Ireland under the Stuarts and During the Interregnum, Vol. 1 (of 3), 1603-1642Bagwell, Richard
History
Ireland under the Stuarts and During the Interregnum, Vol. 1 (of 3), 1603-1642
Bagwell, Richard
Ireland -- History -- 17th century
Lord Danby, who as Sir Henry Danvers had been President of Munster, was
named for the viceroyalty, but at his age he was unwilling to undertake
such an arduous task. Lord Chancellor Loftus and Lord Cork were then
appointed Lords Justices, the army being placed in Wilmot's hands. The
Lords Justices were on very bad terms, but Secretary Lake urged them to
make friends, and a solemn reconciliation took place in Lord Wilmot's
presence, 'which I beseech God,' Cork wrote, 'his lordship observe as
religiously as I resolve to do, if new provocations enforce me not to
alter my resolutions.' Wilmot was sanguine enough to think that they
would not quarrel again. Their instructions were to suppress all Popish
religious houses and all foreign jurisdictions, and to persuade the
army and people to attend divine service. Trinity College, Dublin, was
to receive every encouragement and care was to be taken in the exercise
of ecclesiastical patronage and to rescue benefices from lay hands.
The King's intention to call a Parliament was reiterated and a large
discretion was left to the Lords Justices, but judicial appointments,
nominations to the Privy Council, and commissions in the army were
reserved to the Crown.[169]
[Sidenote: Raid on religious houses in Dublin,]
[Sidenote: and Cork.]
So little effect had Falkland's last proclamation against the regular
orders, that Wilmot reported the establishment of seventeen additional
houses within four months after its publication. 'The Archbishop of
Dublin,' Lord Cork notes in his diary, 'and the mayor of Dublin,
by the direction of us the Lords Justices, ransacked the house of
friars in Cook Street.' Thomas Fleming, a Franciscan, was titular
archbishop of Dublin, and his order had been much strengthened by his
appointment. On St. Stephen's Day, the day after Christmas, 1629,
Archbishop Bulkeley, accompanied by the mayor and a file of musketeers,
visited the Franciscan church during high mass, cleared the building,
and arrested some of the friars, who were promptly rescued by a mob
3,000 strong. Showers of stones were thrown, and Bulkeley was glad to
take refuge in a house. The Lords Justices appeared with their guard,
but there were not soldiers enough available to act with effect, and
Wilmot reported that there was not one pound of powder in the Castle.
The friary was razed to the ground in the presence of the Recusant
aldermen. A month later the English Privy Council approved strongly of
what had been done, and ordered the demolition of the convents, which
should be turned into 'houses of correction, and to set the people on
work or to other public uses, for the advancement of justice, good
arts, or trades.' The regulars had increased in every considerable
town, and at Cork Sir William St. Leger by the Lords Justices' order
seized four houses; but all the inmates had warning, and escaped. There
was room for forty Franciscans and twenty Dominicans, the Jesuits
and Augustinians also being suitably accommodated.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account