THE RARE 1633 PACATA HIBERNIA
ONE OF THE IMPORTANT SOURCE BOOKS OF THE HISTORY OF TYRONE’S REBELLION, CONTAINING THE EARLIEST ILLUSTRATIONS OF MANY IRISH TOWNS
Thomas Stafford;- Pacata Hibernia, Ireland Appeased and Reduced; Or, an Historie of the Late Warres of Ireland, especially within the Province of Mounster, under the Government of Sir George Carew, Knight, then Lord President of that Province.. Wherein the Siege of Kinsale, the Defeat of the Earl of Tyrone…and many other remarkable passages of that time are related. London: Printed by Aug. Mathewes for Robert Milbourne, At the signe of the Grey-hound in Pauls Church-yard. 1633. Folio. Price : $40,000. Buy Now The true 1st.Edition, 1st.Issue of this rare and important account of the conclusion of the Nine Years War in Ireland, also known as Tyrone’s Rebellion; one of the best and most accurate sources of the events that transpired during the conflict, seldom seen complete. This copy contains the two finely engraved frontispiece portraits of Queen Elizabeth and Sir George Carew by Robert van Voerst and 17 engraved maps and plans, all but two folding or double page, including the original large fold-out map of Munster by John Speed. In the 1st. Edition, the Speed map is to the front of the book, and the map does not have the names of the towns and cities to the back of the map, it does to the second edition, but not the 1st. Edition. The List of Plates calls for 17 maps only;- The views represent the earliest illustrations ever printed of many Irish towns. |
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One of the greatest and most tragic events in the history of Ireland was the Nine Years War, a rebellion which occurred between 1594 and 1603 between England and the forces of the Irish chieftains Hugh O’Neill and Hugh Roe O’Donnell. The rebellion was fostered by the encroachment of English interests throughout Ireland and spread to every part of the country, inspired by Irish victories at Yellow Ford and other engagements. After disastrous expeditions under the command of Robert Devereux, the second Earl of Essex, in 1599 and 1600, Queen Elizabeth appointed Lord Mountjoy as commander along with two veterans of Irish warfare, George Carew and Arthur Chichester. Pacata Hibernia is the account of the actions of these men during the final years of the rebellion, published in 1633, several years after Carew’s death, and based upon his massive collection of papers relating to the early history of Ireland—one of the most valuable collections of materials from this period.
“It is owing to Carew’s vigilance and care that we are so well informed as to the course of the Munster Wars. He instructed Thomas Stafford, his nephew, a young officer in his army, to record what he saw during the campaign and himself supplied him with valuable correspondence. The result was his remarkable book Pacata Hibernia. It takes us behind the scenes and reveals the motives of the chief actors in an amazing way, containing besides masterly pieces of description” “By his vigor and decision [Carew] succeeded in completely crushing within a short space of time the insurrection in the south of Ireland. He was somewhat regardless of the means by which he effected the pacification of the country, and on more than one occasion negotiated for the assassination of Irish leaders”.
Included in the Pacata Hibernia are accounts of the Battle of Kinsale, the decisive loss for the Irish which signaled the end of the rebellion, and the siege of Dunboy Castle, “one of the saddest and most picturesque incidents in Irish history.” Dunboy Castle was the scene of the one of the final, valiant stands of the Irish rebels, who were overcome after a lengthy siege by Carew’s violent assault, resulting in the destruction of the castle and the execution of most of the combatants. The rebellion was over by 1603, leaving an estimated 100,000 Irish dead (including the 60,000 who died in the Ulster famine, caused by the English “scorched earth” policy) and the country and population devastated.
As Standish O’Grady put it in his preface to the 1896 reprint, “We are in the presence of actualities, face to face with real and actual men, can almost hear them speak, and feel around us the working of ideas and purposes so characteristic of that age… The book deals with the stormy conclusion of a stormy century, the lurid sunset of one of the wildest epochs in our history… It is the work of a soldier, not a civilian; of one to whom war was a trade, and who treats of it with a soldier’s downrightness and grim hard emphasis. Also, it was written shortly after the events… The battle-smoke still clings to the pages.” Many of the plates are the earliest illustrations known of those Irish towns. Plates include Cahir Castle, Asketon Castle, Limerick, the Shannon and Cork. And the John Speed Map of Munster in very fine collectable condition
“It is owing to Carew’s vigilance and care that we are so well informed as to the course of the Munster Wars. He instructed Thomas Stafford, his nephew, a young officer in his army, to record what he saw during the campaign and himself supplied him with valuable correspondence. The result was his remarkable book Pacata Hibernia. It takes us behind the scenes and reveals the motives of the chief actors in an amazing way, containing besides masterly pieces of description” “By his vigor and decision [Carew] succeeded in completely crushing within a short space of time the insurrection in the south of Ireland. He was somewhat regardless of the means by which he effected the pacification of the country, and on more than one occasion negotiated for the assassination of Irish leaders”.
Included in the Pacata Hibernia are accounts of the Battle of Kinsale, the decisive loss for the Irish which signaled the end of the rebellion, and the siege of Dunboy Castle, “one of the saddest and most picturesque incidents in Irish history.” Dunboy Castle was the scene of the one of the final, valiant stands of the Irish rebels, who were overcome after a lengthy siege by Carew’s violent assault, resulting in the destruction of the castle and the execution of most of the combatants. The rebellion was over by 1603, leaving an estimated 100,000 Irish dead (including the 60,000 who died in the Ulster famine, caused by the English “scorched earth” policy) and the country and population devastated.
As Standish O’Grady put it in his preface to the 1896 reprint, “We are in the presence of actualities, face to face with real and actual men, can almost hear them speak, and feel around us the working of ideas and purposes so characteristic of that age… The book deals with the stormy conclusion of a stormy century, the lurid sunset of one of the wildest epochs in our history… It is the work of a soldier, not a civilian; of one to whom war was a trade, and who treats of it with a soldier’s downrightness and grim hard emphasis. Also, it was written shortly after the events… The battle-smoke still clings to the pages.” Many of the plates are the earliest illustrations known of those Irish towns. Plates include Cahir Castle, Asketon Castle, Limerick, the Shannon and Cork. And the John Speed Map of Munster in very fine collectable condition