This preface offers a brief description of the online text and its historical background. Florence MacCarthy Reagh (Finghín Mac Carthaigh Riabhach) was born in the early 1560s, probably at Kilbrittain Castle. His father was Sir Donagh MacCarthy Reagh,1 lord of Carbery, and his mother was a Geraldine, the aunt of the last earl of Desmond. Following the death of his father in 1576, Florence was made a ward of Sir William Drury, the lord president of Munster.2 According to the author of the Carbriae Notitia, a manuscript written in 1686, 'Sir Donogh McCarthy gave to his son Florence no less than 27 ploughlands, as I think, worth £1,500 per annum; so that 'twas said this Florence his estate in Carbry was better than his estate by his Wife, Heiress of McCarthy Mór.'3 The Carbriae Notitia informs us also that 'Carbery, the largest and most famous barony in Ireland hath, with the other territories of that island, often altered its dimensions and bounds, as the power and fortunes of its lords was more or less prevalent. It is not improbable that it did extend as far north as the river Lea; or (as the old verse has it) from Carrig-o-Glaveen, or Misen Head, to Cork; but however that be, I shall describe its more certain extent from the Harbour of Kinsale to the Bay of Bantry; containing all that great tract of land which at this day makes the baronies of East and West Carbery, Ibawne, Barry Roe, Kinalmeaky, and Courcys.'
During the Desmond rebellion of 1579-83, Florence MacCarthy Reagh served with the forces of Elizabeth I who rewarded him afterwards with gifts and an annual pension. In London, he took up the customs of an English courtier but his continued attachment to Gaelic politics led to suspicion on both sides. He also remained loyal to Catholicism and developed a taste for Spanish culture. By 1588, the year of the Great Armada, he could speak Spanish fluently. His marriage to Ellen, daughter of the earl of Clancar and sole heir to the title of MacCarthy Mór, joined the lands of the MacCarthy Reagh with those of the MacCarthy Mór. At the same time, Florence MacCarthy intrigued with Sir William Stanley, an infantry colonel who commanded the first Irish infantry regiment in Spanish service. These combined factors led to considerable angst for the state authorities and, as a result, Florence MacCarthy was detained in February 1589.4 That June, Elizabeth I committed him to the Tower of London where political prisoners who caused the greatest concern were usually kept.
On his journey to London, Florence MacCarthy was accompanied by Patrick Cullen, a fencing-master subsequently apprehended for his part in a supposed plot to kill Elizabeth I. In this conspiracy, the government linked Sir William Stanley, John Annyas, Jacques de Franceschi and James Archer — with Cullen the would-be assassin. Cullen was sent to the gallows while Annyas went on to be employed as an agent of Sir Robert Cecil in Munster.5 On release in 1591, Florence MacCarthy was kept in London. Two years hence, the earl of Ormond, Black Tom Butler, secured MacCarthy's return to Ireland where he found his property targetted by local rivals and settlers from the Munster plantation. He soon became involved in protracted legal disputes with Lord David Barry of Buttevant and the Brownes of south Kerry. Details of the proceedings, which Florence MacCarthy blamed for his financial ruin, are to be found in the following documents. In his accusations, Barry referred to the links between MacCarthy, Cullen and Stanley, a point which the authorities continued to raise in the 1610s.
Following the outbreak of war by the northern confederates in the mid-1590s, Florence MacCarthy consolidated his position in Munster with government support and overcame challenges to his claims by kinsmen. Hugh O'Neill inaugurated him MacCarthy Mór in 1600.6 Despite protesting his loyalty to Elizabeth I, Florence MacCarthy continued to foment Spanish support. As the correspondence shows, much was made of his morgaging property to acquire the Old Head of Kinsale as a suitable landing place for a naval expedition. Elizabethan agents described the extent of his lands as 'three score miles together westward, next towards Spain'.
With the arrival of Spanish forces and supplies in 1601, Florence MacCarthy received arms and munitions to equip more than 400 troops.7 Later that year, he was arrested by Sir George Carew following the capture of the Sugán earl of Desmond, James Fitzthomas Fitzgerald.8 Both were imprisoned in the Tower where Fitzgerald suffered a breakdown shortly afterwards. He died there nearly seven years later.9 Florence MacCarthy was held at the Martin Tower — a strong portal flanked with bastions originally built in the thirteenth century which maps of the site show in the top right-hand corner. Henry Percy, the earl of Northumberland, a direct contemporary of Florence MacCarthy, was kept there also from 1605 until 1622. As with others, Philip Howard for example, MacCarthy etched grafitti into the walls of his cell. In the Martin Tower, translated from the Irish, it reads: 'Mac Carthaigh Finghín Mac Dorchaidh put here 26 August 1601, without cause or reason except his being captured in treachery and let out similarly the [...]'10 Throughout this time, MacCarthy petitioned to be either tried or released on condition of serving against O'Neill.
The following papers consist of Florence MacCarthy's letters to and from the authorities, his appeals to court, together with manuscripts about his family history. McCarthy (Glas) described Florence MacCarthy's handwriting as 'small, regular, firm, and distinct as print'. 11 Trained as a barrister-at-law, Daniel MacCarthy (Glas) presented a case for the defence, making repeated use of some documents and occasionally confusing their date of composition. While it is clear that McCarthy Glas appreciated the interest in and the value of these sources, his ninteenth-century edition has recently been described by Professor John A. Murphy as 'important but badly arranged'.12
A few words about the methodology employed in the online edition are, therefore, appropriate. A total of 220 records are retained here. These relate directly to Florence MacCarthy and his extended family during his lifetime. Extraneous material, such as documents about James Fitzthomas Fitzgerald, the Battle of the Yellow Ford and secondary comment are omitted.
The following primary sources are presented in calendar format. This enables the reader to follow the events as they happened. It also allows us to evaluate the concentration of documents as the frequency of these sources increases in specific years. This reflects the sense of alarm among officials in Dublin and London during particular periods. Perhaps the best example is 1588 to 1589, that is the time of the Spanish Armada, its wreckage off the coast of Ireland and the mopping-up operations which followed. This is followed by the papers for 1594, which relate to Barry's legal dispute with MacCarthy and John Annyas' appeal to the privy council. The greatest concentration of correspondence occurs from 1598-1602, above all 1601-02, commensurate with the height of the Nine Years War. Nevertheless, the number of petitions made by Florence MacCarthy noticeably declines as his second period of captivity continued.
The date of composition recorded in the title to each document refers to the Gregorian calendar which was first introduced in 1582. Yet, in specific instances below, correspondence written between 1 January and 25 March shows the date of the previous year. Thus, it is important to explain the variance that can occur between the dates of Elizabethan state papers and the events they record. This resulted from the different ways in which the historical and civil or legal year was calculated. Whereas the historical year began on 1 January, the civil or legal calendar started on 25 March.13 These documents deal with Florence MacCarthy and his extended family: from Sir Donagh MacCarthy Reagh and Sir Owen MacCarthy, Donal-na-Pipi and Donal MacCarthy More, to Ellen his wife and Daniel his eldest surviving son. These papers also offer an insight into the reigns of three successive rulers in London. Among the Tudor and Stuart figures who feature prominently are Elizabeth I, her advisers Burghley and Walsingham, and her erstwhile favourite the earl of Essex, followed by James I and his chief minister, Cecil, the earl of Ormond, Black Tom Butler, and MacCarthy's implacable opponent, Sir George Carew. Illustrating the continued threat which the Tower of London posed to the ruling classes, several of those referred to below subsequently found themselves on the wrong side of the law. For different reasons, for instance, Essex, Raleigh, Carr and Wentworth were sentenced to imprisonment in the Tower.
The considerable length of time that Florence MacCarthy survived confinement indicates some leniency on the part of his gaolers. As was the case with Northumberland, Florence MacCarthy kept his own library of books and manuscripts at the Tower. About 1609, he wrote a treatise on Irish history.14 It is said to show the developing awareness on the part of Gaelic intellectuals of the need to communicate their reading of Ireland's history to an English-speaking audience and was published by John O'Donovan in 1858. 15 As a father, Florence MacCarthy's most difficult experience of the Tower must have been the death there of Tadhg. Tadhg was the eldest of his four sons.
John McGurk and Jerrold Casway confirm that several of MacCarthy's Irish peers spent the remaining years of their lives within the precints of the Tower: Conn and Cormac MacBaron O'Neill who were a son and a brother of the earl of Tyrone respectively, Sir Niall Garbh O'Donnell and his son Neachtan, Sir Dónal Ballagh O'Cahan and his eldest son Rory Óg, and Brian O'Rourke, grandson of Brian na Múrtha.16 Other notable prisoners confined to Tower during the imprisonment of Florence MacCarthy were Walter Raleigh, Robert and Frances Carr, the earl and countess of Somerset.17 Prisoners were held in 'the immediate custody' of Constable of the Tower of London who was entitled to demand higher fees for the maintenance of prisoners and hostages than were chargeable in other castles.18 Provisions for these demands during Florence MacCarthy's confinement are included below. In common with the experience of prisoners such as Nicholas Owen, Florence MacCarthy was transferred from the Tower to the prison at Marshalsea. This occurred in 1604 and in 1608. Released as part of James I's amnesty of 1614, he was detained four years later although not in the Tower. From 1624 to 1626, he was held in custody again.19 Florence MacCarthy remained exiled in London for four decades before his death. The Commentarius Rinuccinianus assigns his obit to December 1640, a point noted recently by Kenneth Nicholls.20 About the year 1776, a descendant of Donal-na-Pipi MacCarthy is said to have taken to France a portrait of Florence MacCarthy which was then displayed in the city of Toulouse.