Chapter 10 - Plantations

Question 1

What was the Pale? How was it founded, and describe some ways in which it differed from the rest of Ireland

Answer 1

1. A strip of land from Bray to Dundalk which was the base of English rule in Ireland
2. English first came to Ireland in 1167, Dermot Mac Murrough (king of Leinster) invited group of Norman lords led by Strongbow to Ireland
3. Differed from rest in number of ways:
   - spoke English instead of Irish
   - practiced tillage farming (crops) instead of raising cattle + sheep
   - ruled by English common law rather than Gaelic Brehon law
   - loyal to king of England rather than local lord/chieftain

Question 2

Describe the main reason for the occurrence of the Plantations, + what Henry VIII first did to try and solve this

Answer 2

1. Wars were expensive, English monarchs in 16th century hated having to pay for a war, win it, then come back + fight another one a few years later
2. First tried ‘Surrender + Regrant’ - Old English Lord’s + Gaelic Chieftains of Ireland would surrender land, swear oath of allegiance to king, then get land back on promise of loyalty + English title
3. Short-term solution designed to save money, failed to extend English law outside the Pale
4. Did result in significant weakening of power of Gaelic clans - fought over English tradition of eldest son inheriting all (went against traditional Brehon law)

Question 3

Give a brief description of the Laois-Offaly plantation

Answer 3

1. Officially began in 1557 under Queen Mary
2. Bc Gaelic families kept raiding Pale (black rent)
3. New fortresses + roads built
4. Planters had to follow strict set of rules (e.g. employ only loyal subjects as servants/labourers; use English farming practices)
5. Failed bc once army left, planters had no real protection, living in Irish wilds didn’t attract many planters, too few English settlers
   available to forced to employ Gaelic Irish
6. Queen Mary died in 1558, Liz too busy ensuring she remained in power to pay attention to events in Ireland

Question 4

Brief description of Munster plantation

Answer 4

1. Liz determined to spread her religion + rule of English law in Ireland - met with resistance from Fitzgerald of Desmond, horrible 4 year rebellion
2. Ordered plantation for same reasons as L-O
3. V. big estates, land granted to loyal subjects of queen, new towns built, undertakers promised to employ only English settlers
4. Again proved impossible, Gaelic worked for less
5. But wasn’t complete failure: English farming practices took hold, new plantation towns grew + prospered
6. English were learning lessons about plantations they would put into practice in most successful, Munster

Question 5

What was the Nine Years War?

Answer 5

1. In 1594, great rebellion broke out against English rule - turned into 9 years war, led by Earl of Tyrone, Hugh O’ Neill
2. Determined to maintain lands + resist Protestantism
3. Was as bloody as Desmond rebellion in early 1580s, rebels at first successful at breaking English power in Ireland
4. Had little hope of completely defeating english without help from Liz’s Spanish enemies - but arrival of Spaniards actually meant success for English
5. In December 1601, Spanish force arrive in Kinsale, Cork - 100s of miles from O’N stronghold in Ulster
6. O’N+D matched south to meet spaniards, but English army led by Lord Mountjoy arrived first + smashed Spanish force on Christmas Eve 1601 a then turned around + defeated exhausted Irish
7. This marked final defeat for power of Gaelic families in Ireland - war dragged on for 2 more years, but O’N finally forced to surrender in 1603
8. Treaty of Mellifont ended war - said that O’N could keep lands as long as accepted English rule in Ireland
9. O’N + fellow lords found it impossible living under total English control, left Ireland in The Flight of the Earls (1607)
10. Most went to Rome where given assistance by Pope

Question 6

Give an overview of the Ulster Plantation

Answer 6

1. Liz died + succeeded by James I in 1603
2. When Gaelic lords left on 14 September 1607, declared them traitors + confiscated lands - like those before, determined to pacify lands he’d won after such a long + costly war
3. Lessons learned from other 2, carefully planned + ready to begin by 1609
4. Proved to be a success (unlike others), large population of loyal subjects successfully planted in FATDCD (Armagh)
5. Success evident in large population of unionists in Northern Ireland today (many of these descendants of planters who came in early 1700s)

Question 7

Describe the features of the Ulster Plantation

Answer 7

1. Size of estates awarded to planters limited in comparison to Munster Plantations - they were too large + difficult to manage, here maximum was 2000 acres
2. Servitors (men who had served in English army during 9 years war) awarded land - tough, experienced fighters who wouldn’t be easily driven from new land
3. Gaelic Irish divided by Plantation - those who were regarded as loyal to king allowed to retain lands, many of those who lost lands had to live as outlaws, scavenging for food + attacking settlers (these dispossessed nicknamed tories)
4. Derry given over to control of London Trade Guilds, very clever political move from James, increased popularity in capital - renamed Londonderry
5. Many of planters were tough Scots Presbyterians (John Knox in 16th century) - like servitors, were tough people who wouldn’t be driven from land like many had been in other 2
6. Despised Catholics, felt it was God’s will that they be driven from land - this religious difference reinforced resistance of planters, major reason for success of Ulster Plantation
7. Undertakers built stone houses + stone-walled defensive enclosures called bawns to protect selves from attack
8. Practice of building towns (started in L-O) which would offer protection to planters in times of crisis perfected in Ulster (Omagh, Enniskillen, Virginia, Belfast) - quickly became important centres of population + trade
9. Use of land changed radically - before Plantation Gaelic family had practised pastoral farming, keeping animals
   - new settlers successfully employed English farming methods - practised arable farming (growing crops e.g. wheat + oats)
   - soil in Ulster proved particularly suitable for production of flax (used to make linen) - one of main reasons why industrial revolution came to Ulster during 19th century but bypassed rest of country)
10. As in earlier 2, proved impossible to successfully work land without native Irish population - most became farm labourers, continued to work land as had done before Plantation
    - crucial difference was in ownership, native population lost control of land - created level of resentment that would grow over coming centuries

Question 8

Account of the effects of the Ulster Plantation on political control

Answer 8

1. Gaelic chieftains who controlled Ulster had left in 1607 in Flight of the Earls, and they were replaced by people of English/Scottish birth (planters), who ruled on behalf of the crown
2. Gaelic Irish had been left behind, and nothing they could do about the new planters control as the Plantation had been so well + carefully planned
3. English monarchs considered planters to be far more dependable than Irish bc loyal to crown - handed them all power
4. Irish Catholic viewed as inferior, forced to work on the land they’d previously owned as farm labourers for the new English + Scottish planters
5. Conditions under received land were more strict than in previous plantations, this ensured control of planted area remained in hands of planters (loyal to crown)
6. Judges + magistrates appointed to enforce English law
7. Towns received charters giving citizens authority to impose various regulations on both residents + visitors
8. Plantations caused Irish Catholics to deeply resent planters, this continue for centuries with division of people into Unionists + Nationalists

Question 9

Account of the effects of the Ulster Plantation on religion

Answer 9

1. During 16th century, John Knox had converted much of Scotland to Presbyterianism - these Scots planters made up large portion of planters (tough, couldn’t be driven from land)
2. Others were largely Anglican (English) - therefore Protestantism introduced to Ulster
3. Religious differences caused tension between native pop + settlers (Presbyterians despised papists, believed it was God’s will they be driven from their lands)
4. Settlers build new churches + took over the Catholic Churches
5. Land set aside for the building of Royal Schools for Protestant kids
6. Present-day sectarianism is a legacy of this, + centuries of tensions, conflict + division of people into Unionists + Nationalists

Question 10

Account of the effects of the Ulster Plantation on culture + customs

Answer 10

1. English language replaced Irish over much of area planted
2. English common law replaced Brehon law as law of Ulster
3. Planters brought modern farming methods with them, cattle farming favoured by Irish gave way to tillage farming (crops)
4. Some of Scottish settlers skilled in textiles, also discovered flax grew v. well in Ulster, textile industry flourished in Ulster over coming centuries
5. New towns built in Ulster, designed along line of English towns (e.g. Omagh, Eniskillen, Virginia, Belfast)
6. Towns received charters which allowed them to hold markets + fairs)