The History of the Town and County of the Town of Galway,

from the earliest period to the present time,
embellished with several engravings,
to which is added,
a copious appendix,
containing the principal charters and other original documents.

By James Hardiman, Esq.
Member of the Royal Irish Academy and Sub-Commissioners on the Public Records.

Historia placeant nostrates.

Dublin:
Printed by W. Folds and Sons, 38, Gt. Strand-Street.

1820

Introduction

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Part I.

The Ancient State of the Town, and its Civil and Military History, to the Present Time.

Chap. I.

The origin and signification of the name of Galway - Opinions of Camden - Ware - Lynch - O'Flaherty - De Burgo and Vallancey - The name derived from commerce - Security of the harbour - Supposed origin of the bay - Derivation of its name - Inhabitants of the town before Henry II. - Subsequent colonies, viz. Athy, Blake, Bodkin, Browne, D'Arcy, Deane, Ffont, Ffrench, Jyes, Kirwan, Lynch, Martin, Morris and Skerrett - Affiliated familes - Former manners and character - Form state and topography - Speed - Heyln - Sir Oliver St. John - Ancient map and Ichnography - References - Concluding observations.

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Chap. II.

From the Earliest Accounts to the Invasion of Henry II.

Early History and Antiquities of Ireland disputed - Intemperate feelings of 'Writers on the subject - Come but little within the scope this work - The ancient town of Galway made a chief point qf division in the various partitions of Ireland - In that Heber and Herermon - By Eogan More and Con-céad-Chathach in the second century - War between these princes, for an equal dividend of the revenues Dublin and Galway - The latter then a place of note - Destruction of Irish records - Accounts of Ireland by Tacitus and Ptolemy - Those of the latter doubted - Opinions of Camden, Ware, Baster and others - That Galway was the Nagnata of Ptolemy - Its origin uncertain - Destruction of the Town by the Danes - Rebuilt by the Conacians - Ravaged by the Momonians - Burned, and again recived in 1170.

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Chap. III.

From the Anglo-Norman Invasion to the Year 1484.

Arrival of Strongbow accompanied by William Fitz-Adnelm de Burgo, ancestor of the family of Clanricarde - Landing of Henry II. - Submission of subsequent revolt of the Irish Princes - Unsuccessful attempt of Roderic O'Conor, the monarch, on Dublin - Treaty between him and Henry II. - First hostile incursion of the Invaders into Connaught, and their defeat - Grant of the Province to De Burgo - Deposition and death of Roderic - Connor, his successor, defeats De Courcy - Cathal, who succeeds, joins with Meiler Fitz- Henry the Justiciary, and subdues De Burgo - Treaty between him and King John - Cathal dies, and Henry III. orders the Lord Justice to seize on all Connaught and deliver it to Richard De Burgo - Fedhlim, who succeeded Cathal, visits Henry in England, and obtains an order to be restored to his territory - The Castle of Galway fortified by O'Flaherty - Taken by De Burgo, who strengthens the Castle and protects and encourages the Town - Walls, great Gate, and Tower erected - Increase of Trade and Commerce - Church of St. Nicholas built - Dispute between the families of Blake and Athy - Death of William Earl of Ulster, and seizure of Galway by Mac William Eighter - Charters of Murage and of the Staple granted by Edward III. - Removal of the Staple - Merchants of Limerick jealous of the increasing trade and prosperity of Galway - Revolt and submission of the Town - Two Charters granted by Richard II. - Charter of Henry IV. - Mercantile Regulations - Establishment of a Mint - Charter of Edward IV. and Conflagration in the Town.

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Chap. IV.

From 1484 to the Commencement of the Irish Rebellion in 1641.

Wardenship of Galway instituted by the archbishop of Tuam, and confirmed by Pope Innocent VIII. - Charter of Richard III. - Remarkable instance of inflexible justice - Fortifications built - Great fire in the town - Battle of Knoc-Tuadh - Hospital built, and several improvements made - Disputes between Galway and Limerick - Prisage of wines claimed - Orders of Henry VIII. to the inhabitants - The lord deputy, Grey, honorably received in the town, and several Irish chiefs come in, and submit - Sir William de Burgh created earl of Clanrickard, and deprived of all powers in Galway - Charter of Henry VIII. - Mercantile bye-laws - Charters of Edward VI. - The earl of Sussex, chief governor, arrives in Galway, and is splendidly received - Sir Henry Sidney, his successor, arrives in town - Insurrection of the Mac-an-Earlas - Their defeat - Charter of Elizabeth - The lord justice, Sir William Pelham, arrives in town, and confirms the charter - Sir John Perrot, lord deputy, comes to Galway - Prisage of wines in the town, established by the earl of Ormond - One of the vessels of the Spanish armada wrecked in the bay - The lord deputy, Sir William Fitzwilliams, arrives in town, puts several of the Spaniards to death - Sir William Russel, lord deputy, arrives and investigates the state of the town and province - The town besieged by Hugh Ruadh O'Donnel - Licentiousness of the inhabitants of the country - The chief governor, lord Mountjoy, visits the town - St. Augustine's fort built - Charter of James I. - The town erected into a separate jurisdiction - The lord deputy, Viscount Falkland, arrives in Galway - His munificence - Fort of Ballymanagh built - Several fortifications erected - Splendid entry into Galway and reception of Viscount Wentworth, lord deputy - His oppressive proceedings against a jury of the county - Concluding observations.

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Chap. V.

From 1641 to the Restoration of Charles II. 1660.

Opulence of Galway at the commencement of the Irish rebellion, 23rd October, 1941 - Report of Sir Francis Willoughby, governor of St. Augustine's fort, near Galway, on that event - The care of the earl of Clanricarde to secure the peace of the county - Loyal resolutions of the town - Disputes with the fort - Massacre at Shruel - Revolt of the town, and siege of the fort - The fort relieved, and the town submits to the earl of Clanricarde - Violent proceedings of the governor of the fort - He bombards the town - Lord Forbes arrives with a fleet in the bat - Besieges the town - His barbarous conduct - The fort besieged, taken and demolished - The town declares in favour of the Irish, and against the parliament - Persists in its loyalty to the kind - Several fortifications built - Tumults in the town, occasioned by the pope's nuncio on the question of the cessation - Compelled at length to proclaim it - The nuncio departs from Galway - The town advances money to the state - Grateful acknowledgements of Charles II. - Dreadful plague in the town - Marquis of Ormond takes shipping in Galway, and leaves the kingdom - Negociations with the duke of Lorraine - His ambassador arrives in Galway - The town besieged by the parliamentary forces under Sir Charles Coote - Its strenuous defence and final surrender - The plague rages - Cruel proceedings against the inhabitants - Licentiousness of the soldiery - Unjust measures of the rulers in Dublin, contrary to the articles of surrender - The corporation new modelled - The ancient inhabitants turned out of the town, and the houses destroyed - Plans of the government relative to Galway - Lands and houses valued and sold - Total decay of the town at the time of the Restoration.

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Chap. VI.

From 1660 to the Surrender of Galway to King William's Forces, 1691.

On the restoration of Charles II. many of the new settlers disappear, and the old natives and former inhabitants return - Letters of the king to the lords justices, to restore them to their freedom and estates - Animosities and disputes between them and the new settlers - An instance of one of these contentions - Prejudice of the lords justices against the old natives - Opposition given to their claims - Excluded from corporate privileges, and finally expelling the town - New rules established - The corporation lands, with the charter and market duties, granted to Mrs. Elizabeth Hamilton - The earl of Essex, lord lieutenant, opposes the grant - His description of the decayed state of the town - Colonel Theodore Russell purchases the charter and market duties, and is elected mayor - The king grants a new charter, containing many ample privileges - Population of the town considerably diminished, and the houses falling to ruin - Many of the old natives give security and are permitted to return to the town - They are soon after obliged to depart, owing to the clamors and discontent of some members of the corporation - Address to the kind, on his escape from the Rye-house conspiracy - Accession of James II. to the throne - The Catholic inhabitants return to the town, and made free of the corporation - Catholic clergy established in the town - New charter granted - Troubles begin, and the fortifications of the town repaired - Resolutions to adhere to king James and his government - Protestant inhabitants removed out of the town - Battle of Aughrim - Siege of the town - It surrenders on articles - Treatment of Roman Catholics - Fortifications built, to secure the conquest of the town and the islands.

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Chap. VII.

From the Year 1691 to the Present Time.

After the surrender, the greater part of the old natives and Catholic inhabitants are obliged to quit the town - Measures taken to prevent their departure - Articles of Galway respected during the reign of William III. - Accession of Queen Anne - Commission of array issues - Town militia raised, and the fortifications repaired - Act to prevent the further growth of Popery - Roman Catholics prevented from purchasing houses or tenements in the town or suburbs - Those already residing give security pursuant to the act - On the rumour of an invasion by the Pretender, they are turned out of the town - Afterwards admitted - Again turned out during the rebellion in Scotland - Disputes between the members of the corporation - Galway act passes - Commerce of the town - Clandestine trade - Penal visitation in 1791 - Town militia newly arrayed, and officers appointed - Arms delivered out, and state of the ordnance returned to government - Strict discipline observed in the town during the Scottish rebellion of 1745 - Particular account of the fortifications, and their decayed state reported to government - They are suffered gradually to decay - Disputes between the governor, the corporation, and the merchants, about shutting the gates - Description of the town at the time - Trade declines - The merchants petition parliament against the corporation - Resolutions of the house - New schedule of duties and customs agreed upon - Corporation disputes - Volunteers - Non-important resolutions - East India fleet arrives in the bay - Town yeomanry - Union - Population of the town liberties - Disputes and proceedings concerning non-resident freemen, the independence and parliamentary representation of the town.

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Part II.

Magistrates and Corporate Officers, viz. Provosts, Portreves, Sovereigns, Mayors, Bailifs, Sheriffs, Recorders, Town Clerks, &c since 1271; with Several Curious By-laws, and a List of the Parliamentary Representatives of the Town.

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