as rare as virtue in Dublin Castle.

Hugh de Lacy returned in 1203, but King John, his fears aroused by the viceroy's introduction of special coinage, recalled him in 1204, and for the space of a year Fitz-Henry occupied the viceregal position. In 1205 the king issued instructions for the erection of a new Dublin Castle. De Lacy, however, had powerful friends, and in 1205 he came back once more, and ruled the English colony for five years, until King John landed at Waterford on June 20, 1210, when, of course, the vice-royalty ceased for the time being. De Lacy, more courageous and skilful than his father, had carried war into the enemy's camp, and had done something towards extending the boundaries of England's dominions beyond the frontiers of Dublin. He instituted a system of taxation which was very profitable to him and to his royal master, but it exasperated the Irish to such an extent that they rose in rebellion. The opposing forces met at Thurles in 1208, and the result was a signal defeat for De Lacy. The coming of King John, who did not conceal his distrust of the viceroy, caused De Lacy to concentrate his forces with a view to impressing the king. Fortune, however, was on the side of John, and De Lacy fled the country. There are many legends recounting the adventures of the once powerful nobleman. He and his brother are said to have laboured as brickmakers and gardeners in Normandy and Scotland, and suffered many other indignities.

Papal supremacy

King John's stay in Ireland was brief, as the critical state of his kingdom required his presence in England. He left behind him as his representatives Guillaume, Earl of Salisbury—an illegitimate son of Henry II. by the fair Rosemond Clifford—and De Grey, Bishop of Norwich. In 1213 they were succeeded by Henry de Londres, Archbishop of Dublin, a powerful prelate and an unscrupulous statesman. He was given the post because of his influence with the Pope, and John's first task for his new viceroy was to send him to Rome to induce the occupant of the Papal throne to side with him against the barons. Geoffery de Marreis, a follower of the Archbishop's, acted as his deputy during his absence abroad. The deputy robbed friend and foe alike, but eventually the trades-people of Dublin petitioned the king because De Marreis would not pay his debts and added insult to injury by compelling the traders of the city to give him further credit. King Henry III. was on the throne now, and he ordered his representative to pay all his debts within forty days. Furthermore, he was placed under the authority of the Archbishop of Dublin, Henry de Londres, who had helped to make history by forming one of the barons and ecclesiastics who compelled King John to sign the Magna Charta. The archbishop was the most powerful Englishman in the kingdom of Ireland, and, as the representative of the Pope, took precedence of the representative of the king. In 1221 he was appointed viceroy, and then ensued the usual conflict between the civil and religious powers that is inevitable when churchmen turn politicians. The English colony complained to Henry that his viceroy was unable to cope with the insurgents, and they prayed for a more warlike governor. Guillaume Marechal, eldest son and heir of the first Earl of Pembroke, and afterwards second earl, was sent to Ireland as viceroy in 1224, but this brother-in-law of the king's did not find the country to his liking, and he departed in favour of Geoffery de Marreis, whose third term of office began in 1226 and ended the following year.

This viceroyalty was the first to which a definite salary was given, the sum of £580 a year being set aside for the use of Geoffery de Marreis. Richard de Burgh followed De Marreis until, in 1229, Maurice Fitzgerald assumed the reins of government. Fitzgerald was born in Ireland, and was the first Anglo-Irishman to become Viceroy of Ireland. His viceroyalty extended over fifteen years, though at intervals the government was in the hands of Geoffery de Marreis and Richard de Burgh for a few months. The viceroy was given a salary of £500 a year, and unlimited authority to rob the native Irish, and even the English colony, provided he sent part of the proceeds to London to help to pay the king's debts and finance wars. But he fell from grace in 1245, and was dismissed, the reason given being his dilatoriness in bringing reinforcements to his royal master in Wales. Jean Fitz-Geoffery was appointed his successor, and during the ensuing ten years the government was nominally vested in him, minor changes occurring from time to time. The next viceroy, Alain de la Zouche, reigned for four years (1255-59), and died as the result of an assault made upon him by the Earl of Warrene and Surrey in Westminster Hall, while his successor, Etienne, who had married the widow of the second Hugh de Lacy, was murdered in 1260.

The next half-dozen viceroys are summed up easily. Guillaume le Dene (1260-61), Sir Richard de la Rochelle (1261-66), Jean Fitz-Geoffery for the third time (1266-67), Sir Robert D'Ufford (1268 and 1276-82), Richard D'Exeter (1269), and Jacques D'Audeley (1270-72). The majority were adventurers and favourites of the king, and few could claim possession of the soldier-like qualities which were needed at the time. Sir Robert D'Ufford was an exception, but he spent most of his time fighting abroad in the service of the King of England. Maurice Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald, signalized a brief viceroyalty, extending from 1272-73, by marching into the territory of the O'Connors, and promptly being made a prisoner. The vacancy thus created was filled by Geoffery de Joinville, who held the post for three years.

Sir Jean Wogan

Jean de Saundford, Archbishop of Dublin (1288-90), was one of the numerous deputies who governed the English colony between 1282 and 1290. These deputies were mainly ecclesiastics, for England's unsettled state and numerous wars called every leading warrior away from Ireland. Sir Guillaume de Vesci (1290-93), Guillaume de la Haye (1293), Guillaume D'Ardingselles (1294), Thomas Fitzmaurice (1294-95) paved the way for Sir Jean Wogan, who was viceroy for thirteen years, and who did more to establish the authority of England than any of his predecessors. When Wogan was appointed the chief source of danger to the English colonists was the feud between the two great Anglo-Irish families, the Fitzgeralds and the De Burghs. Wogan, however, succeeded in bringing them together, and they agreed to a truce. The viceroy was also fairly successful against the natives, but he made no additions to the territory over which England nominally held sway. In 1308 Sir Guillaume de Burgh was appointed to succeed Wogan, but an unexpected development occurred, and Edward II., urged on by his advisers, nominated his Gascon favourite, Piers de Gaveston, to the post. This was virtually an act of banishment, and the gay Gascon regarded it as such, but for the time he had to accept the post, which was regarded by the wealthy English barons as tantamount to exile. Ireland was not a garden of pleasant memories to the English warriors. Not one of them who had tried his skill in the country had added to his laurels, and, consequently, the only men who would accept the viceroyalty or any of the posts attached to the Dublin Castle Government were the "needy adventurers" who stood to lose nothing and gain something. From time to time the English colony petitioned the king not to send these 'needy adventurers,' but there were no others to fill the vacancies that arose.

Piers de Gaveston's case was an exception. Edward II. had advanced him to the Earldom of Cornwall, and the barons were jealous of him. They plotted against his life, but the king stood by his favourite, and