Jack Bray - The Tudor Wolfpack and the Roots of Irish America

The Tudor Wolfpack

and the Roots of Irish America

Jack Bray

Copyright 2016 by Jack Bray

New Academia Publishing, 2016

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016933528

ISBN 978-0-9966484-7-9 hardcover (alk. paper)

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Map of Ireland in 1450 (public domain)

Hugh ONeill, Earl of Tyrone (public domain)

Map of 16th Century Irish Lordships, circa 1534 (K. W. Nicholls, Oxford University Press, used with permission)

Spanish King Philip II and Queen Mary I of England (public domain)

Ireland in the Middle of the 16th Century (Classic Image-Alamy, used with permission)

The 9th Earl of Kildare, Garret Og FitzGerald (public domain)

Ruins of Maynooth Castle (photo credit William Murphy, public domain)

Cardinal Thomas Wolsey ( National Portrait Gallery, London, used with permission)

Thomas Cromwell ( National Portrait Gallery, London, used with permission)

Henry VIII ( National Portrait Gallery, London, used with permission)

Silken Thomas FitzGerald, Lord Offaly (public domain)

Silken Thomas FitzGerald Renounces His Allegiance to King Henry VIII (Pictorial Press Ltd.-Alamy, used with permission)

Queen Elizabeth I ( National Portrait Gallery, London, used with permission)

Black Tom, the 10th Earl of Ormond, Thomas Butler (public domain)

Ormond Castle, Carrick-on-Suir (photo credit Humphrey Bolton, public domain)

Askeaton Castle, County Limerick (public domain)

Sean an Diomais (Shane the Proud) (Linen Hall Library, used with permission)

The Murder of Shane ONeill by the MacDonnells at Cushendun, County Antrim, 1567 (Classic Image: Alamy, used with permission)

The Earl of Leicester, Robert Dudley (public domain)

Sir Henry Sidney ( National Portrait Gallery, London, used with permission)

Sir John Perrot, mezzotint after George Powle, Wikimedia commons, public domain)

Lord Burghley, Sir William Cecil ( National Portrait Gallery, London, used with permission)

Carrigafoyle Castle (Arcaist, Wikimedia creative commons)

Irish Kerns by Albrecht Durer, 1521 (public domain)

Submission of Turlough Luineach ONeill to Sir Henry Sidney (public domain)

Rocky Cairn Grave of Shane ONeill at Cushendun (public domain)

The Death of the Earl of Desmond (Classic Image: Alamy, used with permission)

Sir Philip Sidney ( National Portrait Gallery, London, used with permission)

Sir Richard Bingham ( National Portrait Gallery, London, used with permission)

Lord Darnley and Mary Queen of Scots (public domain)

Walter Devereaux, 1st Earl of Essex ( National Portrait Gallery, London, used with permission)

Ruins of Dunluce Castle on the North Coast of Antrim (Library of Congress)

Penshurst Place ( Penshurst Place, used with permission)

The ODonnell Castle at Donegal with 17th century windows and towers and a modern addition (Library of Congress)

Enniskillen Castle of the Maguires (photo credit Marian McCaffrey, public domain)

Illustrated Siege Map of Enniskillen ( The British Library Board, used with permission)

Meeting of Robert Devereaux, 2nd Earl of Essex, and the Earl of Tyrone in County Louth (Classic Image/Alamy, used with permission)

Charles Blount, Lord Mountjoy (public domain)

Don Juan Del Aguila (public domain)

Sir Arthur Chichester, Lord Deputy of Ireland (public domain)

The Departure of ONeill out of Ireland (Thomas Ryan/RHA, used with permission of the artist)

The typical brief expressions of gratitude allowed to authors often do not convey the kind of gratitude owed to the individuals who have helped with this project. Nor is it easy to identify who has helped the most, but profound thanks are due to Ambassador Robert Shafer for so many years of sharing a deep interest in Ireland and its history, for his exceptional knowledge of all eras and for his extraordinary memory of the people and events; to Dr. Carole Sargent of Georgetown University whose superb counsel and assistance have been of immense value in every aspect of this work; to Meghan Finlay for sharing her deep knowledge of Irish history honed at Kings College, London, and for her guidance in the presentation of the text; to my son, John, for all the help he provided in research, securing permissions, locating elusive source material and providing wise advice; to authors James Conaway and Finlay Lewis for their generosity in sharing their shining talents with language, and for many years of guidance on the challenges of nonfiction writing; to Dr. Charles Cashdollar of Indiana University of Pennsylvania for perceptive advice from his distinguished career in history; to Robert Muse for his keen knowledge of modern Ireland and his dedication to Human Rights causes in Ireland, Britain and America; to my longtime secretary, Margaret OBrien, for many years of devoted help with the early days of this project, and to my secretary, Deborah Yates Carney, for her fine work in bringing the final manuscript to life.

The Irish people have suffered mercilessly at the hands of conquerors over the past thousand or so years of history. Peoples from at least a dozen European nations had invaded Ireland, including Vikings, Celts, Gaels, Spaniards, and the evangelical St. Patrick himself, sent in the Fifth Century by his Bishop and the Pope to convert the heathen Irish.

The Normans tried with only limited success to conquer the Irish in 1167, a hundred years after their takeover of England. The Normans at first seemed easily to overcome the clans and tried to rule like feudal lords. In time they intermarried with the Gaelic Irish and assimilated into their culture with a mind towards putting as much distance between themselves and England as possible. That remained the situation for some four hundred years until the mid 16th Century when Irish resistance to British rule provoked King Henry VIII to invade once more and re-establish his authority. This touched off a lengthy war between the clans of the Irish chieftains and the English soldiers during which little quarter was asked and less was given. Irishmen were tortured, after which they were hanged by the thousands and their heads often impaled along roadsides.