‘Ireland in Schools’

Liverpool Pilot Scheme

Liverpool City Council

Delivering the curriculum through Ireland at Key Stages 1 & 2 Notes for teachers on texts for use in History lessons & the Literacy Hour (non-fiction)*

Ireland & the Tudors A. Tasks previously set on the texts* History 1. Grace O’Malley 2. Who Should Control Ireland?

Controlling Ireland English view of the Irish - John Derrick, Image of Ireland, 1581 The Nine Years War and after

Literacy Hour 3. Yr 3: Grace O’Malley in the Literacy Hour 4. Yr 5: Fact & fiction: Grace O’Malley, alias Granuaile, chieftain, pirate & trader

B. Historical commentaries 1. Irish Leaders: Grace O’Malley, Red Hugh O’Donnell, Hugh O’Neill 2. Tudor Conquest of Ireland 3. Ireland & the Spanish Armada 4. The Tudors & Ireland: Some Questions - Urmston Grammar School *

Years 1-3 Grace O’Malley, Granuaile Aodh Rua’s (Red Hugh’s) Escape

‘Ireland in Schools’

Years 4-6 Who Should Control Ireland? Why Were So Many Spanish Ships Wrecked off the West Coast of Ireland?

Northamptonshire Pilot Scheme Northamptonshire County Council

UCN

A1 Grace O’Malley, Granuaile 1. Northamptonshire Pilot Scheme A. Northamptonshire Inspection & Advisory Service (Maria Wykes) Learning objectives Children should learn

Possible teaching activities

Learning outcomes Children should

Points to note

• to identify people from the past and present who are famous;

How many Irish people can you name? Encourage children to listen to a range of Irish music from jigs and hornpipes to the music of Bono and U2, the Corrs, Sinead O’Connor, Enya and any other Irish music you like in order to discuss personal preference. Promote a class discussion by asking the question: Why do you think there are so many famous Irish musicians? Place pupil’s answers on the stimulus display. (You will return to this question at the end of the study unit.)

• identify Irish people who are famous today, for example, pop stars, artists, writers, musicians, and sports personalities;

A starting point could be a stimulus display of music, posters, photographs and other memorabilia of famous Irish singers, groups and bands performing today in order to underline the rich musical heritage of such a small nation. Use activity sheet 1 (concept mapping) as a model for this activity.

• to locate historical sites on a map;

Make a class concept map of the number of famous Irish people known to the pupils.

• about the life of a famous person from the past and why she acted as she did; • to infer information from a written or visual account of a person’s life.

• to use pictures to help them ask and a n s w e r questions a b o u t Granuaile O’Malley; • to sequence the main events of her life. • to use sources of information to help answer questions about Ganuaile;

• to identify some of the reasons for her actions;

• to infer information from a written or visual source;

• suggest reasons for people’s actions in the past.

Use a large scale map of the British Isles to locate the island of Ireland, England, Wales and Scotland. Who was Granuaile, Ganuaile O’Malley? How did Granuaile get her nickname? Tell children they will find out about a famous Irish person who lived a long time ago, before their parents/carers and grandparents were alive. Tell them the story of Granuaile’s childhood focusing on the ‘hair cutting incident’. Look at the picture of the shorthaired Granuaile with her father, describe the sequence of events that led up to the scene, and use speech or thought bubbles to explain their actions/describe their thoughts or emotions. Some children may be able to explain why shorthaired females at this time were unusual.

• identify Ireland and Britain on an outline map of the British Isles.

• extract some information about the early life of Ganuaile from a story; • give one reason why Ganuaile wanted to become a seafarer like her father;

Large scale map of Ireland and Europe could be used to: • trace the journeys made by Granuaile and her family when trading with Scotland and Spain; • trace the trading routes used by the Galway trading ships preyed upon by Ganuaile and her family; • locate places mentioned throughout this study.

A word bank will help children to appreciate that people are famous for their qualities as well as their actions. This idea could be developed in the context of SMSC education, by considering the contribution made to society by individuals with certain qualities. Incidents from Granuaile’s life can be downloaded from the www (see website address sheet). BAREFOOT books have a story book and CDROM entitled Pirates - www.barefootbooks.com.

• explain that journeys in the past used to take longer and were more dangerous. What adventures did Granuaile undertake throughout her life? Read a number of stories, for example, about Granuaile’s seafaring/trading activities, marriage, raising a family, her battles at the castle in Lough Corrib, her visit to Howth Castle and her arguments with the English. Which pictures help us tell Granuaile’s story? Show children pictures of Granuaile’s life. Help them recount her story by choosing the most appropriate pictures and putting them in sequence. Encourage them to discuss their choices.

What was Granuaile like? Use this information to select a number of adjectives to describe the personality of Ganuaile. Provide the class with two contrasting descriptions of Ganuaile, (half to use a positive source, half to use a less positive source). Discuss who might have made these comments by asking, ‘Did a friend or an enemy make this comment?’

Why did Granuaile meet Queen Elizabeth I? Tell the pupils the background to the petition to meet with Queen Elizabeth I, and the outcomes. Use speech bubbles/puppets to enter into a dialogue between Granuaile and Elizabeth I. Ask the pupils to write a letter to Queen Elizabeth I. Discuss the range of languages spoken by Elizabeth I and Granuaile, then ask pupils to suggest a reason for them communicating in Latin. Give the children a picture of Granuaile. Work with the children to make a list of questions that they could answer by looking at the picture, e.g., What is she wearing? Was this clothing worn by a rich/poor woman? Would all Irish women dress like this? (Use vocabulary cards to support labeling the image.) Repeat this activity with a portrait of Queen Elizabeth I. Use a recording sheet to compare and contrast the clothing of the two women. Did this meeting with Queen Elizabeth make a difference to Granuaile’s life? Tell pupils the story of the final outcome of the meeting, and how Granuaile died a very poor woman. Ask them to discuss reasons why Bingham did not return the riches belonging to her dead husband. Ask them to decide if the widow’s settlement laws were fair or unfair.

• select appropriate pictures to illustrate the main events in Ganuaile’s life.

This activity ensures that the children know the main events of Ganuaile O’Malley’s story.

This activity could be extended by asking children to discuss what information can and cannot be obtained from pictures and stories.

• identify positive and negative descriptions from sources of information.

This could be a whole class activity where the teacher creates a web on a large sheet of paper/whiteboard with the statement ‘What was Ganuaile O’Malley like?’ in the centre and a circle of arrows pointing outward. Pupils will suggest answers, until they realise they are looking at two different sources of information. The teacher lists the descriptors and uses these to discuss the main question.

• identify/describe clothes worn a long time ago;

The Ditchley Portrait or the Armada Portrait would be good examples to use.

• make comparisons between the clothing of an Irish /English queen;

Posters of Elizabeth I are available from the National Portrait Gallery www.npg.org.uk Enlarging a picture would make it easier to point out items of clothing.

• give a reason why the two women wear different dress.

• describe how poorly the English Governor in Ireland treated Granuaile.

The children could draw together what they have learned from different sources of information and communicate their learning in a different way. For example the story can be made into a book and be the basis of a class assembly or a school display. This activity could be extended by asking the pupils to order events in Granuaile’s life using a suitable WP package, e.g., Clicker plus, or use a CD-ROM encyclopaedia or other suitable reference sources to find additional information about Granuaile O’Malley.

Ireland & the Tudors, Notes for teachers, 2

B. Naseby CE Primary School (Sandra Kirkland) The teaching scheme was based upon the NIAS scheme. It used key questions, storytelling and visual sources and consisted of five 40-minute sessions (plus storytime, music and assemblies). The topic was introduced with tales of pirates in general and then Granuaile’s life was revealed in a series of stories. Learning objectives - children should learn to:

Activities

Identify people from the past and present who are famous; Locate historical sites on a map.

How many Irish people can you name? Listen to a range of Irish music, identify performers where possible and discuss preferences. Use large scale map of British Isles to locate island of Ireland, England, Wales and Scotland. (More able Y2 children use a range of maps from atlases and identify cities, rivers, mountain ranges, etc.)

Develop an understanding of the life of a famous person from the past and why she acted as she did; Infer information from a visual and oral account of a person’s life.

Learning outcomes

Who was Granuaile? How did Granuaile get her nickname - Grainne Mhaol (Bald Grace)? Tell children they are going to find out about a famous Irish person who lived a long time ago, before their grandparents were alive. Tell story of Granuaile’s childhood focussing on the ‘hair cutting incident’. Look at picture of shorthaired Granuaile, describe events using speech bubbles to explain emotions. (With Y2 children use freeze frame/hot seating – Granuaile and parents – to focus on gender expectation issues.)

Identify Irish people who are famous today. Identify Ireland on maps of British Isles.

Extract information about the early life of Granuaile. (Y2 explain relevance of gender and why Granauile’s experience might be considered unusual.) Give a reason why Granauile wanted to be a seafarer like her father.

What adventures did Granuaile undertake throughout her life? Listen to a number of stories e.g. seafaring/trading activities, marriage, raising a family, battles in Lough Corrib, visit to Howth Castle. Which pictures help us tell Granuaile’s story? Show children pictures of Granuaile’s life. Use to recount her story choosing most appropriate pictures and sequence them. Encourage discussion of choices. (Y2 given limited number and encouraged to draw own pictures to add to their sequence.)

Select appropriate pictures to illustrate the main events in Granuaile’s life. (Y2 add own illustrations of key stories/events.)

Use sources to help answer questions about Grace.

What was Granuaile like? Use information (and previous knowledge) to describe the personality of Granuaile. Sort adjectives into positive and less positive and discuss who might have made comments.

Identify positive and negative descriptions from sources. (Y2 recognise that comments/descriptions could vary according to those who made them.)

Identify some of the reasons for her actions.

Why did Granuaile meet Queen Elizabeth I? Tell children background to the petition to meeting Queen Elizabeth and the outcomes.

Decide if Granuaile was fairly treated by the English following the meeting at Greenwich. (Y2 identify different reasons for the treatment of Granuaile.)

Use pictures and stories to help them ask and answer questions about Granuaile; Sequence the main events of her life.

‘Upset when her father refused to take her on a [sea] trip because she was a girl, the story goes that Grace cut off her hair and donned male clothes.’

‘GRANA UILE [sic] introduced to QUEEN ELIZABETH’ Frontispiece to Anthologia Hibernica, Vol. II, 1793

There is no contemporary account of this meeting which took place in 1593.

Granuaile by M. Moriarty & C. Sweeney, O’Brien Press, 0-86278-62-0, p. 15

Year 1 Look at the picture above of the shorthaired Granuaile with her mother, brother and father in the background. Describe the events using speech bubbles to explain emotions. Year 2 Freeze frame or hot seat the picture above of the shorthaired Granuaile with her mother, brother and father in the background. Focus on how differently males and females are expected to act.

1.

Look at the picture above and the list of phrases below. Which phrases do you think apply to Granuaile and which to Elizabeth I? linen saffron smock lace handkerchief chalk-like face sober dress

gown richly embroidered weather-beaten face large woollen sleeveless cloak ornamental style.

(Year 2: Suggest a reason why the two women would be dressed in clothing that was so different.) 2.

Do you remember the reasons why Granuaile met Elizabeth I? Can you imagine what they said to each other? Use Drama conventions to reconstruct the picture above, then try to reconstruct the conversation between the two women, e.g., ‘Still image’ and ‘Thought tapping’. Or Use hand puppets to act out the imagined conversation.

Ireland & the Tudors, Notes for teachers, 3

Sequencing activity

Illustrations by D. Rooney, Granuaile. Chieftain, Pirate, Trader, M. Moriarty & C. Sweeney, O’Brien Press, 1988, 0-86278-162-0

1. Grace loved to play cards - one of her nicknames was ‘Grace of the Gamblers’.

2. Upset when her father refused to take her on a [sea] trip because she was a girl, the story goes that Grace cut off her hair and donned male clothes.

3. Terrified English soldiers flee Hen’s Castle as Grace’s men pour molten metal down on them.

4. Attacked by Turkish pirates, the story goes that Grace rushed on deck and blasted them off the ship.

5. Grace and Richard-an-Iarainn meet Sir Henry Sydney in Galway. On this occasion they came to offer their services but not to submit.

6. Imprisoned in the dungeons of Dublin Castle, Grace must have longed to be home in Connaught.

7. An angry Grace sets out for Bunowen to take revenge on her son who had supported Bingham against her.

8. The meeting between Grace and Queen Elizabeth at Greenwich Castle, London.

Ireland & the Tudors, Notes for teachers, 4

2. a.

Time Traveller 2 by R. Day et al., C.J. Fallon, 0-71441-129-9 Teacher’s handbook , p.79 Circle the words that describe Grace. brave

quiet

fearful

honest

clever

strong

cowardly

weak

courageous

tough

sympathetic

soft-hearted

determined

easygoing

skilful

law-abiding

b. Main text, p. 88 Do you remember? 1. In what part of Ireland did Grace live? 2. What type of ship did she command? 3. What were gallowglasses and where did they come from? 4. Why was Grace sometimes called Grainne Mhaol? 5. Why did Grace kidnap the son of the Lord of Howth? 6. Why was the name of the castle changed to Caislean na Circe? 7. Why did Grace write to Queen Elizabeth I? 8. About what age was Grace when she died? 9. (a) How many times did Grace marry? (b) Name her husbands. 10. Who was Tibbot na Long? What do you think? 1. Do you think Grace was a brave person? Give reasons for your answer. 2. How do you think the Lord of Howth felt when he discovered his son had been kidnapped? 3. Do you think Grace was a good leader? Give reasons for your answer. 4. It is said that Grace and Queen Elizabeth got on very well together. Can you think of any reasons why this might be so? 5. Do you think that, as Governor of Connacht, Bingham had good cause to treat Grace as he did? Give a reason for your answer. To do In the letter Grace wrote to Queen Elizabeth to complain about Bingham, she told Elizabeth all about her life up to that point. She explained how Bingham mistreated her and asked for a meeting with the Queen. Pretend you are Grace. Write a letter to Queen Elizabeth. Before you start, remember that you are looking for a favour from her and think how that might affect your letter.

Ireland & the Tudors, Notes for teachers, 5

A2. Who should control Ireland? Controlling Ireland

A. Controlling Ireland. Rivalry and Conflict. Workbook 2 by Gillespie, S., et al., Colourpoint Books, 1-89839-292-7, p. 2

The sentences above are all thoughts that the English had about Ireland. Read them carefully and then say if the following statements are true or false. a.

The English thought Spain was a friendly country.

True / False

b.

The Pale was a district around Dublin.

True / False

c.

Henry VIII was a Catholic king.

True / False

d.

The Irish chiefs tried to get help from America during a rebellion in Munster.

True / False

e.

The Irish used their own laws.

True / False

Ireland & the Tudors, Notes for teachers, 6

B. Change and Conflict by Rice., P., CUP, 0-521-46-603-2, p. 35 In a group, consider the following possible reasons for setting up plantations in Ireland: • • • •

to spread the Protestant faith to gain gold and silver to make the growing English empire even more powerful to civilise the ‘barbarous’ Irish by bringing English laws and customs • to prevent England’s enemies from using Ireland as a base for attacking England • to provide land and opportunities for English and Scottish settlers

• to make Ireland loyal to the English Crown • to gain vast areas of fertile land • to avoid war with the Irish.

Which does your group think are the most and least likely reasons why England wanted to set up colonies in Ireland? In each case try to explain your choice. Compare your group’s list with others in the class.

C. Rivalry and Conflict by Logan, A., et al., Colourpoint Books, 1-89839-212-9, p. 25 Controlling Ireland. Rivalry and Conflict. Workbook 2 by Gillespie, S., et al., Colourpoint Books, 1-89839-292-7, p. 4 One of Elizabeth’s officials, Sir George Carew said: ‘We must change Irish government, clothing, customs, manner of holding land, language and habits of life to make them obedient.’

1. What did Sir George Carew want to do in Ireland? 2. Do you agree with Carew’s ideas? Give a reason for your answer. 3. What do you think the Irish would have thought of Carew’s ideas? Explain why they would feel that way.

D. Rivalry and Conflict by Logan, A., et al., Colourpoint Books, 1-89839-212-9, p. 26 Controlling Ireland. Rivalry and Conflict. Workbook 2 by Gillespie, S., et al., Colourpoint Books, 1-89839-292-7, p. 4 Who do you think would make the following statements, Elizabeth I or an Irish chieftain? The first line is done for you.

U

1 I want to be a Catholic. 2. I want everyone in Ireland to speak English. 3. This country must first be broken by war. 4. I want to speak Gaelic. 5. I want to be ruled by Irish laws. 6. I want Ireland to obey English law. 7. The best way to control Ireland is by plantation.

E. The Race to Rule by Hodge, A., Colourpoint Books, 1-89839-249-8, p. 39 Reasons for Plantation g The Irish chiefs looked to Spain for help during a rebellion in the province of Munster. g The English feared that Spain might attack them via Ireland. g There was a view that a barbarous country must first be broken by war before it will be capable of good government. 1 Which of the reasons for Plantation support these statements: (a) England was worried by foreign enemies; (b) Religious differences were seen as a problem; (c) England wished to extend control over Ireland?

g The only area ruled directly by the English was the Pale, a district around Dublin. This was the only foothold for English rule in Ireland. g Henry VIII, the Protestant King of England, took the title ‘King of Ireland’. Tudor governments tried to make all Ireland obey English law. 2. Which of these reasons do you think was the most important. Give reasons for your answers. 3. When O’Neill signed the Treaty of Mellifont, he had not heard that Elizabeth had died. How might this have affected his decision to sign?

Ireland & the Tudors, Notes for teachers, 7

English view of the Irish - John Derrick, Image of Ireland, 1581

1. Cattle raid A. New History In Context 1 by Collins, M. et al., The Educational Company, 0-86167-493-6, pp 225-6 An Englishman named John Derrick came to Ireland with the Lord Deputy in the 1560s. He wrote a book called The Image of Ireland. His work gives us the best information we have about Ireland at the time. The picture and the poem describe an attack by the Irish on a farmer in the Pale. The picture can be read like a cartoon, starting from the part marked ‘A’. The Gaelic assemble, attack the Palespeople and steal their cattle.

They spoil and burn and bear away as fit occasion serve, And think the greater ill they do, the greater praise deserve. They pass not the poor man’s cry nor yet respect his tears, But rather joy to see the fire to flash about his ears ... And thus bereaving him of house, of cattle and of store, They do return to the wood from whence they came before.

Study the picture and verse. Then say whose side you think Derrick was on. Give reasons for your answer. How does it affect the way you feel about the picture and the poem? 1. Where are the woodkernes coming from? 2. Why are they being led by a piper? 3. Describe the weapons carried by the woodkernes?

4. The two people marked 1 and 2 appear upset. What is happening to them? 5. Describe what is happening in Part C of the picture?

B. Footprints 3 by Cremin, P., CJ Fallon, 1991, no ISBN, pp 111-14

1

The raid begins.

2

The house is set on fire.

The raiders drive away the animals.

Look carefully at the pictures and answer these questions. A1. Who is leading the raiding party? A2. What instrument is he playing? A3. Why do you think he is playing music? A4. Do you think the musician will take part in the fighting? A5. What arms does each kern carry?

C1. What animals are being driven B1. Why do you think the house is away? being burned down? B2. Why has the roof caught fire so C2. How are the cattle in the picture easily? different from cattle in Ireland today? B3. Draw a picture to show how the C3. Do you think that the barefoot woman is dressed? person at the front is a kern? Why B4. Pretend you are this woman. Write do you say so? about what has happened. C4. Who do you think is riding the horse? C5. Describe how he is dressed.

2 The ‘booley’ The picture below is often used in conjunction with the cattle raid. In this scene Derrick shows an Irish chieftain, MacSweeney, feasting out of doors - a typical ‘booley’ setting. This epitomised the cultural gulf between Tudor gentry in England and some of the Irish chieftains. One of the biggest sources of English misunderstanding of Ireland was the English preference for an orderly and ordered countryside based upon arable farming and settlements. The Irish pastoral economy was almost the antithesis of this - with cattle as the main source of wealth, movement for pasture and cattle-raiding.

Ireland & the Tudors, Notes for teachers, 8

During the winter months a leading Irish chieftain might live in a stone fortress but in the summer would leave his permanent residence and with his clan live in a temporary summer residence called a ‘booley’ for the purpose of grazing their cattle herds in the upland. Since English travellers tended to visit the Gaelic parts of the country during the summer months, these ‘booleys’ were well observed but misunderstood, becoming almost a symbol of the difference between the English and the ‘Wild Irish’. Derrick used the booley to underline the savageness of the native Irish in his influential Image of Ireland, with the chieftain on a hunting expedition, eating out of doors with no knives or forks. The scene is rather chaotic, with entertainments, cooking and butchering going on at the same time. Two individuals are also warming their backsides against the cold! A. Footprints 3 by Cremin, P., CJ Fallon, 1991, no ISBN, pp 110-11 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

How do you know that the meat being cooked is fresh? Describe how you think the meat was cooked? What kind of tableware was used? Do you think cutlery was used? The poet usually stood behind the chief and directed the entertainment. How many entertainers can be seen in this picture? What are they doing?

6. From what was the table made? 7. Are the people at the table sitting on the grass? 8. To whom do you think the sword and headgear belong? 9. What evidence can you find in the picture that the mantle was still a popular garment when this picture was drawn in 1581?

B. Change and Conflict by Rice., P., CUP, 0-521-46-603-2, p9. 30-1 1. What evidence does this picture give of the Gaelic way of life and dress? 2. Does the picture give a favourable or unfavourable impression of the Gaelic Irish? Give reasons for your answer.

3. John Derrick is considered to be unsympathetic to the Irish but his book is still considered useful. Give as many reasons as you can to explain how and why historians of the period find it useful.

Ireland & the Tudors, Notes for teachers, 9

The Nine Years War and after A. Romans to Rising, IiS Trafford Pilot Scheme, pp 12-13 In 1595, Hugh O’Neill actually wrote to Philip II of Spain for help: ‘Our only hope of re-establishing the Catholic religion rests on your assistance ... We therefore beg you to send us 2,000 or 3,000 soldiers with money and arms... With such aid, we hope to restore the faith of the Church, and to secure you a kingdom.’

1. O’Neill’s letter to Philip II of Spain What did he want? What did he promise in return?

Contemporary English view of O’Neill: ‘Educated, more disciplined and naturally valiant, he is worthily reputed the best man of war of his nation. Most of his followers are well-trained soldiers, using our weapons; and he is the greatest man of territory and revenue within that kingdom, and is absolute commander of the north of Ireland.’

2. Look at the image and written source on O’Neill. How far was O’Neill a worthy opponent for Elizabeth?

B. The March of Time 3 ed by Fabian, C., The Educational Company, 0-86167-507-X, pp 49-50 Read the following stanzas from ‘The March to Kinsale’ by Aubrey de Vere and answer the questions which follow. O’er many a river bridged with ice, Through many a vale with snow-drifts dumb, Past quaking fen and precipice The Princes of the North are come! Lo, these are they that, year by year, Rolled back the tide of England’s war; Rejoice, Kinsale! thy help is near! That wondrous winter march is o’er. And thus they sang, ‘Tomorrow morn Our eyes shall rest upon the foe: Pass on, swift night, in silence borne, And blow, thou breeze of sunrise, blow!’

Beside their watch-fires couch’d all night, Some slept, some danced, at cards some played, While chanting on a central height Of moonlit crag, the priesthood pray’d: And some to sweetheart, some to wife Sent message kind; while others told Triumphant tales of recent fight, Or legends of their sires of old. And thus they sang, ‘Tomorrow morn Our eyes shall rest upon the foe: Pass on, swift night, in silence borne, And blow, thou breeze of sunrise, blow!’

1. What time of year did the Irish march? Give reasons for your answer from the ballad. 2. What titles did the author give O’Neill and O’Donnell? 3. Name four of the counties through which O’Neill and O’Donnell may have marched. 4. On what date did the Battle of Kinsale take place? 5. Do you think Kinsale was unsuitable for a battle involving the Ulster army? Give a reason for your answer.

6. Who won the Battle of Kinsale? 7. How did the soldiers in the Irish camp spend the night before the battle? 8. What evidence is there in the ballad that a courier, or a number of couriers, left the battlefield and returned to Ulster before the fight? 9. Why, do you think, did they talk of triumphant tales of recent fights at the campfires before the battle?’

C. Rivalry and Conflict by Logan, A., et al., Colourpoint Books, 1-89839-212-9, p. 28 1. The picture show the Flight of the Earls in 1607. The earls left Ireland from Rathmullan. Can you find Rathmullan on a map? 2. What do you think O’Neill was thinking as he left Ireland? You could mention: • the defeat at Kinsale • leaving from Rathmullan • his last words to people on the shore. D. Rivalry and Conflict by Logan, A., et al., Colourpoint Books, 1-89839-212-9, p. 27 1. Trace the map of Ulster. 2. How many counties are in the province of Ulster? 3. On your tracing, shade in and label the counties where the government gave land to English and Scottish settlers. Map of the Province of Ulster

Ireland & the Tudors, Notes for teachers, 10

A3. Yr 3: Grace O’Malley in the Literacy Hour St Paul’s Catholic Junior School, Liverpool

St Paul’s used the original version of the story of ‘Grace O’Malley’ from Time Traveller 2 (by Day, R. et al., CJ Fallon, 0-71441129-9, pp 83-7), but the scheme of work can also be applied to the IiS adaptation. This was supplemented by another IiS adaptation, ‘The story of Grace O’Malley, alias Granuaile, in pictures’, based on drawings by D. Rooney in Granuaile, Chieftain, Pirate, Trader by M. Moriarty & C. Sweeney, O’Brien Press, 0-86278-162-0 - see page 4 above.

Ireland & the Tudors, Notes for teachers, 11

Class: Year Groups 3 Term Spring Week beg: 17.03.03 Teacher: Mrs Denton

Guided group tasks (reading or writing)

Day NLS Obs^

Whole class shared reading & writing

Whole class - phonics, spelling, vocabulary & grammar

Mon T1,S1,11 T2, W1719

Talk about IiS. Discuss slideshow on Ireland. What do chn know about Ireland? Any famous people?

Look at spelling list. Any patterns? Any unknown words? Go through - put into context.

Tues T1, T17 T3, T1

Display text of Grace in pictures. Read through all pictures and captions Has anyone heard of her. What does ‘alias’ mean? Is this fact or fiction?

Wed T1, S3 T3, T10

Recap on work done so far. Read text ‘Grace O’Malley’, p. 83.* Then ask chn to say what they think happened at Hen’s Castle (picture 3).

Thurs T1, S11 T2, S2 & T7

Fri

Guided group tasks (reading or writing)

Independent group tasks

Plenary

Children will be given a line drawing to represent Grace. Three questions will be posed. They will study the text ‘Grace O’Malley’, pp 84-5. * Discuss answers by giving evidence from text. Chn will record answers in their exercise books. Children will put words from spelling list into sentences. Encourage chn to make sentences interesting using powerful verbs and adjectives.

Invite chn to share their most interesting sentence with the class. Use expression and project voice well.

Children will work in pairs and match the pictures to the text.

Chn can suggest matches. Teacher will ask for volunteers to stand in pairs with correctly matched work.

Teacher will act as scribe writing chn’s version. Teacher will now read p. 86.* Look at verbs used - fought, attacked, captured

Children will recount the story of Donal O’Flaherty’s death and Grace’s victory over the Joyces. They will record these events in pictures with captions (Hen’s Castle).

Chn will be invited to share work with the class, identifying powerful verbs used. Explain and distribute homework.

Read over main text (pictures/captions). Focus on how she behaves - hair cutting, fighting pirates. Look for words which tell us how she is feeling, eg, angry, longed.

Invite children to express what sort of person she was. List adjectives which best describe her, eg, tough, clever, strong, determined.

Children will complete the worksheet, Grace Children will be asked to O’Malley, Pirate Queen, circling suitable adjectives identify powerful adjectives and completing sentences. and the effect these have on our impression of Grace.

Recap of week’s work. Chn will form 3 teams - 10 in each - and devise a quiz about Grace.

Teacher & TA will give support to less able group. Spelling test.

Children will take turns to ask each other questions about Grace. Wrongly answered and the child is out. Teacher will score, recording points gained on blackboard. Sweet each for participants.

^ History skills developed include 1a-b; 2a-c; 4a-b; 5c. * In the IiS ‘big book’ adaptation, ‘Grace O’Malley, Granuaile’, for p. 82 read p. 1; for pp 84-5 read pp 2-3; and for p. 86 read p. 3.

Ireland & the Tudors, Notes for teachers, 12

Tot up scores. Focus on areas of strengths/gaps in knowledge. Congratulate chn.

Grace O’Malley, Pirate Queen - three questions

Who was Grace O’Malley?

What do we think she looked like?

What happened when Grace went to Howth Castle?

Ireland & the Tudors, Notes for teachers, 13

Grace O’Malley, Pirate Queen - descriptions A.

Put a circle around the words that describe Grace. soft-hearted

determined

cowardly

courageous

fearful

brave

quiet

weak

brave

skilful

rough

nervous

B. Complete these sentences. 1.

Grace O’Malley as a famous chieftain, trader and _______________ .

2.

Grace __________________ her hair and wore boy’s clothes so her father would take her to sea.

3.

Queen _____________________ was ruler of England when Grace was alive.

4.

Elizabeth pirate

cut

Dublin Castle

Grace as imprisoned in the dungeons of ________________ ________________ .

C.

Now you can use the words you have circled in section A to make sentences about this Pirate Queen.

Ireland & the Tudors, Notes for teachers, 14

A4. Yr 5: Fact & fiction: Grace O’Malley, alias Granuaile, chieftain, pirate & trader Gorsemoor Primary School, Staffordshire In addition to the two IiS texts, Grace O’Malley, Granuaile’ and ‘Who should control Ireland?’, Gorsemoor Primary School introduced Grace with two extracts from The Ghost of Grania O’Malley by Morpurgo, M., Egmont, 0-74974-691-2, 214 pages. IN this novel, the sixteenth-century Grace O’Malley visits the present to help Jessie Parsons and her American cousin preserve the Big Hill, the heart of Clare Island, special, beautiful, the perfect place. There is gold in the Big Hill. It would make the islanders rich, but to claim it would mean destroying the hill for ever. Jessie and Jackie cannot bear for this to happen. Can they save it before it is too late? They can, but only with the aid of a secret ally - the ghost of Grace O’Malley. The extracts used are reproduced after the scheme of work.

Ireland & the Tudors, Notes for teachers, 15

NATIONAL LITERACY KS2 PLANNING SHEET Class: Week:

Y5

Text Used: Ghost of Grania O’Malley, Morpurgo, M ‘Ireland & Tudors 1 - Texts’ by IiS 9/06/03 Range: Fictional book/Non-fiction

SPELLING PATTERNS

HOMEWORK

SPECIAL NEEDS

See spelling folder.

Pupils to research Grace O’Malley. What else can they

Support lower ability.

* Indicates opportunities for Speaking and Listening WK

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

WHOLE CLASS SHARED TEXT WORK

WHOLE CLASS, WORD/SENTC WORK

M

To use adjectives and adverbs to add description (T1, W10). To empathise with characters (T1, T3). To structure a poem correctly (T1, T12).

Read Ghost of Grania O’Malley, pp 67-70, when Jessie meets Grania. Discuss what Jessie must have felt. What is it like to be a person with a disability.

T

INDEPENDENT WORK

GLIDED GROUP READING/WRITING [Y3/4] PLENARY

Together draw up a character profile for Jessie and Grania. Use adjectives and adverbs to describe both appearance and personality.

Using the key vocabulary from the character Pupils to read out poems profiles, pupils to compose a narrative poem and appraise each other’s about Grania. work.

To distinguish between fact and Read through pp 1-3 of ‘Grace O’Malley’ fiction (T2, T19). in ‘Ireland & Tudors 1’. Can we use this To edit, modify work (T3, T24). extra information to add to our character profile of Grania?

Distinguish between fact and fiction (fiction from Ghost of Grania; fact from ‘Grace O’Malley’ reference text.)

Use this information to add further detail of descriptions to their poems. Re-draft, edit and modify work.

W

To argue a particular point of view (T3, T7). To empathise with another’s point of view (T3, T19).

Read through ‘Who Should Control Ireland’ in ‘Ireland & Tudors 1’. Clarify the meanings of key vocabulary.

Pupils to highlight words which refer to Henry VIII - identify them as pronouns. List them on the board - emphasise they are third person.

Debate work. Groups split into two groups to debate : Who should control Ireland?

T

To extend vocabulary knowledge (T1-3, S1-3, W1-3)on going.

Read through and highlight the main points for Irish chieftains and Tudor monarchs to rule Ireland. List points on the board.

On board list words used to argue a Pupils to complete a debate writing frame particular point of view and structure stating reasons for their beliefs on who reasoning - ‘furthermore’, ‘another reason, should control Ireland. ‘finally’, ‘also’, etc.

Pupils to read out their debating frames. Are they clear? How else could they support argument?

F

To comprehend a text (T3, T8). To answer in full detailed answers (T1, S1-3). To appraise own work

Read through pp 1-3 of ‘Grace O’Malley’ in ‘Ireland & Tudors 1’ again.

Re-cap on words pupils may find difficult to understand. Use dictionaries to find definitions.

Mark answers together. Pupils assess their own work. Have they answered clearly with enough information.

Extended writing: See Friday

Ireland & the Tudors, Notes for teachers, 16

Pupils to complete comprehension exercise about Grace, answering in full sentences.

They must speak clearly and coherently. Have they improved their poetry writing One group to argue Grania and the other Irish chieftains should rule Ireland. Second group to argue Tudor monarchs should rule.

NATIONAL LITERACY KS2 PLANNING SHEET Class: Week:

Y5

Text Used: Ghost of Grania O’Malley, Morpurgo, M ‘Ireland & Tudors 1 - Texts’ IiS 16/06/03 Range: Fictional book/Non-fiction

SPELLING PATTERNS

HOMEWORK

SPECIAL NEEDS

See spelling folder.

N/a.

Support less able; challenge more able..

* Indicates opportunities for Speaking and Listening WK

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

M

To sequence events in chronological order (T1, T14). To extend knowledge of vocabulary (T-33, W1-3).

T

W

T

F

WHOLE CLASS SHARED TEXT WORK

WHOLE CLASS, WORD/SENTC WORK

Read pp 196-203 of Ghost of Grania, when Grania appears to Jessie and Jack and saves their lives.

INDEPENDENT WORK

GLIDED GROUP READING/WRITING [Y3/4] PLENARY

On board list from the text words which describe the scene. How could we add further detail to these words?

Pupils to sequence sentences in chronological Mark and check order. chronological order. Higher: more sentences. Pupils to self-assess. Lower: fewer sentences.

To recognise features of a Read through a selection of newspaper newspaper report (T1, T9). reports. Discuss verbs, tense, reported To identify adjectives (T3, T12- speech, technical vocabulary. 14).

On board together create a newspaper report, discussing and using the correct tense, vocabulary/language, etc.

Pupils to write a newspaper report about Jessie and Jack finding gold.

To use fishbone technique to plan and structure (T1, T14). To use adjectives/adverbs to enhance detail. (T1-3, W1-3, S1-3)/

Tell pupils to write a story inspired by Grace. Give them an opening sentence.

Using the Fishbone technique, pupils to plan out story. They should consider opening, middle and ending.

Pupils to begin to write stories. Pupils should use the Fishbone plan to guide their writing..

Re-cap Fishbone technique. Do the pupils feel their stories are appealing to the reader.

Pupils to use dictionaries to check the spelling of words they are unsure whether they have spelt correctly.

Pupils to complete their own book report/review. They are to say because ... why? They must be able to justify answers and comments with examples taken from the text. Middle - key words to support writing.

To summarise a text (T3, T16). To recognise key vocabulary from unnecessary fillers/wording (T2, W9).

List scenes where story took place and characters that appeared in story.

List in chronological order main events in Pupils to complete the comprehension the story. Structure in flow diagram. questions. They are to answer in detailed, full sentences. Lower- Refer to flip chart to help model answers. Higher - Work independently.

Extended writing: All the week.

Ireland & the Tudors, Notes for teachers, 17

Pupils to read our newspaper reports. Appraise each others’ work.

Pupils to read out parts of their stories which set the scene, etc.

Recap learning objectives. Pupils to assess whether they have met them.

Name _________________________________

Date ___________________________

Ireland & the Tudors, Notes for teachers, 18

Meeting Grania

The Ghost of Grania O’Malley by Morpurgo, M., Egmont, 0-74974-691-2, pp 67-70

The sunlight danced over the rock pool and seemed to be inviting them to drink. Jack was there before she was. He cupped his hands under the spring, caught the water and drank it. Jessie tried it the same way too, but could not keep her fingers tight enough together to hold the water. So she knelt down and put her mouth to the surface of the pool, as she had the last time she was up there. She drank long and deep, her eyes closed until she’d had enough. She wiped her mouth and watched the reflected clouds moving across the pool. She was remembering the earring and how she had found it there before. And then she knew she wasn’t remembering it at all, she was looking directly at it. It was there, right in front of her eyes, lying at the bottom of the pool. It was like an echo in her mind, this feeling of having been somewhere before and then the same thing happening, in exactly the same place and in exactly the same way, like a dream, only clearer, more real. She reached down into the water, shattering the clouds, but Jack’s hand was quicker than hers. ‘Jeez, what’s this?’ he said, dangling the earring in front of her eyes. ‘What does it look like?’ a voice spoke from behind them, a voice Jessie recognised at once. ‘You’ll be needing the pair, I thought.’ They turned. She was the woman from the mirror. She was the woman from Jessie’s dream. And she was here and now and barefoot on the rock, her hair all about her face. ‘Well, have you no manners at all?’ she said. ‘You’re gawping at me like a pair of gasping salmon. Look around you. It’s just like you said, Jack. Isn’t this the most perfect place in the entire world? My mountain this, my hill. I fought for it, we all did. We spilled good red Irish blood for it, and I’ll not let them do it. I won’t. But I’ll need help.’ And then to Jack: ‘That was a fine speech you made. Did you mean it’ Jack nodded, backing away now and taking Jessie with him.

‘Now where do you think you’re going to?’ She sprang down off the rock, lithe like a tiger, a sword hanging from her broad leather belt. She was about Jessie’s mother’s age, a little older perhaps and certainly stronger. There was a wild and weather-beaten look about her. ‘Would I hurt you? Would I? Haven’t I just given you my own earrings? Gold they are, Spanish gold. I filched them myself from the wreck of the Santa Felicia, a great Armada galleon that washed itself up on our rocks - a while ago now. And there’s a whole lot more where they came from, my life’s winnings you might say - or what’s left of them anyway.’ She drew her sword and flourished it at the sea. ‘These are my waters. You sail in my waters and you pay your dues. I took from anyone who came by, English, Spanish, Portuguese - all the same to me, all perfectly fair and square and above board. But if they didn’t pay, well then, I took what was mine. Wouldn’t you? A poor pirate’s got to earn her crust somehow. How else is she to live into her old age? Tell me that if you will.’ Jessie sat down because she had to, because her legs wanted her to. It could not be what Jessie was thinking, because what she was thinking was impossible; but then maybe she had to believe the impossible might just be possible after all. The woman now striding towards her said she was a pirate, that the Big Hill was her mountain. It could be no one else. It had to be ... but then it couldn’t be. She had been buried in the abbey hundreds of years ago. Jessie had seen the gravestone. They had read about her at school, the Pirate Queen of Clare Island. Mrs O’Leary’s pub down by the quay was named after her. Jessie screwed up all her courage, and then spoke. ‘You’re not. . . you’re not Grania O’Malley, are you?’ ‘And who else would I be?’ she said.

Ireland & the Tudors, Notes for teachers, 19

Grania to the rescue

The Ghost of Grania O’Malley by Morpurgo, M., Egmont, 0-74974-691-2, pp 196-203

High in the cab, the driver of the first Earthbuster recognised the lady in front of him. She was the same one who had screamed at him and kicked at his digger. The boy was there too, the American boy, and the girl with the limp beside him, arms linked. He lowered his scoop to the ground like the others, an eye on Mr Murphy, watching for the signal to stop. The plan had been clear. They would dig round them, and then move in slowly, scraping away the earth at their feet, just close enough to scare them. But it wasn’t working. Frightened or not, they weren’t moving. None of them were. Some of the children were crying, mothers and fathers holding them now, trying to comfort them. The digger driver thought of his children back home in Dublin, and he did not like what he was doing. He wouldn’t do it. He wouldn’t go on. He was reaching for the ignition key when he saw them out of the corner of his eye. From out of nowhere they seemed to come: twenty, thirty men maybe. Swords drawn, they were striding through the circle, but somehow without breaking it. Then some of them were heading straight towards him. The digger driver knew them at once for what they must be, even though it was impossible in this day and age, quite impossible. Pirates, pirates straight out of the books he read his children. Baggy breeches, barefoot, some of them bearded, and even one with a black eyepatch. They were charging now, swords slicing the air, and yelling a bloodcurdling war-cry that sent warm shivers of fear up his back. The digger driver could not move. He wanted to run, but terror had frozen him to his seat. He looked towards Michael Murphy for help; but Michael Murphy was standing there, aghast, the blood drained from his face. There was a flag fluttering from the centre of the circle now, a black flag with a red pig on it; and beside the flag stood a tall figure of a woman with a mass of black hair, and there was a sword in her hand too. The pirates were all around his digger now. They were climbing up on to it. One of them had his hand on the cab door, and wrenched it open. ‘Nice morning,’ said the pirate. ‘I wonder if you’d care to step down for a little while?’ There was an unpleasant smile on his face. He had very few teeth, and those he did have were like yellow claws. ‘Out,’ he said. The digger driver did not hesitate, and neither did any of the

others. Every digger was soon occupied by pirates, who clambered all over them, waving their swords in wild abandon and whooping in triumph. Michael Murphy and his uniformed army were entirely surrounded by pirates, who tickled them with the points of their swords, under their arms, under their chins, teasing them with terror. That was when the woman by the flag spoke up. ‘Easy boys, easy boys, easy . . . We wouldn’t want to frighten them, would we? Well, maybe just a little we would, but not so it hurts, eh?’ She turned to Mister Barney. ‘Hello, Mister Barney. And how are you this fine morning?’ Mister Barney tried to say something. His mouth moved but no sound came out. ‘Mister Barney knows well enough who I am - we’ve met before - and so do Jess and Jack.’ She smiled at Jessie. ‘By the look on your faces, there’s some of you maybe wondering who we are. Well, I’ll tell you. My name is Grania O’Malley. And these are my men, my boys. This is our island. This is our hill you’re standing on, mine and my forebears’, mine and my descendants’. And you,’ she went on, sweeping her sword all around her, ‘you are my descendants. You are too, Michael Murphy, and you should be ashamed of yourself.’ She was pointing her sword straight at him. ‘No one owns land, Michael Murphy. You look after it, you protect it for those who come after you, that’s all. Can you not understand that? That is why I’ll not let you cut off the head of this hill, why I won’t let you tear the heart out of it, not for a pot of gold, not for anything.’ Jessie wanted to run to her and hug her, out of sheer relief, out of pure love. ‘Now, as I see it, Michael Murphy,’ Grania O’Malley went on, ‘the good people of Clare have given this a lot of thought. Maybe some of them have come to their senses more slowly than others, but no matter. They have decided they want you to leave and take your machines with you, that they want to keep the Big Hill as it is. They asked you nicely - I heard them. But you didn’t listen. If you had listened, then there’d have been no need for me to go sticking my piratical nose in, would there now? As it is, I’m going to have to give a little helping hand.’ And, with a wink at Jessie, she said, ‘You’ll enjoy this, I think, Jess.’ Then she whipped up her sword and flashed it above her

Ireland & the Tudors, Notes for teachers, 20

head. ‘Right, boys. You know what to do. But take care now.’ All the engines started up at once. Every digger had a crew of pirates, one in the cab and others sitting on the sides, legs dangling. Grania O’Malley took up her flag and strode forward. ‘They’ve been dying to do this ever since they saw those machines. Little boys at heart, just little boys.’ The Earthbusters were on the move, manoeuvring so that they were soon lined up and facing towards the cliff-tops, the pirates hanging on to anything they could. The engines revved to full, thunderous throttle; and then, as if unleashed, they lurched forward into the bracken, bumping over the rocks, in a helterskelter race for the cliffs. The pirates leapt off this way and that, diving off the sides and out of the cabs, into the bracken and rolling away. Everyone was rushing to look. Jessie was just in time to see the first of the Earthbusters flying out over the cliff and somersaulting through the air. The others were soon to follow. Jack was hoping there would be massive explosions, but there weren’t. Instead, there were four spectacular splashes, and a lot of steaming and hissing, as the diggers sank slowly into the sea and disappeared. It was a moment or two before they all realised what had happened, before the cheering began. When it did, it was deafening. Everyone jumped up and down and hugged each other, everyone that is except Michael Murphy and his blue and orange army. Jessie felt herself swept off her feet, and then she was swinging in the air, round and round and round until she was giddy with it and begged to be let down. Grania O’Malley set her on her feet and held her fast by the shoulders so she didn’t tumble over. ‘I think,’ said Grania O’Malley, ‘I think the enemy has decided they’ve had enough. Take a look.’ And sure enough, there wasn’t a sign either of Michael Murphy, nor of his blueuniformed security guards, nor of the orangeoveralled drivers. The battle was over, over before it had begun. One by one the pirates gathered around Grania O’Malley from all over the Big Hill. One of them said he had never had so much fun in all his life - nor since, he added with a laugh. Grania O’Malley was talking to Jessie’s mother and Mister Barney. Everyone else, Jessie noticed, was keeping their distance from her.

They stood together in hushed and huddled groups, eyes wide with wonder and fear. ‘Well, you’ll not be needing us any more, will you?’ Grania O’Malley was saying. ‘I think we’d better be going. No sensible ghost wants to outstay her welcome. Now where’s that daughter of yours, and where’s Jack?’ She turned, saw them and held out her arms. Like it or not, and he wasn’t at all sure he did, Jack was clasped in an enveloping hug. ‘Give my best to America when you see it, Jack,’ she said, and she released him. ‘Maybe I’ll pay you a visit one day. How would that be?’ ‘Great,’ said Jack. ‘I know a lot of people who’d like to meet you.’ ‘We’ll see, we’ll see,’ said Grania O’Malley. And she smiled sadly down at Jessie. ‘All good things have to come to an end, Jessie. Look after the place for me, won’t you?’ She bent down, put her arms round Jessie and held her close. Jessie clung to her. Til be seeing you,’ Grania O’Malley whispered. And then, quite suddenly, there was nothing to cling to any more. Jessie looked around her. Grania O’Malley was gone, and her pirates with her. Everyone thought they had gone for good. They were still standing, stunned by all they had seen, by all that had happened, when Marion grasped Jessie by the arm and pointed out to sea. The galley, under full sail, was moving out over the mist-covered sea towards Clew Bay, towards Rockfleet in the distance, the oars dipping together. Grania O’Malley was standing in the prow of the galley, her flag fluttering above her, her hand raised in farewell. The galley sailed on, drawn slowly into the mist, until they saw it no more. Jessie felt Jack beside her. ‘We won’t see her again, will we?’ she said. ‘Never can tell, not with her,’ Jack replied. ‘She wanted me to give you this,’ said Jessie, taking his hand and laying the arrowhead on his open palm. ‘Where? Where did she find it?’ Jessie shrugged her shoulders. ‘She didn’t say.’ She thought it safer to change the subject before he could ask any more about it. ‘We’ve done it, haven’t we?’ She looked up at him and smiled. ‘We’ve saved the Big Hill.’ But Jack turned away and looked out to the open sea. ‘I don’t want to go home,’ he said. ‘I don’t ever want to go home.’

Ireland & the Tudors, Notes for teachers, 21

B1. Irish leaders

Grace O’Malley, Red Hugh O’Donnell & Hugh O’Neill

The Oxford Companion to Irish History edited Connolly, S.J., OUP, 1998, 0-19866-240-8, 404, 410, 412

O’Malley, Grace (c.1503-c.1603), alias Granuaile, legendary pirate-queen of Connacht, celebrated in popular tradition as a nationalist heroine and now a feminist icon. She married first Donal O’Flaherty, and later Richard ‘Iron Dick’ Bourke, but was a power-broker in her own right due to the unique naval power of the O’Malleys. One English official wrote in 1559: ‘There are three very good galleys with Tibbot ne Longe, son of Grany O'Malley, his brother and O'Malley that will carry 300 men apiece. These, if employed by Her Majesty, would do much good in the north, and the O'Malleys are much feared everywhere by sea. There are no galleys in Ireland but these.’ Despite clashes with the crown, which imprisoned her in 1577-9, she urged her husbands and sons to seek accommodation with the encroaching state. While in London in 1593 with other Connacht notables complaining of Bingham’s government, she petitioned the queen for a grant of lands - under Gaelic law she was not entitled, as a widow, to any part of her husband’s estate. O’Donnell, Hugh (Aodh Ruadh Ó Domhnaill) (1572-1602), called ‘Red Hugh’, lord of Tirconnell from 1592. Son of Hugh O’Donnell and Finola MacDonnell, he saw his first military action at the age of 12. In 1587 Perrot (the Lord Deputy), fearing the implications of Red Hugh’s betrothal to a daughter of Hugh O’Neill, had him captured by sending a ship to Rathmullen, on board which he was lured to drink. He languished for four years in Dublin Castle until he escaped, at the second attempt, with the connivance of O’Neill. Upon his return in 1592 his mother arranged the deposition of her senile husband in his favour. During the Nine Years War the betrayal of Sligo Castle into O’Donnell’s hands allowed him to exercise overlordship in north Connacht and to mount further raids into Clanricard and Thomond. Only in 1600, with the establishment of Docwra’s garrison at Derry, did his authority begin to wane. When Spanish forces landed at Kinsale in 1601, O’Donnell marched his army to Munster, evading George Carew, who blocked his passage at Cashel, by a brilliant flanking manoeuvre across the Slievefelim Mountains. After the Irish defeat at Kinsale, Hugh went to Spain to seek further help but died at Simancas. Allegations that he was poisoned are probably unfounded. Red Hugh was immortalized soon afterwards in Lughaidh Ó Cléirigh’s Beatha Aodha Ruaidh Uí Dhomhnaill (Life of Red Hugh O’Donnell). This biography, which portrays Red Hugh at the centre of events, has distorted historical interpretation. O’Donnell was certainly more impulsive than O’Neill, but he generally played second fiddle to the older man. O’Neill, Hugh (c.1550-1616), and earl of Tyrone and last inaugurated O’Neill. Hugh was raised in the Pale after the assassination of his father Matthew in 1558. The crown re-established him in Ulster ten years later as a bulwark against the pretensions of Turlough O’Neill. When it tried to curb his growing power after 1587, Hugh resorted to bribing officials and opened up contacts with Spain. Fitzwilliam’s partition of Monaghan proved the decisive break. O’Neill tried to entangle the main beneficiary of government reform, Sir Henry Bagenal, in a marriage alliance by eloping with his sister Mabel. In 1592 Red Hugh O’Donnell, his son-in-law, assisted him in the encirclement of Turlough and the achievement of supremacy in Ulster. At the start of the Nine Years War O’Neill managed an outward show of loyalty while using proxies to oppose militarily the implementation of further reform. Victory at the Yellow Ford in 1598 enabled the extension of his authority through the midlands and into Munster. A major stumbling block was the Old English, to whom O’Neill appealed unsuccessfully on the grounds of common nationality and religion. O’Neill and O’Donnell were defeated at Kinsale and he himself surrendered at Mellifont in 1603. The subsequent Flight of the Earls was a gamble by O’Neill which went badly wrong. He died in Rome in 1616. That Hugh O’Neill enjoys such an enigmatic reputation is largely the result of 19th-century misinterpretation. Uncritical use of O Cléirigh’s life of O’Donnell, and the mistaken idea that O’Neill was brought up in England, fashioned a vacillating figure caught between two cultures. In fact O’Neill was an adept politician and gifted soldier who made the most of limited resources in a period of rapid change.

At Naseby CE Primary School the excited curiosity of Years 1 & 2 at the prospect of studying an Irish pirate became almost irrepressible when it gradually dawned on them that the pirate was a woman - the fearless Grace O’Malley, also known as Granuaile (pronounced Gran-oo-ale).

Thanks to the help of ‘Ireland in Schools’, resources were readily identified. My Very First Book of Pirates (R. Walker, Barefoot Books, 1-84148-304) provided the introductory tales of European, Moroccan and Japanese pirates.

More than the ‘pirate queen’ of Irish legend, Granuaile was a courageous woman who stood up for her rights during the turbulent Tudor conquest of Ireland. When young, it is said she cut off her hair and wore male clothes to go to sea.

Historical information on Granuaile came from a textbook, Time Traveller 2 (by R. Day et al., C.J. Fallon, 0-71441-129-9, pp 83-8, main text, 49-51, 78-9, teacher’s handbook); various internet sites, including www.omalley-clan.org; a resource pack produced by ‘Ireland in Schools’ and NIAS (IiS CD-ROM K01); and two biographies (by M. Moriarty & C. Sweeney, O’Brien Press, 0-86278-62-0, and A. Chambers, Wolfhound Press, 0-86327-631-8). Both are well-illustrated; Moriarty’s is shorter with modern drawings which are excellent for sequencing Granuaile’s life.

More than a woman, Granuaile was a Gaelic chieftain. She commanded a fleet of war and merchant ships, trading with France, Spain, England and Portugal, dominating the waters off Western Ireland, and resisting and then treating with the invading Tudors. By land Granuaile stormed and defended castles, engaged in the then favourite Irish practice of cattle-rustling, gave birth to four children and generally showed she was the equal if not the better of any man. According to one horrified Tudor official, she ‘hath impudently passed the part of womanhood and been a great spoiler and chief commander and director of thieves and murderers at sea’. Such was Granuaile’s power that in 1593 Elizabeth I agreed to meet her in London to consider requests for money and permission ‘to invade with sword and fire’ the queen’s enemies. The only Gaelic woman ever to appear at court, ‘the wild grandeur of her mien erect and high, before the English Queen she dauntless stood ... well used to power [and] dominion over men of savage mood’. Her petition was successful, but Granuaile died ten years later outwitted and impoverished by Tudor officials who never forgave her earlier ‘betrayals’.

Storytelling was assisted by the existence of an historical novel, Granuaile (by M. Llywelyn, O’Brien Press, 0-86278-578-2) and Granuaile, a CD of atmospheric songs (by R. Connolly, Tara Music Company Ltd, Tara CD 3071). Granuaile’s enthralling story, rehearsed repeatedly in the playground, developed the children’s historical skills, stimulated productive cross-curricular work, and raised challenging questions about the choices facing individuals and the nature of sixteenth century society and politics. Was she simply a political realist, compromising in face of Tudor might? Or, is popular tradition right to celebrate Granuaile as ‘a nationalist heroine and ... a feminist icon’?

Ireland & the Tudors, Notes for teachers, 22

Extract from Primary History, 2003

B2. Tudor conquest of Ireland

The Oxford Companion to Irish History edited by Connolly, S.J., OUP, 1998, 0-19866-240-8, 553-4

Tudor conquest, a term denoting the extension of English lordship, previously effective only in the Pale, to full English sovereignty throughout Ireland. This was the result of a reform policy which invariably ended being applied by force. Sir John Davies’s Discovery of the True Causes (1610), trumpeting the subsequent establishment of the common law, did not hesitate to use the term ‘conquest’. The process, generally seen as getting under way in 1534 and lasting until 1603, involved conflicts of increasing scale: the Kildare rebellion, the war of the Geraldine League, the revolt of Shane O’Neill, the Desmond and Baltinglass revolts, and the Nine Years War. An important reason for the Tudor conquest was the existence of a frontier and the related problems of defence and grand strategy. The original objective in 1534 was merely the reform of the Pale under the closer direction of Whitehall. This departure coincided with England’s break with Rome, which left her diplomatically isolated and strategically vulnerable. An English lord deputy with a standing army and little local support was always apt to take the military option. Such actions in Ireland created strategic threats where none had hitherto existed. The military activities of Lord Deputy Grey in the 1530s resulted in the establishment of the Geraldine League with its appeals to the Scottish king. The creation of the kingdom of Ireland (1541) necessarily entailed consideration of administrative centralization across the whole island. When the related integrative policy of surrender and regrant faltered, the placement of garrisons in Leix and Offaly caused the O’Mores and O’Connors to appeal to France. The line of the Pale was breached, the frontier was now moving, and the process continuous. The crown became anxious to assert control for fear that foreign powers would exploit the situation. It is not unreasonable to suggest that the New English, as captains, constables, seneschals, and provincial presidents, deliberately provoked conflicts so as to reap rewards in the lands and offices which subsequently became available. The commissions of martial law to local commanders introduced by Sussex in 1556 escalated the level of violence involved. A new English colonialism justified by old chauvinist ideas and new religious prejudices was generated, with land-hungry younger sons acquiring confiscated Irish estates as a means of providing an income and gentry status. The role of lords deputy as architects of the conquest is a subject of debate. The most aggressive policies belong to Sussex, Sidney, Grey, and Perrot, but ironically those of the corrupt, reactive, and underfinanced Fitzwilliam caused the most bother. Canny asserts that Sidney produced a blueprint of plantations and provincial presidencies for the establishment of Tudor rule. Brady insists that the government’s intention was always the establishment of the common law by reform not conquest, and concentrates on Sidney’s alternative policy of composition. Crawford emphasizes the role of the privy council. This executive body had an obvious interest in making English sovereignty effective. At local level the object was shire government with sheriffs, justices of the peace, jailhouses, and visiting assizes. Most of Ireland was shired on paper by the mid-1580s, but it was physical control of the country after 1603 that enabled the system to operate. Military matters bulk large in any account of the Tudor conquest. The army grew to a peak of 16,000 during the Nine Years War. Expeditions into the interior against errant Gaelic lords were pointless. The only effective strategy was the establishment of garrisons followed by spoliation of the people, their crops, and their livestock, bringing starvation and eventual submission. These tactics were very expensive to maintain and were employed only in the Desmond and Nine Years wars1. Massacres took place at Rathlin, Belfast, Mullaghmast2, and Smerwick. Hostages were frequently taken to guarantee ceasefires during wartime and to secure compliance during peacetime. Irish revenues never sustained the cost of the standing army, which had always to be subsidized from England. The Irish lords also increased and modernized their forces. They employed large numbers of redshanks (light infantry usually hired for the summer months from the Highlands and Islands of Scotland during the summer) and then utilized the supply system these developed to increase local infantry recruits. Firearms aided Irish guerrilla tactics, and assisted in victories such as Glenmalure3 and the Yellow Ford4, but the infrastructure needed for siege warfare was lacking. 1. Nine Years War (Apr. 1593-Mar. 1603), also known as Tyrone’s rebellion, after the state’s main antagonist in the conflict, Hugh O’Neill, 2nd earl of Tyrone. It arose from Fitzwilliam’s partition of Monaghan, which broke up the MacMahon lordship and threatened other Ulster lordships with a similar fate. The state’s other main antagonist, Red Hugh O’Donnell, was O’Neill’s son-in-law. Their alliance transcended traditional rivalry in Ulster and came to include many other Gaelic lords in an oath-bound confederacy which initially took the form of a secret conspiracy. The first action of the war was an exercise in manipulation and deceit by O’Neill. After the ejection of a sheriff from Fermanagh, O’Neill fought on the side of the government while simultaneously directing his brother Cormac, and other relatives whom he allegedly could not control, against the state. This was a delaying tactic, because the northern lords were hoping for aid from Spain, where they had sent agents as early as 1592. O’Neill disclosed his true role in February 1595 when he ordered the destruction of the garrison on the river Blackwater. The state finally proclaimed him a traitor in June 1595. Irish tactics during the war were primarily defensive. The buannacht system (billeting of mercenary soldiers on civilians) used to accommodate redshanks was reoriented to put local troops into the field. These were well trained and leavened with English and Spanish veterans. Up to a third of the confederates fought with firearms, supplied by Scottish and Old English merchants, which enhanced their traditional guerrilla-style tactics. A major lack was artillery, which made the taking of forts and towns, other than by ruse or betrayal, impossible. The English army, surprised by the discipline of their opponents, suffered from a divided command, between Lord Deputy Russell and Lord General Norris in 1596-7, and between Black Tom Butler of Ormond and Henry Bagenal in 1598. Their offensive tactics usually amounted to no more than a single expedition to establish or relieve outlying garrisons. The resulting Irish victories were in fact large ambushes - the Ford of the biscuits (1594), Clontibret (1595), the Yellow Ford (1598). These successes, Ireland & the Tudors, Notes for teachers, 23

together with the fall of Sligo and Cavan, allowed the war to spread to Connacht and Leinster in 1595 and to Munster in 1598. For the Irish, politics was an extension of war. O’Neill used ceasefires and long-drawn-out negotiations as a delaying tactic in which the hard-pressed and factionalised state acquiesced. A compromise, which would have left O’Neill supreme in Ulster, was negotiated in 1596 but aborted by the timely arrival of Spanish agents. Further negotiations, prolonged in the case of Ormond in 1598, and short and secret in the case of Essex in 1599, worked to O’Neill’s advantage. After the debacle of Essex’s lieutenancy, O’Neill and his confederates controlled the greater part of Ireland. Unable to take the towns by force, O’Neill now tried to win over the Old English Catholics. In November 1599 he issued a proclamation requesting the Old English to join his fight for faith and fatherland. A final negotiating position with the crown, which would have provided for an autonomous Catholic Ireland run jointly by its great lords and the Old English, was drawn up. Cecil, the English secretary of state, marked these 22 demands with the word ‘Utopia’. O’Neill’s adoption of the concept of fatherland frightened the crown more than it encouraged the Old English. Mountjoy was rapidly dispatched to Dublin and Docwra established at Lough Foyle behind confederate lines. The strategy was now the establishment of small garrisons, closely placed and mutually supporting, to wear down the economy that supported the irregular warfare of the Irish. The long-heralded Spanish expedition finally landed at Kinsale, only to withdraw ignominiously after O’Neill and O’Donnell abandoned their defensive tactics and risked all in a pitched battle. The garrisons in Ulster brought famine in their wake. One by one O’Neill’s allies sued for peace and he went into hiding. In September 1602 Mountjoy destroyed the symbol of his authority at Tullaghoge. However, the garrison policy was proving very expensive and could be sustained only by the debasement of the Irish currency. The state was therefore glad when O’Neill submitted at Mellifont in March 16035. The war had cost the English exchequer nearly £2 million eight times as much as any previous Irish war and as much as Elizabeth’s continental wars. But it had given England complete control of Ireland for the first time since the Anglo-Norman invasion. (pp 338-9) 2. Mullaghmast, massacre of (Nov.-Dec. 1577), the slaughter of Moris O’More and at least 40 others after they had been summoned to the fort of Mullaghmast, Co. Kildare, by the soldier-colonists Francis Cosby and Robert Hartpole to do military service. This bloody episode in the troubled relations between the Laois-Offaly planters and the displaced O’Mores and O’Connors occurred at a time when Lord Deputy Sidney was trying to quell the revolt of Rory Óg O’More. (p. 372) 3. Glenmalure, battle of (25 Aug. 1580). The newly arrived Lord Deputy Grey decided on an immediate prosecution of the rebel forces of Viscount Baltinglass and Feagh MacHugh O’Byrne, which had withdrawn into Glenmalure in the Wicklow Mountains. Grey sent half his army under George Moore to flush them out. Soldiers fresh from England in bright coats and officers in armour made easy targets, especially for the hundred ‘shot’ (soldiers with firearms) at O’Byrne’s disposal. At least 30 Englishmen were killed, including Moore himself. (p. 222) 4. Yellow Ford, battle of (14 Aug. 1598), the greatest single defeat suffered by English forces in 16th-century Ireland. The queen’s army under Henry Bagenal, taking supplies to the beleaguered Blackwater Fort, was ambushed in difficult terrain north of Armagh by Hugh O’Neill. Bagenal and 800 of his men were killed and the Blackwater and Armagh garrisons had to be abandoned. O’Neill gained unimpeded access to the midlands enabling in turn the overthrow of the Munster plantation. (p. 601) 5. Mellifont, treaty of (30-1 Mar. 1603), ending the Nine Years War. Moryson’s account has Hugh O’Neill making an unconditional surrender to Mountjoy, unaware of the death of Queen Elizabeth. However, it has been shown that, while the queen’s death was indeed kept secret, O’Neill’s submission was the result of hard bargaining at Tullaghoge and later Mellifont. O’Neill avoided confiscation, gaining a pardon and a new patent for his lands. He abandoned the O’Neill title but crucially retained control of O’Cahan, his principal uirrí (sub-kingship). His position was consolidated at a subsequent meeting with the English privy council. (p. 356)

Ireland & the Tudors, Notes for teachers, 24

B3. Ireland & the Spanish Armada

Granuaile. The Life and Times of Grace O’Malley c.1530-1603 by Chambers, A., Wolfhound Press, Dublin, 0-86327-213-4, 115-18

The Armada dispersed In July 1588 the supposedly Spanish Armada set sail for England. Despite its mighty strength, however, after a series of naval battles against the English fleet under the command of Howard and Drake, the Armada lost its crescent-shaped formation and the slow-moving galleons became scattered and easy prey for the fast-moving English warships. The elements then took sides and prevented the Spaniards from either re-grouping or retreating. The unwieldy galleons were driven helplessly along the coast of Scotland, across to Ulster and down along the west coast of Connaught where the terrible winds and rocky headlands took their toll of men and ships. Reception in Ireland The hapless Spaniards received a mixed welcome from the Irish. Some months previously, the English government had made it a crime, punishable by death, to aid or protect any of the Spanish invasion forces. The Armada vessels were known to contain untold treasures, the salvage of which appealed to both Gaelic and English alike. Coupled with this, the aims and objectives of the Spanish were not possibly understood by the inhabitants of the more remote regions upon whose coastlines the luckless ships were cast. The O’Neill in Ulster sent provisions and aid to the survivors who had been shipwrecked in his territory and he bitterly reproved The O’Donnell who with some of his clan had aided the English in rounding up the Spaniards. (His son’s imprisonment in Dublin castle may have had a possible bearing on The O’Donnell’s actions.) Slaughter by the O’Malleys On the coast of Mayo, the mighty ship of Don Pedro de Mendoza foundered on Clare Island with 300 men on board. Don Pedro refused to surrender and Dowdarra Roe O’Malley, chieftain of the island at the time, killed all but one, including Don Pedro. It was a terrible slaughter, resulting from greed for the spoils of the shipwreck on the one hand, and out of ignorance and misunderstanding of the reasons for the invasion on the other. Were the O’Malleys unique in their treatment of the Spanish? The O’Malleys of Clare island were not alone in their treatment of the Spanish. All along the coast the castaways received a similar welcome from most of the natives; others escaped with their lives while the Irish stripped them of their belongings and abandoned them to make their own way. Further up the coast the second in command of the entire Armada expedition, Alonso de Leyva, with his ship the Rata with 419 men, was driven by the strong winds into Blacksod bay where the Devil’s Hook’s son robbed and imprisoned some of the survivors, de Leyva managing after some time to escape to Ulster. A ship of 1,000 tons and fifty-four guns foundered near Grace’s territory of Burrishoole. It was reported in London that this was the ship of the leader of the Armada, the Duke of Medina Sidonia, and that he was among the survivors. The English issued orders for his safe conduct, but the rumours proved to be untrue. However, the stricken vessel was indeed rich in treasure of a more mercenary nature. Grace’s attitude Grace’s attitude and behaviour towards the unfortunate Spaniards is unknown. The lure of treasure and plunder was a way of life to her and there is no reason to suspect that the Spanish cargo would be immune from her attentions. Her attitude to Spanish survivors was another matter. Her family’s connections with Spain were long established and her understanding of the Armada’s ambitions and aims may have been clearer to one who had spent some time with O’Neill in Ulster. But there was very little she could do to protect or hide the survivors. The ever vigilant Bingham now gave his undivided attention to the coastline of Connaught. Sir William Fitz-William, the new Lord Deputy, decided that even Bingham’s methods were too lenient and he commissioned one Robert Fowle, deputy marshal, to seek out, dislodge and kill any of the unfortunate survivors who had managed to obtain refuge from the Gaelic chiefs. The consequence of harbouring Spaniards was death as the execution of the O’Rourke of Breffni clearly demonstrated later. Grace, with her record by now well established with the authorities and especially with Bingham, must have received very special surveillance and her seagoing excursions would have been closely monitored. In spite of the threats by the English, some of the survivors found permanent refuge and swelled the ranks of some of the Gaelic chiefs such as the Devil’s Hook and Sir Murrough-ne-Doe O’Flaherty. The west coast of Connaught took a terrible toll of Spanish lives and Bingham in one of his reports stated ‘In my province there hath perished at -the least 6,000 or 7,000 men, of which there hath been put to the sword by my brother George and executed, one way or another, about 700 or 300, or upwards’.

Ireland & the Tudors, Notes for teachers, 25

B4. The Tudors & Ireland: Some Questions - Urmston Grammar School Romans to Rising, IiS Trafford Pilot Scheme, pp 12-13

Key Question 2: How did Henry VII and Henry VIII establish the Tudor dynasty? Henry VIII and Ireland - a new policy? Key Question 4: What were the causes and consequences of the English Reformation? Protestants and Catholics in Ireland - Reformation and Counter-Reformation Key Question 5: How serious were the threats faced by Elizabeth I? Elizabeth I and the threat from Ireland

Ireland & the Tudors, Notes for teachers, 26

Henry VIII and Ireland A new policy?

What was Ireland like in 1509? At the beginning of his reign Henry VIII was Lord of Ireland but, in fact, had little power in Ireland. The area he controlled was really confined to a small area around Dublin and to a few towns on the coast. Elsewhere power was held by old Irish families or the Anglo-Irish, who were descendants of Norman families that had first settled in Ireland in the reign of Henry II. Even in the Pale, the Crown’s authority was being challenged by one of the most powerful of the Anglo-Irish barons, the Fitzgeralds of Kildare. Matters came to a head in the 1530s when one of the Fitzgeralds, Lord Offaly (Silken Thomas, as he was known) openly challenged the royal authority and won widespread support in Ireland. How did Henry VIII try to assert his authority in Ireland? Apart from sending a large army of 2,300 to Ireland, Henry tried to assert control over Ireland with four measure. 1. He sent a large army of 2,300 to Ireland. 2. He tried to break the power of the Fitzgeralds. He confiscated their land and killed all male members of the family - except one, an infant half-brother to Lord Offaly. 3. In 1536, he introduced the Reformation into Ireland, hoping to make Ireland a Protestant county loyal to the Crown. 4. In 1541, he declared himself King of Ireland. He declared that all lands in Ireland were to be surrendered to the Crown and would only be returned if the owners pledged their loyalty. The Irish and Anglo-Irish were horrified. Why did Henry act so decisively in the 1530s? Henry was forced into taking decisive action. He could not ignore such widespread rebellion led by a leading noble family. What is more Silken Thomas called Henry a heretic and declared himself champion of the Pope and the Spanish emperor. This would certainly have angered the king, who was very sensitive about his position as Head of the church following his divorce and his recent break with Rome. It became clear to Henry that he had to put down the rebellion with brutal force and get the Irish parliament to agree to his changes as the English parliament had done. How successful was Henry’s policy in controlling Ireland? Henry VIII’s policy was not successful, partly because most Irish people refused to adopt Protestantism, and partly because it was too expensive to be carried out in full. Despite being called King of Ireland, Henry actually ruled only a small part of the country. Very many years passed before other kings and queens could claim to be rulers of all Ireland. How important was Henry VIII’s policy in Anglo-Irish relations? Henry VIII’s Irish policy marked a turning point in the history of relations between England and Ireland: 1. It added religion to the problems already faced by English kings in Ireland. To be regarded as truly loyal, Irish Catholics would have to change their religion. 2. It introduced a new fierceness and lack of tolerance in the conduct of relations with Ireland. Executions were now commonplace. 3. Its expense forced English rulers to look for cheaper alternatives to controlling Ireland, thus paving the way for the policy of plantation or settling Protestants in Ireland. 4. It began a train of events which transformed Ireland. In 1500 royal authority was feeble and mainly confined to the Pale. By 1700 royal authority was extended to all parts of the country.

Ireland & the Tudors, Notes for teachers, 27

Henry VIII and Ireland Images

Silken Thomas

P. Cremin, Footprints 3, C.J. Fallon, Dublin 1987, p. 101

Gaelic and Anglo-Irish lordships in the late fifteenth century

M.E. Collins et al., New History in Context 1, The Educational Company, Dublin, 1995, p. 147

An Irish coin of the time of Henry VIII.

P.Cremin, Footprints 3, C.J. Fallon, Dublin 1987, p. 102

The lands of the Fitzgeralds or Geraldines. The area of Ireland is almost 85,000 square km. Can you estimate what portion of Ireland was ruled by the Geraldines? P.Cremin, Footprints 3, C.J. Fallon, Dublin 1987, p.88

Ireland & the Tudors, Notes for teachers, 28

Henry VIII and Ireland Prompt questions

1. Look at the maps of Ireland. a. If you were Henry VIII would you be happy with the amount of land you really controlled in Ireland? Explain your answer. b. Why do you think that Henry regarded the Fitzgeralds (or Geraldines) as a threat to his control?

2. Look at the portrait of Silken Thomas. a. We do not know who painted this portrait. How useful is this portrait as evidence about Silken Thomas? Think about what we learn from the portrait and why we might question its accuracy. b. How did Silken Thomas threaten Henry? How successful was Henry in dealing with him?

3. Look at the Irish coin. The harp is the symbol of Ireland. a. What impression do you think Henry VIII was trying to give with this coin? b. Do you think that this was an accurate impression of Henry VIII’s policy in Ireland? Explain your answer.

Ireland & the Tudors, Notes for teachers, 29

Protestants and Catholics in Ireland Reformation and Counter-Reformation

When did England first try to make Ireland a Protestant country? At the beginning of Henry VIII’s reign Ireland was a Catholic country. However, Henry wanted Ireland to follow the religious changes which he was making in England. In 1536, the Dublin parliament passed an Act of Supremacy, just like the English one. It made Henry Supreme Head of the Church of Ireland. Henry also closed down the Irish monasteries and ordered the Bible and all prayers to be in English. These changes dealt mainly with the way the Church was run. Later rulers tried to change people’s religious beliefs. Elizabeth I was particularly keen to do this after Mary (1553-58) had restored Catholicism. The Elizabethan religious settlement of 1560 (the Act of Supremacy and the Act of Uniformity) declared the English monarch to be the supreme governor of the Church of Ireland. It also required all citizens to attend their parish church on Sunday where they were to worship according to the Book of Common Prayer or face a fine. How successful was the Protestant Reformation in Ireland - 1? The Reformation had some success. By the reign of James I the Church of Ireland finally established a presence throughout the whole of Ireland with a more clearly Protestant ministry. This ‘Second Reformation’, as it is sometimes called, was made possible by the increase in royal power after the defeat of Hugh O’Neill, by the plantation of Ulster and the arrival of Protestant settlers from England and Scotland, and by the creation of the Protestant seminary, training college for priests in 1592, Trinity College in Dublin. How successful was the Reformation in Ireland - 2? However, the Reformation did not succeed in making Ireland a Protestant nation. Protestants were mainly the New English and Scottish settlers. Most Irish people remained loyal to the Catholic Church and the Pope as its head. Why did the Reformation fail to make Ireland a Protestant nation? There were three main reasons for the failures of the Protestant Reformation in Ireland. First, the policy of reform was not followed consistently or thoroughly. England was more concerned to control Ireland than reform it and did not spend enough time, money or thought on the policy of conversion. For example, most people spoke Irish but few Protestant preachers could speak the language. Secondly, the policies designed to control Ireland (colonisation and Anglicanisation) made the Dublin government very unpopular with both the Anglo-Irish and native populations. Thirdly, Catholic reformers were better organised than Protestant reformers in Ireland. By the 1560s, in Europe the popes and the Catholic Church had begun their own reforms called the Catholic Reformation or CounterReformation. Irishmen who were influenced by the Catholic Reformation in Europe returned to Ireland. They worked hard. They preached to the people in Irish, their own language, and distributed literature telling them about Catholic doctrine as newly defined by the Counter-Reformation. By these means Catholic Reformers won Irish people for Catholicism. Were the failures of the Protestant Reformation in Ireland unique? The English experience in Ireland was not unique. Resistance to religious change imposed ‘from above’ was not unusual in Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. A good example of such resistance is the German state of Brandenburg. There Elector John Sigismund failed to convert his territory to Calvinism. On the other hand, there are examples of a foreign power with a foreign language imposing religious change on a dependent territory. In 1536 the Danish king imposed Lutheranism upon Catholic Norway. What is the importance of the Reformation in Ireland? The Reformation divided Ireland and made it more difficult to govern. There were two distinct confessional camps. The Reformation was seen as English and foreign. Catholicism became identified with the native culture and people of Ireland.

Ireland & the Tudors, Notes for teachers, 30

Protestants and Catholics in Ireland Images and sources

1

[The whole country] does swarm with Jesuits, seminaries, and massing priests, yea, the friars, and these do keep such continual and daily buzzing in the poor people’s ears that they are not only led from all duty and obedience of their prince, but also drawn from God by superstitious idolatry and so brought headlong by heaps into hell. Report in 1580 by a Protestant fanatic, Barnaby Rudge J. Lydon, The Making of Ireland from Ancient Times to the Present, Routledge, London 1998, p. 141

2

The popish clergy is double to us in number, having the advantage of the tongue, of the love of the people, of our extortions on them, of the very inborn hatred of subdued people to their conquerors, they hold them still in blindness and superstition, ourselves being the chiefest impediment to the work that we pretend to set forward. William Bedell, Protestant Bishop of Kilmore, assessing the missionary failure of the Protestant church in 1634 ‘The Reformation in Ireland’, S.J. Connolly (ed.), The Oxford Companion to Irish History, OUP, Oxford 1998, p. 476-7

3

4

The Lord’s Prayer in the Irish language, printed at Antwerp.

Illustration showing how the sacrament of Extreme Unction, the last rites, should be administered.

R. F. Foster (ed.), The Oxford Illustrated History of Ireland, OUP, Oxford 1989 p. 119

R. F. Foster (ed.), The Oxford Illustrated History of Ireland, OUP, Oxford 1989 p. 119

1. Look at sources 1 and 2. a. What reasons do the writers give for the failure of the Reformation to convert more Catholics to Protestantism? b. What do you think William Bedell means in source 2 when he writes ‘ourselves being the chiefest impediment to the work that we pretend to set forward’? 2. Look at all the sources. Do they show that the Catholic Reformers ‘worked hard’ to keep Ireland Catholic? Explain your answer.

Ireland & the Tudors, Notes for teachers, 31

Elizabeth I and the threat from Ireland What was Ireland like in 1590? By the year 1590 Queen Elizabeth I was in control of most of Ireland. At that time Ulster was the only area in Ireland still ruled by Irish chieftains. The two most powerful families in Ulster at the time were theO’Neills of Tyrone and the O’Donnells of Donegal. They led a rebellion against English rule in Ireland. Hugh O'Donnell, the young man destined to become chief of Tir Chonaill (Donegal), was held as a hostage in Dublin Castle for four years. In 1591, when he was nineteen years old, he escaped and managed to return to Donegal. Once back in Donegal he became an ally of Hugh O'Neill, and together they fought the English for nine years. Other Irish chieftains joined them. How successful were the Irish armies at first? The Irish enjoyed three major victories. In 1594 O'’Donnell joined Maguire of Fermanagh and they defeated the English at the Battle of the Ford of the Biscuits. In 1595 O'Neill defeated the English under Marshal Bagenal at Clontibret. In 1598 an English army, again led by Bagenal, was crushingly defeated at the Yellow Ford, and Bagenal himself was killed in the battle. How did Elizabeth respond to these defeats? Queen Elizabeth was enraged at the defeats suffered by her armies and feared that Ireland would join with Spain against her. The Irish were fighting for their laws, customs and Catholic faith and often looked to Catholic Spain for support and leadership. In 1695, Hugh O’Neill actually wrote to Philip II of Spain for help: ‘Our only hope of re-establishing the Catholic religion rests on your assistance ... We therefore beg you to send us 2,000 or 3,000 soldiers with money and arms... With such aid, we hope to restore the faith of the Church, and to secure you a kingdom.’ Even at this stage England was still at war with Spain and Ireland could be a backdoor to an invasion. As a result, she sent Lord Mountjoy as viceroy in 1600 to deal with her Irish problem. Mountjoy was more successful than those who had come before him. What happened at the Battle of Kinsale, 1601? The Irish were promised help from the Spaniards who were at war at that time with the English. A Spanish force under Don Juan Del Aquila arrived in Kinsale in October 1601. The Irish leaders marched from the north to join with the Spaniards in Kinsale. The march was made in the heart of winter, the worst time of the year for such a long march. The Irish and the Spaniards were defeated by the forces of Mountyjoy at the Battle of Kinsale in December 1601 and the Irish signed the Treaty of Mellifont by which they promised to be subject to the English king and to adopt English customs and language. O’Neill was given the title of Earl of Tyrone and O' Donnell became Earl of Tyrconnell. How far did Elizabeth’s policies change Ireland? It changed Ireland greatly by prompting O’Neill and other leading Irish chieftains to leave Ireland fearing for their safety in 1607. The ‘Flight of the Earls’ created an opportunity for the English government to introduce a large-scale policy of plantation to control Ireland. English and Scottish Protestants were encouraged to take over the land left by the earls and settle in Ireland. This scheme, the Plantation of Ulster, did not succeed in its aim of driving the Irish out of the planted counties of Ulster, but enough planters settled there to change the face of the north of Ireland. The effects are still felt today. What was the cost of Elizabeth’s victory? The price of Elizabeth’s victory was high. First, it was a brutal war which damaged Anglo-Irish relations. Secondly, the cost of war almost bankrupted Elizabeth. Ireland became Elizabethan England’s Vietnam.

Ireland & the Tudors, Notes for teachers, 32

Elizabeth and the threat from Ireland Sources

O’Neill approaching the English commander before battle A.M. Hodge, The Race to Rule. Ireland and Europe 1570-1700, Colourpoint, Newtownards 1998. p. 39

Educated, more disciplined and naturally valiant, he is worthily reputed the best man of war of his nation. Most of his followers are well-trained soldiers, using our weapons; and he is the greatest man of territory and revenue within that kingdom, and is absolute commander of the north of Ireland

A.M. Hodge, The Race to Rule. Ireland and Europe 1570-1700, Colourpoint, Newtownards 1998. p. 38

Contemporary account of O’Neill

J. Lydon, The Making of Ireland, Routledge, London 1998, p144

1. Look at the map of Ireland. How far did the policy of plantations increase English control over Ireland? 2. Read again O’Neill’s letter to Philip II of Spain in 1695 on the previous page. What did he want? What did he promise in return? 3. Look at the image and written source on O’Neill. How far was O’Neill a worthy opponent for Elizabeth? 4. Use all the sources and your own knowledge. Do you think that Elizabeth’s policy in Ireland was successful? Explain your answer and consider both England and Ireland. Ireland & the Tudors, Notes for teachers, 33