LITMIR.BIZ

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Coll Keitach wandered from island to island, and penetrated in Ireland as far as Lough Neagh, whence he returned to Ballycastle Bay, with Sir Randal’s nephew Sorley and with other Macdonnells and O’Cahans. At first he merely intended to hide from the Scotch Government in Isla and Cantire, but after conference with his Irish friends he took to piracy, in which Sorley MacJames was his active abettor. In the meantime the Irish Government detected a conspiracy which had been brewing for two years among the landless men unprovided for in the settlement, who were always a source of danger. Alexander Macdonnell, Sir Randal’s nephew, was to head the insurrection, with his brother Sorley, and an illegitimate cousin named Lother or Ludar. In their case the grievance was that Sir Randal had obtained too much and his kinsmen too little, but there were plenty of O’Neills, O’Donnells, O’Cahans and others who were ready to join, and some of them for the sake of religion as well as for land. Cormac Maguire, acting as a sheriff’s officer in Fermanagh, was charged by a friar named Edmund Mullarkey to join Brian Crossagh and Art Oge O’Neill, who were among the chief conspirators. ‘And though thou shouldst die in this service,’ he added, ‘thy soul shall be sure to go to heaven; and as many men as shall be killed in this service all their souls shall go to heaven. All those that were killed in O’Dogherty’s war are in heaven.’ The friars great object was to get possession of Tyrone’s illegitimate son Con, a boy of fourteen, who was in Sir Toby Caulfield’s charge. The eyes of the Irish being upon him, he was sent to Eton for safety, and in 1622 to the Tower, where he may have died, for nothing more appears to be recorded of him.[132]

      Rory O’Cahan’s plot to surprise Coleraine, 1615.

      Londonderry,

      and all the settlement towns.

      The plot is frustrated.

One of the ringleaders, and perhaps the originator of this hopeless plot, was Rory Oge O’Cahan, Sir Donnell’s eldest son, who hated Sir Thomas Phillips for apprehending his father and hoped to win Limavady from him. A witness swore that he had seen a written plan signed by all the conspirators, and that the undertaking was to this effect: that first they were to attack Coleraine, where Rory Oge and others would be drinking all day, and that he by a friend could ‘command the guard to betray the town, as by letting them in, and that then, being in, they would burn the town and only take Mr. Beresford and Mr. Rowley prisoners, and to burn and kill all the rest, and to take the spoil of the town, and so if they were able to put all the Derry to death by fire and sword.’ Lifford, where Sir Richard Hansard alone was to be saved, would come next, a like fate being intended for Massereene, Carrickfergus, Mountjoy and all other English settlements. They proposed to hold the three gentlemen as hostages for the restoration of Neil Garv and his son, of O’Cahan, and of Sir Cormac MacBaron. Help was to be expected from Spain and the Hebrides, until which they could hold out and ‘not do as O’Dogherty did.’ Rory O’Cahan drank freely and bragged of his intentions, and the whole affair is important mainly as showing that the Ulster Irish were anxious to do then what they actually did do in 1641, and what Carew foretold they would do much sooner. The evidence of informers is never satisfactory, but in this case there is a mass of evidence which cannot be resisted. Winwood’s correspondents Blundell and Jacob made light of the plot, and they may have known that the secretary thought Chichester had been viceroy long enough. Six or seven of those implicated were executed, including the friar Mullarkey and a priest named Laughlin O’Laverty, with Rory O’Cahan and Brian Crossagh O’Neill, who was an illegitimate son of Sir Cormac MacBaron; Alexander MacDonnell was acquitted.[133]

      Chichester recalled,

      and made Lord Treasurer.

      Jones and Denham, Lords Justices, 1616.

There seems to be no evidence as to any special reason for recalling Chichester, and perhaps we may take the King’s words as the whole truth. He had been Lord Deputy for over eleven years, which was unprecedented, and James, declaring that he had no wish to wear out good subjects in such hard service, gave him leave to retire to his government at Carrickfergus or to go to court, whichever seemed best to him. And there were many expressions of gratitude and good will. The Lord Treasurership of Ireland was vacant by the death of the old Earl of Ormonde, and it was conferred as a mark of honour upon the retiring viceroy. Chichester might probably have been an earl had he been willing to pay court to Somerset, but he excused himself to Humphrey May on the ground that his estate would only support a barony. James admired his letters so much that he advised the favourite to model his style upon them. Somerset’s fall does not seem, however, to have had anything to do with Chichester’s recall. The Chancellor-Archbishop, Thomas Jones, and Chief Justice Sir John Denham were appointed Lords Justices, and were instructed to report either to Winwood or Lake, but matters directly concerning the King were to be referred to Winwood only, ‘because it is likely that he will more usually attend his person than his colleague.’ They had the customary powers of a viceroy, except that they were forbidden to meddle with wardships or intrusions, or to make knights without direct orders from his Majesty, ‘because former Deputies have taken to themselves such liberty as to confer that honour upon needy and unworthy persons, and thereby have done the King’s authority and that calling too much wrong.’ The interregnum lasted nearly six months without any incident of importance, but Bacon afterwards declared that Denham had done good service as Lord Justice. About six weeks after surrendering the sword, Chichester went to England and joined the King at Newmarket. Ellesmere had warned him that he had ill-wishers among the Council, and he had answered that he desired to be judged by his actions rather than by vague and malicious detractors.[134]

      Chichester’s position in Irish history.

      In principle a persecutor,

      but tolerant in practice.

      Vacillation of the English Government.

      Chichester made few mistakes.

Experience teaches most men, whether statesmen or not, the value of Walpole’s quieta non movere, and they learn to let sleeping dogs lie. There are always plenty of things which will not wait. One of Chichester’s first acts as Lord Deputy was to advise a proclamation to ‘cut off by martial law seminaries, Jesuits, and such hedge priests as have neither goods nor living, and do daily flock hither.’ He must therefore be taken as a consenting party to the famous proclamation issued less than four months later, in which James indignantly repudiated the idea that he could be guilty of toleration, and ordered the whole population of Ireland to attend church on Sundays and holidays according to the tenor and intent of the laws and statutes, upon the pains and penalties contained therein, which he will have from henceforth duly put in execution.’ As to the numerous ‘Jesuits, seminary priests, or other priests whatsoever made and ordained by any authority derived or pretended to be derived from the See of Rome’ who ranged about seducing the people, they were to leave Ireland before the end of the year on pain of incurring all statutory penalties, or to conform openly. It is just conceivable that this drastic treatment might have succeeded if it had been ruthlessly and consistently applied, but Chichester had neither the wish nor the power to do so, and in less than six months the English Government had veered completely round. Toleration, indeed, was not to be thought of, but admonition, persuasion, and instruction were to be tried before the law was enforced, and as to the priests the Lord Deputy was to ‘forbear to make a curious and particular search for them.’ After a decade of this vacillating policy Chichester may well have given up the enforcement of conformity as hopeless. He was succeeded by a money-making Archbishop, who would naturally magnify his office in a persecuting direction, and an English judge who was likely to care more for the letter of the law than for political considerations. After them came a new Deputy, who was a soldier like his predecessor, but with much less ability and without his long training in civil affairs. Chichester’s character may be estimated from his actions. He was not more tolerant in principle than other public men in his time, but in practice was as little of a persecutor as possible. His integrity is unquestionable. He has been blamed for acquiring Inishowen; but it was clearly forfeited, and might easily have been put into

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