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The first thing that strikes you about this book is its impressive size, at some 650 pages. In part this reflects the scale of the subject – Ireland was in a state of near constant turmoil throughout Elizabeth’s reign, but equally responsible is the author’s approach, which is to provide us with pretty sizable biographies of most of the figures he has chosen to follow, not restricted just to their time in Ireland. As a result we get significant sections on the poetry of Edmund Spenser or the court careers of the many Elizabethan commanders to founder in Ireland. This immerses more in the period, but perhaps sometimes distracts us from affairs in Ireland. Sometimes these diversions are essential – in particular with the Earl of Essex, whose disasterous time in Ireland makes far more sense when compared to the rest of his career.
Once you dive into the text the next thing that strikes you is just how complex the position in Ireland was. Across much of the island the Irish were still in control, and their complex system of clans and septs confused and infuriated the Tudors, with no clear rules of inheritance and family warfare still very much a standard feature of life. In the north of Ireland Irish families still dominated at all levels, with the O’Neill Earls of Tyrone the dominant power. Next came the ‘Old English’, those families that were descended from the original Norman invaders of Ireland and that at the start of this period were generally loyal to the English crown. However most of them remained Catholic, so by Elizabeths’ period there was a religious divide. Many (if not all) of the ‘Old English’ married into Irish families, spoke Gaelic and English, and could be found on both sides in the conflicts of Elizabeth’s reign (sometimes apparently at the same time!). Many of the ‘Old English’ lived in the Pale, the area around Dublin, but families like the Butlers of Ormond controlled large areas outside the Pale, and were a key prop of the Tudor regime, but at the same time often not trusted in London. Finally were the ‘New English’, the Protestant incomers who attempted to impose Elizabethian rule over the island, sometimes as government officials or army officers, sometimes as private settlers, attempting to create ‘plantations’ in different parts of Ireland.
Roy’s approach to this complexity is to focus on a key figure in each period, and largely (although not entirely) tell the story from their point of view. The first chapter looks at the Tudor background, and the early experiences of the future Queen Elizabeth, but we then move significantly down the social scale to focus on those figures who actually carried out the fighting in Ireland. Some of these figures remain significant after their section is over, so reappear later in the book – Hugh O’Neill, earl of Tyrone, being perhaps the most significant of them. Not every major figure gets their own chapter – the most obvious gap being Thomas Butler, 10th Earl of Ormond, but he was a key figure for the entire period, so is a fairly constant presence throughout the book. Many of these figures appear to have lived two very different lives – one at Elizabeth’s court and one back at home in Ireland, and it feels like one of the key weaknesses of the English response was a failure to understand how different life was in Ireland.
This is an excellent immersive read that really brings you into the world of Elizabethan Ireland, with all of its drama and betrayals, atrocities and high hopes.
Part I – The Young Queen
1 – The Family
2 – Sir Henry Sidney & His Son, Philip
3 – Humphrey Gilbert & His Half-Brother, Walter Raleigh
4 – Edmund Spenser
Part II – The Queen at Mid-Reign
5 – Mabel Bagenal
6 – Hugh: Earl of Tyrone or The Great O’Neill?
7 – Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex
Part III – The Declining Queen
8 – Sir Henry Savile
9 – Sir John Harington & Captain Thomas Lee
10 – Frances, nee Walsingham, Countess of Essex
Part IV – The Dead Queen
11 – Charles Blount, Baron Mountjoy
Author: James Charles Roy
Edition: Hardcover
Pages: 648
Publisher: Pen & Sword History
Year: 2021