Irish Historical Studies Publications Ltd

The Twilight Lords: The Epic Struggle of the Last Feudal Lords of Ireland Against theEngland of Elizabeth I by Richard BerlethReview by: Mary O'DowdIrish Historical Studies, Vol. 22, No. 85 (Mar., 1980), pp. 81-82Published by: Irish Historical Studies Publications LtdStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30006717 .

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deputyship were 1530-32, and of his second 1534-5 (pp 99, 130). The judges of the central courts did not normally hold quarter sessions, and this is not what the Ordinances required (p. 101). After 1534, it is stated, 'the role of chancery as a court of equity jurisdiction was normalised' (p. 102), and in the 1540s occurred 'the reconstitution of chancery's equity jurisdiction' (p. 253); these changes are nowhere explained, and the real developments had in fact occurred rather earlier (e.g. Cal pat. rolls, 1494-1509, pp 7, 15; P.R.O., E. 101/248/21). Maynooth Castle fell in March, not July, 1535 (p. 173). The O'Tooles had been ousted from the manor of Powerscourt by 1500 at the latest (p. 202); Memoranda roll, 15 Henry VII m. 21 (P.R.O.I., RC 8/43, p. 201). John Travers had in fact held the licence to the Bann fishery since 1534 (p. 220; P.R.O., S.P. 65/1/2). The statute of 1478 restricting parliamentary sessions to Dublin and Drogheda was, if enforced, modified in 1479, and parliaments had since been held at Trim, Naas, Castledermot and Limerick (p. 240. Cf. Richardson & Sayles, op. cit., p. 265).

Overall, the book's contribution in charting developments in the political ideas of the Gaelic and Anglo-Irish is persuasive. There is a commendable attempt to use Irish bardic poetry to understand the ideology of late medieval Gaelic lords (pp 21-8), and a plausible argument tracing the origins of a new ideology of Gaelic nationalism to the Geraldine League (pp 177-84). It is much less reliable, however, concerning constitutional change. Dr Bradshaw has succeeded in focussing attention on a neglected aspect of Tudor Ireland: subject to further research, however, it appears that constitutional change lagged too far behind ideas to speak of a constitutional revolution.

STEVEN G. ELLIS University College,

Galway.

THE TWILIGHT LORDS: THE EPIC STRUGGLE OF THE LAST FEUDAL LORDS OF IRELAND AGAINST THE ENGLAND OF ELIZABETH I. By Richard Berleth. Pp 316. London: Allen Lane. 1979. £7.50.

'Popular' histories of Ireland have rarely been treated kindly by professional Irish historians and American scholars who attempt to make a contribution to Irish historical studies have often, usually quite understandably, been treated even less kindly. The twilight lords, a self-professed 'popular' history written by an American with a doctorate in renaissance studies, seems then to contain all the right ingredients for a highly critical review in a journal devoted to research in Irish history. Yet, there are several reasons why the book is worthy of serious consideration by students of early modern Ireland.

It should be said at the outset that the book, which is concerned with the conflicts which occured between the last 'great feudal barons' of Munster (with a chapter on Hugh O'Neill) and the Elizabethan government in Ireland, is not a success as a 'popular' history. Much of the book is taken up with rather tedious accounts of military encounters and it becomes increasingly difficult to remember which particular conflict is being described: one Irish war sounding much like another. Yet, Dr Berleth, although relying entirely on printed sources, does manage to convey an impression of the misery and squalor which confronted Elizabethan forces trying to cope with the guerilla war tactics of native Irish soldiers. The horrors of the Irish countryside, for soldiers used to more sophisticated warfare on the continent, are often over-looked by more professional accounts of the same period. As Dr Berleth indicates, the rain, the mud, the bogs, the labrynthine hills reduced many notable Elizabethan commanders to despair and defeat, several of them contracting the curiously catching disease of Irish fever.

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Despite Dr Berleth's rather romantic attachment to men like Gerald, Earl of Desmond and Hugh O'Neill, he does succeed in providing some good pen portraits of some of the characters involved in his story. People like Sir John Perrot, Sir Arthur Grey and Eleanor, Countess of Desmond, emerge with more life from Dr. Berleth's descriptions than from what he describes as the 'ponderous' New History of Ireland.

Although Dr Berleth disclaims in his preface any 'new authority or fresh discoveries' he does indirectly suggest that he would like his book considered as a contribution to the study of the ideological basis of English involvement in early modern Ireland. His renaissance studies have led him to consider English activity in Ireland as the 'underside of Elizabethan virtues, the negative force of renaissance values'. The Elizabethan attitude to Ireland is still being debated by historians but it is doubtful if Dr Berleth's book will contribute much to the debate, from a historical viewpoint, because he lacks the knowledge and the necessary source material to deal with the subject in any depth.

However, Dr Berleth does have something to contribute to this debate from a literary viewpoint. Among the best passages in the book are those when he exercises his literary expertise to analyse the Irish influence in the writings of Edmund Spenser. He is also interesting on other writers like Lodowick Bryskett, Barnabe Rich and Fynes Moryson who idealised pastoral life in their writings but abhorred it when faced with the reality in Ireland. Dr Berleth's comments on these men far surpasses the very inadequate Ireland through Tudor eyes (Philadelphia, 1935) by E. M. Hinton which has been the only other attempt to deal with this topic.

Serious students of early modern Ireland may find the book irritating to read because of the many factual errors scattered throughout it. Although Dr Berleth refers to printed material in Irish, his description of Gaelic society is very inaccurate and would have been greatly improved if he had made use of K. W. Nicholls, Gaelic and Gaelicised Ireland (Dublin, 1972) which is conspicuously absent from the bibliography as are many other recent works on sixteenth century Ireland. The latter point is perhaps the most critical defect of the whole book. Dr Berleth might be forgiven for,not utilising manuscript sources but his unwillingness to read all the available secondary sources is less pardonable and leads him to make many outdated and misleading statements.

The academic historian and the reader of 'popular' Irish history (whoever he or she may be) will, therefore, find much to fault in the book. Nevertheless, it is worth reading and it is to be hoped that Dr Berleth will not be deterred by the reception given to his first venture into Irish historical studies from continuing his analysis of Elizabethan writers in Ireland.

MARY O'DOWD Queen's University,

Belfast.

PENAL ERA AND GOLDEN AGE: ESSAYS IN IRISH HISTORY, 1690-1800. Edited by Thomas Bartlett and D. W. Hayton. Pp ix, 232. Belfast, for the Ulster Historical Foundation. 1979. £8 (£4 paperback). Eighteenth century Ireland has been a dark age. The pioneering contributions of a handful of scholars, now of some seniority, have rather emphasised our ignorance of large intervening areas. But the field has recently attracted a bevy of young historians, and output now increases exponentially. Some of the best of it is represented here in a collection which will be required reading for all engaged in research into eighteenth century Ireland.

Its chosen dates are also those of Dr A. P. W. Malcomson's project of a History of the Irish Parliament on the model of Sir Lewis Namier's. His essay provides a

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