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The Earl of Tyrconnel and James II's Irish Policy, 1685–1688*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2009

John Miller
John Miller
Affiliation:
Queen Mary College, University of London
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Extract

The wars in Ireland in 1689–91 have attracted considerable attention from historians, most recently in the fine study by Dr Simms, but what happened in Ireland while James II was still on the English throne has been comparatively neglected. One major reason is that evidence on this period is patchy and often unreliable. Of the state papers, the last letter in the Public Record Office from one of James's chief governors is dated 31 August 1686, although the second earl of Clarendon's own copies of his letters while lord lieutenant continue until his return to England early in 1687. Only a handful of Tyrconnel's letters from this period survive. Copies of Irish letters sent by James and his secretary of state, the earl of Sunderland, can be found in the secretaries' letter books, but copies of their more confidential letters were not entered. Sunderland was careful to destroy incriminating material at the Revolution, so much of what survives is routine and innocuous. For the rest, the Ormond papers, a mine of information for half a century of Irish history, peter out after 1686. Thomas Sheridan's ‘Narrative’ is well informed and, I think basically reliable, but its usefulness is reduced by its imprecise chronology. Strict control of the press in 1685–8 ensured that few pamphlets of Irish interest were published, while few of those produced after 1688 have much other than polemic to offer the historian of James's reign.

Type
Articles
Information
The Historical Journal , Volume 20 , Issue 4 , December 1977 , pp. 803 - 823
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1977

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References

1 Simms, J. G., Jacobite Ireland, 1685–91 (London, 1969).Google Scholar

2 British Library (hereafter referred to as B.L.), Add. MSS 21483, fo. 34,32095, fos. 224, 253–4, 259–60, 41805, fos. 113, 150–1, 220–1; Bodleian MS Arch, f.c.6, several letters, printed in Analecta Hibernica, I. 38–43.Google Scholar

3 For example Calendar of State Papers, domestic series (hereafter cited as C.S.P.D.) 1686–7, nos. 1462, 1562; Bodleian, MS Arch, f.c.6, fo. 124. Letters from the letter books (in the Public Record Office) are calendared in C.S.P.D.

4 See my article ‘Thomas Sheridan and his “Narrative”’, to be published in Irish Historical Studies in or after 1977.

5 The exceptions are King, W., The state of the Protestants of Ireland under the late king James's government (1691)Google Scholar and A full and impartial account of all the secret consults of the Romish party in Ireland (1689) (hereafter cited as Secret consults). For the usefulness of the latter as a source, see footnote 4 in my article on Sheridan.

6 In my forthcoming biography of James II (ch. xiv) I have compared his Irish policy with his policies in England and Scotland.

7 O'Kelly, C., ‘Macariae Excidium or the destruction of Cyprus’, in Croker, T. C. (ed.), Narratives illustrative of the contests in Ireland in 1641 and 1690 (Camden Society, 1841), pp. 37, 98Google Scholar; Historical Manuscripts Commission reports (hereafter cited as H.M.C.), Stuart, VI. 6, 16–17; Hogan, J. (ed.), Négociations de M. le Comte D'Avaux en Irlande 1689–90 (Dublin, 1934), pp. 735–40Google Scholar; C.S.P.D. 1686–7, nos. 1336 (3 commissions out of 69 to ‘Os and Macs’), 1692 (3 out of 53); Singer, S. W. (ed.), The correspondence of Henry Hyde, earl of Clarendon…with the diary (2 vols., London, 1828) (hereafter cited as Clar. corr.), 1.267, 272.Google Scholar Tyrconnel's dislike of Sheridan and of Dominic McGuire, the Catholic archbishop of Armagh, probably owed something to their both being of Gaelic extraction.

8 H.M.C. Ormond, new series, v. 155.

9 H.M.C. Stuart, VI.46–7; see also O'Kelly, , ‘Macariae Excidium’, pp. 77, 98–9Google Scholar; Miller, ‘Thomas Sheridan’.

10 Clar. corr. 1.291, 458.

11 Clar. corr., 1.541; see ibid. II. 18.

12 Analecta Hibernica, 1.39; Secret consults, p. 105.

13 Négotiations de D'Avaux, pp. 138, 182, 292–3, 509.Google Scholar

14 Ranke, L. von, A history of England, principally in the seventeenth century (6 vols., Oxford, 1875), VI. 119–20Google Scholar; H.M.C. Finch, 11.329; Analecta Hibernica, IV. 108, 132–3Google Scholar; O'Kelly, , ‘Macariae Excidium’, pp. 36–7, 42–3, 98 and passim.Google Scholar

15 H.M.C. Ormond, new series, VII. 464–5.Google Scholar

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18 Mary Beatrice had given birth five times but none of her children had lived more than a few years. She was to have a son in 1688 and a daughter in 1692 who lived to the ages of 78 and 20 respectively.

19 H.M.C. Stuart, VI. 8–9.Google Scholar

20 Clar. corr. II. 124, 476Google Scholar; Roudedge, F. J. (ed.), Calendar of Clarendon state papers v. 668Google Scholar; H.M.C. Stuart, VI.8Google Scholar; Barrillon to Louis, 24 Oct. 1686 N.S., Baschet 167; Trinity College Dublin, Lyons collection, no. 41 a; St John's College, Cambridge, MS O.67, back of book, under 9 Feb. 1687 (diary of bishop Dopping of Meath).

21 See below, p. 821; Négotiations it D'Avaux, p. 62; Cavelli, E. Campana de, Les derniers Stuarts à Saint-Germain-en-Laye (2 vols., London, 1871), II.530, 534Google Scholar; see also H.M.C. Stuart, VI. 60–3.Google Scholar

22 See Miller, , Popery and politics, pp. 199–202 and chs. X-XI, XII passim.Google Scholar

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25 Barrillon to Louis, 30 Jan. 1687 N. S., Baschet 168; C.S.P.D. 1687–9, nos-1 (a 298; see below, pp. 821–2.

26 Gilbert, J. T. (ed.), A Jacobite narrative of the war in Ireland, 1688–91 (Shannon, 1971), p. 36Google Scholar; H.M.C. Ormond, new series, IV.181.Google Scholar

27 Clarke, J. S. (ed.), Life of James II (2 vols., London, 1816), II.619–42.Google Scholar

28 Simms, , Jacobite Ireland, ch. v. especially pp. 79–80, 86–7, 92–4.Google Scholar

29 Life of James II, II.636–8Google Scholar; see also ibid. II.461. For James's concern for a reliable Catholic army see also Clar. corr., I. 399; B.L., Add. MS 15396, fo. 19; Barrillon to Louis, 7 Feb. and 8 July 1686 N.S., Baschet 164, 166. For examples ad nauseam of James's exaggerated idea of the strength of republicanism, see his letters to William for (say) 1679 in Dalrymple, Sir J., Memoirs of Great Britain and Ireland (3 vols., London, 1773), vol. II, appendix.Google Scholar

30 Clot, corr., I.318–19, 323, 395Google Scholar; for similar problems in Scotland, see H.M.C. Buccleuch, I.132.Google Scholar

31 Hyde, E., 1st Earl of Clarendon, Life (3 vols., Oxford, 1827), III.64.Google Scholar

32 Clar. corr., I.533–7Google Scholar, III.26; see also H.M.C. Egmont, II.171.Google Scholar

33 Mackintosh, Sir J., History of the Revolution of 1688 (London, 1834), pp. 634–5.Google Scholar

34 B.L., Add. MS 32095, fo. 224.

35 Kenyon, J. P., Robert Spencer, earl of Sunderland (London, 1958), p. 101Google Scholar (my account of Sunderland's behaviour and motives owes much to Prof. Kenyon's book); Carte, T., Life of James duke of Ormond (6 vols., Oxford, 1851), v.166–7Google Scholar; Bodleian, Carte MS 217, fos. [51], 79–80; H.M.C. 2nd report, appendix, p. 214Google Scholar; H.M.C. Ormond, new series, VII.277, 279 and passim.Google Scholar

36 H.M.C. Egmont, II.152Google Scholar; H.M.C. Buccleuch, I.100–1, 107Google Scholar; C.S.P.D. 1685, no. 626.

37 Kenyon, , Sunderland, p. 120Google Scholar; Bonrepaus to Seignelay, 21 Jan. and 28 Feb. 1686 N.S., Baschet 163, 164; Ellis correspondence, I.57Google Scholar; Clar. corr., I.293–4 (quoted), 342; C.S.P.D. 1686–7, no. 327.Google Scholar

38 Barrillon to Louis, 23 Sept. (see also Life of James II, II.637–8)Google Scholar and 26 Dec. 1686 N.S., Baschet 167; Clar. core., II.72Google Scholar; B.L., Add. MS 15396, fos. 189–90; Ellis correspondence, I.206–7Google Scholar; Kenyon, , Sunderland, pp. 141–4.Google Scholar

39 H.M.C. Stuart, VI.12–16Google Scholar; Nottingham University Library, Portland MSS, PwA 2129; Miller, ‘Thomas Sheridan’. It is uncertain when James decided on the tide of lord deputy: Barrillon did not mention it until 16 Jan. 1687 N.S., Baschet 168.

40 The following revenue figures are complicated by the problem of arrears of collection. The first column is for the amount due on paper for each year (which is taken as ending at Christmas); the second gives the sum actually collected.

Thus the revenue in 1686 was higher than in 1685 and it fell less than ten per cent between 1686 and 1687. About sixty per cent of this fall was on the inward customs and most of the rest was on the inland excise; the outward customs rose slightly which supports the view that the revenue was swollen artificially by Protestant merchants taking their effects out of the country. The average figure for the outward customs in 1686–7 was 28½ per cent higher than the average for 1683–5, while the inward customs for 1687 was 9½ per cent lower than the average for 1683–6. These calculations are based on the figures given in Bodleian, Clarendon MS 89, fos. 117–18 (another copy, Trinity College Dublin, MS 889, fo. 260). See also Archives des Affaires Etrangères, Paris, Correspondance Politique: Angleterre, vol. 161, fo. 376; Nottingham University Library, MSPwV6i (Povey-Southwell, 2 June 1687).

41 Ellis correspondence, I.350, 11.146; B.L., Add. MS 28938, fos. 263–4.Google Scholar

42 C.S.P.D. 1686–7, no. 1748; Ellis correspondence, I.298–9Google Scholar; Bruce, T., earl of Ailesbury, Memoirs, ed. Buckley, W. E., (2 vols., Cambridge, 1890), I.149Google Scholar; H.M.C. Stuart, VI. 28–33Google Scholar; Secret consults, pp. 91–2.Google Scholar

43 C.S.P.D. 1686–7, nos. 1504, 1805, 1836, 1687–9, nos. 28,43, 104; H.M.C. Ormond, new series, VII.484Google Scholar; HM.C. Stuart, VI.21, 37–8Google Scholar; Secret consults, pp. 87–8.Google Scholar

44 C.S.P.D. 1687–0, nos. 162, 298; Bonrepaus to Seignelay, 22 Sept. 1687. N.S., Baschet 172. No such clause was included in the warrant of 20 Sept. 1687 empowering Tyrconnel to issue new charters: Harris, W., History of the life and reign of William Henry (Dublin, 1749), appendix VIII.Google Scholar

45 Miller, ‘Thomas Sheridan’; Bonrepaus to Seignelay, 22 Sept. 1687 N.S., Baschet 172; B.L., Add. MS 32095, fo. 253; C.S.P.D. 1687–9, no. 1369.

46 C.S.P.D. /6B5, nos. 664, 805. The Scots militia's arms were also called in: H.M.C. Buccleuch, I.92, 133.Google Scholar

47 C.S.P.D. 1685, nos. 823, 2014; H.M.C. Ormond, new series VII.374, 395–6, 400.Google Scholar

48 Clar. corr., I.216–17, 456Google Scholar; C.S.P.D. 1686–7, no. 575.

49 H.M.C. Ormond, new series VII.303–4, 329, 332Google Scholar; C.S.P.D. 1685, no. 272.

50 H.M.C. Ormond, I.398–9Google Scholar, new series VII.61–2, 72.

51 Clar. corr., I.431, 339; see also ibid. pp. 536–7.

52 Clar. corr., 1.514; H.M.C. Ormond, 1.419–35. These figures have been obtained by combining those on p. 430 with those on p. 435. The figure on p. 430 for those put in since June 1686 is far too low since it includes only those new men known to the muster-master's office by 8 Sept. I have therefore taken the number of Catholic soldiers in the army on 30 Sept. and subtracted those put in earlier. This may exaggerate slightly the number put in between 30 June and 30 Sept. 1686 as the Sept. figures include a regiment and an independent company of foot (containing 405 Catholics between them) not included in the earlier figures.

53 Clar. corr., I.421, 479Google Scholar; B.L., Lansdowne MS 1153 A, fo. 42. For the state of the army in 1689, see Simms, , Jacobite Ireland, pp. 69–73.Google Scholar

54 Clar. corr., I. 293–4Google Scholar: C.S.P.D. 1685, no. 462.

55 Simms, , Jacobite Ireland, pp. 33, 35Google Scholar: Miller, ‘Thomas Sheridan’.

56 Clar. corr., I.347, 349, 351–2, 432, 11.26, 475.Google Scholar

57 Clar. corr., I.296–7, 351–2, 521–2, 535–6, 561–2, 581–2Google Scholar; Bodleian, Clarendon MS 88, fos. 284–7; above, pp. 811–12.

58 Clar. corr., I.555Google Scholar; see also ibid. p. 521; H.M.C. Ormond, new series VII.448–9.Google Scholar

59 C.S.P.D. 1687–9, no. 793; B.L., Add. MS 32095, fos. 253,259–60; Secret consults, pp. 115–21; H.M.C. Stuart, VI.42Google Scholar; Analecta Hibernica, I.38Google Scholar; King, , State of the Protestants, p. 145Google Scholar; St John's College, Cambridge, MS 0.67, back of book, under date 18 March 1688; Dopping thought that Tyrconnel also sent other proposals including the repeal of Poynings’ Law and the freeing of Irish trade with the Indies.

60 Bonrepaus to Seignelay, 4 Sept. 1687 N.S., Baschet 172.

61 B.L., Add. MS 32095, fos. 253–4; Bonrepaus to Seignelay, 8 and 22 Sept. 1687 N.S., Baschet 172; Lingard, J., History of England (6th edn., 10 vols., London, 1855), x.206Google Scholar; B.L., Add. MSS 25372, fo. 303, 25373, fo. 18.

62 It is true that in 1689 he took care to prevent the Dublin Parliament from severing Ireland's ties with the English crown, but by then he had far greater need of the goodwill of his English Protestant subjects than he would have had in 1688 if the English parliament had done as he wished.