Queen Elizabeth and Her Affairs With Ireland

Queen Elizabeth I - Her Affairs with Ireland

Upon her ascendancy to the throne of England in 1558 - having survived two months' imprisonment in the Tower of London at the hand of her half sister Mary Tudor four years earlier - Elizabeth found herself hostage to the volatile political, cultural and social unrest in Ireland. Indeed, Ireland's existing government in Dublin was wholly ineffective, and Irish society was divided into warring and otherwise competing lordships, very much unlike the situation elsewhere in Western Europe, where traditional lordships had, for the most part, knuckled under to the power of the emerging monarchies. The ongoing Irish chaos posed a threat both to English interests in Ireland, and to the safety and security of the England itself.

Meanwhile, at the time of her ascension to the throne, Elizabeth's policy towards Ireland was much the same as the approach taken by her father: institute reforms rather than impose military might; utilize crafty persuasiveness rather than unleash swords; and don't spend too much of the Crown's money in the process. And though Elizabeth's tactic towards Ireland at the outset of her power was more containment than control, she listened closely when, in 1560, her lord-lieutenant of Ireland, the Earl of Sussex, wrote this:

I am forced by duty to give advice...not so much for the care I have of Ireland, which I have often wished to be sunk in the sea, as for that if the French should set foot therein, they should not only have such an entry into Scotland as her majesty could not resist, but also by the commodity of the havens here...they should take utterly from England all kind of peaceable traffic by sea, whereby would ensue such a ruin to England as I am feared to think on" (Canny, 1976). And so, while she certainly wouldn't give up on Ireland - allowing continuing social anarchy, bloodshed, and a potential French foothold next door - when presented with options for a solution, Elizabeth vacillated as long as she could. And when the dust had settled, and the Nine Years War (1595-1603) ended, ironically yet appropriately, the same year her live came to a conclusion.

Thesis

Notwithstanding the popular 25-year-old Elizabeth's desire to hold down the costs associated with controlling Ireland - "Elizabeth was notoriously frugal in approving outlays from the royal purse" (Steward, 2003) - she would eventually have no choice but to seek a military solution. The need to protect her homeland profoundly influenced her decisions to commit the Crown to the completion of the colonization of Ireland; there was no alternative but to consign troops and launch the nine years war, which resulted in extraordinary high costs in blood and money. History bears out the fact that if Ireland had been a quasi-colony of England in a distant place, Elizabeth could have easily decided against massive spending - but Ireland was on her doorstep. Further, while Elizabeth's predecessor exercised homeland power by burning enemies at the stake, Elizabeth I was less the tyrant and more the informed leader who saw the big picture and developed strategies for political and national survival. Without a person as bright and scholarly as Elizabeth - she spoke six languages, easily facilitating the pivotal communications necessary to interact with foreign governments - England might well have faltered at this point in its history, or have been driven into the sea by the marauding Spaniards. Her brains and resolve were hitherto unmatched in the Crown's history - and her leadership was unequivocally genuine.

The financial burden of Ireland on the crown

One estimate of the amount of money England spent on the defense of Ireland - between the years 1534 and 1572 - was 1,300,000 pounds (Canny, 1976). "And while this figure may be somewhat excessive," Canny writes, "all in England were worried at the enormous and increasing expense..." And hence, England experimented with various policies. Some of the more practical ideas for Ireland's possible detente with England came from the Pale - the portion of Ireland (roughly Dublin and a 20-mile radius around Dublin) in which the landowners and townspeople were "old English" settlers, who had put down roots in the 12th Century, and for the most part remained pro-crown.

And one Pale-initiated idea, advanced in 1541-43, had particular appeal to the crown, because it would facilitate the removal of the standing English army in Dublin, substantially cutting back expenses. In order to give King Henry VIII the impetus to accept this policy, he was declared "King of Ireland," and ruling, warring chieftains would, Canny writes (1976) "...surrender the lands of their lordships to the king and receive them back as a fief from the crown." The policy was vigorously pursued; however, the notoriously lethal Gaelic lord, Shane O'Neill, controlling the Ulster region, refused to accept the policy, insisting on being a Gaelic chieftain rather than an English earl, and he brutally attacked the Pale. O'Neill's attacks "necessitated a further build up of troops to protect the Pale" and hence, "the policy failed in its objective of reducing the cost of Ireland to the crown."

The Earl of Sussex, continuing to defend the Pale region - yet losing the confidence of the Old English there and of the crown in London - was keenly aware that tax revenue collected in Ireland during the 1560s averaged just 3,926 pounds annually, while England was pouring some 18,975 pounds into the protection of Ireland that same period. And, indeed, Sussex' scheme for control of the Pale - the building of large forts, the confiscation of lands near the forts which would become populated with soldiers, all to be self-sufficient - was accepted by the crown. And yet, financial issues continued to loom in 1563, Canny reports, as "large sums of money had already been spent on the construction of the forts, and there was as yet no indication that the scheme would ever become self-financing. It was, in fact, generally accepted in England that the scheme had been a failure and had added to rather than subtracted from the queen's expenses."

This substantial financial burden was a growing concern for Queen Elizabeth - plus, Sussex continued his urgent demands for more troops. The Queen had "expressed her willingness to maintain a standing army in Ireland of 1,500 men" (Dunlap, 1913), at a monthly cost of 1,500 pounds; but that force was "inadequate," Dunlap explains, "for any other purpose than merely to police the country in time of peace." The entire 1,500-man garrison was used to protect the Pale frontiers, and to protect Sussex. In the event of an uprising by Gaelic chieftains, sixty "well-equipped archers" from the Pale and from English-friendly Irish would come to the aid of the English and Pale. The archers, Dunlap recounts (1913), were paid fighters; "every nobleman or gentleman who could dispend [pay out annually] 20 pounds was obligated [by Act of Parliament] to provide one archer on horseback for the defense of the country. Similarly, every corporate town was bound to contribute its regular quota to every hosting undertaken by the Lord Deputy [Sussex]." Thus, by tapping into the pockets of the Irish, in particular the less hostile among the Irish, the crown preserved its own resources.

Financial details of Ireland and Elizabeth's government

Other sources of revenue from Ireland came from "crown rents and customs duties," according to Dunlap. "...Rents derived from the grants of ecclesiastical lands made by Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Elizabeth were by far the most important." Doing the math, when total revenue from all sources in Ireland netted the crown a little less than 11,000 pounds, 6,608 pounds of that were from ecclesiastical rents. This is significant because Dunlap asserts that in the 250 years prior to Elizabeth's reign, taxes (or, "customs") from Ireland had "never in one year amounted to more than 1,000 pounds." And the only profitable levy of Irish-produced goods that England was able to tap into was, Dunlap states, wine. At the outset of Elizabeth's reign, the crown profited on wine levies to the tune of 800 pounds annually. This was of course not nearly enough revenue to offset what the crown's army of 1,512 soldiers cost in 1560 - precisely 18,442.13.4 pounds (Dunlap, 1913). [Note: no data is available to convert those pounds into today's values, but it is safe to assume it would be in the millions of pounds, and was, at that time, a huge financial burden for England.] By 1575, the cost of having the crown's troops in Ireland had grown to 26,000 pounds; and the average annual cost for Elizabeth to maintain the army in Ireland between 1558 and 1574, was 23,173. By 1584, that rose to 40,000 pounds a year, and by 1596 it escalated to 130,000 pounds. And in 1599, to maintain 16,000-foot soldiers and 1,300 horsemen in the nine years war, England was picking up a tab of 277,782.15.0 pounds. Dunlap, a British historian writing in a book published in 1913, estimates the total cost of conquering Ireland during Elizabeth's 45-year reign to be 2,500,000 pounds - "at a time when the Irish revenue in its best years seldom exceeded 25,000 pounds."

How much did soldiers earn during Elizabeth's reign? Footmen received sixpence a day, horsemen got nine pence. From this pay, the soldier had to, in most instances, cover his own lodging, clothes, food - and a horseman provided for his own animal. And for the horseman, it cost him four pence a day for board and lodging, two pence for his two horses, and a penny for his boy helper - which left him two pence for himself. Moreover, Irish military service was difficult, as "thousands...fell pray to starvation, disease, and the sword; desertion was...an everyday occurrence." As to the cost of feeding the officers (and some higher-ranking soldiers), beginning in 1568, the Crown arranged for a purveyor to import 25,000 lbs. Of butter and 50,000 lbs. Of cheese annually (Falls, 1970). There were 16 "flesh days" and 12 "fish days" per lunar month - and England wasn't skimpy on meat for its privileged troops, as Falls reports, they got 1-1/2 lbs. per man on "flesh days" (1970). (When at sea, English soldiers were issued a gallon of beer daily, "perhaps to drown the sorrows of seasickness.")

Religious Issues in the Elizabethan Period

England, at the beginning of Elizabeth's reign, still featured Latin masses, but as time went on it was clear that Protestantism was going to prevail, that the Reformation would stick. In fact, the Archbishop of Dublin, Hugh Curwen, Lord Chancellor in 1559, who had been selected by Elizabeth's predecessor and half-sister, Mary, to restore Catholicism to the Crown, went over to Protestantism "clearly and without reservation" under Elizabeth (Falls, 1970). As for herself, the Queen left church matters of doctrine in a "vague state, so that there should be a gentle and scarcely noticeable transition from Catholicism to Protestantism. It was a subtle policy, but was presently divined by Rome, and in both countries," Falls writes, and "the Papacy challenged it."

Meantime, Rome had a religious counter-offensive actively engaged in Ireland, as they sent highly educated friars and Jesuits to Ireland, who were "far superior in learning, ability, and respectability of life to the clergy displaced from their benefices and the monks." What that did was help maintain those Catholics who had clung to the old church, and they formed a kind of bond which united Irish nationalism with religion - a powerful combination - against the Queen and her Lord Deputy in Ireland. For the Spaniards and Irish to be forming a bond - "two hitherto hostile races" - was very unusual and extreme, as Dunlap put it. And as to the well-trained friars, priests and Jesuits coming to Ireland (McGurk, 1997), "[They] were not regarded as Christianizing but rather as part and parcel of fuelling Gaelic resistance. One example McGurk gives of support for this position, is from an ex-friar, Myler McGrath, who, as archbishop of Cashel, converted to Protestantism, wrote a letter on January 19, 1600, claiming that the priests coming to Ireland from Spain "were the very root and spring of whom all traitors do grow." He also proclaimed his amazement that the Crown did not have the priests caught and banished from the land; otherwise, "Ireland will never be quiet." And so, McGurk's book continues, "in the welter of 'Plans', 'Plans', 'Discoveries', and 'Projects' for the reformation of Ireland, 'reformation' is not in the context of religious reformation, but of repression in those last years of the reign." But as to the theme of religious persecution, or repression, which some historians say was brutally imposed upon the Irish, Dunlap asks: "Whence then the religious grievance?" Dunlap continues: "reception and progress of the Reformation in Ireland...was regarded as a purely official transaction, devoid of importance for the spiritual welfare of the nation. Of persecution for religion's sake there was in the beginning absolutely no sign."

That observation is based upon the fact that not many Irish citizens, in the view of British historian Dunlap, "suffered either in person or worldly goods" for his Catholicism, was due to the "indifference of Irishmen generally to matters concerning their spiritual welfare."

Meanwhile Shane O'Neill, during the nine years war, attempted to use the common Catholicism of "rebel Gaelic and loyal Old English" in Pale to engender a mutual hostility; yet there was little evidence that citizens of Pale - who were still Catholics and fighting against O'Neill - did not buy into that psychology.

Ireland's Allies and England's Enemies

One solid ally of Ireland - Spain - was also clearly the most formidable enemy of England. Indeed, when the Spanish ambassador to England wrote a report to his superiors, in December, 1558, a month before the coronation of the new Queen, Elizabeth I, he said the following: "The kingdom is entirely in the hands of young folks, heretics and traitors" (Hammer, 2003). He alluded to "heretics" because the English had eschewed, for the most part, the Roman Catholic Church. Indeed, the Reformation in England had created ongoing ripples of rage in Spain, as this was a time in history when church and state were - for all practical purposes - one in the same. Meantime, Shane O'Neill, the brutal, charismatic, and effective Gaelic power broker / warrior had requested help from Spain five years earlier, knowing full well that Spain had a score to settle with England following the Crown's sacking of a Spanish fleet in the Spanish Netherlands in 1585; England was protecting independent Calvinist merchants in their efforts to rid themselves of Spanish domination, but by the English sending 6,000 troops, Spain considered it war. And indeed, prior to their assault in 1601, the Spaniards had already attempted to land an armada in Ireland twice - and had their ships blown away by vicious winds and storms. The first of these failed attacks occurred in 1588, and over a 13-year period, the Spaniards launched several attacks on English interests, including a fleet of 100 ships in 1596. And it this time it's pertinent to note that the vitriol between Spain and England was further exacerbated by the Pope excommunicating Elizabeth in 1570, and King Philip II of Spain pursuing of the "Counter Reformation" and the "Inquisition." It's also germane to note that the Roman Catholic kingdom of Spain was at that time the most powerful nation in Europe, and a "mortal foe of Protestant England" (Latimer, 2001).