Page:A Compendium of Irish Biography.djvu/506

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whose deceased father, the Duke of Clar- ence, had been born amongst them in Dublin Castle. Kildare and other Anglo- Irish lords, personally acquainted -with Clarence and his family, subjected the lad to a searching examination, and satisfied themselves that he was the rightful heir to the crown. He was lodged in the Castle, every deference was paid to him, and messengers were despatched to the friends of the House of York in England, and to the Dowager Duchess of Burgundy, his supposed aunt. The citizens of Waterford boldly opposed his pretensions ; and in the name of Henry VII. enlisted soldiery from the Munster towns and the Ormond dis- trict, where the people were most inimical to the Leinster Geraldines. The Duchess sent a force of about 2,000 men, under the command of Martin Swart, a soldier of great experience, who landed at Dublin in May 1487, accompanied by the Earl of Lincoln, Lord Lovel, and other Yorkist refugees from Flanders. On Whit-Sun- day, the 24th May, Simnel was solemnly anointed and crowned King of England, under the name of Edward VI., in Christ Church, Dublin, in presence of the chief dignitaries of the Pale, who renounced their allegiance to Henry VII., and swore fealty to him. He was then borne in state to the Castle on the shoulders of tall men, that he might be seen by the enthusiastic populace. A parliament was convened, coins were struck, and proclamations issued in his name, and an expedition was organ- ized for the invasion of England, which landed on the coast of Lancashire, 4th June 1487, and advanced into Yorkshire. Sir Thomas FitzGerald commanded the Irish contingent. Henry collected a large force, and the armies met on i6th June at Stoke, near Newark-on-Trent, where an engagement was fought. The Irish, according to the chronicles, "fought boldly and stucK to it valiantly," and it was not until 4,000 had fallen that the Yorkists gave way. Simnel and Simond were cap- tured by Eobert Bellingham, a squire of Henry's house. The priest was immured for life, in fetters, in a dark dungeon. Sim- nel, according to one account, was incarcer- ated in the Tower of London ; according to another, Henry employed him as a turnspit in the royal kitchen, and afterwards made him master of the falcons. Many Irish lords and their followers fell at Stoke. The subsequent expedition of Sir Eichard Edgecomb to Ireland was for the purpose of bringing back to their allegiance the lords of the Pale, who for many months after the faU of Simnel cherished plans of revolt. 335 482

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Sirr, Henry Charles, Town-Major of Dublin, was a prominent actor in Irish ufFairs for many years. He was born about 1756, became a wine merchant, and in 1796 received the appointment of Town Major of Dublin, in which capacity he rendered important services to the Government, as the seizure of the Press newspaper, and the capture of Lord Edward FitzGerald in 1 798, and Eobert Emmet in 1803. He was a man of undaunted bravery, overbearing in his manners, and was equally feared and hated by the people at large. Lord Castlereagh thus eulogizes him : " The services Major Sirr has rendered to the King's Govern- ment since I have been in office are such as to make me feel it an incumbent duty to bear testimony, in the strongest terms, to his merits. . . He has been constantly employed confidentially by Government on every occasion which called for great personal exertions, discretion, and courage. . . The metropolis was peculiarly in- debted for its tranquillity to the unceasing activity of Major Sirr." He latterly held the post of police magistrate. He was a connoisseur in the fine arts. Major Sirr died nth January 1841, and was buried in St. Werburgh's churchyard, Dublin, near the vault where rest the remains of Lord Edward FitzGerald, whom he had made prisoner and mortally wounded forty-two years previously. His papers, which con- tain much valuable information relating to the events of the times in which he lived, are preserved in the Library of Trinity College. 7= '4« 33X

Sitric the Blind, one of the Norse invaders of Ireland, arrived at Dublin with a " prodigious royal fleet " in 888. In 902 he retreated to Scotland; but in 918 he recovered Dublin, and in 919 fought the battle of Kilmashogue with Niall Glmi- dubh. He left Ireland in 920, and in 925 was King of the Northumbrians. He is supposed to have died in 927. ""

Sitric Silkiskegg (Silken-beard), one of the Norse Kings of Dublin, was in 994 driven from his seat by Ivar of Waterford ; but next year he re-established his autho- rity. After the battle of Glenmama, in 1 000, he took refuge with the northern Irish chieftains, but was delivered by them to Brian Borumha, who reinstated him in the government of Dublin, and gave him his daughter in marriage. Sitric's sister, Maelmuire, was married to Malachy II. With the other Northmen he was defeated at Clontarf, but not long afterwards re- gained possession of Dublin. In 1 01 8 he blinded Bran, son of the King of Leinster. Ten yeai-s later Sitric went on a pilgrimage to Rome. He died abroad in 1 042, leaving