During the latter part of the reign of Mary, the north of Ireland was agitated by the machinations of O'Neil, and the south by the turbulence of O'Brien. On the accession of Elizabeth, O'Neil having made his peace through the earl of Kildare, repaired to London, where he graci ously received by the queen. His submission, however, was short and insincere ; for as soon as he had assembled his forces, he appeared openly in arms, while, at the same time, he had recourse to intrigue. But as neither availed him, and he saw himself surrounded by the royal troops and their Irish auxiliaries, while he was deserted by a large portion of his army, he surrendered himself to a body of Scotch who had landed in Ulster, by whom he was as sassinated in 1567.
.The disputes between the Geraldines and the Butlers :till continued ; and, in an atttempt made by the Earl of Des mond to seize some lands of the latter-, he was surrounded, taken prisoner, and sent to England; from which he was sent back to Dublin. His party, in the mean time, rose in rebellion. This induced him to attempt his escape, which he effected ; but he deemed it prudent not to join the rebels at first. His intentions, however, being suspect ed, he was attacked as an enemy, and reduced to the most abject state of misery, so that at length he implored, as an act of mercy, that he might be sent a prisoner to London, but in vain. Under these circumstannes, hope revived in his breast at the intelligence of the arrival of a body of Spanish and Italian forces, with a large quantity of arms. This hope was not of long continuance, for the foreigners were defeated, and being deemed freebooters, were massa cred by the command of the lord deputy. The Earl of Desmond was thus compelled to hide himself in the most unsuspected places ; but even here he was not safe, for he was discovered by an Irishman, who cut off his head, and brought it to the all of Ormond.
Civil wars in all countries are carried on with the utmost violence and cruelty ; and in the state in which Ireland was at this time, this civil war, or rebellion, as it is generally styled, was rendered horrible, especially in 'Munster, by every species of cruelty, the features and effects of which were heightened by famine.
Elizabeth at length directed that sagacity and policy to the affairs of Ireland, which she had too long withheld from them ; and, in 1584, Sir John Perrot was appointed lord de puty: for the high and arduous duties of his situation he was amply qualified, both by experience and by talents and dis position. His plan was simple, but could it have been car ried into effect, it would have been decisively and perma nently advantageous. He first visited those parts of the country which had always been the scene of the most vio lent disturbances, and this journey having convinced him that the plan which he meditated was well calculated to produce the effects he wished, he resolved, without loss ot time, to put it into execution. It consisted in the gradual
introduction of the English law, administered with imparti ality and steadiness, into all parts of Ireland. This ought to have been done before, but it had not ; and Perrot, much to his chagrin and disappointment, soon found that the English government were not disposed to furnish him with the means of doing it now. Besides this source of disap pointment, another awaited him, in the proceedings of the parliament, which strenuously set themselves against him,' solely because he wished to act according to law, justice, and sound policy, towards the native Irish. Perrot, how ever, still persevered, and did as much good as he could with his limited means, and under the prejudice and oppo sition by which he was encountered. To these sources of disquiet others were added, for disturbances broke out in Connaught and Ulster; but such was the influence of his cha racter, that, before his departure, the suspected Irish chief tains obeyed his summons, and gave hostages for their fi delity ; and his successor, Fitzwilliarn, found Ireland tran quil when he assumed the government.
That it should remain so was a matter of serious mo ment to Elizabeth, for the Spanish armada was at this time at sea, and the Irish, it might justly be apprehended, would rise up in arms, unless prudently managed, if the Spaniards were even reported to have succeeded in their object. These considerations, however, did not weigh with Fitzwil on the contrary, by his conduct he exasperated even those Irish chieftains who were well disposed to the English.
The disaffected chieftains gladly seized the opportunity which this inal-aiministration presented, of forwarding their views. At the head of them, in the north, was Hugh O'Neil, than whom few persons were better qualified,at once to muse and direct the Irish, and to of asteady and taugt.• ous opposition to the English. But though his`-designs had been long formed, yet he contrived, by his caution, and apparent devotion to the English cause, to elude their sus picions ; and when they were raised, to remove them, more than once, before circumstances in a manner arced him to undisguised rebellion. Before this event took place, dis turbances broke out in Connaught, headed by one °Mon ne', a Scotch adventurer, which distracted the attention, and divided the forces of the English. O'Neil carried his dissimulation so far us even to attack O'Donnel ; and though he relied greatly on some Spanish forces which he knew were to be sent into Ireland, yet he also sent the letter an nouncing the promise of these forces from the Spanish king to the Lord Deputy and council. But while he was thus, to all appearance, acting the part of a loyal subject, he was exerting all his endeavours to render his rebellion, when he should deem it prudent, or be forced to engage in it, more formidable and general.