[Sidenote: Surrender of Cloughoughter, April 27.]
In the same month of February fighting continued in West Cork and Kerry among the O'Sullivans and O'Driscolls, some of whom took up arms after their inclusion in the Muskerry articles; and there were still a few desperate men for the garrisons of Cork and Limerick to hunt. But the last stronghold was the island in Lough Oughter, where Bedell had died in the first year of the war. In February, Colonel Barrow came to the lake, burned some of the defenders' boats 'with a fiery float,' and their corn with incendiary missiles, but had the ill luck to be captured himself and held to ransom. This was probably the work of some loose band which remained in arms after the capitulation of the garrison at the end of April. The articles concluded were between Sir Theophilus Jones and Philip O'Reilly on behalf of himself and the other Ulster chiefs still remaining under arms. The terms were much the same as had been granted in other recent cases, and included liberty to make terms with the Spanish recruiting agents. Priests and others in Roman orders were given a month to leave the country, on condition that they did not exercise their function during the interval. Those guilty of murder, whether lay or cleric, were as usual excluded, and a murderer was specially defined as one 'who had actually a hand in a particular murder or did command the same, or was present when a particular murder was committed by persons under his command by his order.' It was no murder to have killed a man in fight in the open field at any time since the beginning of the war.[242]
Mountjoy had long since proved that the way to subdue Ireland was to destroy the means of subsistence. As one of the Commissioners of Parliament, Colonel Jones was of opinion that no lasting peace could be made 'but by removing all heads of septs and priests and men of knowledge in arms, or otherwise in repute, out of this land, and breaking all kinds of interest among them, and by laying waste all fast countries in Ireland, and suffer no mankind to live there but within garrisons,' adding that declarations were about to issue for laying waste all Kerry and Wicklow, and portions--in some instances the greater part--of seventeen other counties. This was written shortly before the surrender of Cloughoughter, and after that the guerrilla warfare degenerated into mere brigandage. We are not to suppose that the whole ruthless programme was carried out; but no doubt the facts were bad enough. Ludlow was Jones's colleague, and he speaks of the 'poor wasted country of Ireland,' adding that the Irish had always exhausted the land by bad cultivation, and of late worse than ever, 'being in daily apprehensions of being removed.' Not long afterwards Petty found the people living on potatoes, and the cultivation of that dangerous root must have been stimulated by the confusion of the past twelve years. It was then and for many years later the practice to dig out the tubers just as they were wanted. Such a crop could not well be carried away or destroyed, and if the sowers escaped the sword they would find something to eat for nine months out of the twelve; while corn could be easily cut or burned, and cattle still more easily driven off. The famine caused by war and by the destruction of food in districts not under protection was accompanied by the plague, which was rife in Galway and many other places. 'It fearfully broke out in Cashel,' says Jones, 'the people being taken suddenly with madness, whereof they die instantly; twenty died in that manner in three days in that little town.' Dublin did not escape. 'About the years 1652 and 1653,' says Colonel Lawrence, who had every opportunity of judging, 'the plague and famine had swept away whole countries that a man might travel twenty or thirty miles and not see a living creature, either man, beast, or bird, they being either all dead or had quit those desolate places.' He had himself seen starving wretches pick carrion out of a ditch, and had heard of cases in which human flesh was eaten. Wolves increased enormously, and rewards were given for their heads.[243]