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Sir Geoffrey Fenton and the office of secretary of state for Ireland, 1580–1608

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2016

Judith Barry
Judith Barry*
Affiliation:
Department of History, Trinity College Dublin
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Extract

In May 1560 a new office was established in the Irish administration, the first to be introduced in almost twenty years. It was that strange creation, the office of secretary of state for Ireland. The chief inspiration behind its foundation was Thomas Radcliffe, earl of Sussex, and it is clear from his writings on the subject that he believed some special office of this kind was needed if the policy of reestablishing English government in Ireland was to be implemented successfully.

Type
Research Article
Information
Irish Historical Studies , Volume 35 , Issue 138 , November 2006 , pp. 137 - 159
Copyright
Copyright © Irish Historical Studies Publications Ltd 2006

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References

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74 White to Burghley, 29 Jan. 1590 (Cal. S.P. Ire., 1588–92, p. 302).

75 Acts privy council, 1590, p. 239.

76 Fenton’s ‘Notes to be considered touching the earl of Tyrone’, May/June 1590 (P.R.O., SP 63/152/41 i).

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86 Note delivered by Patrick Crosby, 10 Jan. 1596 (Cal. S.P. Ire., 1592–96, p. 447).

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107 Moryson, Itinerary, pt 2, p. 289.

108 Fenton to Cecil, 14 Feb. 1599 (P.R.O., SP 63/203/49).

109 Fenton to Cecil, 8 Mar. 1601 (ibid., SP 63/208, pt 1/69).

110 Fenton to Cecil, 20 Apr. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202, pt 2/16); Fenton to Burghley, 23 Apr. 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202, pt 2/20).

111 Fenton to Cecil, 25 June 1598 (ibid., SP 63/202, pt 2/83).

112 Fenton to Cecil, 15 Feb. 1599 (ibid., SP 63/203/48).

113 Fenton to Cecil, 20 Jan. 1601 (ibid., SP 63/208, pt 3/11)

114 Fenton to Cecil, 12 Oct. 1601 (ibid., SP 63/209/146).

115 Fenton to Cecil, 3 Sept 1601 (ibid., SP 63/209/54); Fenton to Cecil, 5 Sept. 1601 (ibid., SP 63/209/61); Fenton to Cecil, 11 Sept. 1601 (ibid., SP 63/209/68).

116 Fenton to Cecil, 13 Aug. 1602 (ibid., SP 63/209/26).

117 Fenton to Cecil, 19 Nov. 1603 (ibid., SP 63/215/165).

118 Fenton to Cecil, 19 Apr. 1603 (ibid., SP 63/215/35).

119 Moryson, Itinerary, pt 3, p. 310.

120 Fenton to Cecil, 19 Apr. 1603 (P.R.O., SP 63/215/35); Fenton to Cecil, 14 Aug. 1603 (ibid., SP 63/215/88); Fenton to Cecil, 12 Feb. 1604 (ibid., SP 63/216/31); Fenton to Cecil, June 1604 (H.M.C., Salisbury, xvi, 121); McCavitt, John, Sir Arthur Chichester: lord deputy of Ireland, 1605–1616 (Belfast, 1998), pp 113–14Google Scholar. McCavitt argues that Chichester’s deep distrust of the recusant community developed during this period.

121 Fenton to Salisbury, 9 Sept. 1607 (P.R.O., SP 63/222/130).

122 Quoted in Quinn, ‘Munster plantation’, p. 36.

123 McCavitt, Chichester, pp 306–10.

124 Fenton to Salisbury, 23 Sept. 1607 (P.R.O., SP 63/222/141); Fenton to Salisbury, 23 Apr. 1608 (ibid., SP 63/223/85).

125 John Guy, Introduction: ‘The 1590s: The second reign of Elizabeth I’ in idem (ed.), Reign of Elizabeth I, pp 1–19.