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The woodlands of Ireland circa 1600

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2016

Eileen McCracken
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Extract

In the general descriptions of Ireland written in Elizabethan and early Stuart times there are constant, although casual, references to the woodlands, Moryson, Perrott, Bagenal, Speede and Boate all allude to areas which were wooded or carried woody scrub on bog. Their descriptions are too general to be of use in assessing the probable extent of the woodland that remained at the end of the sixteenth-century, but they are pointers to the distribution. The same is true of contemporary maps although they are rather more helpful in that, in spite of their distortion of distance and configuration, they may indicate the position of a wood relative to physical features such as hills, rivers or bays.

Type
Research Article
Information
Irish Historical Studies , Volume 11 , Issue 44 , September 1959 , pp. 271 - 296
Copyright
Copyright © Irish Historical Studies Publications Ltd 1959

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References

1 Sixteenth and seventeenth century maps of Ireland with woods marked on them include the following:

The Down Survey, barony maps, were reproduced by the Ordnance Survey in 1908, by permission of the French Government, from originals in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris.

2 Mitchell, G.F., ‘Post-boreal pollen-diagrams from Irish raised-bogs’, in R.I.A. Proc., 1954-5, lvii, B, 246 Google Scholar.

3 Cal. Carew MSS, 1589-1600, p. 20; Cal. S.P. Ire., 1615-25, p. 512.

4 Cal. S.P. Ire., 1606-8, p. 211.

5 Cal. Carew MSS, 1601-3, p. 315.

6 R.I.A., O.S. MSS, Antrim, Ardclinis parish, box 2.

7 Armagh Public Library, W. Henry, Topographical descriptions, co. Antrim, p. 139.

8 R.I.A., O.S. MSS, Antrim, Glynn parish, box 11; Henry, op. cit., p. 137.

9 The history of the war in Ireland from 1642-1643, ed. E. Hogan (1873), p. 101; for a fuller description of the woods in plantation Ulster, see McCracken, E., ‘The woodlands of Ulster in the early seventeenth century’, in V.J.A., x. 15–25 Google Scholar.

10 McCracken, E., ‘The woodlands of Donegal’, in Donegal Annual, iv, no. 1, pp. 62-4Google Scholar.

11 Cal. S.P. Ire., 1611-14, p. 35.

12 Cal. Carew MSS, 1603-24, p. 44.

13 Memoirs of the Geological Survey, Donegal, sheets 4, 5, 9-11, 15, 16, pp. 7, 10; R.I.A., O.S. MSS, Donegal, Kilmacrennan parish, box 22.

14 R.I.A., O.S. MSS, Donegal, Killygarvan parish, box 21.

15 J. Bush, Hibernica curiosa (1769), p. 88.

16 Armagh Public Library, W. Henry, ‘A natural history of the parish of Killasher, 1 September 1732’, pp. 15-16.

17 Armagh Public Library, W. Henry, ‘Account of co. Fermanagh, written in 1739’, pp. 38, 72-3; Tansley, A.G., The British Isles and their vegetation (1953), i. 256 Google Scholar.

18 W. G. Wood-Martin, History of Sligo, 1603-88 (1882-9), PP. 3, 4, 132.

19 Cal. Carew MSS, 1575-88, pp. 430, 432.

20 Lewis, S. a topographical dictionary of Ire. (1837), ii. 355 Google Scholar.

21 P.R.O.I., Books of survey and distribution, Mayo, pp. 11-17, 149-52, 168-71.

22 Annála Beaga (1941), ed. S. MacGiollarnáth, p. 264.

23 P.R.O.I., Books of survey and distribution, Galway, pp. 79, 80, 87, 105, 110, 111, 113.

24 Kinahan, G.H., ‘Irish metal mining’, in R.D.S. Scientific Proc., new series, v, pt 4, p. 242 Google Scholar.

25 H. Dutton, A statistical account of Galway (1824), p. 25.

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27 O.S. letters, Galway, i. 196.

28 W. W. Seward, Topographia Hibernica (1795).

29 P.R.O.I., Books of survey and distribution, Galway, ii. 65.

30 Irish Folklore Commission, cccv. 202.

31 Commons’ jn. Ire., viii. 1014.

32 P.R.O.I., Books of survey and distribution, Clare, pp. 499-506, 513-18.

33 Ibid., pp. 49-58, 61, 73-4.

34 Wakefield, E., An account of Ire. (1812), i. 535 Google Scholar.

35 Civil Survey, i (Tipperary).

36 Ibid., ii. 211, 228, 231, 265.

37 Ibid., ii. 160, 164, 167.

38 Ibid., ii. 211.

39 Lewis, Topog. dict. Ire., ii. 522.

40 Books of survey and distribution, ed. Simington, R.C. (1949) 138-45Google Scholar.

41 Hore, H.E., ‘Woods and fastnesses in ancient Ireland’, in U.J.A., series 1, vi. 160 Google Scholar.

42 Books of survey and distribution, i. 13, 17.

43 Kinahan, in R.D.S. Scientific Proc., new series, v, pt 4, pp. 234,. 287; Civil Survey, iv. (Limerick), 135, 142, 256, 259, 262, 266, 310-30.

44 O.S. letters, Limerick, i. 40.

45 Cal. Carew MSS, 1589-1600, p. 322.

46 Civil Survey, iv. (Limerick), 346, 353.

47 Cal. Carew MSS, 1575-88, pp. 246, 248.

48 Ibid., 1515-74, P. xi.

49 Ibid., 1575-88, pp. 215, 248, 292; Hore, in U.J.A., series 1, vi. 156.

50 Civil Survey, iv. (Limerick), 3-11, 19, 28, 37, 461, 463, 465, 467, 468, 471, 474, 478-80, 483.

51 C. Smith, The ancient and present state of Kerry (1756), p. 225.

52 M. A. Hickson, Old Kerry records (1872-44), p. 146; O.S. letters, Kerry, pp. 55, 113, 124; Cal. Carew MSS, 1587-1600, p. 488; Smith, Kerry, pp. 217, 286.

53 Hickson, op. cit., pp. 113, 124-30.

54 O.S. name books, Kerry, Ballymackelligot parish, p. 245.

55 Hickson, op. cit., p. 204; L. Falkiner, Illustrations of Irish history (1904), p. 150.

56 Smith, Kerry, p. 130.

57 Ibid., pp. 132, 138.

58 H. W. E. Petty-Fitzmaurice, Glanerought and the Petty-Fitzmaurices (1937), pp. 16, 25-8; Seward, Tapographia Hibernica; Smith, Kerry, pp. 94, 407; O.S. letters, Kerry, p. 96; Irish Folklore Commission, cxlvii. 116.

59 Fuller, J.F., ‘An exact relation of the persecutions, robberies and losses sustained by the protestants of Killmare in Ireland 1689’, in Cork Hist. Soc. Jn., series 2, ix. 175 Google Scholar.

60 Hore, , in U.J.A., series 1, vi. 155 Google Scholar; Kinahan, , in R.D.S. Scientific Proc., new series, v. pt 4, pp. 241, 274Google Scholar; Lewis, ii. 59; Seward, Topographia Hibernica.

61 Falkiner, Illustrations, p. 144.

62 C. Smith, The ancient and present state of Waterford (1774), p. 72.

63 Cal. Carew MSS, 1603-24, p. 194; Cal. S.P. Ire., 1611-14, p. 132.

64 Ibid., pp. 170, 370; G. Bennett, History of Bandon (1862), p. 27; Letters received by the East India Company from its servants in the east, ed. F. C. Danvers (1891), i.

65 Hudson, R.E., ‘Woodlands of West Cork 200 years ago’, in Cork Hist. Soc. Jn., series 2, viii. 115 Google Scholar.

66 Civil Survey, vi (Waterford). 291-377.

67 Ibid., p. 290.

68 Ibid., pp. 290, 338, 356-9, 362-4, 366-7, 377.

69 Cal. S.P. Ire., 1611-14, p. 170, 1615-25, p. 48; Cal. Carew MSS, 1603-24, p. 194.

70 Berry, H.F., ‘The manor and castle of Mallow in the days of the Tudors’, in Cork Hist. Soc. Jn., series 1, ii. no. 14, p. 23 Google Scholar.

71 ‘Historical and topographical notes’, in Cork Hist. Soc. Jn., series 2, xxi. 198.

72 Falkiner, Illustrations, p. 144.

73 Cal. S.P. Ire., 1611-14., pp. 1, 7, 147, 192; 1647-60, p. 75; Civil Survey, vi (Waterford). 3, 5, 12, 20.

74 Ibid., pp. 29, 57, 67.

75 Ibid., pp. 32, 45-50, 75, 77-8.

76 Ibid., pp. 90, 93-5, 100, 102, 104, 107-15, 137, 151, 164-5, 182, 190; C. Smith, The ancient and present state of Waterford (1774), p. 72.

77 Ibid., p. 89.

78 Ibid., p. 92.

79 Ibid., p. 89.

80 Young, A., Tour in Ire. (1780), i. 404 Google Scholar.

81 Civil survey, ix (Wexford). 203, 214, 222; P.R.O.I., Books of survey and distribution, Carlow, p. 90; Civil survey, viii (Kildare). 84, 86-7, 106, 109; O.S. letters, Carlow, p. 35; O’Meagher, J.C., ‘Diary of Dr Jones, 1650, scout-master-general to the commonwealth army’, in R.S.A.I. Jn., xxiii, pt 1, pp. 47-8Google Scholar; Cal. Carew MSS, 1603-24, p. 195.

82 Cal. S.P. Ire., 1598-9, p. 411; Hore, H.F., ‘Notes on a … map of Leix’, in Kilkenny Arch. Soc. Jn., new series, iv. 345-72Google Scholar.

83 Mason, W.S., Statistical account of Ire. (1814), i. 29 Google Scholar.

84 P.R.O.I., Books of survey and distribution, Carlow, pp. 37, 76.

85 Civil survey, ix (Wexford). 265.

86 Ibid., p. 218.

87 Ibid., pp. 260, 267, 270-2.

88 Wakefield, E., Account of Ire. (1812), i. 49 Google Scholar.

89 O.S. letters, Wicklow, p. 39; Seward, Topographica Hibernica.

90 Cal. S.P. Ire., 1608-10, p. 88.

91 Fanu, T.P. Le, ‘The royal forest of Glencree’, in R.S.A.I. Jn., xiii, pt 3, pp. 268, 274Google Scholar.

92 Prendergast, J.P., ‘The Tory war of Ulster’, in Kilkenny Arch. Soc. Jn., new series, vi. 35 Google Scholar.

93 Civil survey, vii (Dublin). 191, 223-4, 234-5, 241; Civil survey, v (Meath). 84, 90, 102, 108, 116, 149, 173, 186, 189-90, 204, 351.

94 O’Meagher, , in R.S.A.I. Jn., xxiii, pt 1, p. 51 Google Scholar.

95 H. E. Hore, in U.J.A., series 1, vi.

96 Lewis, Topog. dict. Ire., ii. 319.

97 Kinahan, , in R.D.S. Scientific Proc., new series, v, pt 4, pp. 244, 289Google Scholar.

98 Downing, R., ‘Phillipps MSS, 6681, county of Longford‘, in Ardaqh Antiq. Soc. Jn., i, no. 3, p. 22 Google Scholar.

99 Cal. Carew MSS, 1603-24, p. 381.

100 P.R.O.I., Books of survey and distribution, Longford, p. 138.

101 Cal. S.P. Ire., 1611-14, p. 317.

102 Ibid., p. 125.

103 R.I.A., O.S. MSS, Cavan, Drumgoon parish, box 19.

104 Cal. S.P. Ire., 1611-14, p. 124.

105 C. Coote, Statistical survey of Monaghan (1801), p. 30; Lewis, , Topog. dict. Ire., ii. 379, 381Google Scholar.

106 R.I.A., O.S. MSS, Monaghan, box 29; O.S. letters, Monaghan, PP. 33, 42.

107 R.I.A., O.S. MSS, Monaghan, Billybay, Aughaboy and Ematris parishes, box 49.

108 H.M.C., Portland MSS, i. 623-4.

109 Cal. S.P. Ire., 1601-3, p. 259.

110 Ibid., 1608-10, pp. 196-7.

111 Ibid., p. 479.

112 The name of these Irish outlaws changed to tory in the mid-seventeenth century. By 1670 the new name had passed into general usage.

113 T. W. Moody, ‘Redmond O’Hanlon’, in Belfast Natur. Hist. Soc. Proc., series 2, pp. 17-33.

114 Ibid., p. 26.

115 Civil survey, vi (Waterford). 290.

116 Dunlop, R., Commonwealth (1913), ii. 178, 192, 481, 664Google Scholar; Schariff, R.F., ‘The wolf in Ireland’, in Ir. Natur. Jn., xxxi. 133-6, xxxiii. 95Google Scholar.

117 Illustrations of this type of house can be seen in Londonderry and the London companies, ed. D. A. Chart (1928).

118 R.I.A., O.S. MSS, Londonderry, Ballyscullion parish.

119 T. W. Moody, The Londonderry plantation, 1609-41 (1939), p. 136; Henry, A., ‘The woods and trees of Ireland’, in Louth Arch. Soc. Jn., iii. 243 Google Scholar.

120 G. Hill, An historical account of the plantation of Ulster (1877), p. 57.

121 R. M. Young, Historical notes of old Belfast (1896), p. 41.

122 ‘Letter to Molyneux from Portadown’, in U.J.A., series 2, iv. 20.

123 H.G. Graham, Social life of Scotland in the eighteenth century (1937), pp. 196-7; 4 Anne c. 9, Stat. Ire., iv. 86-90. Gadds were bands or ropes of wood or twigs twisted together.

124 Advertisement for Ire., ed. G. O. Brien (1923), p. 24.

125 C. Smith, The ancient and present state of Cork, ed. R. Day (1893), p. 201.

126 Moody, Londonderry plantation, pp. 105, 349; P.R.O.N.I., T. 615, Harleian MSS, p. 58.

127 Cal. S.P. Ire., 1660-2, p. 429; ibid., 1666-8, p. 666.

128 Ibid., 1615-32, p. 351; 10 Charles 1, c. 23, Stat. Ire., ii. 84-5.

129 Lecky, Ire., i. 336.

130 Strips of timber used in the construction of barrels.

131 P. Cottingham to Salisbury, 12 Sept. 1608, P.R.O., S.P. 63/225.

132 Acts Privy Council, 1596-7, p. 299.

133 Cal. S.P. Ire., 1611-14, pp. 1, 65.

134 Pinkerton, W., ‘Contribution towards a history of Irish commerce’, in U.J.A., series 1, iii. 189 Google Scholar.

135 P.R.O.N.I., T. 615, Harleian MSS, p. 49.

136 Cal. S.P. Ire., 1633-47, p. 125.

137 These figures have been compiled from Lismore papers, ed. A. B. Grosart (1880).

138 Cal. Carew MSS, 1601-3, p. 109.

139 Moody, Londonderry plantation, pp. 146, 362.

140 Cal. S.P. Ire., 1633-47, p. 311.

141 Pinkerton, W., in U.J.A., series 1, iii. p. 189 Google Scholar.

142 Calendar of the court minutes of the East India Co., 1635-9 (1907), ed. E. B. Sainsbury, pp. 167, 169.

143 Cal. S.P. Ire., 1669-70, p. 54.

144 Ibid., 1633-47, p. 121.

145 W. Brereton, Travels in Ire., ed. E. Hawkins (1884), pp. 144, 146-51.

146 Cal. S.P. Ire., 1660-2, p. 429.

147 Ibid., 1669-70 pp. 54-5; J. O’Donovan, Economic history of livestock in Ire. (1940), p. 71.

148 McCracken, E., ‘Charcoal-burning ironworks in seventeenth and eighteenth century Ire.’, in U.J.A., xx. 123-38Google Scholar.

149 Hammersley, G., ‘The crown woods and their exploitation in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries’, in Inst. Hist. Research Bull., xxx. 136-61Google Scholar.

150 Consideration concerning balance of trade between English and forrain iron (1661), p. 2; Cal. S.P. Ire., 1633-47, p. 12. Coppice: a wood in which only the larger trees were cut, leaving the saplings and undergrowth. See Tansley, op. cit., i. 182-3, 270.

151 This figure is for recorded works. There were a great many more whose sites have been forgotten.

152 Armagh museum. A brief survey of the several leases and other holdings within the manor of Brownlows Derry in the county of Armagh, 1 May 1667; P.R.O.I., Claydon MSS, 1A.41.41; Cal. S.P. Ire., 1615-32, p. 505.

153 H. P. Schubert, History of the British iron and steel industry from c. 450 b.c. to 1775 a.d. (1958), p. 188.

154 G. Boate, A natural history of Ire. (1775), p. 67.

155 McParlan, Statistical survey of Leitrim (1802), p. 72.

156 Lismore papers, ed. A. B. Grosart, (1880), series 2, 1. 120-3, 129.