English record of the proceedings resulting from the so-called ‘composition agreement’ made in 1585 between the Gaelic ‘lords and chieftains’ of Connacht and Thomond (Co. Clare) and the English administration residing at Dublin Castle. It records the names of land-holders and their holdings. The document offers insights into the workings of Elizabethan policy in Ireland in matters of land and taxation, notably the tactics of surrender and regrant.
A fiant from 1578 or 1579, in the reign of Elizabeth I, containing instructions to Sir Henry Harrington, the recently appointed seneschal and chief of O'Byrne's Country in Co. Wicklow. The document has been frequently cited for its instruction to enforce severe penalties on every “idle person, vagabond or masterless man, bard, rymor, or other notorious malefactor” who remains in the district.
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Autobiographical prose work by John Bale about his experiences as bishop of Ossory (1552/1553), his conflicts with the Irish church, and his exile from Ireland.
