Ireland in the 16th and 17th Centuries

History is massively important in Ireland!!! It is on our walls, painted in murals, spoken in peoples speech and comes up in their attitude and views.

Much of what goes on in Ireland today we can date back to one troublesome part of our history: the 16th and 17th centuries.
It was then that Ireland was torn apart by religion and war. It was a battle for control of the island of Ireland that would end with Ulster transformed and King William of Orange winning the battle of the Boyne... a battle celebrated by some in our community hundreds of years later - But what were those events that went on so long ago that can so affect our lives today !? Lets see ...

([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ireland_1450.png source and rights])

English influence is limited to the small area of the Pale.
Most of Ireland is still run by the Native Gaelic Irish
There is some strong Anglo Norman influence

The Native Irish way of life:

English Kings and Queens faced a continuous problem with Ireland at this time:

They felt Ireland was a THREAT to England as invaders could use it as a base to attack England
They also thought it was an OPPORTUNITY to trade and get rich
They knew controlling Ireland could make the England and the English King or Queen more powerful!
As time went on they also wanted to use it to spread their PROTESTANT RELIGION.

They all wanted to CONTROL it!! It seemed an impossible task with a different culture, language and way of life. However, each King and Queen tried different ways to try and control the island - with different successes and failures. You will have to know each King and Queen and HOW they tried to control Ireland.

YES AND NO

Many Irish Chieftans DID SURRENDER and REGRANT and declare themselves loyal to Henry

HOWEVER:

Many Irish continued as they had been doing afterwards- speaking Irish and following Gaelic customs
The Catholic religion remained the religion of the land

METHOD OF CONTROL : PLANTATION

Queen Mary followed the early death of her brother King Edward. She was a Catholic Queen but she was just as determined to get more control of Ireland.

Mary used PLANTATION:

THIS WAS TRYING TO GET A LARGE GROUP OF ENGLISH PEOPLE TO GO TO IRELAND AND SETTLE THERE.
SHE HOPED THEY WOULD SET UP FARMS
DEVELOP RICH BUSINESSES
SPREAD THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND CULTURE AND...
HELP HER CONTROL IRELAND WITHOUT EXPENSIVE SOLDIERS!

Mary tried to plant TWO counties: She called them : Kings county and Queens County.

FAILURE

Mary's Plantation failed. Very few English people were attracted to the idea of going to Ireland at the time. It seemed a wild and dangerous place to many English people.

METHOD OF CONTROL: THE MUNSTER PLANTATION

Queen Elizabeth was really determined to control Ireland. She was deeply frightened that the country could be used as a base to attack England. Elizabeth was a Protestant Queen and was under threat from countries like Spain.

Elizabeth first used force. She sent her soldiers to fight in a devastating and expensive war called the NINE YEARS WAR. This was only partly successful and many soldiers died. It was also expensive.
Elizabeth decided to copy the same idea as her sister Mary - PLANTATION

Elizabeth started her own Plantation. This time it was in the province of MUNSTER. This time many settlers were attracted.
WHY WERE SETTLERS ATTRACTED TO THE MUNSTER PLANTATION?

They were promised a lot of good land and this could lead to money.
They had the chance of power open to them in Ireland
They would be pleasing their Queen by helping Plant Ireland
They were attracted to the adventure

AT FIRST THE MUNSTER PLANTATION WAS SUCCESSFUL ATTRACTING MANY SETTLERS
HOWEVER
AFTER A WHILE THEY WERE SOON DRIVEN OUT BY THE NATIVE IRISH.

This time however the English were learning from their mistakes. The third plantation would prove third time lucky but for a different king.

WHAT WAS THE FLIGHT OF THE EARLS?

The NINE YEARS WAR had left Ireland devastated. Elizabeth had spent a fortune fighting.. BUT the defeat of the Irish at the BATTLE OF KINSALE led to the Irish Earls being severely weakened.

O’NEILL the Irish leader surrendered and was allowed to keep his lands IF HE OBEYED ENGLISH LAW.

Many however wanted O’NEILL out and in 1607 fearing a plot, O’Neill and 100 followers boarded a ship in Donegal and left Ireland. They hoped to get help from Catholic allies in Europe to help defeat the English in Ireland. However they were never to return. This was called the Flight of the Earls.

This left ULSTER defenceless and without Leaders. Their Ulster lands would be taken by the English—for a Plantation on a much greater scale.

METHOD OF CONTROL: THE ULSTER PLANTATION

James 1 was a new King with big ideas.
He was King of Scotland AND England.
He wanted to try to control the last area of Ireland not under full English Control - ULSTER.With the flight of the Earls it was his big chance!!! It had left land 'Free' for him to send over thousands of settlers! This time they wouldn't just be from England but from Scotland too.

For Scots it would be a huge opportunity to own lots of new land and make money - not very far from home.

James hoped a large Plantation of Ulster would:

Save him money as he wouldn't need to spend money on lots of soldiers.
Increase Loyalty in Ireland
Increase TRADE with new industries and businesses being started up. (getting him tax!)
Increase the PROTESTANT religion to Ireland.
'CIVILIZE' the Irish giving them the English language, ways of farming and English Law.

Pictures courtesy of Ulster Scots Agency

SERVITORS

Land was granted to SERVITORS. These were old soldiers who had fought in Ireland and were given land instead of wages.
The King also hoped they would protect Ulster from attack.

UNDERTAKERS

These were Scottish and English people who would undertake (or promise) to bring a good number of families over to Ulster to settle. They were given land in return

THE LONDON COMPANIES

The London companies were RICH and the King hoped they would make the plantation a success as they had money to invest

THE CHURCH OF IRELAND

Land was also given to the Church of Ireland. Even though most of Ireland was Catholic the Church of Ireland had been made a PROTESTANT church by Henry VIII

SCOTTISH & ENGLISH SETTLERS

Scottish and English families came in their thousands to settle in Ulster.
They brought a new way of life, farming, doing business, law and religion.
Towns like Coleraine and Londonderry were built. New churches and houses were built and a new way of life set up.

They changed Ulster FOREVER!

THE NATIVE IRISH

Only some land was granted to the native Irish. The majority of Irish people were either:

1. Made to PAY RENT to their new landlords

2. Made to leave the best land and move to bad land in the MOUNTAINS OR BOGS

Some become WOODKERNE! (Irish bandits)

Pictures above courtesy of the Ulster Scots agency

EXAMPLES FROM THE PLANTATION

Bellaghy Bawn today

Reconstruction @Ulster History Park

Tully castle, Co. Fermanagh

Some students studying history ask the question ' What has this got to do with us? ' This event 400 years ago has had a HUGE impact on all our lives!!!
Many of our own families are related to either Native Irish settlers or Scottish and English Planters. If you have names like JOHNSTON ; ARMSTRONG; HAMILTON or MONTGOMERY you are more than likely to be from Planter stock. So some of us may not be here in Ulster today if the plantation had never happened!

The Plantation brought many benefits to Ulster, including new businesses, farming techniques and towns.

HOWEVER as with many things in history it had TWO SIDES.

The Plantation also brought a new religion powerfully into Ireland and concentrated in Ulster. This would lead to later divisions and some may even say our recent 'Troubles'
It also left many native Irish without land or on bad land and this angered them and created a division between the Natives and Settlers that many believe still exists...... So next time you look at the murals on the walls of Belfast... perhaps in part they could be connected to the Plantation

Pictures courtesy of the Ulster Scots Agency

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