The Irish of English descent were made to feel their position painfully at the close of this reign, and this might have led the new settlers to reflect, if capable of reflection, that their descendants would soon find themselves in a similar condition.  The commons presented a petition complaining of the extortions and injustices practised by the Deputies, some of whom had left enormous debts unpaid.  They also represented the injustice of excluding Irish law students from the Inns of Court in London.  A few years previous (A.D. 1417), the settlers had presented a petition to Parliament, praying that no Irishman should be admitted to any office or benefice in the Church, and that no bishop should be permitted to bring an Irish servant with him when he came to attend Parliament or Council.  This petition was granted; and soon after an attempt was made to prosecute the Archbishop of Cashel, who had presumed to disregard some of its enactments.

Henry VI. succeeded to the English throne while still a mere infant, and, as usual, the “Irish question” was found to be one of the greatest difficulties of the new administration.  The O’Neills had been carrying on a domestic feud in Ulster; but they had just united to attack the English, when Edward Mortimer, Earl of March, assumed the government of Ireland (A.D. 1425).  He died of the plague the following year; but his successor in office, Lord Furnival, contrived to capture a number of the northern chieftains, who were negotiating peace with Mortimer at the very time of his death.  Owen O’Neill was ransomed, but the indignation excited by this act served only to arouse angry feelings; and the northerns united against their enemies, and soon recovered any territory they had lost.

Donough MacMurrough was released from the Tower in 1428, after nine years’ captivity.  It is said the Leinster men paid a heavy ransom for him.  The young prince’s compulsory residence in England did not lessen his disaffection, for he made war on the settlers as soon as he returned to his paternal dominions.  The great family feud between the houses of York and Lancaster, had but little effect on the state of Ireland.  Different members of the two great factions had held the office of Lord Justice in that country, but, with one exception, they did not obtain any personal influence there.  Indeed, the Viceroy of those days, whether an honest man or a knave, was sure to be unpopular with some party.

The Yorkists and Lancastrians were descended directly from Edward III.  The first Duke of York was Edward’s fifth son, Edmund Plantagenet; the first Duke of Lancaster was John of Gaunt, the fourth son of the same monarch.  Richard II. succeeded his grandfather, Edward III., as the son of Edward the Black Prince, so famed in English chivalry.  His arrogance and extravagance soon made him unpopular; and, during his absence in Ireland, the Duke of Lancaster, whom he had banished, and treated most unjustly, returned to England, and