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Select document: ‘Petition of the inhabitants of Cavan to the lord deputy and council’, 8 July 1629

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2019

Brendan Scott
Brendan Scott*
Affiliation:
Irish Family History Foundation
*
*Irish Family History Foundation, brendan1scott@gmail.com
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Abstract

This article examines a letter from Cavan's political elite to the lord deputy and council in July 1629 in protest against the imposition of charges relating to the Graces. The letter, with its graphic description of a county gripped by famine, tells us much about conditions on the ground at this time. What is most interesting about this petition, however, are the more than one hundred signatures appended to it. The names include a mix of both Gaelic Irish and British settlers and indicate a plantation county whose two communities were prepared to work with each other, on this occasion at least, in order to achieve a common goal.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Irish Historical Studies , Volume 43 , Issue 163 , May 2019 , pp. 111 - 125
Copyright
Copyright © Irish Historical Studies Publications Ltd 2019 

In 1629, a letter was written from County Cavan which detailed the various economic problems, complaints and issues which were of concern to the native and settler communities. The missive conveys a sense of the desperation felt in the county during this period. Yet, despite its obvious value as a source, it has been underutilised by historians. It is mentioned in passing in a 1984 article on harvest crises in the early seventeenth century but has attracted little or no attention since then.Footnote 1 This letter, however, together with the biographies that can be constructed of many of the signatories, provides a compelling picture of life and attitudes in the county twelve years before the outbreak of the rising of 1641.

The early seventeenth century was a difficult period for those living in Ulster and throughout Ireland. Inclement weather and onerous taxes made life difficult for both British planter and native Irish in Ireland. Poor harvests between 1620 and 1623 were followed by widespread harvest failures in 1627 and 1628, with grain being imported into Ireland to prevent famine. The failing harvests of the late 1620s led to the granting of numerous licences in Ireland for the import of grain there. By April 1629, the situation was dire, and the lord deputy wrote to the privy council in England, asking for an end to restrictions on the export of grain to Ireland, claiming that existing food supplies there would be depleted by June of that year.Footnote 2

These economic problems were exacerbated by payments due to Charles I from Ireland as a result of an agreement between the king and his Irish subjects, popularly known as the Graces. England was at war with Spain from 1625 and Ireland was a security concern for Charles I. A chaotic retreat of English soldiers from Spain during this time also saw a significant number of soldiers dropped in Ireland, leaving a force of 5,000 to be supported on a budget intended for 1,350 men. The army made itself unpopular in Ireland and, in March 1629, Lord Deputy Falkland noted the unwillingness of people in Ireland who were liable for these payments to fund the maintenance of the army.Footnote 3 In April that year, a letter from the Irish council to the king stated that ‘Property and life are safe if it were not for the exactions of the army’; on 2 May 1629, Falkland informed Lord Dorchester that ‘I think there will be no rebellion now, unless it be by reason of the army, and especially of the Irish regiment, which is here universally murmured against. I fear they will goad the people into rebellion unless some money is sent’.Footnote 4

Charles I made an initial list of twenty-six concessions which he was prepared to grant in Ireland in return for a financial subvention to the crown. For Catholics, the most attractive of these was undoubtedly the offer to drop the imposition and collection of recusancy fines (12d. for non-attendance at established church services) and the promise to scrap religious tests for taking office, land inheritance and legal practice. Following negotiations, an agreement was made for fifty-one ‘Instructions and Graces’ to be made to the people in Ireland in return for an annual payment of £40,000 to the Crown. Although seen as concessions towards Catholics, the Graces were also supported by Ulster planters, most of whom were Protestant, as the Graces promised security of tenure in landholdings – something which the planters did not have, and were keen to acquire. The concessions were to be passed by parliament in Ireland, but Charles neglected to hold a parliament in Ireland at this time which could pass the Graces, much to the frustration of Catholics there.Footnote 5 As a result, many of the counties refused to pay the agreed tax unless a parliament was held.Footnote 6

The final straw for the people of Cavan came with a demand in 1629 from the privy council to pay a tax of £334 5s. 6d., which would be collected by the sheriff, to support soldiers.Footnote 7 The general order written by the council on 17 June directed that all money raised be paid into the exchequer. The council also threatened that those who defaulted on the payments would not be able to avoid the quartering of troops.Footnote 8 On 7 July Sheriff Philip Reilly of Cavan presented this order of payment to the justices of the peace at the quarter sessions and read it to the commonality, which refused absolutely to pay any of the monies demanded. Wishing to explain their position, the people of Cavan liable for this payment wrote a letter defending their stance, which Reilly sent to the lord deputy.Footnote 9 This letter described in graphic detail the famine conditions which the signatories claimed were then being experienced in Cavan. There is no indication whether famine was being experienced throughout the entire county or just in certain areas, but that the letter includes signatories based from Virginia to west Cavan, virtually the length of the county, implies that it was indeed a county-wide problem, or at least was being presented as one. In the letter, the signatories claimed to have paid similar taxes for the previous three years and wrote that they could pay no more. This, they claimed, was a result of the situation described in the letter: it ‘is nowe come to passe that ye dead burie the dead for hee that burieth the dead this day lyeth dead in ye fields himselfe for want of foode’.Footnote 10 Certainly other sources point to a serious famine underway throughout both Cavan and Ireland at this time, and Bishop William Bedell of Kilmore (amalgamated at the time with Ardagh) noted in a letter to Samuel Ward on 24 May 1629 that ‘many are dead, the residue have no bread; horse and dog's flesh is eaten’. He also claimed that 1,000 people had left his diocese for England to escape the privations and added that extra assizes were held to prevent the starvation of prisoners in custody.Footnote 11 This poverty was not helped, Bedell claimed elsewhere, by the onerous charges exacted from the populace as a result of which the Catholics were ‘paying double tithes to their own clergy and to ours, from the dearth of Corn and the death of their Cattle these last years, with the Contributions to their Souldiers and their Agents’.Footnote 12

Cavan was not alone, however, in its protests against these payments.Footnote 13 Along with that from Cavan, similar letters from Armagh, Offaly, Westmeath, Donegal, Tyrone, Monaghan and Wexford were also sent to the Dublin council at this time, to join those already received from Kilkenny and Dublin.Footnote 14 Another letter of protest signed by about seventy Pale knights and gentlemen was also written and sent to Dublin in July 1629.Footnote 15 The language and tone of the letters varied from county to county, but were united in agreement that they could not pay this onerous charge during the current economic climate. Wexford claimed that ‘trade [was] ruined by war, and many people in the town are dead with famine’, and Monaghan went so far as to warn that enforcing the payment would ‘drive many of them into rebellion’.Footnote 16 The soldiers themselves, billeted upon the counties, were also unpopular and the Donegal letter stated that the ‘Grand jury has already presented to us many soldiers for offences committed against the people’.Footnote 17 So to rub further salt into the wound, Donegal was expected to pay towards the upkeep of an army, some of whom were committing crimes against the people there. It is no surprise, therefore, that the payment proved so unpopular throughout Ireland. There seems to have been an awareness of similar activities in other counties and, in 1633, another letter of protest against payments was written from Fermanagh, which those liable for the same payment in Cavan were aware of and which they sought to emulate.Footnote 18 So it seems unlikely that this cache of letters in 1629 was written in a vacuum without knowledge of other counties which were doing something similar.

In response to this wave of protest, the council in Dublin sent conciliatory letters back to the counties in question, which attempted to soothe the protesters while simultaneously securing the payments from them. The letter to Sheriff Philip Reilly in Cavan went to some lengths to explain why the money was needed and was measured and explanatory in tone.Footnote 19 The council accepted how those required to pay the tax in Cavan ‘have always subscribed loyally hitherto’, but they also noted that Cavan was not required to pay a higher rate than any other county. They also doubled the payment time from twenty days to forty in an attempt to alleviate some of the pressure and to meet the protestors midway. Similar letters were sent by the council to the other counties which had complained.Footnote 20 The earlier order of 17 June was rescinded and the money collected was no longer to be paid into the exchequer.Footnote 21 It seems from a letter in 1633 that the payment from Cavan was indeed made around this time.Footnote 22 In any case, in 1629 the army was reduced and the cessation of the war with Spain in 1630 defused much of the tension regarding the army and its upkeep in Ireland.

What is unusual about the letter under discussion here is the long list of signatories (103 in total) appended to the document, which begin at the bottom of the letter and fill a second sheet. As such, this letter provides us with, if not a census, at least a list of many of the influential men of Cavan in 1629. Names such as Hugh Culme, who established the town of Virginia, and Brockhill Taylor, who held an estate in Ballyhaise, are easily identifiable in the list of signatures. A number of names, however, that one might expect to appear, are missing from the list. For example, there are no Hamiltons from Killeshandra, no Baillies from Bailieborough, and no Stephen Butler from Belturbet, all important landowners in the county.Footnote 23 It is just possible that they were away and unable to sign when the letter was written. More probable, however, is that these people and their families excused themselves from signing on the grounds that they had been appointed in July 1627 as commissioners to collect the money for the army in Cavan.Footnote 24 An even more intriguing feature of this letter, however, is the Irish names which are mingled throughout those of a British planter background – indeed, there are almost as many Gaelic Irish names on the document as British. Much has been made by historians of the planters’ sense of complacency at the outset of the 1641 rising.Footnote 25 But in a case such as this, which saw both British planters and native Irish working side by side in an attempt to defeat a common enemy, it can be easier to understand. Members of the Sheridan, Brady, McGauran and O'Reilly families all signed the letter, their names intermingled throughout the signatures. Some of these names, such as Gillernew McGauranes, Patrick O Syriden and others, are also mentioned in the 1641 depositions as having attacked sections of the planter population. If they are indeed the same people who signed this letter along with the planters in 1629, then twelve years later they were attacking these same British settlers with whom they had earlier formed a coalition to resist the exactions of onerous taxes.Footnote 26

We do not know whether all of the signatories signed at the same time or whether it was brought around to different locations for signing. Sheriff Reilly states, however, that he read the original demands for payment to the commonality as a group, which implies that they all heard about the charges at the same time. He read this demand out on 7 July and the reply is dated 8 July, so it seems likely that those who attended the initial meeting signed the response.Footnote 27 This meeting was held at the quarter assizes, and the Gaelic Irish signatories indicate at least sections of the native Irish population working within the British legal system – indeed, the sheriff in 1629 and again in 1641 was an O'Reilly.Footnote 28 This Gaelic cooperation with the British legal system can also be seen in Monaghan where, in 1640, Hugh Mac Mahon was acting as a J.P. for the county, and working with the planter population at the assizes.Footnote 29 Only four of the signatories could not actually sign their name, instead making a ‘mark’ in its place, with somebody else noting the name of the person leaving the mark. However, eight people with the names Moses Ibott, John Ibott, Thomas Woodward, John Hickman, John Dewsbury, John Baker, William North and Philip Ward, who signed the 1629 document could not do so for their deposition in the 1640s, and the signatures of Christopher Meane and Thomas Taylor in 1629 are very different from those given in depositions twelve or so years later.Footnote 30 It is possible, of course, that the people who left their marks on depositions in the 1640s were different people entirely to those who signed this letter in 1629; perhaps the 1641 signatories were relatives or namesakes. Yet, a name such as Moses Ibott was very rare in Ulster at this time – indeed, bar Daniel Hibbots and John Hibott/Iboott, who also signed the document under discussion here, there was no one with this surname, or anything similar, in the planted counties who presented for muster in 1629.Footnote 31 It is also possible that somebody signed for these men in 1629 in the rush to present a unified front in the response to the demand for payment. That some left their mark on the 1629 letter does imply that perhaps the signatures of some of the eight men mentioned above were provided by somebody else in 1629 due to their absence, as they were not there to provide the mark which they could leave for their depositions from the 1640s.Footnote 32 At this remove, however, and in the absence of further evidence, it is unlikely that we shall ever know for sure.

Although the payments demanded throughout Ireland were made, Ireland's financial difficulties continued. The recusancy fines were reintroduced, despite the criticisms of Catholics and from some quarters in England also.Footnote 33 The winter of 1629 was an extremely wet one which led to another bad harvest in Ireland, so much so that in 1630 some ale houses were suppressed in order to save grain.Footnote 34 It was also reported in May that year that cattle thieves were extremely determined and active throughout Ireland, driven to their actions in some measure by their poverty. And even though the grain yield was high in 1630, it was of a poor quality. Although justices of the peace were used in the 1620s and early 1630s to oversee and regulate corn distribution, there was, unlike England, no ‘Book of Orders’ instructing them on what to do during a harvest crisis, which led to further confusion and mismanagement.Footnote 35 Changes had also been made to the administration of the Ulster plantation. In return for the doubling of rents and the payment of fines, undertakers were granted in 1628 new patents securing their titles to the plantation lands.Footnote 36 According to the petition of Cavan's Protestant population in 1633, these higher rents and fines, along with poor harvests and other building requirements, meant that they were struggling financially.Footnote 37

So what conclusions can be drawn from this letter written and signed by British settlers and native Gaelic Irish in Cavan in 1629? When faced with common threats – famine, starvation and the imposition of taxes on what was an already stretched population – Gaelic Irish inhabitants and British planters were prepared to work with each other. This also implies a shared language and understanding of Stuart administration, even on the part of the Gaelic Irish who, it seems likely, were attending the quarter assizes in order to hear the sheriff announce the required payments in 1629.Footnote 38 We see further evidence of this English language, law and customs in 1641, with references in the depositions to shared language and evidence of the Irish taking part in the legal system. Moreover, the sheriff in 1629, the man charged with administering British justice in Cavan, was Philip Reilly, a Gaelic Irishman. Nevertheless, it seems likely that some of those Gaelic Irishmen who signed this letter were themselves responsible for attacks upon the British settlers, some of whom also signed this letter, in 1641. The facade of unity which this letter sought to present did not last long, as a petition in 1633 from the Protestant laity and clergy in Cavan demonstrates. It criticised the possible withdrawal of anti-recusancy fines and was generally quite anti-Catholic in tone.Footnote 39 The moment of unity passed and the tensions which were obviously simmering between both communities at this time exploded with devastating consequences in 1641.

‘Petition of the inhabitants of Cavan to the lord deputy and council’, 8 July 1629

(T.N.A., SP 63/249, ff 65–6)

[f. 65]

8 July 1629Footnote 40

Lre from the Co: of Cavan tuching the moneis for the new suppliesFootnote 41

To ye Right honnoble and my verie good Lords the Lo: deputie and councell of Ireland theese

The humble peticon of the Inhabitants wthin the county of Cavan.

To the right hoble the Lo: Deputy and Councell of Ireland.

Humbly shewinge yor lopps that wheras it hath pleased yor honors by yor lres bearinge date 17th of June 1629 wherin the sheriffe is charged to collecte the summe of three hundred thirtie fower pownds five shillings and six pence and forthwth to pay the same unto the Excheqr. and that in this case the Countrie shall refuse the soldiers to bee laide uppon the Countrie, either of wch wilbee the utter ruine of the whole Countrie wch is brought to that povertie by payinge these heavie burdens for these three yeares and upwards that is nowe come to passe that ye dead burie the dead for hee that burieth the dead this day lyeth dead in ye fields himselfe for want of foode as by the late peticon of ye Graund Jury deliverd uppon oath and sent unto yor honors more at large doth appeare, this is no fayned thinge for if yor lorpps looke but uppon the ye face of ye whole kingdome they doe all for the most part looke like the very pictures of death and doe daylie dye at [word not readable] doores for want of foode where the best reliefe is to bee had more like doggs then Christians – the remedy wherof is wholy in yor honors hands.

May it therefore please yor lorpps to take from us this heavie yoake wch is intollerable for the Countrie to beare any longer wee havinge most willinglie as lovinge and dutifull subiectes paid all that wee can and soe longe, as that wee are not able to keepe livelyhoode togeather, otherwise wee must and will undergoe what further misery or affliction it shall please yor lorpps to lay uppon us wthout resistance beinge no way able to pay any more money or to give anie entertaynmt unto the soldiers any longer and yor peticors shall pray &c.

Charles WaterhouseFootnote 42

Hen[ry] PerseFootnote 43

Arthur ForbesseFootnote 44

Phi: ReilyFootnote 45

Hugh CulmeFootnote 46

Joh: Fleminge

Robert Fforbes

Alikyn [name not legible]

Will[ia]m Barike

Tho: FflemyngeFootnote 47

Patrick BradyFootnote 48

Nich. Foli

[f. 66]

Brockhill TaylorFootnote 49

Thomas TaylorFootnote 50

Treavers Brach

Geo Talbott

Owen O Relie

Fferall Relie

Morishe Dalto[n]Footnote 51

Hugh O RellyeFootnote 52

John Halpenny

Edmundus RellyFootnote 53

Connor O Relly

Cohmas O Relly

Danille O Relly

Patricke O SyridenFootnote 54

James StaniardeFootnote 55

John Fuller

Robart NewtonFootnote 56

Johne [name not legible]

Tho. CookeFootnote 57

Nicholas Barnes

Moses IboottFootnote 58

Brien O Doncha

Philip WardeFootnote 59

Willia[m] WardeFootnote 60

Donogho Mair BradÿFootnote 61

George Plunkite

Caher Mc Brian O relly

[name not legible] mc owne o rellyFootnote 62

[name not legible] mc shane mill BradyFootnote 63

Tourlagh mc Ed: o relly

Robert AllenFootnote 64

Rich: LighterfooteFootnote 65

Benedict CotnamFootnote 66

Symon P[erck]ines

Hugo Thaly

Tho. Honptecy

George MooreFootnote 67

Christover MeaineFootnote 68

Philip O Shyredan

Edmonde mc Kierna m[a]rkFootnote 69

Edward Cosingtons marke

Torrilagh boy o Loinsie m[a]rkeFootnote 70

Willia[m] RastallFootnote 71

Pitter CrosseFootnote 72

Richard mc Gilladuffes m[a]rke

Tegg mc To'lagh BradyFootnote 73

John Rive

Oliver Smyt[h]

Richard Smythe

John SmitheFootnote 74

John Forsett

John CoxeFootnote 75

Tho WoodwardFootnote 76

Willi Hair

Tho NorthFootnote 77

Willm Groves

Thomas mc Phele[m]

M Relly

W Relly

Ba: Gauran

Johanes Agoba[n]

John Kirk

Gillernew Mc GauranesFootnote 78

Breyn Mc GauranesFootnote 79

Thomas TrotterFootnote 80

John HickmanFootnote 81

George NetterFootnote 82

Danell O LeryFootnote 83

Phe Mc GauranesFootnote 84

Patr Bathe

Patr Mc Breyne

Daniell o dollans

Shane mc GowenFootnote 85

Neil mc Gowen

John DeusburyFootnote 86

Hohe Sonnesth

Patrik AchesonneFootnote 87

Donell mc hugh BradyFootnote 88

Fellim mc Caffery

John BakerFootnote 89

Alexandr DavysonFootnote 90

John WestFootnote 91

Edmund SherringFootnote 92

Thomas TaylorFootnote 93

Willo NorthFootnote 94

John IboottFootnote 95

Kilduff Orelly

Owin BoradyFootnote 96

Daniell BradyFootnote 97

Edmond: Gowen

Pat: donill BradyFootnote 98

References

1 Gillespie, Raymond, ‘Harvest crises in early seventeenth century Ireland’ in Irish Economic and Social History, xi (1984), pp 5–18CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

2 Ibid., pp 7–11; lord deputy and council to the English privy council, 4 Apr. 1629 (T.N.A., SP 63/248, f. 181).

3 The lord deputy [to Lord Dorchester?], 19 Mar. 1629 (T.N.A., SP 63/248, f. 132).

4 The Irish council to the king, 28 Apr. 1629 (T.N.A., SP 63/248, f. 205); the lord deputy [to Lord Dorchester], 2 May 1629 (T.N.A., SP 63/248, f. 210).

5 Clarke, Aidan, The Graces (Dublin, 1968)Google Scholar; Gillespie, Raymond, Seventeenth-century Ireland (Dublin, 2006), pp 74–8Google Scholar.

6 The lord deputy and council to the king, 11 July 1629 (T.N.A., SP 63/248, ff 15–16); the lord deputy and council to the English privy council, 29 July 1629 (T.N.A., SP 63/248, ff 59–60).

7 Philip Reilly was the sheriff of Cavan in 1629 (‘Sheriffs of Cavan, 1584–1899’, undated (R.I.A., Upton MS 19a)). It had been estimated by Lord Deputy Falkland in 1627 that £900 would be required from Cavan towards the upkeep of the army (Hunter, R. J., The Ulster plantation in the counties of Armagh and Cavan, 1608–1641 (Belfast, 2012), p. 162Google Scholar).

8 ‘Copy of the order sent by the council to the sheriffs of counties ordering them to collect monies for payment into the exchequer’, 17 June 1629 (T.N.A., SP 63/249, ff 29–30).

9 Philip Reilly (sheriff of Cavan) to the lord deputy, 8 July 1629 (T.N.A., SP 63/249, f. 63).

10 ‘Petition of the inhabitants of Cavan to the lord deputy and council’, 8 July 1629 (T.N.A., SP 63/249, ff 65–6).

11 Shuckburgh, E. S. (ed.), Two biographies of William Bedell (Cambridge, 1902), pp 297–8Google Scholar.

12 Burnet, Gilbert, The life of William Bedell (London, 1692), p. 46Google Scholar.

13 There had been protests in autumn 1628 against payments towards the disbanding of an army regiment (Hunter, The Ulster plantation in the counties of Armagh and Cavan, p. 166).

14 Cal. S.P. Ire., 1625–32, pp 461–2, 467–8.

15 ‘The petition of the knights and gentlemen of Ireland on behalf of themselves and Ireland’, July 1629 (T.N.A., SP 63/249, ff 17–18). Hugh Culme also signed this document and the signature of a Patrick Brady appended to this same document closely resembles that on the Cavan letter.

16 Robert Forte, (sheriff of Co. Monaghan), to the lord deputy, 17 July 1629 (T.N.A., SP 63/249, f. 78); Richard Chevers, mayor of Wexford, to the lord deputy, 21 July 1629 (T.N.A., SP 63/249, f. 80).

17 The justices of the peace for County Donegal to the English privy council, 9 July 1629 (T.N.A., SP 63/249, ff 72–3). In 1626 complaints had been made of pillaging by soldiers billeted throughout Ulster, but none from Cavan: Hunter, The Ulster plantation in the counties of Armagh and Cavan, p. 161.

18 ‘The humble peticon of the protestante Inhabitants both Cleargie and laytie wthin the Countie of Cavan’, 1633 (Sheffield Archives, WWM/Str P 20/115); William Bedell to Thomas Wentworth, 5 Nov. 1633 (Sheffield Archives, WWM/Str P 20/116).

19 Copy of the lord deputy and council to the sheriff of Cavan, 24 July 1629 (T.N.A., SP 63/249, ff 84–5).

20 Cal. S.P. Ire, 1625–32, p. 470.

21 Copy of the order of the deputy and the council to the sheriffs of counties in Ireland, 28 July 1629 (T.N.A., SP 63/249, ff 59–60). The fear among those billed for payment had been that monies paid into the exchequer would become a perpetual claim demanded upon their estates by the Crown: the lord deputy to the king, 13 July 1629 (T.N.A., SP 63/249, ff 35–6).

22 ‘The humble peticon of the protestante Inhabitants both Cleargie and laytie wthin the Countie of Cavan’, 1633 (Sheffield Archives, WWM/Str P 20/115).

23 For more on these men, see Roulston, William, ‘The Scots in plantation Cavan’ in Scott, Brendan (ed.), Culture and society in early modern Breifne/Cavan (Dublin, 2009), pp 121–46Google Scholar; Brendan Scott, ‘Sir Stephen Butler and other inhabitants of early plantation Belturbet’ in Breifne (forthcoming).

24 Although Charles Waterhouse and Thomas Fleming, both of whose names are signed in the letter under discussion here, were charged with collecting monies in Fermanagh and Cavan respectively: ‘List of commissioners to the counties of Ireland, presumably for raising the money for the army’, July 1627 (Cal. S.P. Ire., 1625–32, p. 254).

25 Recent work by David Edwards, however, points to the unsettled nature of Ulster during this period: Edwards, David, ‘Out of the blue? Provincial unrest in Ireland before 1641’ in Siochrú, Micheál Ó and Ohlmeyer, Jane (eds), Ireland 1641: contexts and reactions (Manchester, 2013), pp 95–114Google Scholar. Clodagh Tait has also examined how mutual indebtedness between planter and native in Cavan could cause tensions between both communities in the period between 1610 and 1641: Clodagh Tait, ‘Cavan in 1638: natives and newcomers’ in Scott (ed.), Culture and society in early modern Breifne/Cavan, pp 188–99. There had also been a threatened insurrection in Cavan in 1625 by the McGoverns working with the Maguires, and rebels were noted around Ireland, including Cavan, in March 1627: see the series of relevant entries in Cal. S.P. 1625–32, pp 35–7, 220.

26 This coalition did not last long, as a petition from the Protestant laity and clergy in 1633 makes clear: ‘The humble peticon of the protestante Inhabitants both Cleargie and laytie wthin the Countie of Cavan’, 1633 (Sheffield Archives, WWM/Str P 20/115).

27 Philip Reilly (sheriff of Cavan) to the lord deputy, 8 July 1629 (T.N.A., SP 63/249, f. 63).

28 ‘Deposition of Ambrose Bedell’, 26 Oct. 1642 (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 106r); Philip Reilly (sheriff of Cavan) to the lord deputy, 8 July 1629 (T.N.A., SP 63/249, f. 63).

29 At the 1640 assizes, Hugh Mac Mahon was offended by Monaghan's sheriff, Edward Aldrich, who refused to give Mac Mahon the ‘right hand of friendship’. Mac Mahon was affronted by the behaviour of Aldrich, whom the Gaelic Irishman considered noveau riche, Aldrich being described as having been ‘a vintner or Tapster few yeers before’: ‘O'Connolly's relation of the plot to seize Dublin Castle’, undated (T.C.D., MS 840, f. 1).

30 The signature of John West, however, remains quite constant between 1629 and 1642; ‘Deposition of John West’, 10 Feb. 1641[/42] (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 83r). That of Edmund Sherwin also shows similarities between 1629 and 1642: ‘Deposition of Edmund Sherwin’, 10 Jan. 1641[/42] (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 64v).

31 R. J. Hunter and John Johnston (eds), ‘Men and arms’: the Ulster settlers, c.1630 (Belfast, 2012) contains no other such example, although there was a John Hibott living in Cavan in 1641, possibly the John Iboott who also signed the document under discussion here: ‘Deposition of John Hibbot’, 19 July 1642 (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 8r). Moses's father was also named Moses and is recorded in 1612 as being a tenant of Stephen Butler: T. W. Moody (ed.), ‘Ulster Plantation papers’ in Anal. Hib., no. 8 (1938), p. 277. That Moses, Daniel and John are all grouped together in the muster of 1629 implies that they were related: Hunter and Johnston (eds), ‘Men and arms’, p. 9.

32 It could also be that some had simply forgotten how to sign their name. Reading was a much more common skill than writing, which was more difficult to master.

33 Ford, Alan, ‘“Force and fear of punishment”: Protestants and religious coercion in Ireland, 1603–33’ in Boran, Elizabethanne and Gribben, Crawford (eds), Enforcing Reformation in Ireland and Scotland, 1550–1700 (Ashgate, 2006), pp 99–100Google Scholar.

34 Gillespie, ‘Harvest crises in early seventeenth century Ireland’, p. 12.

35 Ibid., pp 12–15.

36 Hunter, The Ulster plantation in the counties of Armagh and Cavan, pp 162–5.

37 ‘The humble peticon of the protestante Inhabitants both Cleargie and laytie wthin the Countie of Cavan’, 1633 (Sheffield Archives, WWM/Str P 20/115).

38 See Hunter, The Ulster plantation in the counties of Armagh and Cavan, p. 213 for a further example of the Gaelic Irish in Cavan utilising the British legal system. Earlier attempts by the O'Reillys, in 1610, to use British law to resist the escheatment of Cavan ended in failure: Brady, Ciaran, ‘The end of the O'Reilly lordship, 1584–1610’ in Edwards, David (ed.), Regions and rulers in Ireland, 1100–1650 (Dublin, 2004), pp 174–6Google Scholar.

39 ‘The humble peticon of the protestante Inhabitants both Cleargie and laytie wthin the Countie of Cavan’, 1633 (Sheffield Archives, WWM/Str P 20/115).

40 ‘Petition of the inhabitants of Cavan to the lord deputy and council’, 8 July 1629 (T.N.A., SP 63/249, ff. 65–6).

41 This is endorsed in a separate hand.

42 Waterhouse was one of the original incorporators of Belturbet and was possibly the chief officer in 1624. He took the oath of supremacy in 1612, married around this time a woman named Etheldred Hamon and was involved in numerous land transactions throughout this period. Charles died on 18 Aug. 1638 and was succeeded by his son and namesake who, at the time of the 1641 rising, continued to hold the manor of Castlewaterhouse in County Fermanagh: the lord deputy to the attorney general, 15 Nov. 1612 (Cal. S.P. Ire., 1611–14, p. 299); ‘Deposition of Stephen Allen’, 7 Mar. 1641[/42] (T.C.D., MS 832, f. 177r); Hunter, The Ulster plantation in the counties of Armagh and Cavan, p. 134; Moody (ed.), ‘Ulster plantation papers’, p. 277; Schlegel, Donal M., Abstracts of chancery inquisitions of the seventeenth century for Counties Fermanagh and Monaghan (Monaghan, 2008), pp 33–4Google Scholar.

43 A ‘Sir Henrie Pearse’ had rented land to one James Stewart in Cavan before the outbreak of the rising: ‘Deposition of James Stewart’, 12 Nov. 1642 (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 196r).

44 Captain Arthur Forbes was a Scotsman who was normally based in Longford, but who had married the widow of Sir Claud Hamilton, who had been a major landowner in Tullyhunco and had established Killeshandra. Forbes represented the Ulster landowners in 1629 when attempting to ease the financial burdens upon them. A petition in 1633 from the Protestant laity and clergy in Cavan criticised Forbes for exceeding his authority by treating with recusant agents and setting a sum to be paid from Cavan without, it seems, the approval of some of the people he represented. Forbes was killed by Sir Frederick Hamilton in a duel at Buxtehude (in modern-day Germany) in 1632 during the Thirty Years’ War: Hunter, The Ulster plantation in the counties of Armagh and Cavan, p. 150; Victor Treadwell (ed.), The Irish commission of 1622: an investigation of the Irish administration 1615–22 and its consequences 1623–24 (Dublin, 2006), pp 520–21; ‘The humble peticon of the protestante Inhabitants both Cleargie and laytie wthin the Countie of Cavan’, 1633 (Sheffield Archives, WWM/Str P 20/151); Dominic Rooney, The life and times of Sir Frederick Hamilton 1590 –1647 (Dublin, 2013), p. 63.

45 This is possibly Philip McHugh O'Reilly, a nephew of Archbishop Hugh O'Reilly and an M.P. for Cavan in 1640–41. He was the main ringleader of the 1641 rising in Cavan: Bríd McGrath, ‘A biographical dictionary of the membership of the Irish House of Commons, 1640–1641’ (Ph.D. thesis, 2 vols, Trinity College Dublin, 1997), i, 231–2.

46 Hugh Culme eventually established Virginia, County Cavan, the patent to do so having been held for a number of years by Captain John Ridgeway. Culme had been constable of Clogh Oughter Castle in 1610, receiving a twenty-one-year lease for it and the lands belonging to it at that time. He also received property in Tullyhaw barony. Culme died in 1630: Hunter, R. J., ‘An Ulster plantation town: Virginia’ in Breifne, no. 13 (1970), pp 43–51Google Scholar; idem, The Ulster plantation in the counties of Armagh and Cavan, 55, 56, 72.

47 A Thomas Fleming was accused in 1642 of being ‘very familier amongst and [a] partaker with the Rebells’: ‘Deposition of John Anderson’, 11 July 1642 (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 98v).

48 A Patrick Brady was involved in land transactions in Cavan town in 1611 and 1631–2, and litigation against Richard Ashe in 1635. He was one of the original incorporators of Cavan town and was sovereign in 1627: Hunter, The Ulster plantation in the counties of Armagh and Cavan, pp 209, 213; Jonathan Cherry, ‘The indigenous and colonial urbanization of Cavan town, c.1300–c.1641’ in Scott (ed.), Culture and society in early modern Breifne/Cavan, pp 93, 100–01. This signature resembles closely that of a Patrick Brady who signed the letter in July 1629 from the gentlemen and knights of the Pale: ‘The petition of the knights and gentlemen of Ireland on behalf of themselves and Ireland’, July 1629 (T.N.A. SP 63/249/1420 (1)).

49 Brockhill succeeded his father John, who had planted Ballyhaise, in 1629. Brockhill was an M.P. for Cavan in 1634 and died in 1636: McGrath, ‘A biographical dictionary of the membership of the Irish House of Commons 1640–1641’, ii, 34; ‘Deposition of Isabel Naylor’, 5 Jan. 1641[/42] (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 37r); ‘Names of the knights, citizens and burgesses of the present parliament holden in Dublin, 14 July’, 14 July 1634 (Cal. S.P. Ire., 1633–47, p. 63).

50 There were two Thomas Taylors in Cavan in 1629 and again in 1641. One was a mason on the bishop of Kilmore's lands in Kilmore. The other Thomas Taylor was a tenant on Stephen Butler's estate in Belturbet, who in his deposition described himself as ‘an English protestant … Aged threescore yeares or thereabouts’. At least one, and perhaps three, of his children died during the 1641 rising. But there is little similarity between the signatures provided in either deposition and the 1629 signature: ‘Deposition of Thomas Taylor, Kilmore’, 12 Jan. 1641[/42] (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 68r); ‘Deposition of Thomas Taylor, Belturbet’, 3 Jan. 1641[/42] (T.C.D., MS 833, ff 70r–70v); Hunter and Johnston (eds), ‘Men and arms’, pp 4, 15.

51 It was reported in 1622 that Lord Lambert leased some land and the bawn on one of his estates to a Palesman, ‘one Morrice Dalton’. Dalton lived in ‘an Irish thatched house within the bawn’: Treadwell (ed.), The Irish commission of 1622, p. 519.

52 A number of Hugh O'Reillys were involved in the 1641 rising, but this Hugh O'Reilly may be the chief of the O'Reilly family, who was also father of Sheriff Philip O'Reilly. A ‘Captain Hugh O'Rely’ was one of those charged in 1627 with collecting the monies for the army. Sheriff Philip O'Reilly's father died in 1629: McGrath, ‘A biographical dictionary of the membership of the Irish House of Commons 1640–1641’, i, 231; ‘List of commissioners to the counties of Ireland, presumably for raising the money for the army’, July 1627 (Cal. S.P. Ire., 1625–32, p. 254).

53 An ‘Edmond Rellie’ of Clanrae was an active participant in the 1641 rising: ‘Deposition of John Stevenson’, 29 Oct. 1642 (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 195r).

54 A ‘Patrick o Sheridan’ robbed a number of British settlers in 1641 and was described by other deponents as a yeoman from Oghill and a tenant of Philip MacHugh O'Reilly. See for example: ‘Deposition of William Reynolds’, 12 July 1643 (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 258r); ‘Deposition of Elizabeth Smith’, 1 June 1642 (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 192r); ‘Deposition of Dorothy Moigne and Robert Johnson’, 5 Mar. 1641[/42] (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 36r); ‘Deposition of Robert Johnson’, 21 Jan. 1641[/42] (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 19r).

55 A James Stanyon was a resident on Brockhill Taylor's estate in Ballyhaise in 1629: Hunter and Johnston (eds), ‘Men and arms’, p. 9.

56 On 20 August 1616, Sir George Mainwaring demised unto Robert Newton and his assigns lands in Gama and Anaghlogh in Loughtee barony for forty-one years: George Hill (ed.), An historical account of the plantation in Ulster at the commencement of the seventeenth century (Belfast, 1877), p. 466.

57 Thomas Cooke was a tenant of Stephen Butler's and took the oath of supremacy in 1612. A widow named Ann Cooke was living in Belturbet in 1641: ‘Deposition of Ann Cooke’, 19 Jan. 1641[/42] (T.C.D., MS 832, f. 211r); Moody (ed.), ‘Ulster plantation papers’, p. 277.

58 Moses was a gentleman from Castletara parish and gave a deposition on 6 July 1643 detailing his losses. He was married to ‘Meriall ffirrboord’, the daughter of a tanner from Butlersbridge called ‘Anthony ffirrbooard’. Moses was called ‘Moyses Hibbot’ by another deponent and described as a ‘gunsmith’. Moses had been living in Cavan since at least 1612, when he and his father and namesake both took the oath of supremacy in front of their landlord, Stephen Butler. By 1629, he was resident on the Taylor estate in Ballyhaise. The Moses Ibott whom in 1643 gave a deposition could not sign his name, only writing his mark, which was an ‘M’: ‘Deposition of Moses Ibott’, 6 July 1643 (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 253v); ‘Deposition of Richard North’, 22 June 1647 (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 285r); Moody (ed.), ‘Ulster plantation papers’, p. 277; Hunter and Johnston (eds), ‘Men and arms’, p. 9.

59 A Philip Ward, son of William Ward from County Monaghan (William was seventy-four years old and unaccounted for at the time of the 1641 rising), was a yeoman living in Drumlane parish in 1641: ‘Deposition of Philip Ward’, 19 Jan. 1641[/42] (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 82r). He presented for muster as a tenant of Sir Edward Bagshaw in the barony of Loughtee in 1629: Hunter and Johnston (eds), ‘Men and arms’, p. 8. The Philip Ward who gave a deposition in 1642 could not sign his name.

60 A William Ward from Monaghan was the father of Philip Ward who gave a deposition in 1642: ‘Deposition of Philip Ward’, 19 Jan. 1641[/42] (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 82r).

61 A Donnogh Mur Brady, from the parish of Annagh, was involved in the 1641 rising: ‘Deposition of Simon Wesnam’, 22 July 1642 (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 204r).

62 Page damaged.

63 Page damaged.

64 A Robert Allen, along with Faithful Teate from Ballyhaise, held lands in the barony of Clankelly in Fermanagh (close to the Cavan border) in 1630: Hill (ed.), An historical account of the plantation in Ulster, p. 482.

65 On 9 April 1629, Lighterfoote was enfeoffed Lisnadarragh in the barony of Clankee. He also held lands in Clonkine and Carrowtubber in Tullyhunco barony in 1629: Hill (ed.), An historical account of the plantation in Ulster, pp 452, 469.

66 Described as an ‘English Protestant’, Cotnam was murdered during the 1641 rising. He was possibly the father of his namesake who lived on the Moyne's estate in Cavan: ‘Deposition of John Baker’, 17 Sept. 1642 (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 100v); ‘Deposition of Arthur Culme’, 9 May 1642 (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 129v); Hunter and Johnston (eds), ‘Men and arms’, pp 7, 11.

67 George Moore was a tenant of Brockhill Taylor's in Ballyhaise. He appeared on the muster roll list in the spring of 1629 armed with a sword: Hunter and Johnston (eds), ‘Men and arms’, p. 9.

68 A Christopher Meane was a tailor from Butlersbridge. By 1641, he also held land in Ballyhaise and had tenants of his own. The signatures (and spelling) vary significantly between 1629 and 1642: ‘Deposition of Christopher Meane’, 29 Mar. 1642 (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 176r).

69 An ‘Edmond mc Kernan’ was involved in the 1641 rising: ‘Deposition of Robert Hunt’, 15 May 1643 (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 252r).

70 A ‘Turlo linshie’ of Lunge was involved in the robbing of John Irwin during the 1641 rising: ‘Deposition of John Irwin’, 9 Nov. 1642 (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 150r).

71 William was a tenant in 1629 of Lady Waldron in Loughtee barony, in what would later become the Farnham estate. In 1643 he stated that he was an English Protestant from Tullylough: Hunter and Johnston (eds), ‘Men and arms’, p. 9; ‘Deposition of William Rasdall’, 15 May 1643 (T.C.D., MS 833, 261r).

72 Peter Cross was a tenant of the bishop of Kilmore in the barony of Castlerahan in 1629. He still lived in the parish of Kilmore in 1641. An Edward Crosse and John Crosse were also tenants on the same estate. Peter (described as ‘ould’ by Arthur Culme) and his wife (reckoned to be ‘70 or 80 yeres of age’ in 1641) were murdered during the 1641 rising. The grisly manner of their deaths is related in some detail in the depositions of William Reynolds and Ambrose Bedell: Hunter and Johnston (eds), ‘Men and arms’, p. 15; ‘Deposition of John Baker’, 17 Sept. 1642 (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 100v); ‘Deposition of Arthur Culme’, 9 May 1642 (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 129v); ‘Deposition of William Reynolds’, 12 July 1643 (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 258r); ‘Deposition of Robert Hunt’, undated (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 164r); ‘Deposition of Thomas Crant’, 13 Feb. 1641[/42] (T.C.D., MS 832, f. 213v).

73 A ‘Teige Brady’ from Swellan, just outside Cavan town, was described as a gentleman and involved in the 1641 rising: ‘Deposition of Alice Steele’, 8 Jan. 1643[/44] (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 268r).

74 There were two ‘John Smythes’ living on Stephen Butler's estate in Loughtee barony in 1629: Hunter and Johnston (eds), ‘Men and arms’, pp 3–4.

75 A ‘John Coxes’ presented for muster on Stephen Butler's estate in 1629. There was also a ‘John Coxsee’ who was a tailor living in the parish of Drumully in Fermanagh in 1641: Hunter and Johnston (eds), ‘Men and arms’, p. 4; ‘Deposition of John Cox’, 5 Jan. 1641[/42] (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 95r).

76 Thomas was a tenant of Stephen Butler's in Loughtee barony in 1629. A man of that name described himself as a yeoman from Annagh parish in 1642 but could not sign his deposition: Hunter and Johnston (eds), ‘Men and arms’, p. 3; ‘Deposition of Thomas Woodward’, 20 Jan. 1641[/42] (T.C.D., MS 833, ff 91r–91v).

77 A Thomas North was a tenant of Brockhill Taylor's in 1629: Hunter and Johnston (eds), ‘Men and arms’, p. 8.

78 Gillernew McGauran of Templeport appears many times in the depositions as having led attacks upon British settlers in 1641: ‘Deposition of Eleanor Reynolds’, undated (T.C.D., MS 832, f. 167r); ‘Deposition of William Reynolds’, 6 Apr. 1643 (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 260r); ‘Deposition of Martin Killhare’, 13 Jan. 1641[/42] (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 29r); ‘Deposition of William and Thomas Jones’, 26 July 1643 (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 169r).

79 A ‘Brian Mc Gawran’, who was a yeoman from Drumgoon, was involved in the 1641 rising. There was also a ‘Brian Mc Garan’ who lived in Drumlane in 1641 and a ‘Brian Mc Gowran’ who lived in Largy in west Cavan at this time: ‘List of rebels’, undated (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 162v); ‘Deposition of John Baker’, 17 Sept. 1642 (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 100r); ‘Deposition of Richard Bourke’, 12 July 1643 (T.C.D., MS 835, f. 238).

80 A Thomas Trotter was a tenant on Sir Francis Hamilton's estate in 1629. A man of that same name was killed by the Gaelic Irish at Tully Castle in Fermanagh on 25 Dec. 1641: ‘Deposition of Patrick Hume’, 1 Apr. 1654 (T.C.D., MS 835, f. 259v); Hunter and Johnston (eds), ‘Men and arms’, p. 5.

81 Hickman was a tenant of Stephen Butler's in Loughtee barony in 1629. A man with that name was still on the estate, in ‘Tunckeerveta’, in 1641 when the rising broke out. Hickman and his family were held in the house of his brother-in-law, Donnell o Lery. The John Hickman who gave a deposition in 1643 could not sign his name: ‘Deposition of John Hickman’, 6 Feb. 1642[/43] (T.C.D., MS 833, ff 156r–156v); Hunter and Johnston (eds), ‘Men and arms’, p. 2.

82 George Netter was a yeoman from the parish of Annagh, who in 1629 was a tenant of Stephen Butler's. Three of his seven children died during the 1641 rising: ‘Deposition of George Netter’, 24 Jan. 1642[/43] (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 255r); Hunter and Johnston (eds), ‘Men and arms’, p. 4. A Thomas Netter took the oath of supremacy in front of Butler in 1612: Moody (ed.), ‘Ulster plantation papers’, p. 277.

83 In 1615, a Daniel O'Lery, along with John Taylor (Brockhill's father), was leased two poles of land called Ruskie: Hill (ed.), An historical account of the plantation in Ulster, p. 463. It is possible that this was Donnell o Lery, the brother-in-law of the above-mentioned John Hickman.

84 A ‘Phelyme mc Gawran’ from Ballymcgovern in the parish of Templeport is noted as being among the rebels in 1641: ‘Deposition of William and Thomas Jones’, 26 July 1643 (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 169r); ‘Deposition of William Reynolds’, 6 Apr. 1643 (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 260r).

85 A ‘Shane mc Goven’ of Knockbride was involved in the robbery of Robert Murdoch during the 1641 rising: ‘Deposition of Robert Murdoch’, 12 Nov. 1642 (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 174r).

86 John Dewsbury was in 1629 a tenant of Brockhill Taylor's. A man of that name was still living in Castletara in 1641 and recorded losses of £109 10s. the following year. The John Dewsbury who gave this deposition could not sign his name: ‘Deposition of John Dewsbury’, 2 Apr. 1642 (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 144r); Hunter and Johnston (eds), ‘Men and arms’, p. 10.

87 Sir Patrick Acheson held an estate in Tullyhunco (he succeeded his father in 1634) and was involved in a number of land transactions in Cavan before his death in 1638: Hunter, The Ulster plantation in the counties of Armagh and Cavan, pp 181, 188, 190–91, 259, 270, 278.

88 A Donnell bradie of Shankill was involved in the robbery of John Sharpe during the 1641 rising: ‘Deposition of John Sharpe’, 9 Nov. 1642 (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 183r).

89 John Baker, along with his wife Maria and son William, was leased Derrychrine poll from Sir John Fishe on 1 June 1616. He, along with his son and namesake, presented for muster on Edward Fishe's estate in 1629. John Baker senior described himself as a gentleman from the parish of Drumlane in 1642. He was permitted to remain on his property under the protection of Philip Hugh McShane O'Reilly until August of that year. The John Baker who gave a deposition in 1642 could not sign his name: Hill (ed.), An historical account of the plantation in Ulster, p. 463; Hunter and Johnston (eds), ‘Men and arms’, p. 14; ‘Deposition of John Baker’, 17 Sept. 1642 (T.C.D., MS 833, ff 100r–100v ).

90 Davison was John Hamilton's tenant in the proportion of Kilcloghan in the barony of Clankee in 1618/19, and on 2 December 1618, received a lease for a poll of land called Glasdromen for the term of his own life and that of his wife Jennett even though they refused to take the oath of supremacy. He presented for muster in 1629: Hill (ed.), An historical account of the plantation in Ulster, p. 454; Hunter and Johnston (eds), ‘Men and arms’, p. 12.

91 John West was a tenant of Stephen Butler's in Loughtee barony. By 1641 he was still a tenant on the Butler estate and described himself as a gentleman. He was farming three townlands near Belturbet and claimed to have suffered losses of £411 10s. as a result of the rising. He presented for muster in 1629. His signature is a close match to that given in 1642: Hunter and Johnston (eds), ‘Men and arms’, p. 4; ‘Deposition of John West’, 10 Feb. 1641[/42] (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 83r).

92 ‘Edmond Sherin’ presented for muster in 1629 on Stephen Butler's estate. In May 1640, he took an eighty-nine-year lease on the townland of Creeny in Belturbet, and claimed in his deposition to have been resident there since circa 1619. In his deposition, taken in January 1642, Edmund described himself as a ‘gentleman’ and claimed to have been attacked by his landlord, Philip Hugh MacShane O'Reilly, estimating losses totalling £2238 10s. He held property in Monaghan and Fermanagh and his mother-in-law and one of his children died en route to Dublin: Hunter and Johnston (eds), ‘Men and arms’, p. 3; ‘Deposition of Edmund Sherwin’, 10 Jan. 1641[/42] (T.C.D., MS 833, ff 64r–65v). The signatures given in 1629 and 1642 are not a match, but do bear some similarities to each other.

93 See earlier entry for Thomas Taylor above.

94 North presented for muster on Brockhill Taylor's estate in 1629. In 1642, a man of that same name who was a weaver living in Annagh parish (close to the Taylor estate) recorded losses of £184 as a result of the 1641 rising. The William North who gave a deposition in 1642 could not sign his name: Hunter and Johnston (eds), ‘Men and arms’, p. 10; ‘Deposition of William North’, 30 June 1642 (T.C.D., MS 833, ff 179r–v).

95 John lived in Innishbeg, close to Butlersbridge, and was a yeoman. He estimated losses of £248 5s. as a result of the rising, with a further annual loss of £15 for as long as the rising continued. A Moses Ibott was married to a woman from Butlersbridge and it is reasonable to assume, given the rarity of the surname, that he and John were related. John could not sign his name in 1642: ‘Deposition of John Hibbot’, 19 July 1642 (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 8r); ‘Deposition of Moses Ibott’, 6 July 1643 (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 253v).

96 A William Brady from Castletara was part of the rising in 1641. There was another William Brady from Drumgoon involved in the rising also: ‘Deposition of Ann Borrell’, 4 Jan. 1641[/42] (T.C.D., MS 832, f. 192r); ‘Deposition of Isabel Naylor’, 5 Jan. 1641[/42] (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 37r); ‘Deposition of John Dudd’, 28 Apr. 1642 (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 145r).

97 A Daniell Brady from Mullagh was involved in the 1641 rising: ‘Deposition of John Dewsbury’, 2 Apr. 1642 (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 144r).

98 A Patricke mc Donell Brady from Kilnecrosse was involved in the 1641 rising and was one of those who robbed John Hibbot: ‘Deposition of John Hibbot’, 19 July 1642 (T.C.D., MS 833, f. 8r). My thanks to Raymond Gillespie, Christopher Maginn, William Roulston, Bríd McGrath and the two anonymous readers for their comments on an earlier draft of this paper.