Irish History Articles - Plantation to the Penal Laws by Dr. Samuel Couch

Article: Irish History - Plantation to the Penal Laws

by Dr. Sam Couch, Ph. D.
Owner, Rising Road Tours

Protestant Immigration

During the 17th century, the Plantation overran Ulster. Protestant immigration claimed over 1/2 million acres as the leaderless Irish were expelled or resettled. Lots of one to two thousand acres were granted to aristocrats agreeing to populate the farms with Protestants. The largest of the lots went to English and Scots who could settle no Irish on their estates. "Servitors" - people who served the crown got lots of 1500 acres; again the lords and tenants must be Protestant. The smaller 1000 acre plots went to English, Scots, or Irish planters who could be Protestant of Catholic. Many of the large tracts went to London merchants and companies. This is when Derry City took the name Londonderry. A small portion (1/9) of the land went to 286 natives. The rest of the owners were ordered to move anywhere they could find a place to live. Most of the settlers were Presbyterian Scots. As a result Ulster became predominantly Protestant; but it was a new kind of Protestantism to the Irish. Presbyterians scorned the papists viewing them as idolaters. They also disdained the Church of Ireland. Anti-aristocratic, independent Calvinists also settled the area. Compromise did not exist in their vocabulary.

James I died and was succeeded by his son Charles I in 1625. Charles always needed money and persuaded the Irish to pay him large sums for concessions or "graces". Of the 51 graces the two most important were that landowners would be secured in their estates and that Catholics would not be persecuted on account of religion. The graces never were honored and laws persecuting Catholics were enacted by the Dublin Parliament. Lord Wentworth, Earl of Strafford became the king's representative in Ireland. His purpose was to make the king absolute monarch on the island and to get more money. He promised more graces by extorting large sums from parliament and never allowing the concessions. Under Strafford most of Connaught and much of Munster were confiscated for the crown. He tried to ruin the Irish wool trade so it would not conflict with England's. He also established the successful linen trade in Ulster.

Plantations and efforts to suppress Catholicism led to rebellion in 1641. A rising against Dublin Castle met with limited success. The original intent was to have a bloodless rising unless provoked by arms. Early in the rebellion this policy was carried out. However many excesses were rife after the initial success. Much of this came from resentment against the Plantation landlords. The acts of the rebels actually mirrored the cruelties of Mountjoy forty years previously. By 1642 four parties each with an army arose in Ireland. The Old Irish who had been suppressed by Plantation and religious persecution wished total separation from England. The old Anglo-Irish Catholics who also had suffered for religion and wanted religious and civil liberty but not necessarily partition from England. These were the two Catholic parties who distrusted each other and could not unite. The Puritans, who included Presbyterians and Ulster Scots, worked against the decadent Charles I. United Catholics established a provisional government at Kilkenny in 1642 called the "Confederation of Kilkenny". The confederates proclaimed themselves loyal to the crown who they believed would stand for them if the Puritans would leave him alone. Infighting and intrigue plagued the confederations which weakened both the confederates and the Royalists. In 1647 peace was attained under the condition that laws against Catholics be repealed. Royalists rebelled and lost at the Battle of Rathmines wherein the confederates and the Ulster Scots proclaimed Charles II, Prince of Wales king. Loss at the Battle of Rathmines in 1649 doomed the royalist cause.

That same year the English Parliament sent Oliver Cromwell to suppress the Irish. When he arrived at Drogheda he executed 3000, including 100 burned alive in a church where they sought sanctuary. He repeated the feat with his New Model Army at Wexford and within nine months became the most hated man in Ireland. Rather than risk loss of life and property, most Irish capitulated and gave up towns without resistance. Returning to England in 1650, Cromwell left his son-in-law in charge. The Siege of Limerick in 1651 signaled a close to the war. The surrender of Galway soon after ended the conflict and gave Ireland totally over to Cromwell and the English parliament. In 1652 Cromwell's Plantation moved all the Irish out of Ulster, Leinster and Munster (save workmen and farmers) and moved them across the Shannon into Connaught and Clare. Those who remained were killed. The vacant lands were given to Cromwell's soldiers. Young men who refused to migrate formed gangs who plundered and killed. Widows and orphans were shipped to the West Indies as slaves.

Some wished Cromwell had exterminated the Irish altogether. Cromwell's soldiers, given land as payment, began to settle in Ireland. Sir William Petty, who conducted the first scientific survey of Ireland, saw the potential damage to the Crown in intermarriage. He suggested moving 20,000 Irish girls to England and replacing them with 20,000 English girls (mostly prostitutes from Manchester) to create a Protestant majority. Petty was rewarded with 15,000 acres in Kerry; but his plan to exterminate the native Irish failed.

During the Restoration of Charles II to the throne in 1660, some of the Catholic land was returned. About half their land, however, remained in Cromwellian hands. A census of religions around this time showed a total population in Ireland of 1,100,000 with 800,000 Roman Catholics; 200,000 non-conformist Protestants; and 100,000 Protestants of the State Church. Most of the Cromwellians were Puritans and all the Protestants were hostile to the Catholics. Although the Catholics endured the greatest persecution, non-conforming Protestants, including Presbyterians, suffered also.

William of Orange and the Battle of the Boyne

When James II, a Catholic, succeeded to the English throne in 1685 he tried to restore the faith to England. With more support in Ireland, he turned all the top jobs in Ireland over to Catholics. In November 1688, James's brother-in-law, William of Orange, landed in England and won over the English who did not wish to return to the Roman church. The Irish were happy to give over to a Catholic king, but opposition to James came from Derry and Enniskillen, two Protestant towns in the north. In April 1689, Derry's governor attempted to give in to the Catholic Jacobites but was stopped by apprentice boys who locked the city gates against the Catholics. This action is commemorated each year with a parade and the burning of the governor's effigy. The siege of Derry lasted 105 days as the Protestants held out against Jacobite forces.

The decisive battle between Protestants and Catholics occurred on the Boyne River in 1690. William arrived with a huge army from England and the continent blessed by the Pope, the Holy Roman Emperor and the king of Spain. In July, William's troops (3:1 over the Jacobites) beat James's forces. James fled. In the remaining battles, thousands of Irish died at Aughrim. The siege of Limerick in 1691 lasted a month before surrender. Under the terms, Irish soldiers were exiled to France. Catholic rights were guaranteed to those who chose to stay. Mass migration of 14,000 followed; this is known as the Flight of the Wild Geese. In France, the Irish brigade was formed; they fought bravely against the English. The English did not keep the bargain with respect to Catholic rights. They intended to mold Ireland to Protestant perfection.

The Period of the Penal Laws began in 1695 and lasted until 1829. During this time the minority Protestant population governed totally. The Irish Parliament refused to carry out terms of the Treaty of Limerick and repressive laws continued to be passed by both the English and Irish Parliaments. The most important of the Penal Laws:

Religion. All Catholic parishes were left intact, but priests had to be registered. All other clergy were forced to leave the country on pain of death. No Catholic chapel could have a steeple or a bell.
Education. No Catholic could teach school or send their children abroad for education. This led to the formation of illegal "hedge schools" which continued into the twentieth century.
Social Position. All government officials, lawyers, doctors were forced to swear on oath the falsity of the Catholic religion.
Arms, Property, Franchise. No Catholic could bear arms or keep a horse worth more than £5. If a Protestant saw a Catholic with a valuable horse, he could purchase it for £5. Only if he conformed, could the eldest Catholic son inherit his father's property. No Catholic could purchase land or hold a lease for more than 31 years. The vote was only allowed to people who would deny the Roman church and take Protestant communion. Later the laws directly disenfranchised all Catholics.
Persecution of Presbyterians. The act requiring communion under the Protestant rite was called the Test Act. Under this law Presbyterians also suffered.
Trade and Manufacture destroyed. Irish commerce was destroyed so that there would be no trade competition with England. Protestants suffered more than Catholics since the papist majority was hardly involved in commerce.
Exports forbidden. Export to the West Indies were banned as was the export of cattle to England.
Wool Trade ruined. A duty imposed on all Irish wool and on all manufactured woolen articles effectively ended the wool trade.
Smuggling. Wool was smuggled to France and wine, brandy and silk returned to the country. All classes of people engaged in the smuggling trade.
General Ruin of Manufactures. Beer, malt, hats, cotton, silk, gunpowder, ironware manufacture were destroyed by legislation.
Poverty and distress were the result. Thousands of Ulster Presbyterians immigrated to New England and Canada. Irish trade never recovered.

This series of articles is based on lectures given by Dr. Samuel Couch to Irish Studies courses at Georgia Southern University and Young Harris College between 1997 and 2004. Documented sources come from Couch's research and studies in American universities and with scholars in Ireland. The articles are in no way intended to be comprehensive.

Background materials come from, but are not limited to, readings in the following books:

Duffy, Sean, ed., Atlas of Irish History. Gill & Macmillan: Dublin. 1997.
Joyce, P.W., Outlines of the History of Ireland from the Earliest Times to 1905. M.H. Gill & Son: Dublin. 1909.
Killeen, Richard, A Short History of Ireland. Gill & Macmillan: Dublin. 1994.
Smyth, Daragh, A Guide to Irish Mythology. 2nd ed. Irish Academic Press: Dublin. 1996.

Any lack of attribution to primary sources is unintentional and the sole responsibility of Dr. Couch.

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