1172. Henry with a fleet of some hundred ships weighed Henry ar- anchor from Milford Haven, and after a short pas rives in Ire several princes surrender to land, when sage, entered the harbour of Waterford October the native 18th, 1172. His force consisted of four hundred On his knights, and four thousand men at arms. landing, Strongbow kneeling presented him the keys of that city, and putting his hands closed into those of Henry, did him homage for his kingdom of Leinster. The very next day Dermod Mac Carthy presented him the keys of his capital city of Cork, and rendered him homage as monarch of Ireland. After a few days repose, Henry marched his army to Lismore, where he rested two days; thence he proceeded to Cashell, at which city he was waited upon by Donald O'Bryen, Prince of Thomond, who tendered to him the keys of his capital of Limerick, and did him homage as to his sovereign; and his example was soon after followed by Fitz Patrick, Prince of Ossory, O'Felan, chief of the Deasies, and other Princes. Synod of When Henry arrived at Cashell, he immediately summoned a synod, which was splendid and numerous. Besides the legate, there appeared the archbishops of Munster, Leinster, and Connaught with their suffragans; many mitred abbots and several of the inferior clergy. There, for the first time, he produced in public the bull of Adrian IV. though he must have had it by him about seventeen years, and its confirmation by his successor Alexander III. Henry very successfully worked upon this synod, by pressing on the clergy the powerful sway, which the Roman pontiff at that time possessed over the politics of all christian princes. And it is evident, that through their influence, the whole nation was induced to submit to Henry with a facility, which no other means would have secured to the invader. tr the Irish on the papal bulls. How much this interference of the see of Rome Feelings of restrained the hands of the Irish, not only upon this, but upon other occasions, may be inferred from the following remarkable words in a memorial from O'Nial, king of Ulster, presented in 1330 to John the twenty-second bishop of Rome, in the name of the Irish nation. During the course of so many ages, (3000 years) our sovereigns preserved the independency of their country; attacked more than once by foreign, powers, they wanted neither force nor courage to repel the bold invaders; but that, which they dared to do against force, they could not against the simple decree of one of your predecessors, Adrian, &c."* ticles of the Cashell. The acts of this council are only recorded by Cam- Specious ar brensis, who tells us, that after accepting of the synod of bulls, they proceeded to the reformations so much wanted, "which were to make the Irish christians in effect as well as in name, and which were to bring back their church from disorder and anarchy to regu * Scot. Chron. vol. iii. p. 908, &c. This remonstrance, which is curious and interesting, is given at length in the App. to my Historical Review, No. IV. 1172. lar discipline." This reform is reduced to eight articles; the first enjoins, that the people should not marry with their close kindred. 2. That children should be catechised outside of the church door, and infants baptized at the font. 3. That the laity should pay tithes. 4. That the possessions of the church should be free from temporal exactions. 5. That the clergy should be exempt from eric, or retribution, on account of murder, or other crimes committed by their relations. 6. Directs the manner of disposing by will of the effects of a dying man. 7. Enjoins burial to the dead. And the 8th, that divine service should be for the future performed in Ireland, in every particular according to the English church: "For it is meet and just," says Cambrensis, "that as Ireland hath by providence received a lord and king from England, so she may receive from the same a better form of living. For to his royal grandeur are both the church and realm of Ireland indebted for whatever they have hitherto obtained, either of the benefit of peace, or the increase of religion; since before his coming into Ireland, evils of various kinds had from old times gradually overspread the land, which by his power and goodness are now abolished." Such were the specious and imposing articles, with which Henry endeavoured to gain the clergy, and through them to induce the nation to acquiesce in his assumption of the dominion of Ireland. It is notorious, that each of these articles was, at this period more strictly observed in Ireland, than in Britain. 1172 1 the English Henry by the public submissions of the princes of Munster, Leinster, Ossory, and the Deasies through Progress of the influence of the Irish clergy, became sovereign of Leath Mogha: still Roderick, and the province of Ulster, made no kind of advances towards an union with him. It is asserted by the British, and denied by the Irish historians, that a peace was now concluded, and that Roderick did Henry homage by proxy, swore allegiance, and put hostages into his hands. There appears no authentic account of any great attempt made during the next two or three years, either for or against Henry. Though commanding a powerful force, and supported by Munster and Leinster, Henry made no hostile attempts whatever to extend his power over the other provinces of Ireland! Cambrensis and other British writers, who follow him, say, that with their submission, the Irish surrendered their laws and customs, and agreed to be governed by those of England. This is denied by the Irish, who assert, that the English laws were neither received nor practised out of the English pale, till the reign of James I.; and their assertion is strongly confirmed by Baron Finglass, who as late as the days of Henry VIII. confesses*, "That the English statutes, passed in Ireland, are not observed eight days after passing them; whereas those laws and statutes made by the Irish on their hills, they keep firm and stable, without breaking through them for any favour or reward." Brev. of Ireland. 1175. Henry stays in Ireland. Certain it is, that Henry introduced the English form of government among his own followers, which six months was adopted by some, and rejected by others, and finally confined to what was called the pale, which did not comprehend the twentieth part of the kingdom. Not only the old, but the new Irish adhered to the old constitution in every other part of the kingdom. Henry's stay in Ireland was not more than six months, during which we find nothing remarkable, except the acknowledging of him as king of Leath Mogha, and a fatal plague, by which thousands perished. His power in Ireland was certainly of a very equivocal nature. It did not extend over half the country, and whatever negociations he entered into, were with feudatory princes, who still retained sovereign power over their own subjects. Peace of Windsor. In 1175, a formal peace* was concluded at Windsor between Roderick's ministers on one side, to wit, Catholicus, archbishop of Tuam, St. Lawrence, O'Toole, archbishop of Dublin, the abbot of St. Brandon, and Dr. Lawrence, chaplain and chancellor to the king of Connaught, and those of Henry on the other. The terms of this peace and concord are certainly not founded upon the basis of admitted conquest, or any formal introduction of new laws or constitution by the conqueror. By the first article, Roderick on agreeing to do homage to Henry, (which if he did, it must have been by proxy) and to pay him a certain tribute, *The articles are to be seen in the Appendix to my Historical Review, No. II. |