The Tudors in Ireland (Part 1)
The Fall of the Fitzgeralds of
Kildare
The Wars of the Roses
In the fifteenth century, England was
torn by a terrible civil war. Two
branches of the royal family – the
House of York and the House of
Lancaster – fought for the throne of
England. The badge of the House of
York was a white rose and the badge of
the House of Lancaster was a red rose.
The wars became known as the Wars
of the Roses.
In 1485, the Lancastrian claimant,
Henry Tudor, defeated and killed the
last Yorkist king, Richard III, at the
Battle of Bosworth Field. Henry Tudor
became King Henry VII. To make peace
with the Yorkists, he married Richard’s
niece, Elizabeth of York. The red and
white roses were joined together as a
symbol of peace
Henry VII
The first Tudor King, Henry VII was a
very clever man. He knew that many
people in England and Ireland did not
support his claim to the throne. Two
“pretenders” rose up in rebellion
against him
(i) Lambert Simnel pretended to be
the true Yorkist king. Henry
captured him, and put him to
work as a kitchen boy in the royal
kitchen.
(ii) Perkin Warbeck was far more
dangerous, as many people
actually believed he was the
younger of the “Princes in the
Tower”. Henry had him executed.
Both Simnel and Warbeck got
great support in Ireland, where
the House of York had been
popular.
The Fitzgeralds of Kildare
The Fitzgeralds, who were Earls of
Kildare, were the most powerful family
in Ireland. Gearóid Mór Fitzgerald, 8th
Earl of Kildare, was the Lord Deputy of
Ireland. He was very powerful, and
some even said that he was a wizard!
Henry removed Gearóid Mór as Lord
Deputy, because Gearóid Mór was
sympathetic to the House of York. He
sent Sir Edward Poynings to replace
him. Gearóid’s friends rose up in
rebellion, and Poynings could not
control the country. When Henry’s
ministers complained about Gearóid
Mór, saying “all Ireland cannot rule
this man!” Henry replied “Then let this
man rule all Ireland!”. Henry allowed
Gaeróid Mór back to Ireland as deputy,
where he was shot in a skirmish with
the O’Mores. He was succeeded by his
son, Gearóid Óg
Gearóid Óg Fitzgerald
Gearóid Óg took over from his father
in 1513. He was a strong and
aggressive leader, but he soon
annoyed the new Tudor king, Henry
VIII, who was determined to control
the Irish nobility. Gearóid Óg’s
enemies, led by the Butlers of
Ormond, plotted against him, and
Henry called him to England on several
occasions to answer charges. On the
last occasion, in 1534, he was already
ill from wounds received in battle. He
died in the Tower of London (some say
he died of grief after hearing about his
son’s rebellion.
The Rebellion of Silken
Thomas
When Gearóid Óg was summoned to
England, he left his son Thomas, Lord
Offaly, in charge. Thomas, known as
Silken Thomas because of his love of
fine clothes, was young and quicktempered. His enemies spread a
rumour that Henry VIII had executed
Gearóid Óg. When Thomas heard this,
he flung his sword on the council table
in Dublin saying “I am none of Henry’s
deputy, I am his foe!”
Thomas lost a lot of support when he
had Archybishop Allen of Dublin
executed at Clontarf. Henry sent over
Sir William Skeffington, who laid siege
to the great Fitzgerald stronghold of
Maynooth Castle. When Skeffington
captured the castle, he had all the
garrison massacred. This was called
the “Pardon of Maynooth”.
The end of the Fitzgeralds
When Maynooth Castle fell, Thomas
realised that he could not win. He had
hoped that more Catholics would
support him, in opposition to Henry’s
Reformation, but as Henry had not yet
been excommunicated, he got little
support.
Although the new Lord Deputy, Lord
Leonard Grey, promised Thomas safe
conduct, he was sent to the Tower
with his five uncles, and they were
executed at Tyburn in 1537. The last
surviving Fitzgerald, a young stepbrother of Thomas’s called Gerald
Fitzgerald, was kept safe by his mother
Elizabeth, who was married to Manuxs
O’Donnell, Prince of Tír Chonaill, but
the political power of the Kildare
Fitzgeralds was at an end. This was to
be a warning to the Irish and Norman
nobility that Henry VIII meant
business!
Surrender and Regrant
Following Silken Thomas’s rebellion,
Henry VIII decided that he needed to
control Ireland more firmly. He knew
that a military conquest would be
difficult and expensive, so he decided
on a more subtle plan. This was called
“Surrender and Regrant”.
Unlike previous English Kings, who had
called themselves “Lord of Ireland”,
Henry declared that he “King of
Ireland”. He offered an English title
(earl, lord, count etc.) to any Irish lord
who would surrender his lands to him
and swear fealty. Henry would then
“re-grant” the lord his lands back. The
Irish nobility liked the idea because it
meant that they now owned their own
lands, instead of holding them on
behalf of the clan. Henry liked the idea
because he could now legally
confiscate their lands if they rebelled
against him! Surrender and Regrant
worked well as a policy.