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.
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