainted with William of Orange before succeeding Sir William Temple as envoy extraordinary to the United Provinces in June 1679. He accompanied William to England in 1688 and served in the Williamite army in Ireland. Briefly one of the Williamite lords justices in Ireland (Dec. 1690), he subsequently served as lord lieutenant (18 Mar. 1692 - 13 June 1693). See Oxford D.N.B. entry.

15 Sir Charles Porter (1631-96). Twice lord chancellor of Ireland (16 Apr. 1686 - 12 Feb. 1687; 29 Dec. 1690 - 8 Dec. 1696). He survived impeachment proceedings before the English House of Commons in the winter of 1693–4 and subsequently the Irish parliament in September-October 1695. Both sets of proceedings arose from allegations of misconduct, and favouring Catholics, in Ireland. He retained the post until his death on 8 December 1696). See Oxford D.N.B. entry.

16 Robert Rochfort (1652-1727). M.P. County Westraeath, 1692–3, 1695–9, 1703–7. A prominent lawyer and strong supporter of the ‘sole right’; he was credited by Alan Brodrick with having coined the phrase. He replaced Sir John Temple as Irish attorney general on 6 June 1695, and was subsequently appointed Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. See Johnston-Liik, E. M., History of the Irish parliament, 1692–1800 (6 vols, Belfast, 2002), vi, 553-4Google Scholar.

17 Alan Brodrick (1655/6-1728). M.P. Cork 1692–3, 1695–9, 1703–10, County Cork 1713–14. A vocal advocate of the ‘sole right’ in the 1692 parliament, Brodrick served as Irish solicitor general 6 June 1695 - 15 Apr. 1704, and became a key parliamentary manager for Capell. Regarded as a Whig, his subsequent career saw him become the most prominent Irish political figure of the early eighteenth century. See Oxford D.N.B. entry. Thomas Brodrick (1654-1730). M.P. Midleton 1692–3, 1715–27, County Cork 1695–9, 1703–13. A close ally and associate of his brother Alan, Thomas was active in both Williamite parliaments, and was appointed to the Irish privy council on 10 May 1695. Regarded as a Whig, after 1713 he moved his political activities to England, being elected for Stockbridge 1713–22 and Guildford 1722–7. See Johnston-Liik, Hist. Ir. parł., iii, 272–3.

18 Presumably Sir John Hanmer (c. 1625 x 1630–1701). M.P. Carlingford 1695–9. Originally from Flintshire, he was M.P. for Hint, Evesham and Flintshire before serving in the Williamite army in Ireland. Highly regarded by Capell, in 1695 he supported the impeachment of Lord Chancellor Porter. See Johnston-Liik, Hist. Ir. pari., iv, 362–3.

19 William Wolseley (1640-97). M.P. Longford 1692–3, 1695–7. A veteran of the Williamite war, he was appointed a brigadier in 1691. Regarded by contemporaries as militantly Protestant, he proved hostile to Lord Chancellor Porter amidst allegations of the latter’s pro-Catholic attitudes. He was appointed a lord justice on 16 May 1696, shortly before Capell’s death. See Johnston-Liik, Hist. Ir. pari, vi, 180–83.

20 Sir Richard Pyne (1644-1709). Educated at Oxford and the Middle Temple, Pyne was called to the bar in 1669, and in 1691 was appointed chief justice of common pleas in Ireland. Knighted after the prorogation of the Irish parliament in 1693, he was appointed chief justice of king’s bench in about June 1695. See Ball, F. E., The judges in Ireland, 1221–1921 (2 vols, London, 1926), ii, 5960Google Scholar.