« Back to results

Deposition of Thomas Johnson

  • Reference:  MS 831, fols 190r-191v
  • County: Mayo
  • Date: 14/1/1644
  • Type: Dublin Original
  • Nature of Deposition: Assault, Military Action, Multiple Killing, Robbery, Stripping, Succour, Words
  • Print
  • How to Cite
    • fol. 190r


    203
    Thomas Johnson viccar of Tuloghe & killycomon in the County of Mayo sworne and examyned saith That on or about the xth of November 1641 after the present insurrection and rebellion was begun divers rebells of the Barranyes of Costelogh & Gallen in the County of Mayo aforesaid whose names hee knoweth not in forceible and Rebellious manner came & for broke into this deponents howse at Ballynew in the same County and then and there rebelliously and by force and armes seised on tooke and carryed away this deponents howsholdgoods bookes and all the things they then pleased & which they fownd, & soe departed away And the next morning those or some other Rebells vnknowne to him forceibly alsoe at the same place tooke and carryed away all his Cowes & yong cattle 2 horses & his sheepe all worth <50 li.> fifty Powndes & above, And then or soone after one Malachy <A> Kelly tytulary Archbishop of Tuam seised on the deponents Church liveing & tooke vpon him to give and conferr it vpon one Ever of ô Conaghan a popish preist, Whoe therevpon entered therei ntovpon <30 li. per annum> & received the proffits thereof ever since worth xxx li. per annum 2 yeres proffitt being now Lost, And this deponent himself being fled for saffty of his Liffe to Castlebarr being Sir Henry Bynghams Castle in the same County & staying there till about Candlemas in the same yere 1641 the said Henry Bingham at that tyme vpon certeine termes and Articles betwixt him & Myles the Lord of Mayo deliuered the Castle aforesaid to him the said Lord of Mayo to keepe for him during the Rebellion (there being at that tyme & for a month before a seige mainteined against that Castle by the arch Rebell Edmund Bourk of <B> Brackagh in the Barrony of Owles gent) At which tyme of deliuery of the said Castle he the said Lord of Myles Lord of Mayo vndertooke to convoy the said Sir Henry Bingham and all the English and Scottish in the Castle with their clothes vnto the fort of Galway: And therevpon they comeing the first day to Ballinecaraghe in the same County (a towne belonging to the said Lord of Mayo) the deponent there fell sick & was forced to turne back againe & in his returne towards Castlebarr was sett vpon and surprised by one Morrice ô <C> Hargan a Rebell, (whoe was a plowman to Patrick Hart gent) & whoe stript the deponent of all his clothes: & in that state he came to
    1
    203

    fol. 190v


    204
    he came to Castlebarr aforesaid But there fyn fearing to stay fled to the howse of Walter Bourgh of Turloghe Esquire whoe not only gaue him clothes, but kept and defended him against the Rebells (although the popish preists & fryers Laboured to haue had him putt to death But as And as to the said Sir Henry Bingham he went to the towne of Neile where he stayd for some tyme But for as to the rest of the English and Scotts that went along with the said Lord of Mayo which were about ffow rscore and od one hundreth & twenty: whereof the lord Bishop of Killalley was one & <A> viijt mynisters besides H e the said Lord of Mayo [ ] and his Company <x> brought them along to the bridg of Shrowle: Where a number of Rebells of the said County of Mayo, and of the County of Galway mett them, and then and there assaulted and sett vpon them (they being without weapons and not suffered to take any from Castlebarr aforesaid) and there slaughtered & murthered the most part of those English and Scottish & amongst the rest 6 of those mynisters (the Bishop shrewdly wounded & thother 2 of those 8 mynisters escapeing) and the said Lord of Mayos Company flying away to the Rebells, and he and his sonne <B> Sir Theobald Bourke alsoe goeing away lefteing those they Convoyed to the mercie and vsage of the Rebells the ministers names then slaine being Deane ffargy of Killalley Mr Corbett, Mr Bingham Mr Barnard Mr Rowledg & the Bishop of Killalleys Chaplaine whose name he cannot expresse, And further saith that the <X> Rebells in the Barronys of Costelagh and Gallen in the said County of Mayo in meere hatred and derision of the English & their very Cattle, & contempt & derision of the English Lawes did ordinarily & commonly preferr or seeme to preferr bills of indictment & bring the English breed of Cattle to bee tryed vpon Juries & haveing on their fashion arraigned those Cattle then their scornfull Rebells Judge the re sitting amongst them would say they looke as if they could speake English, give them the booke, & see if they can read, pronounc e ing the words legit an no n , to the Jury. And then becawse they stood mute & could not read they hee would & did pronounce Judgment and Centence of death against them
    2
    204

    fol. 191r


    205
    them and soe they were committed and putt to slaughtering And this deponent further saith that in the tyme that hee stayd with & was protected by the said Walter Bourgh the yonger Preists and fryers demanded of the p Stephen Linch prior <A> of Strade in the deponents owne hearing if it were not lawfull to kill the deponent becawse hee would not turne to Masse, which prior answered them that it was as lawfull for them to kill this deponent as to kill a sheepe or a dogg, And divers of the irish Rebellious souldjers there would tell the deponent to his face that were it not for offending of the said Walter Bourk they would make noe more conscience nor care to kill him then they would doe of a pigg or a sheepe And the said Mr Bourck being threatened to have his howse burnd over his head & to be pillidged of his goods if hee kept the deponent any Longer he gaue him a passe vnder his hands to goe to the Erle of Clanrickard to Loghreoghe, which brought him thither accordingly in saffty: where otherwise (without godes miraculous deliuery) he could not (as he is verely perswaded) have escaped murthering: And the deponent ever after that tyme Lived by the noble & free Charity of that good Erle vntill of Late that his Lordship sent him & divers other protestants away with a Convoy: And this deponent further saith That one of the <A> Rebellious murtherers aforesaid named Keadagh Roe mcJames <B> Clandonnell boasted at his returne That he had killed with his owne handes fower of the said E n protestants ministers aforenamed at Shrewle namely Mr Barnard Comissary Mr Corbet minister Edward Jones and Mr Smith Merchant And in triumph of that his villany he brought their blowd vpon the his handes and Armes and weapons to Ballanacarragh sixteen myles distant from Shrewle aforesaid And being advised there to wash his handes Armes and weapons of the bloud he answered with an oath that he would not wash off that English bloud vntill he came to Ahadreenay to Rory oge his howse And this deponent afterwards sawe him weare a suite of clothes which he knew to be Mr Barnards; and the same which he wore when he
    3
    205

    fol. 191v


    206
    he parted from this deponent at Ballanacarrah aforesaid in his said passage to Shrowle
    And further saith that after the massacre at Shrowle aforesaid he this deponent haveing a daughter blynd of both her eyes whoe went to seeke releefe vp and downe the parrish of Turlogh where he had been viccar, with a little boy that led her (which was alsoe the deponents chyld) Theis his 2 poore children being mett with <A> on the way by one Marcus mcJames brother to the foresaid Keadagh the forenamed bloudy Rebells) The said Marcus (knowing them to bee the deponents children) tooke the boy and tyed him to a tree and there Left him and the poore girle weeping and in great feare almost starved with cold, when and where he is perswaded they had both perished had not one Donnell ô Duggan by accident comen that way, whoe <A> knowing the children loosed the boy from the tree & sent them both away
    <A> And this deponent alsoe sayth That whilest he was at Turlogh aforesaid in Mr Walter Bourks howse: divers fryers of the order of Dominick in their white habits knowing the deponent to haue bin viccar of that parrish and that he would not turne to Masse perswaded one Turlogh Duffe footman to the said Walter Bourk to set vp twoe Carrs & to hang the deponent thereon: but he refusing & certifying it to his said Master the same: His said Master sharply reproued those friers for it, And gaue warning to all his tennants to releeve the deponent and suffer none to hurt him which they accordingly performed, & soe by gods great mercy & providence his Liffe was preserved & he sent with his passe to the noble Erle of Clanrickard as aforesaid <L> And this deponent further sayth That he heard divers of the souldjers at Mr Walter Bourks howse, confide earnestly protest and say (after they heard that Sir Charles Coote had given them some ouerthrow; and that <B> they were in prepareing to goe against Castlecoote) say That the titularly <Arch>Bishop of Tuam Malachy Keely hadd assured them that they should not need to feare: for that thenglish should not have power to fight against them but should bee deliuered into their hands soe as they might cut their throats or kill them at their pleasures And that they should heare the holy ghost say Masse vnto them thrice before they went to battaile
    Thomas Johnsonne Clarke viccar
    of Turlogh and KildeCaminge
    Jur xiiijo febr: Jan: 1643
    Hen: Jones
    Hen: Brereton
    4
    206



    Henry Brereton
    Henry Jones



     

Trinity College Dublin, College Green, Dublin 2