Religious Disabilities

Post-Rebellion

The Act of Settlement 1652 barred Catholics from membership of Parliament. The Act of Settlement of Ireland 1652 was passed by the so-called Rump Parliament after the second English Civil War. The royalist supporters of King Charles II had allied themselves with the Irish Confederacy and were seen as a threat to the newly formed English Commonwealth.

The Act listed 104 nobles who were excluded from pardon for life and estate. It included members of the nobility, landed gentry, army officers, and clergy. It included royalists as well as supporters of the Confederacy.

The Act distinguished between the rebels of 1641, who were deemed unlawful combatants, and those who fought in the regular armies of Confederate Ireland and were treated as legitimate combatants provided they surrendered before the end of 1652. The 1641 rebels and the listed leaders were excluded from the pardon given to soldiers who had surrendered. They were to be executed if captured. Roman Catholic Church clergy were excluded from pardon and were held responsible for the 1641 rebellion.

Land Ownership

Catholic landownership fell to just 8% thereafter. Anyone who had resided in Ireland from October 1, 1649, to March 1, 1650, and had not manifested a constant good affection to the interest of the Commonwealth of England lost three-quarters of their land. Commissioners were given power to give poorer land in Connacht or County Clare proportionate to value. They were authorised to transplant such persons from their respective places of usual habitation and residence to such other places within the nation as might be judged most consistent with public safety.

Landowners affected were partly to forfeit land or face execution. In practice, most landowners stayed on the land as tenants, and the number transplanted or executed was relatively small. Protestant loyalists could avoid confiscation if they had surrendered by May 1650 and paid fines. The Commonwealth initially proposed removing the Scottish Presbyterians from north-east Ulster who had fought with the royalists at later stages in the war. This proposal was later reversed.

The Adventurers Act 1642 was passed by the Long Parliament to raise funds to suppress the Irish rebellion.The enactment was at the request of King Charles and accepted without debate. The Adventurers Act was supplemented by further Acts in 1642.

It invited members of the public to invest £200, for which they would receive 1,000 acres of land confiscated from Irish rebels. 2.5 million acres of land were set aside for the purpose, approximately 12% of the entire land area of Ireland.

A good deal of the legislation was repealed with the Restoration of  Charles II (1660-1685). Under the Declaration or Treaty of Breda (in the Netherlands where Charles was residing), there was a proclamation containing a general pardon for crimes committed during the English Civil War and the interregnum for those who recognised Charles as the lawful King.

Religious Disabilities

In the declaration, Charles promised religious toleration in areas where it did not disturb the peace of the Kingdom, and an Act of Parliament for the “granting of that indulgence.” However, Parliament chose to interpret the threat to the peace of the Kingdom to include the holding of public office by non-Anglicans.

Between 1660 and 1665, the Cavalier Parliament passed four statutes that became known as the Clarendon Code. These severely limited the rights of Roman Catholics and nonconformists, such as the Puritans, who had reached the zenith of their influence under the Commonwealth, effectively excluding them from national and local politics.

The Test Acts became law from 1673. They were a series of penal laws passed by the Parliament imposing religious tests for public office and imposing various civil disabilities on Catholics and nonconforming Protestants. Only persons taking communion in the established Church of England were eligible for public employment. Nonconformists had many supporters in Parliament, and ultimately, an Act of Indemnity, particularly the Indemnity Act of 1727, was passed, relieving nonconformists from the Test Acts.

Williamite Wars

Following James II’s flight and his replacement by King William and Mary in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the Patriot Parliament of 1689 was the first parliament convened since 1666. James II landed in Ireland in March 1689 and issued writs for the Irish Parliament. The war impeded elections in certain counties.

The Parliament raised funds for the Williamite War. An Act of Recognition recognised James’s right to the crown of Ireland and denounced the usurpation of William III. Parliament refused to approve taxes unless James agreed to repeal the 1652 Cromwellian Settlement and the Act of Settlement 1662. It sought to address compensation for estates seized prior to 1641, including those lost in the Tyrone Rebellion of 1603. A Bill of Attainder named 2,470 persons as traitors subject to confiscation of property and life.

Ireland was selected as a battleground because 75% of its population adhered to Catholicism. A large Catholic army was built up by the Earl of Tyrconnell. Articles from 1687 show they were poorly equipped, so James brought weapons and French regulars to provide training.

The concessions demanded by Irish Catholics in return for backing James II undermined Jacobite support in England, which was overwhelmingly Protestant. The demands for reversal of land confiscation, which had reduced Catholic ownership from 22% in 1622 to 14% by 1688, were opposed by Protestants and members of the Irish Catholic elite who had benefited from previous settlements.

Treaty of Limerick

The Williamite War (1689-1691) resulted in a Williamite victory. The conflict was part of the Nine Years’ War between Louis XIV of France and the Grand Alliance, a coalition led by William III of the Dutch Republic.

The Treaty of Limerick 1691 provided:

“The Roman Catholics of this Kingdom shall enjoy such privileges in the exercise of their religion as are consistent with the laws of Ireland, or as they did enjoy in the reign of King Charles II: and their Majesties, as soon as their affairs will permit them to summon a parliament in this Kingdom, will endeavour to procure the said Roman Catholics such further security in that particular, as may preserve them from any disturbance upon the account of their said religion.

Provided also, that no person whatsoever shall have or enjoy the benefit of this article, that shall neglect or refuse to take the oath of allegiance, made by Act of parliament in England, in the first year of the reign of their present Majesties, when thereunto required. The oath to be administered to such Roman Catholics as submit to their Majesties’ government, shall be the oath above said and no other.”

War of Grand Alliance

The war was part of the War of the Grand Alliance in which the Papacy supported William III’s alliance against France. The Battle of the Boyne was celebrated in the Vatican. After 1693, the Papacy supported James against William, and William’s policy moved from a degree of toleration to greater hostility.

With the defeat of Catholic landholders’ attempts to regain land and power, what was later termed the Protestant Ascendancy ensued. The penal laws were influenced by ongoing conflicts in Europe in which James Stuart, the son of James II, was recognised by the Holy See as the legitimate King of Great Britain and Ireland until his death in 1766, and Catholics were obliged to support him. The War of the Spanish Succession was effectively a European power conflict between 1701 and 1714. It was a struggle to control the Spanish empire between the Bourbon and Habsburg dynasties.

The Grand Alliance was signed in 1689 between William III on behalf of the Dutch Republic and England, and Emperor Leopold I for the Habsburg monarchy. The alliance sought to oppose the expansionist policies of King Louis XIV of France. The coalition, together with Spain and Savoy, fought the Nine Years’ War against France, which ended in the Peace of Ryswick in 1697. The Grand Alliance included the Dutch Republic and the Holy Roman Empire.

Law of Spanish Succession

The War of the Spanish Succession was fought between 1701 and 1714. Its immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish empire between the Bourbon and Habsburg dynasties. The official heir was Philip, Duke of Anjou, grandson of Louis XIV, supported by France and Spain. His rival, Archduke Charles of Austria, was supported by the Grand Alliance, including Austria, the Dutch Republic, and Great Britain.

In 1701, Spain’s power had waned but still included the Spanish Netherlands, large parts of Italy, and America. Emperor Joseph died in 1711, and Archduke Charles succeeded his brother as Holy Roman Emperor. As a union of Spain and Austria was unwelcome, the British government did not wish to continue supporting the war.

The Peace of Utrecht, followed by the treaties of Rastatt and Baden in 1714, ended the war. Philip was confirmed as King of Spain but renounced any claim to the French throne. He ceded the Spanish Netherlands and Spanish Italian territories to Austria and confirmed British possession of Gibraltar and Menorca, captured during the war. Britain acquired significant trade concessions in South America.