The Plantations _beginning (ch2) Flashcards
How did Henry VIII try to control Ireland?
he came with the idea of ‘surrender and regrant’
Explain the ‘surrender and regrant’ process initaited by Henry VIII
- the Gaelic lords would surrender the lands to Henry VIII and promise to use English laws and language
- they swear loyalty to the English king
- Henry VIII would grant back (‘regrant’) the lans to the Lords along with English titles such as barons and earls, e.g. O’Neills became the Earl of Tyrone
Why did the English use plantation?
- where surrender and regrant’ did not work, the English resorted to using plantation
- it was cheaper than having a permanent army in Ireland
How did plantation work?
- bring in new (English and Scottish) settlers to take over the lands of the Gaelic Irish and the Old English
- the settlers would bring in English laws and customs to replace the Irish laws and customs
- settlers were Protestant, so this was a means of spreading the Protestant religion to Ireland
Describe the Laois-Offaly plantation
- planned by Queen Mary in the 1550’s
- two Gaelic clan [O’Connors; (Laois), O’Moore (Offaly)] were raiding the Pale and stealing cattle
- Queen Mary took land from the O’Connors’ and O’Moores’ and gave it to the settlers
- the land were divided with one-third to the Irish clans (boggy land near the Shannon), and two-thirds to the settlers
- each settler family got a farm of 360 acres
- Laois was called Queen’s county
- Offaly was called King’s county
- A sheriff was appointed to each county to enforce the common law
- this plantation was not a success…only 88 planter families came from the Pale; none came from England
Describe the background/causes of the Munster plantation
- initiated by Queen Elizabeth I (Protestant queen who reigned from 1558 to 1603)…she did not trust Catholics…she felt that people should have the same religion as their ruler
- the Fitzgeralds had run Munster for hundreds of years without interference…they would not give up their power without a fight
- Elizabeth wanted the Fitzgeralds to accept English officials who would bring common law into the Fitzgerald’s territories…also wanted them to convert to Protestantism
- the Fitzgeralds did not want to become Protestant
How did the Munster plantation work?
- the land was divided into 35 estates of 12k, 8k, 6k, 4k acres
- each estate was given to a man called an undertaker
The responsibilities of the undertaker were:
1. to bring in English families as servants and tenants
2. to build a castle and to pay for soldiers and arms to protect the tenants
3. not to employ Gaelic Irish as servants or to rent land to them
4 to follow the Protestant religion and English laws
5. to build a market town where the farmers could sell their goods
What were the results of the Munster plantation?
- only 4,00 of the expected 20,000 settlers came
- the undertakers rented land to Gaelic Irish who were willing to pay more rent, and also employed Gaelic Irish servants who would work for lower wages
- some of the estates were vast, and very difficult to defend, e.g Sir Walter Raleigh got 42,00 acres around Youghal
