John Norreys

Early life

The eldest son of Henry Norreys by his marriage to Marjorie Williams, Norreys was born at Yattendon Castle. His paternal grandfather had been executed after being found guilty of adultery with Queen Anne Boleyn, the mother of Queen Elizabeth. His maternal grandfather was John Williams, Lord Williams of Thame.

Norreys' great uncle had been a guardian of the young Elizabeth, who was well acquainted with the family. She had stayed at Yattendon Castle on her way to imprisonment at Woodstock. The future Queen was a great friend of Norreys' mother, whom she nicknamed "Black Crow" on account of her jet black hair. Norreys inherited his mother's hair colour so that he was known as "Black Jack" by his troops.

Norreys grew up with five brothers, several of whom were to serve alongside him during Elizabeth's wars. He may briefly have attended Magdalen College, Oxford.

In 1566, Norreys' father was posted as English ambassador to France, and in 1567, when he was about nineteen, Norreys and his elder brother William were present at the Battle of Saint Denis. They drew a map of the battle which formed part of their father's report to the Queen.

Early military career

When his father was recalled from France in January 1571, Norreys stayed behind and developed a friendship with the new ambassador, Francis Walsingham. In 1571, Norreys served as a volunteer under Admiral Coligny, fighting on the Huguenot side during the French Wars of Religion.

Two years later, Norreys served as a captain under Sir Walter Devereux, recently created first Earl of Essex, who was attempting to establish a plantation in the Irish province of Ulster as part of the Enterprise of Ulster, from a base at Belfast. He supported his elder brother William, Essex's chief lieutenant, who was in command of a troop of a hundred horse which had been recruited by their father, then serving as Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire. William was the first of Essex's commanders to be ambushed by Irish forces and when his horse was killed under him, near Massereene, east of Lough Neagh, John saved his brother from being slain. The Earl praised their actions in a letter to the queen.

While in Ulster Norreys took part in the arrest of Sir Brian McPhelim O'Neill, Chief of the Name of Clan O'Neill and Lord of Lower Clandeboye, and what has become known as the Clandeboye massacre. Lord Essex hosted The O'Neill and his clansmen at a banquet held at Belfast in October 1574. The O'Neill reciprocated by hosting Essex and his followers at a feast of his own, which lasted for three days; but on the third day, Norreys and his men slaughtered over 200 of O'Neill's unarmed clansmen. Essex took Sir Brian, his wife and others to Dublin where they were later executed.

When Lord Essex entered County Antrim, it was to Rathlin Island that the Scots Highlanders of Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg led by Somhairle Buidhe MacDonnell sent their wives and children, their aged and sick, for safety. Lord Essex, knowing that the Scots refugees were still on the island, sent orders to Norreys, who was in command at Carrickfergus, to take a company of soldiers with him, cross over to Rathlin Island, and kill everyone he could find. Norreys had brought cannon with him, so that the weak defences were speedily destroyed after a fierce assault in which several of the garrison were killed. The Scots were obliged to surrender with no quarter and all fell victim to the Rathlin Island Massacre, except the chief and his family, who were reserved for ransom. The death toll was two hundred. Then it was discovered that several hundred more, chiefly women and children, had been hidden in the caves about the shore, all of them were massacred, too.

Return to Ireland

In March 1584, Norreys departed the Low Countries and was sent to Ireland in the following July, where he was appointed Lord President of Munster (at this time, his brother Edward was stationed there). Norris urged the Plantation of Munster with English Puritans (an aim adopted in the following years), but the situation proved so unbearably miserable that many of his soldiers deserted him for the Low Countries.

In September 1584 Norreys accompanied the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Sir John Perrot, and the earl of Ormonde into Ulster. The purpose, once again, was to dislodge the Highlander Scots of Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg, who, led by Somhairle Buidhe MacDonnell, had migrated into both the Route and the Glens of Antrim. Norreys helped rustle fifty thousand head of cattle from the woods of Glenconkyne in order to starve the Highlanders of their means of sustenance. The campaign was unsuccessful, as what is now called the Clan MacDonald of Antrim simply regrouped in Kintyre before crossing back to Ireland after the lord deputy had withdrawn south. Norreys returned to Munster, where he become unintentionally important to the history and martyrology of the Catholic Church in Ireland.

In April 1585, the jailer at Clonmel, County Tipperary was bribed by Victor White, a leading townsman, to release imprisoned Roman Catholic priest Fr. Muiris Mac Ionrachtaigh for one night to say Mass and administer Holy Communion inside White's house on Easter Sunday (11 April 1585). Permission was granted and Fr. MacKenraghty spent the whole night hearing Confessions.

The jailer, however, had secretly tipped off Lord President of Munster Sir John Norreys, who had just arrived at Clonmel. According to historian James Coombes, "Norris (sic) arranged to have White's house surrounded by soldiers and raided. The raiding party entered it shortly before Mass was due to begin and naturally caused great panic. Some people tried to hide in the basement; others jumped through the windows; one woman broke her arm in an attempt to escape. The priest hid in a heap of straw and was wounded in the thigh by the probing sword of a soldier. Despite the pain, he remained silent and later escaped. The soldiers dismantled the altar and seized the sacred vessels."

Meanwhile, Victor White was arrested and threatened with execution unless he revealed where Fr. Muiris Mac Ionrachtaigh could be arrested. Upon hearing of the situation, Fr. Mac Ionrachtaigh sent an emissary to speak to White. Despite White's pleas that he preferred to lose his own life rather than have Fr. Mac Ionrachtaigh come to harm, the priest insisted upon giving himself up and was again thrown into Clonmel Gaol.

Anglo-Spanish War

Upon news of the siege of Antwerp, Norreys urged support for the Dutch Protestants and, transferring the presidency of Munster to his brother, Thomas, he rushed to London in May 1585 to prepare for a campaign in the Low Countries. In August, he commanded an English army of 4400 men which Elizabeth had sent to support the States General against the Spaniards, in accordance with the Treaty of Nonsuch. He gallantly stormed a fort near Arnhem; the queen, however, was unhappy at this aggression. Still, his army of untried English foot did repulse the Duke of Parma in a day-long fight at Aarschot and remained a threat, until supplies of clothing, food and money ran out. His men suffered an alarming mortality rate without support from home, but the aura of invincibility attaching to the Spanish troops had been dispelled, and Elizabeth finally made a full commitment of her forces to the States General.

In December 1585, the Earl of Leicester arrived with a new army and accepted the position of Governor-General of the Low Countries, as England went into open alliance. During an attack on Parma, Norreys received a pike wound in the breast, then managed to break through to relieve Grave, the last barrier to the Spanish advance into the north; Leicester knighted him for this victory during a great feast at Utrecht on St George's Day, along with his brothers Edward and Henry. But the Spanish were soon admitted to Grave by treachery, and Norreys advised against Leicester's order to have the traitor beheaded, apparently because he was in love with the traitor's aunt.

The two commanders quarrelled for the rest of the campaign, which turned out a failure. Leicester complained that Norreys was like the Earl of Sussex in his animosity. His main grievance, though, was the corruption of Norreys' uncle, the campaign's treasurer. Leicester's urgings to recall both Norreys and his uncle, were resisted by the Queen. Norreys continued his good service and was ordered by Leicester to protect Utrecht in August 1586. The operation did not go smoothly because Leicester had omitted to put Sir William Stanley under Norreys' command. Norreys joined with Stanley in September in the Battle of Zutphen, in which Sir Philip Sidney - commanding officer over Norreys' brother, Edward, who was lieutenant in the governorship of Flushing - was fatally wounded. At an officers' supper, Edward took offence at some remarks by Sir William Pelham, marshal of the army, which he thought reflected on the character of his older brother, and an argument with the Dutch host flared up, with Leicester having to mediate between the younger Norreys and his host to prevent a duel.

Return to Ulster

Norreys was selected as the military commander under the new lord deputy of Ireland, Sir William Russell, in April 1595. The waspish Russell had been governor of Flushing, but the two men were on bad terms. Sir Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex had wanted his men placed as Russell's subordinates, but Norreys rejected this and was issued with a special patent that made him independent of the lord deputy's authority in Ulster. It was expected that the terror of the reputation he had gained in combatting the Spanish would be sufficient to cause the rebellion to collapse.

Norreys arrived at Waterford in May 1595, but was struck with malaria on disembarking. In June, he set out from Dublin with 2,900 men and artillery, with Russell trailing him through Dundalk. After flourishing his letters patent at Drogheda upon the proclamation of Aodh Mór Ó Néill, Chief of the Name of Clan O'Neill and Lord of Tír Eoghain, as guilty of high treason, Norreys made his headquarters at Newry and fortified Armagh cathedral. On learning that artillery was stored at Newry, O'Neill dismantled his stronghold at Dungannon castle and entered the field. Norreys camped his troops along the River Blackwater, while Clan O'Neill roamed the far bank; a ford was secured but no crossing was attempted because there was no harvest to destroy and a raid within enemy territory would have been futile.

So long as Russell was with the army, Norreys refused to assume full responsibility, which prompted the lord deputy to return to Dublin in July 1595, leaving his commander a free hand in the conquest of Ulster. But already, Norreys had misgivings: he thought the task impossible without reinforcements and accused Russell of thwarting him and of concealing from the London government the imperfections of the army. He informed the queen's secretary, Sir William Cecil, that the Ulster Clans were far superior in strength, arms and munitions to any he had previously encountered, and that the English needed commensurate reinforcement.

So quickly did the situation deteriorate, that Norreys declined to risk marching his troops 10 miles through the Moyry Pass, from Newry to Dundalk, choosing instead to move them by sea; but in a blow to his reputation, Russell confounded him later that summer by brazenly marching up to the Blackwater with little difficulty. More troops were shipped into Ireland, and the companies were ordered to take on 20 Irishmen apiece, which was admitted to be risky. But Norreys still complained that his units were made up of poor old ploughmen and rogues.

Death

Norreys returned to Munster to serve as president, but his health was fragile and he soon sought leave to give up his responsibilities. He complained that he had "lost more blood in her Majesty's service than any he knew". At his brother's house in Mallow, he developed gangrene, owing to poor treatment of old wounds, and was also suffering from a settled melancholia over the disregard by the crown of his 26 years’ service. On 3 September 1597 he went up to his chamber, where he died in the arms of his brother Thomas.

It was generally supposed that his death was caused by a broken heart. Another version, recounted by Philip O'Sullivan Beare, states that a servant boy, on seeing Norreys go into the chamber in the company of a shadowy figure, had listened at the door and heard the soldier enter a pact with the Devil. At midnight the pact was enforced, and on breaking in the door the next morning the frightened servants found that Norreys' head and upper chest were facing backwards.

Norreys' body was embalmed, and the queen sent a letter of condolence to his parents, who had by now lost several of their sons in the Irish service. He was interred in Yattendon Church, Berkshire) - a monument there has his helmet hanging above - and his effigy (portrait by Zucchero, engraved by J. Thane.) was placed on the Norreys monument in Westminster Abbey.

Legacy

In 1600, during the course of the Nine Years' War, Sir Charles Blount, Lord Mountjoy, the commander who eventually defeated Tyrone, built a double-ditch fort between Newry and Armagh, which he named Mountnorris in honour of Norreys. It was built on a round earthwork believed to have been constructed by the Norse-Gaels on a site that Norreys had once considered in the course of his northern campaign.

Mountjoy referred to Norreys as his tutor in war, and took note of his former understanding that Gaelic Ireland was not to be brought under the control of the Crown except by force and large permanent garrisons. Norreys' conduct at the start of the Nine Years' War, however, suggests a mellowing during his maturity. The aggressive Earl of Essex – an equally ill-fated hero of the people – also chose to negotiate with Hugh Mór O'Neill, Lord of Tír Eoghain, and it was Norreys' original tactics that eventually succeeded in destroying the Irish clan system under Lord Mountjoy.

The most significant legacy of Norreys' long military career lay in his support of the Dutch revolt against the Habsburg forces, and later in keeping King Henri IV from having to concede the political independence of the Duchy of Brittany to Breton Catholic League leader Philippe Emmanuel, Duke of Mercœur, who had the military backing of Habsburg Spain.

In addition to his role in the destruction of both the Irish clans and Gaelic Ireland, the legacy of Norreys to Irish history was further cemented when the Roman Catholic priest he condemned to death and executed at Clonmel in 1585, Fr. Muiris Mac Ionrachtaigh, was beatified by Pope John Paul II, alongside 16 other Irish Catholic Martyrs of the Reformation in Ireland, on 27 September 1992.

Family

Norreys never married, and he had no children.

Norreys is pronounced "Norr-iss".