INDEX

Carlow County - Ireland Genealogical Projects (IGP TM)


The History and Antiquities of
the County of Carlow.

by John Ryan's  1833


CHAPTER VIII

Reign of Edward II. A.D. 1307 to A.D. 1327.

Edward the second, son of the late king, succeeded his father. In the year 1308, the king, having received the commands of the pope, caused all the Knights Templar’s in Great Britain and Ireland to be made prisoners, and their property sequestrated. Being a formidable body of men, it was necessary that much caution should be observed in the management of this affair.

Accordingly, the king issued a precept to all sheriffs in England, ordering them to cause a specified number of knights, or persons on whom he could place reliance, to assemble at a place named in the writ, on the Sunday next after Epiphany; and commanding the said sheriffs not to fail in their attendance on the occasion, in order to execute such matters as might then be communicated to them. This writ is dated at Westminster, 15th December, and first year of the reign of Edward II. The subsequent precept was conveyed to the sheriff, by a chaplain, who was authorized to administer an oath to that officer, by which he was bound to observe strict secresy as to the object of the assemblage, until the same was carried into effect. The instructions delivered to him were: that he should arrest all the Templar’s within his district; for which purpose he had authority to command the aid of as many of the knights, and others, as he deemed necessary. He was further ordered, to seize all their lands, cattle, and goods, and to cause an inventory of the same to be made in (presence of the warden of the place, whether he were Templar or not, and in presence of respectable persons of the neighbourhood; retaining one copy of the inventory himself, and leaving the other in the hands of the warden. And further, to place the said goods and cattle in safe keeping, and to have the lands manured and cultivated to the best advantage.

He was prohibited from committing the Templar’s to prison, or subjecting them to irons ; but was ordered to preserve them in safe custody in some convenient place. He was ordered to preserve charge of the goods and chattels, till he received the commandment of the king, as to their final disposal. And lastly, he was to render an account of his proceedings under the writ, to the Court of Exchequer, on the morrow after the purification. This last document was dated 20th December.

There was likewise a writ directed to John Wogan, lord justice of Ireland, informing him of the proceedings adopted in England for the apprehension of the Templar’s, and seizure of their goods, and commanding him to proceed in a similar manner against those in Ireland; but the time and place for the assembling of the sheriffs and their followers, was left to the discretion of the said lord justice and the treasurer of the exchequer. It was, however, ordered that the writ should be executed before the Templar’s could learn the proceedings against the members of the order in England.

In pursuance of these commands, the establishments of the knights Templar’s at Killarge and Ballymoon, in our county, were suppressed. In the fourth year of the reign of Edward II., a charter was granted by him to the town of Old Leighlin, of which the following is a translation. The privileges here granted were rendered imperatively necessary by the frequent incursions of the Irish, and the unprotected state of the town.

CHARTER GRANTED BY KING EDWARD II. TO THE BURGESSES Of OLD LEIGHLIN.

THE king to his well-beloved Adam le Bretoun health. ' Whereas, at the supplication of certain nobles of our realm of Ireland, and gentlemen of the town of Leighlin, we, for the public good and to resist the wickedness of the Irish living m the neighbourhood of Leighlin, have granted to the said men, a muragium (the grant for building walls) for enclosing their town aforesaid arid whereas the said men have come before our beloved and faithful Wogan, our lord justice of Ireland, on the Lord's day next following the feast of St. Valentine the martyr last past, supplicating at his throne the aforesaid muragium which we had so granted to them, we are pleased to grant unto you who have taken a certain stone tower near the aforesaid town, between the said town and the Irish aforesaid to complete the said tower and the aforesaid town become better fortified against the said Irish, to the great advantage of the said town and country, and especially because the Muragium aforesaid amount was to so small a sum of money. time allowed them because the said town cannot thereby be enclosed and the said tower may be erected with less expense than the said town could be surrounded with a stone wall.

And whereas it is found by enquiry made before our lord justice aforesaid, that it would be more for the advantage of the whole country aforesaid at the rate of ten marks per ani., and likewise of the said town at forty shillings per ani, if the said muragium were granted to you for building the tower aforesaid, than for enclosing the aforesaid tows, if you maintain for ever three men of arms and two hobillers for the defence of the aforesaid town and country. as you have engaged to keep and maintain before our said lord justice: we therefore grant unto you for the support of the aforesaid men at arms and hobillers, from the day of the completion of these presents, for the five years next following, to enjoy in the aforesaid town (he customs hereafter recited (then follows a long enumeration of tolls and customs with market privileges &c.) and therefore we permit you to exact these customs aforesaid in the said town, as well from burgesses of the said town as from others, to the end of the aforesaid term of years, after which period the said customs shall utterly cease and be extinct. In testimony whereof we, &c. Witness our lord justice aforesaid, in Waterford, this 4th day of March, in the fourth year of our reign. The unsettled state of our district, may further be collected from Sir John. a patent, dated third year of the reign of Edward II., 26th January, which notices the many robberies, depredations, & lately committed in the county of Carlow, and in order to check came, appoints J. de Bonevill, in his majesty's castle of Carlow, seneschal of Carlow and Kildare.

Nicholas Chevers, bishop of Leighlin, died at a very advanced age, on the 20th of July, 1309; having directed this see for a period of thirty-two years from the time of his restitution to the temporalities. After his death, John ('hovers, dean; and Ralph le Brun, chancellor of Leighlin, forged various grants, to which they affixed the Episcopal seal. But the fraud was subsequently discovered, and the delinquents underwent suitable punishment.

Maurice of Blanchvill, canon of Leighlin, being lawfully elected, was duly confirmed on the 13th November, 1309. He governed this see during a period of nearly eleven years, and departed this life in the year 1320.

Miler le Poer succeeded. The king having issued his license to the dean and chapter, they proceeded to an election, when this individual, who held the office of chanter of Leighlin, was the object of their choice ; on the 5th November, 1326. He was descended of a noble family. On the 29th January following, he was duly confirmed by his metropolitan, Alexander Bickner, archbishop of Dublin. He was afterwards (as Friar Clynn says,) consecrated at Waterford, on Palm-Sunday, 1321, and held the direction of the see of Leighlin for upwards of twenty years.

It appears that the noble lords who possessed the palatinate of Carlow, having large estates in England, directed but a small portion of their attention to the care of their Irish territory, and did not even, in some cases, visit this country. The}', for a time, collected, in an irregular and imperfect manner, the issues and profits, of their principality, until, at length, they observed that these revenues daily decreased in amount; and were convinced, that some effectual steps must be taken to secure their rights, if the total loss of them would be averted. But, unfortunately, the remedy adopted proved worse than the disease. They retained one of the Kavanaghs, as a kind of military agent, who might employ the law of the land, or the sword, as circumstances would require. Kavanagh was thus placed in a situation peculiarly tempting to a man of turbulent and ambitious character ; and we should not feel much surprise, that in about twenty years after his appointment, (and commencement of the present reign), he seized ,upon a great portion of the counties of Carlow and Wexford, of which he declared he was the rightful owner. (7) He further assumed the title of MacMorrough, and speedily acquired much power; to which he added, by an alliance with the Byrnes and Tooles. Their combined forces were shortly afterwards found sufficient to secure a great portion of the district situate between Carlow and the Irish channel, by which the authority of the English was much for centuries afterwards.

In the sixth year of this reign, Simon Lombard and Hugh Tallon granted to the eremites following the rule of St. Augustin (commonly called Austin Friars) a house and three acres of land in the village of St. John, near Tullow. A.D. 1314. The knights hospitallers, or of St. John, were this year invested with the lands of the suppressed order of Templar’s. The king had before received four hundred pounds, (a large sum in those days), being the produce of their goods. A.D. 1315. Adam was prior of the Carmelite monastery at Leighlin Bridge. The lord justice, Sir Edmund le Butler, was created earl of Carrick, (A.D. I3l6), and John Fitz-Thomas was raised to the dignity of earl of Kildare. Selden remarks, that the earl of Kildare's patent is the most ancient form of creation he had seen. The said lord justice, earl of Carrick, defeated MacMorrough in an engagement at Ballylethan.

About this period Edward Bruce, brother of the king of Scotland invaded this country, and with his army passed through Castledermot and Gowran, laying waste the country m his progress. It is probable that the county of Carlow suffered on thin occasion, though no specific mention is made of the circumstance.

The bridge of Leighlin was built in the year 1320, by Maurice Jake, or Jakis, canon of Kildare. Would that we had more deeds of this useful and praiseworthy character to record It is the most pleasing part of the historian's task, to hand down an account of the actions of good men, to a posterity, who we hope are not ungrateful, A. D. 1323. This year Donnell, son of Arthur MacMorrough," a slip of the royal family," (as Campion calls him,) raised forces, and displayed his banner within two miles of the city of Dublin. He was speedily taken prisoner by Sir Henry Traherne and Walter de Valle, who received one hundred and ten pounds for this service. Donnell paid Traherne two hundred pounds sterling, to save his life; after which, he was conveyed a prisoner to the castle of Dublin. O'Nolan, and twenty-five of his followers, were killed on the occasion. The O' Nolans seem to have laid claim to the barony of Forth, in our county.

It is worthy of note here, that Pope John XXII. relieved the king's dominions in Ireland from the tribute of Peter-pence, which had been enforced from the time of the conquest to the present year.

Cox states, that the barony of Idrone, (the property of a member of the family of Carew) was in this reign seized by one of the Kavanagh’s. But this, I think, is an error. The Kavanagh’s might, and probably did take forcible possession of a portion of the county, as already stated; but regarding Idrone, the legal owner seems, on the best evidence, to have possessed it, title the- reign of Edward III.; under which period we shall recur to the subject.

We learn, that the Sabbath was very negligently observed in Ireland at this, period; the markets, in several places, being held on Sunday; but, at Carlow, the market was now fixed for another day of the week. A.D. 1326. This year, Friar William de Tisudelm was preceptor of the establishment of Knights hospitallers at Killarge, or Killergy, in our county. And the same year, Friar William de Fyndrum was preceptor. — Ballymoon seems to have been deserted on the .suppression already noticed.

("Spelling are as seen in the book")


CHAPTER IX

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