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11 The Plantations: Sowing the Seeds of Ireland’s Religious Geographies The major plantations of Ireland, which were put in place during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, were an attempt, or a series of attempts, to establish a Protestant population from England and Scotland in Ireland . This occurred for both political reasons—Protestant England was worried about the threat that Catholic France and Spain could pose through Ireland—and economic ones, in particular due to the close trading ties between southwestern Scotland and northeastern Ireland. The plantation period is outside the temporal range of this book, and the sources on which much of the remainder of the book is based do not exist for this time. We have, however, included a brief description of the events that occurred and the geographies that they established, since, as chapter 3 will describe, their legacies lasted until the early nineteenth century and therefore provide the foundations of much of what was to follow. Indeed, the events of this period left spatioreligious patterns that continue to have an influence to this day. Figure 2.1 summarizes, in general terms, the geographies of the major plantations of Ireland. Major plantations were established in the Pale—the area around Dublin—and in Ulster. There were more sporadic attempts to create plantations in Munster, and no attempt was made to plant western parts of Ireland. As we will see, early nineteenth-century geographies still showed concentrations of Protestants in Ulster, the Dublin area, and west Cork, along with very low concentrations of Protestants in the west. Many of these patterns persisted to the end of the twentieth century. There are also some clear differences, as some of the areas that were planted, particularly in parts of Munster and some of the later Jacobean schemes, now have very small Protestant populations. Explaining these continuities and changes requires an understanding of the geographical and social impacts of the plantations, as they are, in many ways, the origins of the divisions and interdependencies that will be discussed in much of the rest of the book. Phrases like “the plantation of Ireland” and depictions like figure 2.1 are in many ways misleading. They imply that the process of colonization was an organized, long-term plan with clear, overarching objectives that resulted in neatly contained spatial areas. The plantation system was anything but neat—it was more often reactive than proactive, it was disorganized and incoherent in its approach, and the geographies that it left were often disjointed and contested. Changing priorities, circumstances, and values over time mean that it is impossible to view the process of colonizing Ireland as methodologically and ideologically consistent.1 This inconsistency of approach and impact goes a long way to explaining Ireland’s contemporary religious geographies and has resonated down through the centuries. 2 Troubled Geographies 12 Background The late medieval/early modern period marked a fundamental turning point in Anglo-Irish relations. Prior to the reign of Henry VIII, English control of Ireland had been a largely nominal affair. Power had been exercised through Crown representatives who were members of the aristocratic elite known as the “Old English.” The Old English were the descendants of the Norman families who had moved into Ireland in the late twelfth century , the first serious attempt at Ireland’s colonization. Over the centuries, successsive English monarchs had become increasingly suspicious of the motives and loyalties of Old English families, such as Munster’s House of Desmond, as they became not only more powerful but also progressively more gaelicized in their attitudes and behavior, intermarrying with influential native Irish families.2 Concerns about the adoption of the Irish language and modes of dress may have been superficial, but when the Earl of Desmond became directly involved in the internal vicissitudes of English politics by supporting the ill-fated House of York during the Wars of the Roses, his action indicated to the reigning Tudor monarch, Henry VII, that Ireland presented a significant threat to English security.3 His son, Henry VIII, regarded lordship of Ireland as part of his birthright and believed that if he did not exercise his right of inheritence, it was possible that one of the more powerful earls would try to wrest it from him.4 This is precisely what happened when¯ 0 50 100 150 200 25 Miles Major plantations and areas of English/British influence in Ireland The Pale Mary I's plantations Munster plantations Ulster plantations Later Jacobean schemes Fig. 2.1...

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