History of Ireland

The history of Ireland begins between 8000 and 7000 BC, when the first humans inhabited Ireland. This was followed by a migration of Celtic-speaking people between 700 and 500 BC and Viking settlers in the ninth century AD. Until the fifteenth century Ireland was a patch-work of competing kingdoms and over-kingdoms. English involvement in Ireland began with the arrival of the Normans in the twelfth century, but England did not have full control until the whole island had been conquered in 1653.

Reformation and Protestant Ascendancy 1536-1801

Main Article Early Modern Ireland 1536-1691

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The Reformation, during which, in 1536, Henry VIII broke with Papal authority, fundamentally changed Ireland. While Henry VIII broke English Catholicism from Rome, his son Edward VI of England moved further, breaking with Papal doctrine completely. While the English, the Welsh and, later, the Scots accepted Protestantism, the Irish remained Catholic. This fact determined their relationship with the British state for the next four hundred years, as the Reformation coincided with a determined effort on behalf of the English state to re-conquer and colonise Ireland. The religious schism meant that the native Irish and the (Roman Catholic) Old English were excluded from power in the new settlement.

Related Topics:
Reformation - 1536 - Henry VIII - Papal - Edward VI of England - Protestantism - Old English

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Re-conquest and rebellion

See also Tudor re-conquest of Ireland.

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There is some debate about why Henry VIII decided to re-conquer Ireland. However the most immediate reason was that the Fitzgerald dynasty of Kildare, who had become the effective rulers of Ireland in the 15th century, had become very unreliable allies of the Tudor monarchs. Most seriously, they had invited Burgundian troops into Dublin to crown the Yorkist pretender, Lambert Simnel as King of England in 1497. The final straw for the Tudor monarchs came in 1536, when Silken Thomas Fitzgerald went into open rebellion against the crown. Having put down this rebellion, Henry VIII resolved that pacifying Ireland and bringing it all under English government control was necessary if the island was not to become a base for foreign invasions of England (a concern that was to be repeated for another 400+ years).

Related Topics:
Henry VIII - Kildare - Burgundian - Yorkist - Lambert Simnel - King of England - 1497 - 1536 - Silken Thomas

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Ireland was upgraded from a lordship to a full kingdom under Henry VIII. From the period of the original lordship in the twelfth century onwards, Ireland had retained its own bicameral Parliament of Ireland, consisting of a House of Commons and a House of Lords. It was restricted for most of its existence in terms both of membership — Gaelic Irishmen were barred from membership — and of powers, notably by Poynings Law of 1494, which said that no bill could be introduced into the Irish Parliament without the approval of the English Privy Council. After 1541, Henry VIII admitted native Irish lords into the Parliament and recognised their land titles in return for their submission to him as King of Ireland. With the institutions of government in place, the next step was to extend the control of the English Kingdom of Ireland over all of its claimed territory. Henry VIII's officials were tasked with extending the rule of this new Kingdom throughout Ireland, in the process either negotiating or fighting with the independent Irish lordships. This took nearly a century to achieve. This re-conquest was accompanied by a great deal of bloodshed, as it meant annexing lordships that had been effectiely independent for several hundred years.

Related Topics:
Twelfth century - Parliament of Ireland - House of Commons - House of Lords - Gaelic - Poynings Law - 1494 - Privy Council

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In the Elizabethan era, the English completed the re-conquest of Ireland, after several bloody conflicts. The Desmond Rebellions (1569-1573 and 1579-] took place in the southern province of Munster, when the Fitzgerald Earl of Desmond dynasty resisted the imposition of an English governer into the province. The second of these rebellions was put down by means of a forced famine, which may have killed up to a third of Munster's population. The most serious threat to English rule in Ireland came during the Nine Years War 1594-1603, when Hugh O'Neill, the most powerful chieftain in the northern province of Ulster rebelled against English government. This war developed into a nation-wide revolt and O'Neill sucessfully obtained military aid from Spain. A Spanish expeditionary force was defeated by English forces at the battle of Kinsale in 1601. O'Neill and his allies eventually surrendered in 1603. After this point, the English authorities in Dublin established real control over all of Ireland for the first time and successfully disarmed the Irish and Old English lordships.

Related Topics:
Desmond Rebellions - 1569 - 1573 - 1579 - Munster - Earl of Desmond - Nine Years War - 1594 - 1603 - Hugh O'Neill - Ulster - Battle of Kinsale

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However, the English were not successful in converting the Irish to Protestantism, alienating much of the native population. In addition, the brutal methods used to pacify the country heightened resentment of English rule. In the 16th and early seventeenth century, English governments instituted a policy of colonisation known as Plantations. Scottish and English Protestants were sent as colonists to the provinces of Munster, Ulster and the counties of Laois and Offaly (see also Plantations of Ireland). These settlers, who had a British and Protestant identity, would form the ruling class of future British government in Ireland. A series of Penal Laws discriminated against all Christian faiths other than the established (Anglican) Church of Ireland. The principal victims of these laws were Roman Catholics and from the late 17th century on, adherents of Presbyterianism. From 1607, Catholics were barred from public office and from serving in the army. In 1615, the consticuencies of the Irish Parliament were altered so that Protestants would be a majority in it.

Related Topics:
Seventeenth century - Colonisation - Plantations - Munster - Ulster - Laois - Offaly - Penal Laws - Anglican - Church of Ireland - Presbyterianism - 1607

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Civil Wars and Penal Laws

In the mid-seventeenth century, Ireland was convulsed by eleven years of warfare, beginning with the Rebellion of 1641, when Irish Catholics rebelled against English and Protestant domination. The rebellion was marked by the massacre of Protestant settlers, an event which scarred communal relations in Ireland for centuries afterwards. As a result of the outbreak of the English Civil War in 1642, no English troops were available to put down the uprising and the rebels were left in control of most of Ireland. The Catholic majority briefly ruled the country as Confederate Ireland (1642-1649) during the subsequent Wars of the Three Kingdoms, the Confederate regime alied themselves with Charles I and the English Royalists and had they won the Civil War in England, the result could have been an autonomous Catholic ruled Ireland. However, the Royalists were defeated by the Parliamentarians, Charles I was executed and Oliver Cromwell re-conquered Ireland in 1649-1653 on behalf of the English Commonwealth. As punishment for the rebellion of 1641, almost all lands owned by Irish Catholics were confiscated and given to British settlers. In addition, Catholics were barred from the Irish Parliament altogether, forbidden to live in towns and from marrying Protestants (although not all of hese laws were strictly enforced). It has been calculated that up to a third of Ireland's population (4-600,000 people) died in these wars, either in fighting, or in the accompanying famine and plague. The Cromwellian conquest therefore left bitter memories in Irish popular culture. An uneasy peace returned with the Restoration of the monarchy in England and Charles II made some efforts to conciliate Irish Catholics with compensation and land grants. (See also Act of Settlement 1662).

Related Topics:
Eleven years of warfare - Rebellion of 1641 - English Civil War - Confederate Ireland - 1642 - 1649 - Wars of the Three Kingdoms - Charles I - Oliver Cromwell - Re-conquered - 1653 - English Commonwealth - Given to British settlers - Charles II - Act of Settlement 1662

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However, within a generation, Ireland was at war again. Ireland became the main battleground in the Glorious Revolution of 1689, when the Catholic James II was deposed by the English Parliament and replaced by William of Orange. Irish Catholics backed James to try to reverse the Penal Laws and land confiscations, whereas Irish and British Protestants supported William to preserve their dominance in the country. James and William fought for the English, Scottish and Irish thrones in the Williamite War, most famously at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, where James's forces were ultimately defeated. Jacobite resistance was finally ended after the Battle of Aughrim in July 1691. The Penal laws (which had been allowed to lapse somewhat after the English Restoration) were re-applied with great harshness after this war, as the Protestant elite wanted to ensure that the Irish Catholic landed classes would not be in a position to repeat their rebellions of the 17th century. In addition, as of 1704, Presbyterians were also barred from holding public office, bearing arms and entereing certain professions. This was in part due to the distrust the mostly English Anglican establishment had for the mostly Scottish Presbyterian community, which by now had become a majority in Ulster.

Related Topics:
Glorious Revolution - 1689 - James II - English Parliament - William of Orange - Williamite War - Battle of the Boyne - 1690 - Jacobite - Battle of Aughrim - Penal laws - English Restoration - 1704 - Presbyterians - Anglican - Presbyterian - Ulster

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Colonial Ireland

Main article Ireland 1691-1801

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Subsequent Irish antagonism towards England was aggravated by the economic situation of Ireland in the eighteenth century. Throughout the century English trade with Ireland was the most important branch of English overseas trade{{fn|2}}. The Protestant Anglo-Irish absentee landlords drew off some £800,000 in the early part of the century, rising to £1 million, in an economy that had a GDP of about £4 million. Completely deforested of timber for exports (usually to the Royal Navy) and for a temporary iron industry in the course of the seventeenth century, Irish estates turned to the export of salt beef, pork, butter, and hard cheese through the slaughterhouse and port city of Cork, which supplied England, the British navy and the sugar islands of the West Indies. The bishop of Cloyne wondered "how a foreigner could possibly conceive that half the inhabitants are dying of hunger in a country so abundant in foodstuffs?"{{fn|3}}. In the 1740s, these economic inequalities led directly to the Great Irish Famine (1740-1741), which killed about 400,000 people. In the 1780's, due to increased competition from salted-meat exporters in the Baltic and North America, the Anglo-Irish landowners rapidly switched to growing grain for export, while the Irish themselves ate potatoes and groats.

Related Topics:
GDP - Royal Navy - Cork - West Indies - Great Irish Famine (1740-1741) - North America

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By the late eighteenth century, many of the Irish Protestant elite had come to see Ireland as their native country. A Parliamentary faction led by Henry Grattan agitated for a more favourable trading relationship with England and for legislative independence for the Parliament of Ireland. Many of their demands were met, in part through a campaign led by Grattan, amongst others. However, reform in Ireland stalled over the proposals of some radicals to enfranchise Irish Catholics. When this failed, some in Ireland were attracted to the more militant example of the French revolution of 1789. They formed the Society of the United Irishmen to overthrow British rule and found a non-sectarian republic. Republicanism was particularly attractive to the Ulster Presbyterian community, who were discriminated against for their religion, and who had strong links with scots-Irish American emmigrants who had fought against Britain in the American Revolution. Their activity culminated in the Irish Rebellion of 1798, which was bloodily suppressed. Partly in response to this rebellion, Irish self-government was abolished altogether by the Act of Union on January 1, 1801.

Related Topics:
Eighteenth century - Henry Grattan - Parliament of Ireland - Enfranchise - French revolution - 1789 - Society of the United Irishmen - Scots-Irish American - American Revolution - Irish Rebellion of 1798 - Act of Union

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