|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Confederate Ireland refers to the period of Irish self-government between the Rebellion of 1641 and the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland in 1649. The Irish Rebellion of 1641 began as an attempted Coup d'état by Irish Catholic gentry but developed into inter communal violence between native The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland (1649-53 refers to the re-conquest of Ireland by the forces of the English Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell During this time, two-thirds of Ireland was governed by the Irish Catholic Confederation, also known as the "Confederation of Kilkenny" (based in the city of Kilkenny). Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world Kilkenny, ( is a city and county town of County Kilkenny in Ireland. The remaining Protestant enclaves in Ulster, Munster and Leinster were held by armies loyal to the royalists, parliamentarians or Scottish Covenanters during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Ulster ( Ulaidh ˈkwɪɟɪ ˈʌlˠu / ˈʌlˠi is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in addition to Connacht, Munster and Leinster Munster ( Irish: An Mhumhain, ənˈvuːnʲ Cúige Mumhan or Mumha) is the southernmost of the four Provinces of Ireland. Leinster (ˈlɛnstər Irish: Laighin, lainʲ one of the Provinces of Ireland, lies in the east of Ireland and comprises the counties of Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I during the English Civil War ( 1642 &ndash 1651 The Parliament of England was the Legislature of the Kingdom of England. Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. The Covenanters formed an important movement in the religion and politics of Scotland in the 17th century The Wars of the Three Kingdoms (sometimes known as the Wars of the Three Nations) formed an intertwined series of conflicts that took place in Scotland, The Confederates failed to defeat the British armies in Ireland in 1642–49 in a conflict known as the Irish Confederate Wars and joined a royalist alliance in 1648 against the Rump Parliament. This article is concerned with the military history of Ireland from 1641-53 The Rump Parliament was the name of the English Parliament after Colonel Pride on December 6 1648 had purged Long Parliament of those
Contents |
Rebellion and the formation of the Confederation
- This is a political history, for a military history of the period, see Irish Confederate Wars
The Catholic Confederation was formed in the aftermath of the 1641 rebellion, both to control the popular uprising and to organise an Irish Catholic war effort against the remaining British armies in Ireland. This article is concerned with the military history of Ireland from 1641-53 The Irish Rebellion of 1641 began as an attempted Coup d'état by Irish Catholic gentry but developed into inter communal violence between native It was hoped that by doing this, the Irish Catholics could hold off an English or Scottish re-conquest of the country. The initiative for the Confederation came from a Catholic bishop, Nicholas French and a lawyer named Nicholas Plunkett. Nicholas French ( 1604 - August 23, 1678) Roman Catholic Bishop of Ferns, was an Irish political activist and pamphleteer who was They put forth their proposals for a government to Irish Catholic nobles such as Viscount Gormanston, Viscount Mountgarret and Donagh MacCarthy, Viscount Muskerry. Viscount Gormanston is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1478 and is the senior Viscount of Ireland as well as the bearer of the oldest vicomital Richard Butler, third Viscount Mountgarret (1578-1651 was the son of Edmund, second viscount Mountgarret and Grany or Grizzel daughter of Barnaby first lord of Upper Donagh MacCarthy Viscount Muskerry and Earl of Clancarty (d August 1665 was an Irish noble (as well as the brother-in-law of James Butler 1st Duke of Ormonde) These men committed their own armed forces to the Confederation and persuaded other rebels to join it. Members of the Confederation took an oath on joining to uphold the Roman Catholic religion, the King's Rights and the liberty of Ireland.
Constitution
The Confederate's constitution was written by another lawyer, a Galway man named Patrick D'arcy. Galway (Gaillimh is the only city in the province of Connacht in Ireland. In some respects, the Confederation was quite democratic for its time. The Confederate government was composed of a General Assembly, a parliament in all but name, elected from and by Irish landowners and Catholic clergy, which in turn elected an executive known as the Supreme Council. TalkParliament#Screen-size. -->A parliament is a Legislature, especially in those In Political science and Constitutional law, the executive is the branch of government responsible for the day-to-day management of the State. The General Assembly and the Supreme Council both met in the city of Kilkenny, with the Assembly being called annually to review the work of the Supreme Council. Kilkenny, ( is a city and county town of County Kilkenny in Ireland. The Confederates immediately set up an extensive system of taxation to finance the war, and sent envoys to the Roman Catholic powers in continental Europe.
Policies
However, the Confederate Catholic Association of Ireland never actually claimed to be an independent government, because (in the context of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms) they professed to be Royalists, loyal to Charles I. The Wars of the Three Kingdoms (sometimes known as the Wars of the Three Nations) formed an intertwined series of conflicts that took place in Scotland, Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I during the English Civil War ( 1642 &ndash 1651 Charles I, (19 November 1600 &ndash 30 January 1649 was King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution. Since only the King could legally call a Parliament, the Confederate General Assembly never claimed to be a Parliament either, although it acted like one. In negotiations with the Royalists, the Confederates demanded that all concessions made to them would be ratified in post war Irish Parliament, which would have resembled the Confederate General Assembly including some Protestant Royalists. The Parliament of Ireland (Irish Parlaimint na hEireann) was a Legislature that existed from mediæval times until 1800.
The Confederate's stated objective was to reach an agreement with the King. The ambitions were: full rights for Catholics in Ireland, toleration of the Catholic religion, and self-government for Ireland. The motto of the Confederation was Pro Deo, Rege et Patria, Hibernia Unanimis (English: For God, King and Fatherland, Ireland is United). Hibernia is the Classical Latin name for the island of Ireland. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States
The members of the Supreme Council were predominantly of Old English descent and were distrusted by many of the Gaelic Irish, who felt they were too moderate in their demands. The Old English (Seanghaill were the descendants of the settlers who came to Ireland from Wales, Normandy and England after the Norman The more radical Confederates pressed for a reversal of the plantations and the establishment of Catholicism as state religion in Ireland. Plantations in 16th and 17th century Ireland were established throughout the country by the confiscation of lands occupied by Gaelic clans and Hiberno-Norman dynasties A state religion (also called an official religion, established church or state church) is a religious body or Creed officially
The Confederates believed that their aspirations were best served by alliance with the royalist cause and therefore made supporting the King a central part of their strategy. This was because the English Parliament and Scottish Covenanters had threatened before the war to invade Ireland and destroy the Catholic religion and Irish land-owning class. The Covenanters formed an important movement in the religion and politics of Scotland in the 17th century The King, by contrast, had repeatedly promised them some concessions. The difficulty for Charles was that he was horrified at the 1641 rebellion and had signed the Adventurers Act into law in 1642, which proposed confiscating all rebel held lands in Ireland. The Adventurers' Act is an Act of the Parliament of England, with the long title "An Act for the speedy and effectual reducing of the rebels in His Majesty's A new policy of refusing pardon to any Irish rebels had also been agreed in London and Dublin. Therefore his forces remained hostile to the Confederates until 1643, when his military position in England started to weaken. Many of the Confederate gentry stood to lose their land under the Adventurers Act; it galvanized their efforts and they realized that it could only be repealed by taking a loyal stance. The Adventurers' Act is an Act of the Parliament of England, with the long title "An Act for the speedy and effectual reducing of the rebels in His Majesty's
However, while the moderate Confederates were anxious to come to an agreement with Charles I and did not press for radical political and religious reforms, others wished to force the King to accept a self-governing Catholic Ireland before they came to terms with him. Failing that, they advocated an independent alliance with France or Spain. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
Cessation with the royalists
In 1643, the Confederates negotiated a "cessation of arms" (or ceasefire), with the royalists in Ireland and opened negotiations with James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde, the King's representative in Ireland. A ceasefire (or truce) is a temporary stoppage of a War or any Armed conflict, where each side of the conflict agrees James Butler 1st Duke of Ormonde ( October 19, 1610 &ndash July 21 1688) was an Anglo-Irish statesman and soldier This meant that hostilities ceased between the Confederates and Ormonde's royalist army in Dublin. Dublin (ˈdʌblɨn/ /ˈdʊblɨn or /ˈdʊbəlɪn/, bˠalʲə aːha klʲiəh or cliə(ɸ is both the largest city and capital of Ireland. However, the English garrison in Cork (which was commanded by Murrough O'Brien, 1st Earl of Inchiquin, a rare Gaelic Irish Protestant) objecting to the ceasefire, mutinied and declared allegiance to the English Parliament. Cork (Corcaigh is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland 's third most populous city after Dublin and Belfast Murrough O'Brien 1st Earl of Inchiquin ( Irish: Murchadh Ó Briain commonly known as Murchadh na Dóiteáin, 'Murrough of the Burnings' due to his savagery against Protestantism refers to the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated in the 16th century Protestant Reformation. The Parliament of England was the Legislature of the Kingdom of England. The Scottish Covenanters had also landed an army in Ulster in 1642, which remained hostile to the Confederates — as did the forces of the British settlers in Ulster. The Covenanters formed an important movement in the religion and politics of Scotland in the 17th century
In 1644, the Confederates sent around 1,500 men under Alasdair MacColla to Scotland to support the royalists there under James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose against the Covenanters, sparking a Civil War — their only intervention on the Royalist side in the civil wars in Britain. Alasdair MacColla (c 1610&ndash1647 was a Scottish - Irish soldier Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. James Graham 1st Marquess of Montrose (October 1612 - 21 May 1650) was a Scottish nobleman and soldier who initially joined the Scotland in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms covers Scotland 's involvement in the wider conflict known as the Wars of the Three Kingdoms between 1644 and 1650
The Papal Nuncio's arrival
The Confederates received modest subsidies from the monarchies of France and Spain, who wanted to recruit troops in Ireland but their main continental support came from the Papacy. Pope Innocent X strongly supported Confederate Ireland, over the objections of Mazarin and the Queen, Henrietta Maria, who had moved to Paris in 1644. Pope Innocent X ( May 6, 1574 &ndash January 7, 1655) born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj (or Pamphili) was Pope Jules Mazarin, born Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino ( July 14 1602 &ndash March 9 1661) was an accomplished French statesman Henrietta Maria ( 25 November 1609 – 10 September 1669) was Princess of France and Queen Consort of England, Scotland Innocent received the Confederation's envoy in February 1645 and resolved to send a nuncio extraordinary to Ireland, Giovanni Battista Rinuccini, archbishop of Fermo, who embarked from La Rochelle with the Confederacy's secretary, Richard Bellings. Nuncio is an ecclesiastical Diplomatic title, derived from the ancient Latin word Nuntius, meaning "envoy Giovanni Battista Rinuccini ( September 15 1592 – December 28 1653) was a Roman Catholic archbishop in the mid seventeenth century La Rochelle is a city in western France, and a Seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. Richard Bellings (1613–1677 was a lawyer and political figure in 17th century Ireland and in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. He took with him a large quantity of arms and military supplies and a very large sum of money. These supplies meant that Rinuccini had a big influence on the Confederate's internal politics and he was backed by the more militant Confederates such as Owen Roe O'Neill. Eoghan Rua Ó Néill, anglicised as Owen Roe O'Neill ( c. 1590&ndash1649 ("Red Owen" was a seventeenth century soldier and one of the most famous At Kilkenny Rinuccini was received with great honours, asserting that the object of his mission was to sustain the King, but above all to help the Catholic people of Ireland in securing the free and public exercise of the Catholic religion, and the restoration of the churches and church property, but not any former monastic property.
The first "Ormonde Peace"
The nuncio considered himself the virtual head of the Confederate Catholic party in Ireland. By March 1646, however, the Supreme Council of the Confederates had come to an agreement with Ormonde, signed March 28, 1646. Events 37 - Roman Emperor Caligula accepts the titles of the Principate, entitled to him by the Senate. Under its terms Catholics would be allowed to serve in public office and found schools; there were also verbal promises of future concessions on religious toleration. There was an amnesty for acts committed in the Rebellion of 1641 and a guarantee against further seizure of Irish Catholic land. The Supreme Council also put great hope in a secret treaty they had concluded with the Earl of Glamorgan on the King's behalf, which promised further concessions to Irish Catholics in the future. The title Duke of Beaufort in the Peerage of England was created by Charles II in 1682 for Henry Somerset 3rd Marquess of Worcester, a descendant of
However, there was no reversal of Poynings Law which subordinated the Irish Parliament to the English one, no reversal of the Protestant domination of Parliament and no reversal of the main plantations, or colonisation, in Ulster and Munster. Poynings' Law is a parliamentary act initiated by Sir Edward Poynings in the Irish Parliament at Drogheda in 1494. The Parliament of Ireland (Irish Parlaimint na hEireann) was a Legislature that existed from mediæval times until 1800. Colonisation (also known as Colonization) occurs whenever any one or more species populates a new area Moreover, regarding the religious articles of the treaty, all churches taken over by Catholics in the war would have to be returned to Protestant hands and public practice of Catholicism was not guaranteed.
In return for the concessions that were made Irish troops would be sent to England to fight for the royalists in the English Civil War. The English Civil War (1642-1651 was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists. However, the terms agreed were not acceptable to either the Catholic clergy, the Irish military commanders — notably Owen Roe O'Neill and Thomas Preston — or the majority of the General Assembly. Eoghan Rua Ó Néill, anglicised as Owen Roe O'Neill ( c. 1590&ndash1649 ("Red Owen" was a seventeenth century soldier and one of the most famous Thomas Preston 1st Viscount Tara (1585 - 1655 was an Irish soldier of the 17th century Nor was Rinuccini the papal nuncio party to the treaty, which left untouched the objects of his mission; he had induced nine of the Irish bishops to sign a protest against any arrangement with Ormonde or the king that would not guarantee the maintenance of the Catholic religion. James Butler 1st Duke of Ormonde ( October 19, 1610 &ndash July 21 1688) was an Anglo-Irish statesman and soldier
Many believed the Supreme Council were unreliable, since many of them were related to Ormonde or otherwise bound to him. Besides, it was pointed out that the English Civil War had already been decided in the English Parliament’s favour and that sending Irish troops to the royalists would be a futile sacrifice. On the other hand, many felt after O’Neill’s Ulster army defeated the Scots at the battle of Benburb in June 1646 that the Confederates were in a position to re-conquer all of Ireland. Eoghan Rua Ó Néill, anglicised as Owen Roe O'Neill ( c. 1590&ndash1649 ("Red Owen" was a seventeenth century soldier and one of the most famous The Battle of Benburb took place in 1646 in the Irish Confederate Wars, the Irish theatre of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Furthermore, those who opposed the peace were backed, both spiritually and financially, by Rinuccini, who threatened to excommunicate the "peace party". The Supreme Council were arrested and the General Assembly voted to reject the deal.
Military defeat and a new Ormonde peace
After the Confederates rejected the peace deal, Ormonde handed Dublin over to a parliamentarian army under Michael Jones. Colonel Michael Jones (died December 1649 fought for King Charles I during the Irish Confederate War but joined the English Parliamentary side when the English The Confederates now tried to eliminate the remaining parliamentarian outposts in Dublin and Cork, but in 1647 suffered a series of military disasters. Dublin (ˈdʌblɨn/ /ˈdʊblɨn or /ˈdʊbəlɪn/, bˠalʲə aːha klʲiəh or cliə(ɸ is both the largest city and capital of Ireland. Cork (Corcaigh is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland 's third most populous city after Dublin and Belfast First, Thomas Preston’s Leinster army was destroyed by Jones’s parliamentarians at the battle of Dungans Hill in Meath. Leinster (ˈlɛnstər Irish: Laighin, lainʲ one of the Provinces of Ireland, lies in the east of Ireland and comprises the counties of The Battle of Dungan's Hill took place in County Meath, in eastern Ireland in August 1647. Then the Confederates Munster army met a similar fate at the hands of Inchiquin’s parliamentarian forces at the battle of Knocknanauss. The Battle of Knocknanauss was fought in 1647, during the Irish Confederate Wars, part of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, between Confederate
These setbacks made most Confederates much more eager to come to reach an agreement with the royalists and negotiations were re-opened. The Supreme Council got generous terms from Charles I and Ormonde, including toleration of the Catholic religion, a commitment to repealing Poynings Law (and therefore to Irish self-government), recognition of lands taken by Irish Catholics during the war and a commitment to a partial reversal of the Plantation of Ulster. The Plantation of Ulster (Irish Plandáil Uladh) was a planned process of Colonisation which took place in the northern Irish province of Ulster In addition, there was to be an Act of Oblivion, or amnesty for all acts committed during the 1641 rebellion and Confederate wars — in particular the killings of British Protestant settlers in 1641 — and the Confederate armies would remain in existence. This article is concerned with the military history of Ireland from 1641-53
However Charles granted these terms only out of desperation and later repudiated them. Under the terms of the agreement, the Confederation was to dissolve itself, place its troops under royalist commanders and accept English royalist troops. Inchiquin also defected from the Parliament and rejoined the royalists in Ireland.
Civil War within the Confederation
However, many of the Irish Catholics continued to reject a deal with the royalists. Owen Roe O'Neill refused to join the new royalist alliance and fought a brief internal civil war with the royalists and Confederates in the summer of 1648. Eoghan Rua Ó Néill, anglicised as Owen Roe O'Neill ( c. 1590&ndash1649 ("Red Owen" was a seventeenth century soldier and one of the most famous So alienated was O'Neill by what he considered to be a betrayal of Catholic war aims that he tried to make a separate peace with the English Parliament and was for a short time effectively an ally of the English parliamentary armies in Ireland. This was disastrous for the wider aims of the Confederacy, as it coincided with the outbreak of the second civil war in England. The English Civil War (1642-1651 was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists. The Papal Nuncio, Rinuccini, endeavored to uphold Owen Roe O'Neill by excommunicating all who took part in a truce with the Royalists; but he could not get the Irish Catholic Bishops to agree on the matter. Excommunication is a religious Censure used to deprive or suspend membership in a religious community On February 23, 1649, he embarked at Galway, in his own frigate, to return to Rome.
It is often argued that this split within the Confederate ranks represented a split between Gaelic Irish and Old English. The Old English (Seanghaill were the descendants of the settlers who came to Ireland from Wales, Normandy and England after the Norman It is suggested that a particular reason for this was that Gaelic Irish had lost much land and power since the English conquest of Ireland and hence had become radical in their demands. However, there were members of both ethnicities on either side. For example, Phelim O’Neill, the Gaelic Irish instigator of the Rebellion of 1641, sided with the moderates, whereas the predominantly Old English south Wexford area rejected the peace. Sir Felim O'Neill of Kinard (died August 1653 better known as Phelim O'Neill was an Irish nobleman who led the Irish Rebellion of 1641 in Ulster The Catholic clergy were also split over the issue.
The real significance of the split was between those landed gentry who were prepared to compromise with the royalists as long as their lands and civil rights were guaranteed, and those, such as Owen Roe O'Neill, who wanted to completely overturn the British presence in Ireland. They wanted an independent, Catholic Ireland, with the British settlers expelled permanently. Many of the militants were most concerned with recovering ancestral lands their families had lost in the plantations. After inconclusive skirmishing with the Confederates, Owen Roe O'Neill retreated to Ulster and did not rejoin his former comrades until Cromwell’s invasion of 1649. Oliver Cromwell (25 April 1599 Old Style &ndash 3 September 1658 Old Style) was an English military and political leader best known This infighting fatally hampered the preparations of the Confederate-royalist alliance to repel the invasion of parliamentarian New Model Army. The New Model Army was formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War.
Cromwell's invasion
Oliver Cromwell invaded Ireland in 1649 to crush the new alliance of Irish Confederates and royalists. Oliver Cromwell (25 April 1599 Old Style &ndash 3 September 1658 Old Style) was an English military and political leader best known The Parliament of England was the Legislature of the Kingdom of England. Oliver Cromwell (25 April 1599 Old Style &ndash 3 September 1658 Old Style) was an English military and political leader best known The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland was the bloodiest warfare that had ever occurred in the country and was accompanied by plague and famine. The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland (1649-53 refers to the re-conquest of Ireland by the forces of the English Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell A pandemic (from Greek παν pan all + δήμος demos people is an Epidemic of Infectious disease that spreads through A famine is a widespread shortage of food that may apply to any Faunal species which phenomenon is usually accompanied by regional Malnutrition, Starvation It ended in total defeat for the Irish Catholics and royalists. Most of the senior members of the Confederation spent the Cromwellian period in exile in France, with the English Royalist Court. After the Restoration, those Confederates who had promoted alliance with the Royalists found themselves in favour and recovered their lands. The English Restoration, or simply The Restoration began in 1660 when the English monarchy, Scottish monarchy and Irish monarchy were restored However, those who remained in Ireland throughout the Interregnum invariably had all their land confiscated and in many cases were executed or transported to penal colonies. The English Interregnum was the period of Parliamentary and Military rule in the land occupied by modern-day England and Wales after the The pre-war Irish Catholic land-owning class was all but totally destroyed in this period. As were the institutions of the Roman Catholic Church.
Significance
Confederate Ireland was arguably the only sustained period of Catholic Irish self-government between 1558 and the foundation of Irish Free State in 1922. The Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann (1922&ndash1937 was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by Year 1922 ( MCMXXII) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Its style of parliament was similar to the landed oligarchy Irish parliament established by the Normans in 1297, but it was not based on a democratic vote. The Parliament of Ireland (Irish Parlaimint na hEireann) was a Legislature that existed from mediæval times until 1800. Given their large notional power base, the Confederates ultimately failed to manage and reorganize Ireland so as to defend the interests of Irish Catholics. The Irish Confederate Wars and the ensuing Cromwellian conquest of Ireland (1649-53) caused massive loss of life and ended with the confiscation of almost all Irish Catholic owned land in the 1650s, though much was re-granted in the 1660s. This article is concerned with the military history of Ireland from 1641-53 The end of the period cemented the British colonisation of Ireland in the so-called Cromwellian Settlement. The Act for the Settlement of Ireland imposed penalties including death and land confiscation against participants and bystanders of the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and subsequent
See also
Sources
- O'Siochru, Micheal, Confederate Ireland 1642-49, Four Courts Press Dublin 1999. The history of Ireland begins with the first known settlement in Ireland around 8000 BC when Hunter-gatherers arrived from Great Britain and continental Early Modern Ireland saw the first full conquest of Ireland by England and its colonization with Protestant settlers from England and Scotland A confederation is a group of empowered states or communities usually created by treaty but often later adopting a common constitution
- Lenihan, Padraig, Confederate Catholics at War 1641-49, Cork University Press, Cork 2001.
- Ohlmeyer, Jane and Kenyon, John (ed. s), The Civil Wars, Oxford University Press, Oxford 1998.
- Canny, Nicholas, Making Ireland British 1580-1650, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2001.
External links
- The Confederate Assembly of Kilkenny, British Civil Wars, Commonwealth and Protectorate, 1638–1660
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic