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 358 IRELAND only an inconsiderable portion of the country was practically subject to the English law. This reign was marked by the insurrection of Lord Thomas Fitzgerald, which ended in the total ruin of the powerful house of Kildarc. Henry introduced the Protestant reformation into Ireland with as little difficulty as he had into England. A few partial disturbances hap- pened, but nothing of national importance till the reign of Elizabeth, during which fierce and almost incessant wars were carried on with the Desmonds in Munster, and other Anglo-Irish families who resisted the reformation. During the last 15 years of her reign the contest raged with fury, particularly against the O'Neills, O'Donnells, and other Ulster princes and chiefs. It is estimated that this war of Elizabeth cost 3,000,000 and 200,000 lives, about equally divided between the English and the Irish. A great parliament summoned by the lord deputy Sir John Perrott, in 1585, was attended by nearly all of the great Irish chiefs and repre- sentatives of the Anglo-Irish families. James I. introduced into Ulster many Scotch and Eng- lish Protestant settlers. The civil wars in Eng- land supplied the Irish aud Anglo-Irish Cath- olics with a favorable opportunity to make an attempt to overthrow the new settlements and protect themselves. Accordingly, in 1641, an insurrection broke out in Ulster, which quickly spread to all parts of the island. Dublin nar- rowly escaped falling into their hands. Social and religious animosities alike served to em- bitter the contest, which was marked by great atrocities. As the abb6 MacGeoghehan says, both sides were culpable, and the massacre " was one of the most crnel and barbarous that has been recorded among Christians, both on account of its duration and the fury of those who were the authors of it." In 1642 a na- tional synod established the "Confederation of Kilkenny," issued a plan of provisional gov- ernment, and called a general assembly of the whole kingdom, Oct. 23, at which a supreme council of 24 (comprising 3 archbishops, 2 bish- ops, 4 nobles, and 15 commoners) was elected. This power exercised the functions of a na- tional government for several years, coined money, appointed judges, held assizes, commis- sioned officers, and sent ambassadors abroad. Charles I. negotiated publicly and privately with it. Its favorite general, Owen Koe O'Neill, gained a great victory over the English army at Benburb, June 5, 1646; but it was finally distracted and destroyed by intrigue. The country was a prey to anarchy till 1649, when Cromwell appeared on the scene. He took Drogheda by storm, and delivered it up to the license of his soldiery. One after another the Roman Catholic strongholds fell, till the whole country lay at his mercy, and for the first time English supremacy might be said to be estab- lished. Four fifths of the whole soil was con- fiscated. Once more, in 1688, the Catholics took up arms. James II., after his flight from England, presented himself in Ireland, and was received with acclamation. An army was speedily organized under the Irish and French officers whom he had brought with him. But the superior genius of "William of Orange, dis- played at the battle of the Boyne in 1690, broke the current of the ex-king's success. The battle of Aghrim followed, July 12, 1091, where the Irish met with a disastrous defeat ; the fu- gitives retired to Limerick, and after a final stand surrendered, Oct. 3, 1692, on terms which were violated by the victors. Renewed confis- cations followed. A large number of Roman Catholics fled the country, and those who re- mained were barely permitted to exist. The next hundred years of Irish history record little else than relentless persecution of the Catholics. Even so late as toward the close of the 18th century the penal laws were tyrannous. Catho- lics were not eligible to offices of trust, were not allowed to serve in the army or navy, nor to possess arms, nor to exercise many other of the rights of citizenship. The gloom of the penal days was only broken by brave utterances from noble Protestant men in behalf of the general rights of the kingdom, such as Moly- neux's " Case of Ireland stated," Dean Swift's "Drapier" letters, and Dr. Lucas's protests against the encroachments on constitutional rights. Molyneux's book was burned by the common hangman ; a reward was ofl'ered for the Drapier, and his printer arrested ; and Lu- cas had to find refuge in England from laws enacted by and for the English interest in Ireland. In 1782 Henry Grattan, backed by the arms of the volunteers who had organ- ized to defend the country against an expect- ed French invasion, achieved the indepen- dence of the Irish parliament by the repeal of the act 6 George I., the Poynings, and other objectionable acts. Still the Catholics had cause to sue for " emancipation," meaning thereby a complete community of privileges. The Protestants, too, had their grievances on various matters connected with trade and rev- enue. War with the American colonies touched their interests in various ways, chiefly by clo- sing the markets for their linens, and by put- ting a stop to the emigration which was even then beginning to be developed. Hence the universal emancipation of nations proclaimed by the French revolution appealed powerfully to the Irish of both creeds. Theobald Wolfe Tone had founded the first society of United Irishmen, Oct. 12, 1791. His avowed object was to break the connection by means of a union of Protestant, Catholic, and Dissenter. The British government, naturally jealous of the discontent everywhere manifest, increased its severities, suspended the Jialeai corput act, dispersed meetings by force of arms, and dis- tributed troops at free quarters upon the peo- ple. In defence the "United Irishmen" be- came a secret society, and besought French aid. The recourse to arms contemplated by the United Irishmen was forced to a premature culmination by the government, which through