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178 Stephen Dunford: The Journey of The IrIsh
ordinary schools, hospitals, orphanages and places of refuge for the poor and needy, and their destruction caused much hardship. But it should not be overlooked that at this time, particularly in Ireland, monasticism was but a pale shadow of its former glory. The congre- gations of both monks and nuns were growing smaller. Many of the abbeys and convents were actually in the ownership of rich laymen, as one chronicler noted ‘commendators who siphoned off most of the income and paid a prior to maintain the religious life of the place...anxiety about the future of the monasteries was most keenly expressed by these lords who feared that their profitable control might be taken away.’ But that being said to the bulk of the inhabitants of Ireland and also to many people abroad, the suppression of the Irish monasteries aroused great anger and dismay and was generally perceived as being a terrible loss, not only to the country, but also to civilization in general.
Furthermore, people were equally disturbed by shocking reports of a new increase in acts of Protestant zealousness, and undertakings such as Henry’s appointed Archbishop George Browne’s public collection and destruction of a host of venerated Irish relics, including the most famous and memorable ‘An Bachall Iosa’-‘The Jesus Staff,’ believed by many to have been St. Patrick’s crozier, became another source of grave and smouldering contention. To crown it all, if you’ll excuse the pun, Henry, having severed all connections with Rome felt that he should now have a new title.
Since the time of Henry 11 the Kings of England had styled themselves ‘Lords’ of Ire- land, claiming that this title had been conferred by the Pope on Henry and his successors. But in 1541, a Parliament remarkable both as to its composition and its chief enactment, was summoned at Dublin on the orders of Henry V111, by the then Viceroy, Sir Anthony St. Leger. Unlike many previous assemblies, this Parliament which was attended by several powerful Irish chieftains, enacted that ‘the Kings Highness, his heirs and successors, Kings of England, should henceforth be called Kings of Ireland, the said title to be united and knit to the Imperial Crown of the realm of England.’
As we already know, aiming at absolute power by duplicating the example of many European monarchs, the Tudor Kings had already deprived the nobles, the clergy, and the common people of England of many of their rights. Henry V111, following the same policy in Ireland, curbed the power of the nobles of the Sean-Ghaill and claimed supremacy in both spiritual and temporal matters. Many princes of the Gaedhil, however, and not a few of the leaders of the Sean-Ghaill still regarded themselves as independent of the King, and
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