The Rebels of Ireland: The Dublin Saga Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Acknowledgements

  Praise

  INTRODUCTION

  PLANTATION

  1597

  1607

  1614

  1626

  The holy well

  1637

  CROMWELL

  1640

  1646

  DROGHEDA

  1649

  THE STAFF OF SAINT PATRICK

  1689

  ASCENDANCY

  1723

  GEORGIANA

  1742

  1744

  GRATTAN

  1771

  CROPPIES

  1796

  EMMET

  1799

  FAMINE

  1828

  1843

  VICTORIA

  1848

  RISING

  1891

  1903

  1909

  1916

  About the Author

  ALSO BY EDWARD RUTHERFURD

  Copyright Page

  Praise for EDWARD RUTHERFURD

  New York Times bestselling author

  “Edward Rutherfurd has written about Dublin with love. [A]n expertly researched . . . and highly readable account of a place he has grown to know well . . . a giant, sprawling, easy-to-read story told in James Michener fashion.”

  —MAEVE BINCHY, on the Princes of Ireland

  “Leaps through the centuries . . . a sweeping, carefully reconstructed portrait of a nation.” —The New York Times

  “Spellbinding . . . [a] page-turning Dublin saga . . . Rutherfurd does a magnificent job of packaging a crackling good yarn within the digestible overview of complex historical circumstances and events. . . . Ambitious in scope, teeming with a huge cast of finely drawn and realized characters, and dripping with authentic historical detail, [this] eminently readable narrative will satisfy the appetites of discerning historical fiction aficionados.” —Booklist

  “The closest thing we’ve got to a James Michener successor.”

  —The Seattle Times

  “Rutherfurd literally personifies history.” —New York Daily News

  “Recommended . . . [Rutherfurd’s] stories are packed with meticulous detail, flowing story lines, swashbuckling action, and believable characters deftly woven among those of historical record.”

  —Library Journal

  ALSO BY EDWARD RUTHERFURD

  Sarum

  Russka

  London

  The Forest

  The Princes of Ireland

  To the memory

  of

  Margaret Mary Motley

  de Renéville

  born

  Sheridan

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I AM GRATEFUL to the following, whose kind cooperation and professionalism were at all times of the greatest assistance: the director and staff of the National Library of Ireland; the director and curatorial staff of the National Museum of Ireland; the librarian and staff of Trinity College Library; the management and staff of the Office of Public Works at Dublin Castle.

  I gratefully acknowledge permission to quote the Orange Toast from Personal Sketches and Recollections, published by Ashfield Press.

  Special thanks are due to Sarah Gearty, of the Royal Irish Academy, for kindly preparing maps, and to Mrs. Heidi Boshoff, without whose astounding proficiency in the typing of the manuscript this book could not have been completed.

  I owe a large debt of gratitude to the following, whose help, guidance, and technical advice were invaluable during this project: Joseph Byrne, author of War and Peace, the Survival of the Talbots of Malahide; Dr. Declan Downey, lecturer at the School of History, University College, Dublin; Professor Colm Lennon, Department of Modern History, National University of Ireland, Maynooth; James McGuire, editor of the Royal Irish Academy’s Dictionary of Irish Biography. I am grateful for having a chance to read in its entirety the unpublished thesis of Maighread M. B. Ni Mhurchadha, Contending Neighbours: Society in Fingal 1603–60.

  But above all, I am indebted to three scholars without whose guidance, patience, and encouragement this project could not have been completed. Between them they have read and helped me revise this manuscript. Any errors that remain are mine alone. I thank Dr. Raymond Gillespie, senior lecturer in the Department of Modern History, National University of Ireland, Maynooth; Dr. James Kelly, of St. Patrick’s College, Drumcondra; and Dr. T. P. O’Neill of University College, Dublin.

  Finally, as always, I thank my agent, Gill Coleridge, without whom I should be entirely lost, and I thank my wonderful editors, Oliver Johnson at Century and William Thomas at Doubleday, whose exemplary thoroughness and creative responses to problems have so hugely improved this manuscript.

  INTRODUCTION

  THE PRINCES OF IRELAND follows the destinies of six fictional Irish families:

  The O’Byrnes, who spring from the union of Conall, descendant of a High King of Ireland, and Deirdre, daughter of a local chieftain at the time of Saint Patrick.

  The MacGowans, pre-Celtic craftsmen and merchants.

  The Harolds and the Doyles, both Viking families who become farmers and merchants.

  The Walshes, Flemish knights originally, who settle in Wales before crossing to Ireland at the time of Strongbow’s Anglo-Norman invasion in the twelfth century.

  And the Tidy family, craftsmen and small local officials, who arrive to try their luck in medieval Ireland.

  The Princes of Ireland, the first book in Edward Rutherfurd’s magnificent Dublin Saga, swept the reader through more than a thousand years of Irish history, telling Ireland’s story through the adventures and fates of several Irish families, whose stories continue in this volume.

  The Saga opens in A.D. 430, with the stirring and tragic tale of Conall, nephew of the High King at Tara, and his fierce love for the beautiful Deirdre. When the High King chooses Deirdre as a second wife, the lovers flee. They live a blissful year in hiding, but there comes an inevitable reckoning. Conall frees Deirdre from her obligation to the High King, but at the cost of his life: in an ancient druidic ritual, he agrees to sacrifice himself to save his love and heal the land from strife. Here we see pagan Ireland in all its mythic glory, a land of warriors and ecstatic festivals, where clan warfare is kept in check by the wiles of the High King while druids augur the fate of the people.

  Twenty years later Deirdre is living in the small settlement of Dubh Linn with her son, Morna. He bears a striking resemblance to Conall, his father. A group of horsemen arrive, led by a greying man whom Deirdre recognizes as one of the druids who presided over Conall’s sacrifice. But the druid has changed—he is now a follower of Patrick, a man who preaches a strange new religion that honors only one god and rejects the practice of human sacrifice. In the person of Saint Patrick, Rutherfurd shows how the saint’s genius and humanity converted the people of Ireland to the Christian religion.

  The cataclysm that transformed Celtic Ireland came in the ninth century, with the Viking invasions. Arriving in fearsome longboats, the Vikings were famous as plunderers of monasteries. But many of these invaders chose to stay in Ireland, setting up fertile farmsteads and burgeoning ports. They also created an enduring place name for the land: by converting the island’s Celtic name (Eriu) into their own tongue, the Nordic name Ire-land was born. The Vikings also transformed Dubh Linn’s name into Dyflin, which became the richest port in all of Ireland. This merging of Scandinavian and Celtic cultures is brought to life in The Princes of Ireland through the story of Harold and Caoilinn. He is a Dyflin shipbuilder who follows ancient Norse gods, and whose anc
estors were among the bravest Norwegian warriors. She is a beautiful and spirited descendant of Conall, and she cannot imagine marrying a man who is not a Christian.

  They live during a time when the High Kingship of Ireland is in dispute. In 999, the great King Brian Boru launched a military campaign to unite Ireland under his command. In the novel, he gains a loyal follower in Harold. Yet Brian’s kingship of Ireland is opposed: many of his fellow Irishmen are against him. Caoilinn hates him.

  Fourteen years after Brian Boru’s rise to power, the recently widowed Harold and Caoilinn begin a tender courtship, but it falls apart when she learns of Harold’s allegiance to King Brian. The reign of Brian ends when he is slain by Viking invaders during the historic Battle of Clontarf. Though Brian Boru decisively won the battle, staving off further Viking raids, his death made it a Pyrrhic victory for the Irish. In the ensuing peace, Harold the Norseman and Caoilinn the Celt put their differences aside and wed happily.

  In 1167, a century after the Norman conquest of England, King Henry II sets the stage for the annexation of Ireland by England. King Henry himself belongs to the Plantagenet dynasty from Anjou, in France. Henry allows one of his magnates—the clever, calculating Strongbow—to carve out English settlements in Ireland. Rutherfurd captures this turbulent transition by introducing a young Welsh soldier of Flemish descent named Peter FitzDavid, who sails to Ireland with Strongbow.

  Peter befriends a Dublin family descended from Caoilinn. The patriarch is a married priest with children (practices not uncommon for a priest in the Celtic Irish Church). Peter is intrigued by Conn’s attractive daughter, Fionnuala. She doesn’t hesitate in sparking a brief affair with the well-mannered soldier from England. Their trysts end after Strongbow asks Peter to recruit her as a spy and Fionnuala unwittingly provides information leading to a humiliating defeat for the High King, one of many blows lying in store for the Irish at the hands of a powerful new master.

  In 1171, King Henry travels to Ireland personally, accompanied by 4,500 troops, for the purpose of reminding Strongbow that no matter how many victories he scores, he must always submit to the king. After the English victories in Ireland, the Pope sends a letter of congratulation to King Henry, commending him for his military triumphs in subduing the Irish. The Pope makes it clear to Irish clergymen that their kinsmen have won no favor with Rome. In the ensuing years, the king rewards his English invaders with copious amounts of Irish property. Peter is eventually granted ownership of Fionnuala’s family estate in reward for two decades of loyal service to the crown. In a scene depicting the anguish of these transactions, Fionnuala demands that Peter allow her brother to continue living on the land that has been in their family for hundreds of years. Peter is unmoved, and agrees to let her brother remain only if he pays timely rent. Now married to an O’Byrne, she warns Peter that her children may one day come down from the hills and seize the land that is rightfully theirs.

  By 1370, the English in the Dublin region are living in a state of constant friction with the Irish in the hinterland. Rutherfurd illustrates this in a suspenseful vignette involving the tiny but strategically located fishing village of Dalkey. Nearby, the Justiciar in Dublin has installed John Walsh’s family at the ancient castle of Carrickmines to create another English stronghold against Irish resistance. Rumor spreads that the O’Byrnes are planning a raid on Carrickmines. The warning travels to the Justiciar, who convenes a group of advisors that includes Walsh as well as Doyle of Dublin, who made a fortune in the wine trade. Doyle proposes that Carrickmines be fortified with troops, including the only squadron stationed at Dalkey, to set a trap for the O’Byrnes. In reality, Doyle has secretly plotted to create this diversion. While a staged, minor scuffle ensues at Carrickmines, Dalkey is left unattended. This gives Doyle, the descendant of Danish pirates, a tantalizing opportunity for smuggling; colluding with other residents of Dalkey, he unloads the valuable cargo of three ships under the cover of night, thereby avoiding massive tariffs.

  The fifteenth century in England is marked by the Wars of the Roses, bloody feuds between rival branches of the Plantagenet royal House. Though the wars culminate in 1485 with mortal defeat for Richard III and victory for Henry Tudor, an Anglo-Irish faction continues to back the Yorkist cause. They crown a young pretender, who claims to be the Earl of Warwick, as the new King of England and set sail for England, plotting to topple King Henry. The disastrous results only lead to further subjection in Ireland, which is divided between those living within the Pale (Dublin’s surrounding counties, dominated by the English) and the more Irish world, beyond the Pale. Through interlocking plots we follow the lives of four sixteenth-century families: the Tidys, the Walshes, the Doyles, and the O’Byrnes.

  For those within the Pale, scrupulous English appearance was essential. These codes are vividly portrayed when Henry Tidy’s fiancée, Cecily, is arrested for wearing a scarf that signals her alliance with the Irish. Henry was hoping to apply for a franchise soon, to become a freeman of Dublin. Alderman Doyle helps get the charges dropped, but he warns Henry to be careful; the revelation that his fiancée is Irish might ruin his chances. This seemingly minor incident bodes the schisms that will divide Dublin society in decades to come.

  This precarious political climate is felt in the Walsh household as well. William Walsh tells his wife, Margaret, that his work as an attorney is going to take him into the far south of Ireland. He warns her to keep his trip confidential; though his assignment there is legitimate, plots are brewing against King Henry VIII, and spies might think he is visiting rural Munster for more sinister reasons. But Margaret reveals the Munster secret to Joan Doyle, wife of the alderman. William is subsequently denied a chance to run for Parliament, though John Doyle does gain a seat. Margaret’s distrust for Joan— compounded by long-standing rumors that the Doyles cheated Joan’s family out of land—cause her to hate the other woman.

  But it is King Henry VIII’s momentous decision to annul his marriage to his Spanish wife, Catherine of Aragon, that will change Ireland’s history. The Pope has granted annulments before, but Catherine’s nephew has just become Holy Roman Emperor. The Pope dare not offend the Hapsburg monarch in favor of an upstart Tudor king. Henry VIII breaks with the Pope and the Reformation in England—and Ireland—has begun.

  The spurning of the Pope also piques the cultural differences between Henry and Cecily Tidy. At an elaborate Corpus Christi Day pageant, Cecily blurts out that the new queen is a heretic; she then says the king will burn in hell. Henry Tidy is aghast, and as fate would have it, she has made these proclamations before a figure who will soon rouse the Irish into taking up arms against the king. He is Lord Thomas Fitzgerald, an influential member of the aristocracy who wears the finest silk tunics available and is hence called Silken Thomas.

  Soon after the Corpus Christi incident, Silken Thomas withdraws his English loyalty and in essence proclaims himself the new protector of Ireland. Like many of his countrymen who envision a glorious renewal of Gaelic dominance in Ireland, Sean O’Byrne is thrilled by this turn of events and even pays a call to the Walshes, asking William to swear his loyalty to Silken Thomas.

  Cecily Tidy joins in the fervor as well, calling out to Thomas from a high window and shouting a string of pledges that echo in the street. Her public oaths to the Fitzgeralds horrify her husband. He knows that she has now ruined any chance he might have had in rising through the ranks of English power brokers.

  The Doyles continue to oppose the Fitzgeralds in favor of the pro-Tudor Butlers.

  Concerned about the looming battles, Alderman Doyle decides Joan would be safer in Dalkey and makes plans for her to be escorted there. He doesn’t realize that Margaret has crafted a vengeful plan of her own, arranging for Sean O’Byrne to kidnap Joan on the road and hold her for a ransom to be shared equally between Margaret and the O’Byrnes. But the raid does not go as planned. Joan is unharmed, but one of Sean’s sons is killed. When William Walsh hears the news, he reveals to his wife that Joan has recently
shown incredible generosity toward him, offering a loan to help with his dire financial circumstances. Margaret feels ashamed when she realizes she has misinterpreted all of Joan’s seemingly cruel actions and spurned a woman whose intentions were actually never anything but kind.

  For the O’Byrnes, however, more strife is in store. Sean and Eva have been raising a foster child named Maurice, who was born into the powerful Fitzgerald family. When Maurice is no longer a child, Lady Fitzgerald announces that Sean O’Byrne is his father; this is why she put the child in Sean’s care. In the wake of Eva’s fury and humiliation, Maurice flees to Dublin. There in the heart of the English Pale, a family friend advises him to erase all Irish traces of his name. Thus Maurice Fitzgerald, whose lineage includes princely O’Byrnes, noble Walshes, courageous Conall, and centuries of chieftains, becomes Maurice Smith.

  It becomes clear that the romantic revolution of Silken Thomas’s dreams are receiving no support from the continent; Henry VIII sends in troops, and in 1536 the Irish Parliament passes measures renouncing the Pope and swearing allegiance to the Tudor king. Seventy-five of the men who had acted with Silken Thomas are sentenced to execution. The fall of the Fitzgeralds signals an irrevocable defeat for all of Ireland.

  The Princes of Ireland closes with the image of Cecily Tidy gazing in horror as a fire blazes in front of Christ Church Cathedral. Icons are being publicly burned in an attempt to purge Ireland of Catholicism, a practice that would herald new battles for the very soul of the island as politics and religion begin their fiery mingling. Rutherfurd paints an ominous concluding scene in which ornate relics are added to the pyre, and the Bachall Iosa—the jewel-encrusted reliquary of the Staff of Saint Patrick himself, one of the holiest and most awesome relics in Ireland—disappears forever. It is a haunting moment, destined to transform the descendants of princes into rebels.