John of Jerusalem at Kilmainham， together with several other religious houses at Louth， Dundalk， Drogheda， Waterford， and Carlow. At the same time most of the convents within the English sphere of influence surrendered their houses and possessions， amongst the last to do so being the celebrated convent of Grace-Dieu.[39]
As a rule whenever a house was suppressed a pension was assigned to the superior， to be paid out of the tithes of some of the ecclesiastical livings in the gift of the monastery or priory. The amount of the pension depended to some extent upon the value of the property which was owned by the particular house. The Abbot of St.
Thomas the Martyr's， Dublin， received ā42 Irish， the Abbot of Mellifont ā40， the Prior of Fore ā50， the Abbot of Jerpoint ā10， the Prioress of Grace-Dieu ā6， the Abbess of Grane ā4， and the Prioress of Termonfechin ā1 6s. 8d.， etc. Grants were also made to the members of the suppressed communities， but very frequently these were very small.
Of the community of Mellifont one received ā4， two ā3 6s. 8d.， two ā213s. 4d.， six ā2， and two ā1， while five of the community at Granard received 13s. 4d.， and some from other institutions received only 4s.
Many of the superiors and religious merely threw off the habit of their order to become secular clergymen， and to accept a rectory or vicarage in some of the churches over which their community had enjoyed the rights of patronage.[40]
Long before the commission for suppression arrived the scramble for a share in the plunder had begun. In this contest the Deputy， Archbishop Browne， and the principal members of the privy council led the way.
John Alen， Master of the Rolls， was the first to profit by the spoliation of the religious houses by getting possession of the property of St. Wolstan's (1536)， Lord Grey secured for himself the goods and possessions of the Convent of Grane. The Earl of Ormond and the Butler family generally enriched themselves out of the lands of the monasteries situated in the south-eastern portion of Ireland， as did also a host of hungry officials and gentlemen in different parts of Ireland， such as the Cowleys， Alens， St. Legers， Lutrells， Plunketts， Dillons， Nugents， Prestons， Berminghams， Townleys， Aylmers， Flemings， Wyses， Eustaces， Brabazons， etc.[41] Even Patrick Barnewall， who had resisted so strenuously the suppression of the monasteries in 1536， could not resist the temptation of sharing in the plunder. He secured for himself a large portion of the lands and advowsons of the Convent of Grace-Dieu. In this way the Anglo-Irish nobles were bribed into acquiescence with the king's religious policy， and were enabled to transmit to their descendants immense territories over which they were to rule as hereditary landlords long after the origin of their title had been forgotten. Similarly， in order to put an end to the opposition of the city authorities， which had good ground to complain of the suppressions of houses that were doing so much in the cause of charity and education， large grants were made to the corporations of Dublin， Waterford， Limerick， Clonmel， etc. Wealthy merchants who had money to invest were not slow in coming forward to secure leases of portions of the monastic land and thereby to lay the foundations of a new so-called aristocracy. The gold and silver ornaments， the sacred vessels， the bells， and the church plate generally were sold for the benefit of the king， but the officials were never particularly careful about making the proper returns. From a partial account given by the commissioners in 1541 it appeared that from the sales of the jewels， reliquaries， pictures， and goods of the monasteries they had received over ā2，500 (Irish) of which they had given close on ā500 to the superiors， servants， etc.， and retained ā375 as travelling expenses.[42] With the submission of the Earl of Desmond， O'Brien of Thomond， O'Donnell， etc.， a more determined campaign was initiated for the total destruction of the religious houses， and particularly of those belonging to the Mendicants， not merely in the Pale but throughout Ireland. A special commission was issued (Aug. 1541) to the Earl of Desmond and others "to take inventories of， to dissolve， and to put in safe custody， all religious houses in Limerick， Cork， Kerry， and Desmond." In return for his activity the Earl of Desmond was rewarded with several grants of monastic land， and even O'Brien did not think it beneath him to share in the plunder. In some places， as for instance in Monaghan， the Franciscan Friars were put to death. But in the Irish districts generally the decree of suppression was not enforced， and even in the English portions of the country the suppression of the monasteries did not mean the extinction of the monks. The Franciscans and Dominicans in particular seem to have been almost as numerous at the end of the reign of Henry VIII. as they had been before he undertook his campaign against Rome.
