With the exception of the city of Galway (a walled city of stately homes and prosperous merchants), western Ireland has been described as a wild and desolate land during this time, with few trading commodities and little industry. In 1502, fishing was the dominant industry on the west coast. Recognised internationally for abundant cod, hake and herring, the coastline attracted fishing fleets from as far as Spain.[1]
In a period characterised by individual power struggles and frequent conflict between neighbouring clans, Clanricarde had experienced decades of stability brought by Ulick Ruadh Burke and Ulick Fionn Burke.[2]
In October 1502, records show Sir William Darcy of Platten, the newly appointed receiver general of King Henry VII's revenues (collected in Meath, Louth, Dublin, Kildare and Drogheda), presented his accounts to barons at the exchequer table. Revenue amounted to £1,110 - just half of that estimated by Hattecliffe as leviable. Commentators suggest the Lord Deputy (Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare) was taking a substantial share of the revenues. Kildare was renowned for spending the revenues at his pleasure during this time.[3]
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| See also: | Other events of 1502 List of years in Ireland | ||||
Events from the year 1502 in Ireland.
- ^ Lough, Susan M. (1916). "Trade and Industry in Ireland in the Sixteenth Century" (PDF). Journal of Political Economy. 24 (7): 713–730. doi:10.1086/252861. JSTOR 1820319. S2CID 154502793.
- ^ Cosgrove, Art (2008-11-06). A New History of Ireland, Volume II: Medieval Ireland 1169-1534. OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-156165-8.
- ^ Cosgrove, Art (2008-11-06). A New History of Ireland, Volume II: Medieval Ireland 1169-1534. OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-156165-8.