Deposition of John and Jane Sheeley and Margret Rowleright

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John Sheeley of the towne & county of of Galway Baker and Jane his wiffe Magdelin the Relict of Richard Smith Late one of the gunners of the forte of Galway & Margaret and Margret Rowleright the relict of Edward Rowleright late souldier of the fort of Galway (& whoe wereas there slaine by the Rebells shott,) sworne and examined before his maiesties Commissioners depose and say
That although the present Rebellion began in other parts on or about the xxiijth of October 1641 & that these deponents had notice thereof & were too much driven to feare the diasters which ensued in the towne of Galway: yet theis deponents stayd there hopeing for amendement vntill the on or about the 18th of March 1641 on Sunday next before Sct Patricks day 1641 on which day Mr deane york in St Nicholas the English Church in Galway (at the request and by the direction of the irish Inhabitants of that towne, then seeming to beare speciall affection to the English) openly in the pulpit of the said Church divulged, That it was the mynd of the Irish [ ] and Inhabitants in that towne That all the English in the towne should take an oath to be true to his Maiestie & to that towne & they that were irish Inhabitants wold doe the like, with this further expression that if the English should refuse that oath It would be worse for them all: And then vpon the comeing of the English out of that Church a great company of rude & deboist [ ] irish souldjers gathered and flockd about them: & haveing a writing drawne inforced all the English that came out of the Church to take oath to be true to the King and towne, & cawsed all the Englishmen alsoe then comeing out of the Church to putt their handes to that
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writing which they had soe contrived and in readines the tenor & effect was, That the Irish inhabitants of Galway were loyall subiects & had vsed the English with well or to that effect as nere as theis deponents can now call to mynd, which signeing & subscripcion of the said writing (althoughe thitherto partly true) yet those English soe subscribeing the same were plainly overawed and inforced thereunto by meanes of the multitude of the Ruffian irish barbarous souldjers & their Armes then & there present, Howbeit the very day following the signeing of that writing the irish of Inhabitants of that towne shutt vp the gats & would suffer the Kings fort there to haue nothing at all for their mony: and then surprised Captain Clarks shipp in the harbour there, and forceibly & cruelly murthering 4 of his men & woundinge others dangerously Insasmuch as one of them soe s hurte vizt Robert Rawlins being dangerously wounded in his back cam was brought soe wounded to the howse of this deponent Magdelen Smith, & another was brought into the same his howse whose belly was ryfled ripped up by the Rebells soe as his bowells came out, of which hurt he quickly died, but the said Rawlins with much adoe recouered, And then & there the irish <A> Rebells vizt Dominick D Ker Kervan agent for Tho: Linch of Galway merchant: Lawrence oge Bodkin of the same merchant & james Linch fitz Stephen of the same merchant and divers other Irish Rebells: surprised tooke out of the said shipp 8 peeces of ordinance and 2 murtherers: Whereof they planted instantly fowre against the fort of Galway within the towne, & the rest
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they planted against the fort and to keepe hinder releef to be brought thither and erected a gibbett at the crosse whereon to hang the English in the towne of Galway which <gibbett was taken downe vpon the daparture of the English> And on Trinity Sunday then next following 1642 The Rebells souldjers of Ere Connaght hy (hyred by the irish Inhabitants of Galway) murthered one Mris Collins a worthy & religious woman as she was at her prayers on the same sabbath day in the deponent Margret Rowlerights howse & they then and there alsoe murthered one Mr John ffox and [ ] his wiffe <the said foxes head being cutt of & was carried vpon a pike vp & downe the towne & tossed & vsed with very much disgrace & kicked with like a footeball in the streets: And the said ffoxes wiffe being extreamely wounded the preists and fryers resorted to her to seduce and convert her but not prevaileing that wicked rebell that had wounded her before, then murthered her outright>, & the Carpenter of the said Captain Clarks shipp & a yong gallant yowth of about 12 yere old being the sonn of one mr ffisher of Tuam fled thither for succour the Rebells murthered alsoe :, And at that tyme and other tymes afterwards the same Rebells sett Centries at the Dores of all the english protestants soe as they durst not goe out neither night nor day without danger of their lives (being subiect euery day to their scandalls and oprobrious words as English dogs, and threatening often by what deaths the english doggs (as they tearmed them) shot should suffer death, (their very children according to their powers exceeding the men insomuch as their very frie or yong base children would with skeanes (wherewith generally they were armed) come to the English women & say yow with their skeanes presented, you English Jades or doggs I will cutt your throats The distresse and present misery & danger of the English being then such that none durst soe much as contradict any of those graceles impes but were inforced to brooke & endure their base and almost intollerable provocacions: And then the Rebells in the towne of Galway robbed all and deprived all thenglish protestants of their goods And Insomuch as theis deponents John Sheeley and Jane
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his wiffe say that the Rebells of the towne of Galway & those others in the cuntry thereabouts forceibly or in the month of March aforesaid deprived and robbed them of their howsholdgoods Corne bills bonds debts & other chattells of the value & to their damage of 100 li. 200 li. or thereabouts And the And the said Magdelen Smith saith That her said husband & shee were about the same tyme deprived robbed & dispojled of their goods chattells & meane sworth 100 li. And the said Margret Rowlright saith That by meanes of the Rebellion her husband (then aliue (but since dead shott to death by the Rebells) & she were deprived & lost their goods & chattells worth 40 li. And the said Magdelen Smith seuerally And further saith that the principall man that soe as <A> aforesaid robbed her of her goods was her landlord Tho Butler of Galway merchant, assisted with the rude & barbarous multitude of Rebells of EreConnaght who weare imployed by the irish Inhabitants of Galway to rob, murther, & stripp, the English: And all the deponents aforesaid say, That whenas the English protestants in Galway were deprived & stript of their meanes, those very rude Rebells of EreConaght seeing the covetousnes and rapine of the irish townsmen of Galway: fell into this passion and swore Gods wounds you (meaneing the irish merchants and Rebells of the towne of Galway) have hired us to be their your butchers to kill thenglish (as we have done) & promissed us all the pillidge of them, & now yow will not suffer vs to goe on, becawse you will haue all their goods yourselues: Therefore we will doe you noe more service becawse you will not give vs the booty promissed
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promissed or to that effect: wherevpon those of the English goods which the townsmen had not taken (they indeed haveing culld out and taken the best) Those rude Rebells of EreConnaght from thenceforth were suffered to take away, and they and the rest tiranized ouer the poor English that stayd in the towne murthering the most that stayd, the deponent and others for saffty flying into the fort there:
John Scally
signum predicte [mark] Jane sheeley
signum predicte [mark] Magdalene Smith
signum [mark] Margaretæ Rowleright
Jurat. 25. Martij 1644
Hen: Jones
Edw Pigott

Margrett Rowleright abovenamed and Oliver Smith haue bin alsoe examined before Sir William Ryves knighte

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John Sheely & his wife
and Magdalen Smith, &
Margaret Rowleright
C. Gallway.

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