WATERFORD

WATERFORD, a seaport, city and county of itself, and the seat of a diocese, locally in the county of WATERFORD, of which it is the capital, and in the province of MUNSTER, 67 miles (E. by N.) from Cork, and 75 ¾ (S. S. W.) from Dublin; containing 28,821 inhabitants, of which number, 26,377 are in the city and suburbs. The ancient name of this place is said to have been Cuan-na-Grioth or Grian, signifying, in the Irish language, "the Haven of the Sun ;" it afterwards obtained the appellation of Gleann-na-Gleodh, or "the Valley of Lamentation," from a sanguinary conflict between the Irish and the Danes, in which the former, who were victorious, burnt it to the ground. By early writers it was called Menapia, under which name was implied the whole district, and by the Irish and Welsh, Portlargi, "the Port of the Thigh" (from the supposed similitude which the river at this place assumes to that part of the human body), which it still partly retains. Its more general name Waterford, which is of Danish origin, and supposed to be a corruption of Vader-Fiord, "the Ford of the Father," or of Odin, a Scandinavian deity, was derived from a ford across St. John's river, which here falls into the river Suir.

The original foundation of this city is by some writers referred to the year 155; but its antiquity as a place of any importance cannot be traced beyond the year 853, when it is said to have been built by the Danes or Ostmen, under their leader, Sitiricus or Sitric. The city, for that period, was a place of great strength, surrounded with walls; and the scattered notices of this colony which are still preserved show that the inhabitants maintained among themselves an independent and sovereign authority, and that they were for a long time the terror, if not the absolute masters, of a vast extent of country. Up to the time of the English settlement, this colony had strictly avoided all intimate connection with the native inhabitants of the country, and had preserved all its ancient customs, manners and character unchanged.

In 893 it is recorded that Patrick, son of Ivor or Imar, King of the Danes of Waterford, was slain; and in 937, that the Danes of Waterford wasted all the county of Meath. According to the annals of Tigernach, Imar, King of Waterford, laid waste the county of Kildare; and in 995 he succeeded Anlaffe in the occupation of Dublin; he died in the year 1000, and was succeeded, in 1003, by his son Reginald, who built the celebrated tower known by his name, corruptly called Reynold's and now the Ring tower. This tower was erected in 1003, and is said to be the oldest in Ireland; in 1171 it was held as a fortress by Strongbow; in 1463 a mint was established in it by Edward IV; and in 1819 it was rebuilt and formed into a police barrack. Another Imar of Waterford is recorded to have been slain, in 1022, by the king of Ossory, and to have been succeeded by a second Reginald, styled by the Irish O'Hiver, who in the same year was killed by Sitric II. In 1038, Cumana, King of the Danes of Waterford, was killed by the people of Upper Ossory, or, as is otherwise stated, by the treachery of his own subjects; and in the same year the city was burnt by Dermot Mac-mel Membo, King of Leinster; it was also again burnt in 1087 by the people of Dublin.

The Danes of this place having, in 1096, embraced the Christian religion, elected Malchus, a Benedictine monk, who had been for some time at Winchester, for their bishop; and sent a letter to Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, to request his consecration, which was granted; and Malchus, on his return, assisted in the erection of a cathedral, which was dedicated to the Holy Trinity, and is now called Christ-Church. It appears that, about this time, there was a mint at this place, a silver coin having been found with the inscription "Wadter" on the reverse, and attributed to one of the Danish kings.

In 1171, after the taking of Wexford by Hervey de Montemarisco and his companions, Raymond Le Gros landed, in May, at Dundonolf or Dundrone, four miles from Waterford, with a force of 10 knights and 70 archers, sent as an advance guard by Earl Strongbow, who had spent the whole of the preceding winter in preparation for the invasion of Leinster, in support of the deposed sovereign Dermod McMurrough. This party, for their immediate security, threw up an intrenchment and a temporary fortification, which was soon attacked by an irregular force of 3000 men, consisting of the Danes of this place and the troops of the princes of Decies and Idrone.

The English retreated from this formidable superiority of numbers into their fort, and the Irish pressing closely upon them were partly within their gates, when Raymond slew their leader; and his associates, animated by his example, compelled the assailants to retire. Raymond ordered a numerous herd of cattle collected by the English from the adjacent country to be driven furiously against the retiring army, which was thus thrown into confusion, and seizing the advantage, rushed with impetuosity upon the disordered troops and gained a complete victory, committed dreadful slaughter, and returned to the fort with 70 captives, all principal inhabitants of the city. These offered large sums for their ransom and promised to surrender the city as the price of their liberty; but Raymond, listening to the advice of Hervey de Montemarisco, adopted the barbarous policy of putting them all to death. Raymond and Hervey waited here for the arrival of Earl Strongbow, who, on the eve of the festival of St. Bartholomew, appeared in the harbour and landed with 200 knights and 1200 infantry, all chosen men and well-appointed soldiers. Strongbow was immediately joined by Raymond and his party, and on the following morning marched in military array to attack the city, which had received considerable reinforcements from the neighbouring chieftains, and was prepared for a vigorous defence.

The English were twice repulsed, and twice returned to the attack, when Raymond, perceiving a house of timber projecting from the eastern angle of the city walls, and supported on the outside by posts, prevailed on his men to make a third assault and direct their whole force against this quarter. They began by hewing down these posts, and the house falling, drew away with it such a portion of the walls as made a breach wide enough to admit the besiegers, who rushed in, bearing down all opposition, and the city became a scene of indiscriminate carnage and rapine. Reginald, King of the Danes, and Malachy O'Feolian, prince of Decies, had been seized and were just on the point of being put to death, when the sudden arrival of Dermod McMurrough, King of Leinster, and his forces, with Fitzstephen and other English leaders, prevented further slaughter. Dermod embraced his new associates, and introduced his daughter Eva to her affianced husband, Strongbow; the marriage having been immediately solemnized, he departed with his allies, and leaving a sufficient garrison in Waterford, proceeded to lay siege to Dublin.

Earl Strongbow, on his return from the conquest of that city, with the lordship of which he was invested, received a summons from Henry II., who was at that time in Normandy, to attend him: and leaving his forces quartered in Dublin and Waterford, he obeyed the summons, and offering to deliver up to the king these cities and other principal towns, on condition of having the remainder of his acquisitions confirmed to him and to his heirs, the king agreed to his proposals, and immediately prepared to follow him to Ireland. Henry's fleet, consisting of 240 vessels, having on board from 400 to 500 knights and 4000 soldiers, arrived in Waterford harbour in October, 1172; and on the festival of St. Luke, the king landed to take possession of the kingdom as its rightful sovereign, by virtue of Pope Adrian's bull, and was joyfully received by the English, and by the Irish nobility who were in alliance with them.

Strongbow immediately made a formal surrender to the king of the city of Waterford, and did homage to him for the principality of Leinster; and Henry received here the submission of the people of Wexford, and of Dermot McCarthy, King of Cork. He afterwards proceeded to Lismore, Cashel, Dublin, and other principal towns; and on his return to England, aware of its great importance as one of the principal maritime towns, he left the city of Waterford in the custody of Humphrey de Bohun, Robert Fitz-Bernard, and Hugh de Gundeville, with a train of twenty knights. A new garrison was soon afterwards placed in the city, which at the same time was greatly enlarged, and surrounded with new walls; the old fortifications were repaired and strengthened with towers and gates, and the inhabitants were also made freemen by royal charter. Strongbow being soon after invested with the sole government of Ireland, removed Robert Fitz-Bernard and his garrison to Normandy; and agreeably to the king's instructions, took upon himself the government of this city, as well as that of Dublin.

In all the predatory expeditions which the English made into the territories of the natives, this city was always the centre of action in the south, the general rendezvous of the invaders, and the place in which all their spoils were deposited; but Strongbow having sustained a considerable defeat in Ossory, suddenly found himself shut up here in equal dread of an attack from without and of an insurrection within. From this distress, however, he was speedily relieved by Raymond le Gros, who arrived from England with a fleet of twenty ships, having on board 20 knights, 100 horsemen, and 300 archers and other infantry; and uniting his forces with those of Strongbow, they marched to Wexford, leaving Purcell governor of the city. But Purcell attempting to follow them in a boat on the Suir, was intercepted and slain by the Danish inhabitants, who also put to death all the English in the city, except a few who saved themselves in Reginald's tower, where they defended themselves with so much resolution and success that the insurgents yielded up the city to them on conditions little favourable to themselves.

In 1177, soon after the arrival of Fitz-Andelm, as chief governor, in Ireland, an assembly of the Irish clergy was held in this city, in which the brief lately granted by Pope Alexander and the bull of Pope Adrian, granting to Henry II. the sovereignty of Ireland (under the authority of which the first act of that monarch was the appointment of Augustine to the vacant bishoprick of Waterford, whom he ordered to be consecrated by the archbishop of Dublin), were solemnly promulgated, and the English sovereign's title to the dominion of Ireland was declared in form, with dreadful denunciations against any who should impeach the grant made by the Pope, or resist the sovereign authority of that monarch. In 1179, Robert le Poer, who was governor of Waterford, was associated with Hugh de Lacy in the government of the English settlements, and subsequently received a grant of the entire county of Waterford, with the reservation of the city and the cantred of the Ostmen.

Waterford, from its situation and importance, became the centre of communication with England, as well as one of the chief places of trade in the island; and during the same year, Robert Fitzstephen, Milo de Cogan, and Philip de Braos landed here with fresh forces from England. In the Easter of 1185, John, Earl of Morton, son of Henry II., accompanied by Ralph Glanville, Justiciary of England, and other distinguished persons, and attended with a retinue of 400 or 500 knights and about 4000 men, disembarked at this port to take upon himself the office of Lord Chief Governor of Ireland, and was received with congratulation by the different native chiefs.

The earliest coinage in Waterford, of which indubitable evidence remains, is that of John, while Lord of Ireland, of which several silver halfpence, weighing from 10 to 10 ½ grains, are still preserved. After his accession to the throne of England, John granted to the citizens, in 1204, a fair for nine days, and in 1206 a charter of incorporation, apparently in many respects little more than a recital and confirmation of privileges previously granted. In 1211, that monarch landed here on his way to Dublin to arrange the affairs of the Irish Government; and during his stay in the city, he ordered pence, halfpence and farthings to be coined there, of the same standard as in England, to be equally current in both countries.

In the early part of this century were founded nearly all the religious houses that anciently existed here, of which the Benedictine priory of St. John's was by King John and the others by the inhabitants. In 1232, Henry III. granted a new charter, in which the election of a mayor is first mentioned: the citizens, by this charter, were also empowered to choose a coroner, and to have a guildhall, a prison, and a common seal in two portions. In 1252, the city was burned to the ground; and in 1280 it was so much injured by a conflagration, that it was a long time before it recovered its former prosperity. In 1292, the custody of the castle and of the county at large was granted to the heirs of Thomas Fitz-Anthony, in the same manner as it had been enjoyed during Edward's minority by John Fitz-Thomas, and subsequently by his cousin, Thomas Fitz-Maurice, from whom it had been recovered at law. Edward I. was the next sovereign after John that coined money here, and several of his pence and halfpence are still preserved.

On the 4th of September, 1368, the Poers of the county of Waterford having assembled all their forces, and being joined by O'Driscoll with his galleys and men, embarked with the intention of plundering the city. The mayor, informed of their design, prepared to resist them, and accompanied by the sheriff of the county, the master of the hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, and a number of merchant strangers and English, sailed towards the enemy in order to give them battle. A sanguinary conflict ensued, in which the Poers and O'Driscolls were victorious; the mayor, sheriff, master of the hospital, 36 of the principal citizens, and 60 of the merchant strangers and English were killed; on the side of the enemy were killed the Baron of Don Isle, head of the Poers, together with his brother and many of his sept, besides a great number of the O'Driscolls.

In 1377, in consideration of the heavy burdens and charges the citizens had sustained in the repairs of the city and in its defence against the native Irish and other enemies, Edward III. granted them the cocket customs of the port for ten years; at the same time enjoining them, as the city was exposed and defenceless towards the sea, to take care that it be firmly surrounded and provided, and that the quays be repaired and enclosed, so that it might be protected against various enemies who were preparing to attack it on that side. In consideration of the great expenses of the citizens in these fortifications, and in defending the city from the almost daily incursions of the Irish and of foreign enemies, Rd. II. granted them the customs and duties upon all goods and merchandise brought into it for sale. On the 2nd of October, 1394, that monarch landed at Waterford with an army of 4000 men-at-arms and 30,000 archers, accompanied by the Duke of Gloucester, the Earls of Nottingham and Rutland, and several other distinguished noblemen, and remained here till the following Shrovetide; and in 1399 he again lauded here and was joyfully received by the inhabitants; after spending six days in the city, he proceeded to Kilkenny.

In 1413, the mayor and bailiffs, in prosecution of their feud with the Irish sept of O'Driscoll, embarked with an armed force in one of the ships belonging to the city, and sailed to the chieftain's strong castle of Baltimore, on the coast of Cork, where they arrived on the night of Christmas-day. The mayor landed his men, and marching up to the castle gate, desired the porter to tell his lord that the mayor of Waterford was arrived in the haven with a vessel laden with wine, and would gladly come in to see him; upon the delivery of this message, the gate was opened, and the whole party instantly rushing in, O'Driscoll and all his family were made prisoners.

In 1447, the city and the county were granted to John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, created Earl of Waterford, with palatine authority; and in the same year also it was enacted by statute of the 25th of Henry VI., that it should be lawful for the mayor and citizens of Waterford to assemble what forces they pleased, and to ride in warlike array, with banners displayed, against the Powers, Walshes, Grants, and Daltons, who had for a long time been traitors and rebels, and continually preyed upon the king's subjects of Waterford and parts adjacent.

In 1460, O'Driscoll continuing his hostilities, all communication between his country and this or any of the English ports was rigidly prohibited by act of parliament. This chieftain, on the invitation of the Powers, whose hostility continued without intermission, brought his forces by sea to Tramore, on the first intelligence of which the mayor and citizens marched out in battle array to Ballymacdane, where they met with the enemy and gave them a signal defeat; 160 of their number were killed, and several taken prisoners, among whom were O'Driscoll-Oge and six of his sons, who with three of his galleys were brought in triumph to Waterford. Edward IV. was the last sovereign that coined money here; in the 15th of his reign, all the mints of Ireland were abolished except those of Waterford, Dublin, and Drogheda.

In 1484, a shipment by some merchants of Waterford to Sluys, in Flanders, in preference to Calais, raised the important question of Ireland's being bound by statutes made in England, which was finally decided in the affirmative.

In 1487, during the plot for raising Lambert Simnel to the throne, the citizens, while the insurrection in his favour was almost universal, maintained a firm and unshaken loyalty to Henry VII. The Earl of Kildare, then Lord-Deputy, having proclaimed him king in Dublin, sent to the mayor of Waterford, commanding him to receive the pretender and assist him with all his forces; to which, with the advice of the council, he wrote in reply, by a messenger of his own, that the citizens of Waterford regarded all the supporters of Simnel as rebels, on the receipt of which answer, the Earl ordered the messenger to be hanged. He then sent his herald to command the mayor and citizens to acknowledge and proclaim the new king, on pain of being hanged at their doors; this message they received in the boat, without allowing the herald to land, and sent back word that they hoped to save the false king and his adherents the trouble of coming so far for such a purpose, by meeting him on the road.

Preparations for battle were accordingly made, in which the Butlers and other septs then in the city, and men from several other towns, joined the mayor and citizens; but the departure of Simnel for England suspended further proceedings; he, however, assembled a parliament previously to his embarkation, in which he declared the franchises and the possessions of the city forfeited. Henry VII., to acknowledge the steady loyalty of the citizens, wrote a letter of thanks to them immediately after the battle of Stoke, and empowered them to seize the persons and appropriate the goods of as many of the insurgents as they could secure.

Sir Richard Edgcombe, who, after these disturbances, was sent with a considerable force to receive new oaths of allegiance from the leading men in Ireland, arrived in this city from Kinsale, in June, 1488, and was honourably entertained by the mayor and citizens, to whom he promised so to represent matters to the king that, in the event of the Earl of Kildare being again raised to authority, they should be secured from his resentment, by an exemption from his jurisdiction. In a parliament held in 1492, the citizens, who it was stated "had by false surmises been attainted, by authority of parliament, in the time of Gerald, Earl of Kildare, Lord-Deputy," were formally restored to the enjoyment of their grants, authorities, and privileges.

In 1497, they again testified their fidelity to the same sovereign, by communicating to the king intelligence of the arrival of Perkin Warbeck at Cork, on a second expedition against Ireland, and assuring him of their loyalty and affection: on this occasion, among other honours conferred upon the city, was the motto, Urbs intacta manet Waterford. Perkin, being joined by the Earl of Desmond and his numerous followers, immediately marched with an army of 2400 men to attack Waterford, which they assailed on the west; the siege lasted eleven days, during which time the citizens were victorious in several skirmishes. Eleven of the enemy's ships arrived at Passage during the siege, two of which landed their men at Lombard's weir; but they were quickly overpowered by the citizens, who killed many of them and carried several into the city as prisoners, and beheaded them in the market-place; one of the vessels was sunk in the river by the cannon on Reginald's tower, and the whole of the crew perished.

At length, on the 3rd of August, the enemy, before daybreak, raised the siege, and retired with great loss towards Ballycashin. Perkin embarked at Passage for England, but was pursued by the citizens with four of their ships to Cork, thence to Kinsale, and lastly to Cornwall. In acknowledgment of these distinguished services, the citizens received two letters from the king, in the first of which, previously to Perkin's apprehension, he offers them 1000 marks to secure him. In 1536, Henry VIII. wrote to the mayor and citizens by William Wyse, a gentleman of the city in high favour at court, and conferred on them a gilt sword and a cap of liberty to be borne before the mayor, which are still carefully preserved.

In 1547, Sir Edward Bellingham, who had been sent over by the Lord Protector and privy council of England, landed here with an army of 600 horse and 400 foot; and in 1549 the Lord-Deputy Sidney, who had encamped at Clonmel, and was apprehensive of being attacked by the insurgent chiefs, sent to the mayor for a few soldiers for three days; but the citizens pleading their privilege, refused him any assistance. In 1588, Duncannon was fortified, in consequence of an invasion of the Spaniards, who committed great depredations in the counties of Waterford and Wexford. In April, 1600, the Lord-Deputy came to Waterford, where he received the submission of some of the Fitzgeralds of the Decies and the Powers.

On the accession of James I., great disaffection prevailed in the city, and dangerous tumults arose at his proclamation. In consequence of these and of similar demonstrations of hostility, the Lord-Deputy Mountjoy made a progress into Munster, and arrived at Grace-Dieu, within the liberties of the city, on the 5th of May, 1603, and summoned the mayor to open the gates and admit him with his majesty's army into the city, to which the citizens replied that, by a charter of King John, they were exempt from having soldiers quartered upon them, and would admit only the Lord-Deputy himself. Two R. C. clergymen, in the habit of their order and bearing the cross erect, went into the deputy's camp to defend the conduct of the citizens; but the Lord-Deputy threatening "to draw King James' sword and cut the charter of King John to pieces, destroy the city and strew it with salt," the citizens opened their gates to him and his army, and swore allegiance to the new monarch; after which, leaving a strong garrison to keep them in subjection, Mountjoy departed.

In the civil war which commenced in 1641, this city experienced its full share of calamity. At the commencement of that year the city was, without any effort for its defence, surrendered to the son of Lord Mountgarret, and the country around it was laid waste by the insurgents, to whose cause the inhabitants were so attached, that the confederate Catholics had their printing-press here, under the conduct of a man named Bourke. In 1646, the pope's nuncio, with a view of setting aside the peace which had been concluded between the contending parties, summoned all the R. C. clergy to Waterford, on the ground of an apostolic visitation, and for the purpose of holding a national synod; but so opposed to the measure were the inhabitants, fearing it might compromise the interests of their religion, that when the heralds came from Dublin to proclaim it, no one would shew them the mayor's house, nor could they, after three days' stay, obtain from the proper functionaries any other answer than that the peace ought first to have been proclaimed in Kilkenny.

In 1649, Cromwell, having surprised Carrick, crossed the Suir to besiege Waterford; and although his army, from the fatigue it had undergone, did not amount to more than 5000 foot, 2000 horse, and 500 dragoons, the terror of his approach had such an effect on the citizens, who had refused to accept the troops offered to them by the Marquess of Ormonde, that they sent to consult that nobleman about the conditions on which they should surrender the city. The Marquess, however, assuring them that it rested only with themselves to do their duty and ensure their safety, they gladly accepted a reinforcement of 1500 men under General Farrel, and began to prepare for their defence. The siege commenced on the 3rd of October; and Ormonde, struggling against desertion and other difficulties, kept together some forces with which he hovered between the city and Clonmel.

The city being surrounded with batteries and other fortifications, was thought to be sufficiently defended; and Cromwell therefore adopted the plan of a tedious investment as the best mode of attack. On the 23rd, however, he despatched six troops of dragoons and four of horse to the town of Passage, about six miles to the south, and these taking possession of the fort which commanded the river at that place, cut off the communication between Waterford and the entrance of the harbour. The serious inconveniences resulting from the occupation of this post by the enemy, rendered it necessary to make an attempt for its recovery, for which purpose General Farrel marched with some troops, expecting to be assisted from the opposite side of the river by Colonel Wogan, of Duncannon Fort. He was, however, driven back by a strong force suddenly detached against him from Cromwell's army, and would have suffered great loss, but for the prompt covering of his retreat by the Marquess of Ormonde with a party of only 50 horse, the citizens having refused any facilities for conducting a larger body over the ferry.

After this failure, the Marquess offered to transport his troops from the north to the south side of the Suir, for the purpose of recovering that post and quartering them in huts under the walls, that they might not be burdensome to the city, but receive pay and provisions from the country; but this proposal was also rejected, and it was even moved in the council to seize Ormonde's person, and to attack his troops as enemies. Irritated at their obstinacy and ingratitude, Ormonde withdrew his army, and left the citizens to defend themselves, by their own resources, against the vigorous attacks of Cromwell; their courage giving way, they declared that, unless they received a reinforcement of troops and a supply of provisions, they could make no further resistance.

At length, when the assault was hourly expected, the Marquess appeared again with his forces on the north side of the Suir, and Cromwell having already lost about 1000 of his men by sickness and the chances of war, prepared to raise the siege. Ormonde now proposed to cross the river and attack the retreating army in the rear; but the citizens obstinately urged their objections, from an apprehension that the city might become the winter quarters of his army.

Early in the following June, Waterford was again besieged by the parliamentary forces under the command of General Ireton, on whose approach General Preston, then governor, sent to the Marquess of Ormonde to inform him that, unless supplies were immediately forwarded, he should be obliged to surrender; these, however, not being sent, the garrison was soon reduced to the greatest distress. Though the siege was begun early in June, Ireton did not summon the city to surrender till the 25th of July; soon after which the besieged made a sally, but were driven back with loss; and a party of musketeers being sent by the besiegers to burn the suburbs, the smoke being driven by the wind into the city, so terrified the besieged, that they thought the whole army had made an assault, and began to seek safety by the eastern gate.

Two brothers named Croker, who led the party that burnt the suburbs, under cover of the smoke which concealed the smallness of their number, scaled the walls and marched forward to the main guard, putting all they met to the sword. The besieged, firmly believing that the whole of Ireton's army had forced their way into the city, were seized with a panic, which enabled this small party to secure all their great guns, and march with them to the western gate, which they opened to their fellow soldiers, who immediately marched in. The citadel still held out, but after a protracted treaty surrendered on the 10th of August, upon terms favourable to the citizens generally, whose persons and property were guaranteed from injury. The violence of the parliamentarian army was chiefly directed against the churches, works of art, and remains of antiquity, not even the tombs of the dead being spared from mutilation.

From this period till the year 1656, the old government of the city by mayor and sheriffs was superseded by a government of commissioners appointed by Cromwell, whose most devoted partisans had supreme power in the city. Under these commissioners orders were issued prohibiting Catholics from trading within or without doors; high courts of justice were instituted here as in other cities, for the trial of persons concerned in the massacre of 1641; and under this usurped authority the public buildings, quays, streets, roads, and other works were generally improved.

Colonel Lawrence, the first governor under the parliament, was succeeded in that office by Colonel Leigh, to whom, and to the justices of the peace, the lord-deputy and council issued an order to apprehend forthwith all Quakers resorting to that city, and to ship them either from that port or from Passage, to Bristol, to be committed to the care of that city.

On the restoration, Richard Power was appointed governor of the county and city of Waterford; and on the revival of the corporation, the inhabitants petitioned the Duke of Ormonde to be admitted to the enjoyment of the franchise, notwithstanding religious differences; but so far from obtaining this object, it was ordered by the lord-lieutenant and council, in 1678, that, with the exception of some merchants, artificers, and others, they should be expelled from the city, though many were re-admitted. During the interval of peace from 1664 to 1681, the trade of the port continued to increase rapidly; the duties paid at the custom-house, at the former period, amounted to £7044, and at the latter to £14,826.

James II., on the day after the battle of the Boyne, arrived at this place, and immediately embarked for France in a ship which lay in the harbour ready to receive him. On the 20th of July, Major-General Kirk advanced with a body of forces from Carrick, and sent a trumpeter to the city to summon the garrison to surrender; this was first refused in mild terms, but soon after, the citizens sent to know the terms that would be granted, which, being the same as those offered to the garrison of Drogheda, were rejected. The garrison then demanded the enjoyment of their estates, the freedom of their religion, and liberty to march out with their arms and baggage, which being refused, preparations were made for a regular siege; but on the 25th the garrison was allowed to march out with arms and baggage, and was conveyed to Mallow. On the following day King William entered the city, and took measures to prevent the property of any person from being damaged; on his return from the siege of Limerick, he embarked at this port, on the 5th of September, for England.

At the close of this century the city is represented as being in a wretched condition; the houses in ruin, the streets filthy and uneven, and the roads extremely bad; but, under the management of successive mayors, it was greatly improved both in comfort and appearance early in the following century. In 1732, a tumultuous assembly rose to prevent the exportation of corn; another riotous meeting, occasioned by the scarcity of provisions, took place in 1744, when the military were called to suppress the riot, and several lives were lost. In the disturbances of 1798 the citizens took no part: several meetings of United Irishmen were held here, but the peace of the city was preserved by the victory obtained over the insurgents at Ross.

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