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2227 Directory 2019_directory06 21/01/2020 14:22 Page 3 Carew’s Report on the Voluntary Works in Ulster, 1611 A Transcription and Notes Ian Montgomery Introduction of Clandeboye. At the same time in south Antrim Sir Arthur In the summer of 1611 George Carew travelled to Ireland in Chichester and other former soldiers gained control of the order to produce a report on the progress made to date on the former O’Neill lands of North Clandeboye. In other areas such Plantation of the western counties of Ulster. The manuscript of as the McCartan and Magennis lordships in the south and west this report is included in the Carew papers held in Lambeth of County Down the abolition of the Gaelic system of land Palace Library, London, and a detailed transcription was tenure in favour of freehold facilitated the sale of estates to published in the nineteenth century in the Calendar of the English and Scottish settlers. The MacDonnells retained control Carew Manuscripts.1 As an addendum to the main survey of their lordship in the northern half of County Antrim but Carew also produced a report on building works undertaken in adapted to changing circumstances and introduced English and Ulster which were not part of the formal plantation project. This lowland Scottish tenants.5 report, on the so called ‘voluntary works’, was not included in the printed Calendar. It is believed that this is the first time that In County Monaghan the McMahon lordship had been a complete transcription has been published. abolished in 1591 and the land divided into freehold estates. Most of these were held by members of the McMahon family, A scheme for the Plantation of the counties of Armagh, Cavan, but some areas had been acquired by English settlers. Following Donegal, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone was published Cahir O’Doherty’s rebellion in 1608, the estates of Brian Og in 1610. The land formerly held by the Gaelic lords who had McMahon were forfeited and given to Sir Thomas Ridgeway.6 gone in to exile in 1607, an event generally known as the ‘Flight Donegal was one of the Plantation counties and most of the land of the Earls’, was confiscated by the crown and allocated to new was divided between Scottish and English undertakers, servitors proprietors. The new owners included institutions such as the and a few Gaelic Irish lords. However, the barony of Inishowen, established church, schools, Trinity College Dublin and (in the formerly in the possession of Sir Cahir O’Doherty, had been newly created County of Londonderry) the London livery granted to Sir Arthur Chichester in 1609 ahead of the main companies. Most of the land, however, was allocated to plantation settlement and was not subject to the same terms and individuals from England and Scotland. These new owners conditions.7 were required to undertake various building projects, particularly the construction of fortified houses, which were We do not know why Carew included the voluntary works with intended to form the nucleus of new settlements of people from his report on the Plantation. One possible reason may be that England and the Scottish lowlands. As well as these he was accompanied on his tour by Sir Arthur Chichester, the ‘undertakers’, land was also granted to former soldiers, known Lord Deputy, along with other senior members of the Irish as ‘servitors’, and to some Gaelic Irish lords.2 administration. Chichester (1563–1625) was a younger son of a Devon landowner who had served in the English army and By the spring of 1611 the government in London had become accompanied Sir Francis Drake on one of his expeditions. In concerned by the slow progress of the Plantation scheme and 1599 he arrived in Ireland as part of the Earl of Essex’s particularly the failure of the undertakers to fulfil their expedition and was subsequently made Governor of obligations. Consequently, Lord Carew (formerly known as Sir Carrickfergus, a post which had previously been held by his George Carew) was sent to Ireland to report on the progress of brother Sir John Chichester, who had been killed in 1597. Sir the settlement, as part of a larger investigation into the Arthur played a prominent role in the Nine Years’ War in Ulster administration of Ireland.3 Carew (1555–1629) had served in gaining a reputation for ruthless efficiency. He became Lord Ireland as a soldier and administrator from the 1570s and held Deputy in 1604 but retained control of Carrickfergus which the post of President of Munster from 1600 until the accession became his main base in Ulster. As mentioned above, he of James I. He remained an influential figure at court and was acquired extensive estates in Ulster between 1603 and his death a friend of Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, James’s most in 1625. Along with the barony of Inishowen in north-east important minister. In later life Carew put together a major Donegal, his lands in south Antrim stretched from Belfast and collection of papers concerning the history of Ireland which is the Lagan Valley across to Lough Neagh and north to Island of particular importance for the history of the Plantation. Carew Magee.8 arrived in Dublin in July 1611 and toured Ulster during August and early September before returning to Dublin. He was Although he was by 1611 probably the largest individual accompanied on this tour by Sir Arthur Chichester, the Lord landowner in Ulster, Chichester was constantly complaining Deputy of Ireland, and other members of the Dublin about his lack of money. He asked to be relieved of the Lord administration.4 Deputyship on several occasions, citing the cost of the office, before he was finally replaced in 1615. On his death his estate The ‘voluntary works’ which Carew records were, for the most was heavily encumbered with debt. Carew’s report records the part, situated outside of the area of the official Plantation. investment that Chichester and his tenants were making in Counties Antrim and Down were not subject to widespread Ulster, particularly his development of Belfast and forfeiture of land by the crown. However, after 1603 large areas Carrickfergus. Although Chichester was head of the English transferred from the control of the Gaelic Irish lords to English administration in Ireland, he was not the originator of the and Scottish owners. This was followed by large scale scheme for the Plantation and had expressed his reservations immigration of people from England and the Scottish lowlands. about the plans before it was adopted. His preference was for a In north Down two Scottish gentlemen, Sir James Hamilton and scheme which allowed most of the former Gaelic Irish Sir Hugh Montgomery, acquired large estates from Con O’Neill population to stay in place with some land granted to servitors 3 2227 Directory 2019_directory06 21/01/2020 14:23 Page 4 DIRECTORY OF IRISH FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCH with experience of conditions in Ireland. It is noticeable that Information on the people mentioned in the report comes from most of the voluntary works recorded in the report were carried a variety of sources. Relatively few of the early planters have out by servitors, many with connections to Chichester himself.9 entries in the Dictionary of Irish Biography so a wide range of secondary sources has been used including: Raymond Gillespie, It is unlikely that Carew visited all the sites which he mentions. Colonial Ulster: The Settlement of East Ulster 1600–1641 (Cork, His itinerary shows that he reached Newry on the 1 August, 1985); Michael Perceval-Maxwell, The Scottish Migration to before moving on to Dromore, Stranmillis (presumably Moses Ulster in the Reign of James I (Belfast, 1973); George Hill, An Hill’s house), Carrickfergus, Massereene, Clough and Dunluce Historical Account of the Plantation in Ulster at the Castle. He then went via Coleraine and Limavady to Derry Commencement of the Seventeenth Century, 1608–1620 (Belfast, where he spent three days before travelling through counties 1877); Samuel McSkimin, The History and Antiquities of the Donegal, Fermanagh, Tyrone and Armagh.10 Information County of the Town of Carrickfergus (Belfast, 1909) and R. J. concerning areas that he did not visit presumably came second Hunter, Ulster Transformed: Essays on Plantation and Print hand. The overall impression left by the report, especially in Culture, c. 1590–1641, edited by John Morrill (Belfast, 2012). Antrim and Down, is of activity and progress, led for the most part by servitors, most of whom were connected with Glossary Chichester. This is in contrast to the situation in the escheated The following is a list of obscure or technical terms which are counties, as recorded by Carew, were many of the new used in the report. undertakers were failing to fulfil their obligations and the plantation scheme appeared to be faltering. Bawn – a walled enclosure, usually containing a fortified house. Bulwark – a fortification, usually made of earth and faced with Note on the text stone. The original report on the voluntary works is to be found in the Cagework – timber-framed building. Carew Papers held in Lambeth Palace Library, London.11 The Coneys – rabbits. Public Record Office of Northern Ireland holds a photographic Curtain – i.e. a curtain wall surrounding a house or castle. copy of the report along with a typescript transcription, Flankers – circular or rectangular towers placed at the corners probably made by the antiquarian Samuel Shannon Millin.12 of bawns or other fortified buildings. PRONI also holds a typescript transcription of the complete Footpace – a raised platform. report made by the historian R. J. Hunter. The section of Garrons – small Irish horses or ponies.