The Parliament 1640–1649, also called Parliament 1639–1648 using an unadjusted Old Style (O.S.) calendar, was the second of the two Irish parliaments of

King Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until Execution of Charles I, his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of ...

. It voted taxes in 1640 and then ran into difficulties because of the outbreak of the British Civil War and the

Irish Rebellion of 1641 The Irish Rebellion of 1641 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1641) was an uprising by Irish Catholics in the Kingdom of Ireland, who wanted an end to anti-Catholic discrimination, greater Irish self-governance, and to partially or fully reverse the plantatio ...

. It was legally closed by the death of the King in 1649.

Background

The Parliament was called because the five years of subsidies granted by the Parliament 1634–1635 had passed and new taxation had to be agreed upon to keep the government running. The main item on the agenda therefore was taxation. With the

a large part of the MPs and many Lords were expelled as rebels. Sessions ceased in 1647 when Marquess of Ormond handed Dublin over to the Parliamentarians, but Charles I never dissolved the parliament. It was eventually closed by the King's execution in 1649.

Proceedings

1st Session

Parliament was opened on 16 March 1640 by

Christopher Wandesford Christopher Wandesford (24 September 1592 – 3 December 1640) was an English administrator and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1621 and 1629. He was Lord Deputy of Ireland in the last months of his life. Life Wandesford was ...

, whom

Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, (13 April 1593 ( N.S.)12 May 1641), was an English statesman and a major figure in the period leading up to the English Civil War. He served in Parliament and was a supporter of King Charles I. From 1 ...

, the

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the Kingdo ...

, had appointed Lord Deputy. On that same day the parliament elected

Sir Maurice Eustace Sir Maurice Eustace (c. 1590 – 22 June 1665) was an Irish landowner, politician, barrister and judge of the seventeenth century who spent the last years of his career as Lord Chancellor of Ireland. This was an office for which he felt himself to ...

, one of the two members for

Kildare County Kildare County F.C. ( ga, Cumann Peile Chontae Chill Dara) was an Irish association football club based in Newbridge, County Kildare. Between 2002–03 and 2009 they played in the League of Ireland First Division. During this time they also e ...

, as speaker. Strafford arrived two days later. In its 1st Session the parliament elected

, one of the two members for

, as speaker. The parliament then unanimously voted four subsidies of £45,000 (about £ in ) to raise an Irish army of 9000 for use by the King against the Scots in the

Second Bishops' War The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

. On 31 March Strafford

prorogued A legislative session is the period of time in which a legislature, in both parliamentary and presidential systems, is convened for purpose of lawmaking, usually being one of two or more smaller divisions of the entire time between two elections ...

parliament until the first week of June. On 3 April 1640 Strafford left Ireland.

2nd Session

Lord Deputy Wandesford opened the 2nd Session on 1 June. News from England was the Short Parliament had refused subsidies to the King. The Irish MPs regretted having voted subsidies and wanted to sabotage their action by changing how the subsidies would be evaluated and collected. After two weeks of inconclusive discussions, Wandesford prorogued parliament on 17 June.

3rd Session

Parliament reconvened on 1 October 1640 for its 3rd Session. The Commons created a committee for grievances. The committee prepared a

remonstrance A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooper ...

(complaint) against Strafford, that was then approved by the House of Commons. This remonstrance is also called the "November Petition". Wandesford prorogued parliament on 12 November, a day after Strafford's

impeachment Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In ...

in Westminster by the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septem ...

. A delegation of 13 MPs, headed by Audley Mervyn, travelled to London to submit the remonstrance to the King, arriving on 21 November. On 12 November Wandesford prorogued Parliament until 26 January 1641. The Irish House of Lords had not acted on grievances during the 3rd Session, but after its prorogation some Lords decided to send Gormanston,

Dillon Dillon may refer to: People *Dillon (surname) * Dillon (given name) * Dillon (singer) (born 1988), Brazilian singer *Viscount Dillon, a title in the Peerage of Ireland Places Canada *Dillon, Saskatchewan United States *Dillon Beach, Californi ...

Kilmallock Kilmallock () is a town in south County Limerick, Ireland, near the border with County Cork. There is a Dominican Priory in the town and King's Castle (or King John's Castle). The remains of medieval walls which encircled the settlement are sti ...

, and

Muskerry Muskerry ( ga, Múscraí) is a central region of County Cork, Ireland which incorporates the baronies of Muskerry West 40
/> Lord Deputy Wandesford had died on 3 December and the Irish government had devolved upon the Lords Justices,

Parsons Parsons may refer to: Places In the United States: * Parsons, Kansas, a city * Parsons, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Parsons, Tennessee, a city * Parsons, West Virginia, a town * Camp Parsons, a Boy Scout camp in the state of Washingt ...

and

Borlase Borlase is a surname and masculine given name. A branch of the family De Taillefer, of Périgord, who were descended from the Count of Angoulême, came to England before the reign of Henry III (1207–1272). A king granted lands in the parish of ...

. The Lords recognised its members who had gone to London as one of its committees. On 18 February the Lords' grievances were written up in 18 articles. The main complaint was that Strafford had overtaxed them. On 20 February 1641, Muskerry, aged about 70, died in London during his parliamentary mission. His son, Charles MacCarty, one of the two MPs of County Cork, succeeded his father at the Lords. In the resulting byelection

Redmond Roche Redmond Roche ( – after 1654) was an Irish politician who sat for Cork County in the Parliament of 1640–1649. He was a Protestant during his earlier life but joined the Confederateses in 1642. Birth and origins ...

was elected to his seat at the Commons. Muskerry's place in the Lords' delegation in London stayed vacant until 3 March when the Lords appointed Thomas Roper, 2nd

Viscount Baltinglass Viscount Baltinglass, in the County of Wicklow, was a title created three times in the Peerage of Ireland. The first came on 29 June 1541 in favour of Thomas Eustace, 1st Baron Kilcullen. He had already been created Baron Kilcullen, in the County ...

in his stead. The Lords Justices prorogued parliament on 6 March.

5th Session

On 11 May 1641 parliament reconvened for its 5th session. The Catholic MPs tried to impeach Loftus, the chancellor, and

Ranelagh Ranelagh ( , ; ) is an affluent residential area and urban village on the Southside of Dublin, Ireland in the postal district of D06. History The district was originally a village known as Cullenswood just outside Dublin, surrounded by lande ...

, the vice-president of Connaught, but failed. On 22 June 1642 Redmond Roche was expelled from parliament for having joined the rebels.

Notes, citations, and sources

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * – 1603 to 1642 * – 1613 to 1641 * – 1640 to 1641 * – Online edition * – (for timeline) * – 1639 to 1641 * * * – 1634 to 1699 * * * – Parliaments & Biographies (PDF downloadable from given URL) * – House of Lords * – House of Commons * – Online edition * – Preview * *{{Cite book, last=Woolrych , first=Austin , author-link=Austin Woolrych , date=2002 , title=Britain in Revolution , publisher=

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, location=Oxford , isbn=0-19-820081-1 , url=https://archive.org/details/britaininrevolut00wool/ , url-access=registration Parliament of Ireland Charles I of England 17th-century Irish monarchs House of Stuart