Page 167 - Demo

Chapter Six 167 sult of this arrangement, unsurprisingly, much confusion abounded-hence the saying, ‘They
dwelt by the west of the law that dwelt beyond the Barrow.’
In the North there were the O Neills of Tyrone and the O Donnells of Donegal; in Con- nacht, which it is said was as Irish as it ever was, were the O Connors and the MacWilliams -the de Burgos; in Munster the O Briens, Mac Carthys, the southern Fitzgeralds; in Leinster, the Fitzgeralds, the Butlers and the MacMurroughs, so its probably true to say that having acquired a Gaelic tinge, the Sean-Ghaill were now as opposed to English rule as the native princes. And while they did not wish to sever entirely the bond with England, in fact they were proud of retaining their Old English identity, yet, the Sean-Ghaill resented any English interference, especially any attempt to limit their own powers. Hindsight paints a collective picture of the position of these leaders as being rather like that of a British dominion of the present-day-a part of the British Commonwealth, but having total and complete self- government.
The most powerful of the Sean-Ghaill families during this time were the Earls of Des- mond, Kildare, and Ormond. The Earls of Desmond were descendants of the Fitzgeralds who came over with the irst invaders. They were granted territories south of the Shannon estuary embracing the present county of Limerick and most of Kerry, and gradually spread their power over the greater part of the south-west. The Earls of Kildare were another branch of the Fitzgerald family who ruled an extensive fertile territory adjoining the Pale. The Butlers, Earls of Ormond, had their principal stronghold in Kilkenny and were lords of a large portion of the south-east of Ireland. So therefore, if, as we now know, the out- standing feature of this epoch of Ireland’s history was the gradual contraction of the area over which English inluence dominated, it is only right and proper that we should reference some of its more conspicuous political characters.
Sir John Talbot, First Earl of Shrewsbury. Known posthumously as “the Watchdog of England” Talbot arrived in Ireland as Lord Lieutenant or Viceroy in 1414. Described as being an energetic and audacious soldier, he was the Talbot that commanded against the Maid of Orleans –Joan of Arc. He attempted to regain some of the territory lost by the Pale but in doing so he levied the dreaded ‘Coyne and Livery’on the population; in other words ‘food for man and horse.’ Consequently, when he returned to England in 1419, it is told that he carried with him “the curses of many.” Talbot illed the position of Lord-Lieutenant