WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT...
3. THE PLANTATIONS IN IRELAND
Ireland in 1500
King was Lord of Ireland and had little control. The country was divided into 3 areas:
Henry VIII and Ireland
Henry wanted greater control in Ireland because:
Garret Óg put in jail. Silken Thomas rebelled. Skeffington and gunpowder led to ‘the pardon of Maynooth’. Very expensive, so Henry tried a new approach.
Surrender and Regrant: Gaelic and Anglo-Irish lords gave their land to the king and got it back, with a title, if they promised to speak English, obey English law and practice English customs. This led to disputes over succession and now land could be confiscated from a chieftain.
Plantations were now possible. Loyal planters would get the land of rebellious Irish.
The Plantation of Laois and Offaly
O'Moores and O'Connors raided Pale. Lord Deputy defeated them and confiscated lands.
Queen’s County (Laois) with a county town called Maryborough (Portlaoise).
King’s County (Offaly) with a county town called Philipstown (Daingean)
Plantation failed because not enough planters came and the Irish kept attacking the settlers.
The Plantation of Munster
Causes of the Desmond Rebellions:
James Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald got help from the Pope after his first rebellion failed. All 600 Spanish and Italian soldiers killed. Munster laid waste. Land confiscated.
The Plantation:
Undertakers got 4,6,8 and 12 thousand acre lots. Expected to be able to defend against the Spanish in 7 years.
Results:
Not nearly enough settlers came. The Irish attacked.
Ownership changed. New towns (Bandon and Lismore). Timber for barrels and ships. New farming methods. Trade
prospered.
The Plantation of Ulster (special study)
Background and Causes:
Elizabeth wanted English law and Protestant religion in Ulster. O Neill and O Donnell rebelled.
Some victories (Battle of Yellow Ford) and final defeat in Kinsale 1601.
Treaty of Mellifont.
Flight of the Earls 1607.
James 1 confiscated land
The Plantation:
James wanted loyal settlers, an income and a way to pay soldiers.
6 counties (Armagh, Derry, Donegal, Cavan, Fermanagh and Tyrone)
Estates of 1000, 1500 and 2000 given to 3 groups:
Bawns and Castles had to be built.
12 Guilds in London formed the Irish Society to plant Derry
Antrim and Down planted by Chichester, Hamilton and Montgomery.
Results:
The Cromwellian Settlement
Background and Causes:
1641 rebellion. Ulster settlers massacred.
Civil War in England.
Ireland was regarded as Royalist and Cromwell needed to pay his Roundheads and adventurers who had financed the Civil War. Religion was important to Cromwell.
The Plantation:
1652 Act of Settlement. ‘To hell or to Connaught’
Many sent to the West Indies.
Soldiers allowed enlist in armies not at war with England.
Sir William Petty and the Down Survey. 11 million acres.
Results:
Ireland in 1500
King was Lord of Ireland and had little control. The country was divided into 3 areas:
- The Pale (English speaking, common law, cattle
raids) - The Anglo-Irish lordships (Norman descendants, common
law, some Irish customs) - The Gaelic Irish lordships (Brehon law, clan owned tuath,
little had changed since
Celts)
Henry VIII and Ireland
Henry wanted greater control in Ireland because:
- To reduce the power of the Fitzgerald’s of
Kildare. - To prevent the French or Spanish from using Catholic
Ireland as a base. - To introduce the changes in religion to
Ireland.
Garret Óg put in jail. Silken Thomas rebelled. Skeffington and gunpowder led to ‘the pardon of Maynooth’. Very expensive, so Henry tried a new approach.
Surrender and Regrant: Gaelic and Anglo-Irish lords gave their land to the king and got it back, with a title, if they promised to speak English, obey English law and practice English customs. This led to disputes over succession and now land could be confiscated from a chieftain.
Plantations were now possible. Loyal planters would get the land of rebellious Irish.
The Plantation of Laois and Offaly
O'Moores and O'Connors raided Pale. Lord Deputy defeated them and confiscated lands.
Queen’s County (Laois) with a county town called Maryborough (Portlaoise).
King’s County (Offaly) with a county town called Philipstown (Daingean)
Plantation failed because not enough planters came and the Irish kept attacking the settlers.
The Plantation of Munster
Causes of the Desmond Rebellions:
- Queen Elizabeth wanted to increase control.
Presidents of Munster appointed (English law and Protestant
religion). - Adventurers
encouraged to claim
land.
James Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald got help from the Pope after his first rebellion failed. All 600 Spanish and Italian soldiers killed. Munster laid waste. Land confiscated.
The Plantation:
Undertakers got 4,6,8 and 12 thousand acre lots. Expected to be able to defend against the Spanish in 7 years.
Results:
Not nearly enough settlers came. The Irish attacked.
Ownership changed. New towns (Bandon and Lismore). Timber for barrels and ships. New farming methods. Trade
prospered.
The Plantation of Ulster (special study)
Background and Causes:
Elizabeth wanted English law and Protestant religion in Ulster. O Neill and O Donnell rebelled.
Some victories (Battle of Yellow Ford) and final defeat in Kinsale 1601.
Treaty of Mellifont.
Flight of the Earls 1607.
James 1 confiscated land
The Plantation:
James wanted loyal settlers, an income and a way to pay soldiers.
6 counties (Armagh, Derry, Donegal, Cavan, Fermanagh and Tyrone)
Estates of 1000, 1500 and 2000 given to 3 groups:
- Undertakers (no Irish tenants, £5.33 per 1000
acres) - Servitors
(some Irish,
£8) - Loyal
Irish
(£10.66)
Bawns and Castles had to be built.
12 Guilds in London formed the Irish Society to plant Derry
Antrim and Down planted by Chichester, Hamilton and Montgomery.
Results:
- Many Scottish Presbyterians did
come. - Wood kern attacked
settlers - Legacy of
hatred - New
towns - Trade
prospered
The Cromwellian Settlement
Background and Causes:
1641 rebellion. Ulster settlers massacred.
Civil War in England.
Ireland was regarded as Royalist and Cromwell needed to pay his Roundheads and adventurers who had financed the Civil War. Religion was important to Cromwell.
The Plantation:
1652 Act of Settlement. ‘To hell or to Connaught’
Many sent to the West Indies.
Soldiers allowed enlist in armies not at war with England.
Sir William Petty and the Down Survey. 11 million acres.
Results:
- Biggest change in land
ownership. - Did not crush Catholic
religion. - Outlaw bands called Tories attacked the
settlers. - Power and wealth in Protestant
hands.