Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 41.djvu/348

 fourteenth lord Grey de Wilton [q. v.] In September he plundered and burnt Rathmore and Tassagard in the Pale, but was overtaken and defeated by Lieutenant Francis Acham. On 19 Oct. he burnt Rathcoole, a prosperous village ten miles from Dublin, and the inhabitants of the suburbs trembled for their safety. During the winter he was held in check by a garrison stationed at Wicklow under Sir William Stanley. An attempt to dislodge the garrison on 12 Jan. 1581 failed, and a few days later Grey reported that he and Baltinglas ‘woulde willinglye seeke peace, if they knewe what waye to begynne that it mighte not bee refused.’ On 4 April Stanley and Captain Russell attempted to surprise Fiagh in his own country, but they found him on the alert, and were compelled, after burning his house of Ballinacor and killing a few churls, to retire. Towards the end of June Grey made a fresh attempt in person to capture him, ‘every day hunting the glinnes,’ so that Fiagh, finding himself ‘thus earnestly followed and the garrisons planted so neere in his bosome,’ was compelled to sue for peace, ‘but his letters so arrogante, as thoughe he woulde haue yt none otherwise, but to haue therle of Desmonde, and all other his confederats conteined in yt as well as him self, and required, that in effecte, all the rebells of Leinster might depende vppon him, and vse whate religion he listed.’ To these terms Grey refused to listen; but want of victuals compelling him to retire, and Fiagh shortly afterwards renewing his offer of submission to Sir Henry Harington, he consented, mainly in order to detach him from Baltinglas, to grant him a pardon. In December Fiagh gave offence by hanging a certain Captain Garrat, an ex-rebel, who had received a pardon on condition of giving information as to the part taken by the Earl of Kildare in the rebellion of Lord Baltinglas, and it was seriously proposed to hang Fiagh's pledges in retaliation. Eventually more moderate counsels prevailed, and for several years Fiagh caused little anxiety to government.

In June 1584 he presented himself before Sir John Perrot [q. v.] at Dublin, and consented to put in substantial pledges for his loyalty. The master of the rolls, Sir Nicholas White, after completing the circuit of Wicklow, visited him in August at Ballinacor, ‘where Lawe never approched,’ and reported favourably of him. A month or two later a number of cattle were lifted in the Pale, and ‘carried with a pipe to the mountain.’ Fiagh at once restored the cattle and surrendered the thieves to Perrot. Early in 1586 some of his pledges escaped out of Dublin Castle, but Fiagh appeared before the lord-deputy, decently clothed in English apparel, and, having exonerated himself and consented to put in fresh pledges, was granted a new pardon. Still there were not wanting circumstances that went to show that he was merely biding his time, and Sir Henry Wallop, who regarded all Irishmen with suspicion, thought it would be a good thing if he could be cut off. Perrot was much of Wallop's opinion, and offered, if permission were granted him, to have his head or drive him into the sea, and settle his country so that it should no longer be the gall of Leinster. Wallop, however, was obliged to admit that he had done little damage of late years, and that the worst that could be alleged against him was a propensity to harbour rebels. In July 1588 he renewed his submission to Perrot's successor, Sir William Fitzwilliam [q. v.] But he continued to be regarded with suspicion. His very existence so near the capital was looked upon as a standing menace to the public peace, and it was evident that nothing but a plausible excuse was wanted to induce government to make a fresh effort to suppress him. On 18 March 1594 his son-in-law, Walter Reagh Fitzgerald, and three of his sons attacked and burnt the house of Sir Piers Fitzjames Fitzgerald, sheriff of Kildare, at Ardree, near Athy, after Sir Piers had expelled Walter Reagh from Kildare. Sir Piers himself, his wife, two of his sisters, his daughter, and one gentlewoman perished in the fire. For this outrage government held Fiagh responsible, though he disclaimed all participation in it, and begged Burghley to intercede with the queen for his pardon. But Fitzwilliam was too ill and probably too wary to attack him in person, and left his punishment to his successor, Sir William Russell.

In January 1595 Russell captured and garrisoned Ballinacor, and made active preparations for hunting Fiagh out of his den. He was proclaimed a traitor, and a reward of 150l. offered for his capture and 100l. for his head. After the capture and execution of Walter Reagh in April, a camp was formed at Money, halfway between Tullow and Shillelagh, which the lord-deputy made his headquarters for several weeks. A number of Fiagh's relations, including his wife Rose, fell into his hands; but Fiagh, though he had one or two hairbreadth escapes, continued to elude his pursuers. On 30 May he was surprised by Captain Streete's company, but, though severely wounded and oppressed with age and sickness, he managed to escape. It seemed as if every effort to capture him was doomed to fail. He offered