Department of History and Civilization THE IRISH ROYALIST ELITE OF CHARLES II IN EXILE, C. 1649-1660 John Jeremiah Cronin Thesis submitted for assessment with a view to obtaining the degree of Doctor of History and Civilization of the European University Institute Florence, May 2007 EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE Department of History and Civilization THE IRISH ROYALIST ELITE OF CHARLES II IN EXILE, C. 1649-1660 John Jeremiah Cronin Thesis submitted for assessment with a view to obtaining the degree of Doctor of History and Civilization of the European University Institute Examining Board: Professor Laurence Fontaine, European University Institute, Supervisor Professor Bartolomé Yun-Casalilla, European University Institute Professor Toby Osborne, University of Durham Professor David Dickson, University of Dublin, Trintiy College © 2007, John Jeremiah Cronin No part of this thesis may be copied, reproduced or transmitted without prior permission of the author CRONIN, John Jeremiah (2007), The Irish Royalist Elite of Charles II In Exile, C. 1649-1660 European University Institute DOI: 10.2870/10360 Contents Acknowledgements iv Introduction 1 Section 1: The individual concerns and interests of the Irish royalist elite and the exile. Chapter 1: Exile: a necessity or a choice? 43 Chapter 2: Providing for themselves while on the Continent. 67 Chapter 3: The personal concerns of the Irish royalist elite and their contacts with their native countries. 110 Section 2: The exiled Stuart Court and the Irish royalist elite’s role as courtiers. Chapter 4: Companions and servants to a royal family: the Irish Courtiers and the organisation of life within the diverse households of the exiled Court. 145 Chapter 5: Acting as ministers and administrators to a royal family without a kingdom: the Irish courtiers’ role within a Court seeking to re-establish its political authority. 199 Chapter 6: Flourishing and floundering within the exiled Stuart Court: a case study of an individual’s behaviour within the exiled royal households. 252 Concluding remarks: The overall impact of the exile on the Stuart Court and its courtiers. 288 Section 3: International agents: The actions and behaviour of the Irish royalist elite as representatives of the Stuarts on the European political stage. Chapter 7: Representing the royalist cause to the Continental powers and communities. 301 Chapter 8: Representing the Stuart interest at home from abroad: the Irish Courtiers, the royalist Cause and the lost Stuart kingdoms. 358 ii CRONIN, John Jeremiah (2007), The Irish Royalist Elite of Charles II In Exile, C. 1649-1660 European University Institute DOI: 10.2870/10360 Concluding remarks General Conclusions: The significance of the exile for the Irish royalist elite. 397 Bibliography 410 Appendices 429 iii CRONIN, John Jeremiah (2007), The Irish Royalist Elite of Charles II In Exile, C. 1649-1660 European University Institute DOI: 10.2870/10360 Acknowledgements There are a number of people who have made this thesis possible. In fact, they come to a number which is too large to be reasonably dealt with here. Some people are going to be unjustifiably left out, and I only hope that they can forgive me. I am confident they will, however, because I have prior experience of how generous they can be. Let me begin by thanking my thesis supervisor, Professor Laurence Fontaine. Every time I came out of her office I was somewhat annoyed by her criticisms of my work. One day later, having thought about what she had said, I realised that I was fortunate to be working with her. After that, I can only say that any failings in this work are completely my own. No blame can or should be attached to her. If, on the other hand, there are praiseworthy elements in this thesis then they will undoubtedly bear her stamp. There are also others whose help must be acknowledged. My former supervisor from Galway, Professor Nicholas Canny, has likewise continued to be a pillar of support. Doctor Padraig Lenihan is another person whose assistance and friendship has proven to be invaluable and I am only too delighted to take the opportunity to thank him. These words of praise can also be extended to cover all of the academic staff at the EUI. Thanks should also be given to those who paid for my time in Florence. Their financial contribution gave me an invaluable life-enriching experience. Aside from the established academics I am fortunate to know, there have been fellow researchers in the EUI that have enriched my studies by sharing their expertise with me. I will single out three here for special mention in the hope that they will be allowed to stand for all the others as well; they are Sakari Saaritsa, Arnout Mertens and Balazs Apor. The latter character can also be described as a reasonably prominent actor in my social life while in Florence. He was not the only one. Euan MacDonald, Lorenzo Zucca, Srdjan Cvijic, Joe Corkin, Stefan Imhof, Andrew Glencross, Simon Boucher and everyone else who ever donned a jersey with the EUI soccer team or drank a beer in Bar Fiasco ( I think Euan and Balazs may have drank at least one there) have helped me pass what would have otherwise been wasted hours pleasurably. They have been ably aided and abetted in entertaining me (in my more megalomaniac moments I have imagined that this was their sole function in life) by many others. Fabian, Guido, Massimo, Clemens, iv CRONIN, John Jeremiah (2007), The Irish Royalist Elite of Charles II In Exile, C. 1649-1660 European University Institute DOI: 10.2870/10360 Eva, Dragana, Mehreen, Maria, Chris, Fadi and Sarah-Jane are names that spring to mind in this regard. Jesse Scott and Jennifer Hendry should be remembered here as well, and hopefully always will be. Others too, who are unfortunately unnamed here, can similarly take a bow. I ask all of them, be they named or unnamed, to remember that I am aging and I grow increasingly senile (and grumpy) every day. So, once again, please forgive me if I do not pay you all the respect that is due to you. Having paid tribute to my friends, permit me to acknowledge the contribution of my family. Maureen, Patrick and Samantha (my Mother, my Father and my sister) have always been pillars and their constant encouragement has always been appreciated. Other family members as well, particularly my brother-in-law David McGettrick and my nieces, Sasha and Tara were also generous to a fault and I thank them unreservedly. Finally, I shall finish up with a special word of praise for Evelyn. God knows how and why she has put up with me for the last number of years, but I am grateful that she has. Her companionship, love and encouragement (which, I hasten to add, took many forms and some of these forms did severe damage to my ear at times, but I know that it deserved it) have been a great gift to me. I look forward to enjoying them for many more years to come. v CRONIN, John Jeremiah (2007), The Irish Royalist Elite of Charles II In Exile, C. 1649-1660 European University Institute DOI: 10.2870/10360 Introduction & Section One I CRONIN, John Jeremiah (2007), The Irish Royalist Elite of Charles II In Exile, C. 1649-1660 European University Institute DOI: 10.2870/10360 Introduction This thesis on Irish elite exiles in Continental Europe, from c.1649-1660 will be a study of those politically, militarily, and socially influential Irish royalists, who are described as Ormondist in the existing historiography and who, in the wake of the victory of English Parliamentary forces in the civil wars of England, Scotland and Ireland of the 1640s and early 1650s, chose to follow the Court of the Stuart claimant to the thrones of those three kingdoms, Charles II, into exile on the Continent. The purpose of this thesis is to establish and advance a number of solutions to a particular set of questions. Principally, it will be concerned with assessing the extent of the impact that the exile had, if any, upon their lives. The thesis will examine what the particular problems that exile posed for this body of émigrés were and it will seek to look at how they attempted to deal with the difficulties that their predicament during these years forced upon them. As part of this, it will seek to resolve how being removed from patrimonies and their traditional zones of influence affected the way they handled their own personal concerns and interests, as well how it impacted upon the way they behaved in those other spheres of activity which were traditionally dominated by such an elite; namely governance and administration, court society and diplomacy. Aside from this, this work will also attempt to ascertain why exactly they ultimately chose exile in the first place and why they chose to use exile as a political and survival strategy. It is hoped to achieve a number of goals through the analysis of this group. As part of achieving these objectives, it is my intention to further illuminate the experience of Irish migrants on Continental Europe in the Early Modern period through the detailed examination of a relatively tightly knit, politically active and yet religiously diverse group of persons, who were also generally of high social status, had close associations with a royal Court and were comparatively cohesive in terms of their outlook on the political and military events of the 1640s. In other words, this assemblage of persons was in many ways different from those other Irish on the Continent at the time and will provide an interesting comparison with their Early Modern compatriots.