Lecture Eight Wednesday 9th March
See http://www.bbc.co.uk/ni/william
War and Peace: the Glorious Revolution and Williamite Land Settlement in Ireland, 1685 to 1703
In today’s lecture we are going to look at the causes and consequences of the war of the three kings in Ireland. It is called this to take into consideration that the war between king James II and William was not as straightforward as it appears. The battles that took place in Ireland were merely European battles fought on Irish soil in that the main aims and causes of the battle had more to do with the politics of the European alliance against the third king in the equation – Louis 14th of France.
The forces that met each other across the Boyne on that faithful day were the French and the Irish on the one side (called Jacobites) and Dutch, Spanish, Austrian, German, Papal, English and Irish troops on the other side (known as Williamites).
These were the armies to face each other across the Boyne on that fateful day and not the Catholic versus Protestant forces that so many unionist historians would have us believe.
The prospect for Catholics became much better in the closing years of Charles II’s reign when the king had dispensed with using parliament and was virtually living on subsidies he was getting from the king of France.
Additionally, the power and influence of James, Duke of York, was also in the ascendant. He was responsible for having those Catholics who were imprisoned as a result of the popish plot released and for coming up with the notion that Catholics in Ireland should be admitted with commissions into the Irish army.
When Charles II died on 6th February 1685 and was succeeded by his Catholic brother James, Catholics in Ireland took this as the signal to make demands in relation to their exclusion from politics and from their lands.
The Protestants in Ireland, who were in a minority, depended on the active support of the English government and crown to maintain their landed possessions and political supremacy.
What Catholics did not realise was that James was not initially going to be the friend they expected him to be. The reason for this was that James shared many of the prejudices of his English subjects and was also aware that he would have to take into consideration English opinions before implementing any major changes in Ireland.
The early period of the new Kings reign, in relation to Ireland was dominated by the opposition of two influential people –the Catholic, Richard Talbot, Earl of Tyrconnell and the English Protestant, earl of Clarendon. The influences of both these men at court dictated policies in Ireland.
Clarendon came to Dublin in January 1686 and was to remain in office for little more than a year. His powers, however, were being constantly undermined by Tyrconnell and his supporters at court.
Tyrconnell was initially successful when he managed to persuade the King to allow Catholics to take up regimental commands in the army in Ireland. They were also exempted from taking the oath of supremacy.
Rumours began spreading in Ireland that this was going to be the start of a decline of the protestant position in Ireland. These rumours soon became reality when Tyrconnell was appointed to command the army in Ireland, more Catholics were given commissions into the army but also protestant enlisted soldiers were turned out of their regiments and replaced by Catholics. In one day alone, 400 Protestants were dismissed under the guise of having to remove Cromwellian or other Republican sympathisers.
Tyrconnell was appointed to take Clarendons position as Lord Deputy of Ireland in February 1687, against the wishes of many in England.
Immediately he adopted a policy of Catholicisation whereby he replaced many of the civil, legal and military positions (hitherto held by Protestants) with Catholics. He did this no matter that he stated from the outset that it was his intention to rule impartially.
A contemporary Gaelic poet (O’Bruadair) gave expression to the prevailing sentiment.
On the bench now are seated Dalys and Rices,
And a sage of the Nagles is urging them
To listen to the plea of the man who cannot speak
The lip-dry and simpering English tongue
Catholic sheriffs were appointed to each of the counties.
The charters of corporations, which had hitherto admitted only protestant freemen, were called in and new ones were issued which were designed to give substantial majorities to Catholics. Of course the idea behind this was that freemen of corporations had a vote and many corporations could send two members to parliament so what was intended was an eventual majority in parliament whenever the king decided to call one.
All of these administrative changes and apprehension about what they feared a parliament might do led to many protestants in Ireland to go abroad or move up to areas in Ulster which had large number of Protestants.
The land settlement was to be the most important question of the new reign. While it remained intact protestants could count on preserving the influence that was traditionally associated with the possession of land. They had also been originally told by Clarendon that James intended not to alter anything in relation to the land settlement.
Catholics, however, were determined that they wanted to avail of the evolving situation by having the outstanding issues relating to the land settlement sorted out (particularly those who did not have an opportunity to appear before the first court of claims in 1663).
Clarendon proposed to the king to have another Commission of Grace whereby people who had been granted land would pay another fine to have legal title to their lands proved and the money so raised could go to relieve the so call hardship cases among Catholics who suffered greatly as a result of the settlement.
Catholics, however, wanted land not money and protestants rightly concluded that there was going to be a ‘new scramble’ for land in Ireland. That this was going to happen seemed ever more evident when Tyrconnell and the Attorney General (Nagle) went to England to discuss the land settlement with the court.
They were going to meet with a lot of resistance from the King’s advisors who were well aware of Protestant feeling on the matter. They wanted the King to issue an immediate proclamation guaranteeing the settlement.
The Catholic view of things can be seen in a letter that Nagle sent to Tyrconnel (Coventry Letter) They held that whereas the advancements they had made in the civil, military and legal spheres in Ireland were important, that all of them could be taken back off them should James die without an heir to the throne –his Protestant daughter, Mary would then be next in line. It was only by the Catholics getting a substantial part of the land back that would, in their opinion, secure their future.
Catholics therefore wanted a new Act to be implemented that would restore the many Catholics who had not managed to appear at the first court of claims. News of this letter soon spread about like wildfire and greatly alarmed the Protestants of Ireland but no actions were taken at that time to interfere with the settlement.
In August 1687 the King called Tyrconnell to court and the French Ambassador there reported that the Act of Settlement was going to be repealed and all lands were to be taken off the protestants who had gotten them. This was only speculation however as what Tyrconnell proposed was that the protestants should loose half their holdings and the other half was to be used to return lands to the Old English Catholics who had lost it. It is important to note that the Gaelic Irish landholdings that were confiscated were never under consideration. It was as if they did not exist to the Old English who were concerned only with getting their lands back.
This was the scheme that James accepted and a parliament was to be convened before the years end (1687) to put it into affect. Political events in England however made it advisable to postpone the calling of parliament in Ireland.
The resurgence of the Catholic church was more gradual. In 1685 members of the Catholic hierarchy had travelled to England to negotiate a settlement for the Catholic church in Ireland. The result of this meeting was that James instructed that the Catholic clergy be not molested in Ireland; that bishops be allowed to wear their clerical garb and diocesan synods could take place again.
When these bishops returned to Ireland they set about re-organising the Catholic church in Ireland. James, for his part came to a compromise with the Pope in that he and he alone was going to make presentiments to the various bishoprics in Ireland.
One priest contemporary to the proceedings wrote ‘the long tempest of persecution had ended but priests still suffered from poverty, having no tithes or church lands’. Here is the crux of the religious question at the time. Catholic clergy were not content with being allowed to practice their faith – they also wanted to make money out of it and to hold lands out of it. I am sure that the history of Ireland at various times might have taken a different turn if it were not for the demands of Catholic clergy to enrich themselves.
For the first three years of James' reign protestants in Ireland were comforted in the knowledge that should James die without issue, which seemed very likely at the time, that a protestant monarch (Mary of Orange) would replace him and the pro-Catholic policies would be discontinued. This made Catholics very uneasy which is why, realising this, they tried to push through pro-Catholic policies at an alarming rate.
All of this changed in June 1688 when James’s wife (Mary of Modena) gave birth to a son. Whereas this birth was detrimental to the Protestant interest in Ireland, it was also to lead to the Glorious Revolution in England where James was deposed and replaced by his daughter and son in law (William of Orange). Those English people who were slow in opposing James in favour of William soon opted for the latter when James made the disastrous decision of bringing over to England three Catholic Irish regiments from Ireland. This led to the English army abandoning James and his cause and he was forced into exile when he went to France.
The replacement of James in England created a crises in Ireland, where Protestants, naturally enough sided with the Williamites and thought themselves in a position to oppose the Jacobites there in the expectation that William would send over a force to Ireland to assist them.
Tyrconnell, the head of the Jacobites in Ireland, was faced with a dilemma in that most of his army was in England and his treasury was all but empty. He had also made the mistake of allowing a protestant garrison into Derry (he arrogantly assumed that he could deal with them at a later date). When he ordered this garrison to retreat and to give over the city to Catholic forces under the Earl of Antrim, it led to a celebrated episode – still celebrated annually – when on 7th December 1688 thirteen apprentice boys closed the gates to keep the Catholic forces out.
Tyrconnell also made efforts to increase his army but as he had no money to pay them, he got around this by issuing commissions only to those officers who could pay for their own regiments until such time as money could be raised. These newly raised regiments began to live off the population and took from the Protestant settlers what they could not pay for.
There then followed a general breakdown in society when rumours of invasion and massacres were rife. Catholics began once again to settle old scores and to forcibly to take back lands they had claimed belonged to their ancestors. This caused many Protestants to flee to England or to go to those parts of Ulster which they believed to be safe due to the number and density of Protestant settlement there. Other Protestants remained where they were and formed themselves into defence corps where they attempted to hold out in anticipation of relief from the Williamite cause.
The Protestant refugees who had fled to England pressed upon William to go to Ireland to save their lands and their religion. William, however, had other more pressing matters to deal with all of which concerned either domestic politics in England or European politics where he was expected to fight with the Alliance against France.
The flight of James II and the accession to the throne of William of Orange was to bring Ireland into a European strategy where it became important only as the policies of France or those opposed to France dictated. William of Orange was a key figure in the resistance to the aggressive designs of Louis XIV, which threatened the Holy Roman Empire, along with Spain as well as the Dutch Republic. All of those countries opposed to France signed what became known as the Treaty of Vienna in May 1689 and formed themselves into a Grand Alliance.
Ireland and the Irish were to become mere pawns in this European struggle.
In keeping with this France sent James II back to Ireland where he landed on 12 March 1689. His outward mission seemed to be to get his throne back but his other reason for being there was for French strategy which was to keep William of Orange occupied there so that he could not bring his forces to oppose France on the continent.
The war that followed was to spell disaster for the Catholic Irish as it was later to prove for the Highland Scots at Culloden in 1715.
For the Catholics in Ireland it offered them what seemed the best chance to establish their predominance in politics and to get their lands back. They were supporting the legitimate claimant to the throne and were in control of the army and the administrative system. Their cause was backed by France who sent money, supplies and soldiers to assist them.
The Protestant Irish, for their part saw it as a means to reverse the Catholic revival that had been taken place. It was also a chance to defend their lands and their faith and were assured in the knowledge that there was no way William would leave them to fend for themselves against the Jacobites. There was no way that William could allow Ireland become another staging post for the French armies against him.
The war that followed was to decide the balance of power in Ireland right down to the Treaty signed in 1922 and offered the victors the opportunity to establish a virtual ascendancy in Ireland. Whether that ascendancy was going to be Protestant or Catholic would be determined by the outcome of the war.
Both sides were more evenly matched than in any other Irish war. Both sides were able to raise large armies; both sides got support from continental troops. The Protestant defence of Derry was matched by the Catholic defence of Limerick. At the Battle of Augrim (the largest of the battles fought) the Jacobites came within a hairs breadth of defeating the Williamites. Instead of the Battle of the Boyne we came close to having a Battle of Dundalk or a Battle of Ardee (were both sides intended to stand and fight before James finally decided to make his stand on the river Boyne).
Before the battles were fought, however, James had free reign in Ireland and he triumph ally entered Dublin where a Jacobite parliament met in May 1689.
The Catholics wanted to use the occasion to pass very revolutionary measures in relation to the rights of the English parliament to legislate for Ireland. James would not have this as he would never want to remove the subordination of Ireland to the English crown.
Despite James’ opposition he allowed the parliament to pass a repeal act that prepared the way for the restoration of all Catholic lands that had been confiscated in the 1650s. He did, however, hold up the actual transfer of land by declaring that a new court of claims that would give affect to the repeal of the acts of settlement and explanation would not sit until after the war was over.
The parliament sat for ten weeks and it was severely criticised by both Jacobites and Williamites. The Williamites condemned it as a ‘pretended parliament’, summoned by an ex King, and disfigured by unjust and discriminatory legislation. The Jacobites condemned it for not doing enough in having Catholics immediately restored to their lands.
The siege of Derry was going on all the time that the parliament was sitting. It was one of the last strongholds in Ireland holding out for the Williamite cause. At one stage James arrogantly assumed that if he appears before the wall and demands surrender that they inhabitants would so do. Whereas the commander of the city (Lundy) was all for obeying James, the inhabitants of the city kept the gates closed. Lundy is still celebrated today as the traitor of Protestantism where his effigy is burned on the 11th night bonfires.
After a siege of 105 days the Jacobites eventually raised the siege when a number of ships managed to make it to the city to replenish it with supplies. Why this particular event is important in Irish Protestant history is because the city was saved by the actions of the colonists of Ulster thus allowing the Williamites a foothold into Ireland when William decided to send his forces there.
The Jacobites were in total disarray after Derry. Desertions were widespread and the leadership began to argue among themselves. The French advised James to burn Dublin as it would be impossible to defend it and to retreat to make a stand west of the Shannon.
William only wanted to come to Ireland as a last resort. He had even, in February 1689 issued a proclamation calling for surrender with promises of security of property to the Catholics and toleration for their religion and for the confiscation of those who would not obey went unheeded by the Jacobites in Ireland.
When all other measures failed, William sent a number of regiments to Ireland consisting of Irish Protestants supported by Dutch and Huguenot troops. They were to be commanded by the very old Duke of Schomberg. He landed near Belfast and marched his army southwards. However, as his supply train had not yet landed he was forced to make camp at Dundalk. His choice of place to camp proved very disastrous as the camp site was on very marshy ground at the foot of some hills. There was a lot of rainy days and this, coupled with the fact that his raw troops had little idea of sanitation, they became devastated with sickness.
James marched northwards to meet him but Schomberg refused his challenge so both sides retreated to winter quarters. It seemed that William had not other choice but to go to Ireland himself. He would have preferred to go to the continent to fight against the French there so his expedition to Ireland must be seen as a last resort. He wrote of his decision ‘it was a terrible mortification to him to be able to-do so little for the common cause and to have to go to Ireland, where he would be as it were out of knowledge of the world.
He arrived on 14 June 1690 with a fleet of over 300 ships. According to a contemporary Belfast Lough was like a wood with hundreds of ships at anchor laden with provisions and ammunition. He brought with him a virtual Diaspora of troops from many nations, including Papal troops, Spanish, Dutch, German English, Irish and Danish (a good proportion of them were Catholics which alone dispels the myth that the Boyne was a victory of Protestantism over Catholicism.
On the Jacobite side there forces were strengthened by the arrival of six regiments from France.
William immediately marched south in search of the Jacobite army and James, against French advice marched northwards to meet him at Dundalk. For the second time there was nearly a battle of Dundalk, then, after James retreated, it was nearly fought at Ardee until he eventually decided to make his stand at the river Boyne on 1st July 1690.
The Williamites carried the day but only after William had been wounded. They were enabled to so do when they tactically sent a number of their forces up the river to make the Jacobites believe that the attack across the river was going to come from upstream so they diverted their forces there only to find that it was a trick and that the Williamite forces crossed where the Jacobites had just left undefended. When the Williamites crossed they met with little resistance because the Jacobites retreated in a panic with James been the first to reach Dublin where he left next day for Kinsale and sailed for France on 4th July.
This hurried flight fatally damaged his reputation among the Irish who continued to have bitter memories of the Jacobites and their cause for many generations thereafter.
A contemporary poem portrayed this.
It is the coming of King James that took Ireland from us,
With his one shoe English and his one shoe Irish,
He would neither strike a blow nor would he come to terms,
And that has left, so long as they shall exist, misfortune upon the Gaels.
After the Boyne William once again gave notice that he would offer favourable terms if the Jacobites surrendered (it was his sole intention to end the Irish campaigns as soon as possible so that he could pursue his military campaigns on the continent). Tyrconnell and the French in the Jacobite ranks wanted to take this option but were opposed by an army group led by Patrick Sarsfield.
For a time William laid siege to Limerick where the Jacobites had taken refuge but he was unable to take it before winter of 1690 set in. The Williamites retired to winter quarters and William left for England in August.
On the Jacobite side the French also decided to leave and they were accompanied by Tyrconnell.
The Williamite campaign of 1691 began at Athlone were the Jacobite forces intended to prevent the Williamites from crossing the Shannon again.
Ginkel was of the opinion that the best option open to him was to offer as generous as terms as he was able to the Jacobites to get them to surrender. For the Williamites a speedy settlement was important to get because their forces were badly needed on the continent.
He opened negotiations with a Jacobite peace party where land and religion were the chief bargaining points. Sarsfield however, put an end to these negotiations as he wanted to continue the struggle. Ginkel had obtained authority to offer security of estates to those officers and people who surrendered towns or garrisons to him.
In 1691 the Williamites first attacked Athlone which commanded the middle stretch of the Shannon. By 30th June Athlone was taken so the Jacobites retreated to Aughrim where they came within a hairs whisper of defeating the Williamites. St Ruth, the Jacobite commander was such a good strategist that they were gaining the upper hand until all changed when St Ruth was killed by a cannon ball. This panicked the jacobites who retreated disorderly and many of them were killed in the chase. Those that fell were members of many of the more important of the Old English families of Ireland.
Ginkel came to Galway and entered into negotiations with the townspeople who surrendered it under terms. Pardon and security of property was guaranteed. Military officers were given the choice of the same terms or they could march unmolested to join with the main Jacobite army at Limerick if they so wished. The clergy and laity were offered the private practice of their religion.
After Galway, Limerick was the only place holding out for the Jacobites and this was suited the French who wanted to keep the Williamite army in Ireland for another campaigning season. Ginkel, however, entered into negotiations with the Jacobites there, under Sarsfield and eventually signed a treaty (3rd October 1691) with them that was very generous.
The articles signed under this treaty could be divided into military, civil and religious.
Under the military articles any who wanted to go to France could do so and Ginkel would provide transportation for them.
Under the Civil and religious terms; Catholics were promised such freedom of worship as they had under Charles II,, pardon and property rights was extended to all who wished to remain in Ireland providing they took an oath of Allegiance to William.
Williamite land settlement and overall conclusions of the revolution in land tenure in 17th century Ireland.
The Williamite Land settlement was based on the forfeiture of the lands of those Catholics who had supported the Jacobite cause during the recent war. The amount of land that was going to be confiscated or that could be confiscated was complicated by the lenient articles of surrender that Ginkel allowed in the Treaty of Limerick.
Unlike the Cromwellians, the Williamites did not proceed to a wholesale confiscation, leaving to the victim the onus of proving their innocence.
Commissions were issued to various persons to inquire into the conduct during the late rebellion, as the support of James was now called, and verdicts were to be brought in in the usual way by juries of freeholders. These inquiries went on from 1691 until September 1st, 1699.
A special commission that was set up in 1699 to look into the land settlement records that in many places, notably in the west of Ireland, juries, often composed of adherents of King James who had been secured in their estates by the Articles of Limerick and Galway, refused to convict persons whose support of the fallen monarch was notorious.
This same commission reported that there was a total of 3,921 persons in Ireland as well as 57 who lived in England had been attainted and outlawed, and that these persons between them owned over 1,00,600 acres.
From the penalties of outlawry and forfeiture were excepted such persons as could show that they were comprised within the Articles of Galway and Limerick. These were to be pardoned on submitting to William to have their attainders and outlawries reversed and to enjoy their property as they had held it in the reign of Charles II.
Whereas the Articles of Galway only referred to the inhabitants and garrison of the city, who were allowed to retain their estates, the Articles of Limerick were to prove much more controversial to both sides.
The most important of the Limerick Articles was clause 2. This laid down that
All the inhabitants or residents of Limerick, or any other garrison now in possession of the Irish, and all officers and soldiers, now in arms under any commission of King James, or those authorised by him to grant the same, in the several counties of Limerick, Clare, Kerry, Galway and Mayo, or any of them, and all such as are under their protection in the said counties; and all the commissioned officers in their Majesties quarters, that belong to the Irish regiments, now in being, that are treated with, and are not prisoners of war, not have taken protection shall on submitting be left in possession of all their estates, rights, titles etc which they held or were lawfully entitled to in the reign of Charles II.
When the treaty articles were been drawn up the official copy that was sent to England did not contain the sentence (italicised) and all such as are under their protection in the said counties and this was to create much controversy throughout the period.
While the mistake was found, the official signed copy that had been sent to England did not include that sentence.
Later when a parliament was convened to confirm the Treaty of Limerick, this sentence was left out which effectively ensured that many people who might have been protected under the treaty, lost their estates.
Under the provisions of the articles of Galway or Limerick 1,283 people managed to have their outlawries lifted. What this meant was that those landowners within this group managed to retain their estates. A total of 161 people managed to hold on to 233,106 acres in this way.
A further 65 people were pardoned by royal favour and these retained a further 74,733 acres.
A total of 752,953 acres belonging to 272 people were forfeited to the crown.
William gave most of these acres out to his favourites, many of them were foreigners and had served in William’s armies (e.g. Ginkel and Ruvigny). By far the biggest portion was given to William’s former mistress, the countess of Orkney.
These grants by royal prerogative provoked indignation in England and the English parliament set up a commission to enquire into the Irish forfeitures.
Their report presented in 1699 led to the English Act of Resumption in 1700 which revoked all William’s grants except five, and directed that all forfeited estates should be vested in 13 trustees and sold by them at public auction.
Summary of Commissioners of Inquiry report into Williamite Land Settlement
Individuals*
Outlawed (a) in England 57
(b) in Ireland 3,921
Total outlawed 3,978
Adjudged under Articles of
Limerick or Galway 1,283
Pardoned by Royal Favour 65
Total excluded from confiscation 1,348
Area
(expressed in terms of profitable Irish acres)
Forfeited and not restored 752,953 272 people
Forfeited and restored
(a) by articles 233,106 161 people
(b) by royal favour 74,733 24 people
Total 1,060,792
* Not all individuals had landed estates
Catholic Holdings in Ireland, 1641, 1688 and 1703
Year Acres per cent
1641 6,439,000 59%
1688 2,356,000 22%
1703 1,605,000 14%
Apart from the Williamite Land Settlement there are two other important things to understand about this period which sets the theme for the Penal Laws of the Eighteenth Century.
The first of these was the emergence of what is known as the Protestant Ascendancy. The following charts the rise of the Ascendancy in Ireland.
Journey to Protestant Ascendancy
(pre 1640) Although Protestants held the majority of civil positions and power in Ireland, it was been shared with Catholics. There was no division among the Protestant planters (known then as the New English) but who were to later become known in 1650s as the ‘Ancient Protestants’ to distinguish themselves from the Cromwellians.
(1640s) The war in Ireland led to Catholics been ousted from all political power in Ireland. The Protestant settlers became polarised into Royalists and Parliamentarians and fought a civil war over these issues. They were, therefore, divided over these issues.
(1650s) A new group of Cromwellian Protestant settlers were introduced into Ireland. Some of the ‘Ancient Protestants’(Royalists), as the pre 1640 Protestant settlers became known, were initially excluded from political power in Ireland. Towards the end of the decade this group reunited and called for the Restoration of monarchy.
(1660s and 1670s) Protestants held a monopoly of political and economic power in Ireland. Whereas the majority of these were ‘Ancient Protestants’, some of the more moderate Cromwellian settlers joined them as a political group.
Their main aims during this period was to maintain the land settlement and political hegemony over Irish Catholics.
(1680s) For the last few years of his reign, Charles II ruled without a parliament so he was able to relax policies against the Catholics. When he died in 1685 the Protestant Settlers in Ireland were in danger of loosing their ascendancy position. The Glorious Revolution prevented this from occurring and ensured that Protestants in Ireland supported King William against the Jacobites.
(1690s early 1700s) Once the Jacobites had been defeated the Protestant Settlers in Ireland adopted a series of measures (Penal Laws, further confiscation of Catholic Lands) to put their ascendancy on a more secure footing that it had been during the restoration.
The second thing to know is the threats faced by the Protestants in Ireland at the Restoration of the King in 1660 and the restoration of Catholicism in 1685. The ways the Protestants reacted to both of these events will give you an understanding of why the Penal Laws were enacted.
Threats faced by the Protestant Ascendancy in 1660 and in 1685
(a) Military (1685) Commissioned officers and enlisted men in the army were displaced and replaced by Catholics.
(1660) No Catholics were admitted to the army so Protestants held the monopoly of these positions.
(b) Judicial (1685) All of the main judicial positions, including the attorney general positions were given to Catholics.
(1660) Catholics were excluded from all judicial and legal positions.
(c) Political (1685) Catholic sheriffs were appointed.
(1660) Only Protestants held these positions (Catholics were excluded).
(1685) The charters of boroughs and corporate towns were called in and new ones were issued which effectively gave Catholics the majority which they then could use to ensure that the people they elected to represent the Borough or Corporation in Parliament would be Catholic.
(1660) All such charters were designed in such a way as to exclude Catholics from becoming members of the corporation. Therefore only Protestants could hold these positions and vote Protestants into parliament.
(d) Land (1685) There was an ever present threat that the land settlement was going to be overthrown. Protestants were initially to loose half of the land they had been granted which land was going to be given over to Old English Catholics. The Jacobite parliament that met in Dublin in May 1689 wanted to deprive them of all their land. The Glorious Revolution in England and the Williamite victory halted these proceedings and saved Protestant land.
(1660) In the restoration period the lands of some Protestants were taken back to make enough available to be restored to Catholics. However, Protestants did come out of the period holding 67% of the land.
Reaction to the threats
After the Restoration of the King in 1660 the Protestants united in an interest group and went to great lengths and at great expense to maintain representatives at court who bribed or otherwise cajoled themselves into the favour of the courtiers with influence.
After the restoration of Catholicism in 1680s the reaction of the ascendancy was to cement their positions even further by enacting a series of penal laws which had the intention of taking away the dangers of Irish Catholicism by expelling priests, and by making it difficult to hold land if a Catholic –making it attractive to convert to Protestantism.