plantations PIH Flashcards
Pretend you are a settler who received land during a Plantation
> My name is victoria jones and I am from England. I came to Ireland in 1610 because I was granted some land in County Londonderry by King James I to join the new plantation ✸
I am an undertaker and I got a grant of 2,000 acres at £10 per year rent. This is really cheap and I’d would have never have got the chance in England to rent as much land. ✸
I had to swear that I would bring English tenant farmers and craftspeople along with me to ireland. ✸ I hoped to persuade some of the workers and farmers from my relatives’s estate in England to come with me. I could offer them land at a much better rent than others. Not much english came so i had to hire some native irish to work and live. ✸
I also had to swear that I would promote the protestant religion and English laws and
customs in Ulster. ✸i was willing to do this since i myself am protestant. I am an Anglican and i would love to help the Irish people learn about the true faith.
I have already built a village around my house and bawn. ✸
It has a protestant church and a school. There are not many students yet but I am hoping it will expand soon. ✸
I have based the design of my town on the two big towns Londonderry and Coleraine. ✸
It has a square for weekly markets so that the farmers from around can come in and sell
their food. It has wide straight streets and a diamond (square) in the centre for holding
markets. ✸
We are have built a courthouse and there’s a new constable to look after law and order. ✸
The soil is great for growing crops such as potatoes. We also grow flax to make linen. ✸
I am very happy here although I am afraid that the natives might attack me and my family.
Some of the Irish are nice but others resent me being here. The poets and popish priests are
always going around stirring up trouble. ✸ I would love to be rid of them!
Give the name of one of the plantations that you have studied and write about
the effects of that plantation on two of the following:
(a) Political control
(b) Culture and customs
(c) Religion
(a) Political control
> The Ulster Plantation was the first successful plantation carried out by a British ruler in
Ireland. Prior to 1600 Ulster was the most Gaelic part of Ireland.
> Political power was now firmly in the hands of the settlers. As a result of the plantation
Ulster was firmly under the control of the British government.
> The Gaelic Irish attacked the planters. In 1641 they rebelled and killed over 4,000 but they
failed to regain control.
> English Common law replaced Brehon Law and Sheriffs administered the province.
> Towns became common throughout Ulster. They were seen as necessary to control the
planted area.
> The long term effects of the plantation can be seen in the 20th century when most of Ulster
resisted Home Rule and today Ulster is still part of the UK.
(b) Culture and customs
> The settlers came to outnumber the native Irish. They succeeded in introducing the English
language and English and Scottish customs into Ulster. There was a strong connection
between Ulster and Scotland that has remained to this day.
> All of the best land was in the hands of English and Scottish settlers. There was a gradual
change from the Gaelic practice of pasture farming to the growing of crops called tillage
farming.
> The settlers introduced towns into Ulster. Separate quarters then developed for the settlers
and the native Irish who were not allowed within the walls of the towns, e.g. the Bogside
in Derry. Generally the Gaelic Irish were far poorer than the settlers and lived in smaller
houses.
(c) Religion
> The Protestant settlers soon came to outnumber the native Irish.
> The Scottish settlers introduced Presbyterianism to Ireland. The English settlers were
members of the Church of Ireland. Attempts were made to outlaw Catholicism completely.
> This division between the Catholic natives and the Protestant settlers was the cause of great
bitterness. This was shown in 1641 when the Gaelic Irish in Ulster rebelled and killed over
4,000 of the settlers.
> In the 18th century the Penal Laws were passed that were directed against Catholics
although there were a number of laws against Presbyterians.
> This religious hatred has remained to this day and contributed to events such as the
Troubles.
