In 1641, Dr Henry Jones was dean of the Church of Ireland diocese
of Kilmore. His life, and those of many other British settlers in the
Ulster Plantation, fell into disarray when the rising began in
October of that year. Jones managed to escape Cavan and
established and chaired the 1641 Commission, responsible for
taking around 8000 depositions or witness statements relating to
the rising. Jones also wrote a number of pamphlets about the
rising, including this new edition of his description of the events in
Cavan between October 1641 and June 1642, entitled A relation
of the beginnings and proceedings of the rebellion in the county
of Cavan. This fully annotated edition of the pamphlet comes with
an extensive introduction which details County Cavan in the early
seventeenth century, Jones’ background and his account of the
rising there while also rescuing from obscurity an important
companion piece to the 1641 depositions which affords the reader
a unique insight into this chaotic period of Irish history.
