Plantations

• What were they?

  in the 1500s the English rulers introduced this as a new way of bringing Ireland under there control
• What did plantations involve?

  bringing English and scottish to Ireland and giving them land of the Gaelic Irish and old english
• The pale:

  • area from north to south of Dublin
  • kings officials had power
  • common law, english customs and language was enforced
• Old English lords:

  • ruled their land like countries
  • mainly Irish spoken
  • used brehon and common law
• Gaelic Lords:

  • ruled over a clan(group of people with same surname)
  • spoke Irish
  • brehon law
  • each kingdom had its own king
• Brehon vs common law

  brehon:

  • chief was elected from the derbhfine
  • land owned by the clan
  • common:
  • new lord was eldest son
  • land was owned by the lord
• Advantages of plantations for English government:

  1. settlers spread Protestant faith, built towns, improved the economy
  2. Mir was cheaper than having a permanent army in Ireland
• How?

  • Chiefs were defeated and their land was confiscated
  • their land was given to loyal settlers and planters
  • planters used English law
• Results:

  1. made country more Protestant
  2. gaelic culture lost
  3. ireland became more urban
  4. Protestants enforced penal laws
  5. conflict between catholics and Protestants
• Undertaker:

  • loyal British men
  • got grants of land
  • didnt take Irish tenants
• Servitor:

  • English or Scottish sold who were given land
• Loyal Irish:

  • native Irish who stayed loyal to the British during the nine year war
• nine year war

  • led by Hugh O’Neill and Hugh O’Donnell against the English
  • lasted from 1594 to 1603
  • in 1601, king Phillip of Spain sent and army to help the Irish, but they lost
• Treaty of mellifont

  • 1603
  • alllowing English law to be imposed by sheriffs on their land
• Flight of earls

  • 1607
  • oneill and odonnell became annoyed with English rule and fled to europe
  • their land in Ireland was confiscated
• ulster plantations

  • 1610-1611
  • king james wanted power and to convert Irish to Protestantism
  • 6 counties were confiscate, 4 million acres
  • confiscated land was divided into church and crown land
• Results of ulster plantations

  • ulster is mainly Protestant
  • plantation towns were built
  • tillage farming was introduced
• Defence

  1. 1,000 acre estates= a bawn
  2. 1,500 acre estate= a bawn and large stone house
  3. 2,000 acre estate= bawn and large stone castle