CHAPTER VIII
Reign of Edward II. A.D. 1307 to A.D. 1327.
Edward the second, son of the late king, succeeded his father. In the
year 1308, the king, having received the commands of the pope, caused
all the Knights Templar’s in Great Britain and Ireland to be made
prisoners, and their property sequestrated. Being a formidable body of
men, it was necessary that much caution should be observed in the
management of this affair.
Accordingly, the king issued a precept to all sheriffs in England,
ordering them to cause a specified number of knights, or persons on whom
he could place reliance, to assemble at a place named in the writ, on
the Sunday next after Epiphany; and commanding the said sheriffs not to
fail in their attendance on the occasion, in order to execute such
matters as might then be communicated to them. This writ is dated at
Westminster, 15th December, and first year of the reign of Edward II.
The subsequent precept was conveyed to the sheriff, by a chaplain, who
was authorized to administer an oath to that officer, by which he was
bound to observe strict secresy as to the object of the assemblage,
until the same was carried into effect. The instructions delivered to
him were: that he should arrest all the Templar’s within his district;
for which purpose he had authority to command the aid of as many of the
knights, and others, as he deemed necessary. He was further ordered, to
seize all their lands, cattle, and goods, and to cause an inventory of
the same to be made in (presence of the warden of the place, whether he
were Templar or not, and in presence of respectable persons of the
neighbourhood; retaining one copy of the inventory himself, and leaving
the other in the hands of the warden. And further, to place the said
goods and cattle in safe keeping, and to have the lands manured and
cultivated to the best advantage.
He was prohibited from committing the Templar’s to prison, or
subjecting them to irons ; but was ordered to preserve them in safe
custody in some convenient place. He was ordered to preserve charge of
the goods and chattels, till he received the commandment of the king, as
to their final disposal. And lastly, he was to render an account of his
proceedings under the writ, to the Court of Exchequer, on the morrow
after the purification. This last document was dated 20th December.
There was likewise a writ directed to John Wogan, lord justice of
Ireland, informing him of the proceedings adopted in England for the
apprehension of the Templar’s, and seizure of their goods, and
commanding him to proceed in a similar manner against those in Ireland;
but the time and place for the assembling of the sheriffs and their
followers, was left to the discretion of the said lord justice and the
treasurer of the exchequer. It was, however, ordered that the writ
should be executed before the Templar’s could learn the proceedings
against the members of the order in England.
In pursuance of these commands, the establishments of the knights
Templar’s at Killarge and Ballymoon, in our county, were suppressed. In
the fourth year of the reign of Edward II., a charter was granted by him
to the town of Old Leighlin, of which the following is a translation.
The privileges here granted were rendered imperatively necessary by the
frequent incursions of the Irish, and the unprotected state of the town.
CHARTER GRANTED BY KING EDWARD II. TO THE BURGESSES
Of OLD LEIGHLIN.
THE king to his well-beloved Adam le Bretoun health. ' Whereas, at
the supplication of certain nobles of our realm of Ireland, and
gentlemen of the town of Leighlin, we, for the public good and to resist
the wickedness of the Irish living m the neighbourhood of Leighlin, have
granted to the said men, a muragium (the grant for building walls) for
enclosing their town aforesaid arid whereas the said men have come
before our beloved and faithful Wogan, our lord justice of Ireland, on
the Lord's day next following the feast of St. Valentine the martyr last
past, supplicating at his throne the aforesaid muragium which we had so
granted to them, we are pleased to grant unto you who have taken a
certain stone tower near the aforesaid town, between the said town and
the Irish aforesaid to complete the said tower and the aforesaid town
become better fortified against the said Irish, to the great advantage
of the said town and country, and especially because the Muragium
aforesaid amount was to so small a sum of money. time allowed them
because the said town cannot thereby be enclosed and the said tower may
be erected with less expense than the said town could be surrounded with
a stone wall.
And whereas it is found by enquiry made before our lord justice
aforesaid, that it would be more for the advantage of the whole country
aforesaid at the rate of ten marks per ani., and likewise of the said
town at forty shillings per ani, if the said muragium were granted to
you for building the tower aforesaid, than for enclosing the aforesaid
tows, if you maintain for ever three men of arms and two hobillers for
the defence of the aforesaid town and country. as you have engaged to
keep and maintain before our said lord justice: we therefore grant unto
you for the support of the aforesaid men at arms and hobillers, from the
day of the completion of these presents, for the five years next
following, to enjoy in the aforesaid town (he customs hereafter recited
(then follows a long enumeration of tolls and customs with market
privileges &c.) and therefore we permit you to exact these customs
aforesaid in the said town, as well from burgesses of the said town as
from others, to the end of the aforesaid term of years, after which
period the said customs shall utterly cease and be extinct. In testimony
whereof we, &c. Witness our lord justice aforesaid, in Waterford, this
4th day of March, in the fourth year of our reign. The unsettled state
of our district, may further be collected from Sir John. a patent, dated
third year of the reign of Edward II., 26th January, which notices the
many robberies, depredations, & lately committed in the county of
Carlow, and in order to check came, appoints J. de Bonevill, in his
majesty's castle of Carlow, seneschal of Carlow and Kildare.
Nicholas Chevers, bishop of Leighlin, died at a very advanced age, on
the 20th of July, 1309; having directed this see for a period of
thirty-two years from the time of his restitution to the temporalities.
After his death, John ('hovers, dean; and Ralph le Brun, chancellor of
Leighlin, forged various grants, to which they affixed the Episcopal
seal. But the fraud was subsequently discovered, and the delinquents
underwent suitable punishment.
Maurice of Blanchvill, canon of Leighlin, being lawfully elected, was
duly confirmed on the 13th November, 1309. He governed this see during a
period of nearly eleven years, and departed this life in the year 1320.
Miler le Poer succeeded. The king having issued his license to the
dean and chapter, they proceeded to an election, when this individual,
who held the office of chanter of Leighlin, was the object of their
choice ; on the 5th November, 1326. He was descended of a noble family.
On the 29th January following, he was duly confirmed by his
metropolitan, Alexander Bickner, archbishop of Dublin. He was afterwards
(as Friar Clynn says,) consecrated at Waterford, on Palm-Sunday, 1321,
and held the direction of the see of Leighlin for upwards of twenty
years.
It appears that the noble lords who possessed the palatinate of
Carlow, having large estates in England, directed but a small portion of
their attention to the care of their Irish territory, and did not even,
in some cases, visit this country. The}', for a time, collected, in an
irregular and imperfect manner, the issues and profits, of their
principality, until, at length, they observed that these revenues daily
decreased in amount; and were convinced, that some effectual steps must
be taken to secure their rights, if the total loss of them would be
averted. But, unfortunately, the remedy adopted proved worse than the
disease. They retained one of the Kavanaghs, as a kind of military
agent, who might employ the law of the land, or the sword, as
circumstances would require. Kavanagh was thus placed in a situation
peculiarly tempting to a man of turbulent and ambitious character ; and
we should not feel much surprise, that in about twenty years after his
appointment, (and commencement of the present reign), he seized ,upon a
great portion of the counties of Carlow and Wexford, of which he
declared he was the rightful owner. (7) He further assumed the title of
MacMorrough, and speedily acquired much power; to which he added, by an
alliance with the Byrnes and Tooles. Their combined forces were shortly
afterwards found sufficient to secure a great portion of the district
situate between Carlow and the Irish channel, by which the authority of
the English was much for centuries afterwards.
In the sixth year of this reign, Simon Lombard and Hugh Tallon
granted to the eremites following the rule of St. Augustin (commonly
called Austin Friars) a house and three acres of land in the village of
St. John, near Tullow. A.D. 1314. The knights hospitallers, or of St.
John, were this year invested with the lands of the suppressed order of
Templar’s. The king had before received four hundred pounds, (a large
sum in those days), being the produce of their goods. A.D. 1315. Adam
was prior of the Carmelite monastery at Leighlin Bridge. The lord
justice, Sir Edmund le Butler, was created earl of Carrick, (A.D. I3l6),
and John Fitz-Thomas was raised to the dignity of earl of Kildare.
Selden remarks, that the earl of Kildare's patent is the most ancient
form of creation he had seen. The said lord justice, earl of Carrick,
defeated MacMorrough in an engagement at Ballylethan.
About this period Edward Bruce, brother of the king of Scotland
invaded this country, and with his army passed through Castledermot and
Gowran, laying waste the country m his progress. It is probable that the
county of Carlow suffered on thin occasion, though no specific mention
is made of the circumstance.
The bridge of Leighlin was built in the year 1320, by Maurice Jake,
or Jakis, canon of Kildare. Would that we had more deeds of this useful
and praiseworthy character to record It is the most pleasing part of the
historian's task, to hand down an account of the actions of good men, to
a posterity, who we hope are not ungrateful, A. D. 1323. This year
Donnell, son of Arthur MacMorrough," a slip of the royal family," (as
Campion calls him,) raised forces, and displayed his banner within two
miles of the city of Dublin. He was speedily taken prisoner by Sir Henry
Traherne and Walter de Valle, who received one hundred and ten pounds
for this service. Donnell paid Traherne two hundred pounds sterling, to
save his life; after which, he was conveyed a prisoner to the castle of
Dublin. O'Nolan, and twenty-five of his followers, were killed on the
occasion. The O' Nolans seem to have laid claim to the barony of Forth,
in our county.
It is worthy of note here, that Pope John XXII. relieved the king's
dominions in Ireland from the tribute of Peter-pence, which had been
enforced from the time of the conquest to the present year.
Cox states, that the barony of Idrone, (the property of a member of
the family of Carew) was in this reign seized by one of the Kavanagh’s.
But this, I think, is an error. The Kavanagh’s might, and probably did
take forcible possession of a portion of the county, as already stated;
but regarding Idrone, the legal owner seems, on the best evidence, to
have possessed it, title the- reign of Edward III.; under which period
we shall recur to the subject.
We learn, that the Sabbath was very negligently observed in Ireland
at this, period; the markets, in several places, being held on Sunday;
but, at Carlow, the market was now fixed for another day of the week.
A.D. 1326. This year, Friar William de Tisudelm was preceptor of the
establishment of Knights hospitallers at Killarge, or Killergy, in our
county. And the same year, Friar William de Fyndrum was preceptor. —
Ballymoon seems to have been deserted on the .suppression already
noticed.
("Spelling are as seen in the book")
CHAPTER IX
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