Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 59.djvu/157

 of commissioners appointed by the crown; the prosecution by Ormonde of the Earl of Desmond ending in the capture and death of the latter in November 1583; the capture, torture, and execution on 20 June 1584 of Dermot O'Hurley [q. v.], titular archbishop of Cashel, are the chief events marking their tenure of office. But the whole period was one of universal distress, when, as it was graphically said, ‘the wolf and the best rebel lodged in one inn, with one diet and one kind of bedding,’ and it was with a feeling of relief that Wallop and Loftus surrendered the sword of state to Sir John Perrot [q. v.] on 21 June 1584.

Immediately after the death of Sir Nicholas Malby [q. v.] Wallop had passed to himself on 16 March 1584 a patent of the castle of Athlone; but this he was obliged to surrender to Perrot on a pretext by the latter that he wanted to make it the seat of his government. Being appointed a commissioner for surveying the lands confiscated by the rebellion of the Earl of Desmond, Wallop proceeded to Limerick in September, and, having with much discomfort and some personal risk travelled through the counties of Limerick and Kerry, he returned to Dublin towards the latter end of November. During his ‘survey’ he had been much struck with the fertility of the soil in county Limerick, and at once put in a claim for the manor of Any (Knockainy) and Lough Gur. In March 1586 he purchased a lease of the abbey lands of Enniscorthy, estimated to contain about 12,464 acres. Here he established a flourishing colony composed of Englishmen and ‘the more honest sort of Irish,’ and started an export trade in ship planks and pipe-staves to the Madeiras and other wine-producing countries, ‘being the first beginner of that trade in the kingdom.’ In July the same year he obtained a lease for twenty-one years, at an annual rent of 22l. 17s. 8d. and the maintenance of two English horsemen, of the abbey lands of Adare in county Limerick.

Notwithstanding his disapproval of Perrot's expedition against the Antrim Scots, Wallop had at first regarded the deputy with favour, but, perceiving after a time that ‘under pretence of dutifulness’ he ‘carried an unfaithful heart,’ he joined the ranks of Perrot's enemies. His opposition led to an open breach between them at the council board, and, being violently reproached by the deputy, Wallop retaliated by actively collecting information against Perrot. His production of the Desmond feoffment in the second session of ‘Perrot's parliament’ frustrated an attempt on the part of the earl's friends to prevent his attainder, and obtained for him the queen's thanks. Lameness prevented him serving on the commission for the admeasurement of the forfeited lands in Munster; but on 26 April 1587 he was appointed a commissioner for passing lands to the undertakers in the plantation. At Michaelmas he again obtained possession of Athlone Castle, but was almost immediately obliged to surrender it to Sir Richard Bingham [q. v.] He received permission to visit England in November; but the treason of Sir William Stanley and the danger that suddenly presented itself of an invasion hindered him taking advantage of it, not, however, before he had so far prepared for his departure as to place his goods and plate on shipboard. The vessel to which they were entrusted was wrecked, and Wallop estimated his loss at 1,100l. On 22 Aug. 1588 he was appointed a commissioner for examining and compounding the claims of the Irish in Munster, and on 12 Oct. was instructed to examine certain Spanish prisoners at Drogheda. Ill-health caused him to be exempted from attending the lord deputy, Sir William Fitzwilliams (1526–1599) [q. v.], into Connaught that autumn, and he spoke somewhat slightingly of the necessity of it. He sailed for England early in April 1589, and remained there for rather more than six years, administering his office by deputy. On 22 May 1595 he was granted the abbey, castle, and lands of Enniscorthy (formerly in the possession of Edmund Spenser), to be held for ever by service of a twentieth part of a knight's fee, and the abbey and lands of Adare in free and common socage, ‘in consideration of his great expense in building on the premises for the defence of those parts.’ The latter estate he subsequently, on 1 Feb. 1597, obtained license to alien to Sir Thomas Norris [q. v.] In September 1591 he entertained Elizabeth with great magnificence at Farleigh-Wallop (, Fœdera, xvi. 120); but ill-health prevented him setting sail for Ireland till June 1595, and, being driven back by stormy weather to Holyhead, it was not until the middle of July that he landed at Waterford with treasure for the soldiers, whose wants he declared were extreme.

Owing to the doubtful attitude of Hugh O'Neill, earl of Tyrone [q. v.], the situation of the kingdom was even more critical than when he first came to Ireland, and it was, in his opinion, no time to spare money. But Elizabeth was bent on trying less costly methods than an attempt to suppress Tyrone by force would have entailed, and on 8 Jan. 1596 Wallop and Sir Robert Gardiner were deputed to proceed to Dundalk to confer with him. Tyrone, though he professed to regard