Intro A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M(1) | M(2) | M(3) | N | O(1) | O(2) | O(3) | P | Q | R | S(1) | S(2) | T | U | V | W(1) | W(2) | X | Y | Z | Addenda

Fachtna, Saint, was established as first Bishop of Ross before 570, having been previously Abbot of Molana, a monastery on an island in the river Blackwater, in the County of Waterford. His school at Ross [Ross Carbery, in the County of Cork] was one of the most celebrated in Ireland, and continued to be so esteemed even after his death, which took place in the forty- sixth year of his age, and towards the close of the 6th century. His festival is the 14th of August.

Farquhar, George, actor and dramatist, was born at Londonderry in 1678, and received his education at Trinity College, whence he was expelled for a jest on a sacred exercise. Through the influence of Wilks, the actor, he obtained an engagement at Smock-alley Theatre, at a salary of 20s. a week. After two years, however, he left the stage, in consequence of having, in the course of a performance, accidentally wounded a brother actor. He accompanied Wilks to London, where the Earl of Orrery gave him a commission in his regiment. In 1698 he published Love and a Bottle. It was eminently successful, and other popular plays followed from his pen, such as The Constant Couple, Sir Harry Wildair. About 1700 he served in Holland with his regiment. Ultimately selling out of the army, he was reduced to great misery, notwithstanding the popularity of his plays. He died in April 1707, aged 29, and was buried in the churchyard of St. Martin's- in-the-Fields, London. He left two helpless children to the care of his friend Wilks. "The appearance of his comedies may be regarded as an important epoch in the history of the English drama; . . he was the first to write in an easy flowing style, equally removed from the pedantic stiffness of Congreve,and the formal, courtly viciousness of the Etherege school." Licentious as his plays may now appear, they were purer than many of his contemporaries'. As a player, his merits were of an ordinary stamp.

Farren, Elizabeth, Countess of Derby, an actress, was born in 1759 at Cork, where her father, George Farren, was a surgeon and apothecary. His drinking habits brought on bankruptcy and early death, and his widow returned to her relatives in Liverpool, and went on the stage to support herself and her three children. Elizabeth, when scarcely more than a child, became an actress, and gave so much promise of excellence, and was endowed with such delicacy of mind and refinement of manners, that she soon became a public favourite. After her early novitiate, she never consented to appear in male attire, and thus shut herself out from many characters in which her rival and countrywoman, Mrs. Woffington, shone. After playing in the provinces, in June 1777 she made her appearance in London, at the Hay- market, as "Miss Hardcastle" in She Stoops to Conquer. Her reception, though favourable, was by no means enthusiastic. Next year she played at Drury-lane, and her talents were there fully appreciated: during the summer vacations she filled up her time at the Haymarket and in the provinces. She had not been many seasons on the London stage, when by her purity of life and her professional success she obtained the entree of the fashionable world, and occasionally took part in, and conducted the stage arrangements at the private theatricals of the nobility. It was thus she first became acquainted with the Earl of Derby. Mr. Fox was one of her ardent admirers. The Earl of Derby was at this time married, but separated from his wife - the marriage had been most unhappy. Miss Farren is thus described at this period: "Her figure is considerably above the middle height, and is of that slight texture which requires the use of full and flowing drapery; her face, though not regularly beautiful, is animated and prepossessing; her eye, which is blue and penetrating, is a powerful feature when she chooses to employ it on the public, and either flashes with spirit, or melts with softness; her voice we never thought to possess extreme sweetness, but it is refined and feminine; and her smile fascinates the heart, as her form delights the eye." On 14th March 1797 the Countess of Derby died; a month afterwards Miss Farren took leave of the stage in her favourite character of "Lady Teazle," and on the 8th May she was married to the Earl of Derby. She was received at Court with peculiar favour by Queen Charlotte. She died 29th April 1829, aged 70. Her husband survived her five years. For notes regarding her ancestry, see Notes and Queries, 3rd Series.

Faulkner, George, a well-known publisher, was born in Dublin 1699. He settled in Dublin as a printer and publisher soon after 1726, and there made a fortune by his Journal and other publications. He was satirized by Foote, in the character of "Peter Paragraph," and commenced a suit against him, which was dropped on the interference of Lord Townshend. He was well known as Swift's printer, and as having undergone imprisonment on account of the Dean's publications. For the rest, he was an alderman, vain and fussy, though not devoid of taste, who gave brilliant entertainments to literary men and persons of rank. His name is mentioned in many anecdotes relating to Swift. Some of his work is creditable to the character of Dublin printing of the time. He died 30th August 1775, aged about 76. The bust of the Dean, intended for a niche in front of Faulkner's house in Parliament- street, was by his nephew presented to St. Patrick's Cathedral, where it is now placed over the Dean's tomb. In Notes and Queries, 2nd Series, will be found an interesting discussion relative to Faulkner's editions of Swift's works.

Feichin, Saint, said to have been descended from Con the Hundred Fighter, was born early in the 7th century. Having finished his studies under St. Nathy, and being ordained for the priesthood, he retired to Fore, in the County of Westmeath, where he gathered round him a community of 300 monks. He founded another establishment on the island of Inishmaan, one of the Aran Islands, off the coast of Galway. Most of his life was passed in retirement and self-mortification, and he died of a pestilence that raged over Ireland in 665. His festival is the 20th January. This saint is venerated in Scotland as St. Vigeon.

Felim, King of Munster, and for a time monarch of Ireland in the 9th century, is by some writers represented as having rivalled the worst deeds of the Danes in the devastation of his country, taking advantage of their incursions to plunder and lay waste the land. In one engagement he defeated the Ard-Righ Nial Caille, and carried off his daughter Gormlaith. O'Mahony says: "That he was nevertheless a brave and wise prince, within the limits of his own principality, may be judged from the fact that Munster was kept comparatively free from the ravages of the Northmen during his lifetime." O'Curry styles him "a distinguished scholar and a scribe." He died 18th August 845. His name is in Irish spelled Fedhlimidh.

Fergus, one of the chiefs who headed the migration of the Irish to the Western Highlands of Scotland, about the beginning of the 6th century. He was the second son of Erc, King of Dalriada, and with his brothers Lorn and Angus made a successful settlement on the promontory of Cantire about 503. Fergus took possession of Cantire, Lorn of the district which bears his name; and Angus colonized Islay. Fergus is said to have died in 506, and to have been succeeded by his son Domangart.

Fergus MacRoigh, King of Ulster, one of the heroes of Fenian romance, said to have nourished in the 1st century. He won the hand of a beautiful widow Nessa, upon the condition that he would permit her son, Conor MacNessa, to sit beside him on the judgment seat of his kingdom for one year, and he allowed himself to be gradually supplanted in the affections of his people by Conor, who delighted them by his wisdom and kingly bearing. Afterwards, when Conor had treacherously put to death the sons of Uisneach, for whose safety Fergus had pledged his honour, Fergus went into voluntary exile to the court of Meave and Ailill in Connaught. In the legend of the Tain Bo Chuailgne he was the guide and director of the expedition on the side of the Connaught men against Conor MacNessa, and, as it would appear, was himself the historian of the war. He eventually fell a victim to the not unmerited jealousy of Ailill, husband of Meave, Queen of Connaught, who caused him to be killed by a javelin, cast as he was swimming in Lough Ein, near Cruachan. It was by Fergus MacRoigh's grave that the seer Murgen was fabled afterwards to have recovered the story of the great Tain Bo Chuailgne. [See MEAVE.]

Field, John, a distinguished pianist, was born in Dublin, 26th July 1782. His father was a violinist in a theatre; from his grandfather, an organist, lie received his first lessons on the piano; these he perfected under Clementi, after his family removed to London. Field accompanied his master on a Continental tour in 1802, and left a lasting impression in Paris by his performances, especially his rendering of the fugues of Bach. Master and pupil arrived in St. Petersburg towards the close of 1803, and found so many admirers that Field remained behind to push his fortune. He received large sums for playing at concerts and giving lessons. He was, however, incurably lazy and addicted to drink, and thereby lost the opportunities afforded him of amassing a fortune. In 1822 he removed to Moscow, and there established himself with even greater honour and profit than attended his nineteen years' residence in St. Petersburg. In 1831 he revisited England, and performed in London; then he travelled through France, the Netherlands, and on to Italy, giving concerts with his usual success. Illness induced by dissipation compelled him to seek shelter in a Neapolitan hospital, where he remained several months, until rescued by a Russian family, who brought him back to Moscow. There he ended his days in indigence, 11th January 1837, aged 54. Field had married a French pianiste, Mdlle. Charpentier, by whom he had one son, who became a distinguished Russian tenor - Leonoff. Field's musical abilities were of the highest order, and his published works were numerous. He is said to have been the originator of those pieces called "nocturnes."

Finaghty, James, an Irish astrologer and exorcist, flourished the end of the 17th century. He acquired a wonderful reputation for curing diseases by passes and incantations, and was followed at times by vast crowds, so that persons were trodden to death in their eagerness to approach him. His deceptions were eventually unmasked by the efforts of Sir William Petty, and he sank into obscurity.

Finan, Saint, born in Ireland, was in 651 appointed successor of St. Aidan as Bishop of Lindisfarne, an island off the eastern coast of Northumbria. He appears to have been educated at Iona. In his efforts for the conversion of the surrounding peoples, he was ably assisted by King Oswin, and he is specially noticed by the Venerable Bede as having borne an important part in the conversion of the northern Saxons. In the differences concerning the time for holding Easter, he held to the precedents of the Western Church. He died towards the close of the 7th century, and his festival is generally celebrated upon the 9th January.

Findley, William, a politician, was born in the north of Ireland, about 1750. He went to America in early life, served in the Revolutionary war, and at its close moved to Western Pennsylvania. A fluent speaker, he before long became a noted politician, entered the legislature, was a member of the State Constitution Convention, and was afterwards a member of Congress for more than one term. He opposed the adoption of the United States Constitution, and was a supporter of Jefferson. He published a Review of the Funding System in 1794, a 'History of the Insurrection in Western Pennsylvania in 1796, and Observations, in which he vindicated religious liberty. He died in Unity Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, 5th April 1821.

Finen, or Finnian, Saint, Bishop of Clonard, was a native of Leinster, born the end of the 5th century. He was educated under Bishop Fortchern at Roscor, and when thirty years of age travelled in Britain, and became acquainted with British saints and missionaries. Finen ultimately returned with several ecclesiastics, and landing at Cam, in the County of Wexford, settled at Clonard, on the Boyne, about 530, and founded there the renowned school with which his name has since been associated. Among his pupils were Ciaran and St. Columcille. We are told that "his usual food was bread and herbs; his drink water. On festival days he used to indulge himself with a little fish and a cup of beer or whey. He slept on the bare ground, and a stone served him as a pillow." He died at Clonard in 552. He is the patron saint of the diocese of Meath, and his effigy is on the seal of the clergy. His festival is the 12th December. The Martyrology of Donegal styles him "a doctor of wisdom, and tutor of the saints of Ireland in his time."

Finley, Samuel, D.D., a scholar and Presbyterian divine, was born in Armagh in 1715. He arrived in Philadelphia in September 1734, and was licensed to preach in 1740. He was ordained at New Brunswick in October 1742, and at once occupied himself in itinerant labours during the great revival of the day. Preaching in New Haven, contrary to a law of the colony forbidding unauthorized itinerant ministry, he was seized by the authorities, and carried as a vagrant beyond its limits. From 1744 to 1761 he was settled at Nottingham, Pennsylvania, and conducted an academy which acquired a high reputation. He was for some time principal of Princeton College - succeeding President Davies, whose sermons he edited. He was the author of some sermons and dissertations. Mr. Finley died in Philadelphia, 17th July 1766, aged about 51.

Finn MacCumhaill was a distinguished chief who flourished in the 3rd century. He was son-in-law to King Cormac, being married in succession to his daughters Graine and Ailbe. Innumerable stories are related of him - in Irish legend as "Finmacool," and in Scottish as Fingal. He was commander of the Fenian militia, a body of several thousand warriors maintained by the Irish monarchs of that age. In peace they are said to have numbered 9,000, in war, 21,000. In winter they lived in small parties on the inhabitants of the country, while in summer they maintained themselves by hunting and fishing. When Finn was on the point of being married to his first wife, Graine, she eloped with his friend Diarmaid. The wanderings of the lovers and Finn's pursuit was one of the most fruitful themes of Fenian romance. Diarmaid eventually met his death from the thrust of a wild boar on Benbulben, in the County of Sligo. Finn's arrival on the scene before his rival's death, forms the subject of one of the most beautiful of Ferguson's Lays of the Western Gael. In addition to his warlike accomplishments, Finn is reported to have possessed the gifts of poetry, second sight, and healing. His principal residence was on Dun Almhain (the Hill of Allen, near Kildare) - an abode glowingly described in so many of his son Oisin's lays. The surrounding rath or fortification is still traceable, even from a distance. His other abode was Moyelly in the present King's County. Moore says in his history: "It has been the fate of this popular Irish hero, after a long course of traditional renown in his country - where his name still lives, not only in legends and songs, but yet in the most indelible records of scenery connected with his memory-to have been all at once transferred, by adoption, to another country [Scotland], and start under a new but false shape, in a fresh career of fame." The Four Masters state that Finn met his death in 283, at Rath-Breagha, near the Boyne, whither he had retired in his old age to pass the remainder of his life in tranquillity. He was killed by the blow of a fishing gaff, at the hands of one Athlach, and his death was avenged by Cailte MacRonain, his faithful follower.

Finnachta, King of Ireland, 686 to 693. His age is memorable on account of a British invasion of Ireland, a great cattle plague, a severe frost, and his crushing defeat of the Leinster men in a battle at Lagore, near Dunshaughlin. Some remains of this encounter have been found in our own time. The invasion occurred in 683, when the British plundered Leinster, and carried away captives, who were afterwards returned at the intercession of St. Adam- nan. Bede declares that this expedition ended in the unhappy plunder and wasting by Saxon hands of a country most friendly to the English. At the request of Saint Moling, Finnachta is said to have remitted the Borromean tribute off Leinster. He was killed in a battle near Kells, in 693.

Finnbarr, or Bairre, Saint, a native of Connaught, was born in the 6th century, his original name being Lochan. He was educated in Leinster by MacCorb, afterwards travelled in Britain with St. Maidoc, and spent some time with St. David. In the beginning of the 7th century he founded his monastery on the banks of the Lee, on ground granted to him by a chief, Aedh. The number of students who flocked thither caused habitations to spring up, and the foundations of Cork to be laid. He was consecrated Bishop of the district, and died in 623 at Cloyne, after an episcopate of seventeen years. The most eminent of his disciples was St. Nessan. One of St. Finnbarr's favourite retreats was Glengariff. His festival is the 25th of September. The island of Lough Erc, now Gouganebarra, was his hermitage, and preserves his name. [Barra, gen. of Barr.] He is also patron saint of a northern diocese in Scotland. Dr. Richard Caulfield, of Cork, has published his life in Latin, with a collation of various MSS.

Finnbarr, Findia, or Finnian, Saint, Bishop and Abbot of Moville, near Newtownards, in the County of Down, was born about the beginning of the 6th century. He was educated by St. Colman of Dromore, and thence passed to the school of Nennio, or Ninian, in North Britain. In 540 he established his famous school at Moville, where he died and was buried in 576. His festival is 1 ith February. See concerning him in Reeves's Antiquities of flown and Connor.

Finnerty, Peter, one of the ablest reporters of his time, was born at Loughrea in 1766. At an early age he sought his fortune in Dublin, and became a printer. In 1797 he was printer and editor of the Press, the organ of the United Irishmen, to which both Curran and Moore are said to have contributed. On 22nd December 1797 he was tried for a libel on the Government concerning the trial and execution of Orr, and, refusing to disclose the name of the author, was sentenced to stand in the pillory, pay a fine, and suffer imprisonment for two years. Arthur O'Connor, Lord Edward FitzGerald, and others of his party, attended him at the pillory in Green-street. At the expiration of the sentence he removed to London, and procured an engagement as reporter on the Morning Chronicle. He sailed as an army reporter with the Walcheren expedition in 1809. Two years afterwards he was committed to Lincoln jail for eighteen months, for a libel on Lord Castlereagh. In the course of his defence on his trial, he made a false quantity in a Latin quotation, and was set right by Lord Ellenborough, whereupon he rejoined: "Pronounce it as you like, my lord, isn't the English of it the same." He memorial­ ized the House of Commons against the treatment he received, and in the several discussions on the subject he was highly spoken of by Brougham, Romilly, Burdett, and Whitbread. He died at Westminster, 11th May 1822, aged 56.

Fitton, William Henry, M.D.,F.R.S., an eminent geologist, was born in Dublin, January 1780. At Trinity College he acquired his degree of B. A. in 1799. During a residence in Edinburgh, he formed the acquaintance of Sydney Smith, Jeffrey, Lord Brougham, and other eminent men; and in 1809 he removed to London. In 1811 he began to write geological articles, the first being on the geological structure of the neighbourhood of Dublin. In 1812 he settled as a physician at Northampton, occasionally contributing articles to the Edinburgh Review on his favourite study. As an original observer, he worked hard from 1824 to 1836, developing the true order of the secondary strata of England and France. He was President of the Geological Society, and a Fellow of the Royal and other scientific societies. He died in London, 13th May 1861, aged 81.

FitzGerald, Maurice, one of the most prominent of the Anglo-Norman invaders of Ireland, was a son of Nesta, a Welsh princess [See NESTA], and Gerald FitzWalter, grandson of Lord Otho, an honorary Baron of England, said to have been descended from the Gherardini of Florence. [The Gherardini pedigree will be found in the Kilkenny Archaeological Journal for 1877.] His descendants are consequently styled Geraldines, as well as FitzGeralds. When Dermot MacMurrough was returning home, after having arranged with Strongbow for a descent on Ireland, he washospitably received by David FitzGerald, Bishop of St. David's. The Bishop proposed to Dermot that his brother Maurice and his half-brother FitzStephen should join him with a body of troops in the spring, and gain a footing in the country, while Strongbow was getting together his larger armament. Dermot gladly accepted the offer, and agreed to give them two cantreds of land, and the town of Wexf ord. In May 1169 FitzStephen landed at Bagenbun with 400 archers and men-at- arms, and marched against Wexford, which he took by assault. Soon after FitzGerald arrived at Wexford with two ships, having on board 10 knights, 30 men-at-arms, and about 100 archers. Dermot, having vested his allies with the lordship of the town, marched to attack Dublin with FitzGerald, while FitzStephen remained to build a castle at Ferry carrick, near Wexford. After exacting hostages from the Danish King of Dublin, Dermot, thinking Strong- bow had given up his projected expedition, offered his daughter Eva in marriage to FitzGerald or FitzStephen, if they would bring over a force sufficient to subdue the island; but they being married declined the offer, and on Strongbow's arrival at Waterford, Eva was married to him. In 1171 Maurice and Strongbow were in Dublin, when it was besieged by Roderic O'Conor at the head of 30,000 men, and the harbour blockaded by a Manx fleet. FitzStephen was at the same time besieged by the Irish at Ferrycarrick. At a council of war, Cambrensis represents Maurice as making the following speech: "We have not come so far, comrades, for pleasure and rest, but to try the chances of fortune, and under peril of our heads to meet the forces of the enemy. For such is the mutability of human affairs, that as the setting of the sun follows its rising, and the light in the east dispels the darkness of the west, so we, on whom fortune has hitherto conferred glory and plenty, are now beleaguered by land and sea, and are even in want of provision; for neither the sea brings succour, nor would the hostile fleets permit it to reach us. FitzStephen, also, whose courage and noble daring opened to us the way into this island, is now with his small force besieged by a hostile nation. What should we, therefore, wait for? Though English to the Irish, we are as Irish to the English; for this island does not show us greater hatred than that. So away with delays and inactivity; for fortune favours the bold, and the fear of scarcity will give strength to our men. Let us attack the enemy manfully; though few in number, we are brave, well-armed, and accustomed to hardship and to victory, and will terrify the ill-armed and unwarlike multitude." This advice was adopted. Next morning at daybreak the Anglo-Normans attacked the headquarters of Roderic at Finglas, routed him, and then marched to the relief of FitzStephen - too late, however, to prevent his falling into the hands of the Irish. In April 1172, Henry II., on his departure for England, appointed FitzGerald and FitzStephen Wardens of Dublin, under Hugh de Lacy. It was FitzGerald who saved De Lacy's life in the encounter with O'Rourke at the Hill of Ward. On the recall of De Lacy in 1173, FitzGerald retired to Wales, in consequence of misunderstandings with Strongbow. In 1176 matters were arranged between them, and he was made a grant of the barony of Offaly, and the territory of Offelan, comprising the present towns of Maynooth and Naas. He was given the castle of Wicklow in return for his share of Wexford, appropriated with other towns by the King. In September 1177 he died at Wexford, and was buried in the Abbey of Grey Friars, without the walls of the town. According to Lodge, his death was "not without much sorrow of all his friends, and much harm and loss to the English interest in Ireland. He was a man witty and manful; a truer man, nor steadfaster, for constancy, fidelity, and love, left he none in Ireland." Cambrensis thus describes him: "Maurice was indeed an honourable and modest man, with a face sun-burnt and well-looking, of middle height; a man well modelled in mind and body; a man of innate goodness; desiring rather to be than to seem good. A man of few words, but full of weight, having more of the heart than of the mouth, more of reason than of volubility, more wisdom than eloquence; and yet, when it was required, earnest to the purpose. In military affairs valiant, and second to few in activity; neither impetuous nor rash, but circumspect in attack, and resolute in defence; a sober, modest, and chaste man; constant, trusty, and faithful; a man not altogether without fault, yet not spotted with any notorious or great crime." One of his sons, Thomas, surnamed the "Great," was ancestor of the Desmond FitzGeralds. [See DESMONDS.]

FitzGerald, Raymond, surnamed Le Gros, nephew of preceding, son of William FitzGerald, was one of the bravest and most adventurous of the Anglo-Norman invaders of Ireland. Strongbow sent him forward to Ireland with ten men-at-arms and seventy archers, on 1st May 1170. He landed, says Cambrensis, at "Dundunolf, which lies on the sea coast, about four miles from Waterford, and to the south of Wexford: they threw up a rather slight fortification made of turf and boughs of trees." They were almost immediately attacked by a large party of the men of Waterford and Offaly. Raymond and his little party making a sally, gained a complete victory over their assailants; "500 quickly fell by the sword, and when the pursuers ceased striking from sheer weakness, they threw vast numbers from the edge of the cliffs." They kept seventy of the principal townsmen as prisoners. Shortly after their arrival they were joined by De Marisco, who had come with FitzStephen the previous summer. We are not told much of how they fared until Strongbow's arrival in August, when they placed themselves under his command, and took part in his campaigns against Waterford and Dublin. When Strongbow left Ireland for England, Raymond was associated with Hervey de Marisco in the government. On his return, Raymond asked for his sister Basilia in marriage; but Strongbow rejected his suit, jealous of Raymond's popularity among the soldiers, and Raymond returned to Wales in high displeasure. The perilous position in which the invaders found themselves be­ fore long compelled Strongbow to recall him, and consent to the marriage, giving him at the same time a large dowry of lands and the post of Constable and Standard- bearer of Leinster. The nuptials were immediately celebrated in Wexford, and the next day Raymond marched north to repel an incursion of Roderic O'Conor into Meath. He was too late to prevent the destruction of the castle of Trim. He then turned westward, and besieged and took Limerick, displaying remarkable bravery in fording the Shannon and leading his troops to the assault. De Marisco forwarded alarming reports to Henry II. of the rising power of Strongbow and Raymond, and commissioners were sent over to watch the one and recall the other. Limerick was soon besieged by O'Brien, Prince of Thomond, and as the soldiers would march only under Raymond, the commissioners had to invest him with the command, or permit the place again to fall into the hands of the Irish and Northmen. Raymond entered into a successful treaty with O'Brien, brought even Roderic to terms, and secured considerable possessions in Desmond from the MacCarthys. In the midst of these successes, he heard from his wife of the death of Strongbow, and, confiding Limerick to O'Brien (who immediately re-established his own authority), marched to Dublin, where the council chose him as Strongbow's successor. The King, still jealous of his influence, before long appointed FitzAdelm de Burgh to the post. This ended Raymond's public career; he appears to have lived the remainder of his life as quietly as the times permitted on his estates at Wexford-seeing occasional service, as when he went to the succour of his uncle FitzStephen in Cork. He died about 1182. He is thus described by Cambrensis: "Raymond was very stout, and a little above the middle height; his hair was yellow and curly, and he had large, grey round eyes. His nose was rather prominent, his countenance high-coloured, cheerful, and pleasant; and, although he was somewhat corpulent, he was so lively and active that the incumbrance was not a blemish or inconvenience. Such was his care of his troops that he passed whole nights without sleep, going the rounds of the guards himself, and challenging the sentinels to keep them on the alert. . . He was prudent and temperate, not effeminate in either his food or his dress. He was a liberal, kind, and circumspect man; and although a daring soldier and consummate general, even in military affairs prudence was his highest quality."

FitzGerald, Gerald, 1st Baron Offaly, son of Maurice FitzGerald, was with his father at the siege of Dublin in 1171, and distinguished himself by his bravery in the sortie. After his father's death, he was induced to exchange with FitzAdelm de Burgh his castle of Wicklow for that of Ferns. In 1205 he sat in the Irish Parliament as Baron Offaly, and died the same year. His wife was Catharine, a daughter of Hamo de Valois, Lord- Justice of Ireland in 1197.

FitzGerald, Maurice, 2nd Baron Offaly, son of preceding, must have been very young at his father's death, as it was not until 1216 that he was put in possession of Maynooth and the other paternal estates, by a mandatory letter of Henry III. In 1215 he introduced into Ireland the order of the Franciscans, and in 1216 the Dominicans. He was appointed Lord- Justice both in 1229 and 1245. In 1232 he built the Franciscan Abbey of Youghal. In 1234, at a conference on the Curragh between Richard, Earl Marshal, the Baron of Offaly, and others, the former was murdered; whereupon FitzGerald proceeded to London, and took an oath before Henry III. that he was innocent of all participation in the deed. In 1234 the King issued a writ directing FitzGerald to proclaim free trade between Ireland and England. In 1236 he founded the Dominican Abbey at Sligo as the abode of a community of monks to say prayers for the Earl Marshal's soul, and the same year built the Castle of Armagh, and in 1242 that of Sligo. In 1235 he marched at the head of a large force into Connaught, and reduced the province to submission. In 1245 he and Felim O'Conor of Connaught were admonished for tardiness in joining the King in an expedition into Wales. After this, among other rights, the Irish Barons claimed exemption from attending the sovereign beyond the realm. In 1246 FitzGerald subdued Tyrconnel, and in 1248 marched into Tyrone, and forced O'Neill to give hostages; but in 1257 he was defeated by Godfrey O'Donnell at the Rosses, near Sligo. Soon after this he retired to the Franciscan monastery at Youghal, assumed the habit of the order, and died the same year. He had married a daughter of John de Cogan.

FitzGerald, Maurice, 3rd Baron Offaly, succeeded his father in 1257. Terrible feuds raged in his time between the Geraldines and De Burghs. In 1272 he was made Lord-Justice. He more than once invaded Thomond, in 1277 taking prisoner and executing O'Brien Roe, prince of that district; on his return, with part of his forces, he was surrounded in a pass of the Slieve Bloom mountains, and his men were reduced to eat horse flesh, and ultimately compelled to give hostages, and grant to the Irish the Castle of Roscommon. A poem celebrating the efforts made to defend Ross against rival factions, by walling it in 1265, is given by Mr. Croker in his Popular Songs of Ireland. The Baron of Offaly died at Ross in 1277.

FitzGerald, Sir Gerald, 4th Baron Offaly, succeeded his father in 1277. He completed the Grey Abbey at Kildare, and founded the Franciscan Abbey at Clane. He carried on wars with the O'Conors. In a battle with the O'Briens in 1287 many Anglo-Norman knights were slain, and he received a wound from which he shortly afterwards died at Rathmore. He was buried at Kildare.

FitzGerald, Maurice, 5th Baron Offaly, succeeded. He married Agnes de Valence, great grand-daughter of Eva and Earl Strongbow.

FitzGerald, John, 1st Earl of Kildare. On the death of the 5th Baron Offaly, who left no children, John, descended from the third son of the 2nd Baron, was the only surviving male descendant of the 1st Baron. The story of an ape saving a member of the family from a burning castle, is told of the 1st Earl of Kildare, as well as of one of the Desmonds. When Swift was writing Gulliver's Travels, he had quarrelled with the then Earl of Kildare, and hence introduced the incident of Gulliver being carried off and fed by the Brobdingnagian ape. Whatever may be the truth of the story, the ape was adopted as the FitzGerald crest. [See DESMONDS.] In 1293, in consequence of a dispute between him and William de Vesci, Lord of Kildare. they were both summoned to appear before Edward I. After mutual recrimination, FitzGerald challenged De Vesci to single combat. When the day came, De Vesci fled to France, and the King declared FitzGerald innocent, and added: "Albeit Albert de Vesci conveyed his person into France, yet he left his lands behind him in Ireland," and he granted them to FitzGerald. Having consistently opposed the "Irish enemy," assisted on three occasions against the Scotch, and in 1315 opposed Edward Bruce at Ardscull, in Kildare, he was, 14th May 1316, created Earl of Kildare, and granted the castle and town of that name. He died at Maynooth or at Laraghbryan, 10th September 1316, and was buried in the Grey Abbey at Kildare.

FitzGerald, Thomas, 2nd Earl of Kildare, succeeded his father in 1316. In 1317 he took the field at the head of an army of 30,000 men against Edward Bruce, who was slain the following year near Dundalk. FitzGerald held the office of Lord-Justice more than once. During his lifetime Ireland continued to be torn by contending factions. The Earl introduced into his territories the Irish exaction of "bonaght," or "coigne and livery"-money and food for man and horse without payment, as did the Earls of Ormond and Desmond into their palatinates. He died at Maynooth, 9th April 1328, and was buried in the Grey Abbey at Kildare.

FitzGerald, Richard, 3rd Earl of Kildare, was born in 1317. He died at Rathangan, 7th July 1329, and was buried beside his father.

FitzGerald, Maurice, 4th Earl of Kildare, brother of preceding. In 1345 he was imprisoned in Dublin Castle by the King's order, but released the next year on the recognizances of twenty-four lords and gentlemen. In 1347 he attended Edward III. to Calais with thirty men-at-arms and forty hobellers, and for his bravery was knighted by the King. In 1378 we find him granted £10 from the Exchequer as compensation for his loss of six men, four coats of mail, and other armour, "in a certain great hosting upon the O'Morchoes of Sliewmargy." He died on 25th August 1390, and was buried in Christ Church, Dublin.

FitzGerald, Gerald, 5th Earl of Kildare, succeeded his father. In 1398 he was taken prisoner by Calvagh O'Conor Faly, and was not released until he had paid heavy ransom. In 1407 he defeated O'Carrol at Kilkenny, slaying him and 800 of his men. In 1408 he was sent prisoner to Dublin Castle, and all his goods plundered by the servants of the Lord- Lieutenant, for disrespect to the Viceregal authority. He was afterwards liberated on paying a fine of 300 marks. He died in 1410, and was buried in the Grey Abbey at Kildare. He acted as Lord-Deputy in 1405.

FitzGerald, John, 6th Earl of Kildare, succeeded his father in 1410. He was known as "Crouchback," or "Shane Cam" by the Irish. He strengthened and enlarged the castles of Maynooth and Kilkea; the former had then been for more than a century the principal residence of the Earls of Kildare. He died 17th October 1427, and was buried at All Hallows, the site of Trinity College, Dublin.

FitzGerald, Thomas, 7th Earl of Kildare, succeeded his father in 1427. He more than once acted as Lord-Deputy to the Duke of York, who as far as possible divided his favours between the FitzGeralds and the Butlers. When the Duke fell at the battle of Wakefield, several members of both families were slain under his banners. As Deputy the Earl held several parliaments, at Naas, Drogheda, and elsewhere; he also acted as Lord-Chancellor. In 1467 he and his brother-in-law the Earl of Desmond were attainted "for alliance, fosterage, and alterage with the King's Irish enemies." Desmond was beheaded; but Kildare pleaded his own cause before the King, had the attainder reversed, and the same year was appointed Lord-Justice. He established the "Brothers of St. George," the only standing army of the Pale, consisting of 120 mounted archers, 40 horsemen, and 40 pages; the archers received sixpence, the horsemen fivepence, per diem. The object of the fraternity was to resist the "Irish enemies and English rebels." The Earl died 25th March 1477, and was buried beside his father.

FitzGerald, Gerald, 8th Earl of Kildare, called the "Great Earl," succeeded his father in 1477. He was appointed Lord-Deputy to the young Duke of York; but was shortly dismissed, and Lord Grey appointed in his place, on the plea that an Englishman was more suited to the office. This roused the indignation of the lords of the Pale, who, declaring that Lord Grey's patent was informal, opened a parliament of their own, under the presidency of Kildare. On appeal, Edward IV. believing it his best policy to govern Ireland through the Geraldine faction, recalled Lord Grey and appointed the Earl. Kildare displayed great vigour in the government, and continued in his post undisturbed by the accession of Richard III. On the accession of Henry VII. it was a matter of surprise that he for a time permitted the Earl, a known Yorkist, to continue in office. The Earl was summoned to London, but made sundry excuses for non-compliance, with which Henry had to content himself at the time. Kildare's adhesion to the cause of Simnel afforded clear evidence of his insincerity, and Henry, still unable to dispense with his services, sent over Sir Richard Edgecomb to exact the most binding oaths possible from him and the other men of mark who had espoused Simnel's cause and invaded England. It was considered necessary that Sir Richard should have the Host upon which these oaths were taken prepared by his own chaplain. FitzGerald continued to exhibit ability in the government. Lodge mentions that he received a present from Germany of six muskets, then a great novelty, with which he armed his guard at Thomascourt. After some time Kildare found it necessary to go over to London to answer complaints of the Archbishop of Armagh. The decision was in his favour, and he and his friends were entertained at a banquet, where it is said they were deliberately humiliated, by Simnel, whom they had once crowned, being set to attend on them. When the adventurer Warbeck appeared in Ireland, Henry prudently displaced the Earl, and for a time the Butlers regained their supremacy. Both Kildare and Ormond joined Lord- Deputy Poyning in a raid on the O'Hanlon's territory in Ulster. Eventually the enemies of Kildare triumphed, and he was thrown into the Tower, where he remained two years. During his imprisonment, on 22nd November 1494, his Countess, Alison, died of grief, and was buried at Kilcullen. When brought to trial in 1496, and asked whether he was provided with coun­ sel, he replied, "Yea, the ablest in the realm; your Highness [the King] I take for my counsel against these false knaves." Accused by the Archbishop of Cashel of burning down his cathedral, he answered: "I would not have done it if I had not been told that my Lord Archbishop was inside." This frankness delighted the King, and we are told that when some one exclaimed, "All Ireland cannot govern this Earl," Henry VII. rejoined, "Then let this Earl govern all Ireland." He had been sent to England almost a convicted traitor, and returned Lord-Deputy. Soon afterwards he showed his zeal by expeditions against the O'Briens in Thomond and the O'Neills in the north. In 1499 he entered Connaught and established castles at Athleague, Roscommon, Tulsk, and Castlerea. Many useful enactments were passed at a parliament held by him at Castledermot in 1499. Next year he marched against malcontents in the north, and also against Cork, the mayor of which city he hanged. Some years later a powerful confederacy under Lord Clanricard was formed in Connaught, and a large army assembled. Kildare marched against them, and on the 19th August 1504 a battle was fought at Knocktuagh ("Hill of Axes"), now Knockdoe, seven miles from Galway. Clanricard was routed with a stated loss of 4,000 to 9,000 men, and Galway and Athenry were taken. O'Brien fell, and two sons and a daughter of Clanricard were taken prisoners. "We have for the most number killed our enemies," said Lord Gormanstown to Kildare, on the field of Knocktuagh, "and if we do the like with the Irish that we have with us, it were a good deed." The battle is thus described by the Four Masters: " Far away from the troops were heard the violent onset of the martial chiefs, the vehement efforts of the champions, the charge of the royal heroes, the noise of the lords, the clamour of the troops when endangered, the shouts and exultations of the youths, the sound made by the falling of brave men, and the triumphing of nobles over plebeians." Kildare's power was firmly established by this victory, and he was created a Knight of the Garter by the King. In 1513, in an expedition against the O'Carrolls, he was wounded by the enemy while watering his horse in the river Greese at Kilkea. He was conveyed by slow stages to Kildare, where, after lingering a few days, he died, 3rd September, and was buried in his chapel of St. Mary in Christ Church. He it was that first intro­ duced artillery into Ireland. The door was until lately shown in St. Patrick's through a hole in which the Earl of Ormond and he shook hands after an encounter between their followers in the church. Some of the coins issued in Ireland in his time bear his arms. He was thrice married. Holinshed says: " He was a mightie man of stature, full of honoure and courage, who had ben Lord-Deputie and Lord-Justice of Ireland three-and-thirtie years. Kildare was in government milde, to his enemies sterne. He was open and playne, hardley able to rule himself, when he was moved; in an­ ger not so sharp as short, being easily displeased and sooner appeased. . . Notwithstanding hys simplicitie in peace, he was of that valoure and policie in warre, as his name bred a greater terrour to the Irish than other men's armyes."

FitzGerald, Gerald, 9th Earl of Kildare, son of the preceding, was born in 1487. He is said to have been one of the handsomest men of his time. The Irish annalists call him "Geroit Oge," or "Garrett MacAlison," after his mother. In 1496 he was detained by Henry VII. at his court as a hostage for his father's fidelity. In 1503, when but sixteen, he married Elizabeth Zouche, and was soon after permitted to return to Ireland. Next year lie was appointed Lord High Treasurer. In August 1504 he commanded the reserve at the battle of Knocktuagh, where his rashness and impetuosity were the cause of some loss. On the death of his father in 1513 he succeeded to the title, and was by the council chosen Lord-Justice. Henry VIII. soon afterwards appointed him Lord-Deputy. Some of the Irish chiefs at the end of 1513 having ravaged parts of the Pale, the Earl, early in the following year, defeated O'More and his followers in Leix, and then, marching north, took the Castle of Cavan, killed O'Reilly, chased his followers into the bogs, and returned to Dublin laden with booty. This energetic action was so highly approved by the King that he granted the Earl the customs of the ports in the County of Down - rights repurchased by the Crown from the 17th Earl in 1662. In 1516 the Earl invaded Imayle, and sent the head of Shane O'Toole as a present to the Mayor of Dublin. He then marched into Ely 0'Carroll, in conjunction with his brother-in-law the Earl of Ormond, and James, son of the Earl of Desmond. They captured and razed the Castle of Lemyvannan, took Clonmel, and in December he returned to Dublin " aden with booty, hostages, and honour." In March 1517 he called a parliament in Dublin, and then invaded Ulster, stormed the Castle of Dundrum, marched into Tyrone, and took Dungannon, "and so reduced Ireland to a quiet condition." On the 6th October of the same year his Countess died at Lucan, and was buried at Kilcullen. Next year, 1518, his enemies having accused him of maladministration, he appointed a deputy and sailed for England. He was removed from the government, and the Earl of Surrey appointed in his stead. He appears to have accompanied the King to France in June 1520, and was present at "the Field of the Cloth of Gold," where he was distinguished by his bearing and retinue. On this occasion he met the King's first- cousin, Lady Elizabeth Grey, whom he married a few months afterwards, and thereby gained considerable influence at court. Reports now came from Ireland that he was secretly striving to stir up the chieftains against the new Deputy. After inquiries, the King wrote to Surrey that, as they had "noon evident testimonies" to convict the Earl, he thought it but just to "release hym out of warde, and putt hym under suretie not to departe this our realme without our special lisense." He was permitted to return in January 1523. About this date he founded the College of Maynooth, which nourished until suppressed in 1538. He signalized his return to Ireland by an expedition into Leix in company with the Mayor of Dublin. Having burnt several villages, they were caught in an ambuscade, and after considerable loss retreated with some difficulty to Dublin. In consequence of disputes and misunderstandings between the Earl of Kildare and Ormond, now Lord-Deputy, they appealed to the King, accusing each other of malpractices and treasons. Arbitrators were appointed, who ordered that both the Earls should abstain from making war without the King's assent, that they should cease levying coigne and livery within "the four obeysant shires- Meth, Urgell, Dublin, and Kildayre," that the two Earls should persuade their kinsmen to submit to the laws, and that they should be bound by a bond of 1,000 marks each to keep the peace for one year. Before long, however, their mutual hatreds blazed forth again in consequence of the murder of James Talbot, one of Ormond's followers, by the retainers of Kildare. Again the Earls appealed to the King, and again commissioners were sent over, who conducted an inquiry at Christ Church, Dublin, in June 1524. Their decision was in the main in favour of Kildare, and an indenture was drawn up, by which the Earls agreed to forgive each other, to be friends, and to make common cause for the future. Soon afterwards Kildare was reappointed Lord-Deputy. He took the oaths at Thomascourt, his nephew, Con Bacagh O'Neill, carrying the sword of state before him. He then entered into an indenture with the King not to grant pardons without the consent of the council, to cause the Irish in his territories to wear English dress, to shave their "upper berdes," and not to levy coigne and livery except when on the King's business, and then only to a specified amount, not exceeding 2d. a meal for horsemen, 1 1/2d. for footmen, and 1d. for horseboys, with 12 sheaves per day of corn for war horses, and 8 for pack horses. Next year, 1525, Kildare and Ormond were again at daggers drawn. They appealed to the King concerning a disputed sum of £800 in account between them, accusing each other, as before, of sundry enormities and malfeasances. About the same time Kildare, in accordance with a royal mandate, assembled a large force, and marched into Munster to arrest the Earl of Desmond, making a show of great eagerness, but sending private instructions to the Earl how to keep out of the way. He next turned north, and by diplomacy and force pacified the O'Neills and O'Donnells. In 1526 he was ordered to England to meet the charges of the Earl of Ormond (now Earl of Ossory through surrender of the higher title to the King) of having secretly assisted the Desmonds, and having murdered many good subjects because they were adherents of the Butlers. On arrival in London, he was for a time committed to the Tower, and was retained in England for four years; and when he was brought before the council, a violent altercation ensued between him and Wolsey, which is reported at full length by Holinshed. Wolsey is said to have obtained an order for his immediate execution, which his well-wisher, the Constable of the Tower, frustrated by exercising a right (still inherent in the office) of demanding a personal interview with the King. Liberated on bail for a time, Kildare was recommitted on the discovery of his intriguing with the Irish princes to induce them to commit assaults on the Pale, so as to make his return appear necessary. Liberated again, he was one of the peers who in 1530 signed the letter to the Pope relative to the divorce of Queen Catharine. The same year, to the joy of his retainers, he was permitted to return to Ireland with Skeffington, the new Lord-Deputy. On his arrival he marched against the O'Tooles to punish them for ravages on his tenantry in his absence, and then accompanied the Deputy against the O'Donnells. The friendship of the Deputy and Earl did not last long, and they sent letters and messages to the King accusing each other. The Deputy, as might be expected, was supported by the Butlers. Nevertheless, the Earl appears to have cleared himself, and to have been appointed to succeed Skeffington as Deputy to the Duke of Richmond. Landing at Dublin in this capacity, in August 1532, Kildare was received with great acclamations. But lengthened peace appeared impossible. He insulted the late Deputy, degraded Allen, Archbishop of Dublin, wasted the territories of the Butlers, was accused of forming alliances with the native chiefs, and in 1533 the council reported to the King that such was the animosity between the Earls of Kildare and Ormond that peace was out of the question so long as either of them was Deputy. At this period, Kildare had partially lost the use of his limbs and his speech, in consequence of a gun-shot wound received in an attack upon the O'Carrolls at Birr. He was again summoned to court; and in February 1534, at a council at Drogheda, in an affecting speech, he nominated his son Thomas, Lord Offaly, as Vice- Deputy, and then, embracing him and the lords of the council, set sail for England. On his arrival in London he was arraigned on several charges, and was committed to the Tower, where he died of grief, 12th December 1534, on hearing of his son's rebellion, and perusing the excommunication launched against him. He was buried in St. Peter's church in the Tower. He is described as valiant and well-spoken, "nothing inferior to hys father in marshal! prowesse," hospitable and religious, beloved by his friends and dependants. He strengthened and kept in repair several castles - Rathangan, Rheban, Kildare, Woodstock, Athy, Kilkea, Castledermot, and Carlow. His likeness, painted by Holbein in 1530, is still preserved at Carton; while a book containing his rent-roll, and lists of his horses, plate, and furniture, is in the British Museum. From it we learn that his library consisted of 31 Latin, 37 French, 22 English, and 18 Irish books. The war cries of the time - "Crom-a-boo" (from Croom Castle, and "a buaid," to victory) of the Kildares, " Shanet-a-boo" (from Shanid Castle) of the Desmonds, and "Lamhlaider-a-boo" ("the strong hand to victory") of the O'Briens, as well as the other Irish war cries - were declared illegal by Henry VII.

FitzGerald, Lady Elizabeth, generally known as "The Fair Geraldine," daughter of the preceding by his second wife Lady Elizabeth Grey, was born about 1528, and was still an infant when she was taken by her mother to England. She was brought up at Hunsden, with the Princesses Mary and Elizabeth. When about thirteen she was there seen by the Earl of Surrey, who has immortalized her in several sonnets. There is no reason to suppose that the friendship which existed between them in the following years was anything but Platonic. "From Tuskane came my ladies worthy race; Faire Florence was sometime her auncient seate; The western yle, whose plesant shore doth face Wilde Cambers clifs, did gyve her liuely heate: Fostred she was with milke of Irish brest; Her sire, an Erie; her dame of princes blood: From tender yeres, in Britain she doth rest With kinges childe, where she tasteth costly food. Honsden did first present her to mine yien; Bright is her hewe, and Geraldine she hight: Hampton me taught to wishe her first for mine: And Windsor, alas, doth chase me from her sight. Her beauty of kind, her vertues from aboue; Happy is he, that can obtaine her loue!" There is an apocryphal story that Surrey, at a tournament at Florence, defied all the world to show such beauty as hers, and that he visited the celebrated alchemist, Cornelius Agrippa, who revealed to him in a magic mirror the object of his affections. Scott, in his Lay of the Last Minstrel, recounts the tale in five stanzas, of which the following is one: "Fair all the pageant-but how passing fair The slender form, that lay on couch of Ind! O'er her white bosom strayed her hazel hair, Pale her dear cheek, as if for love she pined; All in her night-robe loose, she lay reclined, And, pensive, read from tablet eburnine Some strain that seemed her inmost soul to find: - That favoured strain was Surrey's raptured line, That fair and lovely form, the Lady Geraldine." In 1543, when but fifteen, "The Fair Geraldine" married Sir Anthony Brown, K.G., then sixty years of age. After his death in 1548, she became the third wife of the Earl of Lincoln, who died in 1583 without issue by her. She died in March 1589, and was interred beside the Earl, her husband, under a fine monument in St. George's Chapel at Windsor. A facsimile of a letter written by her, and a photograph from her portrait preserved in the Duke of Bedford's gallery (a copy of which is at Carton) are given in the Kilkenny Archaeological Journal for 1873. The portrait, according to Mr. Graves, "does not represent what would now be called a beautiful woman. She had reddish hair and high cheek bones, and the chin was longer and more pointed than the strict rules of beauty allow; but her eyes were fine, the mouth had a sweet expression, the forehead expansive and intelligent, and brows well arched; altogether we can well imagine that the features . . combined with the delicate complexion which usually accompanies auburn hair, made her a very lovely girl when first she met Surrey's eyes."

FitzGerald, Thomas, 10th Earl of Kildare, son of the 9th Earl, commonly known as "Silken Thomas," was born in England in 1513. In 1534, then bearing the title of Lord Offaly, he was appointed Vice- Deputy by his father. He was brave, open, and generous, but wanting in discretion. One day he kept the council at Drogheda waiting for some hours, when John Allen, Archbishop of Dublin, exclaimed: "My Lords, is it not a prettie master that all we should stay this long for a boy." This the Deputy, coming up the stairs, heard; and he rejoined, on entering the room, much to the Archbishop's confusion, "My Lordes, I am heartily sorry that you stayed this long for a boy." In the beginning of June 1534 a rumour was spread that his father, then in the Tower, was to be beheaded, and that the same fate was prepared for himself and his uncles. Thereupon he took council with O'Neill, O'Conor, and his other friends. To avenge his father's reported death, and save himself, his only course appeared to be to throw off his allegiance. The occasion was favour­ able, for as Vice-Deputy he had under his control most of the Pale fortresses, and large government stores. The Earl of Desmond and many of his father's oldest and best friends reasoned with him; but he was not to be turned from his purpose, and on 11th June 1534 he rode to the council at St. Mary's Abbey, attended by 140 gallowglasses with coats of mail and silken fringes to their helmets. This display of finery caused him to be thenceforward known as "Silken Thomas." When he had seated himself at the head of the council board, his followers rushed in and filled the hall. In a stirring speech he renounced his allegiance, and declared his intention of striving for the mastery with Henry VIII. -"I am none of Henrie his Deputie; I am his fo. I have more mind to conquer than to governe - to meet him in the field than to serve him in office." The Chancellor, Allen, with tears in his eyes, besought him not to commit himself to such a rash proceeding; but the young Lord's harper, understanding only Irish, and seeing signs of wavering in his bearing, commenced to recite a poem in praise of the deeds of his ancestors, telling him at the same time that he lingered there over long. Roused by this he exclaimed: "I will take the market as it ryseth, and will choose rather to die with valiantnesse and libertie, than to live under King Henrie in bondage and villanie." Throwing down the sword of state, he rushed from the hall, followed by his adherents. The council sent an order for his immediate arrest to the Lord Mayor, who, however, had not sufficient force at his disposal. Now, nearly four centuries after the invasion, the English power in Ireland had sunk almost to the point at which it stood when FitzStephen and his little band fortified themselves at Bagenbun. The Castle of Dublin alone held out for the King of England: almost all Ireland had to be reconquered. Lord Offaly immediately called the lords of the Pale to the siege of the Castle: such as refused to swear fidelity to him he sent prisoners to his castle of Maynooth. Goods and chattels belonging to the King's subjects he declared forfeited, and he announced his intention of exiling or putting to death all born in England. He sent messengers to his cousin and friend Lord Butler, son of the Earl of Ormond, offering to divide the kingdom with him if he would join his cause, but this Butler indignantly refused. Several children of the citizens of Dublin in different parts of the Pale were seized as hostages for the good affection of the city. Archbishop Allen, in an attempt to escape by sea, was wrecked near Clontarf, and on the 28th July barbarously murdered in the presence of Lord Offaly and his uncles. Lord Offaly sent his chaplain to Pope Paul III . craving absolution for this sacrilege; and an envoy with a present of "twelve great hawkes, and fourteen fair hobbies" to the Emperor Charles V., to ask for aid in the task of securing Ireland. Meanwhile the citizens of Dublin, having secretly sent provisions by night into the Castle, were obliged to admit Lord Offaly's troops within the city walls. He himself marched south to bring the Butlers under subjection, but was glad to make a truce and return, on receiving news that Dublin had closed its gates, and thus entrapped the assailants of the Castle. After burning the vessels in the harbour, and endeavouring to stop the water supply of the city, he assaulted the Castle from the east - cutting through the partitions between the houses in the streets, and thus protecting his followers from the arrows and shot from the Castle walls. Encouraged by the news of approaching succour from England, the besieged made a brave sally, slew 100 gallowglasses, and obliged Lord Offaly to raise the siege, and agree to a temporary truce and an exchange of prisoners. On the 14th October he left his army encamped at Howth, and went to place the castle of Maynooth in a proper state of defence. Portlester, Rathangan, Lea, Athy, Kilkea, Castledermot, and Carlow, were all well garrisoned and fortified. His chief allies were his cousin Con Bacagh O'Neill of Tyrone, his brother- in-law 0'Conor Faly, O'More, O'Byrne, MacMurrough, O'Brien, and most of the gentlemen of Kildare. In the autumn he defeated at Clontarf an English contingent that had landed, sending the survivors prisoners to Maynooth. His admiral, Roukes, about the same period, captured several English transports. On 14th October Sir W. Skeffington, Lord-Deputy, sailed from Beaumaris with a fleet, which was driven by a storm under shelter of Lambay; but he was shortly enabled to land with troops and supplies for the relief of Dublin; and the Earl of Ossory invaded and ravaged Carlow and Kildare, and induced Sir Thomas Eustace and forty of Lord Offaly's adherents to return to their allegiance. The winter passed over with desultory operations on both sides. In December Offaly succeeded to the earldom of Kildare on the death of his father in the Tower of London. In March 1535 the new Earl of Kildare had with him 120 horse, 240 gallowglasses, and 500 kerns. Leaving Maynooth Castle strongly fortified in the hands of his foster brother and con­ fidant, Christopher Parese, he went into Offaly to raise additional adherents for the summer campaign. Skeffington invested Maynooth Castle on the 14th March, and on the 23rd Parese, consenting to betray his trust, permitted the outer defences to be taken without resistance, after which the keep was carried by assault. A park of heavy artillery, brought up to the siege by the English, and for which the Anglo- Irish were quite unprepared, had no small effect in compelling such a speedy surrender of a place the Earl of Kildare regarded as almost impregnable. Of the garrison, twenty-five were beheaded, and one hanged, as it was thought dangerous to spare skilled soldiers. "Great and rich was the spoile; such store of beddes, so many goodly hangings, so rich a wardrob, suche brave furniture, as truly it was accompted, for householde stuffe and utensiles, one of the richest earle his houses under the crowne of Englande." Parese, to increase the estimation in which his treachery should be regarded, dwelt on the trust and confidence Kildare bestowed on him: and Stanihurst tells us how his treachery was rewarded: "The Deputy gave his officers commandment to delyver Parese the summe of muney that was promised to him upon the surrender of the castell, and after to choppe off his heade." The Earl had meanwhile raised 7,000 men in Offaly and Connaught, and was on his way to relieve the castle, when the news of its fall induced most of his forces to disperse and return to their homes. With such as remained true, he advanced and gave battle to the royal forces near Slane. The Deputy's artillery again gave him a superiority, and the Earl was defeated with heavy loss. Again the Deputy considered he was justified in putting his prisoners, 140 gallowglasses, to death. After this disaster, the Earl took refuge in Thomond, with a retinue of sixteen gentlemen and priests, sending a deputation to the Emperor to entreat for succour. The Irish chiefs one by one submitted, and the Earl's castles were taken, except Crom and Adare. In July, aided by O'Conor Faly, the Earl assaulted and took Rathangan Castle, and held it for a time; he also harassed the Deputy by cutting off his supplies, and carrying on a skirmishing warfare; nevertheless, but for the supineness of the English commanders and the extreme disorder of the soldiers, the war would soon have been ended. On 3rd August Kildare's forces were further disorganized in an engagement near the Hill of Allen - indeed, would have been annihilated, but that at the decisive moment, the kerns of O'More and 0'Conor, nominally in alliance with the English, refused to fall upon their fellow-countrymen. William Keating, one of Kildare's captains, was taken in this engagement, and saved his life by not only deserting the cause of his leader, but undertaking to drive him out of his fastnesses in Kildare, and to allure from him the Keating kerns, his last reliance. Driven out of a fortified rath near Rathangan, the Earl was forced to retire into Offaly, and at length, worn out by fatigue, and deserted by all his followers, he surrendered himself to Lord Grey, near Maynooth, on the 18th August 1535, as Stanihurst asserts, on the promise that he should be pardoned on his conveyance to England. During the first six months of the fourteen which the war lasted, Ireland was practically clear of English troops, and it was in the power of the Irish lords and chiefs to have made a permanent stand against the English rule, had they so desired, and been united. In none of the communications between Skeffington and London is there any mention of the Earl of Kildare's surrender being other than unconditional; yet the following extract of a letter from the Duke of Norfolk to Thomas Cromwell would lead one to suppose that some terms were agreed to: "One [reason against executing him] is, that consernying the facion of his submyssion, my Lord Leonard and my Lord Buttler shuld for ever lose their credight in Irlond; which wer pite, for they may do gode servize: another is, that sewerly the Irishemen shall never after put them selffes into none Inglisheman his handes." At the end of August the Earl was sent prisoner to London, under the escort of Lord Grey, and by the King's order was committed to the Tower. His uncles Sir Oliver and Sir John were also captives, while Sir James, Sir Walter, and Sir Richard, who had been all along opposed to their nephew's proceedings, were on the 31st December treacherously seized, and also sent to the Tower. On the passage to England, Stanihurst relates that Sir Richard asked the captain the name of the vessel, and was informed it was the Cow. "Dismayed at this, he said: Now good brethren, I am in utter despaire of our return to Ireland, for I beare in mind an old prophecie that five Earles brethren should be caryed in a cowe's belly to England, and from thence never to returne. Whereat the rest began afresh to houle and lament, which doubtelesse, was pitiftill to behold five valiant gentlemen, that durst meete in the fielde five as sturdie champions as could bee picked out in a realme, to bee so sodanily terrified with the bare name of a modern cow." In May 1536, an Act of attainder was passed against Kildare and his relatives. In a letter from the Tower, towards the end of 1536, to his follower John Rothe, he gives a most deplorable account of the barbarity with which they were treated. On the wall of the State-prison may still be seen the letters, "Thomas FitzG" - the name was never completed - for on 3rd February 1537 the Earl of Kildare, then aged but 24, after an imprisonment of sixteen months, and his five uncles, after an imprisonment of eleven months, were executed at Tyburn. Stanihurst thus describes him: "Thomas FitzGiralde, upon whom nature poured beautie, and fortune by byrthe bestowed nobilitie, which, had it been well employed, and were it not that his rare gyftes had bene blemished by his later evill qualities, hee would have proved a ympe worthie to bee engrafte in so honourable a stocke Hee was of nature tall and personable; in countenance amicable; a white face, and withall somewhat ruddie, delicately in eche lymme featured; a rolling tongue, and a rich utterance; of nature flexible and kinde; verie soon caryed where hee fansied; easily with submission appeased, hardly with stubbornnesse weyed; in matters of importance an headlong hotespurre, yet nathelesse taken for a young man not devoyde of witte; were it not, as it fell out in the ende, that a fool had the keeping thereof." He married Frances Fortescue, but had no children. "He lovys hir well," says a writer of the time; "howbeit I cannot perceyve that sche favors him soo tenderlye."

FitzGerald, Gerald, 11th Earl of Kildare, brother of the preceding, was born 25th February 1525, and was consequently but ten years old at the time of Lord Thomas's arrest. He was then lying ill of the small-pox at Donore, in Kildare, and being the only hope of the family, he was carefully conveyed in a large basket, by Thomas Leverous, a priest and foster- brother of his father, into Offaly, to his sister Lady Mary O'Conor; and when recovered was removed into Thomond, to the care of his cousin James Delahide. The Irish Council spared no efforts to induce the O'Briens to surrender him; but after using all their diplomacy, they had to confess to the Lord Chamberlain, Thomas Cromwell: "And as to O'Brene, notwithstanding his letters and promises of subjection and obeydens to the Kinges Highness, we coulde neyther gett hym to condescend to anny conformyte according the same, ney yet to delyver the Erie of Kyldare's plate and goodes." After six months' rest in Thomond, Delahide and Leverous conveyed Gerald to his aunt, Lady Eleanor MacCarthy, at Kilbriton, in Cork. Her son, the MacCarthy Reagh, was tributary to the Earl of Desmond, and the Government endeavoured to induce the Earl to compel the lad's surrender. Royal Commissioners were appointed, and a "most gracious pardon" offered to the lad himself if he would but come in. Remembering the fate of his uncles, and the known anxiety of the King for the extinction of the Geraldines, he wisely declined putting himself into the English power. It appeared desirable that he should seek some safer asylum, and accordingly his aunt, Lady Eleanor, urged by O'Neill and Desmond, consented to a long-talked-of marriage with Manus O'Donnell of Tirconnell, so as to be enabled to offer him an asylum in the north. The marriage took place, and all the plottings and plans of the Government for securing Gerald's person were completely frustrated. In September 1539 Cromwell was informed by an Irish correspondent: "I ensuere your Lordship that this English Pale, except the towens, and a very few of the possessioners, bee too affectionat to the Geraldynes, that for kynrede, maryage, fostering, and adhering as followers, they coveite more to see a Geraldyn to reigne and triumphe, then to see God come emonges theym; and yf they might see this young Gerotes baner displayed, yf they should lose half their substance, they would reyoise more at the same, then otherwise to gayne great goodes." Later on, in the beginning of 1540, the Council inform the king that "the detestable traictors, yonge Geralde, O Nele, O Donyll, the pretended Erle of Desmonde, O Brene, 0 Connor, and O Mulmoy, continued to destroy the property of his Majesty's subjects, to subdue the whole land to the supremacy of the Pope, and to elevate the Geraldines." In March 1540 Lady Eleanor O'Donnell, suspecting that her husband harboured intentions of surrendering the young Earl, determined to send him away. "She engaged a merchant vessel of St. Malo, which happened to be in Donegal Bay, to convey a small party to the coast of Brittany. She then gave 140 gold Portugueses to Gerald, and he departed with his tutor Leverous, and Robert Walsh, a faithful servant of his father. He is described as having been dressed in a saffron coloured shirt like one of the natives. The vessel immediately set sail, and arrived safely at St. Malo, where Gerald was hospitably received by the governor. Gerald once in safety, Lady Eleanor reproached O'Donnell for his intended treachery, told him no fur­ ther inducement existed for her tolerating his company, "and trussing up bag and baggage, returned to hir country." After Gerald's departure, the Irish league fell to pieces, and O'Donnell, O'Neill, Desmond, and the other Irish princes submitted, and were ultimately pardoned and received into royal favour. The attention young Gerald met with on the Continent, and the reports sent abroad that he was the rightful heir to the Irish crown, created much manoeuvreing and correspondence at the court of King Henry VIII. Francis I. placed him with the young Dauphin for a time; he was next sent privately into Flanders, then part of the dominions of the Emperor Charles V. - the English ambassador keeping a careful watch on his movements. From Charles V. he was passed on to Cardinal Pole at Rome, who settled upon him an annuity of 300 crowns, treated him with affection, and had him educated and trained as a prince of high expectations. In 1544, when his education had been completed, he visited the Knights of Malta (to which body two of his uncles had belonged), and gathered laurels in an expedition to the coast of Africa. In 1545 he was appointed master of the horse to Cosmo de Medici, with a salary of 300 ducats per annum, besides other handsome allowances. In June of the same year Lady Eleanor O'Donnell was pardoned for her part in his escape. After the death of Henry VIII. in 1547, he visited London together with some foreign ambassadors, accompanied by his old friend, Thomas Leverous. At a masque given by Edward VI. he fell in love with Mabel Brown, a lady of the court, whom he shortly afterwards married. He was received into favour and restored to his Irish estates by patent of 25th April 1552. [His faithful adherent, Leverous, was appointed Bishop of Kildare and Dean of St. Patrick's, preferments of which he was deprived in 1559 on refusing to adopt the reformed tenets. He afterwards kept a school at Adare, and died about 1577, in the 80th year of his age, at Naas, where he was buried in the parish church of St. David.] Reinstated in all his father's possessions and titles, the young Earl returned to Ireland in November 1554, and was received with an outburst of delight by the dependents of the Geraldines. If we except one recall to London in 1560, inconsequence of reported machinations between him and the Earl of Desmond, he appears to have been regarded as a loyal and trusted ser­ vant of the Crown, and as such often ac­ companied the Deputy in his expeditions against rebellious Irish chieftains. He is praised by contemporary writers for having presented the Government many times with a number of principall outlawes heades." In 1562 he accompanied Shane O'Neill on his visit to Queen Elizabeth. On 25th August 1580 he formed one of the party that accompanied the Lord- Deputy, Lord Grey, and was defeated in Glenmalure by the O'Byrnes. Later on, however, Government had occasion to suspect his loyalty, and he and his family were for some time confined successively in Dublin Castle and the Tower of London. He was eventually liberated, and died in London 16th November 1585; his remains were brought over and interred at Kildare. His wife survived him until 25th August 1610. "He was of low stature and slender figure, and was reputed to have been the best horseman of his day. With many good qualities - honourable, courteous, valiant, affable, and having all the qualifications belonging to a gentleman, he was passionate and covetous. He conformed to the Protestant religion in the beginning of the reign of Queen Elizabeth."

FitzGerald, Henry, 12th Earl of Kildare, second son of preceding, was born in 1562. He was called "Henry na Tuagh" - "of the battle-axes." Espousing the Anglo-Irish side in the wars with Hugh O'Neill, he was wounded in a skirmish on the Blackwater, July 1597. Brought to Drogheda, he died there on 30th September (aged about 35) from the effects of the wound and through grief for the death of his two foster-brothers, O'Conors, who had been slain by his side. He was buried in St. Bridget's Cathedral, Kildare. His wife was Lady Frances Howard, daughter of the Earl of Nottingham.

FitzGerald, William, 13th Earl of Kildare, brother of preceding, was born about 1563. Returning from a visit to England in March 1599, prepared to accompany the Earl of Essex in the war against O'Neill, he perished at sea with "eighteen of the chiefs of Meath and Fingall."

FitzGerald, Gerald, 14th Earl of Kildare, grandson of the 9th Earl, succeeded on the death of his cousin in 1599. He was well affected towards the Crown, and occupied several positions of trust. He died 11th February 1612, and his obsequies were solemnized at Maynooth; but his remains were not buried at Kildare until November. He married Elizabeth Nugent, daughter of Lord Delvin.

FitzGerald, Gerald, 15th Earl of Kildare, son of preceding, was born 26th December 1611, and was only six weeks old at the time of his father's death. He was given in ward to the Duke of Lennox, with an order from the King that he should be married to the Duke's granddaughter. This plan was frustrated by his early death at Maynooth, 11th November 1620, aged 8. He was buried at Kildare.

FitzGerald, George, 16th Earl of Kildare, great-grandson of 9th Earl, born January 1612, was known as the "Fairy Earl," apparently for no other reason than that his portrait, still extant, was painted on a small scale. Given in charge to the Earl of Cork, he, when but eighteen, married the Earl's daughter, Lady Joan Boyle. The castle of Maynooth, which had fallen into decay on the death of the 14th Earl of Kildare, was restored and improved for him by his guardian. In 1638 he was committed to prison for refusing to submit the title-deeds of his estates to the Earl of Strafford. He took the Anglo-Irish side in the War of 1641-'52, and suffered much in estate - Maynooth Castle being pillaged and dismantled by the Confederates. After Cromwell's landing in 1649, his regiment was with many others disbanded. He died in 1660, aged about 48, and was buried at Kildare.

FitzGerald, Wentworth, 17th Earl of Kildare, son of preceding, was born in 1634. He died 5th March 1664, aged 30, and was buried in Christ Church, Dublin.

FitzGerald, Robert, second son of the 16th Earl of Kildare, and father of the 19th Earl, born August 1637, was an active promoter of the restoration of Charles II. He received estates, and many offices of trust and emolument were conferred upon him. Opposing James II.'s Irish policy, he was deprived of his lands and was for a time confined in Trinity College with about fifty other persons of distinction. When the news of the battle of the Boyne arrived, he was released, and exerted himself to preserve Dublin from pillage before its surrender to William III., exhibiting the greatest nerve and executive capacity. On the 6th July, when William entered Dublin in state, it was FitzGerald that presented him with the keys of the castle and city. The King returned them, saying: "Sir, they are in good hands, you deserve them well and may keep them." He was shortly afterwards restored to all his estates and offices of trust, and reappointed on the Privy-Council. He died 31st January 1699, aged 61. He was the author of a work extolling the benefits of salt water sweetened (Lond. 1683), and A Full and True Account of the late Revolution in Dublin (Lond. 1690).

FitzGerald, John, 18th Earl of Kildare, son of the 17th Earl, was born in 1661, died in 1707, aged about 46, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. In 1683 the degree of D.C.L. was conferred upon him by the University of Oxford. In 1689 his estates, of the annual value of £6,800 in Ireland, and £200 in England, were sequestered by James's Irish Parliament. He sold the family lands of Adare and Croom to pay off incumbrances on his other property.

FitzGerald, Robert, 19th Earl of Kildare, grandson of the 16th Earl, was born in 1675. He died 20th February 1744, aged 68, and was interred in Christ Church. Finding Maynooth Castle too much dilapidated to be restored, he purchased Carton, the present seat of the family. He is said to have been " extremely formal and delicate, insomuch that when he was married to Lady Mary O'Brien, one of the most shining beauties then in the world, he would not take off his wedding gloves to embrace her."

FitzGerald, James, 20th Earl of Kildare, and 1st Duke of Leinster, son of preceding, was born 29th May 1722. He laid the foundations of Leinster House, Dublin, saying, when told that it was in an unfashionable part of the town, "They will follow me wherever I go." In consequence of a spirited remonstrance to the King relative to the disposition of the large unappropriated surplus of Irish revenue, he became one of the most popular men in Ireland - a medal being struck in his honour. He was created a Marquis in 1761, and Duke of Leinster in 1766. He died in Leinster House, 19th November 1773, aged 51, and was buried in Christ Church. In 1746 he married Lady Emily Mary Lennox, daughter of the Duke of Richmond, sister of Lady Holland, Lady Louisa Conolly, and Lady Sarah Napier. They had nine sons and ten daughters. She survived the Duke many years, and married William Ogilvy, by whom she had two daughters. She died 27th March 1814.

FitzGerald, William Robert, 2nd Duke of Leinster, the second son of the preceding, was born in London, 2nd March 1749. Upon the death of his elder brother in 1765 he became Earl of Offaly; and when his father was created Duke in 1766, Marquis of Kildare. In 1767 he was elected member for Dublin, and continued to be a member of the House of Commons until his father's death in 1773. He held many important offices connected with the State, was one of the generals of the Volunteers, and on the institution of the order of St. Patrick in 1783 was the first of the original knights. Upon the Union, he received £28,800 compensation for the disfranchisement of Kildare and Athy. He died 20th October, 1804, aged 55, leaving a family of five sons and eight daughters. Barrington says: "His disposition and address combined almost every quality which could endear him to the nation; . . he always intended right. . . Something approaching to regal honours attended his investiture " [as a General of the Volunteers].

FitzGerald, Lord Edward, twelfth child of the 1st Duke of Leinster, and brother of preceding, was born at Whitehall, London, 15th October 1763. At the age of sixteen he accompanied his mother and step-father (Mr. Ogilvy) to France. The latter superintended his studies, which were chiefly directed to the acquisition of knowledge that would fit him for a military career. In 1779 they returned to England, and Lord Edward received a commission in a militia regiment of which his uncle, the Duke of Richmond, was colonel. In 1780 he was appointed to a lieutenancy in the 26th Regiment. Soon after joining at Youghal, he exchanged into the 19th, then under orders for America, and in June 1781 sailed for Charleston. His letters from America exhibit ardent enthusiasm for the military profession and the warmest affection towards his mother, to whom they were written. He distinguished himself in an engagement with the United States commander, Colonel Lee, and was soon appointed Aide-de-camp on Lord Rawdon's staff. Probably the success of the American colonists in fighting against regular troops, led him in after years to the conviction that his countrymen in Ireland could cope with them with a similar result. He brought with him from America a negro servant, "the faithful Tony," who followed his after fortunes with devoted affection. Indeed Lord Edward had a singular power of attaching to himself all who came within his influence. In 1783 he visited the West Indies. A few months afterwards he returned home, finding that his hopes of promotion lay in Europe. In the autumn of the same year he entered Parliament for Athy, and for the two following years resided chiefly at Frescati, Blackrock. He derived a moderate income from the rents of his estate of Kilrush in the County of Kildare. In the spring of 1786 he took the then unusual step for a young nobleman of entering the Military College, Woolwich. In 1787 he visited Gibraltar, and travelled in Portugal and Spain. In May 1788 he joined his regiment, the 54th, in Nova Scotia, and for a year was stationed at New Brunswick, Halifax, Quebec, and Montreal. He wrote to his mother: "I grow fonder of my profession the more I see of it, and like being Major much better than Lieutenant-Colonel, for I only execute the commands of others." Cobbett was then Sergeant-Major of the 54th, and afterwards wrote of him: "Lord Edward was a most humane and excellent man, and the only really honest officer I ever knew in the army." In April 1789, with Tony and a brother officer, he explored the country from Frederickstown, New Brunswick, to Quebec, camping out. He accomplished the journey of 175 miles in twenty-six days, and established a shorter practicable route than that hitherto followed. In June he sojourned amongst the Indians near Detroit, and was made an honorary chief of the Bear Tribe. In December he arrived at New Orleans, and finding it impracticable to proceed to Spanish America, returned to Ireland. The simplicity of life in the colonies delighted him. He writes: "There are no devilish politics here;" and "every man here is exactly what he can make himself, and has made himself by his own industry." In February 1787 he expressed himself much disappointed, though not dispirited, at the turn affairs were taking in Ireland. On the 13th March, in a speech in Parliament in support of a motion by Grattan, he said: "Tithes having for thirty years been considered as a hardship and matter of grievance, it became the wisdom of the House to inquire into them. While the people were quiet no inquiry was made; while they were outrageous no inquiry, perhaps, ought to be made; but certainly it was not beneath the dignity of the House to say that an inquiry should be made when the people returned to peace and obedience again." Family considerations induced him for a time to consent not to vote against the Government; but to show that he was not influenced by mercenary motives, he declined to accept promotion during that interval. In 1790 he was offered by Pitt the command of an expedition against Cadiz; but finding that acceptance might necessitate his voting against his convictions in Parliament, he was obliged to relinquish this chance of distinguishing himself. The same year he was returned for the County of Kildare. In October 1792 he visited Paris, and he writes: "I lodge with my friend [Thomas] Paine; we breakfast, dine, and sup together. The more I see of his interior, the more I like and respect him. I cannot express how kind he is to me; there is a simplicity of manner, a goodness of heart, and a strength of mind in him, that I never knew a man before possess." At a meeting of the British residents in Paris on the 19th November, he joined in drinking to the progress of liberty and the revolution. Amongst other toasts was: "The people of Ireland, and may Government profit by the example of France, and reform prevent revolution." He and other young noblemen renounced their titles, actual or honorary; and for participation in these proceedings he was dismissed from the army. On the 21st December, after a short acquaintance, he married Pamela, a lovely and fascinating girl of about eighteen years of age, a ward of Madame deGenlis - most pro­ bably her daughter by the Duke d'Orleans (Philip Egalite). Pamela had been previously, while on a visit to England, engaged to Sheridan, then a widower. The nuptials took place at Tournay, and Louis Philippe, afterwards King of the French, was amongst the witnesses to the ceremony. The marriage proved in every respect happy. In his place in Parliament, soon after his return home with his wife, he denounced the Government for prohibiting a meeting of volunteers in Dublin. When called upon to apologize, he said: "I have spoken what has been taken down; it is true, and I am sorry for it." In 1793 he voted and spoke against the Arms and Insurrection Bills, declaring: "The disturbances of the country are not to be remedied by any coercive measures, however strong; . . nothing can effect this, and restore tranquillity to the country, but a serious, a candid endeavour of Government and of this House to redress the grievances of the people." No endeavours in that direction were made, and many men like Lord Edward lost hope of all constitutional changes, and gradually drifted into revolution. He became intimate with Arthur O'Connor, who occasionally resided with him at Frescati. About this period he formally joined the United Irishmen. In May 1796 he and his wife proceeded by Hamburg to Basle, for the purpose of communicating with the agents of the French Government relative to obtaining armed assistance in Ireland. It is now known that his proceedings were carefully watched by spies, and information of all his negotiations conveyed to Pitt. In the spring of 1797 Edward J. Lewins was sent to France by the Leinster Directory of United Irishmen, and resided at Paris as accredited agent of "the Irish nation." In May of the same year Lord Edward again visited the Continent, and met an emissary of the French Government. Wolfe Tone was then, and had been for some time, working within France, and the United Irish leaders were working from without, in urging on the French expeditions that eventuated in the abortive Bantry attempt in December 1796, the preparations at the Texel in July 1797, Humbert's landing at Killala in August 1798, and the engagement off Lough Swilly in September 1798, in which Tone was taken prisoner. At the election of 1797 Lord Edward addressed the electors of Kildare, and expressed his intention of not soliciting their votes, on the ground that nothing was to be hoped for from Parliament as then constituted. Grattan retired about the same time, and for the same reason. Lord Edward now assumed the military leadership of the United Irishmen, determined to assert by arms the independence of Ireland, a post for which he was in every way qualified both by training and disposition. It was decided that an insurrection should take place in March 1798. The union considered it could rely upon 267,296 armed men: Ulster furnishing 110,990; Munster, 100,634; Leinster, 55,672. None appear to have been enrolled for the County of Wexford, where the most vigorous stand was subsequently made. As the plot thickened, it was intimated to Lord Edward that the Government would connive at his leaving the country; but he spurned the suggestion, declaring: "It is now out of the question; I am too deeply pledged to these men to be able to withdraw with honour." In March 1798 he was residing at Leinster House with Lady Edward FitzGerald, and on the 12th (the day of the seizures at Bond's in Lower Bridge- street) an attempt was made to arrest him there. Frescati was also searched in vain. His papers at both places were examined. From this time until the 19th of May he was a wanderer, secreted with friends in different parts of Dublin: first at a friend's in Harold's-cross; then at Dr. Kennedy's in Aungier-street, where he was constantly visited by his associate Surgeon Lawless, and once by Reynolds the informer, whose perfidy was not yet known to the United Irish leaders. He was afterwards removed in disguise to the house of a Mrs. Dillon, close by the Portobello Hotel. Whilst there he visited Lady FitzGerald, then residing in Denzille-street with her children, a faithful maid, and Tony. A servant afterwards related that "on going into her lady's room late in the evening, she saw his lordship and Lady Edward sitting together by the fire. The youngest child had been brought down out of its bed for him to see, and both he and Lady Edward were, as she thought, in tears." Tony often bitterly lamented that "his unfortunate face" prevented him from visiting his master. For three weeks Lord Edward was concealed at Mrs. Dillon's. We are told that he attached himself much to a little child that used to accompany him in his night walks along the canal. From Mrs. Dillon's he was removed to the house of Mr. Murphy, a feather merchant, 153 Thomas-street, where he held frequent consultations with the leaders on the intended insurrection, and again visited Denzille-street disguised as a woman. Their daughter Emily was born during Lady Edward's residence in Denzille-street. The leaders of the United Irishmen now concluded that French aid could not be depended on, and it was arranged that Lord Edward should take the field at the head of their forces on the 23rd May. The increased vigilance of the authorities now necessitated more frequent changes of residence - to Mr. Cormack's, 22 Thomas- street, Mr. Moore's, 119 Thomas-street, Mr. Gannon's, 22 Corn-market. A reward of £1,000 was placed upon his head, and he had more than one narrow escape from capture. On the 17th of May he returned to Murphy's-by day hiding in a valley on the roof of an outhouse - by night holding consultations with his friends. In the afternoon of the next day he was in bed with a cold, when the house was suddenly surrounded, and Majors Swan and Sirr, accompanied by a body of soldiers, rushed up stairs and into his room. In the struggle that ensued Lord Edward wounded more than one of his antagonists; but in the end, disabled by a shot from Major Sirr's pistol, he was made prisoner, and was conveyed under a strong guard to the Castle, and afterwards to Newgate. He expressed regret when told by a surgeon that his wound was probably not mortal. [It is now known that Lord Edward was betrayed by Francis Higgins, or the "Sham Squire."] The Surgeon-General, Stewart, had been called in, and while dressing his wound he whispered to Lord Edward his readiness to convey any message he desired to Lady Edward. "No, no," he rejoined, "thank you; nothing, nothing; only break it to her tenderly." He lingered on for sixteen days in Newgate, until two o'clock on the morning of the 4th June 1798, when he passed away, aged 34. Until within a few hours of his death all communication with his relatives and friends was denied. Then (through the influence of Lord Clare) Lady Louisa Connolly and his brother, Lord Henry FitzGerald, were admitted to his bedside. He kissed and embraced both of them, spoke of his wife and children, raved about public affairs, and remarked, "I knew it must come to this; we must all go." His remains were privately interred in a vault of St. Werburgh's Church. Attainted by Act of Parliament, his estate was forfeited and sold, but was secured by his step-father for the benefit of his children. The attainder was reversed in 1819. Lady Edward FitzGerald's after life, passed upon the Continent, was not happy. Her means were derived from an allowance by her reputed half-brother, Louis Philippe. She died in Paris, 8th November 1831, aged 55, and was buried at Montmartre. Lord Edward's only son, Edward Fox, died in 1863, leaving a daughter. His daughters Pamela and Lucy, who married respectively General Sir Guy Campbell, and Captain G. F. Lyon, had died a few years previously. Dr. Madden, in concluding his sketch of Lord Edward, says: "The loss of Lord Edward to the cause of the United Irishmen was irretrievable. It might be possible to replace all the other members of the Directory after the arrests in March; but there was no substitute to be found in Ireland for Lord Edward. He was the only military man in connexion with the Union capable of taking command of any considerable number of men, competent for the important office assigned him, and qualified for it by a knowledge of his profession, practical as well as theoretical. When he was lost to the cause, it was madness to think there was any hope left of a successful issue for resistance." Lord Holland, writing in 1824, bears the following testimony to Lord Edward's character and intentions: "More than twenty years have now passed away. Many of my political opinions are softened - my predilections for some men weakened, my prejudices against others removed; but my approbation of Lord Edward FitzGerald's actions remains unaltered and unshaken. His country was bleeding under one of the hardest tyrannies that our times have witnessed. He who thinks a man can be even excused in such circumstances by any other consideration than that of despair from opposing a pre­ tended government by force, seems to me to sanction a principle which would insure impunity to the greatest of all human delinquents, or at least to those who produce the greatest misery among mankind. . . Lord Edward was a good officer. The plans found among his papers showed much combination and considerable knowledge of the principles of defence. His apprehension was so quick, and his courage so constitutional, that he would have applied, without disturbance, all the faculties he possessed to any emergency, however sudden, and in the moment of the greatest danger or confusion. He was, among the United Irish, scarcely less considerable for his political than his military qualifications. His temper was peculiarly formed to engage the affections of a warm-hearted people. A cheerful and intelligent countenance, an artless gaiety of manner, without reserve, but without intrusion, and a careless yet inoffensive intrepidity, both in conversation and in action, fascinated his slightest acquaintance, and disarmed the rancour of even his bitter opponents. These, indeed, were only the indications of more solid qualities - an open and fearless heart, warm affections, and a tender, compassionate disposition. Where his own safety was concerned, he was bold even to rashness; he neither disguised his thoughts nor controlled his actions: where the inter­ ests or reputation of others were at stake, he was cautious, discreet, and considerate. Indignant as he was at the oppression of his country, and intemperate in his language of abhorrence at the cruelties exercised in Ireland, I never could find that there was a single man against whom he felt the slightest personal animosity. He made allowance for the motives and even temptations of those whose actions he detested." Perhaps there is no one whose memory is held in more loving regard by the Irish people than Lord Edward FitzGerald.

FitzGerald, Augustus Frederick, 3rd Duke of Leinster, Grand Master of the Freemasons of Ireland, eldest son of the 2nd Duke, was born 21st August 1791. When quite a boy he succeeded his father as Duke of Leinster. He was educated at Eton and at Oxford. In politics he was a staunch Whig, and supported in the House of Lords the cause of Queen Caroline, Catholic Emancipation, the Reform Bill, and other measures of a liberal tendency. Most of his life was passed in Ireland at­ tending to the duties connected with his estates and his position in the country. He was a man of singular refinement and amiability of character. He died 10th October 1874, aged 83, and was succeeded by his son.

FitzGerald, Edward, a leader in the Insurrection of 1798, was a country gentleman of ample means who was born at Newpark, County of Wexford, about 1770. He was in Wexford jail on suspicion, at the breaking out of the Insurrection in 1798, was released by the populace, and during the occupation of the town commanded in some of the engagements that took place in different parts of the county, showing far more ability than the Commander-in-chief, Bagenal B. Harvey. Dr. Madden says: "With regard to the prisoners that fell into his hands at Gorey, he behaved in the most humane manner possible; amid the threats and shouts of the people for vengeance on those who had recently slain or butchered their nearest relatives, . . he said to the people: `You cannot bring the dead to life by imitating the brutality of your enemies. It is for us to follow them, and come face to face with them.'" He particularly distinguished himself at the battle of Arklow, where he commanded the Shelmalier gunsmen. He afterwards joined in the expedition against Hacketstown; and surrendered upon terms to General Wilford, in the middle of July. With Garrett Byrne and others he was detained in custody in Dublin until the next year, when he was allowed to remove to England. He was rearrested on 25th March 1800, imprisoned for a short time, and then permitted to emigrate to Hamburg, where he died in 1807. He is described as a handsome, finely formed man.

FitzGerald, George Robert, "Fighting FitzGerald," a noted duellist and lawless desperado, was born at Turlough, County of Roscommon, about 1748. He was of good family, nephew of the Earl of Bristol, Bishop of Derry; was educated at Eton; was received at the court of Versailles; commanded a body of the Volunteers, and in 1784 was presented with the freedom of the city of Londonderry. He brought one young wife to an early grave, mourned for her in an extravagant manner, and before long married a second. An account of his wild freaks and lawless excesses would fill a small volume. Most of his life was spent on his paternal estate in the County of Mayo. There he hunted by torchlight, terrified his friends by keeping bears and other ferocious animals as pets, erected a fort and set the law at defiance, and even held his father to ransom for a sum of £3,000. In 1782 he published a volume of 463 pages - An Appeal to the Public, relative to legal proceedings in which he had been engaged. On 12th June 1786 he was executed at Castlebar, with two accomplices, for the murder of an obnoxious attorney. Considering his station and connexions, the Irish Government showed remarkable firmness in permitting the law to take its course. His wife adhered to him to the last. His daughter, brought up by a relative, died in 1794, it is said of anguish on reading of her father's fate in an old copy of the Gentleman's Magazine, hidden away on the top shelf of a bookcase. An interesting series of articles on his life will be found in the University Magazine for 1840.

FitzGerald, John FitzEdmund, Seneschal of Imokilly, in the County of Cork, was one of the most distinguished FitzGeralds of the 16th century - "the chief man of service among the rebels." He went out into insurrection with the Earl of Kildare. In 1569 Sir H. Sidney captured his castle of Ballymartyr; and eventually, with FitzMaurice, he had to submit to Sir John Perrot among the ruins of the church of Kilmallock, which they had destroyed a short time before. When FitzMaurice proceeded to France to seek assistance against England, the Seneschal was discovered to be in communication with him; and in November 1579 he threw aside the mask of loyalty and invaded the country of the Butlers, burning Nenagh and some other of Ormond's towns. Soon after, we are told, "Sir Walter Rawley returning from Dublin, had a hard escape from the Seneschal, who set on him with fourteen horse and sixty foot. . . About Twelfth-tide the Seneschal of Imokelly killed thirty-six of Pers's soldiers, and ten of Sir W. Morgan's, as they had been to get a prey." Next year he burnt down numerous towns in the Decies, and carried off 7,000 head of kine; reaping all the corn and conveying it to hiding places in the woods. In September 1582 he was in the field at the head of 200 horse and 2,000 foot; but his fortunes, like those of his friend the Earl of Desmond, were soon on the wane. Shortly before the Earl was slain, the Seneschal, much to the satisfaction of Queen Elizabeth, submitted unconditionally; and Ormond, respecting the character of his former antagonist, successfully exerted himself to save his life. In 1585 he was committed to Dublin Castle, where he appears to have ended his troubled career early in 1589. He must not be confounded with his namesake and cousin, the following.

FitzGerald, Sir John FitzEdmund, Seneschal of Imokilly, cousin of preceding, was born about 1528. He stood by the Government all through the Desmond war, although often sorely tempted to join the Earl, who was a relation of his. In July 1572 he was recommended to the Queen by Sir H. Sidney as deserving of reward for his sufferings in her service, and was granted an immediate sum of 100 marks and an annuity of 100 more out of the Munster forfeitures. When Parliament met for the arrangement of the forfeitures of the Desmond estates, he produced a feoffment which the deceased Earl had made of his property to him before the war. The dates of the document were proved to be erroneous, and his character for loyalty was compromised by this attempt to aid the family of his kinsman, and cheat the undertakers out of their prey. Nevertheless he continued to show himself " the best subject the Queen had in Munster." In March 1601, when Mountjoy sojourned at his house in Cloyne, he was knighted. He was a friend of Sir George Carew, and in his old age was in the enjoyment of as much leisure and dignity as official favour could procure for him. He died 15th January 1612, aged 84, and was buried in Cloyne Cathedral, where his monument may still be seen.

FitzGibbon, John, Earl of Clare, was born near Donny brook, in 1749. His father, a lawyer, originally was a Catholic, who had risen from obscurity to eminence, and amassed a large fortune. Young FitzGibbon, of a haughty and imperious temperament, received his early education under Mr. Ball in Ship-street. He was distinguished as an apt scholar, totally devoid of fancy or taste. Among his school-fellows were Foster, Boyd, and Grattan. FitzGibbon obtained his degree of B.A. from the University of Dublin in 1762, and that of LL.D. in 1765. He also took a degree at Oxford, and then entered as a student at the Temple. He was called to the Irish Bar, 19th June 1772, in his twenty-third year, and being a well-read and accomplished lawyer, his progress was rapid. The first year his fees were £343. By 1788 they had risen to £7,980 per annum. Altogether, between June 1772, and June 1798, he received £45,912. He joined the Munster circuit, where his father's reputation as a careful and painstaking lawyer, and his owning large estates near Limerick, gave him a status. Amongst those who rode circuit with him were Barry Yelverton and Curran. "Of slender figure, not very robust health, and rather delicate features, he had the haughty air, the imperious glance, the despotic will of a Roman emperor. He was an able and ready advocate, exceedingly painstaking, always master of his case, and these qualifications ensured him abundance of briefs." His personal appearance is also described by Barrington: "He was about the middle size; slight, and not graceful; his eyes - large, dark, and penetrating - betrayed some of the boldest traits of his uncommon character; his countenance, though expressive and manly, yet discovered nothing which could deceive the physiognomist into an opinion of his magnanimity, or call forth an eulogium on his virtues." Ambitious and desirous of distinction, a large allowance from his father did not lessen his eagerness for practice. The success of his advocacy on the University election petition of 1778, led to his election for the University of Dublin in 1780, his coadjutor being Hussey Burgh. When requested by the electors to support Grattan's Petition of Rights, he wrote: "I have always been of opinion that the claim of the British Parliament to make laws for this country is a daring usurpation on the rights of a free people, and have uniformly asserted the opinion in public and in private." We are told that "FitzGibbon's oratory, though inferior to that of many of his great cotemporaries - Grattan, Hussey Burgh, Yelverton, or Flood - was of no mean order. . . It was bold, rapid, and forcible - ministering always to his wants, and rescuing him from difficulties by its quick and apposite application. He had the power of awakening attention and infusing animation into the dull and flagging debate. When carelessness or absence of interest rendered the proceedings of the House stupid, he rushed forward, and by a sharp stroke of personal invective, or a vigorous attack upon the opposition generally, elicited the applause of his own party, or provoked the indignation of his adversaries, so that the strife was again renewed, and sparks of a divine eloquence were generated in the collision." In 1783 he succeeded Yelverton as Attorney- General. Grattan approved of this appointment, although many of his colleagues feared FitzGibbon - amongst the rest, Mr. Daly, who declared: "You are quite mistaken; that little fellow will deceive you all." Before long he joined the Government side - in March 1784, opposing Flood's Reform Bill in a speech of singular power and acuteness, in which he bitterly denounced the action of the Volunteers. He was now found upon all occasions - especially upon the questions of Reform and Emancipation - in opposition to the popular party. Writers are much divided as to whether his course was prompted by ambition or by sincere conviction. From whatever motives, however, he bent his great powers and stern will implacably against Irish self-government, and supported English supremacy in all matters. Unlike many politicians, he is said to have carried his public resentments into private intercourse, and is often represented as a man rather to be feared than loved. The influence he before long exercised was enormous; his will became the pivot upon which the movements of the Government party turned, and he ruled in every department of Irish affairs with irresistible sway. He recommended himself to the King and Government by preventing the holding of a national conference in Dublin - threatening to attach the Sheriff, who had agreed to preside. His action was brought before Parliament, and in the course of the ensuing debate he styled Curran "a puny babbler." Curran retorted: "I am not a man who denied the necessity of parliamentary reform at a time when I proved the expediency of it by reviling my own constituents - the parish clerk, the sexton, and the grave-digger." On the Regency question in 1788 FitzGibbon sided unreservedly with Pitt, proving the sincerity of his convictions by voting with the party that desired to limit the prerogatives of a probable king de facto. In the course of the debate FitzGibbon declared that it was Ireland's duty on all such questions implicitly to follow the leadings of the Parliament of Great Britain, and that a contrary course would inevitably lead to a union. The King's recovery the following spring put an end to the discussion of the question, and Government dismissed from place all the members who had voted on the popular side. Grattan and his party protested against this course in a famous document, signed by fifty-six noblemen and members of the House of Commons, binding themselves not to accept the place of any person so dismissed, and FitzGibbon violently declared that those who signed were worthy of "being whipped at a cart's tail," and that it was a combination beneath that of journeymen pin-makers. During a debate in August 1789, on a question at issue between Great Britain and Ireland, he said: "If Ireland seeks to quarrel with Great Britain, she is a besotted nation. Great Britain is not easily aroused, nor easily appeased. Ireland is easily roused, and easily put down." For this he was called to order by Flood, who said " he never heard more mischievous or more inflammatory language, nor more saucy folly." Curran followed with a violent diatribe against FitzGibbon, and a duel ensued between them at Ball's Bridge. While the sheriff's officer was held down in a ditch, they fought, and after harmless shots on both sides FitzGibbon declared himself satisfied; according to Lord Plunket, "Curran and FitzGibbon fought, but unluckily they missed each other." After FitzGibbon became Chancellor, he is said to have carried his animosity against Curran to the extent of making it all but impossible for him to hold a brief in Chancery. Curran was wont to declare that the Chancellor's hatred had been a loss of fully £30,000 in his practice. It was mainly through his influence that an efficient Police Bill was passed for Ireland, establishing a force of 3,000 sub-constables and 520 chief- constables. The system of county chairmen was also inaugurated by him. In 1789, on the death of Lord Lifford, FitzGibbon was created Lord-Chancellor of Ireland, Baron FitzGibbon of Lower Connello. It had not theretofore been customary to give the office to an Irishman; and it is said that Pitt could not have overcome Lord Thurlow's objection to the appointment, but for the influence of the beautiful Dowager Duchess of Rutland, of whom FitzGibbon had at one time been an ardent admirer. His advancement in the peerage was rapid. In 1793 he was created a viscount; in 1795, Earl of Clare; and in 1799 a British peer. He opposed the Catholic Relief Bill of 1793 and other kindred measures. Dreading the march of "French principles," he held that the only hope of maintaining the integrity of the British Empire lay in the union of Great Britain and Ireland, and therefore bitterly opposed all projects for reform in any way likely to interfere with the carrying of that measure. Mr. Lecky writes: "There appears indeed to be little question that during the later years of the ministry of Pitt, it was the firm resolution of the Government not only to resist the attempts to purify the Parliament, but also steadily and deliberately to increase its corruption. FitzGibbon, afterwards Lord Clare, was the chief agent in attaining this end. His avowed political maxim was that 'he only security for national concurrence is a permanent and commanding influence of the English executive, or rather English cabinet, in the councils of Ireland,' and for many years before the Union, the Government was continually multiplying places, in order to increase that influence." He opposed Lord Fitzwilliam's policy in 1795, and advised his recall; and on the entry of Lord Camden, his house would have been broken into, and he would have been sacrificed to the fury of the mob, but for the fortitude of his sister, Lady Jeffries, of Blarney Castle, who mixed with the crowd and led them to seek him elsewhere. His conduct during the Insurrection of 1798 has been thus eulogized: "Nor was it long before he had reason to perceive that his measures produced the desired effect. The disaffected were everywhere panic-stricken; the invading force became prisoners of war." As Chancellor of the University of Dublin, he effectually prevented the spread of revolutionary sentiments amongst the students; and caused the expulsion of Robert Emmet and others known to be disloyal. Moore gives a vivid account of the visitation that was held, of the "awfulness" of the Chancellor's presence, and the difficulty with which he himself pulled through without implicating his friends. FitzGibbon's personal character should be relieved of much of the odium attaching to it by his considerate conduct towards Lord Edward FitzGerald. Before the Insurrection broke out he besought Lord Edward's friends to induce him to leave the country, assuring them that all his plans were known, and that he would guarantee his escape if he departed immediately. And afterwards, when Lord Edward lay dying of his wounds in Newgate, Dublin, the Chancellor himself accompanied his brother and aunt to his death bed, and waited for three hours in an outer apartment during the interview. Lord Clare's position upon the Bench enabled him to counteract and overcome the anti-Union sentiments of the Irish Bar. When the measure was first discussed at a meeting of lawyers, it was opposed by 166 voices and advocated by only 32. He managed matters so as effectually to silence the opponents of the measure, and to reward the minority with places or pensions. In the final debate upon the Union, Lord Clare delivered an able speech, stigmatized in Grattan's Life as "distressing to hear, and delivered with discreditable purpose, full of mis-statement, misrepresentation, and calumny." On the other hand, Cornwallis, writing to the Duke of Portland, says: "The Chancellor exerted his great abilities in a speech of four hours, which produced the greatest surprise and effect on the Lords, and on the audience, which was uncommonly numerous." Lord Clare opposed Cornwallis's desire that the Act of Union should include emancipation of the Catholics, and he was kept in ignorance of the secret negotiations between the Irish Government and the Catholics, by which Catholic neutrality upon the question was secured through hopes held out of immediate measures of relief. This reticence on the part of his colleagues afterwards aroused his most lively indignation-none the less that the hopes held out to the Catholics were not realized. The Union accomplished, Lord Clare set himself vigorously to work to remove many of the abuses in his court. The sale of offices was put an end to, and the post of Master of the Rolls established on a more satisfactory footing. Upon taking his seat in the Imperial House of Lords, we are told that his irritable and overbearing disposition, his opposition to all liberal views, his support of martial law, and his tendency upon all occasions to depreciate Ireland and Irishmen, rather disgusted his English auditors, and embarrassed a government anxious in words at least to conciliate the Catholics. In private life his friendships were as fixed and sincere as were his public enmities; in money matters he was strict and punctual; his hospitality was liberal and splendid; his application to business was incessant. "He did much to establish equity practice in Ireland on a solid basis; he reformed abuses with no niggardhand,and purged the court of much that called for reform. Fraud fled before him, for when grasped he punished it with relentless rigour. . . His decisions display his great legal mind and, I must add, despotic disposition." One of the last public matters in which he interested himself, shortly be