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DUB
The citizens, on his approach, set fire to the suburb of
Thomas-street, in consequence of which St. John’s
Church without Newgate, and the Magdalene chapel
were burnt. The church of the Dominicans was also
pulled down, in order to use the stones for repairing and
extending the city walls on the north side towards the
river. The gallant determination of the citizens had
its effect. Bruce, after destroying St. Mary’s abbey and
plundering the cathedral of St. Patrick, drew off his
army and marched westward into Kildare. In con-
sideration of the sufferings and losses of the citizens,
Edw. II. remitted half of their fee-farm rent. At the
close of the century the city was twice visited by Rich.
II.; at first, in 1394, when he marched hither from
Waterford, about Michaelmas, at the head of an army
of 30,000 foot and 4000 horse, and remained till the
beginning of the ensuing summer. His second visit,
which took place in 1399, was cut short by the unwel-
come news of the insurrection of the Duke of Lancas-
ter, afterwards Hen. IV., which hurried him back to
England.
During the reign of Hen. IV. the citizens adhered
firmly to him throughout the civil war excited by the
Earl of Northumberland and Owain Glyndwr, and caused
a diversion in his favour by fitting out a fleet with
which they invaded Scotland, and, after several landings
on the coast, proceeded in like manner along that of
Wales, whence they carried away the shrine of St. Cubie
and on their return placed it in the cathedral of Christ-
Church. In consequence of these services they obtained
from the king a confirmation of all their former
charters, and the present of a gilded sword to be borne
before the mayor in public, in the same manner as
before the lord mayor of London. The border war
between the citizens and the Irish of the neighbouring
mountains was carried on with great fury during this
and the succeeding reigns. In 1402, John Drake, the
provost, led out a strong party against the O’Byrnes,
whom he defeated with a slaughter, as some writers say,
of 4000 men, but according to others of 400, and com-
pelled them to surrender the castle of Newcastle-Mac-
Kynegan. In 1410, the lord-deputy made another in-
cursion into the territory of the O’Byrnes, but was
forced to retreat in consequence of the desertion of a
large body of his kernes; and in 1413 the O’Byrnes
gave the citizens a signal defeat and carried off many
prisoners. In 1431, Mac Murrough, King of Leinster,
made an incursion into the vicinity of Dublin, defeated
the troops sent out to oppose him, and carried off much
booty; but the citizens having collected a fresh body
of troops, pursued the enemy the same evening, attacked
them unawares, and routed them with great loss. The
city was much disturbed, about this time, by the con-
tentions between the Kildare and Ormonde families. To
decide one of their disputes, in which Thomas Fitzgerald,
prior of Kilmainham, had accused the Earl of Ormonde
of treason, a trial by combat was appointed at Smith-
field, in Oxmantown; but the quarrel being taken up
by the king was terminated without bloodshed. The
mayor and citizens, having taken part with the Fitz-
geralds in these broils, and grossly insulted the Earl of
Ormonde, and violated the sanctity of St. Mary’s abbey,
were compelled to do penance, in 1434, by going barefoot
to that monastery and to Christ-Church and St. Patrick’s
cathedrals, and craving pardon at the doors. In 1479,
VOL. I.—529
DUB
the fraternity of arms of St. George, consisting of thirteen
of the most honourable and loyal inhabitants in the
counties of Dublin, Meath, Kildare, and Louth, was
formed by act of parliament, for the defence of the
English pale: the mayor of Dublin was appointed one
of the commanders of the force raised in the city; the
fraternity was discontinued in 1492. A bull for the
foundation of an university in the city was published
by Pope Sextus in 1475, but was never carried into
effect.
When Lambert Simnel claimed the crown of Eng-
land, in the beginning of the reign of Hen. VII., his
title was recognised in Dublin, where he was crowned in
Christ-Church, in the presence of the lord-deputy, the
lords of the council, the mayor, and all the citizens;
after the ceremony was concluded, he was carried in
state to the castle, according to the Irish custom, on
the shoulders of Darcy of flatten, a man of extraor-
dinary stature. On Simnel’s defeat at Stoke, the mayor
and citizens made a humble apology to the king for the
part they had taken in the affair, pleading the authority
and influence of the lord-deputy, the archbishop, and
most of the clergy. Their pardon was granted through
Sir Richard Edgecumbe, who was specially deputed by
Henry to administer the oaths of fealty and allegiance
to the Irish after the insurrection: this officer entered
Dublin on the 5th of July, 1488, for the fulfilment of
his mission, and embarked for England at Dalkey, on
the 30th of the same month, after having successfully
accomplished the objects for which he had been deputed.
In 1504, the mayor and citizens contributed their share
to the victory gained by the Earl of Kildare, lord-deputy,
over the Irish and degenerate English of Connaught, at
Knocktow, near Galway. A few years after, the revival
of the controversy between the Earls of Kildare and
Ormonde again subjected the citizens to ecclesiastical
censures. The two Earls had a meeting in St. Patrick’s
cathedral, for the ostensible purpose of compromising
their feud; the citizens attended the former as his guard,
and on some cause of complaint between them and the
Earl of Ormonde’s soldiers, they let fly a volley of
arrows, some of which struck the images in the rood-
loft. In atonement for this sacrilegious violation of
the building, the mayor was sentenced to walk barefoot
before the host on Corpus Christi day yearly, a ceremony
which was kept up till the Reformation.
During the early period of the reign of Hen. VIII.,
the people of Dublin gave several instances of loyalty
and courage. In 1513 they attended the lord-deputy
in a hosting against O’Carrol, which terminated without
any remarkable action, in consequence of the death of
their leader. In 1516 they routed the O’Tooles of the
mountains, slew their chief, and sent his head a present
to the mayor: a second expedition, however, was less
successful; the O’Tooles drove them back with loss.
Afterwards, in 1521, they performed good service under
the Earl of Surrey against O’More, in Leix, and O’Conor
in Meath. But the most remarkable event connected
with the city, during the reign of Hen. VIII., arose out
of the rebellion of Lord Thomas Fitzgerald, commonly
called the Silken Knight, from the fantastical fringes
with which the helmets of his followers were decorated.
This young nobleman had been appointed lord-deputy
in the absence of his father, the Earl of Kildare, who
was summoned to appear before Henry, to answer some
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