Martial law in 16th century Leinster

dubhthach

While doing abit of googling about the massacre of Mullaghmast (1577) I came across the following page which gives quite a detailed description regarding the situation on the ground in Leinster in the 1570's and 80's. Quite readable and very interesting regarding the description of the powers granted under Martial Law.

The Rise of Feagh McHugh O'Byrne in Gaelic Leinster (Brian C. Donovan)
http://homepage.eircom.net/~nobyrne/The_rise_of_Feagh_macHugh_OByrne_in_Tudor_Leinster.htm

Garrisons were established under Edward VI throughout the O'Toole, O'Byrne and Kavanagh lordships, and whilst their role was not simply limited to containment, it was not until the late 1550s that this system of administration became institutionalised with the appointment of individual military commanders to oversee the garrisons and their associated clans. These officers, initially styled "captains", had more extensive responsibilities within each lordship, and far greater power to enforce their authority. Not only were they required to prosecute rebels and felons, and collect the various tributes due to the crown, they were also to collect the unpopular extra parliamentary tax known as "the cess". Each captain was equipped with a retinue of government soldiers (forty in the O'Byrnes territory) and permitted to exact coign and livery to support them. But most importantly, each captain received a commission to rule by martial law.

Martial law made its first appearance in Ireland in the late 1550s, and was brought in by one of its most committed Tudor advocates, Lord Lieutenant Sussex. Those in receipt of a commission were given extra ordinary powers over those subject to its power. In general, commissioners were required to search out all disorders within their jurisdiction, and to execute all felons, rebels, "enemies" and "evil doers". The terms of the commissions were intentionally vague, though those who owned more than £2 per annum freehold or £10 in chattels were usually exempt from its remit unless they were actually caught in the act. Everyone else, in practice the vast majority of the populace, faced the prospect of sudden arrest and execution without warrant or trial, to be determined at the whim of the commissioner. At its outset, the prime motivation behind this judicial approach was to rid these territories of private soldiers, and hence make the Captains' jobs that much easier. In effect it became the standard judicial code employed throughout the country (especially within the Gaelic lordships) for most of the reign of Elizabeth I.

Garrison government reached its full maturity in 1566 under the lord deputyship of Sir Henry Sidney, when the captains received a written set of ordinances stipulating the full range of their responsibilities, privileges and governing powers, as well as being given the honorific title of "seneschal" of their designated area of authority. The two most important seneschals were Captain Nicholas Heron, with rule over the Kavanagh lordship in Cos. Carlow and Wexford, and Councillor Francis Agard, who was responsible for the O'Tooles and O'Byrnes including the Gabhal Raghnaill branch of that family under the leadership of Hugh McShane, the father of Feagh McHugh. Like the captains before them, the seneschals were given whatever crown land was available locally. Title to these estates had only recently been established by the government, and though ownership had been technically surrendered by the Gaelic proprietors under the terms of their submissions in the 1530s and 1540s, enforcing this in practice was an entirely different matter. It was up to the seneschals to make their possession a reality.

Interesting account of one incidence of carrying out of Martial Law in Dublin (1580)

During these months Senschal. Harrington stormed into the earl of Kildare's residence in Dublin, dragged out Tibbott O'Toole, who was staying there as a guest of the earl, and hanged him without trial on charges of murder. Once again this was martial law in action. But we would not even know about this incident, which caused enormous resentment within the O'Toole clan, if it had not been for the fact that the earl of Kildare was outraged. O'Toole had been staying at the earl's house under the earl's protection. As a consequence the government was compelled to take action and briefly imprisoned Harrington for his impropriety.

slowburner

In general, commissioners were required to search out all disorders within their jurisdiction, and to execute all felons, rebels, "enemies" and "evil doers". The terms of the commissions were intentionally vague...

Sounds familiar.

and this:

https://maps.google.ie/maps?q=seneschalstown&hl=en&hnear=Seneschalstown,+County+Meath&gl=ie&t=v&z=14