Name: 1641 [microform] : reply to the falsification of history by James Anthony Froude, entitled The English in Ireland
Author: John Mitchel (1815–1875)

Mass drowning of Protestants at Portadown Bridge on the Bann

near Portadown · town · Armagh · 1641–1642

Depositions claim that on or about 20 December, rebels drowned one hundred and eighty Protestants at Portadown bridge on the river Bann, with further drownings continuing weekly until, according to Dean Maxwell, over a thousand had been drowned there.

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and it was ikis e^ate which was guilty of the murd^. B^ these swimasiug corpses did not speak, in which respect they fall shcHrt of ihe spectres of the Baon. It was said, and :? repeated several times in depositions, that, ^' al>out the 20th of December," (for they seldom give us dates at all, and then in a very loose way,) "the rebels" drowned one hundred and ^ghty Protestants in the Bann, at Portadown bridge ; that this was followed by other moyades at the same place, week after week, until, as Dean Maxwell computes, there were over a thousand Protestants drowned there. The widow, Catherine Cooke, not only swears to this, but adds in her aflBdavit this ghastly fact —
^' And that, about nine days afterwards^ she saw a vision or spirit, in the shape of a man^ as she apprehended, that appeared in that river, in the place of the drowning, bolt upright, breasthigh, with han^s lifted up, and stood in that posture there, until the latter end of Lent next follovnng; about which time, some of the English army marching in those parts, whereof her husband was one {as he and they confidently told this deponent)^ saw that E^irit or vision standing upright, and in the postiu*^ aforementioned ; but, after that time, the said spirit or vision vanished, and appeared no more, that she knoweth."

Internet Archive 3766992, Chapter 15

As the companion tells it

Portadown, in Armagh, is a town the road passes through or near, and in the winter of 1641 it became a place of killing. The depositions from that time say that about the 20th of December, the rebels drowned one hundred and eighty Protestants in the Bann, at Portadown bridge. That was not the end of it. Other drownings followed at the same place, week after week, until, as Dean Maxwell computed, there were over a thousand Protestants drowned there. The widow Catherine Cooke swore to this in her affidavit, and she added something else. She said that about nine days afterwards she saw a vision or spirit, in the shape of a man, appearing in that river, in the place of the drowning, bolt upright, breast-high, with hands lifted up. It stood in that posture there until the latter end of Lent next following. About that time, some of the English army marching in those parts saw that spirit or vision standing upright, in the posture aforementioned. Her husband was one of them, as she said he and they confidently told her. After that time the spirit vanished and appeared no more, that she knew of. The depositions seldom give dates, and when they do they give them in a loose way, but this is what they record.

Massacre and drowning at Belturbet, with sworn eye-witness account

Belturbet · town · Cavan · 1641–1642

Arthur Culm of Cloughwater deposed that thirty women, children and seven men were flung into the river at Belturbet, with escapees clubbed by rebels in boats; two women were also hanged at Turbert the same day, and the sheriff Maelmorra O'Reilly was implicated.

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** Arthur Culm, of €loughwater» in the county of Cavan, esqttire, deposeth. That he toas credibly informed^ by some that were present there, that there were thirty women and young children and seven men flung into the river of Beltm-bert j and when some of them offiered to swim for their lives, tJiey were, by the rebels, followed in boats, and knocked on the head with poles ; the same day they hanged two women at Turbert ; and tl^ deponent doth terily believe that Mnlmore O'Biely, l^e then sheriff, had a hand in the commanding the murder of those said persons, for that he sato him toriie two notes, which he sent to Turbert by Brien O'Rely, upon whose coming these mta^rs were committed ; and those persons who were present also affirmed that the bodies of those thirty persons drowned did ncft ^appear upvn the water till about six weeks after, past ; at f%e ■said CBely came to the town, all the bodies came floating up to the very bridge ; those persons were all formerly stayed in the town by his protection, when the rest of their neighbours in the town went away."
Thei'e are many other very miraculous facts sWom to, which are quite accessible to the Historian ; also many cffh&t and sHH more savage cruelties, which he does his readers positive wr<Mig in suppressing. I shall present ^11 anoth^ spidlegium culled from the " eternal witness of blood ; " and afterwards 4e:3tplain why these depositiotis were called for, how ihe^ were obtsiined, and how they were paid for. All which the learned Htttorian knew very well, but preferred to suppress for the iiOBour of Protestant humati nature.

Internet Archive 3766992, Chapter 14

As the companion tells it

Belturbet is a town the road passes through or near. In 1641 or 1642, something happened here that Arthur Culm of Cloughwater in County Cavan set down in a sworn statement. Culm deposed that he was credibly informed by people who were present that thirty women and young children and seven men were flung into the river at Belturbet. When some of them tried to swim for their lives, rebels followed them in boats and knocked them on the head with poles. The same day, they hanged two women at Turbert. Culm said he verily believed that Maelmorra O'Reilly, the sheriff, had a hand in commanding the murder of those persons. He said he saw O'Reilly write two notes, which he sent to Turbert by Brien O'Reilly, and upon whose coming these murders were committed. Those present also affirmed that the bodies of the thirty persons drowned did not appear upon the water till about six weeks after. Then O'Reilly came to the town, and all the bodies came floating up to the very bridge. Those persons had all formerly stayed in the town by his protection, when the rest of their neighbours in the town went away. The book that preserves this says there were many other savage cruelties sworn to, which a historian preferred to suppress.

Massacre of Poor Irish Families at Island Magee

near Island Magee · parish · Antrim · 1641

Thirty families of poor, unoffending Irish were assailed in their beds and massacred with calm and deliberate cruelty at Island Magee. The event provoked Sir Phelim O'Neill to retaliate against Protestants.

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district called Island Magee, where a number of the poorer Irish resided, unoffending and untainted with the rebellion. If we may believe one of the leaders of this party, thirty families were assailed by them in their beds, and massacr^ with calm and deliberate cruelty. * As if,' proceeds the Historian, 'the incident were not sufficiently hideous. Popish writers ha.ve represented it with shocking aggravations."
An angry man was Sir Phelim O'Neill when he heard of the drowning at Island Magee ; but his duty to his own people called for stern retaliation ; and that some acts of this nature were done, cannot and need not be denied. Sir Phelim was not naturdly disposed to cruelty, and had anxiously sought to keep his men — ^wild as they were with their wrongs and sufferings — within the limits prescribed at the beginning. Yet he had to ^ve way to some extent ; and it must be true that some Protestants were flung into the Bann river at Portadown, just as Catholics had been flung over the Gobbins cliffs.

Internet Archive 3766992, Chapter 31

As the companion tells it

This parish is Island Magee, in Antrim. In 1641, a number of the poorer Irish lived here, unoffending and untainted with the rebellion. Thirty families were assailed in their beds and massacred with calm and deliberate cruelty, according to one of the leaders of the party responsible. The historian notes that Popish writers represented the incident with shocking aggravations, as if it were not already sufficiently hideous. Sir Phelim O'Neill was an angry man when he heard of the killings at Island Magee. He felt duty to his own people called for stern retaliation. Some acts of retaliation did follow. Sir Phelim was not naturally disposed to cruelty and had anxiously sought to keep his men, wild as they were with their wrongs and sufferings, within the limits prescribed at the beginning. Yet he had to give way to some extent. Some Protestants were flung into the Bann river at Portadown, just as Catholics had been flung over the Gobbins cliffs.

Battle of Benburb: Three Thousand Slain

Benburb · townland · Tyrone · 1646

At Benburb, Owen Roe O'Neill defeated General Munroe's covenanting army; three thousand Scottish and English men fell on that day, a major slaughter along the Blackwater.

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Qious flight. The General lost his hat and wig ; but eastward still he urged his horse, through the marshes of the Montiaghs, by the southern shore of Lough Neagh, across the Bana about the place where the ghosts were still shrieking ; and, before morning, the Protestant burghers of Lisburn were disturbed by the gallop of horses ready to founder. They looked out of window ; it was only General Monroe and sta^ making their entry ; but the frightened shopkeepers ahnost thought that they heard at the town's end the thundering hoofs of Owen Roe's riders. Three thousand Scottish and English mea fell on that day of Benburb, and the Irish nation felt that they had got a leader able to cope with the Lord-General Cromwell.
As this affair of Benburb is creditable to Irish soldiership^ therefore Froude never alludes to it. The miserable Historian is always anxiously on the watch to find some pretext for goading our people with a taunt ; and it is really wonderful tO' observe how low down, and how far out of his way, he will go to contrive a cutting and stinging gibe. For example, by way of enforcing his favourite theory, that Irishmen require to be used with severity, and that the more you scourge them the more they love you, he quotes, what he calls a Hibernian, .proverb, in Latin, to the effect that if you soothe and flatter an Irishman he will stab you, but if you kick him he will be your affectionate servant. Froude knows perfectly well that this is a French proverb, which the proud seigneurs applied to their serfs, and that it had no reference to Ireland at all — " Oignez vilain ; il vouspoindra ; poignez vilain ; il vous oindra."

Internet Archive 3766992, Chapter 31

As the companion tells it

Somewhere around here, in 1646, Owen Roe O'Neill met General Monroe's covenanting army at Benburb and defeated them. Three thousand Scottish and English men fell on that day, a major slaughter along the Blackwater. The General lost his hat and wig in the battle. He fled eastward through the marshes of the Montiaghs, by the southern shore of Lough Neagh, across the Bana. Before morning, the Protestant burghers of Lisburn were disturbed by the gallop of horses ready to founder. They looked out of their windows; it was only General Monroe and his staff making their entry. But the frightened shopkeepers almost thought they heard at the town's end the thundering hoofs of Owen Roe's riders. The Irish nation felt that they had got a leader able to cope with the Lord-General Cromwell. The author notes that this affair of Benburb is creditable to Irish soldiership, and that Froude never alludes to it. He says Froude is always anxious to find some pretext for goading the Irish people with a taunt, and goes far out of his way to contrive a cutting gibe. For example, Froude quotes what he calls a Hibernian proverb in Latin, to the effect that if you soothe an Irishman he will stab you, but if you kick him he will be your affectionate servant. The author says Froude knows this is a French proverb applied by proud seigneurs to their serfs, with no reference to Ireland at all.

The floating corpses miracle at Belturbet bridge

Belturbet · town · Cavan · 1641–1642

Drowned bodies at Belturbet reportedly lay underwater for six weeks before rising and floating upstream to the bridge exactly when Maelmorra O'Reilly entered the village, seemingly to accuse him of their murder.

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In the last chapter I mentioned the miracle of the floating corpses on the river at Belturbet, that, after lying drowned six weeks, came up and swam against the stream up to the very bridge, at the moment when Maelmorra O'Keilly entered the village by that bridge. They came up to confront and accuse him of their murder — as a certain person was " credibly informed : " for, in fact, O'Reilly had still an estate in Cavan ;
::.L^£t]Se^iL!'Mia, <£iyi^^£t»^)k3S^ii

Internet Archive 3766992, Chapter 15

As the companion tells it

The town of Belturbet has a strange story from 1641. Drowned bodies lay in the river here for six weeks. Then they rose and swam against the stream, up to the very bridge, at the moment Maelmorra O'Reilly entered the village by that bridge. It seemed they came to confront and accuse him of their murder. A witness was "credibly informed" of this. O'Reilly still held an estate in Cavan at the time.

Ghostly upright figure seen in the Bann at the drowning site

near Portadown · town · Armagh · 1641–1643

Widow Catherine Cooke swore that about nine days after the drownings she saw a spirit in the shape of a man standing upright, breast-high in the river at the place of drowning, remaining until Lent, and later witnessed by soldiers including her husband.

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^' And that, about nine days afterwards^ she saw a vision or spirit, in the shape of a man^ as she apprehended, that appeared in that river, in the place of the drowning, bolt upright, breasthigh, with han^s lifted up, and stood in that posture there, until the latter end of Lent next follovnng; about which time, some of the English army marching in those parts, whereof her husband was one {as he and they confidently told this deponent)^ saw that E^irit or vision standing upright, and in the postiu*^ aforementioned ; but, after that time, the said spirit or vision vanished, and appeared no more, that she knoweth."
This was not sworn until the 24th of February, 1&43» whea there was a most urgent demand, and good price, for the most frightful oaths. Other witnesses had a still moi'e inventive imagination ; and Elizabeth Price, of Armagh, swears that, on a certain day —

Internet Archive 3766992, Chapter 15

As the companion tells it

Portadown is a place the road passes through. After drownings in the river in 1641, a widow named Catherine Cooke swore that about nine days afterwards she saw a vision or spirit in the shape of a man, standing in the river at the place of drowning, bolt upright, breast-high, with hands lifted up. It stood in that posture until the latter end of Lent. About that time, soldiers of the English army marching in those parts, her husband among them, told her they too had seen that spirit standing upright in the same posture. After that, it vanished and appeared no more. She did not swear this until the 24th of February 1643, when there was, as the record puts it, a most urgent demand and good price for the most frightful oaths.

Protestants burned alive in a house near Laugale, Armagh

near Armagh · town · Armagh · 1641–1642

Christian Stanhaw deposed on hearsay that rebels forced a large number of Protestant men, women and children into a house which they set on fire, cutting down with scythes any who tried to escape the flames and casting them back into the fire.

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" Christian Stanhaw, the relict of Heniy Stanhaw, late of the county of Armagh, esquire, deposeth. That a woman that formerly lived near Laugale, absolutely informed this deponent that the rebels enforced a great number of Protestants, men, women, and children into a house, which they set on fire purposely to burn them, as they did; and still as any of them offered to come out to shun the fire, the wicked rebels, with scythes, which they had in their hands, cut them to pieces, and cast them into the fire, and burned them with the rest. Jurat. July 23, 1642."
Poor Mrs Jane Stewart, residing in the town of Sligo, had, on a certain day, the good luck to be confined to her bed by sickness ; and a piece of rare good fortune it was for Jane, seeing she was thus saved from the fate decreed to all the Protestants of that quiet town, and presei*ved alive to contribute her chapter to the " eternal witness of blood." She deposeth and saith —

Internet Archive 3766992, Chapter 19

As the companion tells it

As the road takes you through Armagh, there is a story from 1641 that Christian Stanhaw told. She was the widow of Henry Stanhaw, late of the county of Armagh. She deposed that a woman who had lived near Laugale told her what the rebels did. They forced a great number of Protestants into a house. Men, women, and children. They set the house on fire to burn them, and they did burn them. As people tried to come out to escape the flames, the rebels cut them to pieces with scythes and cast them back into the fire. Christian Stanhaw swore this deposition on July 23, 1642. What she told came to her from another woman's account, not from her own eyes. It is a story passed from one voice to another, and then set down in the record.

Daniel Connery's Daughters Transported from Clare

near Clare · population centre · Clare · 1657

Daniel Connery, a gentleman of Clare County, was sentenced to banishment for harbouring a priest in 1657; his wife died in poverty and three of his beautiful daughters were transported to Barbadoes into miserable slavery.

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Many such operations took place in various parts of the country ; until this Bristol firm alone had shipped above 6400 young strong people within the desirable ages. Many a girl of gentle birth and delicate nurture must have been seized by those slave-dealers and hurried to the private prisons. Daniel Connery, a gentleman of Clare County, was sentenced to" banishment for harbouring a priest in 1657. " This gentleman had a wife and twelve children ; his wife fell sick, and died in poverty. Three of his daughters, most beautiful gu'Is, were transported to the "West Indies, to an island called the Barbadoes ; and there, if they are alive, they are in miserable slavery." (Morisons Threnodia: cited by Prendergast). On the whole, taking priests and laymen together, men and women, girls and boys, and allowing some years for the operation, I think we may allow Father Burke's estimate to be a fair and probable one.
- -'Hf'-iMtMiiintii-i-iriimrAim rt-iln'- fi^

Internet Archive 3766992, Chapter 33

As the companion tells it

Near this road lies Clare, where in 1657 a gentleman named Daniel Connery was sentenced to banishment for harbouring a priest. He had a wife and twelve children. After his sentence, his wife fell sick and died in poverty. Three of his daughters, described as most beautiful girls, were transported to the West Indies, to an island called the Barbadoes. The record says that if they are alive, they are in miserable slavery. The source notes this account comes from Morison's Threnodia, cited by Prendergast. Around the country at this time, a Bristol firm alone had shipped above 6400 young strong people within the desirable ages. Many a girl of gentle birth and delicate nurture must have been seized by those slave-dealers and hurried to private prisons. Daniel Connery's daughters were among those taken.

Massacre of Protestant heads displayed on Kilkenny market cross

Kilkenny · city · Kilkenny · 1641–1643

William Lucas of Kilkenny deposed on hearsay that rebels brought seven Protestant heads, including that of a minister named Bingham, mutilated and mocked the heads, set them upon the market-cross on market day, then threw them into a hole in St James's Green.

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" William Lucas, (3f the city of Kilkenny, deposeth, That although he lived in the town till about five or six weeks past, in which time, he is assured, divers murders and cruel acts were committed, yet he durst not go abroad to see any of them ; but he doth confidently believe that the rebels having brought seven Protestants' heads, whereof one was the head of Mr Bingham, a minister, they did then and there, as triumphs of their victories, set them upon the market-cross on a market day; and that the rebels slashed, stabbed, and mangled those heads ; put a gag, or carrot, in the said Mr Bingham's mouth, slit up his cheeks to his ears, laying a leaf of a Bible before him, and bid him preach, for his month was wide enough ; and, after they had solaced themselves, threw those heads into a hde in St James's Green. Jurat August 16, 1643."
■^

Internet Archive 3766992, Chapter 19

As the companion tells it

Kilkenny is the city you pass through. In 1643 a man named William Lucas swore a deposition about what he believed happened here. He had lived in the town until about five or six weeks before he spoke, but he said he durst not go abroad to see the murders and cruel acts committed in that time. He was assured they had happened. What he confidently believed was this. The rebels brought seven Protestants' heads, one of them the head of Mr Bingham, a minister. They set the heads upon the market cross on a market day, as triumphs of their victories. They slashed, stabbed, and mangled those heads. They put a gag, or a carrot, in Mr Bingham's mouth, and slit his cheeks to his ears. They laid a leaf of a Bible before him and bid him preach, for his mouth was wide enough. After they had solaced themselves, they threw the heads into a hole in St James's Green. Lucas swore his deposition on August 16, 1643.

Massacre of Protestants in Sligo gaol

Sligo · town · Sligo · 1641–1642

Jane Stewart of Sligo deposed that Protestant men, women and children of the town were summoned and placed in the gaol, stripped naked around midnight, and most were cruelly murdered with swords, axes and skeins by named butchers and others.

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" All the men, women, and children of the British that then could be found within the same town (saving this deponent, who was so sick that she could not stir) were summoned to go into the gaol, as many as could be met with, all were carried and put into the gaol, where, about twelve o'clock in the night, they were stripped stark naked, and after most of them were cnielly and barbarously murdered with swords, axes, and skeins, and particularly by two butchers, named James Buts and Robert Buts, of Sligo, who murdered many of them ; wherein also were actors, Charles O'Connor, the friar, and Hugh O'Connor aforenamed, brother to the said Teigue O'Connor, Kedagh O'Hart, labourer, Richard Walsh, and Thomas Walsh, the one the jailer the other a butcher, and divers others whom she cannot name, and ssdth that above thirty of the British which were so put into the gaol, were then and there murdered ; besides Robert Gumble, then Pro-
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Internet Archive 3766992, Chapter 19

As the companion tells it

Sligo holds a dark chapter from 1641. Jane Stewart of the town gave her account of what happened here. She said that all the men, women and children of the British that could be found in the town were summoned and carried into the gaol. She herself was spared only because she was too sick to stir. About midnight the prisoners were stripped stark naked, and most of them were murdered with swords, axes and skeins. Two butchers of Sligo, named James Buts and Robert Buts, killed many of them. Others named as taking part were Charles O'Connor, a friar, Hugh O'Connor, Kedagh O'Hart a labourer, Richard Walsh, and Thomas Walsh, who was the jailer. Jane Stewart said that above 30 of the British were murdered in that gaol that night, besides Robert Gumble.

Munroe's Rout and the Shrieking Ghosts at the Bann

near River Bann · river · Derry · 1646

After his defeat at Benburb, General Munroe fled eastward across the Bann near the place where the ghosts of the earlier drownings were still said to be shrieking, before reaching Lisburn in disarray.

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Qious flight. The General lost his hat and wig ; but eastward still he urged his horse, through the marshes of the Montiaghs, by the southern shore of Lough Neagh, across the Bana about the place where the ghosts were still shrieking ; and, before morning, the Protestant burghers of Lisburn were disturbed by the gallop of horses ready to founder. They looked out of window ; it was only General Monroe and sta^ making their entry ; but the frightened shopkeepers ahnost thought that they heard at the town's end the thundering hoofs of Owen Roe's riders. Three thousand Scottish and English mea fell on that day of Benburb, and the Irish nation felt that they had got a leader able to cope with the Lord-General Cromwell.
As this affair of Benburb is creditable to Irish soldiership^ therefore Froude never alludes to it. The miserable Historian is always anxiously on the watch to find some pretext for goading our people with a taunt ; and it is really wonderful tO' observe how low down, and how far out of his way, he will go to contrive a cutting and stinging gibe. For example, by way of enforcing his favourite theory, that Irishmen require to be used with severity, and that the more you scourge them the more they love you, he quotes, what he calls a Hibernian, .proverb, in Latin, to the effect that if you soothe and flatter an Irishman he will stab you, but if you kick him he will be your affectionate servant. Froude knows perfectly well that this is a French proverb, which the proud seigneurs applied to their serfs, and that it had no reference to Ireland at all — " Oignez vilain ; il vouspoindra ; poignez vilain ; il vous oindra."

Internet Archive 3766992, Chapter 31

As the companion tells it

The River Bann runs through this country, and in 1646 it carried a story of rout and flight. General Munroe had been broken at Benburb. Three thousand Scottish and English men fell on that day. Munroe himself lost his hat and wig in the chaos of his escape, but still he urged his horse eastward. He went through the marshes of the Montiaghs, by the southern shore of Lough Neagh, and across the Bann. The passage says he crossed it about the place where the ghosts were still shrieking. Those ghosts belonged to earlier drownings in the river. Before morning, the Protestant burghers of Lisburn heard the gallop of horses ready to founder. They looked out of their windows and saw General Munroe and his staff making their entry. The frightened shopkeepers almost thought they heard, at the town's end, the thundering hoofs of Owen Roe's riders. The Irish nation felt that after Benburb they had got a leader able to cope with the Lord-General Cromwell. The defeat was creditable to Irish soldiership, and the book tells us that Froude never alludes to it. The author calls Froude a miserable historian, always anxious to find some pretext for goading the Irish people with a taunt. Froude quoted what he called a Hibernian proverb in Latin, to the effect that if you soothe an Irishman he will stab you, but if you kick him he will be your affectionate servant. The author says Froude knew perfectly well that this was a French proverb, which proud French seigneurs applied to their serfs, and that it had no reference to Ireland at all.

Protestants Drowned in the Bann at Portadown

near Portadown · town · Armagh · 1641

In retaliation for the Island Magee massacre, some Protestants were flung into the Bann river at Portadown, just as Catholics had been flung over the Gobbins cliffs.

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An angry man was Sir Phelim O'Neill when he heard of the drowning at Island Magee ; but his duty to his own people called for stern retaliation ; and that some acts of this nature were done, cannot and need not be denied. Sir Phelim was not naturdly disposed to cruelty, and had anxiously sought to keep his men — ^wild as they were with their wrongs and sufferings — within the limits prescribed at the beginning. Yet he had to ^ve way to some extent ; and it must be true that some Protestants were flung into the Bann river at Portadown, just as Catholics had been flung over the Gobbins cliffs.
I am bound to maintain, after all the examination I have been able to give to the ghastly story, that the Irish insurrection of 1641 was notable amongst insurrections for its mildness and humanity ; and that, if the Irish were not the most gentle, patient, and good-natured people in the whole world, their island would long since have been a smoking wilderness of cinders soaked in blood.

Internet Archive 3766992, Chapter 31

As the companion tells it

Portadown is a town on the Bann. In 1641, during the Irish insurrection, Sir Phelim O'Neill heard of the drowning at Island Magee, and he was angry. He felt duty to his own people called for stern retaliation. He was not naturally disposed to cruelty, and had anxiously sought to keep his men — wild as they were with their wrongs and sufferings — within the limits prescribed at the beginning. Yet he had to give way to some extent. Some Protestants were flung into the Bann river at Portadown, just as Catholics had been flung over the Gobbins cliffs. The author of this account maintains, after all the examination he could give to the ghastly story, that the insurrection of 1641 was notable amongst insurrections for its mildness and humanity. He says that if the Irish were not the most gentle, patient, and good-natured people in the whole world, their island would long since have been "a smoking wilderness of cinders soaked in blood."

Screaming female spectre crying 'Revenge!' at the bridge

near Portadown · town · Armagh · 1641–1643

Elizabeth Price of Armagh swore that at twilight near the bridge a spirit in the shape of a woman appeared upright in the water, repeatedly crying 'Revenge!', frightening her and others away.

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" She went unto the bridge aforesaid, about tmlighi in th^. evening; then and there, upon a sudden, appeared unto ^m a vision or spirity assuming the shape of a woman, vKtist-kigh, wpright in the water, often repeating the word. Revenge t . Revenge t Bevenge! whereat this deponent, and the rest, being put into an amazement and affright, walked from the place."
There are five or six other deponents who swear to these shrieking appaiitions ; but it is time to come to Dean Maxwell, afterwards bishop, that consecrated, anointed and mitred perjurer, whose long aflSdavit is relied upon with the greatest confidence by Borlase and Temple, and is, therefore, dted by Froude, as a main part of his authorities, but without giving

Internet Archive 3766992, Chapter 15

As the companion tells it

As you pass through Portadown, there is a story from the years around 1641. Elizabeth Price of Armagh swore that she went to the bridge there about twilight in the evening. Then, she said, a vision or spirit appeared, assuming the shape of a woman, standing upright in the water, often repeating the word, "Revenge! Revenge! Revenge!" She and the rest who were there were put into an amazement and affright, and walked from the place. Five or six other deponents swore to these shrieking apparitions as well. The bridge kept its story through the troubled years of 1641 to 1643, when such testimonies were gathered and relied upon by writers on all sides.

Father Paul Cashin Imprisoned Dying at Philipstown

Philipstown · townland · Kildare · 1655–1657

The elderly and frail Father Paul Cashin was apprehended at Maryborough and sent on toward Carrickfergus for transportation, falling desperately sick and nearly perishing from want and hardship in a dungeon at Philipstown.

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send them with suflScient guards from garrison to garrison to Carrickfergus, to be there put on board such ships as should sail with the first opportunity for the Barbadoes." Poor old Father Paul Cashin, a very ancient and frail man, being apprehended at Maryborough, and sent on to Philipstown on the way to CarricMergus, there fell desperately sick, and was in danger of perishing in a dungeon from want and hardship. After months, the Commissioners ordered him an allowance of sixpence a day ; and when he should be well enough to move, this allowance was to be continued to him during his journey to Carrickfergus " in order to his transportation to the Barbadoes." It would not be much sugar Father Paul would make after being set down there and bidden to take up the shovel and the hoe ; but the authorities thought that under a Barbadoes planter he would at least be kept from " mischief " — ^that is from Mass and Confession. The difficulty suggested by Froude in the paragraph above cited, how and in what ships were these 80,000 sent to Barbadoes? is not so very serious a difficulty. The operation extended over several years, and shipping was not so very scarce then, either in England or in Ireland. Besides, Doctor Sir William Petty and other adventurers were piling up all the shipyards in the kingdom with the best of Irish timber. Still there was some shortcoming in the tonnage available for this service, and it cost too much, so that, on the 27th of February, 1657, the Government referred it to the Lord-Lieutenant to consider where the priests, then crammed into the prisons of Dublin, might be most safely disposed of. And so they were carried across the island, placed in boats, and flung out upon the bare islands of Arran, in the Atlantic, and Innisbofin, off the coast . of Connemara, there to consider themselves, upon an allowance ' of sixpence per day. It was when private enterprise came in - aid of the Government that no want or shipping was experienced. The merchants of Bristol contracted with the Commissioners, not for cargoes of priests, but for young men and marriageable girls, who would be more useful, these merchants thought, upon their West India plantations. Ostensibly these were to be all persons having no visible means of support, but practically, it was a slave-hunt. Says Prendergast : — "Messrs Sellick and Leader, Mr Robert Yeomans, Mr

Internet Archive 3766992, Chapter 32

As the companion tells it

Close to Philipstown, somewhere around here, an old priest named Father Paul Cashin lay dying in a dungeon in the years after 1655. He was a very ancient and frail man when he was apprehended at Maryborough and sent on toward Carrickfergus, where he was to be put aboard a ship bound for the Barbadoes. He never made it that far. At Philipstown he fell desperately sick and came close to perishing from want and hardship in that dungeon. The plan was part of a larger operation. Priests and others were to be sent from garrison to garrison under guard to Carrickfergus, and shipped to the Barbadoes to labour under planters. The authorities believed that under a Barbadoes planter Father Paul would at least be kept from what they called mischief, meaning Mass and Confession. After months in that dungeon, the Commissioners ordered him an allowance of sixpence a day. When he was well enough to move, the allowance was to continue during his journey to Carrickfergus, in order to his transportation to the Barbadoes. The book remarks that it would not be much sugar Father Paul would make after being set down there and bidden to take up the shovel and the hoe. By February 1657 the Government referred the question of priests crammed into the prisons of Dublin to the Lord-Lieutenant, to consider where they might be most safely disposed of. Some were carried across the island, placed in boats, and left on the bare islands of Arran in the Atlantic, and Innisbofin off the coast of Connemara, upon an allowance of sixpence a day.

Massacre of Protestants in the streets of Sligo

Sligo · town · Sligo · 1641–1642

Deponents testified that British Protestants including William Shiels and John Shiels were murdered in the streets of Sligo. Witnesses reported that those who came to bury the dead stood ankle-deep in blood and brains, and the bodies were cast into a pit dug in the minister's garden.

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vost of the said town of Sligo, Edward Nusham, and Edward Mercer, who were wounded and left for dead amongst the rest, and Joe Stewart, this deponent's son, which four being the next day found alive, yet all besmeared with blood, were spared to live. All which particulars the deponent was credibly told by those that escaped, and by her Irish servants and others of the town, and further saith, that on the said sixth day of January, there were murdered in the streets of the town of Sligo these British Protestants following, namely, William Shiels and John Shiels, his son, &c., and that they of the Irish that came to bury them stood up to the mid-leg in the blood and brains of those that were so murdered, who were carried out, and cast into a pit digged for that purpose in the garden of Mr Ricrofts, minister of Sligo."
Poor Jane Stewart, lying on her sick-bed, did not see anything of it herself, but I think she had bad dreams.

Internet Archive 3766992, Chapter 20

As the companion tells it

As you pass through Sligo, this is a town that saw terrible killing in January 1641. Deponents testified that British Protestants were murdered in the streets here, among them William Shiels and his son John Shiels. Edward Nusham and Edward Mercer were wounded and left for dead, but found alive the next day, all besmeared with blood. Witnesses said that those who came to bury the dead stood up to the mid-leg in the blood and brains of the murdered, and the bodies were cast into a pit dug for that purpose in the garden of Mr Ricrofts, minister of Sligo. One deponent, Jane Stewart, was lying on her sick-bed and saw nothing of it herself.

Infant left to die on dead mother's breast near Kilbeggan

Kilbeggan · town · Westmeath · 1641–1642

Thomas Fleetwood, curate of Kilbeggan, deposed to hearing that rebels stabbed a woman named Jane Addis and left her infant, not a quarter old, at her corpse, mockingly bidding it suck its dead mother's breast before leaving it to perish.

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^V >^Tboinas Fleetwood, late curate of Kilbeggan, in the *»uiity erf Westmeath, deposeth, That he hath heard from the miwiths of the rebels themselves of great cruelties acted hy them. And, for one instance, that they stabbed the moth«-, one Jane JLddis by name, and left her little suckling child, not a quarter <dd, by the corpse, and then they put the breast of its dead mother into its mouth, and bid it '' such, English bastard,' and «o left it there to perish."
" lachard Bourk, bachelor in divinity, of the county of Fermanagh, deposeth. That he heard^ and verily believeth, the hvaning and killing of one hundred, at least, in the Castle of TuUah ; «nd that the same was done after fair quarter promised. Jurat. July 12, 1643."

Internet Archive 3766992, Chapter 13

As the companion tells it

The road takes you through or near Kilbeggan, a town in Westmeath. In 1641, Thomas Fleetwood, the curate of that town, deposed that he heard from the rebels' own mouths of great cruelties. For one instance, they stabbed a woman named Jane Addis and left her little suckling child, not a quarter old, by the corpse. They put the breast of its dead mother into its mouth and bid it "suck, English bastard," and so left it there to perish.

Slave-Hunt Shipping from Kinsale to New England

Kinsale · town · Cork · 1653

Under contract with Bristol merchants, Lord Broghill was empowered to search for and arrest hundreds of men and women in County Cork for transportation, with ships appointed to repair to Kinsale before departing for New England.

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Joseph Lawrence, and others, all of Bristol, were active agents. As one instance out of many : — Captain John Vernon was employed by the Commissioners for Ireland into England, and contracted in their behalf with Mr David Sellick and Mr Leader, under his hand, bearing date the 14th of September, 1653, to supply them with two hundred and fifty women of the Irish nation above twelve years, and under the age of forty-five ; also three hundred men above twelve years of age, and under fifty, to be found in the country within twenty miles of Cork,. Youghal, and Kinsale, Waterford and Wexford, to transport them into New England. Messrs Sellick and Leader appointed their shipping to repair to Kinsale; but Roger Boyle, Lord Broghill (afterwards Earl of Orrery), whose name, like that of Sir C. Coote, seems ever the prelude of woe to the Irish, suggested that the required number of men and women might be had from among the wanderers and persons who had no means to get their livelihood in the county of Cork alone. Accordingly, on the 23rd of October, 1653, he was empowered to search for them and arrest them, and to deliver them to Messrs Sellick and Leader, who were to be at the charge of conducting them to the water side, and maintaining them from the time they received them ; and no person, being once apprehended, was to be released, but by special order in writing under the hand of Lord Broghill."

Internet Archive 3766992, Chapter 33

As the companion tells it

You're coming through Kinsale now, a town on the Cork coast. In 1653, this was a gathering point for a trade in people. Captain John Vernon was employed by the Commissioners for Ireland into England, and contracted on the 14th of September, 1653, with Mr David Sellick and Mr Leader to supply 250 women of the Irish nation, above 12 and under 45, and 300 men above 12 and under 50. They were to be found within 20 miles of Cork, Youghal, Kinsale, Waterford, and Wexford, and transported into New England. Sellick and Leader appointed their shipping to repair to Kinsale. Roger Boyle, Lord Broghill, afterwards Earl of Orrery, suggested the required number might be had from among the wanderers and persons who had no means to get their livelihood in the county of Cork alone. On the 23rd of October, 1653, he was empowered to search for them and arrest them, and to deliver them to Sellick and Leader, who were to be at the charge of conducting them to the water side and maintaining them from the time they received them. No person, being once apprehended, was to be released, but by special order in writing under the hand of Lord Broghill.

Burial pit in the minister's garden at Sligo

Sligo · town · Sligo · 1641–1642

The murdered Protestants of Sligo were carried out and cast into a pit dug for that purpose in the garden of Mr Ricrofts, minister of Sligo. Those who buried them reportedly stood up to their mid-legs in blood and brains.

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vost of the said town of Sligo, Edward Nusham, and Edward Mercer, who were wounded and left for dead amongst the rest, and Joe Stewart, this deponent's son, which four being the next day found alive, yet all besmeared with blood, were spared to live. All which particulars the deponent was credibly told by those that escaped, and by her Irish servants and others of the town, and further saith, that on the said sixth day of January, there were murdered in the streets of the town of Sligo these British Protestants following, namely, William Shiels and John Shiels, his son, &c., and that they of the Irish that came to bury them stood up to the mid-leg in the blood and brains of those that were so murdered, who were carried out, and cast into a pit digged for that purpose in the garden of Mr Ricrofts, minister of Sligo."
Poor Jane Stewart, lying on her sick-bed, did not see anything of it herself, but I think she had bad dreams.

Internet Archive 3766992, Chapter 20

As the companion tells it

As you pass through Sligo, you are near a garden where one of the darkest episodes of 1641 played out. On the sixth day of January that year, British Protestants were murdered in the streets of the town. Among the dead were William Shiels and his son John Shiels. The bodies were carried out and thrown into a pit dug for that purpose in the garden of Mr Ricrofts, the minister of Sligo. The Irish who came to bury the dead reportedly stood up to their mid-leg in the blood and brains of the murdered. Some had been wounded and left for dead, among them Edward Nusham and Edward Mercer, but were found alive the next day, covered in blood, and spared. Jane Stewart, lying sick in bed, saw none of it herself, though she was credibly told of it by those who escaped and by her Irish servants.

Priests Marooned on the Aran Islands and Inishbofin

near Inishbofin · parish · Galway · 1657

When shipping to Barbadoes fell short, priests crammed into Dublin's prisons were instead carried across the island and flung out upon the bare islands of Arran and Innisbofin off the Connemara coast, left to survive on sixpence a day.

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send them with suflScient guards from garrison to garrison to Carrickfergus, to be there put on board such ships as should sail with the first opportunity for the Barbadoes." Poor old Father Paul Cashin, a very ancient and frail man, being apprehended at Maryborough, and sent on to Philipstown on the way to CarricMergus, there fell desperately sick, and was in danger of perishing in a dungeon from want and hardship. After months, the Commissioners ordered him an allowance of sixpence a day ; and when he should be well enough to move, this allowance was to be continued to him during his journey to Carrickfergus " in order to his transportation to the Barbadoes." It would not be much sugar Father Paul would make after being set down there and bidden to take up the shovel and the hoe ; but the authorities thought that under a Barbadoes planter he would at least be kept from " mischief " — ^that is from Mass and Confession. The difficulty suggested by Froude in the paragraph above cited, how and in what ships were these 80,000 sent to Barbadoes? is not so very serious a difficulty. The operation extended over several years, and shipping was not so very scarce then, either in England or in Ireland. Besides, Doctor Sir William Petty and other adventurers were piling up all the shipyards in the kingdom with the best of Irish timber. Still there was some shortcoming in the tonnage available for this service, and it cost too much, so that, on the 27th of February, 1657, the Government referred it to the Lord-Lieutenant to consider where the priests, then crammed into the prisons of Dublin, might be most safely disposed of. And so they were carried across the island, placed in boats, and flung out upon the bare islands of Arran, in the Atlantic, and Innisbofin, off the coast . of Connemara, there to consider themselves, upon an allowance ' of sixpence per day. It was when private enterprise came in - aid of the Government that no want or shipping was experienced. The merchants of Bristol contracted with the Commissioners, not for cargoes of priests, but for young men and marriageable girls, who would be more useful, these merchants thought, upon their West India plantations. Ostensibly these were to be all persons having no visible means of support, but practically, it was a slave-hunt. Says Prendergast : — "Messrs Sellick and Leader, Mr Robert Yeomans, Mr

Internet Archive 3766992, Chapter 32

As the companion tells it

Inishbofin is a parish out off the Connemara coast, and in 1657 it became a dumping ground for priests the English authorities could not ship away. The plan had been to transport them to the Barbadoes, to work the plantations under overseers who would at least keep them from what the authorities called mischief, meaning Mass and Confession. But shipping fell short. Tonnage was scarce and it cost too much. On the 27th of February 1657, the Government referred the matter to the Lord-Lieutenant, to decide where the priests crammed into Dublin's prisons might be most safely disposed of. The answer was this. They were carried across the island, placed in boats, and flung out upon the bare islands of Arran in the Atlantic and Innisbofin off the coast of Connemara, there to survive on sixpence a day. One of those marked for Barbadoes was Father Paul Cashin, a very ancient and frail man, apprehended at Maryborough and sent on to Philipstown on the way to Carrickfergus. He fell desperately sick there and was in danger of perishing in a dungeon from want and hardship. After months the Commissioners ordered him an allowance of sixpence a day, to be continued during his journey to Carrickfergus in order to his transportation to the Barbadoes. The writer noted it would not be much sugar Father Paul would make after being set down there and bidden to take up the shovel and the hoe. When private enterprise stepped in, shipping was no longer a problem. The merchants of Bristol contracted with the Commissioners, not for priests, but for young men and marriageable girls, ostensibly persons with no visible means of support. Practically, it was a slave-hunt.

Gruesome torture-murder of proctor at Clones

Clones · town · Monaghan · 1641–1642

James Geare deposed that rebels at Clones murdered James Netterville, proctor to the minister there, who had his belly ripped up and entrails removed, yet did not bleed until lifted and carried away, astonishing the eyewitness.

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" James Geare, of the county of Monaghan, deposeth, That the rebels at Clownes murdered one James Netterville, proctor to the minister there, who, although he was diversely wounded, his belly ripped up, and his entrails taken out, and laid above a yard from him, yet he bled not at all until they lifted him up, and carried him away, at which this deponent being an eye-witness, much wondered ; and thus barbarously they used him, after they had drawn him to go to Mass with them."
Another saw an " Irish rebel " make three passes with his drawn sword point-blank into the body of a woman, she with hands clasped defying him to hurt her unless God permitted him, and accordingly the sword never grazed her skin, and the wicked rebel walked off much discomfited, and all the on-lookers mightily marvelled. Yet another swearer tells how the " rebels " took a Scotchman (they seldom have «»y names^

Internet Archive 3766992, Chapter 20

As the companion tells it

In the town of Clones, in the county of Monaghan, James Geare gave his account of what the rebels did there in 1641. He swore that they murdered a man named James Netterville, who was proctor to the minister. They drew him to go to Mass with them first, and then they barbarously used him. He was diversely wounded, his belly ripped up, and his entrails taken out and laid above a yard from him. Yet for all that, he bled not at all until they lifted him up and carried him away. James Geare was an eyewitness to this, and he much wondered at it. The passage comes from a reply to James Anthony Froude's account of the English in Ireland, answering what was called the falsification of history. The deposition is among those sworn records of 1641 and 1642, the ones gathered to tell what happened across the county and beyond.

Twelve thousand slaughtered fleeing near Dromore

near Dromore · town · Down · 1641–1642

According to rebels' own account related to Dean Maxwell, in the Glenwood area towards Dromore upwards of twelve thousand people were slaughtered while fleeing toward county Down.

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" That A« heard Sir Phelim Uktmse report, that he killed nx hnndred English at Garvagh, in the county of Derry ; aad that be had left neither man, woman, nor child alive in the barony of Muuterlony, in the county of Tyrone, and betwixt Armagh and the Newry, in the several plantations and landt^ of Sir Archibald Atcheson, John Hamilton, Esq., the Lord Gaulfield, and the Lord Mountnonis ; and saith also, that thero^ were above two thousand of the British miwdered fear ti)» most part in their own houses, tchereof he was iaforated hy «r Scotsman^ who was in those parts with Sir Phelim, and saw their houses filled with their (tead bodies. In the Glenwtwd^ towards Droniore, there were slaughtered, as the rebels toli Mr deponent, upwards of twelve thaasand in all, who were all killed ia. their flight to the county of Down, The numbers of th» people drowned at the bridge of Portadown are diverselyexported, accm'ding as men staid among the rebels. Thi» deponent, who staid as long as any, and had better inidSgemof^ thaa jsaost of the English amongst them, and best reason to know the truth, saith, There were {by their otai report") onohiUKlred and ninety drowned with Mr Fullerton ; at another time they threw one hnndred and foiiy over the said bridge >
y^^^^^f^^W-

Internet Archive 3766992, Chapter 16

As the companion tells it

Dromore is a town the road passes through, and near it lies the Glenwood, where a slaughter took place in 1641. People were fleeing toward county Down. As the rebels told the deponent, upwards of twelve thousand people were slaughtered in the Glenwood towards Dromore, all of them killed in their flight. The deponent had stayed among the rebels as long as any of the English, and had better reason than most to know the truth. He heard Sir Phelim report that he killed six hundred English at Garvagh in county Derry, and that he had left neither man, woman, nor child alive in the barony of Munterlony in county Tyrone, and between Armagh and Newry, across the plantations and lands of Sir Archibald Atcheson, John Hamilton, the Lord Gaulfield, and the Lord Mountnonis. A Scotsman who had been in those parts with Sir Phelim saw their houses filled with dead bodies. The deponent was told by that Scotsman that above two thousand of the British were murdered, for the most part in their own houses. At the bridge of Portadown, the numbers were diversely reported. The deponent said there were one hundred and ninety drowned with Fullerton, and at another time one hundred and forty thrown over the same bridge.

Controversy over the death toll at Island Magee

near Island Magee · parish · Antrim · 1641–1642

Accounts differ widely on the scale of the Island Magee massacre, with Irish authorities alleging three thousand killed, Dr Leland citing thirty families, and Froude claiming only thirty persons based on Dr Reid's account.

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Whether it befel in November, 1641, or ia the ensuing Jaooary ; whether three thousand people were th^e murdered, as Irish authorities allege, or only ♦' thirty families," as Dr Leland declares, or thirty persons, as Mr Froude tells us upon his own authorily ; on all these points there is a controversy, and, no doubt, will continue to be. Froude, following Leland, places the inddent in January, that it may appear to be an act of retaliation for other outrages which, he says, the Irish had been guilty of on their side. Now, Dr Leland is no authority at all, because he was not yet born a hundr^ years after. But our Histori^i quite complacently cites the authority of a Dr Reid, author of a History of the Irish Presbyterians, and who cannot allow that his Scotch clients tumbled over the cliff more than "thirty persons," counting only the heads of Leland's thirty families. "Every detail of that business," says Froude, " has been preserved, and can ^ traced to the minutest fibre of it : " and in a note, " The particulars are given exactly by Dr Reid." Now, I know this decent dergyman, a country minister dwelling in the village of Rathmelton, Donegal county, — ^if he still lives. If he were to narrate to me a fact which he saw with his own eyes, I should believe him • but who will accept him as authority for what happened about a hundred and fifty years before he was bom ? If he said he had dreamed it, or that " the spirits " told him, I should suspect his reverence of being crazy ; if he cited anything from the folios of the swearers, I should more than suspect his good faith. And is it not too audacious in Froude to pretend to stop the mouth of all authority and all ti'adition, with his Doctor of Donegal ?
There is no compiler of Irish history more perfectly trustworthy than Dr John Curry ; and he has devoted a considerable space to an investigation of the affair of Island Magee. I cannot hope to improve upon his remarks, nor effectively to condense them. He says : —

Internet Archive 3766992, Chapter 30

As the companion tells it

This is the parish of Island Magee, in Antrim. In 1641 or the January that followed, a massacre took place here, and nobody has ever agreed on how many died. Irish authorities said three thousand people were murdered. Dr Leland wrote that thirty families were killed. Mr Froude, relying on a Dr Reid, brought the number down to thirty persons, counting only the heads of Leland's thirty families. Froude followed Leland in placing the incident in January, so that it would look like retaliation for outrages the Irish had committed on their side. But Leland, as the author of this passage points out, was not born until a hundred years afterward, and is no authority at all. Froude's own source is Dr Reid, a country minister in the village of Rathmelton in Donegal, author of a History of the Irish Presbyterians. Froude says every detail of the business has been preserved and can be traced to the minutest fibre. But Reid himself was born about 150 years after the event. The writer asks who would accept him as authority for what happened so long before his own time. The passage names Dr John Curry as the most trustworthy compiler of Irish history. He gave considerable space to investigating what happened at Island Magee. The writer says he cannot improve on Curry's remarks, and then quotes them.

Petty's vast Kerry estates viewed from Mangerton

Mangerton · townland · Kerry · 1652–1687

It was said that from the hill of Mangerton (Maugerto), overlooking the Devil's Punch Bowl and the Lake of Killarney, Sir William Petty could look round and see no ground that did not belong to himself, reflecting the scale of confiscated Irish lands he acquired.

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conld lend the King money, and perhaps he did. At any rate, that menace of Parliamentary *' inquiry " went off with the Eoundheads, and in 1662 Petty was made one of a Court of Commissioners for Irish Estates, and Surveyor-General of Ireland. He was also knighted, and on his arrival in Ireland, was returned to the Irish Parliament for Enniscorthy. Still he did not escape entirely scot-free. The ' Court of Innocents/ which sat in the Irish capital, found that he had got much ground that belonged to 'innocent Papists,' and so he disgorged some of his acquisitions — * great part,' he says himself. But he still retained an enormous property. From one hill in Kerry it was said he could look round and see no ground that did not belong to himself. That was the hill of Maugerto, now spelled Mangerton — the rude old peak of the •Devil's Punch Bowl, on which, perhaps, some of my readers have stood and looked down on the Lake of Killarney.
" Sir William Petty goes on to explain the swift rise of his fortunes. He says he lived within his income, set up iron works and pilchard fishing, opened lead mines and old timber. But of course he did not tell everything, nor mention half the advantages which his position brought to his hands. His fortunes grew from the ruins of a thousand old Irish families ejected from the county of Kerry, and time has only quadrupled the value of the territory he ^on for his descendants."

Internet Archive 3766992, Chapter 24

As the companion tells it

Somewhere around here is the hill of Mangerton, once called Maugerto, the peak above the Devil's Punch Bowl where you can look down on the Lake of Killarney. From this hill, it was said, Sir William Petty could look round and see no ground that did not belong to himself. In 1662, Petty was made one of a Court of Commissioners for Irish Estates, and Surveyor-General of Ireland. He was knighted, and on his arrival in Ireland, was returned to the Irish Parliament for Enniscorthy. He did not escape entirely scot-free. The Court of Innocents, which sat in the Irish capital, found that he had got much ground that belonged to innocent Papists, and so he disgorged some of his acquisitions. "Great part," he says himself. But he still retained an enormous property. Petty went on to explain the swift rise of his fortunes. He says he lived within his income, set up iron works and pilchard fishing, opened lead mines and old timber. But he did not tell everything, nor mention half the advantages which his position brought to his hands. His fortunes grew from the ruins of a thousand old Irish families ejected from the county of Kerry, and time has only quadrupled the value of the territory for his descendants.

Priests Captured and Shipped from Carrickfergus to Barbadoes

Carrickfergus · townland · Antrim · 1655–1657

Priests arrested throughout Ireland were marched under guard from garrison to garrison to Carrickfergus, to be put aboard ships bound for Barbadoes as part of the Cromwellian transportation policy.

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I think, however, that Father Burke's estimate is not far from correct; though, to be sure, 80,000 is a large round number. But it is well known that the deportation both of priests and of laymen, of young men and maidens, was on a very large scale. In consequence of the great increase of priests towards the close of the year 1665, a general arrest by the justices of the peace was ordered ; it was the sporting season for priests, and even wolves were left comparatively at peace for a time. " On the 3rd of May," says Prendergast, "the governors of the respective precincts were ordered tf>
A->;-

Internet Archive 3766992, Chapter 32

As the companion tells it

Close to Carrickfergus, priests arrested throughout Ireland were marched under guard from garrison to garrison, gathered here to be put aboard ships bound for Barbadoes. It was part of the Cromwellian transportation policy. The deportation of priests and laymen, of young men and maidens, was on a very large scale. A general arrest by the justices of the peace was ordered. Prendergast called it "the sporting season for priests." Even wolves were left comparatively at peace for a time. On the 3rd of May, the governors of the respective precincts were ordered.

Felling of the forests of Dunkerron and Iveragh

Iveragh · barony · Kerry · 1652–1660

For years the vales of Dunkerron and Iveragh rang with the continual fall of giant oaks, felled for profit by Sir William Petty and others who supplied timber markets in Spain, France, and English dockyards.

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It is in the county of Kerry chiefly that the Parliamentary Commissioners specify the cruel havoc made in Irish woods ; and it was in the county of Kerry that Dr Sir William Petty had his principal estates. For j-ears the vales of Dunkerron and Iveragh rung with the continual fall of giant oaks. There was a good market; Spain and France were searching the world for pipe-staves ; in English dockyards there was steady demand for shipknees ; and Sir William knew exactly where there was the best market for everything. In Ireland itself,
• ili■i^Sri^nlf?i1^l^tl1lft1rll^iitor"Ar'^^^'*V^;Wl^l^M!M^^^^^^ >' :j^':i:iiijuaKS^ei-iA.i>^^-c^ta^itd:s^ii^

Internet Archive 3766992, Chapter 26

As the companion tells it

As you travel through the barony of Iveragh in Kerry, you are passing through country that once held vast forests. From 1652 to 1660, the vales of Dunkerron and Iveragh rang with the continual fall of giant oaks. Sir William Petty, who held his principal estates here in Kerry, felled the woods for profit. Spain and France were searching the world for pipe-staves, and English dockyards had steady demand for ship-knees, and Sir William knew exactly where there was the best market for everything.

Destruction of Kerry's woods for profit under confiscated estates

Kerry · county · Kerry · 1652–1660

Parliamentary Commissioners reported dreadful havoc committed on the woods of the proscribed in Kerry, with large trees cut down and sold for sixpence each by those who received confiscated lands, a destruction that continued for years.

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of all things, might come upon them any day, thought they could do no better than realise the value, at least, of the woods while they had them. To get a crop of wheat a man must plough and sow, and wait for the season ; but he can cut down and sell a tree at any time, or a hundred thousand trees. The reason why I say " Froude knows " all this, is that the whole process is very clearly set forth in the " Report of the Commissioners appointed by the ParUament of England to take cognizance of the properties that were confiscated upon the Irish who were concerned in the Rebellion of 1688, &c." Froude knows this Report, because it is not abstruse nor recondite ; and if it were abstruse or recondite he would then know it still better ; for he admits that he knows everything. The Commissioners, in section 77 of their Report, say, that " dreadful havoc had been committed upon the woods of the proscribed ;" and they further say, "Those upon whom the confiscated lands have been bestowed, or their agents, have been so greedy to seize upon the most trifling profits that large ti-ees have been cut down and sold for sixpence each." They say also, "this destruction is still carried on in many parts of the country." And so it continued to be earned on,, not by the Irish, but by holders of forfeited estates, until Dean Swift, some years later, lamented that in the once well-wooded island there was not left timber enough for housebuilding or for shipbuilding, and that the land had a naked and dreary appearance for want of trees. Now, it was bad enough in these rascals to pare our forests to the stump ; but this British historical being, coming forward at the present day to complain to the civilized world that we, the Irish, pared our forests to the stump, might be thought to add insult to injury ; and if he means so, it is his mission.

Internet Archive 3766992, Chapter 26

As the companion tells it

As the road carries you through Kerry, this is a county whose woods were once stripped to the stump, not by the Irish but by the men given the land after confiscation. Between 1652 and 1660, the Parliamentary Commissioners appointed by the Parliament of England took cognizance of properties confiscated from the Irish concerned in the rebellion. In section 77 of their Report, the Commissioners said that "dreadful havoc had been committed upon the woods of the proscribed." They said further that those upon whom the confiscated lands had been bestowed, or their agents, had been so greedy to seize upon the most trifling profits that large trees were cut down and sold for sixpence each. The Commissioners also said this destruction was still carried on in many parts of the country. And so it continued, not by the Irish but by the holders of forfeited estates. The logic was simple. To get a crop of wheat a man must plough and sow and wait for the season, but he can cut down and sell a tree at any time, or a hundred thousand trees. Those who held the confiscated lands thought they could do no better than realise the value of the woods while they had them, knowing that trouble might come upon them any day. Some years later, Dean Swift lamented that in the once well-wooded island there was not left timber enough for housebuilding or for shipbuilding, and that the land had a naked and dreary appearance for want of trees. The author of the passage, writing against the historian James Anthony Froude, says it was bad enough for these holders to pare the forests to the stump. But for a British historian to come forward and complain that the Irish pared their own forests to the stump, he says, might be thought to add insult to injury.

Mass hanging of English at Goran and Wells

Goresbridge · town · Kilkenny · 1641–1642

Dame Butler deposed she was informed that James Butler of Finyhinch had hanged and put to death all the English who were at Goran and Wells and thereabouts.

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" And this deponent saith, That Sir Edward BuUer did credibly inform her that James Butler of Finyhinch had hanged and put to death all the English that were at Goran and WelUf and all thereabouts ! ! !
" Jane Jones, servant to the deponent, did see the English formerly specified going to their execution, and, as she conceived, they were about the njimber of thirty-five ; and voas told by Elizabeth Home that there were forty gone to execution* Jurat. Sept. 7, 1642. Anne BUTLEB.'*

Internet Archive 3766992, Chapter 13

As the companion tells it

Near Goresbridge, in 1641 and 1642, an account was given of what happened at Goran and Wells. Dame Anne Butler deposed that Sir Edward Butler told her James Butler of Finyhinch had hanged and put to death all the English who were at Goran and Wells, and all thereabouts. Her servant, Jane Jones, saw the English going to their execution. Jane thought there were about thirty-five. Elizabeth Home told her there were forty gone to execution. Dame Butler swore this on September 7, 1642.

Island Magee: a fertile refuge peninsula near Carrickfergus

near Island Magee · parish · Antrim · 1641

Island Magee, a six-mile peninsula off the Antrim coast near Carrickfergus Bay, was a fertile and thickly peopled district that in November 1641 sheltered many additional refugees fleeing the troubles of the time before the massacre occurred.

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Irish writers, as well as the constant tradition of the country, have represented the slaughter of the peaceful, unarmed people of Island Magee by the Scotch gaiTison of Carrickfergus as the first unprovoked act of butchery. Island Magee is a peninsula, six miles long,' by one and a half in breadth, attached to the coast of Antrim, and running northward parallel to that coast, from the entrance to Carrickfergus Bay. It is a very fertile district, and has always been thickly peopled. In November, 1641, it held not oiJy its own permanent inhabitants, but also some hundreds more who had betaken themselves to that remote place, to live for a time with their kindred, and avoid the troubles of the time.
The peninsula rises gradually from west to east, and its eastern side sinks down perpendicularly to the sea in a wall of cliff, four hundred feet high. On one fatal night, when the people were all in their beds, a force of Munroe's soldiers, from the garrison of Carrickfergus, issued forth in silence, and traversed the whole peninsula, gathering the people as they went, and goading them forward, unarmed men and half-nsiied women,

Internet Archive 3766992, Chapter 29

As the companion tells it

Island Magee is a fertile peninsula, six miles long and a mile and a half broad, running northward along the Antrim coast near Carrickfergus Bay. Irish writers and the constant tradition of the country have called the slaughter of its peaceful, unarmed people by the Scotch garrison of Carrickfergus the first unprovoked act of butchery. The land has always been thickly peopled. In November 1641 it held not only its own inhabitants but some hundreds more who had come to that remote place to live for a time with their kindred and avoid the troubles then raging. The peninsula rises gradually from west to east. Its eastern side drops straight down to the sea in a cliff four hundred feet high. On one fatal night, when the people were all in their beds, a force of Munroe's soldiers issued forth in silence from the garrison of Carrickfergus. They traversed the whole peninsula, gathering the people as they went, goading them forward, unarmed men and half-dressed women.

Father Paul Cashin's Arrest at Maryborough

Maryborough · townland · Laois · 1655–1657

The aged priest Father Paul Cashin was apprehended at Maryborough before being sent onward toward Carrickfergus for eventual transportation to Barbadoes under Cromwellian penal policy.

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send them with suflScient guards from garrison to garrison to Carrickfergus, to be there put on board such ships as should sail with the first opportunity for the Barbadoes." Poor old Father Paul Cashin, a very ancient and frail man, being apprehended at Maryborough, and sent on to Philipstown on the way to CarricMergus, there fell desperately sick, and was in danger of perishing in a dungeon from want and hardship. After months, the Commissioners ordered him an allowance of sixpence a day ; and when he should be well enough to move, this allowance was to be continued to him during his journey to Carrickfergus " in order to his transportation to the Barbadoes." It would not be much sugar Father Paul would make after being set down there and bidden to take up the shovel and the hoe ; but the authorities thought that under a Barbadoes planter he would at least be kept from " mischief " — ^that is from Mass and Confession. The difficulty suggested by Froude in the paragraph above cited, how and in what ships were these 80,000 sent to Barbadoes? is not so very serious a difficulty. The operation extended over several years, and shipping was not so very scarce then, either in England or in Ireland. Besides, Doctor Sir William Petty and other adventurers were piling up all the shipyards in the kingdom with the best of Irish timber. Still there was some shortcoming in the tonnage available for this service, and it cost too much, so that, on the 27th of February, 1657, the Government referred it to the Lord-Lieutenant to consider where the priests, then crammed into the prisons of Dublin, might be most safely disposed of. And so they were carried across the island, placed in boats, and flung out upon the bare islands of Arran, in the Atlantic, and Innisbofin, off the coast . of Connemara, there to consider themselves, upon an allowance ' of sixpence per day. It was when private enterprise came in - aid of the Government that no want or shipping was experienced. The merchants of Bristol contracted with the Commissioners, not for cargoes of priests, but for young men and marriageable girls, who would be more useful, these merchants thought, upon their West India plantations. Ostensibly these were to be all persons having no visible means of support, but practically, it was a slave-hunt. Says Prendergast : — "Messrs Sellick and Leader, Mr Robert Yeomans, Mr

Internet Archive 3766992, Chapter 32

As the companion tells it

Somewhere around here, an old priest was taken. Father Paul Cashin was a very ancient and frail man when he was apprehended at Maryborough, and sent on to Philipstown on the way to Carrickfergus. The plan was to send him with sufficient guards from garrison to garrison, to Carrickfergus, to be put on board such ships as should sail with the first opportunity for the Barbadoes. At Philipstown he fell desperately sick, and was in danger of perishing in a dungeon from want and hardship. After months, the Commissioners ordered him an allowance of sixpence a day, and when he should be well enough to move, this allowance was to continue during his journey to Carrickfergus, in order to his transportation to the Barbadoes. The authorities thought that under a Barbadoes planter he would at least be kept from mischief, meaning from saying Mass and hearing Confession. Whether this frail old man ever reached the island is not told. The wider policy that caught him up stretched across several years. On the 27th of February, 1657, the Government referred to the Lord-Lieutenant the question of where the priests then crammed into the prisons of Dublin might be most safely disposed of. Some were carried across the island, placed in boats, and put out upon the bare islands of Arran in the Atlantic, and Innisbofin off the coast of Connemara, there to consider themselves, upon an allowance of sixpence per day. Private enterprise came to the Government's aid as well, when the merchants of Bristol contracted with the Commissioners for young men and marriageable girls for their West India plantations.

Pillar of fire and silent animals observed near Armagh

near Armagh · town · Armagh · 1641

Dean Maxwell swore that during the first three nights of the rebellion no cock crowed nor dog barked even as rebels approached Protestant houses, and that a pillar of light shone for an hour near his house in county Armagh, bright enough to read by.

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^■''_ 25, it toas generally observed that no cock crew, or any dog wag ieard to bark, no not when the rebels came in great mtdtitudes unto
;; the Protestants' houses by night to rob and murder them ; and about

Internet Archive 3766992, Chapter 17

As the companion tells it

In Armagh, in the first three nights of the 1641 rebellion, Dean Maxwell swore that no cock crowed and no dog barked, even as rebels came in great multitudes to Protestant houses by night to rob and murder. A pillar of light stood near his house for an hour, bright enough to read by.

Bishop Dopping's Sermon Against Treaties with Papists at Christ Church

Christ Church Cathedral · ecclesiastical site · Dublin · 1691

Dr Dopping, Bishop of Meath, preached before the Court at Christ Church Cathedral on the sinfulness of observing any compacts or treaties with Papists, shortly after the conclusion of the Treaty of Peace.

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members for that constituency. Naas, in Meath, returned Charles White and Walter, Lord Dongan, a near relative of that Thomas Dongan (properly O'Donegan), who had been obliged, a year before, to resign his ofi&ce as Governor of New York; and he was the best Governor New York ever had. There were but six or seven Protestants in the House of Commons; but in the House of Peers we find besides the temporal Lords four Protestant Bishops, Meath, Ossory, Limerick, and Cork. Mr Froude counts amongst them the Bishop " of Munster ;" (I quote Scribner's edition) ; but there never was any Bishop of Munster ; and the Historian must mean Dr Dopping, Bishop of Meath, who is his especial favourite amongst all the Irish episcopacj'', being in fact the very Bishop who shortly afterwards, on the conclusion of the Treaty of Peace, preached before the Court in Christ Church Cathedral, on the sinfulness of observing any compacts or treaties with Papists. The greater number of the Protestant Peers absented themselves, as they were generally devoted adherents to the usurper, the Prince of Orange. Substantially, however, there was a good and respectable representation of the Irish nation at that day.
This is a matter perplexing and even disgusting to the Impostor Historian ; so he passes it over very lightly. Yet the acts of that assembly deserve to be held in remembrance a little. One of its earliest enactments was " an Act for securing Liberty of Conscience, and repealing such acts or clauses in any Act of Parliament which are inconsistent with the same.'* I need not here dwell upon the other measures passed by that excellent Parliament — an Act declaring the ParUament of England incapable of binding Ireland ; an Act repealing the unjust Navigation Laws ; an Act for attainder of rebels — that is, of persons who had borne arms against their Sovereign King James ; an Act for removing all incapacities and disabilities of the natives of this kingdom, &c. For the present, it is enough to attend to the Act for Liberty of Conscience, and to see how the English Historian deals.with that : —

Internet Archive 3766992, Chapter 36

As the companion tells it

Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin was the setting for a sermon preached before the Court in 1691, shortly after the conclusion of the Treaty of Peace. The preacher was Dr Dopping, Bishop of Meath, and his subject was the sinfulness of observing any compacts or treaties with Papists. He was, according to the historian Froude, a favourite amongst the Irish episcopacy of that day. At the time, there were but six or seven Protestants in the House of Commons, and in the House of Peers, besides the temporal Lords, four Protestant Bishops sat — Meath, Ossory, Limerick, and Cork. Froude, in Scribner's edition, counts amongst them a Bishop of Munster, but there never was any such bishop; the reference must be to Dr Dopping of Meath. The greater number of the Protestant Peers absented themselves, as they were generally devoted adherents of the Prince of Orange, whom the text calls the usurper. Substantially, however, the author holds that there was a good and respectable representation of the Irish nation at that day. The assembly's acts, the author argues, deserve remembrance. One of its earliest enactments was, in the words of the source, an Act for securing Liberty of Conscience, and repealing such acts or clauses in any Act of Parliament which are inconsistent with the same. It also passed an Act declaring the Parliament of England incapable of binding Ireland, an Act repealing the Navigation Laws, an Act for attainder of those who had borne arms against King James, and an Act for removing all incapacities and disabilities of the natives of the kingdom.

1641 [microform] : reply to the falsification of history by James Anthony Froude, entitled The English in Ireland

The stories, best first

Mass drowning of Protestants at Portadown Bridge on the Bann

Massacre and drowning at Belturbet, with sworn eye-witness account

Massacre of Poor Irish Families at Island Magee

Battle of Benburb: Three Thousand Slain

The floating corpses miracle at Belturbet bridge

Ghostly upright figure seen in the Bann at the drowning site

Protestants burned alive in a house near Laugale, Armagh

Daniel Connery's Daughters Transported from Clare

Massacre of Protestant heads displayed on Kilkenny market cross

Massacre of Protestants in Sligo gaol

Munroe's Rout and the Shrieking Ghosts at the Bann

Protestants Drowned in the Bann at Portadown

Screaming female spectre crying 'Revenge!' at the bridge

Father Paul Cashin Imprisoned Dying at Philipstown

Massacre of Protestants in the streets of Sligo

Infant left to die on dead mother's breast near Kilbeggan

Slave-Hunt Shipping from Kinsale to New England

Burial pit in the minister's garden at Sligo

Priests Marooned on the Aran Islands and Inishbofin

Gruesome torture-murder of proctor at Clones

Twelve thousand slaughtered fleeing near Dromore

Controversy over the death toll at Island Magee

Petty's vast Kerry estates viewed from Mangerton

Priests Captured and Shipped from Carrickfergus to Barbadoes

Felling of the forests of Dunkerron and Iveragh

Destruction of Kerry's woods for profit under confiscated estates

Mass hanging of English at Goran and Wells

Island Magee: a fertile refuge peninsula near Carrickfergus

Father Paul Cashin's Arrest at Maryborough

Pillar of fire and silent animals observed near Armagh

Bishop Dopping's Sermon Against Treaties with Papists at Christ Church