Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-08-05
SIR WALTER RA1E1aHs HOME AT YouGHA1, IRELAND
Boyle, the second Earl of Cork. and were
retained by that family after his death.
The Countess of Desmond.


retained by that family after his death.
The Countess of Desmond.
Lady Desmond, the widow of the great
earl who, until his treason, was the rich
est man in Ireland. and Queen Eliza
beth's wealthiest subject" had also pre-
viously been compelled. by her poverty. to
apply for a pension. Upon the recon-
mendation Of Sir Walter Raleigh, Queen
Elizabeth allowed 600 a year to this
lady of prfncely castles and fair gardens,
whose gown of cloth of gold is referred
to in one of Raleigh's letters. The royal
warrant granting the pension. above the
bold autograph of Elizabeth. is now
among many other interesting relics in
the old house at Youghal.
Lady Desmond is buried in the ancient
Church of st. Mary's which occupies the
adjoining ground She lies in a recess in
the south wall, with her effigy carved
upon her sarcophagus. Her lege lord.
the great Earl of Desmond. lies in a
the opposite wall. although he lost his
head in the Tower of London. Why the
husband should rest on one side Of the
church and the wife on the other has
never been explained.
She must have been very remarkable
old lady. for. according to the record.
she lived more than 40 years. She mar
ried Thomas Fitzgerald eighth Earl Of
Desmond. in 1908. His estates were con-
fiscated for Raleigh in 1886. Raleigh saw
her in 1889. and her pension was granted
in $685. Robert Sydney. second Earl Of
Leicester. refers to her about 1910. when
he was ambassador at Paris. as follows:
THE old Countess of Desmond was a
England. and lived till toward the end Of
queen Elizabeth so she must needles be
neare one hundred and forty yeares old
She had new sett of teeth. not long
q loot ND f-I<
much longer had she not NETT with a
kinde of violent death: for she would
needles climbe nut tree to gather nuts:
SO. falling down. she hurte her thigh,
which brought a fever. and that fever
F1tzwilliam. tolde me-
Vast Estates Confiscated.
The wealth of the Earl of Desmond at
the time of his rebellion may be Judged
from the fact that 100000 acres of his
property were confiscated in County Cork.
$4,000 acres in County Limerick and over
a million acres in Tipperary. All of this
area. by virtue of proclamation, revert
ed to the crown and was divided by
Queen Elizabeth among her favorites and
the "undertakers." who agreed to settle
the lands exclusively with Englishmen
and drive out the Irish entirely There
were other conditions also. These ''un-
English
and discourage the Irish in every way
possible, and no natives of Ireland were
to be allowed upon their possessions
What became of the doomed people no
one cared. Some sought homes elsewhere
and faced hardship and want; others re-
manned in the neighborhood and carried
on guerrilla warfare against the intrud-
ers. They frightened and harassed the
new settlers so much that many of them
returned to England. Some of them. how
ever. defended their titles and the estates
still remain in possession Of their poster
ity. In other cases the original owners
returned with their clansmen, took Dos
session and have kept 1t still
Disaster, Desolation, Death.
From beginning to end this under
taker" experience was the cause of fright
full bloodshed and misery to both natives
and settlers and left posterity a disas-
trous legacy of hatred and strife. The
war made the kingdom of Munster a
desert. In the Annals of the Four Mas
ters 1t is said: THE lowing of a COW or
the voice of a plowman can scarcely be
heard from Dunqueen, in the west OF
Kerry, to Cashel." Edmund Spenser. the
ers." wrote that 'in short space of time
there we're almost no people left, and
a most populous and plentiful country
suddenly was left void OF man and beast -
The Earl of Desmond is said to have
owned thirty castles, and fed to one from
the other, accompanied by his faithful
wife. who never left him except OCCASION
ally when she went to intercede for him
with his enemies.
His grandson, William Fielding. was
made Earl Of Denbigh in the English
peerage by Charles / as a reward for his
loyalty, and the family has been known
since by the latter title. He was mortally
wounded in a sharp skirmish at the head
&hn inn a got ,cf 4.
battle near Birmingham and died soon
after. His son attended Charles 1 to the
scanold and received from his sovereign
a few moments before his execution a ring
In which his majesty's miniature was set.
That ring is now In possession of the
family.
The present earl is Rudolph Robert
Basil Aloisus Augustine Fielding. who
was born in 1859 and married in 1884 to
the daughter of Lord Clifford He was a
lord in waiting to Queen Victoria for sew
eral years until her death. and is now a
lord In waiting to his majesty King Ed
ward. He served as aid-de-camp to the
Marquis of Londonderry when the latter
was lord lieutenant Of Ireland.
Canon Hayman. who was curate of st.
Mary's Church at Youghai for many years
and made thorough Investigation Of
the history Of the town and the church
and all the remarkable incidents that
have occurred there '3rom the beginning
Of time" tells us the old Countess Of
Desmond was 1870 years old when she
went to see Queen Elizabeth about her
pension, and she walked all the way from
Bristol to London because she was too
poor to hire conveyance. The young
man who showed US about st. Mary's
Church added another item to the already
interesting story. He said her daughter.
who was ninety years Of age. made the
trip with her. but became 90 weak and
weary that the countess had to carry her
on her back. which seems to be spreading
It OH little thick.
In the garden Of Myrtle Lodge Sir WAL
ter Raleigh nlAnted nrohallx In thu ,ze.a =