Plantations in IrelandWhat is a Plantation?

The English would

defeat an Irish clan,

confiscate their land,

drive off the native

people and plant the

land with loyal English

and Scottish settlers

Before the plantationThe English king considered himself

king of Ireland

But, the English only controlled the

area around Dublin known as the Pale

Woodkerne (Irish soldiers) from

beyond the Pale attacked it

The Old English were disloyal

The Old English and Native Irish were

CatholicThere were 6 main reasons for the plantations of Ireland

Why did English Monarchs want to plant Ireland?

1. To extend control over Ireland beyond the Pale2. Because the Irish were Catholic, they might

side with Catholic Spain and France against England. The reformation made them enemies.

3. Because the Irish clans and Old English rebelled against the English, the English wanted to make Ireland loyal

4. It would be cheaper to plant Ireland with loyal settlers than have to repeatedly send armies

5. They believed the Irish were uncivilized. They believed English customs and laws were superior

6. They wanted land to enrich themselves and reward their loyal followers

Laois and OffalyO’ Moores and O’ Connors

Queen Mary Tudor

Queen’s County (Laois)

Maryborough town

King’s County (Offaly)

Defeat and confiscation

Only 88 families come

Unable to protect the land because of low numbers

The plantation failed

Munster PlantationThe Fitzgeralds of Desmond

Queen Elizabeth 1

Kerry, Cork, Limerick, Tipperary, Waterford (1/2 million acres

Desmond Rebellion backed by the Pope and Spain

Defeat and confiscation

Undertakers undertake to only rent land to English Protestant settlers and protect them

Spread English customs, law and religion

The plantation failedImmediate cause – the O Moores and O Connors attack the Pale

Immediate cause –Desmond Rebellions

Laois and Offaly failed because

• People were too scared of the O Moores & O Connors

• They didn’t come and settle

• Only 88 families settled• The new landowners had

to rent to the Irish• Not enough settlers to

protect the plantation from attack

• The plantation failed to replace the Irish with loyal English settlers

Munster failed because • Not enough undertakers

came to Ireland. Some even sold their estates and returned to England

• Very few English came to settle so undertakers had to rent land to native Irish

• The Irish constantly attacked the planter and drove them off

Results: Even though they failed,

1. They did build plantation towns like Killarney and Tralee. These were centers of English law, language and customs

2. They introduced English farming methods and exported to England

3. The planters who survived became the new Protestant ruling class (the Protestant Ascendancy)

Munster:

• Fitzgeralds, Earls of Desmond

• Presidents try to impose English law

• Earl of Desmond held prisoner in London

• Rebellion in 1560s and 1570s

• Defeat• Confiscation ½ million

acres• Plantation in estates of

4000, 6000, 8000 and 12,000 acres

• Land given to undertakers

• Pay rent• Bring in English tenants• Practice Protestant

religion• After 7 years, they will be

able to defend estates without help

What happened?How was the Plantation done?

Problems

Not enough undertakers

Too few English settlers

In the 9 Years War, the plantation was overrun by the native Irish

Results• Plantation towns

survived – centers of English law and culture

• English farming methods

• A new Protestant ruling class – the Protestant Ascendancy

Next

The Ulster Plantation is the most important for exams

It is a Special Study (as is Columbus’ Voyage & Martin Luther and the Reformation)

Ulster Plantation

Before The Plantation• Ulster is very Gaelic• Brehon law• Catholic• Irish language• Very little English

influence• Hugh O Neill, Earl of

Tyrone• Red Hugh O Donnell,

Earl of Tirconnell

Defeat & Confiscation• English Adventurers

seize lands• 9 years War• Defeat of the Irish at the

Battle of Kinsale 1607• Flight of the Earls• James 1 declare the

Earls traitors and confiscates their land

• 4 million acres in Armagh, Cavan, Donegal, Derry, Fermanagh and Tyrone

The Plantation

Who got Land?

1. Undertakers

2. Servitors

3. Trusted Irish gentlemen

4. London guilds

5. The Church of Ireland

The Irish?• The Irish went into the

hills, bogs and forests• Bandits called

woodkerne or tories• They attacked the

planters

1.

Undertakers undertook (promised) to

•Build strongholds with stone castles and enclosed bawns

•Build a village

•Bring loyal Protestant settlers in from Scotland and England

•They were not to take Irish tenants

2.

Servitors were the men who’s served the king as officials or soldiers

They were allowed to take Irish tenants

3.

Trusted Irish Gentlemen

Irish chiefs rewarded for siding with the English

•Estates of 1000 acres

•Twice the rent paid by undertakers

4.

London Guilds

•London Derry & Coleraine

•Walled Plantation towns with diamond market place at center

5.

Church of Ireland

Groups

Results of the Ulster Plantation

Short Term• Success (80,000

planters)• English farming methods

and new industries like linen lead to prosperity

• Plantation towns like London Derry – centers of English trade, law, defense and culture

Long-term Results

1. Politics

2. Religion

3. Culture

Long Term ResultsPolitics

• The dispossessed Irish become republicans• The planters become loyalists• Northern Ireland is still part of Britain

Religion

•Scots Presbyterians and Irish Catholics dislike each other

•This is called sectarian hatred.

•Catholics feel Irish. Protestants feel British

Culture

•Plantation replaced the Irish language, law and customs with British

•Today, nationalists play Irish sports, learn Irish language

•Today, loyalists parade t celebrate the defeat of Catholics

Cromwell Plantation

Background• Civil war in England• King Charles 1 is

executed• Lord Protector is Oliver

Cromwell

Reasons1. Revenge for the killing

of Protestants during the rebellion in 1641

2. Cromwell hated Catholics

3. Irish Catholics had supported the king in the civil war

4. Cromwell needed land to pay soldiers and adventurers

What you need to know about Cromwell in Ireland

• Cromwell arrives with his army• His aim is to dispossess the Irish of their land• He passes the Act of Settlement 1652a. Catholic landowners who supported the king lost all

their landb. Any Catholic who couldn’t prove he’s been loyal lost all

their landc. They could go ‘To Hell or to Connacht’d. Their land was given to Cromwell’s soldiers and

adventurers

Results

Cromwell hoped to remove Catholics to Connacht. It didn’t work.

• Many English adventurers sold their estates and left

• Some soldiers married Catholics• Only Catholic landowners moved: labourers

stayed and worked for the new landowners• After Cromwell, over 70% of the land was in

Protestant hands

Overall Results of all the Plantations

• Look back at Ireland before the Plantations (English control was in the Pale only)

• Ireland was now firmly in English hands• Most of the land was in loyal English or Scottish

(Protestant) hands• There was now a new Protestant Ascendancy

who rule Ireland for the next 200 years• Penal Laws persecute Catholics and keep them

poor