Galway’s Six-Pound Charter
Archived: 21 October 2026
In 1396, Richard II’s charter granted Galway’s provost and burgesses annual election of a sovereign, restricted retail trade to resident burgesses, and extended Drogheda’s liberties, for £6 13s 4d. Building on 1395 murage, it strengthened defence, commerce and civic government, while preserving Roger Mortimer’s seigneurial rights. The charter reflected insecurity in Connacht, where rival dynasties raided, fought and burned Sligo, while O’Tooles defeated English forces in Leinster. Off Aran, Ó Máille raiders drowned when their plunder-laden ship sank. Church life saw Thomas Sparkford appointed to Waterford and Lismore, and scholar-herenagh Matthew Ó Luinín’s death, illustrating enduring ecclesiastical and learned traditions.