Murrough O'Brien, 1st Earl of Inchiquin - Exile in France

Exile in France

Charles II was at this time in Holland, and Inchiquin was called upon to defend himself against many charges brought by Sir Lewis Dyve, but soon withdrawn as without foundation. Charles investigated the matter at Paris after his escape from Worcester, and on 2 April 1652 wrote himself to Inchiquin to declare his confidence in him. On 11 May he was made one of the royal council, "of whose company," Edward Hyde wrote, "I am glad; who is, in truth, a gallant gentleman of good parts and great industry, and a temper fit to struggle with the affairs on all sides that we are to contend with". But neither the Queenmother Henrietta Maria, Jermyn, nor Wilmot, Earl of Rochester liked the new appointment. In 1653 Inchiquin sought the command of all Irish soldiers in France; but this was opposed by the Irish clergy, who told the nuncio that he was a "murderer of priests, friars, and such like"; but he had either one or two regiments under him. In May 1654 he received the earldom which he had spurned ten years before. At this time the exiled king's council consisted of eleven persons, divided into two parties. The majority consisted of Ormonde, Rochester, Percy, Inchiquin, Taafe, and Hyde, who controlled the whole policy. Henrietta Maria, the Duke of York, Rupert, the Duke of Buckingham, and Jermyn were the minority.

In October 1653 Inchiquin shipped his regiment from Marseilles, and it was destroyed in Henry, Duke of Guise's expedition to Naples. He himself went to Catalonia, where he became governor of the districts which still adhered to France, and occupied himself with some success in seducing Irish soldiers from the Spanish to the French service. He was back at Paris early in 1655, Charles II being then resident at Cologne.

Inchiquin remained at Paris, or near it, till the summer of 1656, and was more or less engaged in the Sexby plot. A Colonel Clancy, from his name probably a native of Clare, was employed by him as a secret agent in London, and Henry Cromwell had information that Inchiquin himself was to command in Ireland. Charles II, who was now at Bruges, wished Inchiquin and his Irish soldiers to be at hand, and Hyde favoured all Spanish designs. Inchiquin was in Catalonia during the autumn of 1656, but at Paris again in the summer of 1657. By this time he had joined the church of Rome, his wife remaining a staunch Protestant, and there were great bickerings. The English Parliamentary envoy William Lockhart says the lady was persecuted, and that he had given her a pass to England without consulting the Protector's government, for fear of the French Protestants, who were witnesses of her sufferings. The great question was as to the custody of her young son, Lord O'Brien, Henrietta Maria and the Catholic party favouring Inchiquin's claim, and the Protestants taking the other side. Lockhart's diplomacy triumphed, and Inchiquin, who had violently carried the boy off from the English embassy, was ordered to restore him on pain of being banished from France and losing all his commissions and allowances. Inchiquin was in Catalonia during the autumn of 1657, but returned to Paris in the following January, having been sent for expressly about his son's business. In April 1658 this son, about whom there had been so much dispute, was among his father's friends in Ireland; but Henry Cromwell sent him away with a caution only.

Inchiquin's own letters during 1658 and 1659 are in a hopeless strain, and he sought employment in any attempt which might be made on England. But Ormonde had been prejudiced against him, and probably his change of religion was fatal to his influence among the Protestant royalists. The negotiations which led to the Peace of the Pyrenees destroyed his chances in Catalonia; but Cardinal Mazarin connived at his going with Count Schomberg to help the Portuguese, and he started for Lisbon in the autumn of 1659. On 20 February 1660 (10 February 1660 Juian calendar) it was known at Paris that he and his son had been taken at sea by the Algerines. The English council wrote on his behalf to the Pasha, and by 23 August (Julian calendar) he was in England, but his son remained in Africa as a hostage. The House of Commons specially recommended the case of both father and son to King Charles II, and on 10 November a warrant was granted to export 7,500 dollars for ransom. Lady Inchiquin petitioned for her husband's release in August, but during the same month Sir Donough O'Brien wrote that she had no mind to see any of his relations "for his being a papist". Inchiquin went to Paris soon after, and returned with Henrietta Maria, of whose household he became high steward. During 1661 he signed the declaration of allegiance to Charles II by Irish catholic nobility and gentry, notwithstanding any papal sentence or dispensation.

Inchiquin was generally in attendance on the Queenmother, either in London or Paris, and on 23 June 1662 it is noted that "this famous soldier in Ireland" sailed as general-in-chief of the expeditionary force sent by Charles to help the Portuguese; that he landed at Lisbon on 31 July with two thousand foot and some troops of horse, and that he made a short speech to his men. The Spaniards avoided a battle, and allowed the strangers to waste themselves by long marches and by indulgence in fruit. Inchiquin returned to England in 1663, and seems soon to have gone to Ireland.