@Kynan how is Alfred I related to the others? I tried following the portion you mentioned but couldn’t follow it 
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@Kynan how is Alfred I related to the others? I tried following the portion you mentioned but couldn’t follow it
Mary's sisters grandson if I followed.
[11]What If Henry VIII successfully had Henry Fitzroy made King of Ireland in 1529:
1529 - 1546: Henry I (House of Fitzroy) [1]
1546 - 1555: Henry II (House of Fitzroy) [2]
1555 - 1589: John I (House of Fitzroy) [3]
1589 - 1605: Edward I (House of Fitzroy) [4]
1605 - 1623: Margaret I (House of Fitzroy) [5]
1623 - 1657: Henry III (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [6]
1657 - 1701: John II/Sean II (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [7]
1701 - 1719: Phillip I (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [8]
1719 - 1750: Mary (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [9]
1750 - 1779: Alfred I (House of Fitzroy-Waterford) [10]
1779 - 1823: Margaret II (House of Fitzroy-Waterford) [11]
Henry VIII appointed his bastard son as the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1529. Henry wished to name him King of Ireland but his counsellors strenuously objected and it took several months after being made Lord Lieutenant before he was made King of Ireland in actuality.
Fitzroy was 10 when made King so whilst he was King, the country was run by his father's advisors, notably William Skeffington who was given guardianship of the young King. When he turned 18 in 1537, Skeffington was made Private Secretary for a brief period before his death.
Henry had been provisionally betrothed to Mary Howard in 1533, but the offer of Madeleine of Valois' hand in marriage was too good for Skeffington and Henry VIII to refuse, and the pair were betrothed in 1533, then married when Henry reached majority.
A child was born in 1538, so the nascent Kingdom of Ireland had an heir. Two more children were born in the next five years. However when Henry dies in 1546, at the age of only 27, none of his children had yet reached majority and the question of succession would read it's ugly head.
Henry would be succeeded by Henry, his eldest son.
[2] The eldest of the two sons of Henry I of Ireland and his wife; Madeline of Valois, Henry was destined for the Irish Crown from birth, and from the death of his father, he would embrace this role.
During his short reign of nine years, Henry II sought to expand the power of the Irish court, and to do so, he sought allies in the form of the French, who he would seek to marry, namely himself to his first cousin; Louise of Valois, and his younger brother; Prince John of Ireland, to another cousin, Margaret of Savoy.
Henry II was a man of true piety, and it would be his choice to travel to Rome where he received the Golden Rose from his holiness, and it would be on the return journey from Rome, in 1555, where Henry II would fall ill at the age of 17.
For the entirety of his reign, Henry had simply been a rubber-stamp for the regency of Anthony St Leger, and upon his death, the Regent of Ireland would continue his rule.
[3] King John was 14 when his brother died, and would spend the first few years of his reign under the regency of Anthony St.Leger, who became known as King Anthony for his hypnotic hold on the King. Part of St.Leger's power was the new King's inclination for both sexes in the bedroom, which the regent immediately recognized. He installed his nephew, Matthew, as the King's confidant turned lover.
All that changed in early 1558, when the King's wife Margaret of Savoy arrived in Dunmore. The new Queen was a rather authoritative figure who saw the regent as the cap on her and her husband's power at court. When she birthed her first child, Madeline, the King asked what she wished: her answer was to send Anthony St.Leger from the court (she also tried unsuccessfully to send away Matthew). The King obliged, causing such a shock to St.Leger that gossipers at the time blamed the incident for his failing health and eventual death the next year.
The remaining years of John's reign were most well known for the power struggle between Margaret (who favored a Catholic, pro-French policy) and Matthew (a closet reformer who preferred and English alliance). As one sharp-witted courtier wrote, "King John has two Queens". This battle extended to the children's education as Margaret attempted to have the children brought up by Catholic priests, while Matthew favored secular tutors, writing to the King "do you want to teach the children you are damned to hell's fiery pits". The children (who grew up at the same court in Dublin) ended up receiving wildly varying educations depending on who had the King's favor each year. For example, the King's eldest daughter Madeline was sent away to be educated by the nuns on the request of her mother. Her sister Louise, only two years younger, instead received a humanist education resembling those of Henry VIII's children, as encouraged by her father's lover.
In the end, King John would be brought down by his love of sex, dying from complications of syphilis. In response to John's reign, his heir Prince Edward, decided to make Ireland a country with no state religion.
4) Edward was John's second son, with the eldest predeceasing his father by several years. This was still sufficient time for Edward, who had been brought up by his mother but then trained for courthood by his father's advisors. Edward had hated the manner in which religion had creates a rift between his parents, and caused him to doubt his own abilities - and therefore be signed a bill of religious freedom. Each Irish citizen would be free to practice their own religion, free from persecution - this brought conflict with the Pope, but Edward found support from his great aunt, Queen Elizabeth of England during the Irish Primacy Scandal of 1595. Because he did not outright reject Roman Catholicism, the Pope accepted the decision of the Irish state on the agreement that Edward would pay certain taxes to the Vatican. Edward reluctantly agreed, but claimed all land as royal land and then charged the Irish monasteries rent which he used to pay the taxes.
He married Countess Anna of Nassau, a daughter of William the Silent, Prince of Orange in 1583 and they had two children before Anna died in 1588 during childbirth with their third, a daughter.
He subsequently married Maria of Saxe-Weimar in 1590 and she provided him with several children.
In 1603 when Elizabeth of England died, he was briefly considered for the English throne and considered the lead claimant by Elizabeth herself, but there were objections from the English nobility to a bastard line claiming the Crown when a legitimate claimant existed in the King of Scotland.
At any rate, he died in 1605 after catching pneumonia whilst inspecting the construction of a cathedral in Dublin, intended as the Irish Notre Dame, and his eldest daughter, Princess Margaret, took the throne.
[5] The eldest child from Edward I’s marriage to Anna of Nassau, and the first Queen of Ireland. Of the seven daughters of Edward I, Margaret would be the most ardently catholic, opposing her mothers Protestantism and her fathers own ambivalence towards the matter.
Prior to her taking the throne, the Princess would marry Infante Ferdinand of Spain, and the year of her taking the crown of Ireland, she would give birth to her first son and heir; Prince Henry of Ireland.
The first major note of her reign was the completion of the Dublin Cathedral. A massive and baroque cathedral symbolising the piety and Catholicism of Ireland. Her second action would be forcing her younger half-sisters, “The Irish Quintet” to sign away all claim to the throne of Ireland. The younger ones would agree, and be placed in small manorial homes, while the elder of the daughters of Maria of Saxe-Weimar; Maria Anna of Ireland would attempt to fight for her “claim” to the throne. The rebellion of Maria Anna was short lived, and recognised by no other government. From 1610 to 1612, the Protestant revolt would flutter around the Irish countryside, until her capture at Derry. She would be hung in Dublin, alongside the other ringleaders of the revolt. With the settling of the revolt, the reign of Margaret and her husband, who would take the title of Prince-Consort, would be secure.
For the next few years, Ireland simply recovered from the deep split in her loyalties, and another Son and two daughters would be born to the union of Margaret and Ferdinand.
Upon the death of Margaret in 1623, the house of Fitzroy would end, and the House of Hapsburg would inherit the Irish Kingdom.
[6] The Eldest son of Margaret I and Prince-Consort Ferdinand of Ireland, Henry was born in 1605. During his mothers reign, the young prince was often at his mothers side, and became a similarly devout Catholic, perhaps even more so.
In 1619, at the age of fourteen, the Crown Prince of Ireland would marry his paternal cousin; Eleanor of Austria, daughter of his fathers sister. Upon his mothers death, Henry would be crowned in the Dublin Cathedral, started by his grandfather, and he would take the dynastic name “Hapsburg-Eire”.
Between 1627 and 1646, Henry III would have 17 children by his three wives, firstly Eleanor of Austria until her death in 1631, followed by Marie of France until her death in Childbirth in 1642, and then Charlotte de Montespard, who he would take as his Morganatic wife.
The rule of Henry III was a peaceful reign, with the centralisation of the Irish court, and the Colonisation of the Irish Virgin Islands, and upon his death in 1657, Henry III would be succeeded by John II.
[7] John II of Ireland was the third son of Henry III's large brood and spent much of his life never expecting to become King, he was made Duke of Ulster and was raised with the expectation of serving his eldest brother, Henry, Prince of Leinster, however when he and John's second brother Prince Adam died in a boating accident when John was 28 saw the third son thrust into the spotlight. Unmarried at that point his father arranged a marriage for his new heir, Princess Marie-Anne of Orleans, however no children were produced by this marriage.
When Henry III died, John II became a King without an heir.
While England and Scotland convulsed in the throws of the British Civil War between King Frederick Henry I, the Parliamentarians, and Scottish Dissidents, John II focused on continuing Ireland's colonial projects, and supported the arts and the promotion of native Irish culture, both at home, and in the court, he was the first Irish monarch to learn the Irish Language (the court having retained the Tudor English of the Fitzroy's), and began signing documents not as 'John' but as 'Sean'.
When Sean II's first wife died, the King tried again with a second wife, Zofia Opalińska, a Polish noblewoman, this marriage also failed to produce any children.
Giving up hope of having heirs of his own body, Sean II focused on his brothers, the majority of whom had been left as bachelors by their father due to a lack of prospects. While their Hapsburgs relatives on the continent showed signs of dying out, the next six men behind Sean II in line for the throne were married and had more success in bedroom than their brother, some sneeringly called Sean 'Dry-Seed'.
The British Civil War ground down to a brutal halt when Frederick Henry I was captured by Parliamentarians and ultimately executed, horrifying the monarchies of Europe, a collation was formed, led by Louis XIV, Sean II joined the powers of Europe in the first invasion of the British Isles since William the Conqueror. The Invasion phase of the British Civil War saw the end of the Parliamentarians as a military force, their leaders (such as Oliver Cromwell) were executed, and the Kingdom of Great Britain was divided back into the separate Kingdoms of England (under Henry IX) and Scotland (under Charles I).
Sean II then spent the remainder of his life focused on building a new royal palace, as Dublin Castle was seen by Sean as 'too modest', the Caisleán Mhanderley (Manderley Castle) would be seen as an architectural wonder, seen by contemporaries as the nearest royal palace to rival Versailles.
Sean II witnessed the completion of Manderley Castle and lived in his finest work for six months before dying childess, passing the crown to his brother, Prince Albert Phillip of Ireland, otherwise known as Phillip I of Ireland
[8] Born in 1639, the eldest of the two sons of Henry III from his marriage to Marie de France. As a Prince, he was originally destined for a Ecclesiastical career, and from 1659 until 1690 he wore the Cardinal’s hat.
In 1690 however the Prince’s world was shaken. The death of his elder brother; Prince Edward, placed Albert Phillip as the heir to the Irish crown. Receiving permission from his Holiness, he would give up the Cardinals cap, and would take a wife with both his Brothers and Papal Blessing. He would marry Cecilia of Bavaria, and in 1693, the pair would welcome their first child, Mary.
Upon his brothers death in 1701, Prince Albert Phillip would return from his estates in Rome, which he had received as a gift from his Holiness for his service, and be crowned as Phillip I of Ireland. At his crowning, he was already 61, and was known to be gout ridden.
Unlike his brother, John II, Phillip was no lover of the Irish culture, seeing it as contradictory to Catholic belief, and he would establish the Jure Successionis, placing the succession laws of Ireland in writing. The Statute stated that the Monarch of Ireland must be catholic, disregarding the sons of his fathers third and last marriage, as those individuals had been noted Protestants.
By 1719, Phillip I was Eighty years old, and dying slowly, when suddenly on the fifth of August, the King suddenly died. Rumours of murder and assassination filled the court, and the King was succeeded by Mary, Princess of Leinster.
[9] Mary was born in 1693, the eldest of three sisters, named after the Virgin Mary at her father's insistance and later used it as her regnal name, at her father's dying wishes. She was betrothed and later married to Antoine, Dauphin of France, later crowned Louis Antoine, King of France. Much like her early years on her father's estates in Italy, and her ten years in France, this meant that she spent much of her life outside of Ireland. Far from being a stranger in her own country, this made her a relative celebrity and she returned to Dublin with French fashion and cuisine to introduce to society. The major problem with Mary was her marriage - should any of her son's survive her husband, they would be made King of France, and should they survive her, it would result in a Franco-Gaelic union which many Irish nobles were not enamoured by. A movement developed that would allow the eldest child to accept France, whilst the next eldest would accept Ireland (as Hapsburg-Eire was a cadet branch, and Bourbon held seniority) but Mary resisted this, but agreed that whilst France practiced succession by the male line only, Ireland would practice male preference primogeniture and allow succession to fall on females. This was, it seemed, satisfactory for Mary's counsellors and the objections ceased.
Mary and Louis Antoine spent their time mostly separate once she became Queen, she would visit France annually but for the rest of the year, Louis Antoine would spend time with his mistresses and father, it was claimed, two dozen children between them, though he only recognised one, Antoine, Count of Paris, and attempted to convince his wife that Antoine should marry one of their youngest daughters. Mary fiercely resisted, and refused to see her husband for two years.
For her own part, Mary became enamoured with the Ambassador to Morocco and it was rumoured they developed a sexual relationship which may have resulted in a daughter. Ironically, it was rumoured that this daughter then married the Count of Paris, allowing her a presence at the French Court in the presence of her "mothers" semi estranged husband.
It was later recounted in a poem entitled "The Tale of the Two Bastards" which was subsequently adapted into a French language movie in 1995, directed by Jean Pierre Jeunet, with Keanu Reeves as the Count of Paris, and Vanessa Paradis as Mary FitzMary. Isabelle Huppert would play Queen Mary of Ireland.
After the minor scandals of her reign, Mary died aged 57 in 1750, to be succeeded by her grandnephew, Lord Alfred Fitzroy, Duke of Waterford.
Alfred I, King of Ireland (c.1751)
[8] Lord Alfred, Duke of Waterford became heir-apparent to the Irish throne in 1745, after the death of Queen Mary's younger son, Charles-Philippe, of various venereal diseases. The new heir, a young boy of 4, was at this time being raised by his great-grandmother, Hannah Beaumont, a rich Scottish Noblewoman who had married the Duke of Waterford, a cousin to the royal family from an illegitimate son King John I of Ireland. Her own son, the infamous rogue Bernard Fitzroy, had married the Irish Queen's sister, the deformed Princess Catherine, and had thus fathered Alfred's father, Richard Fitzroy. Now, the story of how Richard Fitzroy married the Princess Helene of Ireland, the only child of the deceased Sean, Prince of Leinster, and by the agreement formed between France and Ireland, heiress to the Irish throne, is a convoluted one, but essentially, the Irish court demanded that she marry domestically, and while she had other cousins, the dumpy Richard seemed the least offensive option. And so they had married, and the Fitzroy line returned. The young Princess, fiercely unhappy in her life, became pregnant quickly (possibly to her husband's cousin, another handsome rogue in the vein of Bernard Fitzroy) and died giving birth to the young Alfred. This boy, the last Irish Prince not in line for the French throne, became the Queen's heir, although she refused to grant him the title Prince of Leinster.
The Queen of Ireland took scant interest in her successor, leaving his rearing to his great-grandmother, the formidable Dowager Duchess of Waterford ("Dowager" as of 1747) and he, along with his cousins, John William Fitzroy and Cecile Marie Fitzory, grew up in the idyllic Waterford estate. He was poorly educated during this time, although he did enjoy history lessons via his grandmother, and learnt book keeping at her side. But Hannah Beaumont felt a literary education, one of languages and other such things, would fill the boy's head with nonsense. Instead, she taught him to balance a budget, to know his lineage and to expect respect from the those around him. His only peers were, in her eyes, herself and his cousins, learning at her steady hand.
His accession was simple enough. While Louis-Antoine made some pointed noises of disapproval, once his son and heir had recognised his abdication, he wasn't going to let his great-grandson's crown leave his head. Instead, the King made his first visit to Ireland in decades, for a 2 month stay that taught him that he liked the Dowager Duchess of Waterford, and he even had the King's father married to Marie Charlotte de Guise, who was probably his illegitimate daughter. Richard Fitzory would go on to father another son, before dying of a heart attack in his 30's.
The court of Dublin, having seen some relaxation under Queen Mary, found itself tightly bound by convention by the will of the Dowager Duchess, who enacted a strict schedule that her grandson would continue for the rest of his life. He arose before sunrise, and for two hours before his official "awakening ceremony", spent that time eating a light breakfast and amusing himself. Then, he would lay in bed to be awoken by his cousin, the Duke of Downshire, his heir apparent, and his great-aunt, the Princess Joan of Ireland and France (the youngest of Queen Mary's daughters, she never married after being scarred by smallpox). He was then prepared for his day with briefings, regardless of his place in government as a child, and spent the next 2-3 hours dressing. Then came a ceremonial lunch, usually with 20-50 people in attendance as the "inner court". He then attended meetings, which acted as his lessons for the day, and shortly followed by a light meal and a nap, followed by a long, ceremonial final meal, before he would open whatever nightly entertainments were being held and, depending on their importance, either stay for the opening or, most likely, be hurried off to bed. Throughout the day, he was attended by no less than 6 peers at a time, sometimes as many as 18, and he had 32 men available at any one time. The Dowager Duchess herself was always present as well, often interrupting his dressing to quiz him on numbers.
Hannah Fitzroy (previously Beaumont), Dowager Duchess of Waterford (c.1754)
What the child missed, most of all, was spontaneity and fun.
Writing to the King of France in 1754, the young boy asked if he might send word to the Dowager Duchess and allow young Alfred a chance to rest once a month, maybe even twice that. But, outside of severe illness, she was a determined woman, refusing to accept that the young man growing to adulthood in front of her might enjoy something outside of her schedule. So little did he have, in fact, that when in 1756, he did escape the court with his cousins to do some fun, he went overboard, and a young woman known to history as "the Dublin Lass" ended up dead. Little is known of the exact scenario, but it seems that the King wanted a night of passion, and either the young woman refused, or his cousin tried to prevent this from happening. Regardless, the murder was blamed on a gang and the King seems to have never attempted such frivolity again.
As he entered adulthood, he found not even his bride was to be his own choice, which while usual at the time, seems to have prevent him from marrying an Irishwoman he found desirable. Nicole Gregoria Ferrard, the daughter of Earl of Longford. Instead, he was betrothed to The Princess Victoria Douglass of Scotland, a woman 7 years his senior who he found personally repugnant for her cruel temper and "beady eyes". They would have their first child in 1760. Many more would follow.
Victoria Douglas, Queen of Ireland (c.1762)
However, as much has been written about King Alfred as a personal figure, and his personal life does become more interesting soon, it must be said that as a leader, he was a great figurehead. He knew his numbers well, did not shy away from hard work, but struggled when it came to hard decision making particularly after the influence of the Dowager Duchess ended with her death in 1763. Much has been made of the change in the King following her death, but one thing is for sure, and that is that he was very passionate about the kingdom's economy, but blind to it's needs outside of that. He knew debts needed to be paid, but refused to economize the court, instead ending works on roads and other major infrastructure. He then raised taxes
Indeed, spending on the court tripled between 1760 and 1774, partially due to the arrival of the King's children and his increasing extension of family to support. His half-brother, soon made the Duke of Kingston, who had married in 1762 a woman named Elizabeth Butler. The two would have many children, but their eldest, the Lady Hannah Fitzroy, became the King's obsession.
It's unclear how early the King fixated on his niece. She did not return to the court until 1773, around the age of 10, and by this time, he had begun an affair with an actress in her 50's, named Sarah Hillard. The first real affair he had had, they were an odd pair to have, and it has been suggested that the King loved her due to her similarities to the Dowager Duchess. If that is so, then he loved his niece for her similarities to his cousin, Cecile Marie Fitzroy, who may have become his lover during the regency, although by now she was the Duke of Savoy's lover and possibly secret second wife. So instead, he focused on the young girl, who's father was blocked in his attempts to remove her from the King's attentions. This tells us that, by the mid 1770's, he was making motions against her, and by the second half of the decade, there was definitely a romantic undertone to reports, although she would claim never to have done anything inappropriate with the King. In her own words:
"He loved me from far away, and often talked about wanted a marriage. But no matter how ardent his language, we were pure and he was afraid to even touch me."
Now, all of this would matter little in 1776, when the first stirrings of rebellion amongst the people of Ireland began. Led by a committee of 20 men and women, their original goal was simply lower taxes. But as the movement gained traction, they aimed higher. The King's head.
The King heard of rebellion. Left to right: The Duke of Ulster, the King of Ireland, the Queen of Ireland, the Lady Hannah Fitzroy (c.1782)
Cities burned as they marched through Ireland, and in 1778, Dublin was under siege. The King, on a walk in the gardens, was siezed, and torn apart by his people. It was a grizzly death, and one that would effect the transition of power in a way not seen in Irish history.
The eldest daughter of Prince Henry, The Duke of Leinster, Hannah Margaret was just seven years old when the Rebellion started. Prince Henry was brought before a miilitary tribunal, accused of aiding his father in "grand treason against the Irish people" despite his impassioned pleas the Prince would be killed, leaving his widow Adelaide of Savoy and his 5 daughters: Hannah Margaret (7), Mary Adelaide (5), Elizabeth Helene (3), Victoria Anna (3), and Madeleine Henrietta (1). The young princesses were seized from their mother while the Duchess, fearing her husband's fate, hightailed it to relatives in France.
Weary of killing young girls, the Irish rebels would instead act as regents for Margaret II (her other name, Hannah, being discarded for its association with Hannah Fitzroy) and her sisters. The eldest two girls, the Queen and her sister Mary Adelaide, would be forcibly married into the Irish peerage in 1789, and similar matches were planned for their younger sisters.
The marriage of Margaret II to Thomas Fitzwilliam, youngest brother of one of her regents Viscount Fitzwilliam. Later that year saw the marriage of Mary Adelaide and William O'Brien, nephew of another regent Murrough O'Brien.
However, the next year became known to Irish history as the Sister's revolt. After rumors of her sister's gross unhappiness at her marital lot and rumors of more Irish matches for her sisters with men "beneath their rank and quality," the Queen and her sisters helped raise a palace coup against most of their regents, writing anonymous pamphlets about their gross mistreatment and winning the sympathy of the people and the army, who saw it their job to protect "poor ladies like our princesses". Many an Irish student has recalled Margaret's miracle; where the Queen, who had recently birthed her first child _______, stormed into a meeting of the regents declaring "I am a girl no more. It is time for the levers of government to move to their rightful holder".
By 1790 the tenor of the Irish court changed, focused on the delightful Queen and her sisters. The youngest three were allowed prestigious royal matches: Elizabeth wedding the Crown Prince of Bavaria, Victoria the Prince of Asturias, and Madeleine the young King of Two Sicilies. Many call Margaret's reign "the court of women" as the Queen became the dominating force in politics and her marriage, with many calling her husband "The Phantom of the Isle". She even became an early advocate of family planning, deliberately spacing out her pregnancies to reduce the risk of dying in childbirth, a move which annoyed the clergy but won her admiration from the working classes.
The one fault of her reign might have been her overindulgent nature. The naturally fair Queen had keenly felt the death of her father and abandonment of her mother (who she refused to let return to Ireland after the Sister's revolt due to "leaving us in our time of gravest need") and thus overindulged her children, who were sometimes called haughty and spoiled. She was also reluctant to give up any power to her heir, ________, perhaps a product of the regency. When Margaret II died of cancer in 1823, many admired the Queen for her bravery, but wondered if her successor would lead the royal family to revel or ruin.
What If Henry VIII successfully had Henry Fitzroy made King of Ireland in 1529:
1529 - 1546: Henry I (House of Fitzroy) [1]
1546 - 1555: Henry II (House of Fitzroy) [2]
1555 - 1589: John I (House of Fitzroy) [3]
1589 - 1605: Edward I (House of Fitzroy) [4]
1605 - 1623: Margaret I (House of Fitzroy) [5]
1623 - 1657: Henry III (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [6]
1657 - 1701: John II/Sean II (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [7]
1701 - 1719: Phillip I (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [8]
1719 - 1750: Mary (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [9]
1750 - 1779: Alfred I (House of Fitzroy-Waterford) [10]
1779 - 1823: Margaret II (House of Fitzroy-Waterford) [11]
1823 - 1831: Alfred II "The Fool" (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [12]
Henry VIII appointed his bastard son as the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1529. Henry wished to name him King of Ireland but his counsellors strenuously objected and it took several months after being made Lord Lieutenant before he was made King of Ireland in actuality.
Fitzroy was 10 when made King so whilst he was King, the country was run by his father's advisors, notably William Skeffington who was given guardianship of the young King. When he turned 18 in 1537, Skeffington was made Private Secretary for a brief period before his death.
Henry had been provisionally betrothed to Mary Howard in 1533, but the offer of Madeleine of Valois' hand in marriage was too good for Skeffington and Henry VIII to refuse, and the pair were betrothed in 1533, then married when Henry reached majority.
A child was born in 1538, so the nascent Kingdom of Ireland had an heir. Two more children were born in the next five years. However when Henry dies in 1546, at the age of only 27, none of his children had yet reached majority and the question of succession would read it's ugly head.
Henry would be succeeded by Henry, his eldest son.
[2] The eldest of the two sons of Henry I of Ireland and his wife; Madeline of Valois, Henry was destined for the Irish Crown from birth, and from the death of his father, he would embrace this role.
During his short reign of nine years, Henry II sought to expand the power of the Irish court, and to do so, he sought allies in the form of the French, who he would seek to marry, namely himself to his first cousin; Louise of Valois, and his younger brother; Prince John of Ireland, to another cousin, Margaret of Savoy.
Henry II was a man of true piety, and it would be his choice to travel to Rome where he received the Golden Rose from his holiness, and it would be on the return journey from Rome, in 1555, where Henry II would fall ill at the age of 17.
For the entirety of his reign, Henry had simply been a rubber-stamp for the regency of Anthony St Leger, and upon his death, the Regent of Ireland would continue his rule.
[3] King John was 14 when his brother died, and would spend the first few years of his reign under the regency of Anthony St.Leger, who became known as King Anthony for his hypnotic hold on the King. Part of St.Leger's power was the new King's inclination for both sexes in the bedroom, which the regent immediately recognized. He installed his nephew, Matthew, as the King's confidant turned lover.
All that changed in early 1558, when the King's wife Margaret of Savoy arrived in Dunmore. The new Queen was a rather authoritative figure who saw the regent as the cap on her and her husband's power at court. When she birthed her first child, Madeline, the King asked what she wished: her answer was to send Anthony St.Leger from the court (she also tried unsuccessfully to send away Matthew). The King obliged, causing such a shock to St.Leger that gossipers at the time blamed the incident for his failing health and eventual death the next year.
The remaining years of John's reign were most well known for the power struggle between Margaret (who favored a Catholic, pro-French policy) and Matthew (a closet reformer who preferred and English alliance). As one sharp-witted courtier wrote, "King John has two Queens". This battle extended to the children's education as Margaret attempted to have the children brought up by Catholic priests, while Matthew favored secular tutors, writing to the King "do you want to teach the children you are damned to hell's fiery pits". The children (who grew up at the same court in Dublin) ended up receiving wildly varying educations depending on who had the King's favor each year. For example, the King's eldest daughter Madeline was sent away to be educated by the nuns on the request of her mother. Her sister Louise, only two years younger, instead received a humanist education resembling those of Henry VIII's children, as encouraged by her father's lover.
In the end, King John would be brought down by his love of sex, dying from complications of syphilis. In response to John's reign, his heir Prince Edward, decided to make Ireland a country with no state religion.
4) Edward was John's second son, with the eldest predeceasing his father by several years. This was still sufficient time for Edward, who had been brought up by his mother but then trained for courthood by his father's advisors. Edward had hated the manner in which religion had creates a rift between his parents, and caused him to doubt his own abilities - and therefore be signed a bill of religious freedom. Each Irish citizen would be free to practice their own religion, free from persecution - this brought conflict with the Pope, but Edward found support from his great aunt, Queen Elizabeth of England during the Irish Primacy Scandal of 1595. Because he did not outright reject Roman Catholicism, the Pope accepted the decision of the Irish state on the agreement that Edward would pay certain taxes to the Vatican. Edward reluctantly agreed, but claimed all land as royal land and then charged the Irish monasteries rent which he used to pay the taxes.
He married Countess Anna of Nassau, a daughter of William the Silent, Prince of Orange in 1583 and they had two children before Anna died in 1588 during childbirth with their third, a daughter.
He subsequently married Maria of Saxe-Weimar in 1590 and she provided him with several children.
In 1603 when Elizabeth of England died, he was briefly considered for the English throne and considered the lead claimant by Elizabeth herself, but there were objections from the English nobility to a bastard line claiming the Crown when a legitimate claimant existed in the King of Scotland.
At any rate, he died in 1605 after catching pneumonia whilst inspecting the construction of a cathedral in Dublin, intended as the Irish Notre Dame, and his eldest daughter, Princess Margaret, took the throne.
[5] The eldest child from Edward I’s marriage to Anna of Nassau, and the first Queen of Ireland. Of the seven daughters of Edward I, Margaret would be the most ardently catholic, opposing her mothers Protestantism and her fathers own ambivalence towards the matter.
Prior to her taking the throne, the Princess would marry Infante Ferdinand of Spain, and the year of her taking the crown of Ireland, she would give birth to her first son and heir; Prince Henry of Ireland.
The first major note of her reign was the completion of the Dublin Cathedral. A massive and baroque cathedral symbolising the piety and Catholicism of Ireland. Her second action would be forcing her younger half-sisters, “The Irish Quintet” to sign away all claim to the throne of Ireland. The younger ones would agree, and be placed in small manorial homes, while the elder of the daughters of Maria of Saxe-Weimar; Maria Anna of Ireland would attempt to fight for her “claim” to the throne. The rebellion of Maria Anna was short lived, and recognised by no other government. From 1610 to 1612, the Protestant revolt would flutter around the Irish countryside, until her capture at Derry. She would be hung in Dublin, alongside the other ringleaders of the revolt. With the settling of the revolt, the reign of Margaret and her husband, who would take the title of Prince-Consort, would be secure.
For the next few years, Ireland simply recovered from the deep split in her loyalties, and another Son and two daughters would be born to the union of Margaret and Ferdinand.
Upon the death of Margaret in 1623, the house of Fitzroy would end, and the House of Hapsburg would inherit the Irish Kingdom.
[6] The Eldest son of Margaret I and Prince-Consort Ferdinand of Ireland, Henry was born in 1605. During his mothers reign, the young prince was often at his mothers side, and became a similarly devout Catholic, perhaps even more so.
In 1619, at the age of fourteen, the Crown Prince of Ireland would marry his paternal cousin; Eleanor of Austria, daughter of his fathers sister. Upon his mothers death, Henry would be crowned in the Dublin Cathedral, started by his grandfather, and he would take the dynastic name “Hapsburg-Eire”.
Between 1627 and 1646, Henry III would have 17 children by his three wives, firstly Eleanor of Austria until her death in 1631, followed by Marie of France until her death in Childbirth in 1642, and then Charlotte de Montespard, who he would take as his Morganatic wife.
The rule of Henry III was a peaceful reign, with the centralisation of the Irish court, and the Colonisation of the Irish Virgin Islands, and upon his death in 1657, Henry III would be succeeded by John II.
[7] John II of Ireland was the third son of Henry III's large brood and spent much of his life never expecting to become King, he was made Duke of Ulster and was raised with the expectation of serving his eldest brother, Henry, Prince of Leinster, however when he and John's second brother Prince Adam died in a boating accident when John was 28 saw the third son thrust into the spotlight. Unmarried at that point his father arranged a marriage for his new heir, Princess Marie-Anne of Orleans, however no children were produced by this marriage.
When Henry III died, John II became a King without an heir.
While England and Scotland convulsed in the throws of the British Civil War between King Frederick Henry I, the Parliamentarians, and Scottish Dissidents, John II focused on continuing Ireland's colonial projects, and supported the arts and the promotion of native Irish culture, both at home, and in the court, he was the first Irish monarch to learn the Irish Language (the court having retained the Tudor English of the Fitzroy's), and began signing documents not as 'John' but as 'Sean'.
When Sean II's first wife died, the King tried again with a second wife, Zofia Opalińska, a Polish noblewoman, this marriage also failed to produce any children.
Giving up hope of having heirs of his own body, Sean II focused on his brothers, the majority of whom had been left as bachelors by their father due to a lack of prospects. While their Hapsburgs relatives on the continent showed signs of dying out, the next six men behind Sean II in line for the throne were married and had more success in bedroom than their brother, some sneeringly called Sean 'Dry-Seed'.
The British Civil War ground down to a brutal halt when Frederick Henry I was captured by Parliamentarians and ultimately executed, horrifying the monarchies of Europe, a collation was formed, led by Louis XIV, Sean II joined the powers of Europe in the first invasion of the British Isles since William the Conqueror. The Invasion phase of the British Civil War saw the end of the Parliamentarians as a military force, their leaders (such as Oliver Cromwell) were executed, and the Kingdom of Great Britain was divided back into the separate Kingdoms of England (under Henry IX) and Scotland (under Charles I).
Sean II then spent the remainder of his life focused on building a new royal palace, as Dublin Castle was seen by Sean as 'too modest', the Caisleán Mhanderley (Manderley Castle) would be seen as an architectural wonder, seen by contemporaries as the nearest royal palace to rival Versailles.
Sean II witnessed the completion of Manderley Castle and lived in his finest work for six months before dying childess, passing the crown to his brother, Prince Albert Phillip of Ireland, otherwise known as Phillip I of Ireland
[8] Born in 1639, the eldest of the two sons of Henry III from his marriage to Marie de France. As a Prince, he was originally destined for a Ecclesiastical career, and from 1659 until 1690 he wore the Cardinal’s hat.
In 1690 however the Prince’s world was shaken. The death of his elder brother; Prince Edward, placed Albert Phillip as the heir to the Irish crown. Receiving permission from his Holiness, he would give up the Cardinals cap, and would take a wife with both his Brothers and Papal Blessing. He would marry Cecilia of Bavaria, and in 1693, the pair would welcome their first child, Mary.
Upon his brothers death in 1701, Prince Albert Phillip would return from his estates in Rome, which he had received as a gift from his Holiness for his service, and be crowned as Phillip I of Ireland. At his crowning, he was already 61, and was known to be gout ridden.
Unlike his brother, John II, Phillip was no lover of the Irish culture, seeing it as contradictory to Catholic belief, and he would establish the Jure Successionis, placing the succession laws of Ireland in writing. The Statute stated that the Monarch of Ireland must be catholic, disregarding the sons of his fathers third and last marriage, as those individuals had been noted Protestants.
By 1719, Phillip I was Eighty years old, and dying slowly, when suddenly on the fifth of August, the King suddenly died. Rumours of murder and assassination filled the court, and the King was succeeded by Mary, Princess of Leinster.
[9] Mary was born in 1693, the eldest of three sisters, named after the Virgin Mary at her father's insistance and later used it as her regnal name, at her father's dying wishes. She was betrothed and later married to Antoine, Dauphin of France, later crowned Louis Antoine, King of France. Much like her early years on her father's estates in Italy, and her ten years in France, this meant that she spent much of her life outside of Ireland. Far from being a stranger in her own country, this made her a relative celebrity and she returned to Dublin with French fashion and cuisine to introduce to society. The major problem with Mary was her marriage - should any of her son's survive her husband, they would be made King of France, and should they survive her, it would result in a Franco-Gaelic union which many Irish nobles were not enamoured by. A movement developed that would allow the eldest child to accept France, whilst the next eldest would accept Ireland (as Hapsburg-Eire was a cadet branch, and Bourbon held seniority) but Mary resisted this, but agreed that whilst France practiced succession by the male line only, Ireland would practice male preference primogeniture and allow succession to fall on females. This was, it seemed, satisfactory for Mary's counsellors and the objections ceased.
Mary and Louis Antoine spent their time mostly separate once she became Queen, she would visit France annually but for the rest of the year, Louis Antoine would spend time with his mistresses and father, it was claimed, two dozen children between them, though he only recognised one, Antoine, Count of Paris, and attempted to convince his wife that Antoine should marry one of their youngest daughters. Mary fiercely resisted, and refused to see her husband for two years.
For her own part, Mary became enamoured with the Ambassador to Morocco and it was rumoured they developed a sexual relationship which may have resulted in a daughter. Ironically, it was rumoured that this daughter then married the Count of Paris, allowing her a presence at the French Court in the presence of her "mothers" semi estranged husband.
It was later recounted in a poem entitled "The Tale of the Two Bastards" which was subsequently adapted into a French language movie in 1995, directed by Jean Pierre Jeunet, with Keanu Reeves as the Count of Paris, and Vanessa Paradis as Mary FitzMary. Isabelle Huppert would play Queen Mary of Ireland.
After the minor scandals of her reign, Mary died aged 57 in 1750, to be succeeded by her grandnephew, Lord Alfred Fitzroy, Duke of Waterford.
Alfred I, King of Ireland (c.1751)
[10] Lord Alfred, Duke of Waterford became heir-apparent to the Irish throne in 1745, after the death of Queen Mary's younger son, Charles-Philippe, of various venereal diseases. The new heir, a young boy of 4, was at this time being raised by his great-grandmother, Hannah Beaumont, a rich Scottish Noblewoman who had married the Duke of Waterford, a cousin to the royal family from an illegitimate son King John I of Ireland. Her own son, the infamous rogue Bernard Fitzroy, had married the Irish Queen's sister, the deformed Princess Catherine, and had thus fathered Alfred's father, Richard Fitzroy. Now, the story of how Richard Fitzroy married the Princess Helene of Ireland, the only child of the deceased Sean, Prince of Leinster, and by the agreement formed between France and Ireland, heiress to the Irish throne, is a convoluted one, but essentially, the Irish court demanded that she marry domestically, and while she had other cousins, the dumpy Richard seemed the least offensive option. And so they had married, and the Fitzroy line returned. The young Princess, fiercely unhappy in her life, became pregnant quickly (possibly to her husband's cousin, another handsome rogue in the vein of Bernard Fitzroy) and died giving birth to the young Alfred. This boy, the last Irish Prince not in line for the French throne, became the Queen's heir, although she refused to grant him the title Prince of Leinster.
The Queen of Ireland took scant interest in her successor, leaving his rearing to his great-grandmother, the formidable Dowager Duchess of Waterford ("Dowager" as of 1747) and he, along with his cousins, John William Fitzroy and Cecile Marie Fitzory, grew up in the idyllic Waterford estate. He was poorly educated during this time, although he did enjoy history lessons via his grandmother, and learnt book keeping at her side. But Hannah Beaumont felt a literary education, one of languages and other such things, would fill the boy's head with nonsense. Instead, she taught him to balance a budget, to know his lineage and to expect respect from the those around him. His only peers were, in her eyes, herself and his cousins, learning at her steady hand.
His accession was simple enough. While Louis-Antoine made some pointed noises of disapproval, once his son and heir had recognised his abdication, he wasn't going to let his great-grandson's crown leave his head. Instead, the King made his first visit to Ireland in decades, for a 2 month stay that taught him that he liked the Dowager Duchess of Waterford, and he even had the King's father married to Marie Charlotte de Guise, who was probably his illegitimate daughter. Richard Fitzory would go on to father another son, before dying of a heart attack in his 30's.
The court of Dublin, having seen some relaxation under Queen Mary, found itself tightly bound by convention by the will of the Dowager Duchess, who enacted a strict schedule that her grandson would continue for the rest of his life. He arose before sunrise, and for two hours before his official "awakening ceremony", spent that time eating a light breakfast and amusing himself. Then, he would lay in bed to be awoken by his cousin, the Duke of Downshire, his heir apparent, and his great-aunt, the Princess Joan of Ireland and France (the youngest of Queen Mary's daughters, she never married after being scarred by smallpox). He was then prepared for his day with briefings, regardless of his place in government as a child, and spent the next 2-3 hours dressing. Then came a ceremonial lunch, usually with 20-50 people in attendance as the "inner court". He then attended meetings, which acted as his lessons for the day, and shortly followed by a light meal and a nap, followed by a long, ceremonial final meal, before he would open whatever nightly entertainments were being held and, depending on their importance, either stay for the opening or, most likely, be hurried off to bed. Throughout the day, he was attended by no less than 6 peers at a time, sometimes as many as 18, and he had 32 men available at any one time. The Dowager Duchess herself was always present as well, often interrupting his dressing to quiz him on numbers.
Hannah Fitzroy (previously Beaumont), Dowager Duchess of Waterford (c.1754)
What the child missed, most of all, was spontaneity and fun.
Writing to the King of France in 1754, the young boy asked if he might send word to the Dowager Duchess and allow young Alfred a chance to rest once a month, maybe even twice that. But, outside of severe illness, she was a determined woman, refusing to accept that the young man growing to adulthood in front of her might enjoy something outside of her schedule. So little did he have, in fact, that when in 1756, he did escape the court with his cousins to do some fun, he went overboard, and a young woman known to history as "the Dublin Lass" ended up dead. Little is known of the exact scenario, but it seems that the King wanted a night of passion, and either the young woman refused, or his cousin tried to prevent this from happening. Regardless, the murder was blamed on a gang and the King seems to have never attempted such frivolity again.
As he entered adulthood, he found not even his bride was to be his own choice, which while usual at the time, seems to have prevent him from marrying an Irishwoman he found desirable. Nicole Gregoria Ferrard, the daughter of Earl of Longford. Instead, he was betrothed to The Princess Victoria Douglass of Scotland, a woman 7 years his senior who he found personally repugnant for her cruel temper and "beady eyes". They would have their first child in 1760. Many more would follow.
Victoria Douglas, Queen of Ireland (c.1762)
However, as much has been written about King Alfred as a personal figure, and his personal life does become more interesting soon, it must be said that as a leader, he was a great figurehead. He knew his numbers well, did not shy away from hard work, but struggled when it came to hard decision making particularly after the influence of the Dowager Duchess ended with her death in 1763. Much has been made of the change in the King following her death, but one thing is for sure, and that is that he was very passionate about the kingdom's economy, but blind to it's needs outside of that. He knew debts needed to be paid, but refused to economize the court, instead ending works on roads and other major infrastructure. He then raised taxes
Indeed, spending on the court tripled between 1760 and 1774, partially due to the arrival of the King's children and his increasing extension of family to support. His half-brother, soon made the Duke of Kingston, who had married in 1762 a woman named Elizabeth Butler. The two would have many children, but their eldest, the Lady Hannah Fitzroy, became the King's obsession.
It's unclear how early the King fixated on his niece. She did not return to the court until 1773, around the age of 10, and by this time, he had begun an affair with an actress in her 50's, named Sarah Hillard. The first real affair he had had, they were an odd pair to have, and it has been suggested that the King loved her due to her similarities to the Dowager Duchess. If that is so, then he loved his niece for her similarities to his cousin, Cecile Marie Fitzroy, who may have become his lover during the regency, although by now she was the Duke of Savoy's lover and possibly secret second wife. So instead, he focused on the young girl, who's father was blocked in his attempts to remove her from the King's attentions. This tells us that, by the mid 1770's, he was making motions against her, and by the second half of the decade, there was definitely a romantic undertone to reports, although she would claim never to have done anything inappropriate with the King. In her own words:
"He loved me from far away, and often talked about wanted a marriage. But no matter how ardent his language, we were pure and he was afraid to even touch me."
Now, all of this would matter little in 1776, when the first stirrings of rebellion amongst the people of Ireland began. Led by a committee of 20 men and women, their original goal was simply lower taxes. But as the movement gained traction, they aimed higher. The King's head.
The King heard of rebellion. Left to right: The Duke of Ulster, the King of Ireland, the Queen of Ireland, the Lady Hannah Fitzroy (c.1782)
Cities burned as they marched through Ireland, and in 1778, Dublin was under siege. The King, on a walk in the gardens, was siezed, and torn apart by his people. It was a grizzly death, and one that would effect the transition of power in a way not seen in Irish history.
[11]
The eldest daughter of Prince Henry, The Duke of Leinster, Hannah Margaret was just seven years old when the Rebellion started. Prince Henry was brought before a miilitary tribunal, accused of aiding his father in "grand treason against the Irish people" despite his impassioned pleas the Prince would be killed, leaving his widow Adelaide of Savoy and his 5 daughters: Hannah Margaret (7), Mary Adelaide (5), Elizabeth Helene (3), Victoria Anna (3), and Madeleine Henrietta (1). The young princesses were seized from their mother while the Duchess, fearing her husband's fate, hightailed it to relatives in France.
Weary of killing young girls, the Irish rebels would instead act as regents for Margaret II (her other name, Hannah, being discarded for its association with Hannah Fitzroy) and her sisters. The eldest two girls, the Queen and her sister Mary Adelaide, would be forcibly married into the Irish peerage in 1789, and similar matches were planned for their younger sisters.
The marriage of Margaret II to Thomas Fitzwilliam, youngest brother of one of her regents Viscount Fitzwilliam. Later that year saw the marriage of Mary Adelaide and William O'Brien, nephew of another regent Murrough O'Brien.
However, the next year became known to Irish history as the Sister's revolt. After rumors of her sister's gross unhappiness at her marital lot and rumors of more Irish matches for her sisters with men "beneath their rank and quality," the Queen and her sisters helped raise a palace coup against most of their regents, writing anonymous pamphlets about their gross mistreatment and winning the sympathy of the people and the army, who saw it their job to protect "poor ladies like our princesses". Many an Irish student has recalled Margaret's miracle; where the Queen, who had recently birthed her first child _______, stormed into a meeting of the regents declaring "I am a girl no more. It is time for the levers of government to move to their rightful holder".
By 1790 the tenor of the Irish court changed, focused on the delightful Queen and her sisters. The youngest three were allowed prestigious royal matches: Elizabeth wedding the Crown Prince of Bavaria, Victoria the Prince of Asturias, and Madeleine the young King of Two Sicilies. Many call Margaret's reign "the court of women" as the Queen became the dominating force in politics and her marriage, with many calling her husband "The Phantom of the Isle". She even became an early advocate of family planning, deliberately spacing out her pregnancies to reduce the risk of dying in childbirth, a move which annoyed the clergy but won her admiration from the working classes.
The one fault of her reign might have been her overindulgent nature. The naturally fair Queen had keenly felt the death of her father and abandonment of her mother (who she refused to let return to Ireland after the Sister's revolt due to "leaving us in our time of gravest need") and thus overindulged her children, who were sometimes called haughty and spoiled. She was also reluctant to give up any power to her heir, Prince Alfred, perhaps a product of the regency. When Margaret II died of cancer in 1823, many admired the Queen for her bravery, but wondered if her successor would lead the royal family to revel or ruin.
[12] When Prince Alfred took the throne upon the death of his mother, the entirety of Ireland gave a collective groan of distaste and ill feeling. During his childhood, his mother, though doting and ever loving, was rarely around. His father was the main influence on the young prince, but he was anything but a proper role model. A licentious and crude man, Lord Fitzwilliam imparted many of these qualities as well as a disdain for anything approaching work of any variety in his son. Upon the Prince of Leinster's acession to the throne, he immediately began delegating his powers to various noblemen and favorites of ill stature and repute in society. In a brief 4 years, the King and his men had run the country into the mud. Ireland's economy was in ruins, the people were in uproar, and only a spark would be required to ignite civil war.
In the summer of 1827, it came. By order of the King, five noblemen (The Earl Gosford, The Viscount Mountgarret, The Lord Farnham, The Earl Cork, and The Earl Cavan) were accused of treason against the crown and hung. Their crime was to suggest that The Lord Digby be dismissed after it had been prooven that he had stolen crown funds for his own enrichment.
The nation exploded. Thousands of men rose up in arms against the King, and thousands more rose up to defend him. The king took this opportunity to label the rebels as traitors and orange protestants seeking to depose the rightful god ordained king. Before long the civil war began to revolve around abstractions of faith and politics far removed from the execution of five noblemen. Three figures rose to guide the rebellion and hone its unbridled wrath to the betterment of the nation. These principal men would become known to history as An Triumvirate Éireann, Daniel O'Connell (Earl Glandore), Hosea Guinness (Marquess Sligo), and a common lawyer by the name of Marcus Culcanon. It would be these men who rallied the common people to the cause of a government not bound by the whim of the king. For four long years they lead the fight, and at the final battle of the war, (The battle of Vinegar hill) they gave the king one last chance for amnesty. If he would submit himself to the rebels, and agree to convene a parliament of the English model, he would remain as king of Ireland. The King refused, after the battle, he was found dead, having joined in with his cavalry's last ditch assault on the rebel center.
Upon the victorious rebel's arrival in Dublin, they convened a parliament and drafted a constitution which would be agreed upon and signed into law by ______, the next monarch of Ireland
1529 - 1546: Henry I (House of Fitzroy) [1]
1546 - 1555: Henry II (House of Fitzroy) [2]
1555 - 1589: John I (House of Fitzroy) [3]
1589 - 1605: Edward I (House of Fitzroy) [4]
1605 - 1623: Margaret I (House of Fitzroy) [5]
1623 - 1657: Henry III (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [6]
1657 - 1701: John II/Sean II (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [7]
1701 - 1719: Phillip I (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [8]
1719 - 1750: Mary (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [9]
1750 - 1779: Alfred I (House of Fitzroy-Waterford) [10]
1779 - 1823: Margaret II (House of Fitzroy-Waterford) [11]
1823 - 1831: Alfred II "The Fool" (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [12]
Henry VIII appointed his bastard son as the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1529. Henry wished to name him King of Ireland but his counsellors strenuously objected and it took several months after being made Lord Lieutenant before he was made King of Ireland in actuality.
Fitzroy was 10 when made King so whilst he was King, the country was run by his father's advisors, notably William Skeffington who was given guardianship of the young King. When he turned 18 in 1537, Skeffington was made Private Secretary for a brief period before his death.
Henry had been provisionally betrothed to Mary Howard in 1533, but the offer of Madeleine of Valois' hand in marriage was too good for Skeffington and Henry VIII to refuse, and the pair were betrothed in 1533, then married when Henry reached majority.
A child was born in 1538, so the nascent Kingdom of Ireland had an heir. Two more children were born in the next five years. However when Henry dies in 1546, at the age of only 27, none of his children had yet reached majority and the question of succession would read it's ugly head.
Henry would be succeeded by Henry, his eldest son.
[2] The eldest of the two sons of Henry I of Ireland and his wife; Madeline of Valois, Henry was destined for the Irish Crown from birth, and from the death of his father, he would embrace this role.
During his short reign of nine years, Henry II sought to expand the power of the Irish court, and to do so, he sought allies in the form of the French, who he would seek to marry, namely himself to his first cousin; Louise of Valois, and his younger brother; Prince John of Ireland, to another cousin, Margaret of Savoy.
Henry II was a man of true piety, and it would be his choice to travel to Rome where he received the Golden Rose from his holiness, and it would be on the return journey from Rome, in 1555, where Henry II would fall ill at the age of 17.
For the entirety of his reign, Henry had simply been a rubber-stamp for the regency of Anthony St Leger, and upon his death, the Regent of Ireland would continue his rule.
[3] King John was 14 when his brother died, and would spend the first few years of his reign under the regency of Anthony St.Leger, who became known as King Anthony for his hypnotic hold on the King. Part of St.Leger's power was the new King's inclination for both sexes in the bedroom, which the regent immediately recognized. He installed his nephew, Matthew, as the King's confidant turned lover.
All that changed in early 1558, when the King's wife Margaret of Savoy arrived in Dunmore. The new Queen was a rather authoritative figure who saw the regent as the cap on her and her husband's power at court. When she birthed her first child, Madeline, the King asked what she wished: her answer was to send Anthony St.Leger from the court (she also tried unsuccessfully to send away Matthew). The King obliged, causing such a shock to St.Leger that gossipers at the time blamed the incident for his failing health and eventual death the next year.
The remaining years of John's reign were most well known for the power struggle between Margaret (who favored a Catholic, pro-French policy) and Matthew (a closet reformer who preferred and English alliance). As one sharp-witted courtier wrote, "King John has two Queens". This battle extended to the children's education as Margaret attempted to have the children brought up by Catholic priests, while Matthew favored secular tutors, writing to the King "do you want to teach the children you are damned to hell's fiery pits". The children (who grew up at the same court in Dublin) ended up receiving wildly varying educations depending on who had the King's favor each year. For example, the King's eldest daughter Madeline was sent away to be educated by the nuns on the request of her mother. Her sister Louise, only two years younger, instead received a humanist education resembling those of Henry VIII's children, as encouraged by her father's lover.
In the end, King John would be brought down by his love of sex, dying from complications of syphilis. In response to John's reign, his heir Prince Edward, decided to make Ireland a country with no state religion.
4) Edward was John's second son, with the eldest predeceasing his father by several years. This was still sufficient time for Edward, who had been brought up by his mother but then trained for courthood by his father's advisors. Edward had hated the manner in which religion had creates a rift between his parents, and caused him to doubt his own abilities - and therefore be signed a bill of religious freedom. Each Irish citizen would be free to practice their own religion, free from persecution - this brought conflict with the Pope, but Edward found support from his great aunt, Queen Elizabeth of England during the Irish Primacy Scandal of 1595. Because he did not outright reject Roman Catholicism, the Pope accepted the decision of the Irish state on the agreement that Edward would pay certain taxes to the Vatican. Edward reluctantly agreed, but claimed all land as royal land and then charged the Irish monasteries rent which he used to pay the taxes.
He married Countess Anna of Nassau, a daughter of William the Silent, Prince of Orange in 1583 and they had two children before Anna died in 1588 during childbirth with their third, a daughter.
He subsequently married Maria of Saxe-Weimar in 1590 and she provided him with several children.
In 1603 when Elizabeth of England died, he was briefly considered for the English throne and considered the lead claimant by Elizabeth herself, but there were objections from the English nobility to a bastard line claiming the Crown when a legitimate claimant existed in the King of Scotland.
At any rate, he died in 1605 after catching pneumonia whilst inspecting the construction of a cathedral in Dublin, intended as the Irish Notre Dame, and his eldest daughter, Princess Margaret, took the throne.
[5] The eldest child from Edward I’s marriage to Anna of Nassau, and the first Queen of Ireland. Of the seven daughters of Edward I, Margaret would be the most ardently catholic, opposing her mothers Protestantism and her fathers own ambivalence towards the matter.
Prior to her taking the throne, the Princess would marry Infante Ferdinand of Spain, and the year of her taking the crown of Ireland, she would give birth to her first son and heir; Prince Henry of Ireland.
The first major note of her reign was the completion of the Dublin Cathedral. A massive and baroque cathedral symbolising the piety and Catholicism of Ireland. Her second action would be forcing her younger half-sisters, “The Irish Quintet” to sign away all claim to the throne of Ireland. The younger ones would agree, and be placed in small manorial homes, while the elder of the daughters of Maria of Saxe-Weimar; Maria Anna of Ireland would attempt to fight for her “claim” to the throne. The rebellion of Maria Anna was short lived, and recognised by no other government. From 1610 to 1612, the Protestant revolt would flutter around the Irish countryside, until her capture at Derry. She would be hung in Dublin, alongside the other ringleaders of the revolt. With the settling of the revolt, the reign of Margaret and her husband, who would take the title of Prince-Consort, would be secure.
For the next few years, Ireland simply recovered from the deep split in her loyalties, and another Son and two daughters would be born to the union of Margaret and Ferdinand.
Upon the death of Margaret in 1623, the house of Fitzroy would end, and the House of Hapsburg would inherit the Irish Kingdom.
[6] The Eldest son of Margaret I and Prince-Consort Ferdinand of Ireland, Henry was born in 1605. During his mothers reign, the young prince was often at his mothers side, and became a similarly devout Catholic, perhaps even more so.
In 1619, at the age of fourteen, the Crown Prince of Ireland would marry his paternal cousin; Eleanor of Austria, daughter of his fathers sister. Upon his mothers death, Henry would be crowned in the Dublin Cathedral, started by his grandfather, and he would take the dynastic name “Hapsburg-Eire”.
Between 1627 and 1646, Henry III would have 17 children by his three wives, firstly Eleanor of Austria until her death in 1631, followed by Marie of France until her death in Childbirth in 1642, and then Charlotte de Montespard, who he would take as his Morganatic wife.
The rule of Henry III was a peaceful reign, with the centralisation of the Irish court, and the Colonisation of the Irish Virgin Islands, and upon his death in 1657, Henry III would be succeeded by John II.
[7] John II of Ireland was the third son of Henry III's large brood and spent much of his life never expecting to become King, he was made Duke of Ulster and was raised with the expectation of serving his eldest brother, Henry, Prince of Leinster, however when he and John's second brother Prince Adam died in a boating accident when John was 28 saw the third son thrust into the spotlight. Unmarried at that point his father arranged a marriage for his new heir, Princess Marie-Anne of Orleans, however no children were produced by this marriage.
When Henry III died, John II became a King without an heir.
While England and Scotland convulsed in the throws of the British Civil War between King Frederick Henry I, the Parliamentarians, and Scottish Dissidents, John II focused on continuing Ireland's colonial projects, and supported the arts and the promotion of native Irish culture, both at home, and in the court, he was the first Irish monarch to learn the Irish Language (the court having retained the Tudor English of the Fitzroy's), and began signing documents not as 'John' but as 'Sean'.
When Sean II's first wife died, the King tried again with a second wife, Zofia Opalińska, a Polish noblewoman, this marriage also failed to produce any children.
Giving up hope of having heirs of his own body, Sean II focused on his brothers, the majority of whom had been left as bachelors by their father due to a lack of prospects. While their Hapsburgs relatives on the continent showed signs of dying out, the next six men behind Sean II in line for the throne were married and had more success in bedroom than their brother, some sneeringly called Sean 'Dry-Seed'.
The British Civil War ground down to a brutal halt when Frederick Henry I was captured by Parliamentarians and ultimately executed, horrifying the monarchies of Europe, a collation was formed, led by Louis XIV, Sean II joined the powers of Europe in the first invasion of the British Isles since William the Conqueror. The Invasion phase of the British Civil War saw the end of the Parliamentarians as a military force, their leaders (such as Oliver Cromwell) were executed, and the Kingdom of Great Britain was divided back into the separate Kingdoms of England (under Henry IX) and Scotland (under Charles I).
Sean II then spent the remainder of his life focused on building a new royal palace, as Dublin Castle was seen by Sean as 'too modest', the Caisleán Mhanderley (Manderley Castle) would be seen as an architectural wonder, seen by contemporaries as the nearest royal palace to rival Versailles.
Sean II witnessed the completion of Manderley Castle and lived in his finest work for six months before dying childess, passing the crown to his brother, Prince Albert Phillip of Ireland, otherwise known as Phillip I of Ireland
[8] Born in 1639, the eldest of the two sons of Henry III from his marriage to Marie de France. As a Prince, he was originally destined for a Ecclesiastical career, and from 1659 until 1690 he wore the Cardinal’s hat.
In 1690 however the Prince’s world was shaken. The death of his elder brother; Prince Edward, placed Albert Phillip as the heir to the Irish crown. Receiving permission from his Holiness, he would give up the Cardinals cap, and would take a wife with both his Brothers and Papal Blessing. He would marry Cecilia of Bavaria, and in 1693, the pair would welcome their first child, Mary.
Upon his brothers death in 1701, Prince Albert Phillip would return from his estates in Rome, which he had received as a gift from his Holiness for his service, and be crowned as Phillip I of Ireland. At his crowning, he was already 61, and was known to be gout ridden.
Unlike his brother, John II, Phillip was no lover of the Irish culture, seeing it as contradictory to Catholic belief, and he would establish the Jure Successionis, placing the succession laws of Ireland in writing. The Statute stated that the Monarch of Ireland must be catholic, disregarding the sons of his fathers third and last marriage, as those individuals had been noted Protestants.
By 1719, Phillip I was Eighty years old, and dying slowly, when suddenly on the fifth of August, the King suddenly died. Rumours of murder and assassination filled the court, and the King was succeeded by Mary, Princess of Leinster.
[9] Mary was born in 1693, the eldest of three sisters, named after the Virgin Mary at her father's insistance and later used it as her regnal name, at her father's dying wishes. She was betrothed and later married to Antoine, Dauphin of France, later crowned Louis Antoine, King of France. Much like her early years on her father's estates in Italy, and her ten years in France, this meant that she spent much of her life outside of Ireland. Far from being a stranger in her own country, this made her a relative celebrity and she returned to Dublin with French fashion and cuisine to introduce to society. The major problem with Mary was her marriage - should any of her son's survive her husband, they would be made King of France, and should they survive her, it would result in a Franco-Gaelic union which many Irish nobles were not enamoured by. A movement developed that would allow the eldest child to accept France, whilst the next eldest would accept Ireland (as Hapsburg-Eire was a cadet branch, and Bourbon held seniority) but Mary resisted this, but agreed that whilst France practiced succession by the male line only, Ireland would practice male preference primogeniture and allow succession to fall on females. This was, it seemed, satisfactory for Mary's counsellors and the objections ceased.
Mary and Louis Antoine spent their time mostly separate once she became Queen, she would visit France annually but for the rest of the year, Louis Antoine would spend time with his mistresses and father, it was claimed, two dozen children between them, though he only recognised one, Antoine, Count of Paris, and attempted to convince his wife that Antoine should marry one of their youngest daughters. Mary fiercely resisted, and refused to see her husband for two years.
For her own part, Mary became enamoured with the Ambassador to Morocco and it was rumoured they developed a sexual relationship which may have resulted in a daughter. Ironically, it was rumoured that this daughter then married the Count of Paris, allowing her a presence at the French Court in the presence of her "mothers" semi estranged husband.
It was later recounted in a poem entitled "The Tale of the Two Bastards" which was subsequently adapted into a French language movie in 1995, directed by Jean Pierre Jeunet, with Keanu Reeves as the Count of Paris, and Vanessa Paradis as Mary FitzMary. Isabelle Huppert would play Queen Mary of Ireland.
After the minor scandals of her reign, Mary died aged 57 in 1750, to be succeeded by her grandnephew, Lord Alfred Fitzroy, Duke of Waterford.
Alfred I, King of Ireland (c.1751)
[10] Lord Alfred, Duke of Waterford became heir-apparent to the Irish throne in 1745, after the death of Queen Mary's younger son, Charles-Philippe, of various venereal diseases. The new heir, a young boy of 4, was at this time being raised by his great-grandmother, Hannah Beaumont, a rich Scottish Noblewoman who had married the Duke of Waterford, a cousin to the royal family from an illegitimate son King John I of Ireland. Her own son, the infamous rogue Bernard Fitzroy, had married the Irish Queen's sister, the deformed Princess Catherine, and had thus fathered Alfred's father, Richard Fitzroy. Now, the story of how Richard Fitzroy married the Princess Helene of Ireland, the only child of the deceased Sean, Prince of Leinster, and by the agreement formed between France and Ireland, heiress to the Irish throne, is a convoluted one, but essentially, the Irish court demanded that she marry domestically, and while she had other cousins, the dumpy Richard seemed the least offensive option. And so they had married, and the Fitzroy line returned. The young Princess, fiercely unhappy in her life, became pregnant quickly (possibly to her husband's cousin, another handsome rogue in the vein of Bernard Fitzroy) and died giving birth to the young Alfred. This boy, the last Irish Prince not in line for the French throne, became the Queen's heir, although she refused to grant him the title Prince of Leinster.
The Queen of Ireland took scant interest in her successor, leaving his rearing to his great-grandmother, the formidable Dowager Duchess of Waterford ("Dowager" as of 1747) and he, along with his cousins, John William Fitzroy and Cecile Marie Fitzory, grew up in the idyllic Waterford estate. He was poorly educated during this time, although he did enjoy history lessons via his grandmother, and learnt book keeping at her side. But Hannah Beaumont felt a literary education, one of languages and other such things, would fill the boy's head with nonsense. Instead, she taught him to balance a budget, to know his lineage and to expect respect from the those around him. His only peers were, in her eyes, herself and his cousins, learning at her steady hand.
His accession was simple enough. While Louis-Antoine made some pointed noises of disapproval, once his son and heir had recognised his abdication, he wasn't going to let his great-grandson's crown leave his head. Instead, the King made his first visit to Ireland in decades, for a 2 month stay that taught him that he liked the Dowager Duchess of Waterford, and he even had the King's father married to Marie Charlotte de Guise, who was probably his illegitimate daughter. Richard Fitzory would go on to father another son, before dying of a heart attack in his 30's.
The court of Dublin, having seen some relaxation under Queen Mary, found itself tightly bound by convention by the will of the Dowager Duchess, who enacted a strict schedule that her grandson would continue for the rest of his life. He arose before sunrise, and for two hours before his official "awakening ceremony", spent that time eating a light breakfast and amusing himself. Then, he would lay in bed to be awoken by his cousin, the Duke of Downshire, his heir apparent, and his great-aunt, the Princess Joan of Ireland and France (the youngest of Queen Mary's daughters, she never married after being scarred by smallpox). He was then prepared for his day with briefings, regardless of his place in government as a child, and spent the next 2-3 hours dressing. Then came a ceremonial lunch, usually with 20-50 people in attendance as the "inner court". He then attended meetings, which acted as his lessons for the day, and shortly followed by a light meal and a nap, followed by a long, ceremonial final meal, before he would open whatever nightly entertainments were being held and, depending on their importance, either stay for the opening or, most likely, be hurried off to bed. Throughout the day, he was attended by no less than 6 peers at a time, sometimes as many as 18, and he had 32 men available at any one time. The Dowager Duchess herself was always present as well, often interrupting his dressing to quiz him on numbers.
Hannah Fitzroy (previously Beaumont), Dowager Duchess of Waterford (c.1754)
What the child missed, most of all, was spontaneity and fun.
Writing to the King of France in 1754, the young boy asked if he might send word to the Dowager Duchess and allow young Alfred a chance to rest once a month, maybe even twice that. But, outside of severe illness, she was a determined woman, refusing to accept that the young man growing to adulthood in front of her might enjoy something outside of her schedule. So little did he have, in fact, that when in 1756, he did escape the court with his cousins to do some fun, he went overboard, and a young woman known to history as "the Dublin Lass" ended up dead. Little is known of the exact scenario, but it seems that the King wanted a night of passion, and either the young woman refused, or his cousin tried to prevent this from happening. Regardless, the murder was blamed on a gang and the King seems to have never attempted such frivolity again.
As he entered adulthood, he found not even his bride was to be his own choice, which while usual at the time, seems to have prevent him from marrying an Irishwoman he found desirable. Nicole Gregoria Ferrard, the daughter of Earl of Longford. Instead, he was betrothed to The Princess Victoria Douglass of Scotland, a woman 7 years his senior who he found personally repugnant for her cruel temper and "beady eyes". They would have their first child in 1760. Many more would follow.
Victoria Douglas, Queen of Ireland (c.1762)
However, as much has been written about King Alfred as a personal figure, and his personal life does become more interesting soon, it must be said that as a leader, he was a great figurehead. He knew his numbers well, did not shy away from hard work, but struggled when it came to hard decision making particularly after the influence of the Dowager Duchess ended with her death in 1763. Much has been made of the change in the King following her death, but one thing is for sure, and that is that he was very passionate about the kingdom's economy, but blind to it's needs outside of that. He knew debts needed to be paid, but refused to economize the court, instead ending works on roads and other major infrastructure. He then raised taxes
Indeed, spending on the court tripled between 1760 and 1774, partially due to the arrival of the King's children and his increasing extension of family to support. His half-brother, soon made the Duke of Kingston, who had married in 1762 a woman named Elizabeth Butler. The two would have many children, but their eldest, the Lady Hannah Fitzroy, became the King's obsession.
It's unclear how early the King fixated on his niece. She did not return to the court until 1773, around the age of 10, and by this time, he had begun an affair with an actress in her 50's, named Sarah Hillard. The first real affair he had had, they were an odd pair to have, and it has been suggested that the King loved her due to her similarities to the Dowager Duchess. If that is so, then he loved his niece for her similarities to his cousin, Cecile Marie Fitzroy, who may have become his lover during the regency, although by now she was the Duke of Savoy's lover and possibly secret second wife. So instead, he focused on the young girl, who's father was blocked in his attempts to remove her from the King's attentions. This tells us that, by the mid 1770's, he was making motions against her, and by the second half of the decade, there was definitely a romantic undertone to reports, although she would claim never to have done anything inappropriate with the King. In her own words:
"He loved me from far away, and often talked about wanted a marriage. But no matter how ardent his language, we were pure and he was afraid to even touch me."
Now, all of this would matter little in 1776, when the first stirrings of rebellion amongst the people of Ireland began. Led by a committee of 20 men and women, their original goal was simply lower taxes. But as the movement gained traction, they aimed higher. The King's head.
The King heard of rebellion. Left to right: The Duke of Ulster, the King of Ireland, the Queen of Ireland, the Lady Hannah Fitzroy (c.1782)
Cities burned as they marched through Ireland, and in 1778, Dublin was under siege. The King, on a walk in the gardens, was siezed, and torn apart by his people. It was a grizzly death, and one that would effect the transition of power in a way not seen in Irish history.
[11]
The eldest daughter of Prince Henry, The Duke of Leinster, Hannah Margaret was just seven years old when the Rebellion started. Prince Henry was brought before a miilitary tribunal, accused of aiding his father in "grand treason against the Irish people" despite his impassioned pleas the Prince would be killed, leaving his widow Adelaide of Savoy and his 5 daughters: Hannah Margaret (7), Mary Adelaide (5), Elizabeth Helene (3), Victoria Anna (3), and Madeleine Henrietta (1). The young princesses were seized from their mother while the Duchess, fearing her husband's fate, hightailed it to relatives in France.
Weary of killing young girls, the Irish rebels would instead act as regents for Margaret II (her other name, Hannah, being discarded for its association with Hannah Fitzroy) and her sisters. The eldest two girls, the Queen and her sister Mary Adelaide, would be forcibly married into the Irish peerage in 1789, and similar matches were planned for their younger sisters.
The marriage of Margaret II to Thomas Fitzwilliam, youngest brother of one of her regents Viscount Fitzwilliam. Later that year saw the marriage of Mary Adelaide and William O'Brien, nephew of another regent Murrough O'Brien.
However, the next year became known to Irish history as the Sister's revolt. After rumors of her sister's gross unhappiness at her marital lot and rumors of more Irish matches for her sisters with men "beneath their rank and quality," the Queen and her sisters helped raise a palace coup against most of their regents, writing anonymous pamphlets about their gross mistreatment and winning the sympathy of the people and the army, who saw it their job to protect "poor ladies like our princesses". Many an Irish student has recalled Margaret's miracle; where the Queen, who had recently birthed her first child _______, stormed into a meeting of the regents declaring "I am a girl no more. It is time for the levers of government to move to their rightful holder".
By 1790 the tenor of the Irish court changed, focused on the delightful Queen and her sisters. The youngest three were allowed prestigious royal matches: Elizabeth wedding the Crown Prince of Bavaria, Victoria the Prince of Asturias, and Madeleine the young King of Two Sicilies. Many call Margaret's reign "the court of women" as the Queen became the dominating force in politics and her marriage, with many calling her husband "The Phantom of the Isle". She even became an early advocate of family planning, deliberately spacing out her pregnancies to reduce the risk of dying in childbirth, a move which annoyed the clergy but won her admiration from the working classes.
The one fault of her reign might have been her overindulgent nature. The naturally fair Queen had keenly felt the death of her father and abandonment of her mother (who she refused to let return to Ireland after the Sister's revolt due to "leaving us in our time of gravest need") and thus overindulged her children, who were sometimes called haughty and spoiled. She was also reluctant to give up any power to her heir, Prince Alfred, perhaps a product of the regency. When Margaret II died of cancer in 1823, many admired the Queen for her bravery, but wondered if her successor would lead the royal family to revel or ruin.
[12] When Prince Alfred took the throne upon the death of his mother, the entirety of Ireland gave a collective groan of distaste and ill feeling. During his childhood, his mother, though doting and ever loving, was rarely around. His father was the main influence on the young prince, but he was anything but a proper role model. A licentious and crude man, Lord Fitzwilliam imparted many of these qualities as well as a disdain for anything approaching work of any variety in his son. Upon the Prince of Leinster's acession to the throne, he immediately began delegating his powers to various noblemen and favorites of ill stature and repute in society. In a brief 4 years, the King and his men had run the country into the mud. Ireland's economy was in ruins, the people were in uproar, and only a spark would be required to ignite civil war.
In the summer of 1827, it came. By order of the King, five noblemen (The Earl Gosford, The Viscount Mountgarret, The Lord Farnham, The Earl Cork, and The Earl Cavan) were accused of treason against the crown and hung. Their crime was to suggest that The Lord Digby be dismissed after it had been prooven that he had stolen crown funds for his own enrichment.
The nation exploded. Thousands of men rose up in arms against the King, and thousands more rose up to defend him. The king took this opportunity to label the rebels as traitors and orange protestants seeking to depose the rightful god ordained king. Before long the civil war began to revolve around abstractions of faith and politics far removed from the execution of five noblemen. Three figures rose to guide the rebellion and hone its unbridled wrath to the betterment of the nation. These principal men would become known to history as An Triumvirate Éireann, Daniel O'Connell (Earl Glandore), Hosea Guinness (Marquess Sligo), and a common lawyer by the name of Marcus Culcanon. It would be these men who rallied the common people to the cause of a government not bound by the whim of the king. For four long years they lead the fight, and at the final battle of the war, (The battle of Vinegar hill) they gave the king one last chance for amnesty. If he would submit himself to the rebels, and agree to convene a parliament of the English model, he would remain as king of Ireland. The King refused, after the battle, he was found dead, having joined in with his cavalry's last ditch assault on the rebel center.
Upon the victorious rebel's arrival in Dublin, they convened a parliament and drafted a constitution which would be agreed upon and signed into law by ______, the next monarch of Ireland
What If Henry VIII successfully had Henry Fitzroy made King of Ireland in 1529:
1529 - 1546: Henry I (House of Fitzroy) [1]
1546 - 1555: Henry II (House of Fitzroy) [2]
1555 - 1589: John I (House of Fitzroy) [3]
1589 - 1605: Edward I (House of Fitzroy) [4]
1605 - 1623: Margaret I (House of Fitzroy) [5]
1623 - 1657: Henry III (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [6]
1657 - 1701: John II/Sean II (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [7]
1701 - 1719: Phillip I (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [8]
1719 - 1750: Mary (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [9]
1750 - 1779: Alfred I (House of Fitzroy-Waterford) [10]
1779 - 1823: Margaret II (House of Fitzroy-Waterford) [11]
1823 - 1831: Alfred II "The Fool" (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [12]
1831 - 1881: Henry IV "The Quiet" (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [13]
Henry VIII appointed his bastard son as the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1529. Henry wished to name him King of Ireland but his counsellors strenuously objected and it took several months after being made Lord Lieutenant before he was made King of Ireland in actuality.
Fitzroy was 10 when made King so whilst he was King, the country was run by his father's advisors, notably William Skeffington who was given guardianship of the young King. When he turned 18 in 1537, Skeffington was made Private Secretary for a brief period before his death.
Henry had been provisionally betrothed to Mary Howard in 1533, but the offer of Madeleine of Valois' hand in marriage was too good for Skeffington and Henry VIII to refuse, and the pair were betrothed in 1533, then married when Henry reached majority.
A child was born in 1538, so the nascent Kingdom of Ireland had an heir. Two more children were born in the next five years. However when Henry dies in 1546, at the age of only 27, none of his children had yet reached majority and the question of succession would read it's ugly head.
Henry would be succeeded by Henry, his eldest son.
[2] The eldest of the two sons of Henry I of Ireland and his wife; Madeline of Valois, Henry was destined for the Irish Crown from birth, and from the death of his father, he would embrace this role.
During his short reign of nine years, Henry II sought to expand the power of the Irish court, and to do so, he sought allies in the form of the French, who he would seek to marry, namely himself to his first cousin; Louise of Valois, and his younger brother; Prince John of Ireland, to another cousin, Margaret of Savoy.
Henry II was a man of true piety, and it would be his choice to travel to Rome where he received the Golden Rose from his holiness, and it would be on the return journey from Rome, in 1555, where Henry II would fall ill at the age of 17.
For the entirety of his reign, Henry had simply been a rubber-stamp for the regency of Anthony St Leger, and upon his death, the Regent of Ireland would continue his rule.
[3] King John was 14 when his brother died, and would spend the first few years of his reign under the regency of Anthony St.Leger, who became known as King Anthony for his hypnotic hold on the King. Part of St.Leger's power was the new King's inclination for both sexes in the bedroom, which the regent immediately recognized. He installed his nephew, Matthew, as the King's confidant turned lover.
All that changed in early 1558, when the King's wife Margaret of Savoy arrived in Dunmore. The new Queen was a rather authoritative figure who saw the regent as the cap on her and her husband's power at court. When she birthed her first child, Madeline, the King asked what she wished: her answer was to send Anthony St.Leger from the court (she also tried unsuccessfully to send away Matthew). The King obliged, causing such a shock to St.Leger that gossipers at the time blamed the incident for his failing health and eventual death the next year.
The remaining years of John's reign were most well known for the power struggle between Margaret (who favored a Catholic, pro-French policy) and Matthew (a closet reformer who preferred and English alliance). As one sharp-witted courtier wrote, "King John has two Queens". This battle extended to the children's education as Margaret attempted to have the children brought up by Catholic priests, while Matthew favored secular tutors, writing to the King "do you want to teach the children you are damned to hell's fiery pits". The children (who grew up at the same court in Dublin) ended up receiving wildly varying educations depending on who had the King's favor each year. For example, the King's eldest daughter Madeline was sent away to be educated by the nuns on the request of her mother. Her sister Louise, only two years younger, instead received a humanist education resembling those of Henry VIII's children, as encouraged by her father's lover.
In the end, King John would be brought down by his love of sex, dying from complications of syphilis. In response to John's reign, his heir Prince Edward, decided to make Ireland a country with no state religion.
4) Edward was John's second son, with the eldest predeceasing his father by several years. This was still sufficient time for Edward, who had been brought up by his mother but then trained for courthood by his father's advisors. Edward had hated the manner in which religion had creates a rift between his parents, and caused him to doubt his own abilities - and therefore be signed a bill of religious freedom. Each Irish citizen would be free to practice their own religion, free from persecution - this brought conflict with the Pope, but Edward found support from his great aunt, Queen Elizabeth of England during the Irish Primacy Scandal of 1595. Because he did not outright reject Roman Catholicism, the Pope accepted the decision of the Irish state on the agreement that Edward would pay certain taxes to the Vatican. Edward reluctantly agreed, but claimed all land as royal land and then charged the Irish monasteries rent which he used to pay the taxes.
He married Countess Anna of Nassau, a daughter of William the Silent, Prince of Orange in 1583 and they had two children before Anna died in 1588 during childbirth with their third, a daughter.
He subsequently married Maria of Saxe-Weimar in 1590 and she provided him with several children.
In 1603 when Elizabeth of England died, he was briefly considered for the English throne and considered the lead claimant by Elizabeth herself, but there were objections from the English nobility to a bastard line claiming the Crown when a legitimate claimant existed in the King of Scotland.
At any rate, he died in 1605 after catching pneumonia whilst inspecting the construction of a cathedral in Dublin, intended as the Irish Notre Dame, and his eldest daughter, Princess Margaret, took the throne.
[5] The eldest child from Edward I’s marriage to Anna of Nassau, and the first Queen of Ireland. Of the seven daughters of Edward I, Margaret would be the most ardently catholic, opposing her mothers Protestantism and her fathers own ambivalence towards the matter.
Prior to her taking the throne, the Princess would marry Infante Ferdinand of Spain, and the year of her taking the crown of Ireland, she would give birth to her first son and heir; Prince Henry of Ireland.
The first major note of her reign was the completion of the Dublin Cathedral. A massive and baroque cathedral symbolising the piety and Catholicism of Ireland. Her second action would be forcing her younger half-sisters, “The Irish Quintet” to sign away all claim to the throne of Ireland. The younger ones would agree, and be placed in small manorial homes, while the elder of the daughters of Maria of Saxe-Weimar; Maria Anna of Ireland would attempt to fight for her “claim” to the throne. The rebellion of Maria Anna was short lived, and recognised by no other government. From 1610 to 1612, the Protestant revolt would flutter around the Irish countryside, until her capture at Derry. She would be hung in Dublin, alongside the other ringleaders of the revolt. With the settling of the revolt, the reign of Margaret and her husband, who would take the title of Prince-Consort, would be secure.
For the next few years, Ireland simply recovered from the deep split in her loyalties, and another Son and two daughters would be born to the union of Margaret and Ferdinand.
Upon the death of Margaret in 1623, the house of Fitzroy would end, and the House of Hapsburg would inherit the Irish Kingdom.
[6] The Eldest son of Margaret I and Prince-Consort Ferdinand of Ireland, Henry was born in 1605. During his mothers reign, the young prince was often at his mothers side, and became a similarly devout Catholic, perhaps even more so.
In 1619, at the age of fourteen, the Crown Prince of Ireland would marry his paternal cousin; Eleanor of Austria, daughter of his fathers sister. Upon his mothers death, Henry would be crowned in the Dublin Cathedral, started by his grandfather, and he would take the dynastic name “Hapsburg-Eire”.
Between 1627 and 1646, Henry III would have 17 children by his three wives, firstly Eleanor of Austria until her death in 1631, followed by Marie of France until her death in Childbirth in 1642, and then Charlotte de Montespard, who he would take as his Morganatic wife.
The rule of Henry III was a peaceful reign, with the centralisation of the Irish court, and the Colonisation of the Irish Virgin Islands, and upon his death in 1657, Henry III would be succeeded by John II.
[7] John II of Ireland was the third son of Henry III's large brood and spent much of his life never expecting to become King, he was made Duke of Ulster and was raised with the expectation of serving his eldest brother, Henry, Prince of Leinster, however when he and John's second brother Prince Adam died in a boating accident when John was 28 saw the third son thrust into the spotlight. Unmarried at that point his father arranged a marriage for his new heir, Princess Marie-Anne of Orleans, however no children were produced by this marriage.
When Henry III died, John II became a King without an heir.
While England and Scotland convulsed in the throws of the British Civil War between King Frederick Henry I, the Parliamentarians, and Scottish Dissidents, John II focused on continuing Ireland's colonial projects, and supported the arts and the promotion of native Irish culture, both at home, and in the court, he was the first Irish monarch to learn the Irish Language (the court having retained the Tudor English of the Fitzroy's), and began signing documents not as 'John' but as 'Sean'.
When Sean II's first wife died, the King tried again with a second wife, Zofia Opalińska, a Polish noblewoman, this marriage also failed to produce any children.
Giving up hope of having heirs of his own body, Sean II focused on his brothers, the majority of whom had been left as bachelors by their father due to a lack of prospects. While their Hapsburgs relatives on the continent showed signs of dying out, the next six men behind Sean II in line for the throne were married and had more success in bedroom than their brother, some sneeringly called Sean 'Dry-Seed'.
The British Civil War ground down to a brutal halt when Frederick Henry I was captured by Parliamentarians and ultimately executed, horrifying the monarchies of Europe, a collation was formed, led by Louis XIV, Sean II joined the powers of Europe in the first invasion of the British Isles since William the Conqueror. The Invasion phase of the British Civil War saw the end of the Parliamentarians as a military force, their leaders (such as Oliver Cromwell) were executed, and the Kingdom of Great Britain was divided back into the separate Kingdoms of England (under Henry IX) and Scotland (under Charles I).
Sean II then spent the remainder of his life focused on building a new royal palace, as Dublin Castle was seen by Sean as 'too modest', the Caisleán Mhanderley (Manderley Castle) would be seen as an architectural wonder, seen by contemporaries as the nearest royal palace to rival Versailles.
Sean II witnessed the completion of Manderley Castle and lived in his finest work for six months before dying childess, passing the crown to his brother, Prince Albert Phillip of Ireland, otherwise known as Phillip I of Ireland
[8] Born in 1639, the eldest of the two sons of Henry III from his marriage to Marie de France. As a Prince, he was originally destined for a Ecclesiastical career, and from 1659 until 1690 he wore the Cardinal’s hat.
In 1690 however the Prince’s world was shaken. The death of his elder brother; Prince Edward, placed Albert Phillip as the heir to the Irish crown. Receiving permission from his Holiness, he would give up the Cardinals cap, and would take a wife with both his Brothers and Papal Blessing. He would marry Cecilia of Bavaria, and in 1693, the pair would welcome their first child, Mary.
Upon his brothers death in 1701, Prince Albert Phillip would return from his estates in Rome, which he had received as a gift from his Holiness for his service, and be crowned as Phillip I of Ireland. At his crowning, he was already 61, and was known to be gout ridden.
Unlike his brother, John II, Phillip was no lover of the Irish culture, seeing it as contradictory to Catholic belief, and he would establish the Jure Successionis, placing the succession laws of Ireland in writing. The Statute stated that the Monarch of Ireland must be catholic, disregarding the sons of his fathers third and last marriage, as those individuals had been noted Protestants.
By 1719, Phillip I was Eighty years old, and dying slowly, when suddenly on the fifth of August, the King suddenly died. Rumours of murder and assassination filled the court, and the King was succeeded by Mary, Princess of Leinster.
[9] Mary was born in 1693, the eldest of three sisters, named after the Virgin Mary at her father's insistance and later used it as her regnal name, at her father's dying wishes. She was betrothed and later married to Antoine, Dauphin of France, later crowned Louis Antoine, King of France. Much like her early years on her father's estates in Italy, and her ten years in France, this meant that she spent much of her life outside of Ireland. Far from being a stranger in her own country, this made her a relative celebrity and she returned to Dublin with French fashion and cuisine to introduce to society. The major problem with Mary was her marriage - should any of her son's survive her husband, they would be made King of France, and should they survive her, it would result in a Franco-Gaelic union which many Irish nobles were not enamoured by. A movement developed that would allow the eldest child to accept France, whilst the next eldest would accept Ireland (as Hapsburg-Eire was a cadet branch, and Bourbon held seniority) but Mary resisted this, but agreed that whilst France practiced succession by the male line only, Ireland would practice male preference primogeniture and allow succession to fall on females. This was, it seemed, satisfactory for Mary's counsellors and the objections ceased.
Mary and Louis Antoine spent their time mostly separate once she became Queen, she would visit France annually but for the rest of the year, Louis Antoine would spend time with his mistresses and father, it was claimed, two dozen children between them, though he only recognised one, Antoine, Count of Paris, and attempted to convince his wife that Antoine should marry one of their youngest daughters. Mary fiercely resisted, and refused to see her husband for two years.
For her own part, Mary became enamoured with the Ambassador to Morocco and it was rumoured they developed a sexual relationship which may have resulted in a daughter. Ironically, it was rumoured that this daughter then married the Count of Paris, allowing her a presence at the French Court in the presence of her "mothers" semi estranged husband.
It was later recounted in a poem entitled "The Tale of the Two Bastards" which was subsequently adapted into a French language movie in 1995, directed by Jean Pierre Jeunet, with Keanu Reeves as the Count of Paris, and Vanessa Paradis as Mary FitzMary. Isabelle Huppert would play Queen Mary of Ireland.
After the minor scandals of her reign, Mary died aged 57 in 1750, to be succeeded by her grandnephew, Lord Alfred Fitzroy, Duke of Waterford.
Alfred I, King of Ireland (c.1751)
[10] Lord Alfred, Duke of Waterford became heir-apparent to the Irish throne in 1745, after the death of Queen Mary's younger son, Charles-Philippe, of various venereal diseases. The new heir, a young boy of 4, was at this time being raised by his great-grandmother, Hannah Beaumont, a rich Scottish Noblewoman who had married the Duke of Waterford, a cousin to the royal family from an illegitimate son King John I of Ireland. Her own son, the infamous rogue Bernard Fitzroy, had married the Irish Queen's sister, the deformed Princess Catherine, and had thus fathered Alfred's father, Richard Fitzroy. Now, the story of how Richard Fitzroy married the Princess Helene of Ireland, the only child of the deceased Sean, Prince of Leinster, and by the agreement formed between France and Ireland, heiress to the Irish throne, is a convoluted one, but essentially, the Irish court demanded that she marry domestically, and while she had other cousins, the dumpy Richard seemed the least offensive option. And so they had married, and the Fitzroy line returned. The young Princess, fiercely unhappy in her life, became pregnant quickly (possibly to her husband's cousin, another handsome rogue in the vein of Bernard Fitzroy) and died giving birth to the young Alfred. This boy, the last Irish Prince not in line for the French throne, became the Queen's heir, although she refused to grant him the title Prince of Leinster.
The Queen of Ireland took scant interest in her successor, leaving his rearing to his great-grandmother, the formidable Dowager Duchess of Waterford ("Dowager" as of 1747) and he, along with his cousins, John William Fitzroy and Cecile Marie Fitzory, grew up in the idyllic Waterford estate. He was poorly educated during this time, although he did enjoy history lessons via his grandmother, and learnt book keeping at her side. But Hannah Beaumont felt a literary education, one of languages and other such things, would fill the boy's head with nonsense. Instead, she taught him to balance a budget, to know his lineage and to expect respect from the those around him. His only peers were, in her eyes, herself and his cousins, learning at her steady hand.
His accession was simple enough. While Louis-Antoine made some pointed noises of disapproval, once his son and heir had recognised his abdication, he wasn't going to let his great-grandson's crown leave his head. Instead, the King made his first visit to Ireland in decades, for a 2 month stay that taught him that he liked the Dowager Duchess of Waterford, and he even had the King's father married to Marie Charlotte de Guise, who was probably his illegitimate daughter. Richard Fitzory would go on to father another son, before dying of a heart attack in his 30's.
The court of Dublin, having seen some relaxation under Queen Mary, found itself tightly bound by convention by the will of the Dowager Duchess, who enacted a strict schedule that her grandson would continue for the rest of his life. He arose before sunrise, and for two hours before his official "awakening ceremony", spent that time eating a light breakfast and amusing himself. Then, he would lay in bed to be awoken by his cousin, the Duke of Downshire, his heir apparent, and his great-aunt, the Princess Joan of Ireland and France (the youngest of Queen Mary's daughters, she never married after being scarred by smallpox). He was then prepared for his day with briefings, regardless of his place in government as a child, and spent the next 2-3 hours dressing. Then came a ceremonial lunch, usually with 20-50 people in attendance as the "inner court". He then attended meetings, which acted as his lessons for the day, and shortly followed by a light meal and a nap, followed by a long, ceremonial final meal, before he would open whatever nightly entertainments were being held and, depending on their importance, either stay for the opening or, most likely, be hurried off to bed. Throughout the day, he was attended by no less than 6 peers at a time, sometimes as many as 18, and he had 32 men available at any one time. The Dowager Duchess herself was always present as well, often interrupting his dressing to quiz him on numbers.
Hannah Fitzroy (previously Beaumont), Dowager Duchess of Waterford (c.1754)
What the child missed, most of all, was spontaneity and fun.
Writing to the King of France in 1754, the young boy asked if he might send word to the Dowager Duchess and allow young Alfred a chance to rest once a month, maybe even twice that. But, outside of severe illness, she was a determined woman, refusing to accept that the young man growing to adulthood in front of her might enjoy something outside of her schedule. So little did he have, in fact, that when in 1756, he did escape the court with his cousins to do some fun, he went overboard, and a young woman known to history as "the Dublin Lass" ended up dead. Little is known of the exact scenario, but it seems that the King wanted a night of passion, and either the young woman refused, or his cousin tried to prevent this from happening. Regardless, the murder was blamed on a gang and the King seems to have never attempted such frivolity again.
As he entered adulthood, he found not even his bride was to be his own choice, which while usual at the time, seems to have prevent him from marrying an Irishwoman he found desirable. Nicole Gregoria Ferrard, the daughter of Earl of Longford. Instead, he was betrothed to The Princess Victoria Douglass of Scotland, a woman 7 years his senior who he found personally repugnant for her cruel temper and "beady eyes". They would have their first child in 1760. Many more would follow.
Victoria Douglas, Queen of Ireland (c.1762)
However, as much has been written about King Alfred as a personal figure, and his personal life does become more interesting soon, it must be said that as a leader, he was a great figurehead. He knew his numbers well, did not shy away from hard work, but struggled when it came to hard decision making particularly after the influence of the Dowager Duchess ended with her death in 1763. Much has been made of the change in the King following her death, but one thing is for sure, and that is that he was very passionate about the kingdom's economy, but blind to it's needs outside of that. He knew debts needed to be paid, but refused to economize the court, instead ending works on roads and other major infrastructure. He then raised taxes
Indeed, spending on the court tripled between 1760 and 1774, partially due to the arrival of the King's children and his increasing extension of family to support. His half-brother, soon made the Duke of Kingston, who had married in 1762 a woman named Elizabeth Butler. The two would have many children, but their eldest, the Lady Hannah Fitzroy, became the King's obsession.
It's unclear how early the King fixated on his niece. She did not return to the court until 1773, around the age of 10, and by this time, he had begun an affair with an actress in her 50's, named Sarah Hillard. The first real affair he had had, they were an odd pair to have, and it has been suggested that the King loved her due to her similarities to the Dowager Duchess. If that is so, then he loved his niece for her similarities to his cousin, Cecile Marie Fitzroy, who may have become his lover during the regency, although by now she was the Duke of Savoy's lover and possibly secret second wife. So instead, he focused on the young girl, who's father was blocked in his attempts to remove her from the King's attentions. This tells us that, by the mid 1770's, he was making motions against her, and by the second half of the decade, there was definitely a romantic undertone to reports, although she would claim never to have done anything inappropriate with the King. In her own words:
"He loved me from far away, and often talked about wanted a marriage. But no matter how ardent his language, we were pure and he was afraid to even touch me."
Now, all of this would matter little in 1776, when the first stirrings of rebellion amongst the people of Ireland began. Led by a committee of 20 men and women, their original goal was simply lower taxes. But as the movement gained traction, they aimed higher. The King's head.
The King heard of rebellion. Left to right: The Duke of Ulster, the King of Ireland, the Queen of Ireland, the Lady Hannah Fitzroy (c.1782)
Cities burned as they marched through Ireland, and in 1778, Dublin was under siege. The King, on a walk in the gardens, was siezed, and torn apart by his people. It was a grizzly death, and one that would effect the transition of power in a way not seen in Irish history.
[11]
The eldest daughter of Prince Henry, The Duke of Leinster, Hannah Margaret was just seven years old when the Rebellion started. Prince Henry was brought before a miilitary tribunal, accused of aiding his father in "grand treason against the Irish people" despite his impassioned pleas the Prince would be killed, leaving his widow Adelaide of Savoy and his 5 daughters: Hannah Margaret (7), Mary Adelaide (5), Elizabeth Helene (3), Victoria Anna (3), and Madeleine Henrietta (1). The young princesses were seized from their mother while the Duchess, fearing her husband's fate, hightailed it to relatives in France.
Weary of killing young girls, the Irish rebels would instead act as regents for Margaret II (her other name, Hannah, being discarded for its association with Hannah Fitzroy) and her sisters. The eldest two girls, the Queen and her sister Mary Adelaide, would be forcibly married into the Irish peerage in 1789, and similar matches were planned for their younger sisters.
The marriage of Margaret II to Thomas Fitzwilliam, youngest brother of one of her regents Viscount Fitzwilliam. Later that year saw the marriage of Mary Adelaide and William O'Brien, nephew of another regent Murrough O'Brien.
However, the next year became known to Irish history as the Sister's revolt. After rumors of her sister's gross unhappiness at her marital lot and rumors of more Irish matches for her sisters with men "beneath their rank and quality," the Queen and her sisters helped raise a palace coup against most of their regents, writing anonymous pamphlets about their gross mistreatment and winning the sympathy of the people and the army, who saw it their job to protect "poor ladies like our princesses". Many an Irish student has recalled Margaret's miracle; where the Queen, who had recently birthed her first child Prince Alfred, stormed into a meeting of the regents declaring "I am a girl no more. It is time for the levers of government to move to their rightful holder".
By 1790 the tenor of the Irish court changed, focused on the delightful Queen and her sisters. The youngest three were allowed prestigious royal matches: Elizabeth wedding the Crown Prince of Bavaria, Victoria the Prince of Asturias, and Madeleine the young King of Two Sicilies. Many call Margaret's reign "the court of women" as the Queen became the dominating force in politics and her marriage, with many calling her husband "The Phantom of the Isle". She even became an early advocate of family planning, deliberately spacing out her pregnancies to reduce the risk of dying in childbirth, a move which annoyed the clergy but won her admiration from the working classes.
The one fault of her reign might have been her overindulgent nature. The naturally fair Queen had keenly felt the death of her father and abandonment of her mother (who she refused to let return to Ireland after the Sister's revolt due to "leaving us in our time of gravest need") and thus overindulged her children, who were sometimes called haughty and spoiled. She was also reluctant to give up any power to her heir, Prince Alfred, perhaps a product of the regency. When Margaret II died of cancer in 1823, many admired the Queen for her bravery, but wondered if her successor would lead the royal family to revel or ruin.
[12] When Prince Alfred took the throne upon the death of his mother, the entirety of Ireland gave a collective groan of distaste and ill feeling. During his childhood, his mother, though doting and ever loving, was rarely around. His father was the main influence on the young prince, but he was anything but a proper role model. A licentious and crude man, Lord Fitzwilliam imparted many of these qualities as well as a disdain for anything approaching work of any variety in his son. Upon the Prince of Leinster's acession to the throne, he immediately began delegating his powers to various noblemen and favorites of ill stature and repute in society. In a brief 4 years, the King and his men had run the country into the mud. Ireland's economy was in ruins, the people were in uproar, and only a spark would be required to ignite civil war.
In the summer of 1827, it came. By order of the King, five noblemen (The Earl Gosford, The Viscount Mountgarret, The Lord Farnham, The Earl Cork, and The Earl Cavan) were accused of treason against the crown and hung. Their crime was to suggest that The Lord Digby be dismissed after it had been prooven that he had stolen crown funds for his own enrichment.
The nation exploded. Thousands of men rose up in arms against the King, and thousands more rose up to defend him. The king took this opportunity to label the rebels as traitors and orange protestants seeking to depose the rightful god ordained king. Before long the civil war began to revolve around abstractions of faith and politics far removed from the execution of five noblemen. Three figures rose to guide the rebellion and hone its unbridled wrath to the betterment of the nation. These principal men would become known to history as An Triumvirate Éireann, Daniel O'Connell (Earl Glandore), Hosea Guinness (Marquess Sligo), and a common lawyer by the name of Marcus Culcanon. It would be these men who rallied the common people to the cause of a government not bound by the whim of the king. For four long years they lead the fight, and at the final battle of the war, (The battle of Vinegar hill) they gave the king one last chance for amnesty. If he would submit himself to the rebels, and agree to convene a parliament of the English model, he would remain as king of Ireland. The King refused, after the battle, he was found dead, having joined in with his cavalry's last ditch assault on the rebel center.
Upon the victorious rebel's arrival in Dublin, they convened a parliament and drafted a constitution which would be agreed upon and signed into law by Henry IV, the next monarch of Ireland.
[13] Henry IV, the brother of Alfred II was born the third of Margaret II's five children, and due to her spacing out the pregnancies was nearly five years Alfred's junior. Raised in his mother's indulgent court and with little expectation of inheriting the throne, the then Prince Henry was poorly educated, his care left in the hands of an ever changing cast of courtiers, from whom Henry IV did learn one over-arching lesson that would become the theme of his life, "Say very little and smile kindly, you will be loved for it."
So while the quiet Prince largely found himself left to his own devices, he became the patron of a group of intellectuals and political theorists in Dublin that became dubbed 'the Venerable Ones', however the Prince contributed little to the group beyond royal patronage, but this group would become critical for his and the Irish Monarchy's survival in the years ahead.
In the first years of his brother's reign, the Prince was engaged to Sophie-Augusta of Saxe-Hildburghausen and married in an opulent ceremony devised by his brother the King as an excuse for debauchery. During the bedding ceremony the drunken King made 'unbecoming advances' upon his brother's newly wed wife that nearly caused a fight between the pair, this breach would not be repaired but allowed to fester and grow.
Exiled from his brother's court, the newly married 'Duke and Duchess of Ulster' retired to Classiebawn Castle and began to build their own family, which would see the birth of six children in total, though one would die in infancy.
Then his brother's mistakes led to The Irish Rising that would see the downfall of Alfred II, his death in battle, and the exile of Alfred's wife and two young children, for the successful rebels had already decided to strip Alfred II's line of their rights and pass them on to someone deemed more acceptable, the Quiet Duke of Ulster.
20th century historians would discover a series of secret correspondences between the Duke and a number of rebel leaders, several of whom came from 'the Venerable Ones' club, it revealed that the Duke could not condone rebellion against an anointed monarch but was convinced that his brother was no longer worthy of a crown, his brother's death in battle (and avoidance of any accusations of 'regicide') allowed Henry to put aside his personal worries and come to terms.
Henry IV took the Irish Crown as a 'Constitutional Monarch', a monarch bound by the law and the will of the people along with being anointed by God to represent a higher ideal, the new King and wife, self-effacing, humble, and above all else quiet and amiable were perfect for this new style of monarchy.
While the new Irish Parliament was set up and the first political parties began to emerge, the King invited the first Taoiseach (Prime Minister) to take up the reigns of the Government.
In terms of politics, Henry IV was very hands off, preferring to limit his involvement to words of encouragement to the various come-and-go ministers, serving as a shoulder to cry on, and a sounding board for their ideas.
The Irish Kingdom recovered quickly from the folly of Alfred II, even while much of Europe convulsed with revolutions and rebellions, the Holy Roman Empire collapsed under the weight of it's own contradictions, the Ottomans followed the last of the Habsburgs into extinction within a year, while other Kingdoms such as France, Scotland, and England rode out the violence and stayed intact, though a few like the Russian Empire simply tightened their grip.
In the later years of his life, Henry IV began to bring his heir, ___ in on the meetings with the Taoiseach to ensure a smooth transition between one monarch and the next.
Henry IV became ill with pneumonia at age 75, he clung to life for five months with the emerging newspapers keeping the nation on tinder hooks as the King's condition was reported and commented on in a day-by-day basis, when Henry IV died the Irish nation plunged into mourning for a man whom had not just saved his family's crown, but also the nation from the violence and wars that seemed to come in waves on the continent.
Henry IV's ___ and heir, _____ took the crown of a nation greatly changed by a man who spoke little, but did much by doing very little.
1529 - 1546: Henry I (House of Fitzroy) [1]
1546 - 1555: Henry II (House of Fitzroy) [2]
1555 - 1589: John I (House of Fitzroy) [3]
1589 - 1605: Edward I (House of Fitzroy) [4]
1605 - 1623: Margaret I (House of Fitzroy) [5]
1623 - 1657: Henry III (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [6]
1657 - 1701: John II/Sean II (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [7]
1701 - 1719: Phillip I (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [8]
1719 - 1750: Mary (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [9]
1750 - 1779: Alfred I (House of Fitzroy-Waterford) [10]
1779 - 1823: Margaret II (House of Fitzroy-Waterford) [11]
1823 - 1831: Alfred II "The Fool" (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [12]
1831 - 1881: Henry IV "The Quiet" (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [13]
Henry VIII appointed his bastard son as the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1529. Henry wished to name him King of Ireland but his counsellors strenuously objected and it took several months after being made Lord Lieutenant before he was made King of Ireland in actuality.
Fitzroy was 10 when made King so whilst he was King, the country was run by his father's advisors, notably William Skeffington who was given guardianship of the young King. When he turned 18 in 1537, Skeffington was made Private Secretary for a brief period before his death.
Henry had been provisionally betrothed to Mary Howard in 1533, but the offer of Madeleine of Valois' hand in marriage was too good for Skeffington and Henry VIII to refuse, and the pair were betrothed in 1533, then married when Henry reached majority.
A child was born in 1538, so the nascent Kingdom of Ireland had an heir. Two more children were born in the next five years. However when Henry dies in 1546, at the age of only 27, none of his children had yet reached majority and the question of succession would read it's ugly head.
Henry would be succeeded by Henry, his eldest son.
[2] The eldest of the two sons of Henry I of Ireland and his wife; Madeline of Valois, Henry was destined for the Irish Crown from birth, and from the death of his father, he would embrace this role.
During his short reign of nine years, Henry II sought to expand the power of the Irish court, and to do so, he sought allies in the form of the French, who he would seek to marry, namely himself to his first cousin; Louise of Valois, and his younger brother; Prince John of Ireland, to another cousin, Margaret of Savoy.
Henry II was a man of true piety, and it would be his choice to travel to Rome where he received the Golden Rose from his holiness, and it would be on the return journey from Rome, in 1555, where Henry II would fall ill at the age of 17.
For the entirety of his reign, Henry had simply been a rubber-stamp for the regency of Anthony St Leger, and upon his death, the Regent of Ireland would continue his rule.
[3] King John was 14 when his brother died, and would spend the first few years of his reign under the regency of Anthony St.Leger, who became known as King Anthony for his hypnotic hold on the King. Part of St.Leger's power was the new King's inclination for both sexes in the bedroom, which the regent immediately recognized. He installed his nephew, Matthew, as the King's confidant turned lover.
All that changed in early 1558, when the King's wife Margaret of Savoy arrived in Dunmore. The new Queen was a rather authoritative figure who saw the regent as the cap on her and her husband's power at court. When she birthed her first child, Madeline, the King asked what she wished: her answer was to send Anthony St.Leger from the court (she also tried unsuccessfully to send away Matthew). The King obliged, causing such a shock to St.Leger that gossipers at the time blamed the incident for his failing health and eventual death the next year.
The remaining years of John's reign were most well known for the power struggle between Margaret (who favored a Catholic, pro-French policy) and Matthew (a closet reformer who preferred and English alliance). As one sharp-witted courtier wrote, "King John has two Queens". This battle extended to the children's education as Margaret attempted to have the children brought up by Catholic priests, while Matthew favored secular tutors, writing to the King "do you want to teach the children you are damned to hell's fiery pits". The children (who grew up at the same court in Dublin) ended up receiving wildly varying educations depending on who had the King's favor each year. For example, the King's eldest daughter Madeline was sent away to be educated by the nuns on the request of her mother. Her sister Louise, only two years younger, instead received a humanist education resembling those of Henry VIII's children, as encouraged by her father's lover.
In the end, King John would be brought down by his love of sex, dying from complications of syphilis. In response to John's reign, his heir Prince Edward, decided to make Ireland a country with no state religion.
4) Edward was John's second son, with the eldest predeceasing his father by several years. This was still sufficient time for Edward, who had been brought up by his mother but then trained for courthood by his father's advisors. Edward had hated the manner in which religion had creates a rift between his parents, and caused him to doubt his own abilities - and therefore be signed a bill of religious freedom. Each Irish citizen would be free to practice their own religion, free from persecution - this brought conflict with the Pope, but Edward found support from his great aunt, Queen Elizabeth of England during the Irish Primacy Scandal of 1595. Because he did not outright reject Roman Catholicism, the Pope accepted the decision of the Irish state on the agreement that Edward would pay certain taxes to the Vatican. Edward reluctantly agreed, but claimed all land as royal land and then charged the Irish monasteries rent which he used to pay the taxes.
He married Countess Anna of Nassau, a daughter of William the Silent, Prince of Orange in 1583 and they had two children before Anna died in 1588 during childbirth with their third, a daughter.
He subsequently married Maria of Saxe-Weimar in 1590 and she provided him with several children.
In 1603 when Elizabeth of England died, he was briefly considered for the English throne and considered the lead claimant by Elizabeth herself, but there were objections from the English nobility to a bastard line claiming the Crown when a legitimate claimant existed in the King of Scotland.
At any rate, he died in 1605 after catching pneumonia whilst inspecting the construction of a cathedral in Dublin, intended as the Irish Notre Dame, and his eldest daughter, Princess Margaret, took the throne.
[5] The eldest child from Edward I’s marriage to Anna of Nassau, and the first Queen of Ireland. Of the seven daughters of Edward I, Margaret would be the most ardently catholic, opposing her mothers Protestantism and her fathers own ambivalence towards the matter.
Prior to her taking the throne, the Princess would marry Infante Ferdinand of Spain, and the year of her taking the crown of Ireland, she would give birth to her first son and heir; Prince Henry of Ireland.
The first major note of her reign was the completion of the Dublin Cathedral. A massive and baroque cathedral symbolising the piety and Catholicism of Ireland. Her second action would be forcing her younger half-sisters, “The Irish Quintet” to sign away all claim to the throne of Ireland. The younger ones would agree, and be placed in small manorial homes, while the elder of the daughters of Maria of Saxe-Weimar; Maria Anna of Ireland would attempt to fight for her “claim” to the throne. The rebellion of Maria Anna was short lived, and recognised by no other government. From 1610 to 1612, the Protestant revolt would flutter around the Irish countryside, until her capture at Derry. She would be hung in Dublin, alongside the other ringleaders of the revolt. With the settling of the revolt, the reign of Margaret and her husband, who would take the title of Prince-Consort, would be secure.
For the next few years, Ireland simply recovered from the deep split in her loyalties, and another Son and two daughters would be born to the union of Margaret and Ferdinand.
Upon the death of Margaret in 1623, the house of Fitzroy would end, and the House of Hapsburg would inherit the Irish Kingdom.
[6] The Eldest son of Margaret I and Prince-Consort Ferdinand of Ireland, Henry was born in 1605. During his mothers reign, the young prince was often at his mothers side, and became a similarly devout Catholic, perhaps even more so.
In 1619, at the age of fourteen, the Crown Prince of Ireland would marry his paternal cousin; Eleanor of Austria, daughter of his fathers sister. Upon his mothers death, Henry would be crowned in the Dublin Cathedral, started by his grandfather, and he would take the dynastic name “Hapsburg-Eire”.
Between 1627 and 1646, Henry III would have 17 children by his three wives, firstly Eleanor of Austria until her death in 1631, followed by Marie of France until her death in Childbirth in 1642, and then Charlotte de Montespard, who he would take as his Morganatic wife.
The rule of Henry III was a peaceful reign, with the centralisation of the Irish court, and the Colonisation of the Irish Virgin Islands, and upon his death in 1657, Henry III would be succeeded by John II.
[7] John II of Ireland was the third son of Henry III's large brood and spent much of his life never expecting to become King, he was made Duke of Ulster and was raised with the expectation of serving his eldest brother, Henry, Prince of Leinster, however when he and John's second brother Prince Adam died in a boating accident when John was 28 saw the third son thrust into the spotlight. Unmarried at that point his father arranged a marriage for his new heir, Princess Marie-Anne of Orleans, however no children were produced by this marriage.
When Henry III died, John II became a King without an heir.
While England and Scotland convulsed in the throws of the British Civil War between King Frederick Henry I, the Parliamentarians, and Scottish Dissidents, John II focused on continuing Ireland's colonial projects, and supported the arts and the promotion of native Irish culture, both at home, and in the court, he was the first Irish monarch to learn the Irish Language (the court having retained the Tudor English of the Fitzroy's), and began signing documents not as 'John' but as 'Sean'.
When Sean II's first wife died, the King tried again with a second wife, Zofia Opalińska, a Polish noblewoman, this marriage also failed to produce any children.
Giving up hope of having heirs of his own body, Sean II focused on his brothers, the majority of whom had been left as bachelors by their father due to a lack of prospects. While their Hapsburgs relatives on the continent showed signs of dying out, the next six men behind Sean II in line for the throne were married and had more success in bedroom than their brother, some sneeringly called Sean 'Dry-Seed'.
The British Civil War ground down to a brutal halt when Frederick Henry I was captured by Parliamentarians and ultimately executed, horrifying the monarchies of Europe, a collation was formed, led by Louis XIV, Sean II joined the powers of Europe in the first invasion of the British Isles since William the Conqueror. The Invasion phase of the British Civil War saw the end of the Parliamentarians as a military force, their leaders (such as Oliver Cromwell) were executed, and the Kingdom of Great Britain was divided back into the separate Kingdoms of England (under Henry IX) and Scotland (under Charles I).
Sean II then spent the remainder of his life focused on building a new royal palace, as Dublin Castle was seen by Sean as 'too modest', the Caisleán Mhanderley (Manderley Castle) would be seen as an architectural wonder, seen by contemporaries as the nearest royal palace to rival Versailles.
Sean II witnessed the completion of Manderley Castle and lived in his finest work for six months before dying childess, passing the crown to his brother, Prince Albert Phillip of Ireland, otherwise known as Phillip I of Ireland
[8] Born in 1639, the eldest of the two sons of Henry III from his marriage to Marie de France. As a Prince, he was originally destined for a Ecclesiastical career, and from 1659 until 1690 he wore the Cardinal’s hat.
In 1690 however the Prince’s world was shaken. The death of his elder brother; Prince Edward, placed Albert Phillip as the heir to the Irish crown. Receiving permission from his Holiness, he would give up the Cardinals cap, and would take a wife with both his Brothers and Papal Blessing. He would marry Cecilia of Bavaria, and in 1693, the pair would welcome their first child, Mary.
Upon his brothers death in 1701, Prince Albert Phillip would return from his estates in Rome, which he had received as a gift from his Holiness for his service, and be crowned as Phillip I of Ireland. At his crowning, he was already 61, and was known to be gout ridden.
Unlike his brother, John II, Phillip was no lover of the Irish culture, seeing it as contradictory to Catholic belief, and he would establish the Jure Successionis, placing the succession laws of Ireland in writing. The Statute stated that the Monarch of Ireland must be catholic, disregarding the sons of his fathers third and last marriage, as those individuals had been noted Protestants.
By 1719, Phillip I was Eighty years old, and dying slowly, when suddenly on the fifth of August, the King suddenly died. Rumours of murder and assassination filled the court, and the King was succeeded by Mary, Princess of Leinster.
[9] Mary was born in 1693, the eldest of three sisters, named after the Virgin Mary at her father's insistance and later used it as her regnal name, at her father's dying wishes. She was betrothed and later married to Antoine, Dauphin of France, later crowned Louis Antoine, King of France. Much like her early years on her father's estates in Italy, and her ten years in France, this meant that she spent much of her life outside of Ireland. Far from being a stranger in her own country, this made her a relative celebrity and she returned to Dublin with French fashion and cuisine to introduce to society. The major problem with Mary was her marriage - should any of her son's survive her husband, they would be made King of France, and should they survive her, it would result in a Franco-Gaelic union which many Irish nobles were not enamoured by. A movement developed that would allow the eldest child to accept France, whilst the next eldest would accept Ireland (as Hapsburg-Eire was a cadet branch, and Bourbon held seniority) but Mary resisted this, but agreed that whilst France practiced succession by the male line only, Ireland would practice male preference primogeniture and allow succession to fall on females. This was, it seemed, satisfactory for Mary's counsellors and the objections ceased.
Mary and Louis Antoine spent their time mostly separate once she became Queen, she would visit France annually but for the rest of the year, Louis Antoine would spend time with his mistresses and father, it was claimed, two dozen children between them, though he only recognised one, Antoine, Count of Paris, and attempted to convince his wife that Antoine should marry one of their youngest daughters. Mary fiercely resisted, and refused to see her husband for two years.
For her own part, Mary became enamoured with the Ambassador to Morocco and it was rumoured they developed a sexual relationship which may have resulted in a daughter. Ironically, it was rumoured that this daughter then married the Count of Paris, allowing her a presence at the French Court in the presence of her "mothers" semi estranged husband.
It was later recounted in a poem entitled "The Tale of the Two Bastards" which was subsequently adapted into a French language movie in 1995, directed by Jean Pierre Jeunet, with Keanu Reeves as the Count of Paris, and Vanessa Paradis as Mary FitzMary. Isabelle Huppert would play Queen Mary of Ireland.
After the minor scandals of her reign, Mary died aged 57 in 1750, to be succeeded by her grandnephew, Lord Alfred Fitzroy, Duke of Waterford.
Alfred I, King of Ireland (c.1751)
[10] Lord Alfred, Duke of Waterford became heir-apparent to the Irish throne in 1745, after the death of Queen Mary's younger son, Charles-Philippe, of various venereal diseases. The new heir, a young boy of 4, was at this time being raised by his great-grandmother, Hannah Beaumont, a rich Scottish Noblewoman who had married the Duke of Waterford, a cousin to the royal family from an illegitimate son King John I of Ireland. Her own son, the infamous rogue Bernard Fitzroy, had married the Irish Queen's sister, the deformed Princess Catherine, and had thus fathered Alfred's father, Richard Fitzroy. Now, the story of how Richard Fitzroy married the Princess Helene of Ireland, the only child of the deceased Sean, Prince of Leinster, and by the agreement formed between France and Ireland, heiress to the Irish throne, is a convoluted one, but essentially, the Irish court demanded that she marry domestically, and while she had other cousins, the dumpy Richard seemed the least offensive option. And so they had married, and the Fitzroy line returned. The young Princess, fiercely unhappy in her life, became pregnant quickly (possibly to her husband's cousin, another handsome rogue in the vein of Bernard Fitzroy) and died giving birth to the young Alfred. This boy, the last Irish Prince not in line for the French throne, became the Queen's heir, although she refused to grant him the title Prince of Leinster.
The Queen of Ireland took scant interest in her successor, leaving his rearing to his great-grandmother, the formidable Dowager Duchess of Waterford ("Dowager" as of 1747) and he, along with his cousins, John William Fitzroy and Cecile Marie Fitzory, grew up in the idyllic Waterford estate. He was poorly educated during this time, although he did enjoy history lessons via his grandmother, and learnt book keeping at her side. But Hannah Beaumont felt a literary education, one of languages and other such things, would fill the boy's head with nonsense. Instead, she taught him to balance a budget, to know his lineage and to expect respect from the those around him. His only peers were, in her eyes, herself and his cousins, learning at her steady hand.
His accession was simple enough. While Louis-Antoine made some pointed noises of disapproval, once his son and heir had recognised his abdication, he wasn't going to let his great-grandson's crown leave his head. Instead, the King made his first visit to Ireland in decades, for a 2 month stay that taught him that he liked the Dowager Duchess of Waterford, and he even had the King's father married to Marie Charlotte de Guise, who was probably his illegitimate daughter. Richard Fitzory would go on to father another son, before dying of a heart attack in his 30's.
The court of Dublin, having seen some relaxation under Queen Mary, found itself tightly bound by convention by the will of the Dowager Duchess, who enacted a strict schedule that her grandson would continue for the rest of his life. He arose before sunrise, and for two hours before his official "awakening ceremony", spent that time eating a light breakfast and amusing himself. Then, he would lay in bed to be awoken by his cousin, the Duke of Downshire, his heir apparent, and his great-aunt, the Princess Joan of Ireland and France (the youngest of Queen Mary's daughters, she never married after being scarred by smallpox). He was then prepared for his day with briefings, regardless of his place in government as a child, and spent the next 2-3 hours dressing. Then came a ceremonial lunch, usually with 20-50 people in attendance as the "inner court". He then attended meetings, which acted as his lessons for the day, and shortly followed by a light meal and a nap, followed by a long, ceremonial final meal, before he would open whatever nightly entertainments were being held and, depending on their importance, either stay for the opening or, most likely, be hurried off to bed. Throughout the day, he was attended by no less than 6 peers at a time, sometimes as many as 18, and he had 32 men available at any one time. The Dowager Duchess herself was always present as well, often interrupting his dressing to quiz him on numbers.
Hannah Fitzroy (previously Beaumont), Dowager Duchess of Waterford (c.1754)
What the child missed, most of all, was spontaneity and fun.
Writing to the King of France in 1754, the young boy asked if he might send word to the Dowager Duchess and allow young Alfred a chance to rest once a month, maybe even twice that. But, outside of severe illness, she was a determined woman, refusing to accept that the young man growing to adulthood in front of her might enjoy something outside of her schedule. So little did he have, in fact, that when in 1756, he did escape the court with his cousins to do some fun, he went overboard, and a young woman known to history as "the Dublin Lass" ended up dead. Little is known of the exact scenario, but it seems that the King wanted a night of passion, and either the young woman refused, or his cousin tried to prevent this from happening. Regardless, the murder was blamed on a gang and the King seems to have never attempted such frivolity again.
As he entered adulthood, he found not even his bride was to be his own choice, which while usual at the time, seems to have prevent him from marrying an Irishwoman he found desirable. Nicole Gregoria Ferrard, the daughter of Earl of Longford. Instead, he was betrothed to The Princess Victoria Douglass of Scotland, a woman 7 years his senior who he found personally repugnant for her cruel temper and "beady eyes". They would have their first child in 1760. Many more would follow.
Victoria Douglas, Queen of Ireland (c.1762)
However, as much has been written about King Alfred as a personal figure, and his personal life does become more interesting soon, it must be said that as a leader, he was a great figurehead. He knew his numbers well, did not shy away from hard work, but struggled when it came to hard decision making particularly after the influence of the Dowager Duchess ended with her death in 1763. Much has been made of the change in the King following her death, but one thing is for sure, and that is that he was very passionate about the kingdom's economy, but blind to it's needs outside of that. He knew debts needed to be paid, but refused to economize the court, instead ending works on roads and other major infrastructure. He then raised taxes
Indeed, spending on the court tripled between 1760 and 1774, partially due to the arrival of the King's children and his increasing extension of family to support. His half-brother, soon made the Duke of Kingston, who had married in 1762 a woman named Elizabeth Butler. The two would have many children, but their eldest, the Lady Hannah Fitzroy, became the King's obsession.
It's unclear how early the King fixated on his niece. She did not return to the court until 1773, around the age of 10, and by this time, he had begun an affair with an actress in her 50's, named Sarah Hillard. The first real affair he had had, they were an odd pair to have, and it has been suggested that the King loved her due to her similarities to the Dowager Duchess. If that is so, then he loved his niece for her similarities to his cousin, Cecile Marie Fitzroy, who may have become his lover during the regency, although by now she was the Duke of Savoy's lover and possibly secret second wife. So instead, he focused on the young girl, who's father was blocked in his attempts to remove her from the King's attentions. This tells us that, by the mid 1770's, he was making motions against her, and by the second half of the decade, there was definitely a romantic undertone to reports, although she would claim never to have done anything inappropriate with the King. In her own words:
"He loved me from far away, and often talked about wanted a marriage. But no matter how ardent his language, we were pure and he was afraid to even touch me."
Now, all of this would matter little in 1776, when the first stirrings of rebellion amongst the people of Ireland began. Led by a committee of 20 men and women, their original goal was simply lower taxes. But as the movement gained traction, they aimed higher. The King's head.
The King heard of rebellion. Left to right: The Duke of Ulster, the King of Ireland, the Queen of Ireland, the Lady Hannah Fitzroy (c.1782)
Cities burned as they marched through Ireland, and in 1778, Dublin was under siege. The King, on a walk in the gardens, was siezed, and torn apart by his people. It was a grizzly death, and one that would effect the transition of power in a way not seen in Irish history.
[11]
The eldest daughter of Prince Henry, The Duke of Leinster, Hannah Margaret was just seven years old when the Rebellion started. Prince Henry was brought before a miilitary tribunal, accused of aiding his father in "grand treason against the Irish people" despite his impassioned pleas the Prince would be killed, leaving his widow Adelaide of Savoy and his 5 daughters: Hannah Margaret (7), Mary Adelaide (5), Elizabeth Helene (3), Victoria Anna (3), and Madeleine Henrietta (1). The young princesses were seized from their mother while the Duchess, fearing her husband's fate, hightailed it to relatives in France.
Weary of killing young girls, the Irish rebels would instead act as regents for Margaret II (her other name, Hannah, being discarded for its association with Hannah Fitzroy) and her sisters. The eldest two girls, the Queen and her sister Mary Adelaide, would be forcibly married into the Irish peerage in 1789, and similar matches were planned for their younger sisters.
The marriage of Margaret II to Thomas Fitzwilliam, youngest brother of one of her regents Viscount Fitzwilliam. Later that year saw the marriage of Mary Adelaide and William O'Brien, nephew of another regent Murrough O'Brien.
However, the next year became known to Irish history as the Sister's revolt. After rumors of her sister's gross unhappiness at her marital lot and rumors of more Irish matches for her sisters with men "beneath their rank and quality," the Queen and her sisters helped raise a palace coup against most of their regents, writing anonymous pamphlets about their gross mistreatment and winning the sympathy of the people and the army, who saw it their job to protect "poor ladies like our princesses". Many an Irish student has recalled Margaret's miracle; where the Queen, who had recently birthed her first child Prince Alfred, stormed into a meeting of the regents declaring "I am a girl no more. It is time for the levers of government to move to their rightful holder".
By 1790 the tenor of the Irish court changed, focused on the delightful Queen and her sisters. The youngest three were allowed prestigious royal matches: Elizabeth wedding the Crown Prince of Bavaria, Victoria the Prince of Asturias, and Madeleine the young King of Two Sicilies. Many call Margaret's reign "the court of women" as the Queen became the dominating force in politics and her marriage, with many calling her husband "The Phantom of the Isle". She even became an early advocate of family planning, deliberately spacing out her pregnancies to reduce the risk of dying in childbirth, a move which annoyed the clergy but won her admiration from the working classes.
The one fault of her reign might have been her overindulgent nature. The naturally fair Queen had keenly felt the death of her father and abandonment of her mother (who she refused to let return to Ireland after the Sister's revolt due to "leaving us in our time of gravest need") and thus overindulged her children, who were sometimes called haughty and spoiled. She was also reluctant to give up any power to her heir, Prince Alfred, perhaps a product of the regency. When Margaret II died of cancer in 1823, many admired the Queen for her bravery, but wondered if her successor would lead the royal family to revel or ruin.
[12] When Prince Alfred took the throne upon the death of his mother, the entirety of Ireland gave a collective groan of distaste and ill feeling. During his childhood, his mother, though doting and ever loving, was rarely around. His father was the main influence on the young prince, but he was anything but a proper role model. A licentious and crude man, Lord Fitzwilliam imparted many of these qualities as well as a disdain for anything approaching work of any variety in his son. Upon the Prince of Leinster's acession to the throne, he immediately began delegating his powers to various noblemen and favorites of ill stature and repute in society. In a brief 4 years, the King and his men had run the country into the mud. Ireland's economy was in ruins, the people were in uproar, and only a spark would be required to ignite civil war.
In the summer of 1827, it came. By order of the King, five noblemen (The Earl Gosford, The Viscount Mountgarret, The Lord Farnham, The Earl Cork, and The Earl Cavan) were accused of treason against the crown and hung. Their crime was to suggest that The Lord Digby be dismissed after it had been prooven that he had stolen crown funds for his own enrichment.
The nation exploded. Thousands of men rose up in arms against the King, and thousands more rose up to defend him. The king took this opportunity to label the rebels as traitors and orange protestants seeking to depose the rightful god ordained king. Before long the civil war began to revolve around abstractions of faith and politics far removed from the execution of five noblemen. Three figures rose to guide the rebellion and hone its unbridled wrath to the betterment of the nation. These principal men would become known to history as An Triumvirate Éireann, Daniel O'Connell (Earl Glandore), Hosea Guinness (Marquess Sligo), and a common lawyer by the name of Marcus Culcanon. It would be these men who rallied the common people to the cause of a government not bound by the whim of the king. For four long years they lead the fight, and at the final battle of the war, (The battle of Vinegar hill) they gave the king one last chance for amnesty. If he would submit himself to the rebels, and agree to convene a parliament of the English model, he would remain as king of Ireland. The King refused, after the battle, he was found dead, having joined in with his cavalry's last ditch assault on the rebel center.
Upon the victorious rebel's arrival in Dublin, they convened a parliament and drafted a constitution which would be agreed upon and signed into law by Henry IV, the next monarch of Ireland.
[13] Henry IV, the brother of Alfred II was born the third of Margaret II's five children, and due to her spacing out the pregnancies was nearly five years Alfred's junior. Raised in his mother's indulgent court and with little expectation of inheriting the throne, the then Prince Henry was poorly educated, his care left in the hands of an ever changing cast of courtiers, from whom Henry IV did learn one over-arching lesson that would become the theme of his life, "Say very little and smile kindly, you will be loved for it."
So while the quiet Prince largely found himself left to his own devices, he became the patron of a group of intellectuals and political theorists in Dublin that became dubbed 'the Venerable Ones', however the Prince contributed little to the group beyond royal patronage, but this group would become critical for his and the Irish Monarchy's survival in the years ahead.
In the first years of his brother's reign, the Prince was engaged to Sophie-Augusta of Saxe-Hildburghausen and married in an opulent ceremony devised by his brother the King as an excuse for debauchery. During the bedding ceremony the drunken King made 'unbecoming advances' upon his brother's newly wed wife that nearly caused a fight between the pair, this breach would not be repaired but allowed to fester and grow.
Exiled from his brother's court, the newly married 'Duke and Duchess of Ulster' retired to Classiebawn Castle and began to build their own family, which would see the birth of six children in total, though one would die in infancy.
Then his brother's mistakes led to The Irish Rising that would see the downfall of Alfred II, his death in battle, and the exile of Alfred's wife and two young children, for the successful rebels had already decided to strip Alfred II's line of their rights and pass them on to someone deemed more acceptable, the Quiet Duke of Ulster.
20th century historians would discover a series of secret correspondences between the Duke and a number of rebel leaders, several of whom came from 'the Venerable Ones' club, it revealed that the Duke could not condone rebellion against an anointed monarch but was convinced that his brother was no longer worthy of a crown, his brother's death in battle (and avoidance of any accusations of 'regicide') allowed Henry to put aside his personal worries and come to terms.
Henry IV took the Irish Crown as a 'Constitutional Monarch', a monarch bound by the law and the will of the people along with being anointed by God to represent a higher ideal, the new King and wife, self-effacing, humble, and above all else quiet and amiable were perfect for this new style of monarchy.
While the new Irish Parliament was set up and the first political parties began to emerge, the King invited the first Taoiseach (Prime Minister) to take up the reigns of the Government.
In terms of politics, Henry IV was very hands off, preferring to limit his involvement to words of encouragement to the various come-and-go ministers, serving as a shoulder to cry on, and a sounding board for their ideas.
The Irish Kingdom recovered quickly from the folly of Alfred II, even while much of Europe convulsed with revolutions and rebellions, the Holy Roman Empire collapsed under the weight of it's own contradictions, the Ottomans followed the last of the Habsburgs into extinction within a year, while other Kingdoms such as France, Scotland, and England rode out the violence and stayed intact, though a few like the Russian Empire simply tightened their grip.
In the later years of his life, Henry IV began to bring his heir, ___ in on the meetings with the Taoiseach to ensure a smooth transition between one monarch and the next.
Henry IV became ill with pneumonia at age 75, he clung to life for five months with the emerging newspapers keeping the nation on tinder hooks as the King's condition was reported and commented on in a day-by-day basis, when Henry IV died the Irish nation plunged into mourning for a man whom had not just saved his family's crown, but also the nation from the violence and wars that seemed to come in waves on the continent.
Henry IV's ___ and heir, _____ took the crown of a nation greatly changed by a man who spoke little, but did much by doing very little.
What If Henry VIII successfully had Henry Fitzroy made King of Ireland in 1529:
1529 - 1546: Henry I (House of Fitzroy) [1]
1546 - 1555: Henry II (House of Fitzroy) [2]
1555 - 1589: John I (House of Fitzroy) [3]
1589 - 1605: Edward I (House of Fitzroy) [4]
1605 - 1623: Margaret I (House of Fitzroy) [5]
1623 - 1657: Henry III (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [6]
1657 - 1701: John II/Sean II (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [7]
1701 - 1719: Phillip I (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [8]
1719 - 1750: Mary (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [9]
1750 - 1779: Alfred I (House of Fitzroy-Waterford) [10]
1779 - 1823: Margaret II (House of Fitzroy-Waterford) [11]
1823 - 1831: Alfred II "The Fool" (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [12]
1831 - 1881: Henry IV "The Quiet" (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [13]
1881 - 1901: Elizabeth "The Giving" (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [14]
Henry VIII appointed his bastard son as the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1529. Henry wished to name him King of Ireland but his counsellors strenuously objected and it took several months after being made Lord Lieutenant before he was made King of Ireland in actuality.
Fitzroy was 10 when made King so whilst he was King, the country was run by his father's advisors, notably William Skeffington who was given guardianship of the young King. When he turned 18 in 1537, Skeffington was made Private Secretary for a brief period before his death.
Henry had been provisionally betrothed to Mary Howard in 1533, but the offer of Madeleine of Valois' hand in marriage was too good for Skeffington and Henry VIII to refuse, and the pair were betrothed in 1533, then married when Henry reached majority.
A child was born in 1538, so the nascent Kingdom of Ireland had an heir. Two more children were born in the next five years. However when Henry dies in 1546, at the age of only 27, none of his children had yet reached majority and the question of succession would read it's ugly head.
Henry would be succeeded by Henry, his eldest son.
[2] The eldest of the two sons of Henry I of Ireland and his wife; Madeline of Valois, Henry was destined for the Irish Crown from birth, and from the death of his father, he would embrace this role.
During his short reign of nine years, Henry II sought to expand the power of the Irish court, and to do so, he sought allies in the form of the French, who he would seek to marry, namely himself to his first cousin; Louise of Valois, and his younger brother; Prince John of Ireland, to another cousin, Margaret of Savoy.
Henry II was a man of true piety, and it would be his choice to travel to Rome where he received the Golden Rose from his holiness, and it would be on the return journey from Rome, in 1555, where Henry II would fall ill at the age of 17.
For the entirety of his reign, Henry had simply been a rubber-stamp for the regency of Anthony St Leger, and upon his death, the Regent of Ireland would continue his rule.
[3] King John was 14 when his brother died, and would spend the first few years of his reign under the regency of Anthony St.Leger, who became known as King Anthony for his hypnotic hold on the King. Part of St.Leger's power was the new King's inclination for both sexes in the bedroom, which the regent immediately recognized. He installed his nephew, Matthew, as the King's confidant turned lover.
All that changed in early 1558, when the King's wife Margaret of Savoy arrived in Dunmore. The new Queen was a rather authoritative figure who saw the regent as the cap on her and her husband's power at court. When she birthed her first child, Madeline, the King asked what she wished: her answer was to send Anthony St.Leger from the court (she also tried unsuccessfully to send away Matthew). The King obliged, causing such a shock to St.Leger that gossipers at the time blamed the incident for his failing health and eventual death the next year.
The remaining years of John's reign were most well known for the power struggle between Margaret (who favored a Catholic, pro-French policy) and Matthew (a closet reformer who preferred and English alliance). As one sharp-witted courtier wrote, "King John has two Queens". This battle extended to the children's education as Margaret attempted to have the children brought up by Catholic priests, while Matthew favored secular tutors, writing to the King "do you want to teach the children you are damned to hell's fiery pits". The children (who grew up at the same court in Dublin) ended up receiving wildly varying educations depending on who had the King's favor each year. For example, the King's eldest daughter Madeline was sent away to be educated by the nuns on the request of her mother. Her sister Louise, only two years younger, instead received a humanist education resembling those of Henry VIII's children, as encouraged by her father's lover.
In the end, King John would be brought down by his love of sex, dying from complications of syphilis. In response to John's reign, his heir Prince Edward, decided to make Ireland a country with no state religion.
4) Edward was John's second son, with the eldest predeceasing his father by several years. This was still sufficient time for Edward, who had been brought up by his mother but then trained for courthood by his father's advisors. Edward had hated the manner in which religion had creates a rift between his parents, and caused him to doubt his own abilities - and therefore be signed a bill of religious freedom. Each Irish citizen would be free to practice their own religion, free from persecution - this brought conflict with the Pope, but Edward found support from his great aunt, Queen Elizabeth of England during the Irish Primacy Scandal of 1595. Because he did not outright reject Roman Catholicism, the Pope accepted the decision of the Irish state on the agreement that Edward would pay certain taxes to the Vatican. Edward reluctantly agreed, but claimed all land as royal land and then charged the Irish monasteries rent which he used to pay the taxes.
He married Countess Anna of Nassau, a daughter of William the Silent, Prince of Orange in 1583 and they had two children before Anna died in 1588 during childbirth with their third, a daughter.
He subsequently married Maria of Saxe-Weimar in 1590 and she provided him with several children.
In 1603 when Elizabeth of England died, he was briefly considered for the English throne and considered the lead claimant by Elizabeth herself, but there were objections from the English nobility to a bastard line claiming the Crown when a legitimate claimant existed in the King of Scotland.
At any rate, he died in 1605 after catching pneumonia whilst inspecting the construction of a cathedral in Dublin, intended as the Irish Notre Dame, and his eldest daughter, Princess Margaret, took the throne.
[5] The eldest child from Edward I’s marriage to Anna of Nassau, and the first Queen of Ireland. Of the seven daughters of Edward I, Margaret would be the most ardently catholic, opposing her mothers Protestantism and her fathers own ambivalence towards the matter.
Prior to her taking the throne, the Princess would marry Infante Ferdinand of Spain, and the year of her taking the crown of Ireland, she would give birth to her first son and heir; Prince Henry of Ireland.
The first major note of her reign was the completion of the Dublin Cathedral. A massive and baroque cathedral symbolising the piety and Catholicism of Ireland. Her second action would be forcing her younger half-sisters, “The Irish Quintet” to sign away all claim to the throne of Ireland. The younger ones would agree, and be placed in small manorial homes, while the elder of the daughters of Maria of Saxe-Weimar; Maria Anna of Ireland would attempt to fight for her “claim” to the throne. The rebellion of Maria Anna was short lived, and recognised by no other government. From 1610 to 1612, the Protestant revolt would flutter around the Irish countryside, until her capture at Derry. She would be hung in Dublin, alongside the other ringleaders of the revolt. With the settling of the revolt, the reign of Margaret and her husband, who would take the title of Prince-Consort, would be secure.
For the next few years, Ireland simply recovered from the deep split in her loyalties, and another Son and two daughters would be born to the union of Margaret and Ferdinand.
Upon the death of Margaret in 1623, the house of Fitzroy would end, and the House of Hapsburg would inherit the Irish Kingdom.
[6] The Eldest son of Margaret I and Prince-Consort Ferdinand of Ireland, Henry was born in 1605. During his mothers reign, the young prince was often at his mothers side, and became a similarly devout Catholic, perhaps even more so.
In 1619, at the age of fourteen, the Crown Prince of Ireland would marry his paternal cousin; Eleanor of Austria, daughter of his fathers sister. Upon his mothers death, Henry would be crowned in the Dublin Cathedral, started by his grandfather, and he would take the dynastic name “Hapsburg-Eire”.
Between 1627 and 1646, Henry III would have 17 children by his three wives, firstly Eleanor of Austria until her death in 1631, followed by Marie of France until her death in Childbirth in 1642, and then Charlotte de Montespard, who he would take as his Morganatic wife.
The rule of Henry III was a peaceful reign, with the centralisation of the Irish court, and the Colonisation of the Irish Virgin Islands, and upon his death in 1657, Henry III would be succeeded by John II.
[7] John II of Ireland was the third son of Henry III's large brood and spent much of his life never expecting to become King, he was made Duke of Ulster and was raised with the expectation of serving his eldest brother, Henry, Prince of Leinster, however when he and John's second brother Prince Adam died in a boating accident when John was 28 saw the third son thrust into the spotlight. Unmarried at that point his father arranged a marriage for his new heir, Princess Marie-Anne of Orleans, however no children were produced by this marriage.
When Henry III died, John II became a King without an heir.
While England and Scotland convulsed in the throws of the British Civil War between King Frederick Henry I, the Parliamentarians, and Scottish Dissidents, John II focused on continuing Ireland's colonial projects, and supported the arts and the promotion of native Irish culture, both at home, and in the court, he was the first Irish monarch to learn the Irish Language (the court having retained the Tudor English of the Fitzroy's), and began signing documents not as 'John' but as 'Sean'.
When Sean II's first wife died, the King tried again with a second wife, Zofia Opalińska, a Polish noblewoman, this marriage also failed to produce any children.
Giving up hope of having heirs of his own body, Sean II focused on his brothers, the majority of whom had been left as bachelors by their father due to a lack of prospects. While their Hapsburgs relatives on the continent showed signs of dying out, the next six men behind Sean II in line for the throne were married and had more success in bedroom than their brother, some sneeringly called Sean 'Dry-Seed'.
The British Civil War ground down to a brutal halt when Frederick Henry I was captured by Parliamentarians and ultimately executed, horrifying the monarchies of Europe, a collation was formed, led by Louis XIV, Sean II joined the powers of Europe in the first invasion of the British Isles since William the Conqueror. The Invasion phase of the British Civil War saw the end of the Parliamentarians as a military force, their leaders (such as Oliver Cromwell) were executed, and the Kingdom of Great Britain was divided back into the separate Kingdoms of England (under Henry IX) and Scotland (under Charles I).
Sean II then spent the remainder of his life focused on building a new royal palace, as Dublin Castle was seen by Sean as 'too modest', the Caisleán Mhanderley (Manderley Castle) would be seen as an architectural wonder, seen by contemporaries as the nearest royal palace to rival Versailles.
Sean II witnessed the completion of Manderley Castle and lived in his finest work for six months before dying childess, passing the crown to his brother, Prince Albert Phillip of Ireland, otherwise known as Phillip I of Ireland
[8] Born in 1639, the eldest of the two sons of Henry III from his marriage to Marie de France. As a Prince, he was originally destined for a Ecclesiastical career, and from 1659 until 1690 he wore the Cardinal’s hat.
In 1690 however the Prince’s world was shaken. The death of his elder brother; Prince Edward, placed Albert Phillip as the heir to the Irish crown. Receiving permission from his Holiness, he would give up the Cardinals cap, and would take a wife with both his Brothers and Papal Blessing. He would marry Cecilia of Bavaria, and in 1693, the pair would welcome their first child, Mary.
Upon his brothers death in 1701, Prince Albert Phillip would return from his estates in Rome, which he had received as a gift from his Holiness for his service, and be crowned as Phillip I of Ireland. At his crowning, he was already 61, and was known to be gout ridden.
Unlike his brother, John II, Phillip was no lover of the Irish culture, seeing it as contradictory to Catholic belief, and he would establish the Jure Successionis, placing the succession laws of Ireland in writing. The Statute stated that the Monarch of Ireland must be catholic, disregarding the sons of his fathers third and last marriage, as those individuals had been noted Protestants.
By 1719, Phillip I was Eighty years old, and dying slowly, when suddenly on the fifth of August, the King suddenly died. Rumours of murder and assassination filled the court, and the King was succeeded by Mary, Princess of Leinster.
[9] Mary was born in 1693, the eldest of three sisters, named after the Virgin Mary at her father's insistance and later used it as her regnal name, at her father's dying wishes. She was betrothed and later married to Antoine, Dauphin of France, later crowned Louis Antoine, King of France. Much like her early years on her father's estates in Italy, and her ten years in France, this meant that she spent much of her life outside of Ireland. Far from being a stranger in her own country, this made her a relative celebrity and she returned to Dublin with French fashion and cuisine to introduce to society. The major problem with Mary was her marriage - should any of her son's survive her husband, they would be made King of France, and should they survive her, it would result in a Franco-Gaelic union which many Irish nobles were not enamoured by. A movement developed that would allow the eldest child to accept France, whilst the next eldest would accept Ireland (as Hapsburg-Eire was a cadet branch, and Bourbon held seniority) but Mary resisted this, but agreed that whilst France practiced succession by the male line only, Ireland would practice male preference primogeniture and allow succession to fall on females. This was, it seemed, satisfactory for Mary's counsellors and the objections ceased.
Mary and Louis Antoine spent their time mostly separate once she became Queen, she would visit France annually but for the rest of the year, Louis Antoine would spend time with his mistresses and father, it was claimed, two dozen children between them, though he only recognised one, Antoine, Count of Paris, and attempted to convince his wife that Antoine should marry one of their youngest daughters. Mary fiercely resisted, and refused to see her husband for two years.
For her own part, Mary became enamoured with the Ambassador to Morocco and it was rumoured they developed a sexual relationship which may have resulted in a daughter. Ironically, it was rumoured that this daughter then married the Count of Paris, allowing her a presence at the French Court in the presence of her "mothers" semi estranged husband.
It was later recounted in a poem entitled "The Tale of the Two Bastards" which was subsequently adapted into a French language movie in 1995, directed by Jean Pierre Jeunet, with Keanu Reeves as the Count of Paris, and Vanessa Paradis as Mary FitzMary. Isabelle Huppert would play Queen Mary of Ireland.
After the minor scandals of her reign, Mary died aged 57 in 1750, to be succeeded by her grandnephew, Lord Alfred Fitzroy, Duke of Waterford.
Alfred I, King of Ireland (c.1751)
[10] Lord Alfred, Duke of Waterford became heir-apparent to the Irish throne in 1745, after the death of Queen Mary's younger son, Charles-Philippe, of various venereal diseases. The new heir, a young boy of 4, was at this time being raised by his great-grandmother, Hannah Beaumont, a rich Scottish Noblewoman who had married the Duke of Waterford, a cousin to the royal family from an illegitimate son King John I of Ireland. Her own son, the infamous rogue Bernard Fitzroy, had married the Irish Queen's sister, the deformed Princess Catherine, and had thus fathered Alfred's father, Richard Fitzroy. Now, the story of how Richard Fitzroy married the Princess Helene of Ireland, the only child of the deceased Sean, Prince of Leinster, and by the agreement formed between France and Ireland, heiress to the Irish throne, is a convoluted one, but essentially, the Irish court demanded that she marry domestically, and while she had other cousins, the dumpy Richard seemed the least offensive option. And so they had married, and the Fitzroy line returned. The young Princess, fiercely unhappy in her life, became pregnant quickly (possibly to her husband's cousin, another handsome rogue in the vein of Bernard Fitzroy) and died giving birth to the young Alfred. This boy, the last Irish Prince not in line for the French throne, became the Queen's heir, although she refused to grant him the title Prince of Leinster.
The Queen of Ireland took scant interest in her successor, leaving his rearing to his great-grandmother, the formidable Dowager Duchess of Waterford ("Dowager" as of 1747) and he, along with his cousins, John William Fitzroy and Cecile Marie Fitzory, grew up in the idyllic Waterford estate. He was poorly educated during this time, although he did enjoy history lessons via his grandmother, and learnt book keeping at her side. But Hannah Beaumont felt a literary education, one of languages and other such things, would fill the boy's head with nonsense. Instead, she taught him to balance a budget, to know his lineage and to expect respect from the those around him. His only peers were, in her eyes, herself and his cousins, learning at her steady hand.
His accession was simple enough. While Louis-Antoine made some pointed noises of disapproval, once his son and heir had recognised his abdication, he wasn't going to let his great-grandson's crown leave his head. Instead, the King made his first visit to Ireland in decades, for a 2 month stay that taught him that he liked the Dowager Duchess of Waterford, and he even had the King's father married to Marie Charlotte de Guise, who was probably his illegitimate daughter. Richard Fitzory would go on to father another son, before dying of a heart attack in his 30's.
The court of Dublin, having seen some relaxation under Queen Mary, found itself tightly bound by convention by the will of the Dowager Duchess, who enacted a strict schedule that her grandson would continue for the rest of his life. He arose before sunrise, and for two hours before his official "awakening ceremony", spent that time eating a light breakfast and amusing himself. Then, he would lay in bed to be awoken by his cousin, the Duke of Downshire, his heir apparent, and his great-aunt, the Princess Joan of Ireland and France (the youngest of Queen Mary's daughters, she never married after being scarred by smallpox). He was then prepared for his day with briefings, regardless of his place in government as a child, and spent the next 2-3 hours dressing. Then came a ceremonial lunch, usually with 20-50 people in attendance as the "inner court". He then attended meetings, which acted as his lessons for the day, and shortly followed by a light meal and a nap, followed by a long, ceremonial final meal, before he would open whatever nightly entertainments were being held and, depending on their importance, either stay for the opening or, most likely, be hurried off to bed. Throughout the day, he was attended by no less than 6 peers at a time, sometimes as many as 18, and he had 32 men available at any one time. The Dowager Duchess herself was always present as well, often interrupting his dressing to quiz him on numbers.
Hannah Fitzroy (previously Beaumont), Dowager Duchess of Waterford (c.1754)
What the child missed, most of all, was spontaneity and fun.
Writing to the King of France in 1754, the young boy asked if he might send word to the Dowager Duchess and allow young Alfred a chance to rest once a month, maybe even twice that. But, outside of severe illness, she was a determined woman, refusing to accept that the young man growing to adulthood in front of her might enjoy something outside of her schedule. So little did he have, in fact, that when in 1756, he did escape the court with his cousins to do some fun, he went overboard, and a young woman known to history as "the Dublin Lass" ended up dead. Little is known of the exact scenario, but it seems that the King wanted a night of passion, and either the young woman refused, or his cousin tried to prevent this from happening. Regardless, the murder was blamed on a gang and the King seems to have never attempted such frivolity again.
As he entered adulthood, he found not even his bride was to be his own choice, which while usual at the time, seems to have prevent him from marrying an Irishwoman he found desirable. Nicole Gregoria Ferrard, the daughter of Earl of Longford. Instead, he was betrothed to The Princess Victoria Douglass of Scotland, a woman 7 years his senior who he found personally repugnant for her cruel temper and "beady eyes". They would have their first child in 1760. Many more would follow.
Victoria Douglas, Queen of Ireland (c.1762)
However, as much has been written about King Alfred as a personal figure, and his personal life does become more interesting soon, it must be said that as a leader, he was a great figurehead. He knew his numbers well, did not shy away from hard work, but struggled when it came to hard decision making particularly after the influence of the Dowager Duchess ended with her death in 1763. Much has been made of the change in the King following her death, but one thing is for sure, and that is that he was very passionate about the kingdom's economy, but blind to it's needs outside of that. He knew debts needed to be paid, but refused to economize the court, instead ending works on roads and other major infrastructure. He then raised taxes
Indeed, spending on the court tripled between 1760 and 1774, partially due to the arrival of the King's children and his increasing extension of family to support. His half-brother, soon made the Duke of Kingston, who had married in 1762 a woman named Elizabeth Butler. The two would have many children, but their eldest, the Lady Hannah Fitzroy, became the King's obsession.
It's unclear how early the King fixated on his niece. She did not return to the court until 1773, around the age of 10, and by this time, he had begun an affair with an actress in her 50's, named Sarah Hillard. The first real affair he had had, they were an odd pair to have, and it has been suggested that the King loved her due to her similarities to the Dowager Duchess. If that is so, then he loved his niece for her similarities to his cousin, Cecile Marie Fitzroy, who may have become his lover during the regency, although by now she was the Duke of Savoy's lover and possibly secret second wife. So instead, he focused on the young girl, who's father was blocked in his attempts to remove her from the King's attentions. This tells us that, by the mid 1770's, he was making motions against her, and by the second half of the decade, there was definitely a romantic undertone to reports, although she would claim never to have done anything inappropriate with the King. In her own words:
"He loved me from far away, and often talked about wanted a marriage. But no matter how ardent his language, we were pure and he was afraid to even touch me."
Now, all of this would matter little in 1776, when the first stirrings of rebellion amongst the people of Ireland began. Led by a committee of 20 men and women, their original goal was simply lower taxes. But as the movement gained traction, they aimed higher. The King's head.
The King heard of rebellion. Left to right: The Duke of Ulster, the King of Ireland, the Queen of Ireland, the Lady Hannah Fitzroy (c.1782)
Cities burned as they marched through Ireland, and in 1778, Dublin was under siege. The King, on a walk in the gardens, was siezed, and torn apart by his people. It was a grizzly death, and one that would effect the transition of power in a way not seen in Irish history.
[11]
The eldest daughter of Prince Henry, The Duke of Leinster, Hannah Margaret was just seven years old when the Rebellion started. Prince Henry was brought before a miilitary tribunal, accused of aiding his father in "grand treason against the Irish people" despite his impassioned pleas the Prince would be killed, leaving his widow Adelaide of Savoy and his 5 daughters: Hannah Margaret (7), Mary Adelaide (5), Elizabeth Helene (3), Victoria Anna (3), and Madeleine Henrietta (1). The young princesses were seized from their mother while the Duchess, fearing her husband's fate, hightailed it to relatives in France.
Weary of killing young girls, the Irish rebels would instead act as regents for Margaret II (her other name, Hannah, being discarded for its association with Hannah Fitzroy) and her sisters. The eldest two girls, the Queen and her sister Mary Adelaide, would be forcibly married into the Irish peerage in 1789, and similar matches were planned for their younger sisters.
The marriage of Margaret II to Thomas Fitzwilliam, youngest brother of one of her regents Viscount Fitzwilliam. Later that year saw the marriage of Mary Adelaide and William O'Brien, nephew of another regent Murrough O'Brien.
However, the next year became known to Irish history as the Sister's revolt. After rumors of her sister's gross unhappiness at her marital lot and rumors of more Irish matches for her sisters with men "beneath their rank and quality," the Queen and her sisters helped raise a palace coup against most of their regents, writing anonymous pamphlets about their gross mistreatment and winning the sympathy of the people and the army, who saw it their job to protect "poor ladies like our princesses". Many an Irish student has recalled Margaret's miracle; where the Queen, who had recently birthed her first child Prince Alfred, stormed into a meeting of the regents declaring "I am a girl no more. It is time for the levers of government to move to their rightful holder".
By 1790 the tenor of the Irish court changed, focused on the delightful Queen and her sisters. The youngest three were allowed prestigious royal matches: Elizabeth wedding the Crown Prince of Bavaria, Victoria the Prince of Asturias, and Madeleine the young King of Two Sicilies. Many call Margaret's reign "the court of women" as the Queen became the dominating force in politics and her marriage, with many calling her husband "The Phantom of the Isle". She even became an early advocate of family planning, deliberately spacing out her pregnancies to reduce the risk of dying in childbirth, a move which annoyed the clergy but won her admiration from the working classes.
The one fault of her reign might have been her overindulgent nature. The naturally fair Queen had keenly felt the death of her father and abandonment of her mother (who she refused to let return to Ireland after the Sister's revolt due to "leaving us in our time of gravest need") and thus overindulged her children, who were sometimes called haughty and spoiled. She was also reluctant to give up any power to her heir, Prince Alfred, perhaps a product of the regency. When Margaret II died of cancer in 1823, many admired the Queen for her bravery, but wondered if her successor would lead the royal family to revel or ruin.
[12] When Prince Alfred took the throne upon the death of his mother, the entirety of Ireland gave a collective groan of distaste and ill feeling. During his childhood, his mother, though doting and ever loving, was rarely around. His father was the main influence on the young prince, but he was anything but a proper role model. A licentious and crude man, Lord Fitzwilliam imparted many of these qualities as well as a disdain for anything approaching work of any variety in his son. Upon the Prince of Leinster's acession to the throne, he immediately began delegating his powers to various noblemen and favorites of ill stature and repute in society. In a brief 4 years, the King and his men had run the country into the mud. Ireland's economy was in ruins, the people were in uproar, and only a spark would be required to ignite civil war.
In the summer of 1827, it came. By order of the King, five noblemen (The Earl Gosford, The Viscount Mountgarret, The Lord Farnham, The Earl Cork, and The Earl Cavan) were accused of treason against the crown and hung. Their crime was to suggest that The Lord Digby be dismissed after it had been prooven that he had stolen crown funds for his own enrichment.
The nation exploded. Thousands of men rose up in arms against the King, and thousands more rose up to defend him. The king took this opportunity to label the rebels as traitors and orange protestants seeking to depose the rightful god ordained king. Before long the civil war began to revolve around abstractions of faith and politics far removed from the execution of five noblemen. Three figures rose to guide the rebellion and hone its unbridled wrath to the betterment of the nation. These principal men would become known to history as An Triumvirate Éireann, Daniel O'Connell (Earl Glandore), Hosea Guinness (Marquess Sligo), and a common lawyer by the name of Marcus Culcanon. It would be these men who rallied the common people to the cause of a government not bound by the whim of the king. For four long years they lead the fight, and at the final battle of the war, (The battle of Vinegar hill) they gave the king one last chance for amnesty. If he would submit himself to the rebels, and agree to convene a parliament of the English model, he would remain as king of Ireland. The King refused, after the battle, he was found dead, having joined in with his cavalry's last ditch assault on the rebel center.
Upon the victorious rebel's arrival in Dublin, they convened a parliament and drafted a constitution which would be agreed upon and signed into law by Henry IV, the next monarch of Ireland.
[13] Henry IV, the brother of Alfred II was born the third of Margaret II's five children, and due to her spacing out the pregnancies was nearly five years Alfred's junior. Raised in his mother's indulgent court and with little expectation of inheriting the throne, the then Prince Henry was poorly educated, his care left in the hands of an ever changing cast of courtiers, from whom Henry IV did learn one over-arching lesson that would become the theme of his life, "Say very little and smile kindly, you will be loved for it."
So while the quiet Prince largely found himself left to his own devices, he became the patron of a group of intellectuals and political theorists in Dublin that became dubbed 'the Venerable Ones', however the Prince contributed little to the group beyond royal patronage, but this group would become critical for his and the Irish Monarchy's survival in the years ahead.
In the first years of his brother's reign, the Prince was engaged to Sophie-Augusta of Saxe-Hildburghausen and married in an opulent ceremony devised by his brother the King as an excuse for debauchery. During the bedding ceremony the drunken King made 'unbecoming advances' upon his brother's newly wed wife that nearly caused a fight between the pair, this breach would not be repaired but allowed to fester and grow.
Exiled from his brother's court, the newly married 'Duke and Duchess of Ulster' retired to Classiebawn Castle and began to build their own family, which would see the birth of six children in total, though one would die in infancy.
Then his brother's mistakes led to The Irish Rising that would see the downfall of Alfred II, his death in battle, and the exile of Alfred's wife and two young children, for the successful rebels had already decided to strip Alfred II's line of their rights and pass them on to someone deemed more acceptable, the Quiet Duke of Ulster.
20th century historians would discover a series of secret correspondences between the Duke and a number of rebel leaders, several of whom came from 'the Venerable Ones' club, it revealed that the Duke could not condone rebellion against an anointed monarch but was convinced that his brother was no longer worthy of a crown, his brother's death in battle (and avoidance of any accusations of 'regicide') allowed Henry to put aside his personal worries and come to terms.
Henry IV took the Irish Crown as a 'Constitutional Monarch', a monarch bound by the law and the will of the people along with being anointed by God to represent a higher ideal, the new King and wife, self-effacing, humble, and above all else quiet and amiable were perfect for this new style of monarchy.
While the new Irish Parliament was set up and the first political parties began to emerge, the King invited the first Taoiseach (Prime Minister) to take up the reigns of the Government.
In terms of politics, Henry IV was very hands off, preferring to limit his involvement to words of encouragement to the various come-and-go ministers, serving as a shoulder to cry on, and a sounding board for their ideas.
The Irish Kingdom recovered quickly from the folly of Alfred II, even while much of Europe convulsed with revolutions and rebellions, the Holy Roman Empire collapsed under the weight of it's own contradictions, the Ottomans followed the last of the Habsburgs into extinction within a year, while other Kingdoms such as France, Scotland, and England rode out the violence and stayed intact, though a few like the Russian Empire simply tightened their grip.
In the later years of his life, Henry IV began to bring his heir, Elizabeth in on the meetings with the Taoiseach to ensure a smooth transition between one monarch and the next.
Henry IV became ill with pneumonia at age 75, he clung to life for five months with the emerging newspapers keeping the nation on tinder hooks as the King's condition was reported and commented on in a day-by-day basis, when Henry IV died the Irish nation plunged into mourning for a man whom had not just saved his family's crown, but also the nation from the violence and wars that seemed to come in waves on the continent.
Henry IV's daughter and heir, Elizabeth took the crown of a nation greatly changed by a man who spoke little, but did much by doing very little.
Queen Elizabeth in mourning for her father (1881)
[14] HRH Princess Elizabeth Margaret Sophia of Ulster was never intended for the throne. Born during the revolt against her uncle, Alfred II, she was raised by her quiet father with her siblings: John, Anna, Louise, and Catherine in Dublin castle. Princess Elizabeth, or Bess as she was informally called, became well known for her charitable spirit, making semiannual visits to orphanages during her childhood to donate her gently used toys and outfits.
For many years, Elizabeth considered joining a nunnery and devoting her life to caring for the sick and injured. Two life events stopped that thought. The first was the prolonged illness of her mother, Queen Sophie, believed to be a tragic combination of Parkinson's and Dementia. The teenage Elizabeth quickly served as a nurse for her mother and is believed to have popularized the profession among women of means. Later, in 1857, her brother the Duke of Leinster died suddenly of typhoid while his wife, Irene of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, miscarried what would have been their first child.
This left the 26-year-old spinster Elizabeth as heiress presumptive to the throne. She was married off to her cousin Phillip of Connaught in order to retain the dynastic name, but the marriage would suffer due to lack of chemistry. The Queen was completely uninterested in romantic relationships, calling them "useless and distracting". Elizabeth, who would today be termed asexual, only married because her father feared a personal union with Portugal from her sister Anna's marriage to the Crown Prince. In response to her marital distress came the popular saying "lie back and think of Ireland", symbolized by the Queen's three children ______, and twins ____ and ______.
Upon her ascension, Elizabeth became best known as "the Angel of the Battlefield" for her daring decision to visit troops in the Crimea. The move wasn't out of left-field, as during her time as heiress to the throne, Princess Elizabeth had volunteered at veteran's hospitals under the name Bess Fitzwilliam. However, troops were shocked and delighted to see the Queen near the battlefield due to her age and position. After viewing field condition, she's credited with encouraging Parliament to invest in modernizing field hospitals, even creating awards for the best doctors and hospitals in Ireland.
When the Queen died after 20 years on the throne, she had won the admiration of many around her, which only grew after the publishing of her will. While many family heirlooms remained with her children, much of her private fortune was donated to hospitals, charities, orphanages, and other such entities. She also donated several of the family palaces and castles, most notably Cabra Castle and Dungiven Castle, with the purpose of using the buildings for schools, hospitals, and orphanages. Many hoped her heir _____, would continue the Queen's good work.
What If Henry VIII successfully had Henry Fitzroy made King of Ireland in 1529:
1529 - 1546: Henry I (House of Fitzroy) [1]
1546 - 1555: Henry II (House of Fitzroy) [2]
1555 - 1589: John I (House of Fitzroy) [3]
1589 - 1605: Edward I (House of Fitzroy) [4]
1605 - 1623: Margaret I (House of Fitzroy) [5]
1623 - 1657: Henry III (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [6]
1657 - 1701: John II/Sean II (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [7]
1701 - 1719: Phillip I (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [8]
1719 - 1750: Mary (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [9]
1750 - 1779: Alfred I (House of Fitzroy-Waterford) [10]
1779 - 1823: Margaret II (House of Fitzroy-Waterford) [11]
1823 - 1831: Alfred II "The Fool" (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [12]
1831 - 1881: Henry IV "The Quiet" (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [13]
1881 - 1901: Elizabeth "The Giving" (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [14]
1901 - 1928: Edward II (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [15]
Henry VIII appointed his bastard son as the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1529. Henry wished to name him King of Ireland but his counsellors strenuously objected and it took several months after being made Lord Lieutenant before he was made King of Ireland in actuality.
Fitzroy was 10 when made King so whilst he was King, the country was run by his father's advisors, notably William Skeffington who was given guardianship of the young King. When he turned 18 in 1537, Skeffington was made Private Secretary for a brief period before his death.
Henry had been provisionally betrothed to Mary Howard in 1533, but the offer of Madeleine of Valois' hand in marriage was too good for Skeffington and Henry VIII to refuse, and the pair were betrothed in 1533, then married when Henry reached majority.
A child was born in 1538, so the nascent Kingdom of Ireland had an heir. Two more children were born in the next five years. However when Henry dies in 1546, at the age of only 27, none of his children had yet reached majority and the question of succession would read it's ugly head.
Henry would be succeeded by Henry, his eldest son.
[2] The eldest of the two sons of Henry I of Ireland and his wife; Madeline of Valois, Henry was destined for the Irish Crown from birth, and from the death of his father, he would embrace this role.
During his short reign of nine years, Henry II sought to expand the power of the Irish court, and to do so, he sought allies in the form of the French, who he would seek to marry, namely himself to his first cousin; Louise of Valois, and his younger brother; Prince John of Ireland, to another cousin, Margaret of Savoy.
Henry II was a man of true piety, and it would be his choice to travel to Rome where he received the Golden Rose from his holiness, and it would be on the return journey from Rome, in 1555, where Henry II would fall ill at the age of 17.
For the entirety of his reign, Henry had simply been a rubber-stamp for the regency of Anthony St Leger, and upon his death, the Regent of Ireland would continue his rule.
[3] King John was 14 when his brother died, and would spend the first few years of his reign under the regency of Anthony St.Leger, who became known as King Anthony for his hypnotic hold on the King. Part of St.Leger's power was the new King's inclination for both sexes in the bedroom, which the regent immediately recognized. He installed his nephew, Matthew, as the King's confidant turned lover.
All that changed in early 1558, when the King's wife Margaret of Savoy arrived in Dunmore. The new Queen was a rather authoritative figure who saw the regent as the cap on her and her husband's power at court. When she birthed her first child, Madeline, the King asked what she wished: her answer was to send Anthony St.Leger from the court (she also tried unsuccessfully to send away Matthew). The King obliged, causing such a shock to St.Leger that gossipers at the time blamed the incident for his failing health and eventual death the next year.
The remaining years of John's reign were most well known for the power struggle between Margaret (who favored a Catholic, pro-French policy) and Matthew (a closet reformer who preferred and English alliance). As one sharp-witted courtier wrote, "King John has two Queens". This battle extended to the children's education as Margaret attempted to have the children brought up by Catholic priests, while Matthew favored secular tutors, writing to the King "do you want to teach the children you are damned to hell's fiery pits". The children (who grew up at the same court in Dublin) ended up receiving wildly varying educations depending on who had the King's favor each year. For example, the King's eldest daughter Madeline was sent away to be educated by the nuns on the request of her mother. Her sister Louise, only two years younger, instead received a humanist education resembling those of Henry VIII's children, as encouraged by her father's lover.
In the end, King John would be brought down by his love of sex, dying from complications of syphilis. In response to John's reign, his heir Prince Edward, decided to make Ireland a country with no state religion.
4) Edward was John's second son, with the eldest predeceasing his father by several years. This was still sufficient time for Edward, who had been brought up by his mother but then trained for courthood by his father's advisors. Edward had hated the manner in which religion had creates a rift between his parents, and caused him to doubt his own abilities - and therefore be signed a bill of religious freedom. Each Irish citizen would be free to practice their own religion, free from persecution - this brought conflict with the Pope, but Edward found support from his great aunt, Queen Elizabeth of England during the Irish Primacy Scandal of 1595. Because he did not outright reject Roman Catholicism, the Pope accepted the decision of the Irish state on the agreement that Edward would pay certain taxes to the Vatican. Edward reluctantly agreed, but claimed all land as royal land and then charged the Irish monasteries rent which he used to pay the taxes.
He married Countess Anna of Nassau, a daughter of William the Silent, Prince of Orange in 1583 and they had two children before Anna died in 1588 during childbirth with their third, a daughter.
He subsequently married Maria of Saxe-Weimar in 1590 and she provided him with several children.
In 1603 when Elizabeth of England died, he was briefly considered for the English throne and considered the lead claimant by Elizabeth herself, but there were objections from the English nobility to a bastard line claiming the Crown when a legitimate claimant existed in the King of Scotland.
At any rate, he died in 1605 after catching pneumonia whilst inspecting the construction of a cathedral in Dublin, intended as the Irish Notre Dame, and his eldest daughter, Princess Margaret, took the throne.
[5] The eldest child from Edward I’s marriage to Anna of Nassau, and the first Queen of Ireland. Of the seven daughters of Edward I, Margaret would be the most ardently catholic, opposing her mothers Protestantism and her fathers own ambivalence towards the matter.
Prior to her taking the throne, the Princess would marry Infante Ferdinand of Spain, and the year of her taking the crown of Ireland, she would give birth to her first son and heir; Prince Henry of Ireland.
The first major note of her reign was the completion of the Dublin Cathedral. A massive and baroque cathedral symbolising the piety and Catholicism of Ireland. Her second action would be forcing her younger half-sisters, “The Irish Quintet” to sign away all claim to the throne of Ireland. The younger ones would agree, and be placed in small manorial homes, while the elder of the daughters of Maria of Saxe-Weimar; Maria Anna of Ireland would attempt to fight for her “claim” to the throne. The rebellion of Maria Anna was short lived, and recognised by no other government. From 1610 to 1612, the Protestant revolt would flutter around the Irish countryside, until her capture at Derry. She would be hung in Dublin, alongside the other ringleaders of the revolt. With the settling of the revolt, the reign of Margaret and her husband, who would take the title of Prince-Consort, would be secure.
For the next few years, Ireland simply recovered from the deep split in her loyalties, and another Son and two daughters would be born to the union of Margaret and Ferdinand.
Upon the death of Margaret in 1623, the house of Fitzroy would end, and the House of Hapsburg would inherit the Irish Kingdom.
[6] The Eldest son of Margaret I and Prince-Consort Ferdinand of Ireland, Henry was born in 1605. During his mothers reign, the young prince was often at his mothers side, and became a similarly devout Catholic, perhaps even more so.
In 1619, at the age of fourteen, the Crown Prince of Ireland would marry his paternal cousin; Eleanor of Austria, daughter of his fathers sister. Upon his mothers death, Henry would be crowned in the Dublin Cathedral, started by his grandfather, and he would take the dynastic name “Hapsburg-Eire”.
Between 1627 and 1646, Henry III would have 17 children by his three wives, firstly Eleanor of Austria until her death in 1631, followed by Marie of France until her death in Childbirth in 1642, and then Charlotte de Montespard, who he would take as his Morganatic wife.
The rule of Henry III was a peaceful reign, with the centralisation of the Irish court, and the Colonisation of the Irish Virgin Islands, and upon his death in 1657, Henry III would be succeeded by John II.
[7] John II of Ireland was the third son of Henry III's large brood and spent much of his life never expecting to become King, he was made Duke of Ulster and was raised with the expectation of serving his eldest brother, Henry, Prince of Leinster, however when he and John's second brother Prince Adam died in a boating accident when John was 28 saw the third son thrust into the spotlight. Unmarried at that point his father arranged a marriage for his new heir, Princess Marie-Anne of Orleans, however no children were produced by this marriage.
When Henry III died, John II became a King without an heir.
While England and Scotland convulsed in the throws of the British Civil War between King Frederick Henry I, the Parliamentarians, and Scottish Dissidents, John II focused on continuing Ireland's colonial projects, and supported the arts and the promotion of native Irish culture, both at home, and in the court, he was the first Irish monarch to learn the Irish Language (the court having retained the Tudor English of the Fitzroy's), and began signing documents not as 'John' but as 'Sean'.
When Sean II's first wife died, the King tried again with a second wife, Zofia Opalińska, a Polish noblewoman, this marriage also failed to produce any children.
Giving up hope of having heirs of his own body, Sean II focused on his brothers, the majority of whom had been left as bachelors by their father due to a lack of prospects. While their Hapsburgs relatives on the continent showed signs of dying out, the next six men behind Sean II in line for the throne were married and had more success in bedroom than their brother, some sneeringly called Sean 'Dry-Seed'.
The British Civil War ground down to a brutal halt when Frederick Henry I was captured by Parliamentarians and ultimately executed, horrifying the monarchies of Europe, a collation was formed, led by Louis XIV, Sean II joined the powers of Europe in the first invasion of the British Isles since William the Conqueror. The Invasion phase of the British Civil War saw the end of the Parliamentarians as a military force, their leaders (such as Oliver Cromwell) were executed, and the Kingdom of Great Britain was divided back into the separate Kingdoms of England (under Henry IX) and Scotland (under Charles I).
Sean II then spent the remainder of his life focused on building a new royal palace, as Dublin Castle was seen by Sean as 'too modest', the Caisleán Mhanderley (Manderley Castle) would be seen as an architectural wonder, seen by contemporaries as the nearest royal palace to rival Versailles.
Sean II witnessed the completion of Manderley Castle and lived in his finest work for six months before dying childess, passing the crown to his brother, Prince Albert Phillip of Ireland, otherwise known as Phillip I of Ireland
[8] Born in 1639, the eldest of the two sons of Henry III from his marriage to Marie de France. As a Prince, he was originally destined for a Ecclesiastical career, and from 1659 until 1690 he wore the Cardinal’s hat.
In 1690 however the Prince’s world was shaken. The death of his elder brother; Prince Edward, placed Albert Phillip as the heir to the Irish crown. Receiving permission from his Holiness, he would give up the Cardinals cap, and would take a wife with both his Brothers and Papal Blessing. He would marry Cecilia of Bavaria, and in 1693, the pair would welcome their first child, Mary.
Upon his brothers death in 1701, Prince Albert Phillip would return from his estates in Rome, which he had received as a gift from his Holiness for his service, and be crowned as Phillip I of Ireland. At his crowning, he was already 61, and was known to be gout ridden.
Unlike his brother, John II, Phillip was no lover of the Irish culture, seeing it as contradictory to Catholic belief, and he would establish the Jure Successionis, placing the succession laws of Ireland in writing. The Statute stated that the Monarch of Ireland must be catholic, disregarding the sons of his fathers third and last marriage, as those individuals had been noted Protestants.
By 1719, Phillip I was Eighty years old, and dying slowly, when suddenly on the fifth of August, the King suddenly died. Rumours of murder and assassination filled the court, and the King was succeeded by Mary, Princess of Leinster.
[9] Mary was born in 1693, the eldest of three sisters, named after the Virgin Mary at her father's insistance and later used it as her regnal name, at her father's dying wishes. She was betrothed and later married to Antoine, Dauphin of France, later crowned Louis Antoine, King of France. Much like her early years on her father's estates in Italy, and her ten years in France, this meant that she spent much of her life outside of Ireland. Far from being a stranger in her own country, this made her a relative celebrity and she returned to Dublin with French fashion and cuisine to introduce to society. The major problem with Mary was her marriage - should any of her son's survive her husband, they would be made King of France, and should they survive her, it would result in a Franco-Gaelic union which many Irish nobles were not enamoured by. A movement developed that would allow the eldest child to accept France, whilst the next eldest would accept Ireland (as Hapsburg-Eire was a cadet branch, and Bourbon held seniority) but Mary resisted this, but agreed that whilst France practiced succession by the male line only, Ireland would practice male preference primogeniture and allow succession to fall on females. This was, it seemed, satisfactory for Mary's counsellors and the objections ceased.
Mary and Louis Antoine spent their time mostly separate once she became Queen, she would visit France annually but for the rest of the year, Louis Antoine would spend time with his mistresses and father, it was claimed, two dozen children between them, though he only recognised one, Antoine, Count of Paris, and attempted to convince his wife that Antoine should marry one of their youngest daughters. Mary fiercely resisted, and refused to see her husband for two years.
For her own part, Mary became enamoured with the Ambassador to Morocco and it was rumoured they developed a sexual relationship which may have resulted in a daughter. Ironically, it was rumoured that this daughter then married the Count of Paris, allowing her a presence at the French Court in the presence of her "mothers" semi estranged husband.
It was later recounted in a poem entitled "The Tale of the Two Bastards" which was subsequently adapted into a French language movie in 1995, directed by Jean Pierre Jeunet, with Keanu Reeves as the Count of Paris, and Vanessa Paradis as Mary FitzMary. Isabelle Huppert would play Queen Mary of Ireland.
After the minor scandals of her reign, Mary died aged 57 in 1750, to be succeeded by her grandnephew, Lord Alfred Fitzroy, Duke of Waterford.
Alfred I, King of Ireland (c.1751)
[10] Lord Alfred, Duke of Waterford became heir-apparent to the Irish throne in 1745, after the death of Queen Mary's younger son, Charles-Philippe, of various venereal diseases. The new heir, a young boy of 4, was at this time being raised by his great-grandmother, Hannah Beaumont, a rich Scottish Noblewoman who had married the Duke of Waterford, a cousin to the royal family from an illegitimate son King John I of Ireland. Her own son, the infamous rogue Bernard Fitzroy, had married the Irish Queen's sister, the deformed Princess Catherine, and had thus fathered Alfred's father, Richard Fitzroy. Now, the story of how Richard Fitzroy married the Princess Helene of Ireland, the only child of the deceased Sean, Prince of Leinster, and by the agreement formed between France and Ireland, heiress to the Irish throne, is a convoluted one, but essentially, the Irish court demanded that she marry domestically, and while she had other cousins, the dumpy Richard seemed the least offensive option. And so they had married, and the Fitzroy line returned. The young Princess, fiercely unhappy in her life, became pregnant quickly (possibly to her husband's cousin, another handsome rogue in the vein of Bernard Fitzroy) and died giving birth to the young Alfred. This boy, the last Irish Prince not in line for the French throne, became the Queen's heir, although she refused to grant him the title Prince of Leinster.
The Queen of Ireland took scant interest in her successor, leaving his rearing to his great-grandmother, the formidable Dowager Duchess of Waterford ("Dowager" as of 1747) and he, along with his cousins, John William Fitzroy and Cecile Marie Fitzory, grew up in the idyllic Waterford estate. He was poorly educated during this time, although he did enjoy history lessons via his grandmother, and learnt book keeping at her side. But Hannah Beaumont felt a literary education, one of languages and other such things, would fill the boy's head with nonsense. Instead, she taught him to balance a budget, to know his lineage and to expect respect from the those around him. His only peers were, in her eyes, herself and his cousins, learning at her steady hand.
His accession was simple enough. While Louis-Antoine made some pointed noises of disapproval, once his son and heir had recognised his abdication, he wasn't going to let his great-grandson's crown leave his head. Instead, the King made his first visit to Ireland in decades, for a 2 month stay that taught him that he liked the Dowager Duchess of Waterford, and he even had the King's father married to Marie Charlotte de Guise, who was probably his illegitimate daughter. Richard Fitzory would go on to father another son, before dying of a heart attack in his 30's.
The court of Dublin, having seen some relaxation under Queen Mary, found itself tightly bound by convention by the will of the Dowager Duchess, who enacted a strict schedule that her grandson would continue for the rest of his life. He arose before sunrise, and for two hours before his official "awakening ceremony", spent that time eating a light breakfast and amusing himself. Then, he would lay in bed to be awoken by his cousin, the Duke of Downshire, his heir apparent, and his great-aunt, the Princess Joan of Ireland and France (the youngest of Queen Mary's daughters, she never married after being scarred by smallpox). He was then prepared for his day with briefings, regardless of his place in government as a child, and spent the next 2-3 hours dressing. Then came a ceremonial lunch, usually with 20-50 people in attendance as the "inner court". He then attended meetings, which acted as his lessons for the day, and shortly followed by a light meal and a nap, followed by a long, ceremonial final meal, before he would open whatever nightly entertainments were being held and, depending on their importance, either stay for the opening or, most likely, be hurried off to bed. Throughout the day, he was attended by no less than 6 peers at a time, sometimes as many as 18, and he had 32 men available at any one time. The Dowager Duchess herself was always present as well, often interrupting his dressing to quiz him on numbers.
Hannah Fitzroy (previously Beaumont), Dowager Duchess of Waterford (c.1754)
What the child missed, most of all, was spontaneity and fun.
Writing to the King of France in 1754, the young boy asked if he might send word to the Dowager Duchess and allow young Alfred a chance to rest once a month, maybe even twice that. But, outside of severe illness, she was a determined woman, refusing to accept that the young man growing to adulthood in front of her might enjoy something outside of her schedule. So little did he have, in fact, that when in 1756, he did escape the court with his cousins to do some fun, he went overboard, and a young woman known to history as "the Dublin Lass" ended up dead. Little is known of the exact scenario, but it seems that the King wanted a night of passion, and either the young woman refused, or his cousin tried to prevent this from happening. Regardless, the murder was blamed on a gang and the King seems to have never attempted such frivolity again.
As he entered adulthood, he found not even his bride was to be his own choice, which while usual at the time, seems to have prevent him from marrying an Irishwoman he found desirable. Nicole Gregoria Ferrard, the daughter of Earl of Longford. Instead, he was betrothed to The Princess Victoria Douglass of Scotland, a woman 7 years his senior who he found personally repugnant for her cruel temper and "beady eyes". They would have their first child in 1760. Many more would follow.
Victoria Douglas, Queen of Ireland (c.1762)
However, as much has been written about King Alfred as a personal figure, and his personal life does become more interesting soon, it must be said that as a leader, he was a great figurehead. He knew his numbers well, did not shy away from hard work, but struggled when it came to hard decision making particularly after the influence of the Dowager Duchess ended with her death in 1763. Much has been made of the change in the King following her death, but one thing is for sure, and that is that he was very passionate about the kingdom's economy, but blind to it's needs outside of that. He knew debts needed to be paid, but refused to economize the court, instead ending works on roads and other major infrastructure. He then raised taxes
Indeed, spending on the court tripled between 1760 and 1774, partially due to the arrival of the King's children and his increasing extension of family to support. His half-brother, soon made the Duke of Kingston, who had married in 1762 a woman named Elizabeth Butler. The two would have many children, but their eldest, the Lady Hannah Fitzroy, became the King's obsession.
It's unclear how early the King fixated on his niece. She did not return to the court until 1773, around the age of 10, and by this time, he had begun an affair with an actress in her 50's, named Sarah Hillard. The first real affair he had had, they were an odd pair to have, and it has been suggested that the King loved her due to her similarities to the Dowager Duchess. If that is so, then he loved his niece for her similarities to his cousin, Cecile Marie Fitzroy, who may have become his lover during the regency, although by now she was the Duke of Savoy's lover and possibly secret second wife. So instead, he focused on the young girl, who's father was blocked in his attempts to remove her from the King's attentions. This tells us that, by the mid 1770's, he was making motions against her, and by the second half of the decade, there was definitely a romantic undertone to reports, although she would claim never to have done anything inappropriate with the King. In her own words:
"He loved me from far away, and often talked about wanted a marriage. But no matter how ardent his language, we were pure and he was afraid to even touch me."
Now, all of this would matter little in 1776, when the first stirrings of rebellion amongst the people of Ireland began. Led by a committee of 20 men and women, their original goal was simply lower taxes. But as the movement gained traction, they aimed higher. The King's head.
The King heard of rebellion. Left to right: The Duke of Ulster, the King of Ireland, the Queen of Ireland, the Lady Hannah Fitzroy (c.1782)
Cities burned as they marched through Ireland, and in 1778, Dublin was under siege. The King, on a walk in the gardens, was siezed, and torn apart by his people. It was a grizzly death, and one that would effect the transition of power in a way not seen in Irish history.
[11]
The eldest daughter of Prince Henry, The Duke of Leinster, Hannah Margaret was just seven years old when the Rebellion started. Prince Henry was brought before a miilitary tribunal, accused of aiding his father in "grand treason against the Irish people" despite his impassioned pleas the Prince would be killed, leaving his widow Adelaide of Savoy and his 5 daughters: Hannah Margaret (7), Mary Adelaide (5), Elizabeth Helene (3), Victoria Anna (3), and Madeleine Henrietta (1). The young princesses were seized from their mother while the Duchess, fearing her husband's fate, hightailed it to relatives in France.
Weary of killing young girls, the Irish rebels would instead act as regents for Margaret II (her other name, Hannah, being discarded for its association with Hannah Fitzroy) and her sisters. The eldest two girls, the Queen and her sister Mary Adelaide, would be forcibly married into the Irish peerage in 1789, and similar matches were planned for their younger sisters.
The marriage of Margaret II to Thomas Fitzwilliam, youngest brother of one of her regents Viscount Fitzwilliam. Later that year saw the marriage of Mary Adelaide and William O'Brien, nephew of another regent Murrough O'Brien.
However, the next year became known to Irish history as the Sister's revolt. After rumors of her sister's gross unhappiness at her marital lot and rumors of more Irish matches for her sisters with men "beneath their rank and quality," the Queen and her sisters helped raise a palace coup against most of their regents, writing anonymous pamphlets about their gross mistreatment and winning the sympathy of the people and the army, who saw it their job to protect "poor ladies like our princesses". Many an Irish student has recalled Margaret's miracle; where the Queen, who had recently birthed her first child Prince Alfred, stormed into a meeting of the regents declaring "I am a girl no more. It is time for the levers of government to move to their rightful holder".
By 1790 the tenor of the Irish court changed, focused on the delightful Queen and her sisters. The youngest three were allowed prestigious royal matches: Elizabeth wedding the Crown Prince of Bavaria, Victoria the Prince of Asturias, and Madeleine the young King of Two Sicilies. Many call Margaret's reign "the court of women" as the Queen became the dominating force in politics and her marriage, with many calling her husband "The Phantom of the Isle". She even became an early advocate of family planning, deliberately spacing out her pregnancies to reduce the risk of dying in childbirth, a move which annoyed the clergy but won her admiration from the working classes.
The one fault of her reign might have been her overindulgent nature. The naturally fair Queen had keenly felt the death of her father and abandonment of her mother (who she refused to let return to Ireland after the Sister's revolt due to "leaving us in our time of gravest need") and thus overindulged her children, who were sometimes called haughty and spoiled. She was also reluctant to give up any power to her heir, Prince Alfred, perhaps a product of the regency. When Margaret II died of cancer in 1823, many admired the Queen for her bravery, but wondered if her successor would lead the royal family to revel or ruin.
[12] When Prince Alfred took the throne upon the death of his mother, the entirety of Ireland gave a collective groan of distaste and ill feeling. During his childhood, his mother, though doting and ever loving, was rarely around. His father was the main influence on the young prince, but he was anything but a proper role model. A licentious and crude man, Lord Fitzwilliam imparted many of these qualities as well as a disdain for anything approaching work of any variety in his son. Upon the Prince of Leinster's acession to the throne, he immediately began delegating his powers to various noblemen and favorites of ill stature and repute in society. In a brief 4 years, the King and his men had run the country into the mud. Ireland's economy was in ruins, the people were in uproar, and only a spark would be required to ignite civil war.
In the summer of 1827, it came. By order of the King, five noblemen (The Earl Gosford, The Viscount Mountgarret, The Lord Farnham, The Earl Cork, and The Earl Cavan) were accused of treason against the crown and hung. Their crime was to suggest that The Lord Digby be dismissed after it had been prooven that he had stolen crown funds for his own enrichment.
The nation exploded. Thousands of men rose up in arms against the King, and thousands more rose up to defend him. The king took this opportunity to label the rebels as traitors and orange protestants seeking to depose the rightful god ordained king. Before long the civil war began to revolve around abstractions of faith and politics far removed from the execution of five noblemen. Three figures rose to guide the rebellion and hone its unbridled wrath to the betterment of the nation. These principal men would become known to history as An Triumvirate Éireann, Daniel O'Connell (Earl Glandore), Hosea Guinness (Marquess Sligo), and a common lawyer by the name of Marcus Culcanon. It would be these men who rallied the common people to the cause of a government not bound by the whim of the king. For four long years they lead the fight, and at the final battle of the war, (The battle of Vinegar hill) they gave the king one last chance for amnesty. If he would submit himself to the rebels, and agree to convene a parliament of the English model, he would remain as king of Ireland. The King refused, after the battle, he was found dead, having joined in with his cavalry's last ditch assault on the rebel center.
Upon the victorious rebel's arrival in Dublin, they convened a parliament and drafted a constitution which would be agreed upon and signed into law by Henry IV, the next monarch of Ireland.
[13] Henry IV, the brother of Alfred II was born the third of Margaret II's five children, and due to her spacing out the pregnancies was nearly five years Alfred's junior. Raised in his mother's indulgent court and with little expectation of inheriting the throne, the then Prince Henry was poorly educated, his care left in the hands of an ever changing cast of courtiers, from whom Henry IV did learn one over-arching lesson that would become the theme of his life, "Say very little and smile kindly, you will be loved for it."
So while the quiet Prince largely found himself left to his own devices, he became the patron of a group of intellectuals and political theorists in Dublin that became dubbed 'the Venerable Ones', however the Prince contributed little to the group beyond royal patronage, but this group would become critical for his and the Irish Monarchy's survival in the years ahead.
In the first years of his brother's reign, the Prince was engaged to Sophie-Augusta of Saxe-Hildburghausen and married in an opulent ceremony devised by his brother the King as an excuse for debauchery. During the bedding ceremony the drunken King made 'unbecoming advances' upon his brother's newly wed wife that nearly caused a fight between the pair, this breach would not be repaired but allowed to fester and grow.
Exiled from his brother's court, the newly married 'Duke and Duchess of Ulster' retired to Classiebawn Castle and began to build their own family, which would see the birth of six children in total, though one would die in infancy.
Then his brother's mistakes led to The Irish Rising that would see the downfall of Alfred II, his death in battle, and the exile of Alfred's wife and two young children, for the successful rebels had already decided to strip Alfred II's line of their rights and pass them on to someone deemed more acceptable, the Quiet Duke of Ulster.
20th century historians would discover a series of secret correspondences between the Duke and a number of rebel leaders, several of whom came from 'the Venerable Ones' club, it revealed that the Duke could not condone rebellion against an anointed monarch but was convinced that his brother was no longer worthy of a crown, his brother's death in battle (and avoidance of any accusations of 'regicide') allowed Henry to put aside his personal worries and come to terms.
Henry IV took the Irish Crown as a 'Constitutional Monarch', a monarch bound by the law and the will of the people along with being anointed by God to represent a higher ideal, the new King and wife, self-effacing, humble, and above all else quiet and amiable were perfect for this new style of monarchy.
While the new Irish Parliament was set up and the first political parties began to emerge, the King invited the first Taoiseach (Prime Minister) to take up the reigns of the Government.
In terms of politics, Henry IV was very hands off, preferring to limit his involvement to words of encouragement to the various come-and-go ministers, serving as a shoulder to cry on, and a sounding board for their ideas.
The Irish Kingdom recovered quickly from the folly of Alfred II, even while much of Europe convulsed with revolutions and rebellions, the Holy Roman Empire collapsed under the weight of it's own contradictions, the Ottomans followed the last of the Habsburgs into extinction within a year, while other Kingdoms such as France, Scotland, and England rode out the violence and stayed intact, though a few like the Russian Empire simply tightened their grip.
In the later years of his life, Henry IV began to bring his heir, the Princess Elizabeth in on the meetings with the Taoiseach to ensure a smooth transition between one monarch and the next.
Henry IV became ill with pneumonia at age 75, he clung to life for five months with the emerging newspapers keeping the nation on tinder hooks as the King's condition was reported and commented on in a day-by-day basis, when Henry IV died the Irish nation plunged into mourning for a man whom had not just saved his family's crown, but also the nation from the violence and wars that seemed to come in waves on the continent.
Henry IV's eldest daughter and heir, Queen Elizabeth I of Ireland took the crown of a nation greatly changed by a man who spoke little, but did much by doing very little.
Queen Elizabeth in mourning for her father (1881)
[14] HRH Princess Elizabeth Margaret Sophia of Ulster was never intended for the throne. Born during the revolt against her uncle, Alfred II, she was raised by her quiet father with her siblings: John, Anna, Louise, and Catherine in Dublin castle. Princess Elizabeth, or Bess as she was informally called, became well known for her charitable spirit, making semiannual visits to orphanages during her childhood to donate her gently used toys and outfits.
For many years, Elizabeth considered joining a nunnery and devoting her life to caring for the sick and injured. Two life events stopped that thought. The first was the prolonged illness of her mother, Queen Sophie, believed to be a tragic combination of Parkinson's and Dementia. The teenage Elizabeth quickly served as a nurse for her mother and is believed to have popularized the profession among women of means. Later, in 1857, her brother the Duke of Leinster died suddenly of typhoid while his wife, Irene of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, miscarried what would have been their first child.
This left the 26-year-old spinster Elizabeth as heiress presumptive to the throne. She was married off to her cousin Phillip of Connaught in order to retain the dynastic name, but the marriage would suffer due to lack of chemistry. The Queen was completely uninterested in romantic relationships, calling them "useless and distracting". Elizabeth, who would today be termed asexual, only married because her father feared a personal union with Portugal from her sister Anna's marriage to the Crown Prince. In response to her marital distress came the popular saying "lie back and think of Ireland", symbolized by the Queen's three children Edward, Prince of Leinster, Phillip, Duke of Ulster, Princess Mary of Ireland (and Queen of France), and twins Prince Henry, Duke of Meath and Princess Sophia of Ireland (became a nun).
Upon her ascension, Elizabeth became best known as "the Angel of the Battlefield" for her daring decision to visit troops in the Crimea. The move wasn't out of left-field, as during her time as heiress to the throne, Princess Elizabeth had volunteered at veteran's hospitals under the name Bess Fitzwilliam. However, troops were shocked and delighted to see the Queen near the battlefield due to her age and position. After viewing field condition, she's credited with encouraging Parliament to invest in modernizing field hospitals, even creating awards for the best doctors and hospitals in Ireland.
When the Queen died after 20 years on the throne, she had won the admiration of many around her, which only grew after the publishing of her will. While many family heirlooms remained with her children, much of her private fortune was donated to hospitals, charities, orphanages, and other such entities. She also donated several of the family palaces and castles, most notably Cabra Castle and Dungiven Castle, with the purpose of using the buildings for schools, hospitals, and orphanages. Many hoped her heir Edward II, would continue the Queen's good work.
[15] Edward II of Ireland was born from the cold, clinical marriage of the (then) Princess Elizabeth of Ireland and Phillip of Connaught (made a Prince during Elizabeth's first pregnancy to insure their children were born royal), during the long rule of King Henry IV of Ireland. Born with the expectation of one day being monarch, Henry IV arranged for the best education for his grandson, even while Elizabeth pushed against her own dispassionate nature to bear several more children to prevent a possible personal union with Portugal.
Edward's interests quickly moved to martial, though he did not neglect the other (duller) aspects of his education, from an early age he expressed interest in fighting on the field, for much of continental Europe was at war due to the fall of the Holy Roman and Ottoman Empires, new nations were emerging from the wreckage, and others sought to take advantage even while suffering from internal problems themselves.
Many Irishmen formed 'Volunteer Units' for these wars that were in truth mercenary bands in all but name. However Ireland did official join a few of the wars, most notable the campaign in Crimea to prevent further Russian annexations in which Edward's mother, Queen Elizabeth personally appeared for her charity work.
However Edward II would never experience his dream of serving on the field of battle, as being the heir to the throne he was deemed too valuable to risk.
Instead while his two younger brother's both served the Irish Army, his sister Princess Mary was wed to the heir to the French throne, and Princess Sophie was allowed to enter a nunnery.
To distract the irritated heir, King Henry IV arranged for Edward to marry Princess Theodora Cacoyannis, the daughter of Emperor Constantine XII of the 'Restored' Eastern Roman Empire, due to Theodora being Eastern Orthodox the Pope had to lift the normal restrictions against a Catholic/Orthodox match that existed in the Henrian/Elizabethan Era(s), but there were few voices of dissent.
Despite the religious differences, Edward's marriage to Theodora Cacoyannis would prove a happy one, producing three children ___, ____, and _____.
Due to taking the throne at an older age, the Queen kept Edward, Prince of Leinster at her side, like her father before her making the heir her unofficial partner and personal secretary, working to ensure that the heir would be ready to take the throne.
Upon his ascention to the throne and discovering his mother's will, the new Edward II suddenly found himself a King with few resources, he was forced to ask the Irish Parliament to increase the royal pension to cover the expenses of the crown, which detonated the first major political controversy invovling the monarchy in the 20th century.
The problem of 'the King's Troubles' ended in an unusual way when the last Duke of Connaught died in a drunken driving accident in 1902, leaving the title and the large Connaught fortune to the crown, allowing Parliament and the King to quietly drop the matter of increasing the royal pension.
During the reign of Edward II a period of quiet fell upon Europe, the former HRE was divided mainly between the Prussian Empire and the Austro-Bavarian Empire, Hungary was an independent republic, the new Eastern Roman Empire had defeated the last of the Turkish Warlords in Anatolia, however had failed to defeat the Yugoslavian Empire (consisting of RL Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Romania) leaving the possibility of further war open.
In Western Europe the revolutionary waves had failed, with the exception of Spain that saw the creation of the infamously corrupt 'Spanish Republic' that had already been overthrown in turn and the Spanish Monarchy restored by Edward II's reign.
In Edward II's reign 'The Peace' held, seeing the rise of a wave of hedonism and the first of what would be called 'youth culture', which the King hated and officially ban it's vestiges from the court during the duration of his reign.
Despite this the King continued his mother's policy of royal association with charity, though he focused more on Royal apperances and patronage, and brought more varity in his support of charitable causes. In additon to working quietly and behind the scenes with the government of the day.
However Edward was a heavy smoker and the stress of being King exaserbated his habit, leading to him dying of a then rare illness, lung cancer at age 61, leaving the crown to ____.
1529 - 1546: Henry I (House of Fitzroy) [1]
1546 - 1555: Henry II (House of Fitzroy) [2]
1555 - 1589: John I (House of Fitzroy) [3]
1589 - 1605: Edward I (House of Fitzroy) [4]
1605 - 1623: Margaret I (House of Fitzroy) [5]
1623 - 1657: Henry III (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [6]
1657 - 1701: John II/Sean II (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [7]
1701 - 1719: Phillip I (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [8]
1719 - 1750: Mary (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [9]
1750 - 1779: Alfred I (House of Fitzroy-Waterford) [10]
1779 - 1823: Margaret II (House of Fitzroy-Waterford) [11]
1823 - 1831: Alfred II "The Fool" (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [12]
1831 - 1881: Henry IV "The Quiet" (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [13]
1881 - 1901: Elizabeth "The Giving" (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [14]
1901 - 1928: Edward II (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [15]
Henry VIII appointed his bastard son as the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1529. Henry wished to name him King of Ireland but his counsellors strenuously objected and it took several months after being made Lord Lieutenant before he was made King of Ireland in actuality.
Fitzroy was 10 when made King so whilst he was King, the country was run by his father's advisors, notably William Skeffington who was given guardianship of the young King. When he turned 18 in 1537, Skeffington was made Private Secretary for a brief period before his death.
Henry had been provisionally betrothed to Mary Howard in 1533, but the offer of Madeleine of Valois' hand in marriage was too good for Skeffington and Henry VIII to refuse, and the pair were betrothed in 1533, then married when Henry reached majority.
A child was born in 1538, so the nascent Kingdom of Ireland had an heir. Two more children were born in the next five years. However when Henry dies in 1546, at the age of only 27, none of his children had yet reached majority and the question of succession would read it's ugly head.
Henry would be succeeded by Henry, his eldest son.
[2] The eldest of the two sons of Henry I of Ireland and his wife; Madeline of Valois, Henry was destined for the Irish Crown from birth, and from the death of his father, he would embrace this role.
During his short reign of nine years, Henry II sought to expand the power of the Irish court, and to do so, he sought allies in the form of the French, who he would seek to marry, namely himself to his first cousin; Louise of Valois, and his younger brother; Prince John of Ireland, to another cousin, Margaret of Savoy.
Henry II was a man of true piety, and it would be his choice to travel to Rome where he received the Golden Rose from his holiness, and it would be on the return journey from Rome, in 1555, where Henry II would fall ill at the age of 17.
For the entirety of his reign, Henry had simply been a rubber-stamp for the regency of Anthony St Leger, and upon his death, the Regent of Ireland would continue his rule.
[3] King John was 14 when his brother died, and would spend the first few years of his reign under the regency of Anthony St.Leger, who became known as King Anthony for his hypnotic hold on the King. Part of St.Leger's power was the new King's inclination for both sexes in the bedroom, which the regent immediately recognized. He installed his nephew, Matthew, as the King's confidant turned lover.
All that changed in early 1558, when the King's wife Margaret of Savoy arrived in Dunmore. The new Queen was a rather authoritative figure who saw the regent as the cap on her and her husband's power at court. When she birthed her first child, Madeline, the King asked what she wished: her answer was to send Anthony St.Leger from the court (she also tried unsuccessfully to send away Matthew). The King obliged, causing such a shock to St.Leger that gossipers at the time blamed the incident for his failing health and eventual death the next year.
The remaining years of John's reign were most well known for the power struggle between Margaret (who favored a Catholic, pro-French policy) and Matthew (a closet reformer who preferred and English alliance). As one sharp-witted courtier wrote, "King John has two Queens". This battle extended to the children's education as Margaret attempted to have the children brought up by Catholic priests, while Matthew favored secular tutors, writing to the King "do you want to teach the children you are damned to hell's fiery pits". The children (who grew up at the same court in Dublin) ended up receiving wildly varying educations depending on who had the King's favor each year. For example, the King's eldest daughter Madeline was sent away to be educated by the nuns on the request of her mother. Her sister Louise, only two years younger, instead received a humanist education resembling those of Henry VIII's children, as encouraged by her father's lover.
In the end, King John would be brought down by his love of sex, dying from complications of syphilis. In response to John's reign, his heir Prince Edward, decided to make Ireland a country with no state religion.
4) Edward was John's second son, with the eldest predeceasing his father by several years. This was still sufficient time for Edward, who had been brought up by his mother but then trained for courthood by his father's advisors. Edward had hated the manner in which religion had creates a rift between his parents, and caused him to doubt his own abilities - and therefore be signed a bill of religious freedom. Each Irish citizen would be free to practice their own religion, free from persecution - this brought conflict with the Pope, but Edward found support from his great aunt, Queen Elizabeth of England during the Irish Primacy Scandal of 1595. Because he did not outright reject Roman Catholicism, the Pope accepted the decision of the Irish state on the agreement that Edward would pay certain taxes to the Vatican. Edward reluctantly agreed, but claimed all land as royal land and then charged the Irish monasteries rent which he used to pay the taxes.
He married Countess Anna of Nassau, a daughter of William the Silent, Prince of Orange in 1583 and they had two children before Anna died in 1588 during childbirth with their third, a daughter.
He subsequently married Maria of Saxe-Weimar in 1590 and she provided him with several children.
In 1603 when Elizabeth of England died, he was briefly considered for the English throne and considered the lead claimant by Elizabeth herself, but there were objections from the English nobility to a bastard line claiming the Crown when a legitimate claimant existed in the King of Scotland.
At any rate, he died in 1605 after catching pneumonia whilst inspecting the construction of a cathedral in Dublin, intended as the Irish Notre Dame, and his eldest daughter, Princess Margaret, took the throne.
[5] The eldest child from Edward I’s marriage to Anna of Nassau, and the first Queen of Ireland. Of the seven daughters of Edward I, Margaret would be the most ardently catholic, opposing her mothers Protestantism and her fathers own ambivalence towards the matter.
Prior to her taking the throne, the Princess would marry Infante Ferdinand of Spain, and the year of her taking the crown of Ireland, she would give birth to her first son and heir; Prince Henry of Ireland.
The first major note of her reign was the completion of the Dublin Cathedral. A massive and baroque cathedral symbolising the piety and Catholicism of Ireland. Her second action would be forcing her younger half-sisters, “The Irish Quintet” to sign away all claim to the throne of Ireland. The younger ones would agree, and be placed in small manorial homes, while the elder of the daughters of Maria of Saxe-Weimar; Maria Anna of Ireland would attempt to fight for her “claim” to the throne. The rebellion of Maria Anna was short lived, and recognised by no other government. From 1610 to 1612, the Protestant revolt would flutter around the Irish countryside, until her capture at Derry. She would be hung in Dublin, alongside the other ringleaders of the revolt. With the settling of the revolt, the reign of Margaret and her husband, who would take the title of Prince-Consort, would be secure.
For the next few years, Ireland simply recovered from the deep split in her loyalties, and another Son and two daughters would be born to the union of Margaret and Ferdinand.
Upon the death of Margaret in 1623, the house of Fitzroy would end, and the House of Hapsburg would inherit the Irish Kingdom.
[6] The Eldest son of Margaret I and Prince-Consort Ferdinand of Ireland, Henry was born in 1605. During his mothers reign, the young prince was often at his mothers side, and became a similarly devout Catholic, perhaps even more so.
In 1619, at the age of fourteen, the Crown Prince of Ireland would marry his paternal cousin; Eleanor of Austria, daughter of his fathers sister. Upon his mothers death, Henry would be crowned in the Dublin Cathedral, started by his grandfather, and he would take the dynastic name “Hapsburg-Eire”.
Between 1627 and 1646, Henry III would have 17 children by his three wives, firstly Eleanor of Austria until her death in 1631, followed by Marie of France until her death in Childbirth in 1642, and then Charlotte de Montespard, who he would take as his Morganatic wife.
The rule of Henry III was a peaceful reign, with the centralisation of the Irish court, and the Colonisation of the Irish Virgin Islands, and upon his death in 1657, Henry III would be succeeded by John II.
[7] John II of Ireland was the third son of Henry III's large brood and spent much of his life never expecting to become King, he was made Duke of Ulster and was raised with the expectation of serving his eldest brother, Henry, Prince of Leinster, however when he and John's second brother Prince Adam died in a boating accident when John was 28 saw the third son thrust into the spotlight. Unmarried at that point his father arranged a marriage for his new heir, Princess Marie-Anne of Orleans, however no children were produced by this marriage.
When Henry III died, John II became a King without an heir.
While England and Scotland convulsed in the throws of the British Civil War between King Frederick Henry I, the Parliamentarians, and Scottish Dissidents, John II focused on continuing Ireland's colonial projects, and supported the arts and the promotion of native Irish culture, both at home, and in the court, he was the first Irish monarch to learn the Irish Language (the court having retained the Tudor English of the Fitzroy's), and began signing documents not as 'John' but as 'Sean'.
When Sean II's first wife died, the King tried again with a second wife, Zofia Opalińska, a Polish noblewoman, this marriage also failed to produce any children.
Giving up hope of having heirs of his own body, Sean II focused on his brothers, the majority of whom had been left as bachelors by their father due to a lack of prospects. While their Hapsburgs relatives on the continent showed signs of dying out, the next six men behind Sean II in line for the throne were married and had more success in bedroom than their brother, some sneeringly called Sean 'Dry-Seed'.
The British Civil War ground down to a brutal halt when Frederick Henry I was captured by Parliamentarians and ultimately executed, horrifying the monarchies of Europe, a collation was formed, led by Louis XIV, Sean II joined the powers of Europe in the first invasion of the British Isles since William the Conqueror. The Invasion phase of the British Civil War saw the end of the Parliamentarians as a military force, their leaders (such as Oliver Cromwell) were executed, and the Kingdom of Great Britain was divided back into the separate Kingdoms of England (under Henry IX) and Scotland (under Charles I).
Sean II then spent the remainder of his life focused on building a new royal palace, as Dublin Castle was seen by Sean as 'too modest', the Caisleán Mhanderley (Manderley Castle) would be seen as an architectural wonder, seen by contemporaries as the nearest royal palace to rival Versailles.
Sean II witnessed the completion of Manderley Castle and lived in his finest work for six months before dying childess, passing the crown to his brother, Prince Albert Phillip of Ireland, otherwise known as Phillip I of Ireland
[8] Born in 1639, the eldest of the two sons of Henry III from his marriage to Marie de France. As a Prince, he was originally destined for a Ecclesiastical career, and from 1659 until 1690 he wore the Cardinal’s hat.
In 1690 however the Prince’s world was shaken. The death of his elder brother; Prince Edward, placed Albert Phillip as the heir to the Irish crown. Receiving permission from his Holiness, he would give up the Cardinals cap, and would take a wife with both his Brothers and Papal Blessing. He would marry Cecilia of Bavaria, and in 1693, the pair would welcome their first child, Mary.
Upon his brothers death in 1701, Prince Albert Phillip would return from his estates in Rome, which he had received as a gift from his Holiness for his service, and be crowned as Phillip I of Ireland. At his crowning, he was already 61, and was known to be gout ridden.
Unlike his brother, John II, Phillip was no lover of the Irish culture, seeing it as contradictory to Catholic belief, and he would establish the Jure Successionis, placing the succession laws of Ireland in writing. The Statute stated that the Monarch of Ireland must be catholic, disregarding the sons of his fathers third and last marriage, as those individuals had been noted Protestants.
By 1719, Phillip I was Eighty years old, and dying slowly, when suddenly on the fifth of August, the King suddenly died. Rumours of murder and assassination filled the court, and the King was succeeded by Mary, Princess of Leinster.
[9] Mary was born in 1693, the eldest of three sisters, named after the Virgin Mary at her father's insistance and later used it as her regnal name, at her father's dying wishes. She was betrothed and later married to Antoine, Dauphin of France, later crowned Louis Antoine, King of France. Much like her early years on her father's estates in Italy, and her ten years in France, this meant that she spent much of her life outside of Ireland. Far from being a stranger in her own country, this made her a relative celebrity and she returned to Dublin with French fashion and cuisine to introduce to society. The major problem with Mary was her marriage - should any of her son's survive her husband, they would be made King of France, and should they survive her, it would result in a Franco-Gaelic union which many Irish nobles were not enamoured by. A movement developed that would allow the eldest child to accept France, whilst the next eldest would accept Ireland (as Hapsburg-Eire was a cadet branch, and Bourbon held seniority) but Mary resisted this, but agreed that whilst France practiced succession by the male line only, Ireland would practice male preference primogeniture and allow succession to fall on females. This was, it seemed, satisfactory for Mary's counsellors and the objections ceased.
Mary and Louis Antoine spent their time mostly separate once she became Queen, she would visit France annually but for the rest of the year, Louis Antoine would spend time with his mistresses and father, it was claimed, two dozen children between them, though he only recognised one, Antoine, Count of Paris, and attempted to convince his wife that Antoine should marry one of their youngest daughters. Mary fiercely resisted, and refused to see her husband for two years.
For her own part, Mary became enamoured with the Ambassador to Morocco and it was rumoured they developed a sexual relationship which may have resulted in a daughter. Ironically, it was rumoured that this daughter then married the Count of Paris, allowing her a presence at the French Court in the presence of her "mothers" semi estranged husband.
It was later recounted in a poem entitled "The Tale of the Two Bastards" which was subsequently adapted into a French language movie in 1995, directed by Jean Pierre Jeunet, with Keanu Reeves as the Count of Paris, and Vanessa Paradis as Mary FitzMary. Isabelle Huppert would play Queen Mary of Ireland.
After the minor scandals of her reign, Mary died aged 57 in 1750, to be succeeded by her grandnephew, Lord Alfred Fitzroy, Duke of Waterford.
Alfred I, King of Ireland (c.1751)
[10] Lord Alfred, Duke of Waterford became heir-apparent to the Irish throne in 1745, after the death of Queen Mary's younger son, Charles-Philippe, of various venereal diseases. The new heir, a young boy of 4, was at this time being raised by his great-grandmother, Hannah Beaumont, a rich Scottish Noblewoman who had married the Duke of Waterford, a cousin to the royal family from an illegitimate son King John I of Ireland. Her own son, the infamous rogue Bernard Fitzroy, had married the Irish Queen's sister, the deformed Princess Catherine, and had thus fathered Alfred's father, Richard Fitzroy. Now, the story of how Richard Fitzroy married the Princess Helene of Ireland, the only child of the deceased Sean, Prince of Leinster, and by the agreement formed between France and Ireland, heiress to the Irish throne, is a convoluted one, but essentially, the Irish court demanded that she marry domestically, and while she had other cousins, the dumpy Richard seemed the least offensive option. And so they had married, and the Fitzroy line returned. The young Princess, fiercely unhappy in her life, became pregnant quickly (possibly to her husband's cousin, another handsome rogue in the vein of Bernard Fitzroy) and died giving birth to the young Alfred. This boy, the last Irish Prince not in line for the French throne, became the Queen's heir, although she refused to grant him the title Prince of Leinster.
The Queen of Ireland took scant interest in her successor, leaving his rearing to his great-grandmother, the formidable Dowager Duchess of Waterford ("Dowager" as of 1747) and he, along with his cousins, John William Fitzroy and Cecile Marie Fitzory, grew up in the idyllic Waterford estate. He was poorly educated during this time, although he did enjoy history lessons via his grandmother, and learnt book keeping at her side. But Hannah Beaumont felt a literary education, one of languages and other such things, would fill the boy's head with nonsense. Instead, she taught him to balance a budget, to know his lineage and to expect respect from the those around him. His only peers were, in her eyes, herself and his cousins, learning at her steady hand.
His accession was simple enough. While Louis-Antoine made some pointed noises of disapproval, once his son and heir had recognised his abdication, he wasn't going to let his great-grandson's crown leave his head. Instead, the King made his first visit to Ireland in decades, for a 2 month stay that taught him that he liked the Dowager Duchess of Waterford, and he even had the King's father married to Marie Charlotte de Guise, who was probably his illegitimate daughter. Richard Fitzory would go on to father another son, before dying of a heart attack in his 30's.
The court of Dublin, having seen some relaxation under Queen Mary, found itself tightly bound by convention by the will of the Dowager Duchess, who enacted a strict schedule that her grandson would continue for the rest of his life. He arose before sunrise, and for two hours before his official "awakening ceremony", spent that time eating a light breakfast and amusing himself. Then, he would lay in bed to be awoken by his cousin, the Duke of Downshire, his heir apparent, and his great-aunt, the Princess Joan of Ireland and France (the youngest of Queen Mary's daughters, she never married after being scarred by smallpox). He was then prepared for his day with briefings, regardless of his place in government as a child, and spent the next 2-3 hours dressing. Then came a ceremonial lunch, usually with 20-50 people in attendance as the "inner court". He then attended meetings, which acted as his lessons for the day, and shortly followed by a light meal and a nap, followed by a long, ceremonial final meal, before he would open whatever nightly entertainments were being held and, depending on their importance, either stay for the opening or, most likely, be hurried off to bed. Throughout the day, he was attended by no less than 6 peers at a time, sometimes as many as 18, and he had 32 men available at any one time. The Dowager Duchess herself was always present as well, often interrupting his dressing to quiz him on numbers.
Hannah Fitzroy (previously Beaumont), Dowager Duchess of Waterford (c.1754)
What the child missed, most of all, was spontaneity and fun.
Writing to the King of France in 1754, the young boy asked if he might send word to the Dowager Duchess and allow young Alfred a chance to rest once a month, maybe even twice that. But, outside of severe illness, she was a determined woman, refusing to accept that the young man growing to adulthood in front of her might enjoy something outside of her schedule. So little did he have, in fact, that when in 1756, he did escape the court with his cousins to do some fun, he went overboard, and a young woman known to history as "the Dublin Lass" ended up dead. Little is known of the exact scenario, but it seems that the King wanted a night of passion, and either the young woman refused, or his cousin tried to prevent this from happening. Regardless, the murder was blamed on a gang and the King seems to have never attempted such frivolity again.
As he entered adulthood, he found not even his bride was to be his own choice, which while usual at the time, seems to have prevent him from marrying an Irishwoman he found desirable. Nicole Gregoria Ferrard, the daughter of Earl of Longford. Instead, he was betrothed to The Princess Victoria Douglass of Scotland, a woman 7 years his senior who he found personally repugnant for her cruel temper and "beady eyes". They would have their first child in 1760. Many more would follow.
Victoria Douglas, Queen of Ireland (c.1762)
However, as much has been written about King Alfred as a personal figure, and his personal life does become more interesting soon, it must be said that as a leader, he was a great figurehead. He knew his numbers well, did not shy away from hard work, but struggled when it came to hard decision making particularly after the influence of the Dowager Duchess ended with her death in 1763. Much has been made of the change in the King following her death, but one thing is for sure, and that is that he was very passionate about the kingdom's economy, but blind to it's needs outside of that. He knew debts needed to be paid, but refused to economize the court, instead ending works on roads and other major infrastructure. He then raised taxes
Indeed, spending on the court tripled between 1760 and 1774, partially due to the arrival of the King's children and his increasing extension of family to support. His half-brother, soon made the Duke of Kingston, who had married in 1762 a woman named Elizabeth Butler. The two would have many children, but their eldest, the Lady Hannah Fitzroy, became the King's obsession.
It's unclear how early the King fixated on his niece. She did not return to the court until 1773, around the age of 10, and by this time, he had begun an affair with an actress in her 50's, named Sarah Hillard. The first real affair he had had, they were an odd pair to have, and it has been suggested that the King loved her due to her similarities to the Dowager Duchess. If that is so, then he loved his niece for her similarities to his cousin, Cecile Marie Fitzroy, who may have become his lover during the regency, although by now she was the Duke of Savoy's lover and possibly secret second wife. So instead, he focused on the young girl, who's father was blocked in his attempts to remove her from the King's attentions. This tells us that, by the mid 1770's, he was making motions against her, and by the second half of the decade, there was definitely a romantic undertone to reports, although she would claim never to have done anything inappropriate with the King. In her own words:
"He loved me from far away, and often talked about wanted a marriage. But no matter how ardent his language, we were pure and he was afraid to even touch me."
Now, all of this would matter little in 1776, when the first stirrings of rebellion amongst the people of Ireland began. Led by a committee of 20 men and women, their original goal was simply lower taxes. But as the movement gained traction, they aimed higher. The King's head.
The King heard of rebellion. Left to right: The Duke of Ulster, the King of Ireland, the Queen of Ireland, the Lady Hannah Fitzroy (c.1782)
Cities burned as they marched through Ireland, and in 1778, Dublin was under siege. The King, on a walk in the gardens, was siezed, and torn apart by his people. It was a grizzly death, and one that would effect the transition of power in a way not seen in Irish history.
[11]
The eldest daughter of Prince Henry, The Duke of Leinster, Hannah Margaret was just seven years old when the Rebellion started. Prince Henry was brought before a miilitary tribunal, accused of aiding his father in "grand treason against the Irish people" despite his impassioned pleas the Prince would be killed, leaving his widow Adelaide of Savoy and his 5 daughters: Hannah Margaret (7), Mary Adelaide (5), Elizabeth Helene (3), Victoria Anna (3), and Madeleine Henrietta (1). The young princesses were seized from their mother while the Duchess, fearing her husband's fate, hightailed it to relatives in France.
Weary of killing young girls, the Irish rebels would instead act as regents for Margaret II (her other name, Hannah, being discarded for its association with Hannah Fitzroy) and her sisters. The eldest two girls, the Queen and her sister Mary Adelaide, would be forcibly married into the Irish peerage in 1789, and similar matches were planned for their younger sisters.
The marriage of Margaret II to Thomas Fitzwilliam, youngest brother of one of her regents Viscount Fitzwilliam. Later that year saw the marriage of Mary Adelaide and William O'Brien, nephew of another regent Murrough O'Brien.
However, the next year became known to Irish history as the Sister's revolt. After rumors of her sister's gross unhappiness at her marital lot and rumors of more Irish matches for her sisters with men "beneath their rank and quality," the Queen and her sisters helped raise a palace coup against most of their regents, writing anonymous pamphlets about their gross mistreatment and winning the sympathy of the people and the army, who saw it their job to protect "poor ladies like our princesses". Many an Irish student has recalled Margaret's miracle; where the Queen, who had recently birthed her first child Prince Alfred, stormed into a meeting of the regents declaring "I am a girl no more. It is time for the levers of government to move to their rightful holder".
By 1790 the tenor of the Irish court changed, focused on the delightful Queen and her sisters. The youngest three were allowed prestigious royal matches: Elizabeth wedding the Crown Prince of Bavaria, Victoria the Prince of Asturias, and Madeleine the young King of Two Sicilies. Many call Margaret's reign "the court of women" as the Queen became the dominating force in politics and her marriage, with many calling her husband "The Phantom of the Isle". She even became an early advocate of family planning, deliberately spacing out her pregnancies to reduce the risk of dying in childbirth, a move which annoyed the clergy but won her admiration from the working classes.
The one fault of her reign might have been her overindulgent nature. The naturally fair Queen had keenly felt the death of her father and abandonment of her mother (who she refused to let return to Ireland after the Sister's revolt due to "leaving us in our time of gravest need") and thus overindulged her children, who were sometimes called haughty and spoiled. She was also reluctant to give up any power to her heir, Prince Alfred, perhaps a product of the regency. When Margaret II died of cancer in 1823, many admired the Queen for her bravery, but wondered if her successor would lead the royal family to revel or ruin.
[12] When Prince Alfred took the throne upon the death of his mother, the entirety of Ireland gave a collective groan of distaste and ill feeling. During his childhood, his mother, though doting and ever loving, was rarely around. His father was the main influence on the young prince, but he was anything but a proper role model. A licentious and crude man, Lord Fitzwilliam imparted many of these qualities as well as a disdain for anything approaching work of any variety in his son. Upon the Prince of Leinster's acession to the throne, he immediately began delegating his powers to various noblemen and favorites of ill stature and repute in society. In a brief 4 years, the King and his men had run the country into the mud. Ireland's economy was in ruins, the people were in uproar, and only a spark would be required to ignite civil war.
In the summer of 1827, it came. By order of the King, five noblemen (The Earl Gosford, The Viscount Mountgarret, The Lord Farnham, The Earl Cork, and The Earl Cavan) were accused of treason against the crown and hung. Their crime was to suggest that The Lord Digby be dismissed after it had been prooven that he had stolen crown funds for his own enrichment.
The nation exploded. Thousands of men rose up in arms against the King, and thousands more rose up to defend him. The king took this opportunity to label the rebels as traitors and orange protestants seeking to depose the rightful god ordained king. Before long the civil war began to revolve around abstractions of faith and politics far removed from the execution of five noblemen. Three figures rose to guide the rebellion and hone its unbridled wrath to the betterment of the nation. These principal men would become known to history as An Triumvirate Éireann, Daniel O'Connell (Earl Glandore), Hosea Guinness (Marquess Sligo), and a common lawyer by the name of Marcus Culcanon. It would be these men who rallied the common people to the cause of a government not bound by the whim of the king. For four long years they lead the fight, and at the final battle of the war, (The battle of Vinegar hill) they gave the king one last chance for amnesty. If he would submit himself to the rebels, and agree to convene a parliament of the English model, he would remain as king of Ireland. The King refused, after the battle, he was found dead, having joined in with his cavalry's last ditch assault on the rebel center.
Upon the victorious rebel's arrival in Dublin, they convened a parliament and drafted a constitution which would be agreed upon and signed into law by Henry IV, the next monarch of Ireland.
[13] Henry IV, the brother of Alfred II was born the third of Margaret II's five children, and due to her spacing out the pregnancies was nearly five years Alfred's junior. Raised in his mother's indulgent court and with little expectation of inheriting the throne, the then Prince Henry was poorly educated, his care left in the hands of an ever changing cast of courtiers, from whom Henry IV did learn one over-arching lesson that would become the theme of his life, "Say very little and smile kindly, you will be loved for it."
So while the quiet Prince largely found himself left to his own devices, he became the patron of a group of intellectuals and political theorists in Dublin that became dubbed 'the Venerable Ones', however the Prince contributed little to the group beyond royal patronage, but this group would become critical for his and the Irish Monarchy's survival in the years ahead.
In the first years of his brother's reign, the Prince was engaged to Sophie-Augusta of Saxe-Hildburghausen and married in an opulent ceremony devised by his brother the King as an excuse for debauchery. During the bedding ceremony the drunken King made 'unbecoming advances' upon his brother's newly wed wife that nearly caused a fight between the pair, this breach would not be repaired but allowed to fester and grow.
Exiled from his brother's court, the newly married 'Duke and Duchess of Ulster' retired to Classiebawn Castle and began to build their own family, which would see the birth of six children in total, though one would die in infancy.
Then his brother's mistakes led to The Irish Rising that would see the downfall of Alfred II, his death in battle, and the exile of Alfred's wife and two young children, for the successful rebels had already decided to strip Alfred II's line of their rights and pass them on to someone deemed more acceptable, the Quiet Duke of Ulster.
20th century historians would discover a series of secret correspondences between the Duke and a number of rebel leaders, several of whom came from 'the Venerable Ones' club, it revealed that the Duke could not condone rebellion against an anointed monarch but was convinced that his brother was no longer worthy of a crown, his brother's death in battle (and avoidance of any accusations of 'regicide') allowed Henry to put aside his personal worries and come to terms.
Henry IV took the Irish Crown as a 'Constitutional Monarch', a monarch bound by the law and the will of the people along with being anointed by God to represent a higher ideal, the new King and wife, self-effacing, humble, and above all else quiet and amiable were perfect for this new style of monarchy.
While the new Irish Parliament was set up and the first political parties began to emerge, the King invited the first Taoiseach (Prime Minister) to take up the reigns of the Government.
In terms of politics, Henry IV was very hands off, preferring to limit his involvement to words of encouragement to the various come-and-go ministers, serving as a shoulder to cry on, and a sounding board for their ideas.
The Irish Kingdom recovered quickly from the folly of Alfred II, even while much of Europe convulsed with revolutions and rebellions, the Holy Roman Empire collapsed under the weight of it's own contradictions, the Ottomans followed the last of the Habsburgs into extinction within a year, while other Kingdoms such as France, Scotland, and England rode out the violence and stayed intact, though a few like the Russian Empire simply tightened their grip.
In the later years of his life, Henry IV began to bring his heir, the Princess Elizabeth in on the meetings with the Taoiseach to ensure a smooth transition between one monarch and the next.
Henry IV became ill with pneumonia at age 75, he clung to life for five months with the emerging newspapers keeping the nation on tinder hooks as the King's condition was reported and commented on in a day-by-day basis, when Henry IV died the Irish nation plunged into mourning for a man whom had not just saved his family's crown, but also the nation from the violence and wars that seemed to come in waves on the continent.
Henry IV's eldest daughter and heir, Queen Elizabeth I of Ireland took the crown of a nation greatly changed by a man who spoke little, but did much by doing very little.
Queen Elizabeth in mourning for her father (1881)
[14] HRH Princess Elizabeth Margaret Sophia of Ulster was never intended for the throne. Born during the revolt against her uncle, Alfred II, she was raised by her quiet father with her siblings: John, Anna, Louise, and Catherine in Dublin castle. Princess Elizabeth, or Bess as she was informally called, became well known for her charitable spirit, making semiannual visits to orphanages during her childhood to donate her gently used toys and outfits.
For many years, Elizabeth considered joining a nunnery and devoting her life to caring for the sick and injured. Two life events stopped that thought. The first was the prolonged illness of her mother, Queen Sophie, believed to be a tragic combination of Parkinson's and Dementia. The teenage Elizabeth quickly served as a nurse for her mother and is believed to have popularized the profession among women of means. Later, in 1857, her brother the Duke of Leinster died suddenly of typhoid while his wife, Irene of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, miscarried what would have been their first child.
This left the 26-year-old spinster Elizabeth as heiress presumptive to the throne. She was married off to her cousin Phillip of Connaught in order to retain the dynastic name, but the marriage would suffer due to lack of chemistry. The Queen was completely uninterested in romantic relationships, calling them "useless and distracting". Elizabeth, who would today be termed asexual, only married because her father feared a personal union with Portugal from her sister Anna's marriage to the Crown Prince. In response to her marital distress came the popular saying "lie back and think of Ireland", symbolized by the Queen's three children Edward, Prince of Leinster, Phillip, Duke of Ulster, Princess Mary of Ireland (and Queen of France), and twins Prince Henry, Duke of Meath and Princess Sophia of Ireland (became a nun).
Upon her ascension, Elizabeth became best known as "the Angel of the Battlefield" for her daring decision to visit troops in the Crimea. The move wasn't out of left-field, as during her time as heiress to the throne, Princess Elizabeth had volunteered at veteran's hospitals under the name Bess Fitzwilliam. However, troops were shocked and delighted to see the Queen near the battlefield due to her age and position. After viewing field condition, she's credited with encouraging Parliament to invest in modernizing field hospitals, even creating awards for the best doctors and hospitals in Ireland.
When the Queen died after 20 years on the throne, she had won the admiration of many around her, which only grew after the publishing of her will. While many family heirlooms remained with her children, much of her private fortune was donated to hospitals, charities, orphanages, and other such entities. She also donated several of the family palaces and castles, most notably Cabra Castle and Dungiven Castle, with the purpose of using the buildings for schools, hospitals, and orphanages. Many hoped her heir Edward II, would continue the Queen's good work.
[15] Edward II of Ireland was born from the cold, clinical marriage of the (then) Princess Elizabeth of Ireland and Phillip of Connaught (made a Prince during Elizabeth's first pregnancy to insure their children were born royal), during the long rule of King Henry IV of Ireland. Born with the expectation of one day being monarch, Henry IV arranged for the best education for his grandson, even while Elizabeth pushed against her own dispassionate nature to bear several more children to prevent a possible personal union with Portugal.
Edward's interests quickly moved to martial, though he did not neglect the other (duller) aspects of his education, from an early age he expressed interest in fighting on the field, for much of continental Europe was at war due to the fall of the Holy Roman and Ottoman Empires, new nations were emerging from the wreckage, and others sought to take advantage even while suffering from internal problems themselves.
Many Irishmen formed 'Volunteer Units' for these wars that were in truth mercenary bands in all but name. However Ireland did official join a few of the wars, most notable the campaign in Crimea to prevent further Russian annexations in which Edward's mother, Queen Elizabeth personally appeared for her charity work.
However Edward II would never experience his dream of serving on the field of battle, as being the heir to the throne he was deemed too valuable to risk.
Instead while his two younger brother's both served the Irish Army, his sister Princess Mary was wed to the heir to the French throne, and Princess Sophie was allowed to enter a nunnery.
To distract the irritated heir, King Henry IV arranged for Edward to marry Princess Theodora Cacoyannis, the daughter of Emperor Constantine XII of the 'Restored' Eastern Roman Empire, due to Theodora being Eastern Orthodox the Pope had to lift the normal restrictions against a Catholic/Orthodox match that existed in the Henrian/Elizabethan Era(s), but there were few voices of dissent.
Despite the religious differences, Edward's marriage to Theodora Cacoyannis would prove a happy one, producing three children ___, ____, and _____.
Due to taking the throne at an older age, the Queen kept Edward, Prince of Leinster at her side, like her father before her making the heir her unofficial partner and personal secretary, working to ensure that the heir would be ready to take the throne.
Upon his ascention to the throne and discovering his mother's will, the new Edward II suddenly found himself a King with few resources, he was forced to ask the Irish Parliament to increase the royal pension to cover the expenses of the crown, which detonated the first major political controversy invovling the monarchy in the 20th century.
The problem of 'the King's Troubles' ended in an unusual way when the last Duke of Connaught died in a drunken driving accident in 1902, leaving the title and the large Connaught fortune to the crown, allowing Parliament and the King to quietly drop the matter of increasing the royal pension.
During the reign of Edward II a period of quiet fell upon Europe, the former HRE was divided mainly between the Prussian Empire and the Austro-Bavarian Empire, Hungary was an independent republic, the new Eastern Roman Empire had defeated the last of the Turkish Warlords in Anatolia, however had failed to defeat the Yugoslavian Empire (consisting of RL Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Romania) leaving the possibility of further war open.
In Western Europe the revolutionary waves had failed, with the exception of Spain that saw the creation of the infamously corrupt 'Spanish Republic' that had already been overthrown in turn and the Spanish Monarchy restored by Edward II's reign.
In Edward II's reign 'The Peace' held, seeing the rise of a wave of hedonism and the first of what would be called 'youth culture', which the King hated and officially ban it's vestiges from the court during the duration of his reign.
Despite this the King continued his mother's policy of royal association with charity, though he focused more on Royal apperances and patronage, and brought more varity in his support of charitable causes. In additon to working quietly and behind the scenes with the government of the day.
However Edward was a heavy smoker and the stress of being King exaserbated his habit, leading to him dying of a then rare illness, lung cancer at age 61, leaving the crown to ____.
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Deleted member 107125
What If Henry VIII successfully had Henry Fitzroy made King of Ireland in 1529?:
1529 - 1546: Henry I (House of Fitzroy) [1]
1546 - 1555: Henry II (House of Fitzroy) [2]
1555 - 1589: John I (House of Fitzroy) [3]
1589 - 1605: Edward I (House of Fitzroy) [4]
1605 - 1623: Margaret I (House of Fitzroy) [5]
1623 - 1657: Henry III (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [6]
1657 - 1701: John II/Sean II (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [7]
1701 - 1719: Phillip I (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [8]
1719 - 1750: Mary (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [9]
1750 - 1779: Alfred I (House of Fitzroy-Waterford) [10]
1779 - 1823: Margaret II (House of Fitzroy-Waterford) [11]
1823 - 1831: Alfred II "The Fool" (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [12]
1831 - 1881: Henry IV "The Quiet" (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [13]
1881 - 1901: Elizabeth "The Giving" (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [14]
1901 - 1928: Edward II (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [15]
1928 - 1970: Margaret III (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [16]
Henry VIII appointed his bastard son as the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1529. Henry wished to name him King of Ireland but his counsellors strenuously objected and it took several months after being made Lord Lieutenant before he was made King of Ireland in actuality.
Fitzroy was 10 when made King so whilst he was King, the country was run by his father's advisors, notably William Skeffington who was given guardianship of the young King. When he turned 18 in 1537, Skeffington was made Private Secretary for a brief period before his death.
Henry had been provisionally betrothed to Mary Howard in 1533, but the offer of Madeleine of Valois' hand in marriage was too good for Skeffington and Henry VIII to refuse, and the pair were betrothed in 1533, then married when Henry reached majority.
A child was born in 1538, so the nascent Kingdom of Ireland had an heir. Two more children were born in the next five years. However when Henry dies in 1546, at the age of only 27, none of his children had yet reached majority and the question of succession would read it's ugly head.
Henry would be succeeded by Henry, his eldest son.
[2] The eldest of the two sons of Henry I of Ireland and his wife; Madeline of Valois, Henry was destined for the Irish Crown from birth, and from the death of his father, he would embrace this role.
During his short reign of nine years, Henry II sought to expand the power of the Irish court, and to do so, he sought allies in the form of the French, who he would seek to marry, namely himself to his first cousin; Louise of Valois, and his younger brother; Prince John of Ireland, to another cousin, Margaret of Savoy.
Henry II was a man of true piety, and it would be his choice to travel to Rome where he received the Golden Rose from his holiness, and it would be on the return journey from Rome, in 1555, where Henry II would fall ill at the age of 17.
For the entirety of his reign, Henry had simply been a rubber-stamp for the regency of Anthony St Leger, and upon his death, the Regent of Ireland would continue his rule.
[3] King John was 14 when his brother died, and would spend the first few years of his reign under the regency of Anthony St.Leger, who became known as King Anthony for his hypnotic hold on the King. Part of St.Leger's power was the new King's inclination for both sexes in the bedroom, which the regent immediately recognized. He installed his nephew, Matthew, as the King's confidant turned lover.
All that changed in early 1558, when the King's wife Margaret of Savoy arrived in Dunmore. The new Queen was a rather authoritative figure who saw the regent as the cap on her and her husband's power at court. When she birthed her first child, Madeline, the King asked what she wished: her answer was to send Anthony St.Leger from the court (she also tried unsuccessfully to send away Matthew). The King obliged, causing such a shock to St.Leger that gossipers at the time blamed the incident for his failing health and eventual death the next year.
The remaining years of John's reign were most well known for the power struggle between Margaret (who favored a Catholic, pro-French policy) and Matthew (a closet reformer who preferred and English alliance). As one sharp-witted courtier wrote, "King John has two Queens". This battle extended to the children's education as Margaret attempted to have the children brought up by Catholic priests, while Matthew favored secular tutors, writing to the King "do you want to teach the children you are damned to hell's fiery pits". The children (who grew up at the same court in Dublin) ended up receiving wildly varying educations depending on who had the King's favor each year. For example, the King's eldest daughter Madeline was sent away to be educated by the nuns on the request of her mother. Her sister Louise, only two years younger, instead received a humanist education resembling those of Henry VIII's children, as encouraged by her father's lover.
In the end, King John would be brought down by his love of sex, dying from complications of syphilis. In response to John's reign, his heir Prince Edward, decided to make Ireland a country with no state religion.
4) Edward was John's second son, with the eldest predeceasing his father by several years. This was still sufficient time for Edward, who had been brought up by his mother but then trained for courthood by his father's advisors. Edward had hated the manner in which religion had creates a rift between his parents, and caused him to doubt his own abilities - and therefore be signed a bill of religious freedom. Each Irish citizen would be free to practice their own religion, free from persecution - this brought conflict with the Pope, but Edward found support from his great aunt, Queen Elizabeth of England during the Irish Primacy Scandal of 1595. Because he did not outright reject Roman Catholicism, the Pope accepted the decision of the Irish state on the agreement that Edward would pay certain taxes to the Vatican. Edward reluctantly agreed, but claimed all land as royal land and then charged the Irish monasteries rent which he used to pay the taxes.
He married Countess Anna of Nassau, a daughter of William the Silent, Prince of Orange in 1583 and they had two children before Anna died in 1588 during childbirth with their third, a daughter.
He subsequently married Maria of Saxe-Weimar in 1590 and she provided him with several children.
In 1603 when Elizabeth of England died, he was briefly considered for the English throne and considered the lead claimant by Elizabeth herself, but there were objections from the English nobility to a bastard line claiming the Crown when a legitimate claimant existed in the King of Scotland.
At any rate, he died in 1605 after catching pneumonia whilst inspecting the construction of a cathedral in Dublin, intended as the Irish Notre Dame, and his eldest daughter, Princess Margaret, took the throne.
[5] The eldest child from Edward I’s marriage to Anna of Nassau, and the first Queen of Ireland. Of the seven daughters of Edward I, Margaret would be the most ardently catholic, opposing her mothers Protestantism and her fathers own ambivalence towards the matter.
Prior to her taking the throne, the Princess would marry Infante Ferdinand of Spain, and the year of her taking the crown of Ireland, she would give birth to her first son and heir; Prince Henry of Ireland.
The first major note of her reign was the completion of the Dublin Cathedral. A massive and baroque cathedral symbolising the piety and Catholicism of Ireland. Her second action would be forcing her younger half-sisters, “The Irish Quintet” to sign away all claim to the throne of Ireland. The younger ones would agree, and be placed in small manorial homes, while the elder of the daughters of Maria of Saxe-Weimar; Maria Anna of Ireland would attempt to fight for her “claim” to the throne. The rebellion of Maria Anna was short lived, and recognised by no other government. From 1610 to 1612, the Protestant revolt would flutter around the Irish countryside, until her capture at Derry. She would be hung in Dublin, alongside the other ringleaders of the revolt. With the settling of the revolt, the reign of Margaret and her husband, who would take the title of Prince-Consort, would be secure.
For the next few years, Ireland simply recovered from the deep split in her loyalties, and another Son and two daughters would be born to the union of Margaret and Ferdinand.
Upon the death of Margaret in 1623, the house of Fitzroy would end, and the House of Hapsburg would inherit the Irish Kingdom.
[6] The Eldest son of Margaret I and Prince-Consort Ferdinand of Ireland, Henry was born in 1605. During his mothers reign, the young prince was often at his mothers side, and became a similarly devout Catholic, perhaps even more so.
In 1619, at the age of fourteen, the Crown Prince of Ireland would marry his paternal cousin; Eleanor of Austria, daughter of his fathers sister. Upon his mothers death, Henry would be crowned in the Dublin Cathedral, started by his grandfather, and he would take the dynastic name “Hapsburg-Eire”.
Between 1627 and 1646, Henry III would have 17 children by his three wives, firstly Eleanor of Austria until her death in 1631, followed by Marie of France until her death in Childbirth in 1642, and then Charlotte de Montespard, who he would take as his Morganatic wife.
The rule of Henry III was a peaceful reign, with the centralisation of the Irish court, and the Colonisation of the Irish Virgin Islands, and upon his death in 1657, Henry III would be succeeded by John II.
[7] John II of Ireland was the third son of Henry III's large brood and spent much of his life never expecting to become King, he was made Duke of Ulster and was raised with the expectation of serving his eldest brother, Henry, Prince of Leinster, however when he and John's second brother Prince Adam died in a boating accident when John was 28 saw the third son thrust into the spotlight. Unmarried at that point his father arranged a marriage for his new heir, Princess Marie-Anne of Orleans, however no children were produced by this marriage.
When Henry III died, John II became a King without an heir.
While England and Scotland convulsed in the throws of the British Civil War between King Frederick Henry I, the Parliamentarians, and Scottish Dissidents, John II focused on continuing Ireland's colonial projects, and supported the arts and the promotion of native Irish culture, both at home, and in the court, he was the first Irish monarch to learn the Irish Language (the court having retained the Tudor English of the Fitzroy's), and began signing documents not as 'John' but as 'Sean'.
When Sean II's first wife died, the King tried again with a second wife, Zofia Opalińska, a Polish noblewoman, this marriage also failed to produce any children.
Giving up hope of having heirs of his own body, Sean II focused on his brothers, the majority of whom had been left as bachelors by their father due to a lack of prospects. While their Hapsburgs relatives on the continent showed signs of dying out, the next six men behind Sean II in line for the throne were married and had more success in bedroom than their brother, some sneeringly called Sean 'Dry-Seed'.
The British Civil War ground down to a brutal halt when Frederick Henry I was captured by Parliamentarians and ultimately executed, horrifying the monarchies of Europe, a collation was formed, led by Louis XIV, Sean II joined the powers of Europe in the first invasion of the British Isles since William the Conqueror. The Invasion phase of the British Civil War saw the end of the Parliamentarians as a military force, their leaders (such as Oliver Cromwell) were executed, and the Kingdom of Great Britain was divided back into the separate Kingdoms of England (under Henry IX) and Scotland (under Charles I).
Sean II then spent the remainder of his life focused on building a new royal palace, as Dublin Castle was seen by Sean as 'too modest', the Caisleán Mhanderley (Manderley Castle) would be seen as an architectural wonder, seen by contemporaries as the nearest royal palace to rival Versailles.
Sean II witnessed the completion of Manderley Castle and lived in his finest work for six months before dying childess, passing the crown to his brother, Prince Albert Phillip of Ireland, otherwise known as Phillip I of Ireland
[8] Born in 1639, the eldest of the two sons of Henry III from his marriage to Marie de France. As a Prince, he was originally destined for a Ecclesiastical career, and from 1659 until 1690 he wore the Cardinal’s hat.
In 1690 however the Prince’s world was shaken. The death of his elder brother; Prince Edward, placed Albert Phillip as the heir to the Irish crown. Receiving permission from his Holiness, he would give up the Cardinals cap, and would take a wife with both his Brothers and Papal Blessing. He would marry Cecilia of Bavaria, and in 1693, the pair would welcome their first child, Mary.
Upon his brothers death in 1701, Prince Albert Phillip would return from his estates in Rome, which he had received as a gift from his Holiness for his service, and be crowned as Phillip I of Ireland. At his crowning, he was already 61, and was known to be gout ridden.
Unlike his brother, John II, Phillip was no lover of the Irish culture, seeing it as contradictory to Catholic belief, and he would establish the Jure Successionis, placing the succession laws of Ireland in writing. The Statute stated that the Monarch of Ireland must be catholic, disregarding the sons of his fathers third and last marriage, as those individuals had been noted Protestants.
By 1719, Phillip I was Eighty years old, and dying slowly, when suddenly on the fifth of August, the King suddenly died. Rumours of murder and assassination filled the court, and the King was succeeded by Mary, Princess of Leinster.
[9] Mary was born in 1693, the eldest of three sisters, named after the Virgin Mary at her father's insistance and later used it as her regnal name, at her father's dying wishes. She was betrothed and later married to Antoine, Dauphin of France, later crowned Louis Antoine, King of France. Much like her early years on her father's estates in Italy, and her ten years in France, this meant that she spent much of her life outside of Ireland. Far from being a stranger in her own country, this made her a relative celebrity and she returned to Dublin with French fashion and cuisine to introduce to society. The major problem with Mary was her marriage - should any of her son's survive her husband, they would be made King of France, and should they survive her, it would result in a Franco-Gaelic union which many Irish nobles were not enamoured by. A movement developed that would allow the eldest child to accept France, whilst the next eldest would accept Ireland (as Hapsburg-Eire was a cadet branch, and Bourbon held seniority) but Mary resisted this, but agreed that whilst France practiced succession by the male line only, Ireland would practice male preference primogeniture and allow succession to fall on females. This was, it seemed, satisfactory for Mary's counsellors and the objections ceased.
Mary and Louis Antoine spent their time mostly separate once she became Queen, she would visit France annually but for the rest of the year, Louis Antoine would spend time with his mistresses and father, it was claimed, two dozen children between them, though he only recognised one, Antoine, Count of Paris, and attempted to convince his wife that Antoine should marry one of their youngest daughters. Mary fiercely resisted, and refused to see her husband for two years.
For her own part, Mary became enamoured with the Ambassador to Morocco and it was rumoured they developed a sexual relationship which may have resulted in a daughter. Ironically, it was rumoured that this daughter then married the Count of Paris, allowing her a presence at the French Court in the presence of her "mothers" semi estranged husband.
It was later recounted in a poem entitled "The Tale of the Two Bastards" which was subsequently adapted into a French language movie in 1995, directed by Jean Pierre Jeunet, with Keanu Reeves as the Count of Paris, and Vanessa Paradis as Mary FitzMary. Isabelle Huppert would play Queen Mary of Ireland.
After the minor scandals of her reign, Mary died aged 57 in 1750, to be succeeded by her grandnephew, Lord Alfred Fitzroy, Duke of Waterford.
Alfred I, King of Ireland (c.1751)
[10] Lord Alfred, Duke of Waterford became heir-apparent to the Irish throne in 1745, after the death of Queen Mary's younger son, Charles-Philippe, of various venereal diseases. The new heir, a young boy of 4, was at this time being raised by his great-grandmother, Hannah Beaumont, a rich Scottish Noblewoman who had married the Duke of Waterford, a cousin to the royal family from an illegitimate son King John I of Ireland. Her own son, the infamous rogue Bernard Fitzroy, had married the Irish Queen's sister, the deformed Princess Catherine, and had thus fathered Alfred's father, Richard Fitzroy. Now, the story of how Richard Fitzroy married the Princess Helene of Ireland, the only child of the deceased Sean, Prince of Leinster, and by the agreement formed between France and Ireland, heiress to the Irish throne, is a convoluted one, but essentially, the Irish court demanded that she marry domestically, and while she had other cousins, the dumpy Richard seemed the least offensive option. And so they had married, and the Fitzroy line returned. The young Princess, fiercely unhappy in her life, became pregnant quickly (possibly to her husband's cousin, another handsome rogue in the vein of Bernard Fitzroy) and died giving birth to the young Alfred. This boy, the last Irish Prince not in line for the French throne, became the Queen's heir, although she refused to grant him the title Prince of Leinster.
The Queen of Ireland took scant interest in her successor, leaving his rearing to his great-grandmother, the formidable Dowager Duchess of Waterford ("Dowager" as of 1747) and he, along with his cousins, John William Fitzroy and Cecile Marie Fitzory, grew up in the idyllic Waterford estate. He was poorly educated during this time, although he did enjoy history lessons via his grandmother, and learnt book keeping at her side. But Hannah Beaumont felt a literary education, one of languages and other such things, would fill the boy's head with nonsense. Instead, she taught him to balance a budget, to know his lineage and to expect respect from the those around him. His only peers were, in her eyes, herself and his cousins, learning at her steady hand.
His accession was simple enough. While Louis-Antoine made some pointed noises of disapproval, once his son and heir had recognised his abdication, he wasn't going to let his great-grandson's crown leave his head. Instead, the King made his first visit to Ireland in decades, for a 2 month stay that taught him that he liked the Dowager Duchess of Waterford, and he even had the King's father married to Marie Charlotte de Guise, who was probably his illegitimate daughter. Richard Fitzory would go on to father another son, before dying of a heart attack in his 30's.
The court of Dublin, having seen some relaxation under Queen Mary, found itself tightly bound by convention by the will of the Dowager Duchess, who enacted a strict schedule that her grandson would continue for the rest of his life. He arose before sunrise, and for two hours before his official "awakening ceremony", spent that time eating a light breakfast and amusing himself. Then, he would lay in bed to be awoken by his cousin, the Duke of Downshire, his heir apparent, and his great-aunt, the Princess Joan of Ireland and France (the youngest of Queen Mary's daughters, she never married after being scarred by smallpox). He was then prepared for his day with briefings, regardless of his place in government as a child, and spent the next 2-3 hours dressing. Then came a ceremonial lunch, usually with 20-50 people in attendance as the "inner court". He then attended meetings, which acted as his lessons for the day, and shortly followed by a light meal and a nap, followed by a long, ceremonial final meal, before he would open whatever nightly entertainments were being held and, depending on their importance, either stay for the opening or, most likely, be hurried off to bed. Throughout the day, he was attended by no less than 6 peers at a time, sometimes as many as 18, and he had 32 men available at any one time. The Dowager Duchess herself was always present as well, often interrupting his dressing to quiz him on numbers.
Hannah Fitzroy (previously Beaumont), Dowager Duchess of Waterford (c.1754)
What the child missed, most of all, was spontaneity and fun.
Writing to the King of France in 1754, the young boy asked if he might send word to the Dowager Duchess and allow young Alfred a chance to rest once a month, maybe even twice that. But, outside of severe illness, she was a determined woman, refusing to accept that the young man growing to adulthood in front of her might enjoy something outside of her schedule. So little did he have, in fact, that when in 1756, he did escape the court with his cousins to do some fun, he went overboard, and a young woman known to history as "the Dublin Lass" ended up dead. Little is known of the exact scenario, but it seems that the King wanted a night of passion, and either the young woman refused, or his cousin tried to prevent this from happening. Regardless, the murder was blamed on a gang and the King seems to have never attempted such frivolity again.
As he entered adulthood, he found not even his bride was to be his own choice, which while usual at the time, seems to have prevent him from marrying an Irishwoman he found desirable. Nicole Gregoria Ferrard, the daughter of Earl of Longford. Instead, he was betrothed to The Princess Victoria Douglass of Scotland, a woman 7 years his senior who he found personally repugnant for her cruel temper and "beady eyes". They would have their first child in 1760. Many more would follow.
Victoria Douglas, Queen of Ireland (c.1762)
However, as much has been written about King Alfred as a personal figure, and his personal life does become more interesting soon, it must be said that as a leader, he was a great figurehead. He knew his numbers well, did not shy away from hard work, but struggled when it came to hard decision making particularly after the influence of the Dowager Duchess ended with her death in 1763. Much has been made of the change in the King following her death, but one thing is for sure, and that is that he was very passionate about the kingdom's economy, but blind to it's needs outside of that. He knew debts needed to be paid, but refused to economize the court, instead ending works on roads and other major infrastructure. He then raised taxes
Indeed, spending on the court tripled between 1760 and 1774, partially due to the arrival of the King's children and his increasing extension of family to support. His half-brother, soon made the Duke of Kingston, who had married in 1762 a woman named Elizabeth Butler. The two would have many children, but their eldest, the Lady Hannah Fitzroy, became the King's obsession.
It's unclear how early the King fixated on his niece. She did not return to the court until 1773, around the age of 10, and by this time, he had begun an affair with an actress in her 50's, named Sarah Hillard. The first real affair he had had, they were an odd pair to have, and it has been suggested that the King loved her due to her similarities to the Dowager Duchess. If that is so, then he loved his niece for her similarities to his cousin, Cecile Marie Fitzroy, who may have become his lover during the regency, although by now she was the Duke of Savoy's lover and possibly secret second wife. So instead, he focused on the young girl, who's father was blocked in his attempts to remove her from the King's attentions. This tells us that, by the mid 1770's, he was making motions against her, and by the second half of the decade, there was definitely a romantic undertone to reports, although she would claim never to have done anything inappropriate with the King. In her own words:
"He loved me from far away, and often talked about wanted a marriage. But no matter how ardent his language, we were pure and he was afraid to even touch me."
Now, all of this would matter little in 1776, when the first stirrings of rebellion amongst the people of Ireland began. Led by a committee of 20 men and women, their original goal was simply lower taxes. But as the movement gained traction, they aimed higher. The King's head.
The King heard of rebellion. Left to right: The Duke of Ulster, the King of Ireland, the Queen of Ireland, the Lady Hannah Fitzroy (c.1782)
Cities burned as they marched through Ireland, and in 1778, Dublin was under siege. The King, on a walk in the gardens, was siezed, and torn apart by his people. It was a grizzly death, and one that would effect the transition of power in a way not seen in Irish history.
[11]
The eldest daughter of Prince Henry, The Duke of Leinster, Hannah Margaret was just seven years old when the Rebellion started. Prince Henry was brought before a miilitary tribunal, accused of aiding his father in "grand treason against the Irish people" despite his impassioned pleas the Prince would be killed, leaving his widow Adelaide of Savoy and his 5 daughters: Hannah Margaret (7), Mary Adelaide (5), Elizabeth Helene (3), Victoria Anna (3), and Madeleine Henrietta (1). The young princesses were seized from their mother while the Duchess, fearing her husband's fate, hightailed it to relatives in France.
Weary of killing young girls, the Irish rebels would instead act as regents for Margaret II (her other name, Hannah, being discarded for its association with Hannah Fitzroy) and her sisters. The eldest two girls, the Queen and her sister Mary Adelaide, would be forcibly married into the Irish peerage in 1789, and similar matches were planned for their younger sisters.
The marriage of Margaret II to Thomas Fitzwilliam, youngest brother of one of her regents Viscount Fitzwilliam. Later that year saw the marriage of Mary Adelaide and William O'Brien, nephew of another regent Murrough O'Brien.
However, the next year became known to Irish history as the Sister's revolt. After rumors of her sister's gross unhappiness at her marital lot and rumors of more Irish matches for her sisters with men "beneath their rank and quality," the Queen and her sisters helped raise a palace coup against most of their regents, writing anonymous pamphlets about their gross mistreatment and winning the sympathy of the people and the army, who saw it their job to protect "poor ladies like our princesses". Many an Irish student has recalled Margaret's miracle; where the Queen, who had recently birthed her first child Prince Alfred, stormed into a meeting of the regents declaring "I am a girl no more. It is time for the levers of government to move to their rightful holder".
By 1790 the tenor of the Irish court changed, focused on the delightful Queen and her sisters. The youngest three were allowed prestigious royal matches: Elizabeth wedding the Crown Prince of Bavaria, Victoria the Prince of Asturias, and Madeleine the young King of Two Sicilies. Many call Margaret's reign "the court of women" as the Queen became the dominating force in politics and her marriage, with many calling her husband "The Phantom of the Isle". She even became an early advocate of family planning, deliberately spacing out her pregnancies to reduce the risk of dying in childbirth, a move which annoyed the clergy but won her admiration from the working classes.
The one fault of her reign might have been her overindulgent nature. The naturally fair Queen had keenly felt the death of her father and abandonment of her mother (who she refused to let return to Ireland after the Sister's revolt due to "leaving us in our time of gravest need") and thus overindulged her children, who were sometimes called haughty and spoiled. She was also reluctant to give up any power to her heir, Prince Alfred, perhaps a product of the regency. When Margaret II died of cancer in 1823, many admired the Queen for her bravery, but wondered if her successor would lead the royal family to revel or ruin.
[12] When Prince Alfred took the throne upon the death of his mother, the entirety of Ireland gave a collective groan of distaste and ill feeling. During his childhood, his mother, though doting and ever loving, was rarely around. His father was the main influence on the young prince, but he was anything but a proper role model. A licentious and crude man, Lord Fitzwilliam imparted many of these qualities as well as a disdain for anything approaching work of any variety in his son. Upon the Prince of Leinster's acession to the throne, he immediately began delegating his powers to various noblemen and favorites of ill stature and repute in society. In a brief 4 years, the King and his men had run the country into the mud. Ireland's economy was in ruins, the people were in uproar, and only a spark would be required to ignite civil war.
In the summer of 1827, it came. By order of the King, five noblemen (The Earl Gosford, The Viscount Mountgarret, The Lord Farnham, The Earl Cork, and The Earl Cavan) were accused of treason against the crown and hung. Their crime was to suggest that The Lord Digby be dismissed after it had been prooven that he had stolen crown funds for his own enrichment.
The nation exploded. Thousands of men rose up in arms against the King, and thousands more rose up to defend him. The king took this opportunity to label the rebels as traitors and orange protestants seeking to depose the rightful god ordained king. Before long the civil war began to revolve around abstractions of faith and politics far removed from the execution of five noblemen. Three figures rose to guide the rebellion and hone its unbridled wrath to the betterment of the nation. These principal men would become known to history as An Triumvirate Éireann, Daniel O'Connell (Earl Glandore), Hosea Guinness (Marquess Sligo), and a common lawyer by the name of Marcus Culcanon. It would be these men who rallied the common people to the cause of a government not bound by the whim of the king. For four long years they lead the fight, and at the final battle of the war, (The battle of Vinegar hill) they gave the king one last chance for amnesty. If he would submit himself to the rebels, and agree to convene a parliament of the English model, he would remain as king of Ireland. The King refused, after the battle, he was found dead, having joined in with his cavalry's last ditch assault on the rebel center.
Upon the victorious rebel's arrival in Dublin, they convened a parliament and drafted a constitution which would be agreed upon and signed into law by Henry IV, the next monarch of Ireland.
[13] Henry IV, the brother of Alfred II was born the third of Margaret II's five children, and due to her spacing out the pregnancies was nearly five years Alfred's junior. Raised in his mother's indulgent court and with little expectation of inheriting the throne, the then Prince Henry was poorly educated, his care left in the hands of an ever changing cast of courtiers, from whom Henry IV did learn one over-arching lesson that would become the theme of his life, "Say very little and smile kindly, you will be loved for it."
So while the quiet Prince largely found himself left to his own devices, he became the patron of a group of intellectuals and political theorists in Dublin that became dubbed 'the Venerable Ones', however the Prince contributed little to the group beyond royal patronage, but this group would become critical for his and the Irish Monarchy's survival in the years ahead.
In the first years of his brother's reign, the Prince was engaged to Sophie-Augusta of Saxe-Hildburghausen and married in an opulent ceremony devised by his brother the King as an excuse for debauchery. During the bedding ceremony the drunken King made 'unbecoming advances' upon his brother's newly wed wife that nearly caused a fight between the pair, this breach would not be repaired but allowed to fester and grow.
Exiled from his brother's court, the newly married 'Duke and Duchess of Ulster' retired to Classiebawn Castle and began to build their own family, which would see the birth of six children in total, though one would die in infancy.
Then his brother's mistakes led to The Irish Rising that would see the downfall of Alfred II, his death in battle, and the exile of Alfred's wife and two young children, for the successful rebels had already decided to strip Alfred II's line of their rights and pass them on to someone deemed more acceptable, the Quiet Duke of Ulster.
20th century historians would discover a series of secret correspondences between the Duke and a number of rebel leaders, several of whom came from 'the Venerable Ones' club, it revealed that the Duke could not condone rebellion against an anointed monarch but was convinced that his brother was no longer worthy of a crown, his brother's death in battle (and avoidance of any accusations of 'regicide') allowed Henry to put aside his personal worries and come to terms.
Henry IV took the Irish Crown as a 'Constitutional Monarch', a monarch bound by the law and the will of the people along with being anointed by God to represent a higher ideal, the new King and wife, self-effacing, humble, and above all else quiet and amiable were perfect for this new style of monarchy.
While the new Irish Parliament was set up and the first political parties began to emerge, the King invited the first Taoiseach (Prime Minister) to take up the reigns of the Government.
In terms of politics, Henry IV was very hands off, preferring to limit his involvement to words of encouragement to the various come-and-go ministers, serving as a shoulder to cry on, and a sounding board for their ideas.
The Irish Kingdom recovered quickly from the folly of Alfred II, even while much of Europe convulsed with revolutions and rebellions, the Holy Roman Empire collapsed under the weight of it's own contradictions, the Ottomans followed the last of the Habsburgs into extinction within a year, while other Kingdoms such as France, Scotland, and England rode out the violence and stayed intact, though a few like the Russian Empire simply tightened their grip.
In the later years of his life, Henry IV began to bring his heir, the Princess Elizabeth in on the meetings with the Taoiseach to ensure a smooth transition between one monarch and the next.
Henry IV became ill with pneumonia at age 75, he clung to life for five months with the emerging newspapers keeping the nation on tinder hooks as the King's condition was reported and commented on in a day-by-day basis, when Henry IV died the Irish nation plunged into mourning for a man whom had not just saved his family's crown, but also the nation from the violence and wars that seemed to come in waves on the continent.
Henry IV's eldest daughter and heir, Queen Elizabeth I of Ireland took the crown of a nation greatly changed by a man who spoke little, but did much by doing very little.
Queen Elizabeth in mourning for her father (1881)
[14] HRH Princess Elizabeth Margaret Sophia of Ulster was never intended for the throne. Born during the revolt against her uncle, Alfred II, she was raised by her quiet father with her siblings: John, Anna, Louise, and Catherine in Dublin castle. Princess Elizabeth, or Bess as she was informally called, became well known for her charitable spirit, making semiannual visits to orphanages during her childhood to donate her gently used toys and outfits.
For many years, Elizabeth considered joining a nunnery and devoting her life to caring for the sick and injured. Two life events stopped that thought. The first was the prolonged illness of her mother, Queen Sophie, believed to be a tragic combination of Parkinson's and Dementia. The teenage Elizabeth quickly served as a nurse for her mother and is believed to have popularized the profession among women of means. Later, in 1857, her brother the Duke of Leinster died suddenly of typhoid while his wife, Irene of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, miscarried what would have been their first child.
This left the 26-year-old spinster Elizabeth as heiress presumptive to the throne. She was married off to her cousin Phillip of Connaught in order to retain the dynastic name, but the marriage would suffer due to lack of chemistry. The Queen was completely uninterested in romantic relationships, calling them "useless and distracting". Elizabeth, who would today be termed asexual, only married because her father feared a personal union with Portugal from her sister Anna's marriage to the Crown Prince. In response to her marital distress came the popular saying "lie back and think of Ireland", symbolized by the Queen's three children Edward, Prince of Leinster, Phillip, Duke of Ulster, Princess Mary of Ireland (and Queen of France), and twins Prince Henry, Duke of Meath and Princess Sophia of Ireland (became a nun).
Upon her ascension, Elizabeth became best known as "the Angel of the Battlefield" for her daring decision to visit troops in the Crimea. The move wasn't out of left-field, as during her time as heiress to the throne, Princess Elizabeth had volunteered at veteran's hospitals under the name Bess Fitzwilliam. However, troops were shocked and delighted to see the Queen near the battlefield due to her age and position. After viewing field condition, she's credited with encouraging Parliament to invest in modernizing field hospitals, even creating awards for the best doctors and hospitals in Ireland.
When the Queen died after 20 years on the throne, she had won the admiration of many around her, which only grew after the publishing of her will. While many family heirlooms remained with her children, much of her private fortune was donated to hospitals, charities, orphanages, and other such entities. She also donated several of the family palaces and castles, most notably Cabra Castle and Dungiven Castle, with the purpose of using the buildings for schools, hospitals, and orphanages. Many hoped her heir Edward II, would continue the Queen's good work.
[15] Edward II of Ireland was born from the cold, clinical marriage of the (then) Princess Elizabeth of Ireland and Phillip of Connaught (made a Prince during Elizabeth's first pregnancy to insure their children were born royal), during the long rule of King Henry IV of Ireland. Born with the expectation of one day being monarch, Henry IV arranged for the best education for his grandson, even while Elizabeth pushed against her own dispassionate nature to bear several more children to prevent a possible personal union with Portugal.
Edward's interests quickly moved to martial, though he did not neglect the other (duller) aspects of his education, from an early age he expressed interest in fighting on the field, for much of continental Europe was at war due to the fall of the Holy Roman and Ottoman Empires, new nations were emerging from the wreckage, and others sought to take advantage even while suffering from internal problems themselves.
Many Irishmen formed 'Volunteer Units' for these wars that were in truth mercenary bands in all but name. However Ireland did official join a few of the wars, most notable the campaign in Crimea to prevent further Russian annexations in which Edward's mother, Queen Elizabeth personally appeared for her charity work.
However Edward II would never experience his dream of serving on the field of battle, as being the heir to the throne he was deemed too valuable to risk.
Instead while his two younger brother's both served the Irish Army, his sister Princess Mary was wed to the heir to the French throne, and Princess Sophie was allowed to enter a nunnery.
To distract the irritated heir, King Henry IV arranged for Edward to marry Princess Theodora Cacoyannis, the daughter of Emperor Constantine XII of the 'Restored' Eastern Roman Empire, due to Theodora being Eastern Orthodox the Pope had to lift the normal restrictions against a Catholic/Orthodox match that existed in the Henrian/Elizabethan Era(s), but there were few voices of dissent.
Despite the religious differences, Edward's marriage to Theodora Cacoyannis would prove a happy one, producing three children, Séan, Margaret, and Henrietta.
Due to taking the throne at an older age, the Queen kept Edward, Prince of Leinster at her side, like her father before her making the heir her unofficial partner and personal secretary, working to ensure that the heir would be ready to take the throne.
Upon his ascention to the throne and discovering his mother's will, the new Edward II suddenly found himself a King with few resources, he was forced to ask the Irish Parliament to increase the royal pension to cover the expenses of the crown, which detonated the first major political controversy invovling the monarchy in the 20th century.
The problem of 'the King's Troubles' ended in an unusual way when the last Duke of Connaught died in a drunken driving accident in 1902, leaving the title and the large Connaught fortune to the crown, allowing Parliament and the King to quietly drop the matter of increasing the royal pension.
During the reign of Edward II a period of quiet fell upon Europe, the former HRE was divided mainly between the Prussian Empire and the Austro-Bavarian Empire, Hungary was an independent republic, the new Eastern Roman Empire had defeated the last of the Turkish Warlords in Anatolia, however had failed to defeat the Yugoslavian Empire (consisting of RL Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Romania) leaving the possibility of further war open.
In Western Europe the revolutionary waves had failed, with the exception of Spain that saw the creation of the infamously corrupt 'Spanish Republic' that had already been overthrown in turn and the Spanish Monarchy restored by Edward II's reign.
In Edward II's reign 'The Peace' held, seeing the rise of a wave of hedonism and the first of what would be called 'youth culture', which the King hated and officially ban it's vestiges from the court during the duration of his reign.
Despite this the King continued his mother's policy of royal association with charity, though he focused more on Royal apperances and patronage, and brought more varity in his support of charitable causes. In additon to working quietly and behind the scenes with the government of the day.
However Edward was a heavy smoker and the stress of being King exaserbated his habit, leading to him dying of a then rare illness, lung cancer at age 61, leaving the crown to his eldest daughter, Margaret.
Queen Margaret (1903-1981) with her husband, Prince Alain de Rohan of Brittany
In 1928, after King Edward’s death, the Irish throne would pass to his eldest daughter, Margaret, who at the time was only 25 years old. She would reign until she abdicated in 1970, at the age of 67, in favour of her ____, ______. Born in Constantinople, she always had a close relationship with her mother’s homeland and spoke fluent Greek. She was originally not meant to accede to the throne- rather, her brother Séan was supposed to have become king, but after Séan’s death in a plane crash in 1926, she was declared crown princess. Almost immediately after her ascension to the throne, her distant relative, Queen Charlotte of France, was assassinated by a supporter of her uncle, Francis, who would rule under Salic law (which was abolished in France in 1919) and France plunged into chaos. In Brittany, local nationalists officially declared independence. Some months later, the Dublin Conference was held amongst the Celtic powers- The Kingdoms of Ireland and Scotland, the Lordship of Baltimore, and the Republic of Newfoundland. They crowned a local nobleman-Charles de Rohan-the new king of Brittany as Charles II. Shortly after, a marriage between Margaret and Charles’ younger son, Alain, was held in order to strengthen ties between the two Celtic nations.
Margaret’s reign also saw a large-scale local rebellion amongst the Protestants of Ulster. This resulted in Taoiseach Éamon De Valera’s suspension of Parliament for 31 days in 1932 due to internal conflict, and the queen gaining absolute power. This ended quickly and led to De Valera’s brief resignation, before his reelection the next year. The Ulster conflict lasted until 2002, when a ceasefire was declared.
Meanwhile in the Russian Empire, a Jacobin revolution led to the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II. The Tsar would eventually spend his last days in Copenhagen, while one of his children would marry into the Irish royal family. While the revolution was not terribly bloody, it did create tension in Ireland.
Queen Margaret, however, is quite revered in Ireland, due to her humane figure- she was heavily concerned with the cause of the environment- her environmental protection schemes are one of the few reasons the Irish wolf is still extant-as well as the fact that she played a crucial part in founding the Celtic League in 1950 to promote Celtic culture and relations between the Celtic nations.
In 1966, she was diagnosed with lung cancer, and in 1970, abdicated in favour of her _____,_____. She spent the rest of her days in Constantinople, where she died in 1981.
1529 - 1546: Henry I (House of Fitzroy) [1]
1546 - 1555: Henry II (House of Fitzroy) [2]
1555 - 1589: John I (House of Fitzroy) [3]
1589 - 1605: Edward I (House of Fitzroy) [4]
1605 - 1623: Margaret I (House of Fitzroy) [5]
1623 - 1657: Henry III (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [6]
1657 - 1701: John II/Sean II (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [7]
1701 - 1719: Phillip I (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [8]
1719 - 1750: Mary (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [9]
1750 - 1779: Alfred I (House of Fitzroy-Waterford) [10]
1779 - 1823: Margaret II (House of Fitzroy-Waterford) [11]
1823 - 1831: Alfred II "The Fool" (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [12]
1831 - 1881: Henry IV "The Quiet" (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [13]
1881 - 1901: Elizabeth "The Giving" (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [14]
1901 - 1928: Edward II (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [15]
1928 - 1970: Margaret III (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [16]
Henry VIII appointed his bastard son as the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1529. Henry wished to name him King of Ireland but his counsellors strenuously objected and it took several months after being made Lord Lieutenant before he was made King of Ireland in actuality.
Fitzroy was 10 when made King so whilst he was King, the country was run by his father's advisors, notably William Skeffington who was given guardianship of the young King. When he turned 18 in 1537, Skeffington was made Private Secretary for a brief period before his death.
Henry had been provisionally betrothed to Mary Howard in 1533, but the offer of Madeleine of Valois' hand in marriage was too good for Skeffington and Henry VIII to refuse, and the pair were betrothed in 1533, then married when Henry reached majority.
A child was born in 1538, so the nascent Kingdom of Ireland had an heir. Two more children were born in the next five years. However when Henry dies in 1546, at the age of only 27, none of his children had yet reached majority and the question of succession would read it's ugly head.
Henry would be succeeded by Henry, his eldest son.
[2] The eldest of the two sons of Henry I of Ireland and his wife; Madeline of Valois, Henry was destined for the Irish Crown from birth, and from the death of his father, he would embrace this role.
During his short reign of nine years, Henry II sought to expand the power of the Irish court, and to do so, he sought allies in the form of the French, who he would seek to marry, namely himself to his first cousin; Louise of Valois, and his younger brother; Prince John of Ireland, to another cousin, Margaret of Savoy.
Henry II was a man of true piety, and it would be his choice to travel to Rome where he received the Golden Rose from his holiness, and it would be on the return journey from Rome, in 1555, where Henry II would fall ill at the age of 17.
For the entirety of his reign, Henry had simply been a rubber-stamp for the regency of Anthony St Leger, and upon his death, the Regent of Ireland would continue his rule.
[3] King John was 14 when his brother died, and would spend the first few years of his reign under the regency of Anthony St.Leger, who became known as King Anthony for his hypnotic hold on the King. Part of St.Leger's power was the new King's inclination for both sexes in the bedroom, which the regent immediately recognized. He installed his nephew, Matthew, as the King's confidant turned lover.
All that changed in early 1558, when the King's wife Margaret of Savoy arrived in Dunmore. The new Queen was a rather authoritative figure who saw the regent as the cap on her and her husband's power at court. When she birthed her first child, Madeline, the King asked what she wished: her answer was to send Anthony St.Leger from the court (she also tried unsuccessfully to send away Matthew). The King obliged, causing such a shock to St.Leger that gossipers at the time blamed the incident for his failing health and eventual death the next year.
The remaining years of John's reign were most well known for the power struggle between Margaret (who favored a Catholic, pro-French policy) and Matthew (a closet reformer who preferred and English alliance). As one sharp-witted courtier wrote, "King John has two Queens". This battle extended to the children's education as Margaret attempted to have the children brought up by Catholic priests, while Matthew favored secular tutors, writing to the King "do you want to teach the children you are damned to hell's fiery pits". The children (who grew up at the same court in Dublin) ended up receiving wildly varying educations depending on who had the King's favor each year. For example, the King's eldest daughter Madeline was sent away to be educated by the nuns on the request of her mother. Her sister Louise, only two years younger, instead received a humanist education resembling those of Henry VIII's children, as encouraged by her father's lover.
In the end, King John would be brought down by his love of sex, dying from complications of syphilis. In response to John's reign, his heir Prince Edward, decided to make Ireland a country with no state religion.
4) Edward was John's second son, with the eldest predeceasing his father by several years. This was still sufficient time for Edward, who had been brought up by his mother but then trained for courthood by his father's advisors. Edward had hated the manner in which religion had creates a rift between his parents, and caused him to doubt his own abilities - and therefore be signed a bill of religious freedom. Each Irish citizen would be free to practice their own religion, free from persecution - this brought conflict with the Pope, but Edward found support from his great aunt, Queen Elizabeth of England during the Irish Primacy Scandal of 1595. Because he did not outright reject Roman Catholicism, the Pope accepted the decision of the Irish state on the agreement that Edward would pay certain taxes to the Vatican. Edward reluctantly agreed, but claimed all land as royal land and then charged the Irish monasteries rent which he used to pay the taxes.
He married Countess Anna of Nassau, a daughter of William the Silent, Prince of Orange in 1583 and they had two children before Anna died in 1588 during childbirth with their third, a daughter.
He subsequently married Maria of Saxe-Weimar in 1590 and she provided him with several children.
In 1603 when Elizabeth of England died, he was briefly considered for the English throne and considered the lead claimant by Elizabeth herself, but there were objections from the English nobility to a bastard line claiming the Crown when a legitimate claimant existed in the King of Scotland.
At any rate, he died in 1605 after catching pneumonia whilst inspecting the construction of a cathedral in Dublin, intended as the Irish Notre Dame, and his eldest daughter, Princess Margaret, took the throne.
[5] The eldest child from Edward I’s marriage to Anna of Nassau, and the first Queen of Ireland. Of the seven daughters of Edward I, Margaret would be the most ardently catholic, opposing her mothers Protestantism and her fathers own ambivalence towards the matter.
Prior to her taking the throne, the Princess would marry Infante Ferdinand of Spain, and the year of her taking the crown of Ireland, she would give birth to her first son and heir; Prince Henry of Ireland.
The first major note of her reign was the completion of the Dublin Cathedral. A massive and baroque cathedral symbolising the piety and Catholicism of Ireland. Her second action would be forcing her younger half-sisters, “The Irish Quintet” to sign away all claim to the throne of Ireland. The younger ones would agree, and be placed in small manorial homes, while the elder of the daughters of Maria of Saxe-Weimar; Maria Anna of Ireland would attempt to fight for her “claim” to the throne. The rebellion of Maria Anna was short lived, and recognised by no other government. From 1610 to 1612, the Protestant revolt would flutter around the Irish countryside, until her capture at Derry. She would be hung in Dublin, alongside the other ringleaders of the revolt. With the settling of the revolt, the reign of Margaret and her husband, who would take the title of Prince-Consort, would be secure.
For the next few years, Ireland simply recovered from the deep split in her loyalties, and another Son and two daughters would be born to the union of Margaret and Ferdinand.
Upon the death of Margaret in 1623, the house of Fitzroy would end, and the House of Hapsburg would inherit the Irish Kingdom.
[6] The Eldest son of Margaret I and Prince-Consort Ferdinand of Ireland, Henry was born in 1605. During his mothers reign, the young prince was often at his mothers side, and became a similarly devout Catholic, perhaps even more so.
In 1619, at the age of fourteen, the Crown Prince of Ireland would marry his paternal cousin; Eleanor of Austria, daughter of his fathers sister. Upon his mothers death, Henry would be crowned in the Dublin Cathedral, started by his grandfather, and he would take the dynastic name “Hapsburg-Eire”.
Between 1627 and 1646, Henry III would have 17 children by his three wives, firstly Eleanor of Austria until her death in 1631, followed by Marie of France until her death in Childbirth in 1642, and then Charlotte de Montespard, who he would take as his Morganatic wife.
The rule of Henry III was a peaceful reign, with the centralisation of the Irish court, and the Colonisation of the Irish Virgin Islands, and upon his death in 1657, Henry III would be succeeded by John II.
[7] John II of Ireland was the third son of Henry III's large brood and spent much of his life never expecting to become King, he was made Duke of Ulster and was raised with the expectation of serving his eldest brother, Henry, Prince of Leinster, however when he and John's second brother Prince Adam died in a boating accident when John was 28 saw the third son thrust into the spotlight. Unmarried at that point his father arranged a marriage for his new heir, Princess Marie-Anne of Orleans, however no children were produced by this marriage.
When Henry III died, John II became a King without an heir.
While England and Scotland convulsed in the throws of the British Civil War between King Frederick Henry I, the Parliamentarians, and Scottish Dissidents, John II focused on continuing Ireland's colonial projects, and supported the arts and the promotion of native Irish culture, both at home, and in the court, he was the first Irish monarch to learn the Irish Language (the court having retained the Tudor English of the Fitzroy's), and began signing documents not as 'John' but as 'Sean'.
When Sean II's first wife died, the King tried again with a second wife, Zofia Opalińska, a Polish noblewoman, this marriage also failed to produce any children.
Giving up hope of having heirs of his own body, Sean II focused on his brothers, the majority of whom had been left as bachelors by their father due to a lack of prospects. While their Hapsburgs relatives on the continent showed signs of dying out, the next six men behind Sean II in line for the throne were married and had more success in bedroom than their brother, some sneeringly called Sean 'Dry-Seed'.
The British Civil War ground down to a brutal halt when Frederick Henry I was captured by Parliamentarians and ultimately executed, horrifying the monarchies of Europe, a collation was formed, led by Louis XIV, Sean II joined the powers of Europe in the first invasion of the British Isles since William the Conqueror. The Invasion phase of the British Civil War saw the end of the Parliamentarians as a military force, their leaders (such as Oliver Cromwell) were executed, and the Kingdom of Great Britain was divided back into the separate Kingdoms of England (under Henry IX) and Scotland (under Charles I).
Sean II then spent the remainder of his life focused on building a new royal palace, as Dublin Castle was seen by Sean as 'too modest', the Caisleán Mhanderley (Manderley Castle) would be seen as an architectural wonder, seen by contemporaries as the nearest royal palace to rival Versailles.
Sean II witnessed the completion of Manderley Castle and lived in his finest work for six months before dying childess, passing the crown to his brother, Prince Albert Phillip of Ireland, otherwise known as Phillip I of Ireland
[8] Born in 1639, the eldest of the two sons of Henry III from his marriage to Marie de France. As a Prince, he was originally destined for a Ecclesiastical career, and from 1659 until 1690 he wore the Cardinal’s hat.
In 1690 however the Prince’s world was shaken. The death of his elder brother; Prince Edward, placed Albert Phillip as the heir to the Irish crown. Receiving permission from his Holiness, he would give up the Cardinals cap, and would take a wife with both his Brothers and Papal Blessing. He would marry Cecilia of Bavaria, and in 1693, the pair would welcome their first child, Mary.
Upon his brothers death in 1701, Prince Albert Phillip would return from his estates in Rome, which he had received as a gift from his Holiness for his service, and be crowned as Phillip I of Ireland. At his crowning, he was already 61, and was known to be gout ridden.
Unlike his brother, John II, Phillip was no lover of the Irish culture, seeing it as contradictory to Catholic belief, and he would establish the Jure Successionis, placing the succession laws of Ireland in writing. The Statute stated that the Monarch of Ireland must be catholic, disregarding the sons of his fathers third and last marriage, as those individuals had been noted Protestants.
By 1719, Phillip I was Eighty years old, and dying slowly, when suddenly on the fifth of August, the King suddenly died. Rumours of murder and assassination filled the court, and the King was succeeded by Mary, Princess of Leinster.
[9] Mary was born in 1693, the eldest of three sisters, named after the Virgin Mary at her father's insistance and later used it as her regnal name, at her father's dying wishes. She was betrothed and later married to Antoine, Dauphin of France, later crowned Louis Antoine, King of France. Much like her early years on her father's estates in Italy, and her ten years in France, this meant that she spent much of her life outside of Ireland. Far from being a stranger in her own country, this made her a relative celebrity and she returned to Dublin with French fashion and cuisine to introduce to society. The major problem with Mary was her marriage - should any of her son's survive her husband, they would be made King of France, and should they survive her, it would result in a Franco-Gaelic union which many Irish nobles were not enamoured by. A movement developed that would allow the eldest child to accept France, whilst the next eldest would accept Ireland (as Hapsburg-Eire was a cadet branch, and Bourbon held seniority) but Mary resisted this, but agreed that whilst France practiced succession by the male line only, Ireland would practice male preference primogeniture and allow succession to fall on females. This was, it seemed, satisfactory for Mary's counsellors and the objections ceased.
Mary and Louis Antoine spent their time mostly separate once she became Queen, she would visit France annually but for the rest of the year, Louis Antoine would spend time with his mistresses and father, it was claimed, two dozen children between them, though he only recognised one, Antoine, Count of Paris, and attempted to convince his wife that Antoine should marry one of their youngest daughters. Mary fiercely resisted, and refused to see her husband for two years.
For her own part, Mary became enamoured with the Ambassador to Morocco and it was rumoured they developed a sexual relationship which may have resulted in a daughter. Ironically, it was rumoured that this daughter then married the Count of Paris, allowing her a presence at the French Court in the presence of her "mothers" semi estranged husband.
It was later recounted in a poem entitled "The Tale of the Two Bastards" which was subsequently adapted into a French language movie in 1995, directed by Jean Pierre Jeunet, with Keanu Reeves as the Count of Paris, and Vanessa Paradis as Mary FitzMary. Isabelle Huppert would play Queen Mary of Ireland.
After the minor scandals of her reign, Mary died aged 57 in 1750, to be succeeded by her grandnephew, Lord Alfred Fitzroy, Duke of Waterford.
Alfred I, King of Ireland (c.1751)
[10] Lord Alfred, Duke of Waterford became heir-apparent to the Irish throne in 1745, after the death of Queen Mary's younger son, Charles-Philippe, of various venereal diseases. The new heir, a young boy of 4, was at this time being raised by his great-grandmother, Hannah Beaumont, a rich Scottish Noblewoman who had married the Duke of Waterford, a cousin to the royal family from an illegitimate son King John I of Ireland. Her own son, the infamous rogue Bernard Fitzroy, had married the Irish Queen's sister, the deformed Princess Catherine, and had thus fathered Alfred's father, Richard Fitzroy. Now, the story of how Richard Fitzroy married the Princess Helene of Ireland, the only child of the deceased Sean, Prince of Leinster, and by the agreement formed between France and Ireland, heiress to the Irish throne, is a convoluted one, but essentially, the Irish court demanded that she marry domestically, and while she had other cousins, the dumpy Richard seemed the least offensive option. And so they had married, and the Fitzroy line returned. The young Princess, fiercely unhappy in her life, became pregnant quickly (possibly to her husband's cousin, another handsome rogue in the vein of Bernard Fitzroy) and died giving birth to the young Alfred. This boy, the last Irish Prince not in line for the French throne, became the Queen's heir, although she refused to grant him the title Prince of Leinster.
The Queen of Ireland took scant interest in her successor, leaving his rearing to his great-grandmother, the formidable Dowager Duchess of Waterford ("Dowager" as of 1747) and he, along with his cousins, John William Fitzroy and Cecile Marie Fitzory, grew up in the idyllic Waterford estate. He was poorly educated during this time, although he did enjoy history lessons via his grandmother, and learnt book keeping at her side. But Hannah Beaumont felt a literary education, one of languages and other such things, would fill the boy's head with nonsense. Instead, she taught him to balance a budget, to know his lineage and to expect respect from the those around him. His only peers were, in her eyes, herself and his cousins, learning at her steady hand.
His accession was simple enough. While Louis-Antoine made some pointed noises of disapproval, once his son and heir had recognised his abdication, he wasn't going to let his great-grandson's crown leave his head. Instead, the King made his first visit to Ireland in decades, for a 2 month stay that taught him that he liked the Dowager Duchess of Waterford, and he even had the King's father married to Marie Charlotte de Guise, who was probably his illegitimate daughter. Richard Fitzory would go on to father another son, before dying of a heart attack in his 30's.
The court of Dublin, having seen some relaxation under Queen Mary, found itself tightly bound by convention by the will of the Dowager Duchess, who enacted a strict schedule that her grandson would continue for the rest of his life. He arose before sunrise, and for two hours before his official "awakening ceremony", spent that time eating a light breakfast and amusing himself. Then, he would lay in bed to be awoken by his cousin, the Duke of Downshire, his heir apparent, and his great-aunt, the Princess Joan of Ireland and France (the youngest of Queen Mary's daughters, she never married after being scarred by smallpox). He was then prepared for his day with briefings, regardless of his place in government as a child, and spent the next 2-3 hours dressing. Then came a ceremonial lunch, usually with 20-50 people in attendance as the "inner court". He then attended meetings, which acted as his lessons for the day, and shortly followed by a light meal and a nap, followed by a long, ceremonial final meal, before he would open whatever nightly entertainments were being held and, depending on their importance, either stay for the opening or, most likely, be hurried off to bed. Throughout the day, he was attended by no less than 6 peers at a time, sometimes as many as 18, and he had 32 men available at any one time. The Dowager Duchess herself was always present as well, often interrupting his dressing to quiz him on numbers.
Hannah Fitzroy (previously Beaumont), Dowager Duchess of Waterford (c.1754)
What the child missed, most of all, was spontaneity and fun.
Writing to the King of France in 1754, the young boy asked if he might send word to the Dowager Duchess and allow young Alfred a chance to rest once a month, maybe even twice that. But, outside of severe illness, she was a determined woman, refusing to accept that the young man growing to adulthood in front of her might enjoy something outside of her schedule. So little did he have, in fact, that when in 1756, he did escape the court with his cousins to do some fun, he went overboard, and a young woman known to history as "the Dublin Lass" ended up dead. Little is known of the exact scenario, but it seems that the King wanted a night of passion, and either the young woman refused, or his cousin tried to prevent this from happening. Regardless, the murder was blamed on a gang and the King seems to have never attempted such frivolity again.
As he entered adulthood, he found not even his bride was to be his own choice, which while usual at the time, seems to have prevent him from marrying an Irishwoman he found desirable. Nicole Gregoria Ferrard, the daughter of Earl of Longford. Instead, he was betrothed to The Princess Victoria Douglass of Scotland, a woman 7 years his senior who he found personally repugnant for her cruel temper and "beady eyes". They would have their first child in 1760. Many more would follow.
Victoria Douglas, Queen of Ireland (c.1762)
However, as much has been written about King Alfred as a personal figure, and his personal life does become more interesting soon, it must be said that as a leader, he was a great figurehead. He knew his numbers well, did not shy away from hard work, but struggled when it came to hard decision making particularly after the influence of the Dowager Duchess ended with her death in 1763. Much has been made of the change in the King following her death, but one thing is for sure, and that is that he was very passionate about the kingdom's economy, but blind to it's needs outside of that. He knew debts needed to be paid, but refused to economize the court, instead ending works on roads and other major infrastructure. He then raised taxes
Indeed, spending on the court tripled between 1760 and 1774, partially due to the arrival of the King's children and his increasing extension of family to support. His half-brother, soon made the Duke of Kingston, who had married in 1762 a woman named Elizabeth Butler. The two would have many children, but their eldest, the Lady Hannah Fitzroy, became the King's obsession.
It's unclear how early the King fixated on his niece. She did not return to the court until 1773, around the age of 10, and by this time, he had begun an affair with an actress in her 50's, named Sarah Hillard. The first real affair he had had, they were an odd pair to have, and it has been suggested that the King loved her due to her similarities to the Dowager Duchess. If that is so, then he loved his niece for her similarities to his cousin, Cecile Marie Fitzroy, who may have become his lover during the regency, although by now she was the Duke of Savoy's lover and possibly secret second wife. So instead, he focused on the young girl, who's father was blocked in his attempts to remove her from the King's attentions. This tells us that, by the mid 1770's, he was making motions against her, and by the second half of the decade, there was definitely a romantic undertone to reports, although she would claim never to have done anything inappropriate with the King. In her own words:
"He loved me from far away, and often talked about wanted a marriage. But no matter how ardent his language, we were pure and he was afraid to even touch me."
Now, all of this would matter little in 1776, when the first stirrings of rebellion amongst the people of Ireland began. Led by a committee of 20 men and women, their original goal was simply lower taxes. But as the movement gained traction, they aimed higher. The King's head.
The King heard of rebellion. Left to right: The Duke of Ulster, the King of Ireland, the Queen of Ireland, the Lady Hannah Fitzroy (c.1782)
Cities burned as they marched through Ireland, and in 1778, Dublin was under siege. The King, on a walk in the gardens, was siezed, and torn apart by his people. It was a grizzly death, and one that would effect the transition of power in a way not seen in Irish history.
[11]
The eldest daughter of Prince Henry, The Duke of Leinster, Hannah Margaret was just seven years old when the Rebellion started. Prince Henry was brought before a miilitary tribunal, accused of aiding his father in "grand treason against the Irish people" despite his impassioned pleas the Prince would be killed, leaving his widow Adelaide of Savoy and his 5 daughters: Hannah Margaret (7), Mary Adelaide (5), Elizabeth Helene (3), Victoria Anna (3), and Madeleine Henrietta (1). The young princesses were seized from their mother while the Duchess, fearing her husband's fate, hightailed it to relatives in France.
Weary of killing young girls, the Irish rebels would instead act as regents for Margaret II (her other name, Hannah, being discarded for its association with Hannah Fitzroy) and her sisters. The eldest two girls, the Queen and her sister Mary Adelaide, would be forcibly married into the Irish peerage in 1789, and similar matches were planned for their younger sisters.
The marriage of Margaret II to Thomas Fitzwilliam, youngest brother of one of her regents Viscount Fitzwilliam. Later that year saw the marriage of Mary Adelaide and William O'Brien, nephew of another regent Murrough O'Brien.
However, the next year became known to Irish history as the Sister's revolt. After rumors of her sister's gross unhappiness at her marital lot and rumors of more Irish matches for her sisters with men "beneath their rank and quality," the Queen and her sisters helped raise a palace coup against most of their regents, writing anonymous pamphlets about their gross mistreatment and winning the sympathy of the people and the army, who saw it their job to protect "poor ladies like our princesses". Many an Irish student has recalled Margaret's miracle; where the Queen, who had recently birthed her first child Prince Alfred, stormed into a meeting of the regents declaring "I am a girl no more. It is time for the levers of government to move to their rightful holder".
By 1790 the tenor of the Irish court changed, focused on the delightful Queen and her sisters. The youngest three were allowed prestigious royal matches: Elizabeth wedding the Crown Prince of Bavaria, Victoria the Prince of Asturias, and Madeleine the young King of Two Sicilies. Many call Margaret's reign "the court of women" as the Queen became the dominating force in politics and her marriage, with many calling her husband "The Phantom of the Isle". She even became an early advocate of family planning, deliberately spacing out her pregnancies to reduce the risk of dying in childbirth, a move which annoyed the clergy but won her admiration from the working classes.
The one fault of her reign might have been her overindulgent nature. The naturally fair Queen had keenly felt the death of her father and abandonment of her mother (who she refused to let return to Ireland after the Sister's revolt due to "leaving us in our time of gravest need") and thus overindulged her children, who were sometimes called haughty and spoiled. She was also reluctant to give up any power to her heir, Prince Alfred, perhaps a product of the regency. When Margaret II died of cancer in 1823, many admired the Queen for her bravery, but wondered if her successor would lead the royal family to revel or ruin.
[12] When Prince Alfred took the throne upon the death of his mother, the entirety of Ireland gave a collective groan of distaste and ill feeling. During his childhood, his mother, though doting and ever loving, was rarely around. His father was the main influence on the young prince, but he was anything but a proper role model. A licentious and crude man, Lord Fitzwilliam imparted many of these qualities as well as a disdain for anything approaching work of any variety in his son. Upon the Prince of Leinster's acession to the throne, he immediately began delegating his powers to various noblemen and favorites of ill stature and repute in society. In a brief 4 years, the King and his men had run the country into the mud. Ireland's economy was in ruins, the people were in uproar, and only a spark would be required to ignite civil war.
In the summer of 1827, it came. By order of the King, five noblemen (The Earl Gosford, The Viscount Mountgarret, The Lord Farnham, The Earl Cork, and The Earl Cavan) were accused of treason against the crown and hung. Their crime was to suggest that The Lord Digby be dismissed after it had been prooven that he had stolen crown funds for his own enrichment.
The nation exploded. Thousands of men rose up in arms against the King, and thousands more rose up to defend him. The king took this opportunity to label the rebels as traitors and orange protestants seeking to depose the rightful god ordained king. Before long the civil war began to revolve around abstractions of faith and politics far removed from the execution of five noblemen. Three figures rose to guide the rebellion and hone its unbridled wrath to the betterment of the nation. These principal men would become known to history as An Triumvirate Éireann, Daniel O'Connell (Earl Glandore), Hosea Guinness (Marquess Sligo), and a common lawyer by the name of Marcus Culcanon. It would be these men who rallied the common people to the cause of a government not bound by the whim of the king. For four long years they lead the fight, and at the final battle of the war, (The battle of Vinegar hill) they gave the king one last chance for amnesty. If he would submit himself to the rebels, and agree to convene a parliament of the English model, he would remain as king of Ireland. The King refused, after the battle, he was found dead, having joined in with his cavalry's last ditch assault on the rebel center.
Upon the victorious rebel's arrival in Dublin, they convened a parliament and drafted a constitution which would be agreed upon and signed into law by Henry IV, the next monarch of Ireland.
[13] Henry IV, the brother of Alfred II was born the third of Margaret II's five children, and due to her spacing out the pregnancies was nearly five years Alfred's junior. Raised in his mother's indulgent court and with little expectation of inheriting the throne, the then Prince Henry was poorly educated, his care left in the hands of an ever changing cast of courtiers, from whom Henry IV did learn one over-arching lesson that would become the theme of his life, "Say very little and smile kindly, you will be loved for it."
So while the quiet Prince largely found himself left to his own devices, he became the patron of a group of intellectuals and political theorists in Dublin that became dubbed 'the Venerable Ones', however the Prince contributed little to the group beyond royal patronage, but this group would become critical for his and the Irish Monarchy's survival in the years ahead.
In the first years of his brother's reign, the Prince was engaged to Sophie-Augusta of Saxe-Hildburghausen and married in an opulent ceremony devised by his brother the King as an excuse for debauchery. During the bedding ceremony the drunken King made 'unbecoming advances' upon his brother's newly wed wife that nearly caused a fight between the pair, this breach would not be repaired but allowed to fester and grow.
Exiled from his brother's court, the newly married 'Duke and Duchess of Ulster' retired to Classiebawn Castle and began to build their own family, which would see the birth of six children in total, though one would die in infancy.
Then his brother's mistakes led to The Irish Rising that would see the downfall of Alfred II, his death in battle, and the exile of Alfred's wife and two young children, for the successful rebels had already decided to strip Alfred II's line of their rights and pass them on to someone deemed more acceptable, the Quiet Duke of Ulster.
20th century historians would discover a series of secret correspondences between the Duke and a number of rebel leaders, several of whom came from 'the Venerable Ones' club, it revealed that the Duke could not condone rebellion against an anointed monarch but was convinced that his brother was no longer worthy of a crown, his brother's death in battle (and avoidance of any accusations of 'regicide') allowed Henry to put aside his personal worries and come to terms.
Henry IV took the Irish Crown as a 'Constitutional Monarch', a monarch bound by the law and the will of the people along with being anointed by God to represent a higher ideal, the new King and wife, self-effacing, humble, and above all else quiet and amiable were perfect for this new style of monarchy.
While the new Irish Parliament was set up and the first political parties began to emerge, the King invited the first Taoiseach (Prime Minister) to take up the reigns of the Government.
In terms of politics, Henry IV was very hands off, preferring to limit his involvement to words of encouragement to the various come-and-go ministers, serving as a shoulder to cry on, and a sounding board for their ideas.
The Irish Kingdom recovered quickly from the folly of Alfred II, even while much of Europe convulsed with revolutions and rebellions, the Holy Roman Empire collapsed under the weight of it's own contradictions, the Ottomans followed the last of the Habsburgs into extinction within a year, while other Kingdoms such as France, Scotland, and England rode out the violence and stayed intact, though a few like the Russian Empire simply tightened their grip.
In the later years of his life, Henry IV began to bring his heir, the Princess Elizabeth in on the meetings with the Taoiseach to ensure a smooth transition between one monarch and the next.
Henry IV became ill with pneumonia at age 75, he clung to life for five months with the emerging newspapers keeping the nation on tinder hooks as the King's condition was reported and commented on in a day-by-day basis, when Henry IV died the Irish nation plunged into mourning for a man whom had not just saved his family's crown, but also the nation from the violence and wars that seemed to come in waves on the continent.
Henry IV's eldest daughter and heir, Queen Elizabeth I of Ireland took the crown of a nation greatly changed by a man who spoke little, but did much by doing very little.
Queen Elizabeth in mourning for her father (1881)
[14] HRH Princess Elizabeth Margaret Sophia of Ulster was never intended for the throne. Born during the revolt against her uncle, Alfred II, she was raised by her quiet father with her siblings: John, Anna, Louise, and Catherine in Dublin castle. Princess Elizabeth, or Bess as she was informally called, became well known for her charitable spirit, making semiannual visits to orphanages during her childhood to donate her gently used toys and outfits.
For many years, Elizabeth considered joining a nunnery and devoting her life to caring for the sick and injured. Two life events stopped that thought. The first was the prolonged illness of her mother, Queen Sophie, believed to be a tragic combination of Parkinson's and Dementia. The teenage Elizabeth quickly served as a nurse for her mother and is believed to have popularized the profession among women of means. Later, in 1857, her brother the Duke of Leinster died suddenly of typhoid while his wife, Irene of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, miscarried what would have been their first child.
This left the 26-year-old spinster Elizabeth as heiress presumptive to the throne. She was married off to her cousin Phillip of Connaught in order to retain the dynastic name, but the marriage would suffer due to lack of chemistry. The Queen was completely uninterested in romantic relationships, calling them "useless and distracting". Elizabeth, who would today be termed asexual, only married because her father feared a personal union with Portugal from her sister Anna's marriage to the Crown Prince. In response to her marital distress came the popular saying "lie back and think of Ireland", symbolized by the Queen's three children Edward, Prince of Leinster, Phillip, Duke of Ulster, Princess Mary of Ireland (and Queen of France), and twins Prince Henry, Duke of Meath and Princess Sophia of Ireland (became a nun).
Upon her ascension, Elizabeth became best known as "the Angel of the Battlefield" for her daring decision to visit troops in the Crimea. The move wasn't out of left-field, as during her time as heiress to the throne, Princess Elizabeth had volunteered at veteran's hospitals under the name Bess Fitzwilliam. However, troops were shocked and delighted to see the Queen near the battlefield due to her age and position. After viewing field condition, she's credited with encouraging Parliament to invest in modernizing field hospitals, even creating awards for the best doctors and hospitals in Ireland.
When the Queen died after 20 years on the throne, she had won the admiration of many around her, which only grew after the publishing of her will. While many family heirlooms remained with her children, much of her private fortune was donated to hospitals, charities, orphanages, and other such entities. She also donated several of the family palaces and castles, most notably Cabra Castle and Dungiven Castle, with the purpose of using the buildings for schools, hospitals, and orphanages. Many hoped her heir Edward II, would continue the Queen's good work.
[15] Edward II of Ireland was born from the cold, clinical marriage of the (then) Princess Elizabeth of Ireland and Phillip of Connaught (made a Prince during Elizabeth's first pregnancy to insure their children were born royal), during the long rule of King Henry IV of Ireland. Born with the expectation of one day being monarch, Henry IV arranged for the best education for his grandson, even while Elizabeth pushed against her own dispassionate nature to bear several more children to prevent a possible personal union with Portugal.
Edward's interests quickly moved to martial, though he did not neglect the other (duller) aspects of his education, from an early age he expressed interest in fighting on the field, for much of continental Europe was at war due to the fall of the Holy Roman and Ottoman Empires, new nations were emerging from the wreckage, and others sought to take advantage even while suffering from internal problems themselves.
Many Irishmen formed 'Volunteer Units' for these wars that were in truth mercenary bands in all but name. However Ireland did official join a few of the wars, most notable the campaign in Crimea to prevent further Russian annexations in which Edward's mother, Queen Elizabeth personally appeared for her charity work.
However Edward II would never experience his dream of serving on the field of battle, as being the heir to the throne he was deemed too valuable to risk.
Instead while his two younger brother's both served the Irish Army, his sister Princess Mary was wed to the heir to the French throne, and Princess Sophie was allowed to enter a nunnery.
To distract the irritated heir, King Henry IV arranged for Edward to marry Princess Theodora Cacoyannis, the daughter of Emperor Constantine XII of the 'Restored' Eastern Roman Empire, due to Theodora being Eastern Orthodox the Pope had to lift the normal restrictions against a Catholic/Orthodox match that existed in the Henrian/Elizabethan Era(s), but there were few voices of dissent.
Despite the religious differences, Edward's marriage to Theodora Cacoyannis would prove a happy one, producing three children, Séan, Margaret, and Henrietta.
Due to taking the throne at an older age, the Queen kept Edward, Prince of Leinster at her side, like her father before her making the heir her unofficial partner and personal secretary, working to ensure that the heir would be ready to take the throne.
Upon his ascention to the throne and discovering his mother's will, the new Edward II suddenly found himself a King with few resources, he was forced to ask the Irish Parliament to increase the royal pension to cover the expenses of the crown, which detonated the first major political controversy invovling the monarchy in the 20th century.
The problem of 'the King's Troubles' ended in an unusual way when the last Duke of Connaught died in a drunken driving accident in 1902, leaving the title and the large Connaught fortune to the crown, allowing Parliament and the King to quietly drop the matter of increasing the royal pension.
During the reign of Edward II a period of quiet fell upon Europe, the former HRE was divided mainly between the Prussian Empire and the Austro-Bavarian Empire, Hungary was an independent republic, the new Eastern Roman Empire had defeated the last of the Turkish Warlords in Anatolia, however had failed to defeat the Yugoslavian Empire (consisting of RL Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Romania) leaving the possibility of further war open.
In Western Europe the revolutionary waves had failed, with the exception of Spain that saw the creation of the infamously corrupt 'Spanish Republic' that had already been overthrown in turn and the Spanish Monarchy restored by Edward II's reign.
In Edward II's reign 'The Peace' held, seeing the rise of a wave of hedonism and the first of what would be called 'youth culture', which the King hated and officially ban it's vestiges from the court during the duration of his reign.
Despite this the King continued his mother's policy of royal association with charity, though he focused more on Royal apperances and patronage, and brought more varity in his support of charitable causes. In additon to working quietly and behind the scenes with the government of the day.
However Edward was a heavy smoker and the stress of being King exaserbated his habit, leading to him dying of a then rare illness, lung cancer at age 61, leaving the crown to his eldest daughter, Margaret.
Queen Margaret (1903-1981) with her husband, Prince Alain de Rohan of Brittany
In 1928, after King Edward’s death, the Irish throne would pass to his eldest daughter, Margaret, who at the time was only 25 years old. She would reign until she abdicated in 1970, at the age of 67, in favour of her ____, ______. Born in Constantinople, she always had a close relationship with her mother’s homeland and spoke fluent Greek. She was originally not meant to accede to the throne- rather, her brother Séan was supposed to have become king, but after Séan’s death in a plane crash in 1926, she was declared crown princess. Almost immediately after her ascension to the throne, her distant relative, Queen Charlotte of France, was assassinated by a supporter of her uncle, Francis, who would rule under Salic law (which was abolished in France in 1919) and France plunged into chaos. In Brittany, local nationalists officially declared independence. Some months later, the Dublin Conference was held amongst the Celtic powers- The Kingdoms of Ireland and Scotland, the Lordship of Baltimore, and the Republic of Newfoundland. They crowned a local nobleman-Charles de Rohan-the new king of Brittany as Charles II. Shortly after, a marriage between Margaret and Charles’ younger son, Alain, was held in order to strengthen ties between the two Celtic nations.
Margaret’s reign also saw a large-scale local rebellion amongst the Protestants of Ulster. This resulted in Taoiseach Éamon De Valera’s suspension of Parliament for 31 days in 1932 due to internal conflict, and the queen gaining absolute power. This ended quickly and led to De Valera’s brief resignation, before his reelection the next year. The Ulster conflict lasted until 2002, when a ceasefire was declared.
Meanwhile in the Russian Empire, a Jacobin revolution led to the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II. The Tsar would eventually spend his last days in Copenhagen, while one of his children would marry into the Irish royal family. While the revolution was not terribly bloody, it did create tension in Ireland.
Queen Margaret, however, is quite revered in Ireland, due to her humane figure- she was heavily concerned with the cause of the environment- her environmental protection schemes are one of the few reasons the Irish wolf is still extant-as well as the fact that she played a crucial part in founding the Celtic League in 1950 to promote Celtic culture and relations between the Celtic nations.
In 1966, she was diagnosed with lung cancer, and in 1970, abdicated in favour of her _____,_____. She spent the rest of her days in Constantinople, where she died in 1981.
What If Henry VIII successfully had Henry Fitzroy made King of Ireland in 1529?:
1529 - 1546: Henry I (House of Fitzroy) [1]
1546 - 1555: Henry II (House of Fitzroy) [2]
1555 - 1589: John I (House of Fitzroy) [3]
1589 - 1605: Edward I (House of Fitzroy) [4]
1605 - 1623: Margaret I (House of Fitzroy) [5]
1623 - 1657: Henry III (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [6]
1657 - 1701: John II/Sean II (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [7]
1701 - 1719: Phillip I (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [8]
1719 - 1750: Mary (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [9]
1750 - 1779: Alfred I (House of Fitzroy-Waterford) [10]
1779 - 1823: Margaret II (House of Fitzroy-Waterford) [11]
1823 - 1831: Alfred II "The Fool" (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [12]
1831 - 1881: Henry IV "The Quiet" (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [13]
1881 - 1901: Elizabeth "The Giving" (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [14]
1901 - 1928: Edward II (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [15]
1928 - 1970: Margaret III (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [16]
1970 - 2003: Alexander (Fitzroy-Romanov) [17]
Henry VIII appointed his bastard son as the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1529. Henry wished to name him King of Ireland but his counsellors strenuously objected and it took several months after being made Lord Lieutenant before he was made King of Ireland in actuality.
Fitzroy was 10 when made King so whilst he was King, the country was run by his father's advisors, notably William Skeffington who was given guardianship of the young King. When he turned 18 in 1537, Skeffington was made Private Secretary for a brief period before his death.
Henry had been provisionally betrothed to Mary Howard in 1533, but the offer of Madeleine of Valois' hand in marriage was too good for Skeffington and Henry VIII to refuse, and the pair were betrothed in 1533, then married when Henry reached majority.
A child was born in 1538, so the nascent Kingdom of Ireland had an heir. Two more children were born in the next five years. However when Henry dies in 1546, at the age of only 27, none of his children had yet reached majority and the question of succession would read it's ugly head.
Henry would be succeeded by Henry, his eldest son.
[2] The eldest of the two sons of Henry I of Ireland and his wife; Madeline of Valois, Henry was destined for the Irish Crown from birth, and from the death of his father, he would embrace this role.
During his short reign of nine years, Henry II sought to expand the power of the Irish court, and to do so, he sought allies in the form of the French, who he would seek to marry, namely himself to his first cousin; Louise of Valois, and his younger brother; Prince John of Ireland, to another cousin, Margaret of Savoy.
Henry II was a man of true piety, and it would be his choice to travel to Rome where he received the Golden Rose from his holiness, and it would be on the return journey from Rome, in 1555, where Henry II would fall ill at the age of 17.
For the entirety of his reign, Henry had simply been a rubber-stamp for the regency of Anthony St Leger, and upon his death, the Regent of Ireland would continue his rule.
[3] King John was 14 when his brother died, and would spend the first few years of his reign under the regency of Anthony St.Leger, who became known as King Anthony for his hypnotic hold on the King. Part of St.Leger's power was the new King's inclination for both sexes in the bedroom, which the regent immediately recognized. He installed his nephew, Matthew, as the King's confidant turned lover.
All that changed in early 1558, when the King's wife Margaret of Savoy arrived in Dunmore. The new Queen was a rather authoritative figure who saw the regent as the cap on her and her husband's power at court. When she birthed her first child, Madeline, the King asked what she wished: her answer was to send Anthony St.Leger from the court (she also tried unsuccessfully to send away Matthew). The King obliged, causing such a shock to St.Leger that gossipers at the time blamed the incident for his failing health and eventual death the next year.
The remaining years of John's reign were most well known for the power struggle between Margaret (who favored a Catholic, pro-French policy) and Matthew (a closet reformer who preferred and English alliance). As one sharp-witted courtier wrote, "King John has two Queens". This battle extended to the children's education as Margaret attempted to have the children brought up by Catholic priests, while Matthew favored secular tutors, writing to the King "do you want to teach the children you are damned to hell's fiery pits". The children (who grew up at the same court in Dublin) ended up receiving wildly varying educations depending on who had the King's favor each year. For example, the King's eldest daughter Madeline was sent away to be educated by the nuns on the request of her mother. Her sister Louise, only two years younger, instead received a humanist education resembling those of Henry VIII's children, as encouraged by her father's lover.
In the end, King John would be brought down by his love of sex, dying from complications of syphilis. In response to John's reign, his heir Prince Edward, decided to make Ireland a country with no state religion.
4) Edward was John's second son, with the eldest predeceasing his father by several years. This was still sufficient time for Edward, who had been brought up by his mother but then trained for courthood by his father's advisors. Edward had hated the manner in which religion had creates a rift between his parents, and caused him to doubt his own abilities - and therefore be signed a bill of religious freedom. Each Irish citizen would be free to practice their own religion, free from persecution - this brought conflict with the Pope, but Edward found support from his great aunt, Queen Elizabeth of England during the Irish Primacy Scandal of 1595. Because he did not outright reject Roman Catholicism, the Pope accepted the decision of the Irish state on the agreement that Edward would pay certain taxes to the Vatican. Edward reluctantly agreed, but claimed all land as royal land and then charged the Irish monasteries rent which he used to pay the taxes.
He married Countess Anna of Nassau, a daughter of William the Silent, Prince of Orange in 1583 and they had two children before Anna died in 1588 during childbirth with their third, a daughter.
He subsequently married Maria of Saxe-Weimar in 1590 and she provided him with several children.
In 1603 when Elizabeth of England died, he was briefly considered for the English throne and considered the lead claimant by Elizabeth herself, but there were objections from the English nobility to a bastard line claiming the Crown when a legitimate claimant existed in the King of Scotland.
At any rate, he died in 1605 after catching pneumonia whilst inspecting the construction of a cathedral in Dublin, intended as the Irish Notre Dame, and his eldest daughter, Princess Margaret, took the throne.
[5] The eldest child from Edward I’s marriage to Anna of Nassau, and the first Queen of Ireland. Of the seven daughters of Edward I, Margaret would be the most ardently catholic, opposing her mothers Protestantism and her fathers own ambivalence towards the matter.
Prior to her taking the throne, the Princess would marry Infante Ferdinand of Spain, and the year of her taking the crown of Ireland, she would give birth to her first son and heir; Prince Henry of Ireland.
The first major note of her reign was the completion of the Dublin Cathedral. A massive and baroque cathedral symbolising the piety and Catholicism of Ireland. Her second action would be forcing her younger half-sisters, “The Irish Quintet” to sign away all claim to the throne of Ireland. The younger ones would agree, and be placed in small manorial homes, while the elder of the daughters of Maria of Saxe-Weimar; Maria Anna of Ireland would attempt to fight for her “claim” to the throne. The rebellion of Maria Anna was short lived, and recognised by no other government. From 1610 to 1612, the Protestant revolt would flutter around the Irish countryside, until her capture at Derry. She would be hung in Dublin, alongside the other ringleaders of the revolt. With the settling of the revolt, the reign of Margaret and her husband, who would take the title of Prince-Consort, would be secure.
For the next few years, Ireland simply recovered from the deep split in her loyalties, and another Son and two daughters would be born to the union of Margaret and Ferdinand.
Upon the death of Margaret in 1623, the house of Fitzroy would end, and the House of Hapsburg would inherit the Irish Kingdom.
[6] The Eldest son of Margaret I and Prince-Consort Ferdinand of Ireland, Henry was born in 1605. During his mothers reign, the young prince was often at his mothers side, and became a similarly devout Catholic, perhaps even more so.
In 1619, at the age of fourteen, the Crown Prince of Ireland would marry his paternal cousin; Eleanor of Austria, daughter of his fathers sister. Upon his mothers death, Henry would be crowned in the Dublin Cathedral, started by his grandfather, and he would take the dynastic name “Hapsburg-Eire”.
Between 1627 and 1646, Henry III would have 17 children by his three wives, firstly Eleanor of Austria until her death in 1631, followed by Marie of France until her death in Childbirth in 1642, and then Charlotte de Montespard, who he would take as his Morganatic wife.
The rule of Henry III was a peaceful reign, with the centralisation of the Irish court, and the Colonisation of the Irish Virgin Islands, and upon his death in 1657, Henry III would be succeeded by John II.
[7] John II of Ireland was the third son of Henry III's large brood and spent much of his life never expecting to become King, he was made Duke of Ulster and was raised with the expectation of serving his eldest brother, Henry, Prince of Leinster, however when he and John's second brother Prince Adam died in a boating accident when John was 28 saw the third son thrust into the spotlight. Unmarried at that point his father arranged a marriage for his new heir, Princess Marie-Anne of Orleans, however no children were produced by this marriage.
When Henry III died, John II became a King without an heir.
While England and Scotland convulsed in the throws of the British Civil War between King Frederick Henry I, the Parliamentarians, and Scottish Dissidents, John II focused on continuing Ireland's colonial projects, and supported the arts and the promotion of native Irish culture, both at home, and in the court, he was the first Irish monarch to learn the Irish Language (the court having retained the Tudor English of the Fitzroy's), and began signing documents not as 'John' but as 'Sean'.
When Sean II's first wife died, the King tried again with a second wife, Zofia Opalińska, a Polish noblewoman, this marriage also failed to produce any children.
Giving up hope of having heirs of his own body, Sean II focused on his brothers, the majority of whom had been left as bachelors by their father due to a lack of prospects. While their Hapsburgs relatives on the continent showed signs of dying out, the next six men behind Sean II in line for the throne were married and had more success in bedroom than their brother, some sneeringly called Sean 'Dry-Seed'.
The British Civil War ground down to a brutal halt when Frederick Henry I was captured by Parliamentarians and ultimately executed, horrifying the monarchies of Europe, a collation was formed, led by Louis XIV, Sean II joined the powers of Europe in the first invasion of the British Isles since William the Conqueror. The Invasion phase of the British Civil War saw the end of the Parliamentarians as a military force, their leaders (such as Oliver Cromwell) were executed, and the Kingdom of Great Britain was divided back into the separate Kingdoms of England (under Henry IX) and Scotland (under Charles I).
Sean II then spent the remainder of his life focused on building a new royal palace, as Dublin Castle was seen by Sean as 'too modest', the Caisleán Mhanderley (Manderley Castle) would be seen as an architectural wonder, seen by contemporaries as the nearest royal palace to rival Versailles.
Sean II witnessed the completion of Manderley Castle and lived in his finest work for six months before dying childess, passing the crown to his brother, Prince Albert Phillip of Ireland, otherwise known as Phillip I of Ireland
[8] Born in 1639, the eldest of the two sons of Henry III from his marriage to Marie de France. As a Prince, he was originally destined for a Ecclesiastical career, and from 1659 until 1690 he wore the Cardinal’s hat.
In 1690 however the Prince’s world was shaken. The death of his elder brother; Prince Edward, placed Albert Phillip as the heir to the Irish crown. Receiving permission from his Holiness, he would give up the Cardinals cap, and would take a wife with both his Brothers and Papal Blessing. He would marry Cecilia of Bavaria, and in 1693, the pair would welcome their first child, Mary.
Upon his brothers death in 1701, Prince Albert Phillip would return from his estates in Rome, which he had received as a gift from his Holiness for his service, and be crowned as Phillip I of Ireland. At his crowning, he was already 61, and was known to be gout ridden.
Unlike his brother, John II, Phillip was no lover of the Irish culture, seeing it as contradictory to Catholic belief, and he would establish the Jure Successionis, placing the succession laws of Ireland in writing. The Statute stated that the Monarch of Ireland must be catholic, disregarding the sons of his fathers third and last marriage, as those individuals had been noted Protestants.
By 1719, Phillip I was Eighty years old, and dying slowly, when suddenly on the fifth of August, the King suddenly died. Rumours of murder and assassination filled the court, and the King was succeeded by Mary, Princess of Leinster.
[9] Mary was born in 1693, the eldest of three sisters, named after the Virgin Mary at her father's insistance and later used it as her regnal name, at her father's dying wishes. She was betrothed and later married to Antoine, Dauphin of France, later crowned Louis Antoine, King of France. Much like her early years on her father's estates in Italy, and her ten years in France, this meant that she spent much of her life outside of Ireland. Far from being a stranger in her own country, this made her a relative celebrity and she returned to Dublin with French fashion and cuisine to introduce to society. The major problem with Mary was her marriage - should any of her son's survive her husband, they would be made King of France, and should they survive her, it would result in a Franco-Gaelic union which many Irish nobles were not enamoured by. A movement developed that would allow the eldest child to accept France, whilst the next eldest would accept Ireland (as Hapsburg-Eire was a cadet branch, and Bourbon held seniority) but Mary resisted this, but agreed that whilst France practiced succession by the male line only, Ireland would practice male preference primogeniture and allow succession to fall on females. This was, it seemed, satisfactory for Mary's counsellors and the objections ceased.
Mary and Louis Antoine spent their time mostly separate once she became Queen, she would visit France annually but for the rest of the year, Louis Antoine would spend time with his mistresses and father, it was claimed, two dozen children between them, though he only recognised one, Antoine, Count of Paris, and attempted to convince his wife that Antoine should marry one of their youngest daughters. Mary fiercely resisted, and refused to see her husband for two years.
For her own part, Mary became enamoured with the Ambassador to Morocco and it was rumoured they developed a sexual relationship which may have resulted in a daughter. Ironically, it was rumoured that this daughter then married the Count of Paris, allowing her a presence at the French Court in the presence of her "mothers" semi estranged husband.
It was later recounted in a poem entitled "The Tale of the Two Bastards" which was subsequently adapted into a French language movie in 1995, directed by Jean Pierre Jeunet, with Keanu Reeves as the Count of Paris, and Vanessa Paradis as Mary FitzMary. Isabelle Huppert would play Queen Mary of Ireland.
After the minor scandals of her reign, Mary died aged 57 in 1750, to be succeeded by her grandnephew, Lord Alfred Fitzroy, Duke of Waterford.
Alfred I, King of Ireland (c.1751)
[10] Lord Alfred, Duke of Waterford became heir-apparent to the Irish throne in 1745, after the death of Queen Mary's younger son, Charles-Philippe, of various venereal diseases. The new heir, a young boy of 4, was at this time being raised by his great-grandmother, Hannah Beaumont, a rich Scottish Noblewoman who had married the Duke of Waterford, a cousin to the royal family from an illegitimate son King John I of Ireland. Her own son, the infamous rogue Bernard Fitzroy, had married the Irish Queen's sister, the deformed Princess Catherine, and had thus fathered Alfred's father, Richard Fitzroy. Now, the story of how Richard Fitzroy married the Princess Helene of Ireland, the only child of the deceased Sean, Prince of Leinster, and by the agreement formed between France and Ireland, heiress to the Irish throne, is a convoluted one, but essentially, the Irish court demanded that she marry domestically, and while she had other cousins, the dumpy Richard seemed the least offensive option. And so they had married, and the Fitzroy line returned. The young Princess, fiercely unhappy in her life, became pregnant quickly (possibly to her husband's cousin, another handsome rogue in the vein of Bernard Fitzroy) and died giving birth to the young Alfred. This boy, the last Irish Prince not in line for the French throne, became the Queen's heir, although she refused to grant him the title Prince of Leinster.
The Queen of Ireland took scant interest in her successor, leaving his rearing to his great-grandmother, the formidable Dowager Duchess of Waterford ("Dowager" as of 1747) and he, along with his cousins, John William Fitzroy and Cecile Marie Fitzory, grew up in the idyllic Waterford estate. He was poorly educated during this time, although he did enjoy history lessons via his grandmother, and learnt book keeping at her side. But Hannah Beaumont felt a literary education, one of languages and other such things, would fill the boy's head with nonsense. Instead, she taught him to balance a budget, to know his lineage and to expect respect from the those around him. His only peers were, in her eyes, herself and his cousins, learning at her steady hand.
His accession was simple enough. While Louis-Antoine made some pointed noises of disapproval, once his son and heir had recognised his abdication, he wasn't going to let his great-grandson's crown leave his head. Instead, the King made his first visit to Ireland in decades, for a 2 month stay that taught him that he liked the Dowager Duchess of Waterford, and he even had the King's father married to Marie Charlotte de Guise, who was probably his illegitimate daughter. Richard Fitzory would go on to father another son, before dying of a heart attack in his 30's.
The court of Dublin, having seen some relaxation under Queen Mary, found itself tightly bound by convention by the will of the Dowager Duchess, who enacted a strict schedule that her grandson would continue for the rest of his life. He arose before sunrise, and for two hours before his official "awakening ceremony", spent that time eating a light breakfast and amusing himself. Then, he would lay in bed to be awoken by his cousin, the Duke of Downshire, his heir apparent, and his great-aunt, the Princess Joan of Ireland and France (the youngest of Queen Mary's daughters, she never married after being scarred by smallpox). He was then prepared for his day with briefings, regardless of his place in government as a child, and spent the next 2-3 hours dressing. Then came a ceremonial lunch, usually with 20-50 people in attendance as the "inner court". He then attended meetings, which acted as his lessons for the day, and shortly followed by a light meal and a nap, followed by a long, ceremonial final meal, before he would open whatever nightly entertainments were being held and, depending on their importance, either stay for the opening or, most likely, be hurried off to bed. Throughout the day, he was attended by no less than 6 peers at a time, sometimes as many as 18, and he had 32 men available at any one time. The Dowager Duchess herself was always present as well, often interrupting his dressing to quiz him on numbers.
Hannah Fitzroy (previously Beaumont), Dowager Duchess of Waterford (c.1754)
What the child missed, most of all, was spontaneity and fun.
Writing to the King of France in 1754, the young boy asked if he might send word to the Dowager Duchess and allow young Alfred a chance to rest once a month, maybe even twice that. But, outside of severe illness, she was a determined woman, refusing to accept that the young man growing to adulthood in front of her might enjoy something outside of her schedule. So little did he have, in fact, that when in 1756, he did escape the court with his cousins to do some fun, he went overboard, and a young woman known to history as "the Dublin Lass" ended up dead. Little is known of the exact scenario, but it seems that the King wanted a night of passion, and either the young woman refused, or his cousin tried to prevent this from happening. Regardless, the murder was blamed on a gang and the King seems to have never attempted such frivolity again.
As he entered adulthood, he found not even his bride was to be his own choice, which while usual at the time, seems to have prevent him from marrying an Irishwoman he found desirable. Nicole Gregoria Ferrard, the daughter of Earl of Longford. Instead, he was betrothed to The Princess Victoria Douglass of Scotland, a woman 7 years his senior who he found personally repugnant for her cruel temper and "beady eyes". They would have their first child in 1760. Many more would follow.
Victoria Douglas, Queen of Ireland (c.1762)
However, as much has been written about King Alfred as a personal figure, and his personal life does become more interesting soon, it must be said that as a leader, he was a great figurehead. He knew his numbers well, did not shy away from hard work, but struggled when it came to hard decision making particularly after the influence of the Dowager Duchess ended with her death in 1763. Much has been made of the change in the King following her death, but one thing is for sure, and that is that he was very passionate about the kingdom's economy, but blind to it's needs outside of that. He knew debts needed to be paid, but refused to economize the court, instead ending works on roads and other major infrastructure. He then raised taxes
Indeed, spending on the court tripled between 1760 and 1774, partially due to the arrival of the King's children and his increasing extension of family to support. His half-brother, soon made the Duke of Kingston, who had married in 1762 a woman named Elizabeth Butler. The two would have many children, but their eldest, the Lady Hannah Fitzroy, became the King's obsession.
It's unclear how early the King fixated on his niece. She did not return to the court until 1773, around the age of 10, and by this time, he had begun an affair with an actress in her 50's, named Sarah Hillard. The first real affair he had had, they were an odd pair to have, and it has been suggested that the King loved her due to her similarities to the Dowager Duchess. If that is so, then he loved his niece for her similarities to his cousin, Cecile Marie Fitzroy, who may have become his lover during the regency, although by now she was the Duke of Savoy's lover and possibly secret second wife. So instead, he focused on the young girl, who's father was blocked in his attempts to remove her from the King's attentions. This tells us that, by the mid 1770's, he was making motions against her, and by the second half of the decade, there was definitely a romantic undertone to reports, although she would claim never to have done anything inappropriate with the King. In her own words:
"He loved me from far away, and often talked about wanted a marriage. But no matter how ardent his language, we were pure and he was afraid to even touch me."
Now, all of this would matter little in 1776, when the first stirrings of rebellion amongst the people of Ireland began. Led by a committee of 20 men and women, their original goal was simply lower taxes. But as the movement gained traction, they aimed higher. The King's head.
The King heard of rebellion. Left to right: The Duke of Ulster, the King of Ireland, the Queen of Ireland, the Lady Hannah Fitzroy (c.1782)
Cities burned as they marched through Ireland, and in 1778, Dublin was under siege. The King, on a walk in the gardens, was siezed, and torn apart by his people. It was a grizzly death, and one that would effect the transition of power in a way not seen in Irish history.
[11]
The eldest daughter of Prince Henry, The Duke of Leinster, Hannah Margaret was just seven years old when the Rebellion started. Prince Henry was brought before a miilitary tribunal, accused of aiding his father in "grand treason against the Irish people" despite his impassioned pleas the Prince would be killed, leaving his widow Adelaide of Savoy and his 5 daughters: Hannah Margaret (7), Mary Adelaide (5), Elizabeth Helene (3), Victoria Anna (3), and Madeleine Henrietta (1). The young princesses were seized from their mother while the Duchess, fearing her husband's fate, hightailed it to relatives in France.
Weary of killing young girls, the Irish rebels would instead act as regents for Margaret II (her other name, Hannah, being discarded for its association with Hannah Fitzroy) and her sisters. The eldest two girls, the Queen and her sister Mary Adelaide, would be forcibly married into the Irish peerage in 1789, and similar matches were planned for their younger sisters.
However, the next year became known to Irish history as the Sister's revolt. After rumors of her sister's gross unhappiness at her marital lot and rumors of more Irish matches for her sisters with men "beneath their rank and quality," the Queen and her sisters helped raise a palace coup against most of their regents, writing anonymous pamphlets about their gross mistreatment and winning the sympathy of the people and the army, who saw it their job to protect "poor ladies like our princesses". Many an Irish student has recalled Margaret's miracle; where the Queen, who had recently birthed her first child Prince Alfred, stormed into a meeting of the regents declaring "I am a girl no more. It is time for the levers of government to move to their rightful holder".
By 1790 the tenor of the Irish court changed, focused on the delightful Queen and her sisters. The youngest three were allowed prestigious royal matches: Elizabeth wedding the Crown Prince of Bavaria, Victoria the Prince of Asturias, and Madeleine the young King of Two Sicilies. Many call Margaret's reign "the court of women" as the Queen became the dominating force in politics and her marriage, with many calling her husband "The Phantom of the Isle". She even became an early advocate of family planning, deliberately spacing out her pregnancies to reduce the risk of dying in childbirth, a move which annoyed the clergy but won her admiration from the working classes.
The one fault of her reign might have been her overindulgent nature. The naturally fair Queen had keenly felt the death of her father and abandonment of her mother (who she refused to let return to Ireland after the Sister's revolt due to "leaving us in our time of gravest need") and thus overindulged her children, who were sometimes called haughty and spoiled. She was also reluctant to give up any power to her heir, Prince Alfred, perhaps a product of the regency. When Margaret II died of cancer in 1823, many admired the Queen for her bravery, but wondered if her successor would lead the royal family to revel or ruin.
[12] When Prince Alfred took the throne upon the death of his mother, the entirety of Ireland gave a collective groan of distaste and ill feeling. During his childhood, his mother, though doting and ever loving, was rarely around. His father was the main influence on the young prince, but he was anything but a proper role model. A licentious and crude man, Lord Fitzwilliam imparted many of these qualities as well as a disdain for anything approaching work of any variety in his son. Upon the Prince of Leinster's acession to the throne, he immediately began delegating his powers to various noblemen and favorites of ill stature and repute in society. In a brief 4 years, the King and his men had run the country into the mud. Ireland's economy was in ruins, the people were in uproar, and only a spark would be required to ignite civil war.
In the summer of 1827, it came. By order of the King, five noblemen (The Earl Gosford, The Viscount Mountgarret, The Lord Farnham, The Earl Cork, and The Earl Cavan) were accused of treason against the crown and hung. Their crime was to suggest that The Lord Digby be dismissed after it had been prooven that he had stolen crown funds for his own enrichment.
The nation exploded. Thousands of men rose up in arms against the King, and thousands more rose up to defend him. The king took this opportunity to label the rebels as traitors and orange protestants seeking to depose the rightful god ordained king. Before long the civil war began to revolve around abstractions of faith and politics far removed from the execution of five noblemen. Three figures rose to guide the rebellion and hone its unbridled wrath to the betterment of the nation. These principal men would become known to history as An Triumvirate Éireann, Daniel O'Connell (Earl Glandore), Hosea Guinness (Marquess Sligo), and a common lawyer by the name of Marcus Culcanon. It would be these men who rallied the common people to the cause of a government not bound by the whim of the king. For four long years they lead the fight, and at the final battle of the war, (The battle of Vinegar hill) they gave the king one last chance for amnesty. If he would submit himself to the rebels, and agree to convene a parliament of the English model, he would remain as king of Ireland. The King refused, after the battle, he was found dead, having joined in with his cavalry's last ditch assault on the rebel center.
Upon the victorious rebel's arrival in Dublin, they convened a parliament and drafted a constitution which would be agreed upon and signed into law by Henry IV, the next monarch of Ireland.
[13] Henry IV, the brother of Alfred II was born the third of Margaret II's five children, and due to her spacing out the pregnancies was nearly five years Alfred's junior. Raised in his mother's indulgent court and with little expectation of inheriting the throne, the then Prince Henry was poorly educated, his care left in the hands of an ever changing cast of courtiers, from whom Henry IV did learn one over-arching lesson that would become the theme of his life, "Say very little and smile kindly, you will be loved for it."
So while the quiet Prince largely found himself left to his own devices, he became the patron of a group of intellectuals and political theorists in Dublin that became dubbed 'the Venerable Ones', however the Prince contributed little to the group beyond royal patronage, but this group would become critical for his and the Irish Monarchy's survival in the years ahead.
In the first years of his brother's reign, the Prince was engaged to Sophie-Augusta of Saxe-Hildburghausen and married in an opulent ceremony devised by his brother the King as an excuse for debauchery. During the bedding ceremony the drunken King made 'unbecoming advances' upon his brother's newly wed wife that nearly caused a fight between the pair, this breach would not be repaired but allowed to fester and grow.
Exiled from his brother's court, the newly married 'Duke and Duchess of Ulster' retired to Classiebawn Castle and began to build their own family, which would see the birth of six children in total, though one would die in infancy.
Then his brother's mistakes led to The Irish Rising that would see the downfall of Alfred II, his death in battle, and the exile of Alfred's wife and two young children, for the successful rebels had already decided to strip Alfred II's line of their rights and pass them on to someone deemed more acceptable, the Quiet Duke of Ulster.
20th century historians would discover a series of secret correspondences between the Duke and a number of rebel leaders, several of whom came from 'the Venerable Ones' club, it revealed that the Duke could not condone rebellion against an anointed monarch but was convinced that his brother was no longer worthy of a crown, his brother's death in battle (and avoidance of any accusations of 'regicide') allowed Henry to put aside his personal worries and come to terms.
Henry IV took the Irish Crown as a 'Constitutional Monarch', a monarch bound by the law and the will of the people along with being anointed by God to represent a higher ideal, the new King and wife, self-effacing, humble, and above all else quiet and amiable were perfect for this new style of monarchy.
While the new Irish Parliament was set up and the first political parties began to emerge, the King invited the first Taoiseach (Prime Minister) to take up the reigns of the Government.
In terms of politics, Henry IV was very hands off, preferring to limit his involvement to words of encouragement to the various come-and-go ministers, serving as a shoulder to cry on, and a sounding board for their ideas.
The Irish Kingdom recovered quickly from the folly of Alfred II, even while much of Europe convulsed with revolutions and rebellions, the Holy Roman Empire collapsed under the weight of it's own contradictions, the Ottomans followed the last of the Habsburgs into extinction within a year, while other Kingdoms such as France, Scotland, and England rode out the violence and stayed intact, though a few like the Russian Empire simply tightened their grip.
In the later years of his life, Henry IV began to bring his heir, the Princess Elizabeth in on the meetings with the Taoiseach to ensure a smooth transition between one monarch and the next.
Henry IV became ill with pneumonia at age 75, he clung to life for five months with the emerging newspapers keeping the nation on tinder hooks as the King's condition was reported and commented on in a day-by-day basis, when Henry IV died the Irish nation plunged into mourning for a man whom had not just saved his family's crown, but also the nation from the violence and wars that seemed to come in waves on the continent.
Henry IV's eldest daughter and heir, Queen Elizabeth I of Ireland took the crown of a nation greatly changed by a man who spoke little, but did much by doing very little.
Queen Elizabeth in mourning for her father (1881)
[14] HRH Princess Elizabeth Margaret Sophia of Ulster was never intended for the throne. Born during the revolt against her uncle, Alfred II, she was raised by her quiet father with her siblings: John, Anna, Louise, and Catherine in Dublin castle. Princess Elizabeth, or Bess as she was informally called, became well known for her charitable spirit, making semiannual visits to orphanages during her childhood to donate her gently used toys and outfits.
For many years, Elizabeth considered joining a nunnery and devoting her life to caring for the sick and injured. Two life events stopped that thought. The first was the prolonged illness of her mother, Queen Sophie, believed to be a tragic combination of Parkinson's and Dementia. The teenage Elizabeth quickly served as a nurse for her mother and is believed to have popularized the profession among women of means. Later, in 1857, her brother the Duke of Leinster died suddenly of typhoid while his wife, Irene of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, miscarried what would have been their first child.
This left the 26-year-old spinster Elizabeth as heiress presumptive to the throne. She was married off to her cousin Phillip of Connaught in order to retain the dynastic name, but the marriage would suffer due to lack of chemistry. The Queen was completely uninterested in romantic relationships, calling them "useless and distracting". Elizabeth, who would today be termed asexual, only married because her father feared a personal union with Portugal from her sister Anna's marriage to the Crown Prince. In response to her marital distress came the popular saying "lie back and think of Ireland", symbolized by the Queen's three children Edward, Prince of Leinster, Phillip, Duke of Ulster, Princess Mary of Ireland (and Queen of France), and twins Prince Henry, Duke of Meath and Princess Sophia of Ireland (became a nun).
Upon her ascension, Elizabeth became best known as "the Angel of the Battlefield" for her daring decision to visit troops in the Crimea. The move wasn't out of left-field, as during her time as heiress to the throne, Princess Elizabeth had volunteered at veteran's hospitals under the name Bess Fitzwilliam. However, troops were shocked and delighted to see the Queen near the battlefield due to her age and position. After viewing field condition, she's credited with encouraging Parliament to invest in modernizing field hospitals, even creating awards for the best doctors and hospitals in Ireland.
When the Queen died after 20 years on the throne, she had won the admiration of many around her, which only grew after the publishing of her will. While many family heirlooms remained with her children, much of her private fortune was donated to hospitals, charities, orphanages, and other such entities. She also donated several of the family palaces and castles, most notably Cabra Castle and Dungiven Castle, with the purpose of using the buildings for schools, hospitals, and orphanages. Many hoped her heir Edward II, would continue the Queen's good work.
[15] Edward II of Ireland was born from the cold, clinical marriage of the (then) Princess Elizabeth of Ireland and Phillip of Connaught (made a Prince during Elizabeth's first pregnancy to insure their children were born royal), during the long rule of King Henry IV of Ireland. Born with the expectation of one day being monarch, Henry IV arranged for the best education for his grandson, even while Elizabeth pushed against her own dispassionate nature to bear several more children to prevent a possible personal union with Portugal.
Edward's interests quickly moved to martial, though he did not neglect the other (duller) aspects of his education, from an early age he expressed interest in fighting on the field, for much of continental Europe was at war due to the fall of the Holy Roman and Ottoman Empires, new nations were emerging from the wreckage, and others sought to take advantage even while suffering from internal problems themselves.
Many Irishmen formed 'Volunteer Units' for these wars that were in truth mercenary bands in all but name. However Ireland did official join a few of the wars, most notable the campaign in Crimea to prevent further Russian annexations in which Edward's mother, Queen Elizabeth personally appeared for her charity work.
However Edward II would never experience his dream of serving on the field of battle, as being the heir to the throne he was deemed too valuable to risk.
Instead while his two younger brother's both served the Irish Army, his sister Princess Mary was wed to the heir to the French throne, and Princess Sophie was allowed to enter a nunnery.
To distract the irritated heir, King Henry IV arranged for Edward to marry Princess Theodora Cacoyannis, the daughter of Emperor Constantine XII of the 'Restored' Eastern Roman Empire, due to Theodora being Eastern Orthodox the Pope had to lift the normal restrictions against a Catholic/Orthodox match that existed in the Henrian/Elizabethan Era(s), but there were few voices of dissent.
Despite the religious differences, Edward's marriage to Theodora Cacoyannis would prove a happy one, producing three children, Séan, Margaret, and Henrietta.
Due to taking the throne at an older age, the Queen kept Edward, Prince of Leinster at her side, like her father before her making the heir her unofficial partner and personal secretary, working to ensure that the heir would be ready to take the throne.
Upon his ascention to the throne and discovering his mother's will, the new Edward II suddenly found himself a King with few resources, he was forced to ask the Irish Parliament to increase the royal pension to cover the expenses of the crown, which detonated the first major political controversy invovling the monarchy in the 20th century.
The problem of 'the King's Troubles' ended in an unusual way when the last Duke of Connaught died in a drunken driving accident in 1902, leaving the title and the large Connaught fortune to the crown, allowing Parliament and the King to quietly drop the matter of increasing the royal pension.
During the reign of Edward II a period of quiet fell upon Europe, the former HRE was divided mainly between the Prussian Empire and the Austro-Bavarian Empire, Hungary was an independent republic, the new Eastern Roman Empire had defeated the last of the Turkish Warlords in Anatolia, however had failed to defeat the Yugoslavian Empire (consisting of RL Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Romania) leaving the possibility of further war open.
In Western Europe the revolutionary waves had failed, with the exception of Spain that saw the creation of the infamously corrupt 'Spanish Republic' that had already been overthrown in turn and the Spanish Monarchy restored by Edward II's reign.
In Edward II's reign 'The Peace' held, seeing the rise of a wave of hedonism and the first of what would be called 'youth culture', which the King hated and officially ban it's vestiges from the court during the duration of his reign.
Despite this the King continued his mother's policy of royal association with charity, though he focused more on Royal apperances and patronage, and brought more varity in his support of charitable causes. In additon to working quietly and behind the scenes with the government of the day.
However Edward was a heavy smoker and the stress of being King exaserbated his habit, leading to him dying of a then rare illness, lung cancer at age 61, leaving the crown to his eldest daughter, Margaret.
Queen Margaret (1903-1981) with her husband, Prince Alain de Rohan of Brittany
In 1928, after King Edward’s death, the Irish throne would pass to his eldest daughter, Margaret, who at the time was only 25 years old. She would reign until she abdicated in 1970, at the age of 67, in favour of her nephew, Alexander. Born in Constantinople, she always had a close relationship with her mother’s homeland and spoke fluent Greek. She was originally not meant to accede to the throne- rather, her brother Séan was supposed to have become king, but after Séan’s death in a plane crash in 1926, she was declared crown princess. Almost immediately after her ascension to the throne, her distant relative, Queen Charlotte of France, was assassinated by a supporter of her uncle, Francis, who would rule under Salic law (which was abolished in France in 1919) and France plunged into chaos. In Brittany, local nationalists officially declared independence. Some months later, the Dublin Conference was held amongst the Celtic powers- The Kingdoms of Ireland and Scotland, the Lordship of Baltimore, and the Republic of Newfoundland. They crowned a local nobleman-Charles de Rohan-the new king of Brittany as Charles II. Shortly after, a marriage between Margaret and Charles’ younger son, Alain, was held in order to strengthen ties between the two Celtic nations.
Margaret’s reign also saw a large-scale local rebellion amongst the Protestants of Ulster. This resulted in Taoiseach Éamon De Valera’s suspension of Parliament for 31 days in 1932 due to internal conflict, and the queen gaining absolute power. This ended quickly and led to De Valera’s brief resignation, before his reelection the next year. The Ulster conflict lasted until 2002, when a ceasefire was declared.
Meanwhile in the Russian Empire, a Jacobin revolution led to the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II. The Tsar would eventually spend his last days in Copenhagen, while one of his children would marry into the Irish royal family. While the revolution was not terribly bloody, it did create tension in Ireland.
Queen Margaret, however, is quite revered in Ireland, due to her humane figure- she was heavily concerned with the cause of the environment- her environmental protection schemes are one of the few reasons the Irish wolf is still extant-as well as the fact that she played a crucial part in founding the Celtic League in 1950 to promote Celtic culture and relations between the Celtic nations.
In 1966, she was diagnosed with lung cancer, and in 1970, abdicated in favour of her nephew, Alexander. She spent the rest of her days in Constantinople, where she died in 1981.
Grand Duke-Prince Alexander during the reign of his Aunt, Margaret III
[17] Grand Duke Alexander Alexeiovich Romanov was the eldest son of Tsarevich Alexei of Russia and his Irish wife Mary (known to Russian Monarchists as Maria Feodorovna). When it became clear his aunt Margaret would not be producing children, the fortunes of Alexander and his brother Paul vastly improved. They were not the children of a pretender, but the heir to an actual throne. As Alexander had initially been raised in both Catholic and Orthodox rites, at 13 he was officially confirmed in the Catholic Church, leaving his Russian claim to his brother Paul.
The young boys had been orphaned shortly after Alexander's 14th birthday. Their father, a hemophiliac, had died after a particularly bad bleed following the wedding of their Aunt Victoria, while their mother passed away of ovarian cancer. While their paternal grandparents, Nicholas II and Alexandra, had fought to raise them, in the end the Queen won custody, reportedly saying "the Russians have lost their throne, I will not let them lose mine". Margaret and Alain adopted the two boys, and have them take Fitzroy-Romanov as their surname (the latter a nod to their father, who the Queen had liked).
Prince Alexander served in the Irish Army upon this majority, taking the fake name Alexander Beaumont, so he could keep anonymity. While stationed in Ulster, Alexander would meet Caitriona Kennedy, an intelligent shopgirl in a bakery who was an Irish loyalist. She would often slip the soldiers extra bread and sweets as gifts, with particulars attention to Sargent Beaumont.
While many describe Alexander as desperately in love with "his Cait", he knew his aunt would never let him marry a commoner. Instead, he brought Miss Kennedy to Dublin, where the pair would conduct a decades-long affair, resulting in the birth of three children: Mary, Madeleine, and Michael. The three children were given the surname Beaumont, in reference to the King's army name, and were often treated to secret visits by their father.
While in Constantinople for the wedding of his brother Paul to Princess Elena of Greece, Alexander was introduced to Alain's niece, Princess Alix of Brittany. The two were pushed together to re-up the Breton-Irish alliance after the childlessness of the Queen and her consort. The two were married in 1966, when the Crown Prince was 36 and his wife had just turned 19. Among those in the audience was Cait Kennedy, with her youngest child Michael serving as a pageboy.
Alexander and Alix would have three children of their own _______(1966), _______(1968), and _______(1975). The birth of two children would convince Margaret it was time to abdicate the throne in favor of the new generation. While the Breton Queen would not prove popular (she was accused of being of continental in her manners) the clear incompatibility in her marriage and her love for her children would win her sympathy. One place where the royal couple most violently clashed was the Ulster problem, as Alix saw most of those in Ulster as violent dissidents who needed to be stopped at any cost, while Alexander was much more sympathetic with the Ulster plight (likely due to Miss. Kennedy's influence).
The great crisis of Alexander's reign came in 1977 when Mr. Conor Murdock came to the Irish Times with a story they couldn't refuse. Mr. Murdock was the recent ex-boyfriend of Madeleine Beaumont and, apparently frustrated with the breakup, told the paper that his ex-girlfriend and her siblings were the King's illegitamite children, and their mother was still in an intimate relationship with the King. This was validated with photographs Murdock stole from the Kennedy-Beaumont house, showing the King's relationship with the children and their mother. Many were shocked that the King would continue on in such a manner, calling it 'against God's commandments'. The Queen was outraged, and only her strict Catholicism would stop her from persueing a divorce. Initially, it appeared the King would deny the issue, only acknowledging it through regular photos of him seeking confession, but eventually public pressure mounted where he confirmed his affair and family with Cait Kennedy, and gave the Kennedy-Beaumont kids the option to use the surname Fitzroy.
In 1986 after a routine blood tranfusion to treat the Queen's anemia, it was discovered the Queen had been affected with HIV. Seeing such a prominent figure contract the disease served to de-stigmatize the diagnosis (originally thought to be limited to drug addicts and homosexuals). The King also won back some popularity after nursing his wife through the illnesss and generally coralling their young family through the difficult time. When the Queen eventually succumbed in 1999, the King thought of abdicating and handing oover the Crown to a new generation. However his beloved Cait encouraged him to see through the end of the Ulster issue, eventually leading the Belfast ceasefire talks in 2002. The next year he would abdicate in favor of his _________, ______________, retiring to the countryside as Prince Alexander. Within a month of his abdication saw an event 50 years in the making, as he married Cait Kennedy, making her Princess Caitroina. The two would live until 2019, when the pair would die within three weeks of eachother. Prince Alexander would be burried next to his first wife, Alix, in Dublin while Cait would be cremated and burried in Alexander's coffin.
Sorry for the double post, but I just wanted to let the next poster know we're at 20 pictures in the main Fitzroy line. If you want to add your own photos, just delete one in the previous post (ideally from a reign that has more than one picture already).
On that note, here are two pictures I wanted to add to my main post on Alexander, but couldn't due to photo limits:
The young Caitroina 'Cait' Kennedy, later Princess of Ireland
The young Alix of Brittany, later Queen of Ireland, at her pre-wedding gala
On that note, here are two pictures I wanted to add to my main post on Alexander, but couldn't due to photo limits:
The young Caitroina 'Cait' Kennedy, later Princess of Ireland
The young Alix of Brittany, later Queen of Ireland, at her pre-wedding gala
What If Henry VIII successfully had Henry Fitzroy made King of Ireland in 1529?:
1529 - 1546: Henry I (House of Fitzroy) [1]
1546 - 1555: Henry II (House of Fitzroy) [2]
1555 - 1589: John I (House of Fitzroy) [3]
1589 - 1605: Edward I (House of Fitzroy) [4]
1605 - 1623: Margaret I (House of Fitzroy) [5]
1623 - 1657: Henry III (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [6]
1657 - 1701: John II/Sean II (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [7]
1701 - 1719: Phillip I (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [8]
1719 - 1750: Mary (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [9]
1750 - 1779: Alfred I (House of Fitzroy-Waterford) [10]
1779 - 1823: Margaret II (House of Fitzroy-Waterford) [11]
1823 - 1831: Alfred II "The Fool" (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [12]
1831 - 1881: Henry IV "The Quiet" (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [13]
1881 - 1901: Elizabeth "The Giving" (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [14]
1901 - 1928: Edward II (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [15]
1928 - 1970: Margaret III (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [16]
1970 - 2003: Alexander (Fitzroy-Romanov) [17]
2003 - present: Henry V (Fitzroy-Romanov) [18]
[18] Henry was 36 when he became King, and was still a 'life long' bachelor. Although there was some pressure for him to marry and produce a heir, he said that was unnecessary as he had four heirs already when he took the throne:
1) Prince Alfred, (28 y.o.) who'd married a Romanov cousin but had yet not produced heirs.
2) Princess Margaret, his sister (35 y.o.). She'd married a second cousin descended from Edward II, Ian O'Connell.
3) Prince James "Jamie" O'Connell (8 y.o.), Margaret's second child.
4) Princess Mary Brigitte O'Connell (12 y.o.), Margaret's first child.
Finally in 2018, with his parents, siblings, and by then five nieces and nephews, the King did marry to his life long partner, known to be his partner by those close to him and suspected so by the rest of the world, Sean Gallagher, a descendent of Alfred I on his mother's side. Sean was named Prince Sean.
Although the Irish Parliament had legalized same sex marriage only days previous to the announcement of the King's pending marriage, the Church, of course, had not. So the ceremony was a secular one, officiated by the Prime Minister.
Other notable events during the reign of Henry V were the formal legalization of abortion in 2009, which had been unofficially allowed for years with no enforcement of the anti-abortion laws, and the restoration of the Russian monarchy in 2012 with the King's cousin, Peter IV Romanov, being crowned in St. Petersburg as Tsar in a Constitutional Monarcy. The King and his family, including Sean Gallagher, then just known as the King's friend, attended the coronation.
1529 - 1546: Henry I (House of Fitzroy) [1]
1546 - 1555: Henry II (House of Fitzroy) [2]
1555 - 1589: John I (House of Fitzroy) [3]
1589 - 1605: Edward I (House of Fitzroy) [4]
1605 - 1623: Margaret I (House of Fitzroy) [5]
1623 - 1657: Henry III (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [6]
1657 - 1701: John II/Sean II (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [7]
1701 - 1719: Phillip I (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [8]
1719 - 1750: Mary (House of Hapsburg-Eire) [9]
1750 - 1779: Alfred I (House of Fitzroy-Waterford) [10]
1779 - 1823: Margaret II (House of Fitzroy-Waterford) [11]
1823 - 1831: Alfred II "The Fool" (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [12]
1831 - 1881: Henry IV "The Quiet" (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [13]
1881 - 1901: Elizabeth "The Giving" (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [14]
1901 - 1928: Edward II (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [15]
1928 - 1970: Margaret III (Fitzroy-Fitzwilliam) [16]
1970 - 2003: Alexander (Fitzroy-Romanov) [17]
2003 - present: Henry V (Fitzroy-Romanov) [18]
Henry VIII appointed his bastard son as the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1529. Henry wished to name him King of Ireland but his counsellors strenuously objected and it took several months after being made Lord Lieutenant before he was made King of Ireland in actuality.
Fitzroy was 10 when made King so whilst he was King, the country was run by his father's advisors, notably William Skeffington who was given guardianship of the young King. When he turned 18 in 1537, Skeffington was made Private Secretary for a brief period before his death.
Henry had been provisionally betrothed to Mary Howard in 1533, but the offer of Madeleine of Valois' hand in marriage was too good for Skeffington and Henry VIII to refuse, and the pair were betrothed in 1533, then married when Henry reached majority.
A child was born in 1538, so the nascent Kingdom of Ireland had an heir. Two more children were born in the next five years. However when Henry dies in 1546, at the age of only 27, none of his children had yet reached majority and the question of succession would read it's ugly head.
Henry would be succeeded by Henry, his eldest son.[2] The eldest of the two sons of Henry I of Ireland and his wife; Madeline of Valois, Henry was destined for the Irish Crown from birth, and from the death of his father, he would embrace this role.
During his short reign of nine years, Henry II sought to expand the power of the Irish court, and to do so, he sought allies in the form of the French, who he would seek to marry, namely himself to his first cousin; Louise of Valois, and his younger brother; Prince John of Ireland, to another cousin, Margaret of Savoy.
Henry II was a man of true piety, and it would be his choice to travel to Rome where he received the Golden Rose from his holiness, and it would be on the return journey from Rome, in 1555, where Henry II would fall ill at the age of 17.
For the entirety of his reign, Henry had simply been a rubber-stamp for the regency of Anthony St Leger, and upon his death, the Regent of Ireland would continue his rule.
[3] King John was 14 when his brother died, and would spend the first few years of his reign under the regency of Anthony St.Leger, who became known as King Anthony for his hypnotic hold on the King. Part of St.Leger's power was the new King's inclination for both sexes in the bedroom, which the regent immediately recognized. He installed his nephew, Matthew, as the King's confidant turned lover.
All that changed in early 1558, when the King's wife Margaret of Savoy arrived in Dunmore. The new Queen was a rather authoritative figure who saw the regent as the cap on her and her husband's power at court. When she birthed her first child, Madeline, the King asked what she wished: her answer was to send Anthony St.Leger from the court (she also tried unsuccessfully to send away Matthew). The King obliged, causing such a shock to St.Leger that gossipers at the time blamed the incident for his failing health and eventual death the next year.
The remaining years of John's reign were most well known for the power struggle between Margaret (who favored a Catholic, pro-French policy) and Matthew (a closet reformer who preferred and English alliance). As one sharp-witted courtier wrote, "King John has two Queens". This battle extended to the children's education as Margaret attempted to have the children brought up by Catholic priests, while Matthew favored secular tutors, writing to the King "do you want to teach the children you are damned to hell's fiery pits". The children (who grew up at the same court in Dublin) ended up receiving wildly varying educations depending on who had the King's favor each year. For example, the King's eldest daughter Madeline was sent away to be educated by the nuns on the request of her mother. Her sister Louise, only two years younger, instead received a humanist education resembling those of Henry VIII's children, as encouraged by her father's lover.
In the end, King John would be brought down by his love of sex, dying from complications of syphilis. In response to John's reign, his heir Prince Edward, decided to make Ireland a country with no state religion.
4) Edward was John's second son, with the eldest predeceasing his father by several years. This was still sufficient time for Edward, who had been brought up by his mother but then trained for courthood by his father's advisors. Edward had hated the manner in which religion had creates a rift between his parents, and caused him to doubt his own abilities - and therefore be signed a bill of religious freedom. Each Irish citizen would be free to practice their own religion, free from persecution - this brought conflict with the Pope, but Edward found support from his great aunt, Queen Elizabeth of England during the Irish Primacy Scandal of 1595. Because he did not outright reject Roman Catholicism, the Pope accepted the decision of the Irish state on the agreement that Edward would pay certain taxes to the Vatican. Edward reluctantly agreed, but claimed all land as royal land and then charged the Irish monasteries rent which he used to pay the taxes.
He married Countess Anna of Nassau, a daughter of William the Silent, Prince of Orange in 1583 and they had two children before Anna died in 1588 during childbirth with their third, a daughter.
He subsequently married Maria of Saxe-Weimar in 1590 and she provided him with several children.
In 1603 when Elizabeth of England died, he was briefly considered for the English throne and considered the lead claimant by Elizabeth herself, but there were objections from the English nobility to a bastard line claiming the Crown when a legitimate claimant existed in the King of Scotland.
At any rate, he died in 1605 after catching pneumonia whilst inspecting the construction of a cathedral in Dublin, intended as the Irish Notre Dame, and his eldest daughter, Princess Margaret, took the throne.
[5] The eldest child from Edward I’s marriage to Anna of Nassau, and the first Queen of Ireland. Of the seven daughters of Edward I, Margaret would be the most ardently catholic, opposing her mothers Protestantism and her fathers own ambivalence towards the matter.
Prior to her taking the throne, the Princess would marry Infante Ferdinand of Spain, and the year of her taking the crown of Ireland, she would give birth to her first son and heir; Prince Henry of Ireland.
The first major note of her reign was the completion of the Dublin Cathedral. A massive and baroque cathedral symbolising the piety and Catholicism of Ireland. Her second action would be forcing her younger half-sisters, “The Irish Quintet” to sign away all claim to the throne of Ireland. The younger ones would agree, and be placed in small manorial homes, while the elder of the daughters of Maria of Saxe-Weimar; Maria Anna of Ireland would attempt to fight for her “claim” to the throne. The rebellion of Maria Anna was short lived, and recognised by no other government. From 1610 to 1612, the Protestant revolt would flutter around the Irish countryside, until her capture at Derry. She would be hung in Dublin, alongside the other ringleaders of the revolt. With the settling of the revolt, the reign of Margaret and her husband, who would take the title of Prince-Consort, would be secure.
For the next few years, Ireland simply recovered from the deep split in her loyalties, and another Son and two daughters would be born to the union of Margaret and Ferdinand.
Upon the death of Margaret in 1623, the house of Fitzroy would end, and the House of Hapsburg would inherit the Irish Kingdom.
[6] The Eldest son of Margaret I and Prince-Consort Ferdinand of Ireland, Henry was born in 1605. During his mothers reign, the young prince was often at his mothers side, and became a similarly devout Catholic, perhaps even more so.
In 1619, at the age of fourteen, the Crown Prince of Ireland would marry his paternal cousin; Eleanor of Austria, daughter of his fathers sister. Upon his mothers death, Henry would be crowned in the Dublin Cathedral, started by his grandfather, and he would take the dynastic name “Hapsburg-Eire”.
Between 1627 and 1646, Henry III would have 17 children by his three wives, firstly Eleanor of Austria until her death in 1631, followed by Marie of France until her death in Childbirth in 1642, and then Charlotte de Montespard, who he would take as his Morganatic wife.The rule of Henry III was a peaceful reign, with the centralisation of the Irish court, and the Colonisation of the Irish Virgin Islands, and upon his death in 1657, Henry III would be succeeded by John II.
[7] John II of Ireland was the third son of Henry III's large brood and spent much of his life never expecting to become King, he was made Duke of Ulster and was raised with the expectation of serving his eldest brother, Henry, Prince of Leinster, however when he and John's second brother Prince Adam died in a boating accident when John was 28 saw the third son thrust into the spotlight. Unmarried at that point his father arranged a marriage for his new heir, Princess Marie-Anne of Orleans, however no children were produced by this marriage.
When Henry III died, John II became a King without an heir.
While England and Scotland convulsed in the throws of the British Civil War between King Frederick Henry I, the Parliamentarians, and Scottish Dissidents, John II focused on continuing Ireland's colonial projects, and supported the arts and the promotion of native Irish culture, both at home, and in the court, he was the first Irish monarch to learn the Irish Language (the court having retained the Tudor English of the Fitzroy's), and began signing documents not as 'John' but as 'Sean'.
When Sean II's first wife died, the King tried again with a second wife, Zofia Opalińska, a Polish noblewoman, this marriage also failed to produce any children.
Giving up hope of having heirs of his own body, Sean II focused on his brothers, the majority of whom had been left as bachelors by their father due to a lack of prospects. While their Hapsburgs relatives on the continent showed signs of dying out, the next six men behind Sean II in line for the throne were married and had more success in bedroom than their brother, some sneeringly called Sean 'Dry-Seed'.
The British Civil War ground down to a brutal halt when Frederick Henry I was captured by Parliamentarians and ultimately executed, horrifying the monarchies of Europe, a collation was formed, led by Louis XIV, Sean II joined the powers of Europe in the first invasion of the British Isles since William the Conqueror. The Invasion phase of the British Civil War saw the end of the Parliamentarians as a military force, their leaders (such as Oliver Cromwell) were executed, and the Kingdom of Great Britain was divided back into the separate Kingdoms of England (under Henry IX) and Scotland (under Charles I).
Sean II then spent the remainder of his life focused on building a new royal palace, as Dublin Castle was seen by Sean as 'too modest', the Caisleán Mhanderley (Manderley Castle) would be seen as an architectural wonder, seen by contemporaries as the nearest royal palace to rival Versailles.
Sean II witnessed the completion of Manderley Castle and lived in his finest work for six months before dying childess, passing the crown to his brother, Prince Albert Phillip of Ireland, otherwise known as Phillip I of Ireland
[8] Born in 1639, the eldest of the two sons of Henry III from his marriage to Marie de France. As a Prince, he was originally destined for a Ecclesiastical career, and from 1659 until 1690 he wore the Cardinal’s hat.
In 1690 however the Prince’s world was shaken. The death of his elder brother; Prince Edward, placed Albert Phillip as the heir to the Irish crown. Receiving permission from his Holiness, he would give up the Cardinals cap, and would take a wife with both his Brothers and Papal Blessing. He would marry Cecilia of Bavaria, and in 1693, the pair would welcome their first child, Mary.
Upon his brothers death in 1701, Prince Albert Phillip would return from his estates in Rome, which he had received as a gift from his Holiness for his service, and be crowned as Phillip I of Ireland. At his crowning, he was already 61, and was known to be gout ridden.
Unlike his brother, John II, Phillip was no lover of the Irish culture, seeing it as contradictory to Catholic belief, and he would establish the Jure Successionis, placing the succession laws of Ireland in writing. The Statute stated that the Monarch of Ireland must be catholic, disregarding the sons of his fathers third and last marriage, as those individuals had been noted Protestants.
By 1719, Phillip I was Eighty years old, and dying slowly, when suddenly on the fifth of August, the King suddenly died. Rumours of murder and assassination filled the court, and the King was succeeded by Mary, Princess of Leinster.
[9] Mary was born in 1693, the eldest of three sisters, named after the Virgin Mary at her father's insistance and later used it as her regnal name, at her father's dying wishes. She was betrothed and later married to Antoine, Dauphin of France, later crowned Louis Antoine, King of France. Much like her early years on her father's estates in Italy, and her ten years in France, this meant that she spent much of her life outside of Ireland. Far from being a stranger in her own country, this made her a relative celebrity and she returned to Dublin with French fashion and cuisine to introduce to society. The major problem with Mary was her marriage - should any of her son's survive her husband, they would be made King of France, and should they survive her, it would result in a Franco-Gaelic union which many Irish nobles were not enamoured by. A movement developed that would allow the eldest child to accept France, whilst the next eldest would accept Ireland (as Hapsburg-Eire was a cadet branch, and Bourbon held seniority) but Mary resisted this, but agreed that whilst France practiced succession by the male line only, Ireland would practice male preference primogeniture and allow succession to fall on females. This was, it seemed, satisfactory for Mary's counsellors and the objections ceased.
Mary and Louis Antoine spent their time mostly separate once she became Queen, she would visit France annually but for the rest of the year, Louis Antoine would spend time with his mistresses and father, it was claimed, two dozen children between them, though he only recognised one, Antoine, Count of Paris, and attempted to convince his wife that Antoine should marry one of their youngest daughters. Mary fiercely resisted, and refused to see her husband for two years.
For her own part, Mary became enamoured with the Ambassador to Morocco and it was rumoured they developed a sexual relationship which may have resulted in a daughter. Ironically, it was rumoured that this daughter then married the Count of Paris, allowing her a presence at the French Court in the presence of her "mothers" semi estranged husband.
It was later recounted in a poem entitled "The Tale of the Two Bastards" which was subsequently adapted into a French language movie in 1995, directed by Jean Pierre Jeunet, with Keanu Reeves as the Count of Paris, and Vanessa Paradis as Mary FitzMary. Isabelle Huppert would play Queen Mary of Ireland.
After the minor scandals of her reign, Mary died aged 57 in 1750, to be succeeded by her grandnephew, Lord Alfred Fitzroy, Duke of Waterford.
Alfred I, King of Ireland (c.1751)
[10] Lord Alfred, Duke of Waterford became heir-apparent to the Irish throne in 1745, after the death of Queen Mary's younger son, Charles-Philippe, of various venereal diseases. The new heir, a young boy of 4, was at this time being raised by his great-grandmother, Hannah Beaumont, a rich Scottish Noblewoman who had married the Duke of Waterford, a cousin to the royal family from an illegitimate son King John I of Ireland. Her own son, the infamous rogue Bernard Fitzroy, had married the Irish Queen's sister, the deformed Princess Catherine, and had thus fathered Alfred's father, Richard Fitzroy. Now, the story of how Richard Fitzroy married the Princess Helene of Ireland, the only child of the deceased Sean, Prince of Leinster, and by the agreement formed between France and Ireland, heiress to the Irish throne, is a convoluted one, but essentially, the Irish court demanded that she marry domestically, and while she had other cousins, the dumpy Richard seemed the least offensive option. And so they had married, and the Fitzroy line returned. The young Princess, fiercely unhappy in her life, became pregnant quickly (possibly to her husband's cousin, another handsome rogue in the vein of Bernard Fitzroy) and died giving birth to the young Alfred. This boy, the last Irish Prince not in line for the French throne, became the Queen's heir, although she refused to grant him the title Prince of Leinster.
The Queen of Ireland took scant interest in her successor, leaving his rearing to his great-grandmother, the formidable Dowager Duchess of Waterford ("Dowager" as of 1747) and he, along with his cousins, John William Fitzroy and Cecile Marie Fitzory, grew up in the idyllic Waterford estate. He was poorly educated during this time, although he did enjoy history lessons via his grandmother, and learnt book keeping at her side. But Hannah Beaumont felt a literary education, one of languages and other such things, would fill the boy's head with nonsense. Instead, she taught him to balance a budget, to know his lineage and to expect respect from the those around him. His only peers were, in her eyes, herself and his cousins, learning at her steady hand.
His accession was simple enough. While Louis-Antoine made some pointed noises of disapproval, once his son and heir had recognised his abdication, he wasn't going to let his great-grandson's crown leave his head. Instead, the King made his first visit to Ireland in decades, for a 2 month stay that taught him that he liked the Dowager Duchess of Waterford, and he even had the King's father married to Marie Charlotte de Guise, who was probably his illegitimate daughter. Richard Fitzory would go on to father another son, before dying of a heart attack in his 30's.
The court of Dublin, having seen some relaxation under Queen Mary, found itself tightly bound by convention by the will of the Dowager Duchess, who enacted a strict schedule that her grandson would continue for the rest of his life. He arose before sunrise, and for two hours before his official "awakening ceremony", spent that time eating a light breakfast and amusing himself. Then, he would lay in bed to be awoken by his cousin, the Duke of Downshire, his heir apparent, and his great-aunt, the Princess Joan of Ireland and France (the youngest of Queen Mary's daughters, she never married after being scarred by smallpox). He was then prepared for his day with briefings, regardless of his place in government as a child, and spent the next 2-3 hours dressing. Then came a ceremonial lunch, usually with 20-50 people in attendance as the "inner court". He then attended meetings, which acted as his lessons for the day, and shortly followed by a light meal and a nap, followed by a long, ceremonial final meal, before he would open whatever nightly entertainments were being held and, depending on their importance, either stay for the opening or, most likely, be hurried off to bed. Throughout the day, he was attended by no less than 6 peers at a time, sometimes as many as 18, and he had 32 men available at any one time. The Dowager Duchess herself was always present as well, often interrupting his dressing to quiz him on numbers.
Hannah Fitzroy (previously Beaumont), Dowager Duchess of Waterford (c.1754)
What the child missed, most of all, was spontaneity and fun.
Writing to the King of France in 1754, the young boy asked if he might send word to the Dowager Duchess and allow young Alfred a chance to rest once a month, maybe even twice that. But, outside of severe illness, she was a determined woman, refusing to accept that the young man growing to adulthood in front of her might enjoy something outside of her schedule. So little did he have, in fact, that when in 1756, he did escape the court with his cousins to do some fun, he went overboard, and a young woman known to history as "the Dublin Lass" ended up dead. Little is known of the exact scenario, but it seems that the King wanted a night of passion, and either the young woman refused, or his cousin tried to prevent this from happening. Regardless, the murder was blamed on a gang and the King seems to have never attempted such frivolity again.
As he entered adulthood, he found not even his bride was to be his own choice, which while usual at the time, seems to have prevent him from marrying an Irishwoman he found desirable. Nicole Gregoria Ferrard, the daughter of Earl of Longford. Instead, he was betrothed to The Princess Victoria Douglass of Scotland, a woman 7 years his senior who he found personally repugnant for her cruel temper and "beady eyes". They would have their first child in 1760. Many more would follow.
Victoria Douglas, Queen of Ireland (c.1762)
However, as much has been written about King Alfred as a personal figure, and his personal life does become more interesting soon, it must be said that as a leader, he was a great figurehead. He knew his numbers well, did not shy away from hard work, but struggled when it came to hard decision making particularly after the influence of the Dowager Duchess ended with her death in 1763. Much has been made of the change in the King following her death, but one thing is for sure, and that is that he was very passionate about the kingdom's economy, but blind to it's needs outside of that. He knew debts needed to be paid, but refused to economize the court, instead ending works on roads and other major infrastructure. He then raised taxes
Indeed, spending on the court tripled between 1760 and 1774, partially due to the arrival of the King's children and his increasing extension of family to support. His half-brother, soon made the Duke of Kingston, who had married in 1762 a woman named Elizabeth Butler. The two would have many children, but their eldest, the Lady Hannah Fitzroy, became the King's obsession.
It's unclear how early the King fixated on his niece. She did not return to the court until 1773, around the age of 10, and by this time, he had begun an affair with an actress in her 50's, named Sarah Hillard. The first real affair he had had, they were an odd pair to have, and it has been suggested that the King loved her due to her similarities to the Dowager Duchess. If that is so, then he loved his niece for her similarities to his cousin, Cecile Marie Fitzroy, who may have become his lover during the regency, although by now she was the Duke of Savoy's lover and possibly secret second wife. So instead, he focused on the young girl, who's father was blocked in his attempts to remove her from the King's attentions. This tells us that, by the mid 1770's, he was making motions against her, and by the second half of the decade, there was definitely a romantic undertone to reports, although she would claim never to have done anything inappropriate with the King. In her own words:
"He loved me from far away, and often talked about wanted a marriage. But no matter how ardent his language, we were pure and he was afraid to even touch me."
Now, all of this would matter little in 1776, when the first stirrings of rebellion amongst the people of Ireland began. Led by a committee of 20 men and women, their original goal was simply lower taxes. But as the movement gained traction, they aimed higher. The King's head.Cities burned as they marched through Ireland, and in 1778, Dublin was under siege. The King, on a walk in the gardens, was siezed, and torn apart by his people. It was a grizzly death, and one that would effect the transition of power in a way not seen in Irish history.
The King heard of rebellion. Left to right: The Duke of Ulster, the King of Ireland, the Queen of Ireland, the Lady Hannah Fitzroy (c.1782)
[11]The eldest daughter of Prince Henry, The Duke of Leinster, Hannah Margaret was just seven years old when the Rebellion started. Prince Henry was brought before a miilitary tribunal, accused of aiding his father in "grand treason against the Irish people" despite his impassioned pleas the Prince would be killed, leaving his widow Adelaide of Savoy and his 5 daughters: Hannah Margaret (7), Mary Adelaide (5), Elizabeth Helene (3), Victoria Anna (3), and Madeleine Henrietta (1). The young princesses were seized from their mother while the Duchess, fearing her husband's fate, hightailed it to relatives in France.
Weary of killing young girls, the Irish rebels would instead act as regents for Margaret II (her other name, Hannah, being discarded for its association with Hannah Fitzroy) and her sisters. The eldest two girls, the Queen and her sister Mary Adelaide, would be forcibly married into the Irish peerage in 1789, and similar matches were planned for their younger sisters.
However, the next year became known to Irish history as the Sister's revolt. After rumors of her sister's gross unhappiness at her marital lot and rumors of more Irish matches for her sisters with men "beneath their rank and quality," the Queen and her sisters helped raise a palace coup against most of their regents, writing anonymous pamphlets about their gross mistreatment and winning the sympathy of the people and the army, who saw it their job to protect "poor ladies like our princesses". Many an Irish student has recalled Margaret's miracle; where the Queen, who had recently birthed her first child Prince Alfred, stormed into a meeting of the regents declaring "I am a girl no more. It is time for the levers of government to move to their rightful holder".
By 1790 the tenor of the Irish court changed, focused on the delightful Queen and her sisters. The youngest three were allowed prestigious royal matches: Elizabeth wedding the Crown Prince of Bavaria, Victoria the Prince of Asturias, and Madeleine the young King of Two Sicilies. Many call Margaret's reign "the court of women" as the Queen became the dominating force in politics and her marriage, with many calling her husband "The Phantom of the Isle". She even became an early advocate of family planning, deliberately spacing out her pregnancies to reduce the risk of dying in childbirth, a move which annoyed the clergy but won her admiration from the working classes.
The one fault of her reign might have been her overindulgent nature. The naturally fair Queen had keenly felt the death of her father and abandonment of her mother (who she refused to let return to Ireland after the Sister's revolt due to "leaving us in our time of gravest need") and thus overindulged her children, who were sometimes called haughty and spoiled. She was also reluctant to give up any power to her heir, Prince Alfred, perhaps a product of the regency. When Margaret II died of cancer in 1823, many admired the Queen for her bravery, but wondered if her successor would lead the royal family to revel or ruin.
[12] When Prince Alfred took the throne upon the death of his mother, the entirety of Ireland gave a collective groan of distaste and ill feeling. During his childhood, his mother, though doting and ever loving, was rarely around. His father was the main influence on the young prince, but he was anything but a proper role model. A licentious and crude man, Lord Fitzwilliam imparted many of these qualities as well as a disdain for anything approaching work of any variety in his son. Upon the Prince of Leinster's acession to the throne, he immediately began delegating his powers to various noblemen and favorites of ill stature and repute in society. In a brief 4 years, the King and his men had run the country into the mud. Ireland's economy was in ruins, the people were in uproar, and only a spark would be required to ignite civil war.
In the summer of 1827, it came. By order of the King, five noblemen (The Earl Gosford, The Viscount Mountgarret, The Lord Farnham, The Earl Cork, and The Earl Cavan) were accused of treason against the crown and hung. Their crime was to suggest that The Lord Digby be dismissed after it had been prooven that he had stolen crown funds for his own enrichment.
The nation exploded. Thousands of men rose up in arms against the King, and thousands more rose up to defend him. The king took this opportunity to label the rebels as traitors and orange protestants seeking to depose the rightful god ordained king. Before long the civil war began to revolve around abstractions of faith and politics far removed from the execution of five noblemen. Three figures rose to guide the rebellion and hone its unbridled wrath to the betterment of the nation. These principal men would become known to history as An Triumvirate Éireann, Daniel O'Connell (Earl Glandore), Hosea Guinness (Marquess Sligo), and a common lawyer by the name of Marcus Culcanon. It would be these men who rallied the common people to the cause of a government not bound by the whim of the king. For four long years they lead the fight, and at the final battle of the war, (The battle of Vinegar hill) they gave the king one last chance for amnesty. If he would submit himself to the rebels, and agree to convene a parliament of the English model, he would remain as king of Ireland. The King refused, after the battle, he was found dead, having joined in with his cavalry's last ditch assault on the rebel center.
Upon the victorious rebel's arrival in Dublin, they convened a parliament and drafted a constitution which would be agreed upon and signed into law by Henry IV, the next monarch of Ireland.
[13] Henry IV, the brother of Alfred II was born the third of Margaret II's five children, and due to her spacing out the pregnancies was nearly five years Alfred's junior. Raised in his mother's indulgent court and with little expectation of inheriting the throne, the then Prince Henry was poorly educated, his care left in the hands of an ever changing cast of courtiers, from whom Henry IV did learn one over-arching lesson that would become the theme of his life, "Say very little and smile kindly, you will be loved for it."
So while the quiet Prince largely found himself left to his own devices, he became the patron of a group of intellectuals and political theorists in Dublin that became dubbed 'the Venerable Ones', however the Prince contributed little to the group beyond royal patronage, but this group would become critical for his and the Irish Monarchy's survival in the years ahead.
In the first years of his brother's reign, the Prince was engaged to Sophie-Augusta of Saxe-Hildburghausen and married in an opulent ceremony devised by his brother the King as an excuse for debauchery. During the bedding ceremony the drunken King made 'unbecoming advances' upon his brother's newly wed wife that nearly caused a fight between the pair, this breach would not be repaired but allowed to fester and grow.
Exiled from his brother's court, the newly married 'Duke and Duchess of Ulster' retired to Classiebawn Castle and began to build their own family, which would see the birth of six children in total, though one would die in infancy.
Then his brother's mistakes led to The Irish Rising that would see the downfall of Alfred II, his death in battle, and the exile of Alfred's wife and two young children, for the successful rebels had already decided to strip Alfred II's line of their rights and pass them on to someone deemed more acceptable, the Quiet Duke of Ulster.
20th century historians would discover a series of secret correspondences between the Duke and a number of rebel leaders, several of whom came from 'the Venerable Ones' club, it revealed that the Duke could not condone rebellion against an anointed monarch but was convinced that his brother was no longer worthy of a crown, his brother's death in battle (and avoidance of any accusations of 'regicide') allowed Henry to put aside his personal worries and come to terms.
Henry IV took the Irish Crown as a 'Constitutional Monarch', a monarch bound by the law and the will of the people along with being anointed by God to represent a higher ideal, the new King and wife, self-effacing, humble, and above all else quiet and amiable were perfect for this new style of monarchy.
While the new Irish Parliament was set up and the first political parties began to emerge, the King invited the first Taoiseach (Prime Minister) to take up the reigns of the Government.
In terms of politics, Henry IV was very hands off, preferring to limit his involvement to words of encouragement to the various come-and-go ministers, serving as a shoulder to cry on, and a sounding board for their ideas.
The Irish Kingdom recovered quickly from the folly of Alfred II, even while much of Europe convulsed with revolutions and rebellions, the Holy Roman Empire collapsed under the weight of it's own contradictions, the Ottomans followed the last of the Habsburgs into extinction within a year, while other Kingdoms such as France, Scotland, and England rode out the violence and stayed intact, though a few like the Russian Empire simply tightened their grip.
In the later years of his life, Henry IV began to bring his heir, the Princess Elizabeth in on the meetings with the Taoiseach to ensure a smooth transition between one monarch and the next.
Henry IV became ill with pneumonia at age 75, he clung to life for five months with the emerging newspapers keeping the nation on tinder hooks as the King's condition was reported and commented on in a day-by-day basis, when Henry IV died the Irish nation plunged into mourning for a man whom had not just saved his family's crown, but also the nation from the violence and wars that seemed to come in waves on the continent.
Henry IV's eldest daughter and heir, Queen Elizabeth I of Ireland took the crown of a nation greatly changed by a man who spoke little, but did much by doing very little.
Queen Elizabeth in mourning for her father (1881)[14] HRH Princess Elizabeth Margaret Sophia of Ulster was never intended for the throne. Born during the revolt against her uncle, Alfred II, she was raised by her quiet father with her siblings: John, Anna, Louise, and Catherine in Dublin castle. Princess Elizabeth, or Bess as she was informally called, became well known for her charitable spirit, making semiannual visits to orphanages during her childhood to donate her gently used toys and outfits.
For many years, Elizabeth considered joining a nunnery and devoting her life to caring for the sick and injured. Two life events stopped that thought. The first was the prolonged illness of her mother, Queen Sophie, believed to be a tragic combination of Parkinson's and Dementia. The teenage Elizabeth quickly served as a nurse for her mother and is believed to have popularized the profession among women of means. Later, in 1857, her brother the Duke of Leinster died suddenly of typhoid while his wife, Irene of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, miscarried what would have been their first child.
This left the 26-year-old spinster Elizabeth as heiress presumptive to the throne. She was married off to her cousin Phillip of Connaught in order to retain the dynastic name, but the marriage would suffer due to lack of chemistry. The Queen was completely uninterested in romantic relationships, calling them "useless and distracting". Elizabeth, who would today be termed asexual, only married because her father feared a personal union with Portugal from her sister Anna's marriage to the Crown Prince. In response to her marital distress came the popular saying "lie back and think of Ireland", symbolized by the Queen's three children Edward, Prince of Leinster, Phillip, Duke of Ulster, Princess Mary of Ireland (and Queen of France), and twins Prince Henry, Duke of Meath and Princess Sophia of Ireland (became a nun).
Upon her ascension, Elizabeth became best known as "the Angel of the Battlefield" for her daring decision to visit troops in the Crimea. The move wasn't out of left-field, as during her time as heiress to the throne, Princess Elizabeth had volunteered at veteran's hospitals under the name Bess Fitzwilliam. However, troops were shocked and delighted to see the Queen near the battlefield due to her age and position. After viewing field condition, she's credited with encouraging Parliament to invest in modernizing field hospitals, even creating awards for the best doctors and hospitals in Ireland.
When the Queen died after 20 years on the throne, she had won the admiration of many around her, which only grew after the publishing of her will. While many family heirlooms remained with her children, much of her private fortune was donated to hospitals, charities, orphanages, and other such entities. She also donated several of the family palaces and castles, most notably Cabra Castle and Dungiven Castle, with the purpose of using the buildings for schools, hospitals, and orphanages. Many hoped her heir Edward II, would continue the Queen's good work.
[15] Edward II of Ireland was born from the cold, clinical marriage of the (then) Princess Elizabeth of Ireland and Phillip of Connaught (made a Prince during Elizabeth's first pregnancy to insure their children were born royal), during the long rule of King Henry IV of Ireland. Born with the expectation of one day being monarch, Henry IV arranged for the best education for his grandson, even while Elizabeth pushed against her own dispassionate nature to bear several more children to prevent a possible personal union with Portugal.
Edward's interests quickly moved to martial, though he did not neglect the other (duller) aspects of his education, from an early age he expressed interest in fighting on the field, for much of continental Europe was at war due to the fall of the Holy Roman and Ottoman Empires, new nations were emerging from the wreckage, and others sought to take advantage even while suffering from internal problems themselves.
Many Irishmen formed 'Volunteer Units' for these wars that were in truth mercenary bands in all but name. However Ireland did official join a few of the wars, most notable the campaign in Crimea to prevent further Russian annexations in which Edward's mother, Queen Elizabeth personally appeared for her charity work.
However Edward II would never experience his dream of serving on the field of battle, as being the heir to the throne he was deemed too valuable to risk.
Instead while his two younger brother's both served the Irish Army, his sister Princess Mary was wed to the heir to the French throne, and Princess Sophie was allowed to enter a nunnery.
To distract the irritated heir, King Henry IV arranged for Edward to marry Princess Theodora Cacoyannis, the daughter of Emperor Constantine XII of the 'Restored' Eastern Roman Empire, due to Theodora being Eastern Orthodox the Pope had to lift the normal restrictions against a Catholic/Orthodox match that existed in the Henrian/Elizabethan Era(s), but there were few voices of dissent.
Despite the religious differences, Edward's marriage to Theodora Cacoyannis would prove a happy one, producing three children, Séan, Margaret, and Henrietta.
Due to taking the throne at an older age, the Queen kept Edward, Prince of Leinster at her side, like her father before her making the heir her unofficial partner and personal secretary, working to ensure that the heir would be ready to take the throne.
Upon his ascention to the throne and discovering his mother's will, the new Edward II suddenly found himself a King with few resources, he was forced to ask the Irish Parliament to increase the royal pension to cover the expenses of the crown, which detonated the first major political controversy invovling the monarchy in the 20th century.
The problem of 'the King's Troubles' ended in an unusual way when the last Duke of Connaught died in a drunken driving accident in 1902, leaving the title and the large Connaught fortune to the crown, allowing Parliament and the King to quietly drop the matter of increasing the royal pension.
During the reign of Edward II a period of quiet fell upon Europe, the former HRE was divided mainly between the Prussian Empire and the Austro-Bavarian Empire, Hungary was an independent republic, the new Eastern Roman Empire had defeated the last of the Turkish Warlords in Anatolia, however had failed to defeat the Yugoslavian Empire (consisting of RL Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Romania) leaving the possibility of further war open.
In Western Europe the revolutionary waves had failed, with the exception of Spain that saw the creation of the infamously corrupt 'Spanish Republic' that had already been overthrown in turn and the Spanish Monarchy restored by Edward II's reign.
In Edward II's reign 'The Peace' held, seeing the rise of a wave of hedonism and the first of what would be called 'youth culture', which the King hated and officially ban it's vestiges from the court during the duration of his reign.
Despite this the King continued his mother's policy of royal association with charity, though he focused more on Royal apperances and patronage, and brought more varity in his support of charitable causes. In additon to working quietly and behind the scenes with the government of the day.
However Edward was a heavy smoker and the stress of being King exaserbated his habit, leading to him dying of a then rare illness, lung cancer at age 61, leaving the crown to his eldest daughter, Margaret.
Queen Margaret (1903-1981) with her husband, Prince Alain de Rohan of BrittanyIn 1928, after King Edward’s death, the Irish throne would pass to his eldest daughter, Margaret, who at the time was only 25 years old. She would reign until she abdicated in 1970, at the age of 67, in favour of her nephew, Alexander. Born in Constantinople, she always had a close relationship with her mother’s homeland and spoke fluent Greek. She was originally not meant to accede to the throne- rather, her brother Séan was supposed to have become king, but after Séan’s death in a plane crash in 1926, she was declared crown princess. Almost immediately after her ascension to the throne, her distant relative, Queen Charlotte of France, was assassinated by a supporter of her uncle, Francis, who would rule under Salic law (which was abolished in France in 1919) and France plunged into chaos. In Brittany, local nationalists officially declared independence. Some months later, the Dublin Conference was held amongst the Celtic powers- The Kingdoms of Ireland and Scotland, the Lordship of Baltimore, and the Republic of Newfoundland. They crowned a local nobleman-Charles de Rohan-the new king of Brittany as Charles II. Shortly after, a marriage between Margaret and Charles’ younger son, Alain, was held in order to strengthen ties between the two Celtic nations.
Margaret’s reign also saw a large-scale local rebellion amongst the Protestants of Ulster. This resulted in Taoiseach Éamon De Valera’s suspension of Parliament for 31 days in 1932 due to internal conflict, and the queen gaining absolute power. This ended quickly and led to De Valera’s brief resignation, before his reelection the next year. The Ulster conflict lasted until 2002, when a ceasefire was declared.
Meanwhile in the Russian Empire, a Jacobin revolution led to the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II. The Tsar would eventually spend his last days in Copenhagen, while one of his children would marry into the Irish royal family. While the revolution was not terribly bloody, it did create tension in Ireland.
Queen Margaret, however, is quite revered in Ireland, due to her humane figure- she was heavily concerned with the cause of the environment- her environmental protection schemes are one of the few reasons the Irish wolf is still extant-as well as the fact that she played a crucial part in founding the Celtic League in 1950 to promote Celtic culture and relations between the Celtic nations.
In 1966, she was diagnosed with lung cancer, and in 1970, abdicated in favour of her nephew, Alexander. She spent the rest of her days in Constantinople, where she died in 1981.
Grand Duke-Prince Alexander during the reign of his Aunt, Margaret III
[17] Grand Duke Alexander Alexeiovich Romanov was the eldest son of Tsarevich Alexei of Russia and his Irish wife Mary (known to Russian Monarchists as Maria Feodorovna). When it became clear his aunt Margaret would not be producing children, the fortunes of Alexander and his brother Paul vastly improved. They were not the children of a pretender, but the heir to an actual throne. As Alexander had initially been raised in both Catholic and Orthodox rites, at 13 he was officially confirmed in the Catholic Church, leaving his Russian claim to his brother Paul.
The young boys had been orphaned shortly after Alexander's 14th birthday. Their father, a hemophiliac, had died after a particularly bad bleed following the wedding of their Aunt Victoria, while their mother passed away of ovarian cancer. While their paternal grandparents, Nicholas II and Alexandra, had fought to raise them, in the end the Queen won custody, reportedly saying "the Russians have lost their throne, I will not let them lose mine". Margaret and Alain adopted the two boys, and have them take Fitzroy-Romanov as their surname (the latter a nod to their father, who the Queen had liked).
Prince Alexander served in the Irish Army upon this majority, taking the fake name Alexander Beaumont, so he could keep anonymity. While stationed in Ulster, Alexander would meet Caitriona Kennedy, an intelligent shopgirl in a bakery who was an Irish loyalist. She would often slip the soldiers extra bread and sweets as gifts, with particulars attention to Sargent Beaumont.
While many describe Alexander as desperately in love with "his Cait", he knew his aunt would never let him marry a commoner. Instead, he brought Miss Kennedy to Dublin, where the pair would conduct a decades-long affair, resulting in the birth of three children: Mary, Madeleine, and Michael. The three children were given the surname Beaumont, in reference to the King's army name, and were often treated to secret visits by their father.
While in Constantinople for the wedding of his brother Paul to Princess Elena of Greece, Alexander was introduced to Alain's niece, Princess Alix of Brittany. The two were pushed together to re-up the Breton-Irish alliance after the childlessness of the Queen and her consort. The two were married in 1966, when the Crown Prince was 36 and his wife had just turned 19. Among those in the audience was Cait Kennedy, with her youngest child Michael serving as a pageboy.
Alexander and Alix would have three children of their own Henry (1966), Margaret (1968), and Alfred (1975). The birth of two children would convince Margaret it was time to abdicate the throne in favor of the new generation. While the Breton Queen would not prove popular (she was accused of being of continental in her manners) the clear incompatibility in her marriage and her love for her children would win her sympathy. One place where the royal couple most violently clashed was the Ulster problem, as Alix saw most of those in Ulster as violent dissidents who needed to be stopped at any cost, while Alexander was much more sympathetic with the Ulster plight (likely due to Miss. Kennedy's influence).
The great crisis of Alexander's reign came in 1977 when Mr. Conor Murdock came to the Irish Times with a story they couldn't refuse. Mr. Murdock was the recent ex-boyfriend of Madeleine Beaumont and, apparently frustrated with the breakup, told the paper that his ex-girlfriend and her siblings were the King's illegitamite children, and their mother was still in an intimate relationship with the King. This was validated with photographs Murdock stole from the Kennedy-Beaumont house, showing the King's relationship with the children and their mother. Many were shocked that the King would continue on in such a manner, calling it 'against God's commandments'. The Queen was outraged, and only her strict Catholicism would stop her from persueing a divorce. Initially, it appeared the King would deny the issue, only acknowledging it through regular photos of him seeking confession, but eventually public pressure mounted where he confirmed his affair and family with Cait Kennedy, and gave the Kennedy-Beaumont kids the option to use the surname Fitzroy.
In 1986 after a routine blood tranfusion to treat the Queen's anemia, it was discovered the Queen had been affected with HIV. Seeing such a prominent figure contract the disease served to de-stigmatize the diagnosis (originally thought to be limited to drug addicts and homosexuals). The King also won back some popularity after nursing his wife through the illnesss and generally coralling their young family through the difficult time. When the Queen eventually succumbed in 1999, the King thought of abdicating and handing oover the Crown to a new generation. However his beloved Cait encouraged him to see through the end of the Ulster issue, eventually leading the Belfast ceasefire talks in 2002. The next year he would abdicate in favor of his son, Henry, retiring to the countryside as Prince Alexander. Within a month of his abdication saw an event 50 years in the making, as he married Cait Kennedy, making her Princess Caitroina. The two would live until 2019, when the pair would die within three weeks of eachother. Prince Alexander would be burried next to his first wife, Alix, in Dublin while Cait would be cremated and burried in Alexander's coffin.
1) Prince Alfred, (28 y.o.) who'd married a Romanov cousin but had yet not produced heirs.
2) Princess Margaret, his sister (35 y.o.). She'd married a second cousin descended from Edward II, Ian O'Connell.
3) Prince James "Jamie" O'Connell (8 y.o.), Margaret's second child.
4) Princess Mary Brigitte O'Connell (12 y.o.), Margaret's first child.
Finally in 2018, with his parents, siblings, and by then five nieces and nephews, the King did marry to his life long partner, known to be his partner by those close to him and suspected so by the rest of the world, Sean Gallagher, a descendent of Alfred I on his mother's side. Sean was named Prince Sean.
Although the Irish Parliament had legalized same sex marriage only days previous to the announcement of the King's pending marriage, the Church, of course, had not. So the ceremony was a secular one, officiated by the Prime Minister.
Other notable events during the reign of Henry V were the formal legalization of abortion in 2009, which had been unofficially allowed for years with no enforcement of the anti-abortion laws, and the restoration of the Russian monarchy in 2012 with the King's cousin, Peter IV Romanov, being crowned in St. Petersburg as Tsar in a Constitutional Monarcy. The King and his family, including Sean Gallagher, then just known as the King's friend, attended the coronation.
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What if James IV of Scotland (House of Stewart) had married Maria of Aragon instead of Margaret Tudor of England, daugher and sister to kings. Thus the crowns of Scotland and England would not eventually unite, nor Scotland and England eventually become the United Kingdom?
1488 - 1513: James IV (House of Stewart)
1513 - 1566: James V (House of Stewart) [1]
James V
[1] In the year 1500, King James IV of Scotland, House of Stewart, married the Infanta Maria of Aragon, daughter of King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile. She was 18 and he was 27. Therir firstborn, named after his father, was born in 1501. He was partially raised in the Higlands by Alexander Gordon, 3rd Earl of Huntly, and Sherrif of Inverness, which he was made in 1500. Gordon was the righthand man of the King in securing the north and west and he was trusted with helping raise the Prince. James IV wanted to insure that his son was not seen as Spanish, but as a true Scotsman, and thus the sending him to Inerness every summer from the age of four until his majority. When the King died in 1513 in battle with England, Gordon became co-Regent with Queen Maria, and sole regent when shortly after that she married Manuel of Portugual.
James V, House of Stewart, always considered himself a Highlander and was beloved by the clans. In 1519 he ended the regency and married Gordon's granddaughter, Jean Campbell, keeping Gordon as an advisor until the older man's death five years later.
Scotland was constantly at war with England during the reign of James, both during the Regency of the Earl of Huntly and when James came of age. Border skirmishes and outright wars breaking out were common. Finally in 1543 the Scottish forces won a decisive victory against the English at the Battle of Solway Moss. Afterwards a peace was enacted between James and his young cousin, King Henry IX, of England. The borders that were negotiated remain the borders between the two British kingdoms until this day. (Yep, Mary I Tudor is instead male and succeeds his father sooner.)
The final battle between England and Scotland was noteworthy in that England was securely Catholic with King Henry IX continuing his father's role as "Defender of the Faith," that is the Catholic Faith, while Scotland was more and more becoming Presbyterian and James himself 'reformed' in 1542 becoming Presbyterian. Quickly after that the entire country converted. James identified with the Highlander Presbyterians over the lowland Catholics. The battle was an attempt by England to force Scotland to at least remain Catholic in the lowlands. Many of those lowlander Catholics fled to England after the victory of Solway Moss and the realization that Scotland was not going to give up the Reformation.
James died in his sleep at the age of 65 after complaining of headaches the night before He was survived by his wife, his children, and a country secure in its Independence, its Presbtyerianism, and its Gaelic heritage.
1488 - 1513: James IV (House of Stewart)
1513 - 1566: James V (House of Stewart) [1]
James V
[1] In the year 1500, King James IV of Scotland, House of Stewart, married the Infanta Maria of Aragon, daughter of King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile. She was 18 and he was 27. Therir firstborn, named after his father, was born in 1501. He was partially raised in the Higlands by Alexander Gordon, 3rd Earl of Huntly, and Sherrif of Inverness, which he was made in 1500. Gordon was the righthand man of the King in securing the north and west and he was trusted with helping raise the Prince. James IV wanted to insure that his son was not seen as Spanish, but as a true Scotsman, and thus the sending him to Inerness every summer from the age of four until his majority. When the King died in 1513 in battle with England, Gordon became co-Regent with Queen Maria, and sole regent when shortly after that she married Manuel of Portugual.
James V, House of Stewart, always considered himself a Highlander and was beloved by the clans. In 1519 he ended the regency and married Gordon's granddaughter, Jean Campbell, keeping Gordon as an advisor until the older man's death five years later.
Scotland was constantly at war with England during the reign of James, both during the Regency of the Earl of Huntly and when James came of age. Border skirmishes and outright wars breaking out were common. Finally in 1543 the Scottish forces won a decisive victory against the English at the Battle of Solway Moss. Afterwards a peace was enacted between James and his young cousin, King Henry IX, of England. The borders that were negotiated remain the borders between the two British kingdoms until this day. (Yep, Mary I Tudor is instead male and succeeds his father sooner.)
The final battle between England and Scotland was noteworthy in that England was securely Catholic with King Henry IX continuing his father's role as "Defender of the Faith," that is the Catholic Faith, while Scotland was more and more becoming Presbyterian and James himself 'reformed' in 1542 becoming Presbyterian. Quickly after that the entire country converted. James identified with the Highlander Presbyterians over the lowland Catholics. The battle was an attempt by England to force Scotland to at least remain Catholic in the lowlands. Many of those lowlander Catholics fled to England after the victory of Solway Moss and the realization that Scotland was not going to give up the Reformation.
James died in his sleep at the age of 65 after complaining of headaches the night before He was survived by his wife, his children, and a country secure in its Independence, its Presbtyerianism, and its Gaelic heritage.