Plantations in Ireland
What 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
There were 6 main reasons for the
plantations of Ireland
Before the plantation
The 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
Catholic
Why did English Monarchs want to plant Ireland?
1. To extend control over Ireland beyond the Pale
2. 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 Offaly
O’ 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
Immediate cause – the O Moores
and O Connors attack the Pale
Munster Plantation
The 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 failed
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:
What happened?
• 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
How was the Plantation done?
• 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
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
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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
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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
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Who got Land?
Undertakers
Servitors
Trusted Irish
gentlemen
London guilds
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.
2.
Servitors were the men who’s served the
king as officials or soldiers
Undertakers undertook
(promised) to
•Build strongholds with
stone castles and
enclosed bawns
They were allowed to take Irish tenants
3.
•Build a village
Trusted Irish Gentlemen
•Bring loyal Protestant
settlers in from Scotland
and England
Irish chiefs rewarded for siding with the
English
•They were not to take
Irish tenants
•Twice the rent paid by undertakers
•Estates of 1000 acres
Groups
4.
London Guilds
•London Derry & Coleraine
•Walled Plantation towns with diamond market place
at center
5.
Church of Ireland
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 Results
Politics
• 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
Cromwell Plantation
Background
• Civil war in England
• King Charles 1 is
executed
• Lord Protector is Oliver
Cromwell
1.
2.
3.
4.
Reasons
Revenge for the killing
of Protestants during the
rebellion in 1641
Cromwell hated
Catholics
Irish Catholics had
supported the king in
the civil war
Cromwell needed land
to pay soldiers and
adventurers
What you need to know about
Cromwell in Ireland
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a.
b.
c.
d.
Cromwell arrives with his army
His aim is to dispossess the Irish of their land
He passes the Act of Settlement 1652
Catholic landowners who supported the king lost all
their land
Any Catholic who couldn’t prove he’s been loyal lost all
their land
They could go ‘To Hell or to Connacht’
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