"Now cracks a noble heart--good night, sweet prince;
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!"

A "noble heart" that ever shrank from an act that would have resulted in
his own aggrandizement, for, although the monarchy was elective, not
hereditary, the succession of Hamlet had been proclaimed by the King and
tacitly accepted.

DOWNFALL OF IRISH LIBERTY

"FLIGHT OF THE EARLS"

A.D. 1603

JUSTIN McCARTHY

At the accession of Henry VIII to the English throne that portion of
Ireland mainly colonized from England, the ruling country, was known
as the English pale--that is, district. It comprised "the four
shires" or counties of Dublin, Kildare, Meath, and Louth. Beyond this
district the country was held by various Celtic clans ruled by their
own chieftains. Early in Henry's reign the English lords began to
show their independence of royal authority, and also to ally
themselves with the native chieftains. Henry saw that the Irish, who
had often before aimed at independence of England, were about to
renew the struggle. He determined to forestall them, and sent one
lord deputy after another to Ireland in charge of the royal
interests.

Disputes between his own representatives, and their doubtful loyalty,
caused the King much trouble, and Irish affairs were far from being
composed when Thomas Fitzgerald, tenth earl of Kildare, renounced his
allegiance to Henry and headed an unsuccessful rebellion. Fitzgerald
was executed at Tyburn in 1537.

Matters were now further complicated by the introduction of the
Reformation into Ireland. Most of the Irish people were stanch
adherents of Catholicism, while some of the leading English
Protestants in Ireland favored Irish nationality as strongly as did
the Catholics. After the death of Henry VIII the religious troubles
were intensified. Under Edward VI a severe policy was pursued against
the Irish Catholics and Nationalists. After a brief reaction under
Mary, the Catholic sovereign of England, the policy of suppression
was renewed with still greater severity by Queen Elizabeth, and the
condition of Ireland became one of chronic rebellion.

This time of trouble called forth some powerful champions of the Irish
national cause. One of these, Shane O'Nei