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Protestantism is a
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
minority on the island of
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. In the 2011 census of
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
, 48% (883,768) described themselves as Protestant, which was a decline of approximately 5% from the 2001 census. In the 2011 census of the
Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...
, 4.27% of the population described themselves as Protestant. In the Republic,
Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
was the second largest religious grouping until the 2002 census in which they were exceeded by those who chose "No Religion". Some forms of Protestantism existed in Ireland in the early 16th century before the English Reformation, but demographically speaking these were very insignificant and the real influx of Protestantism began only with the spread of the English Reformation to Ireland. The
Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the secon ...
was established by
King Henry VIII of England Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagr ...
, who had himself proclaimed as King of Ireland.


History


Reformation in Ireland

During the English Reformation in the 1530s, the Irish Parliament gained the support of some bishops for royal supremacy. This led to the passing of the
Act of Supremacy The Acts of Supremacy are two acts passed by the Parliament of England in the 16th century that established the English monarchs as the head of the Church of England; two similar laws were passed by the Parliament of Ireland establishing the En ...
in 1536, which declared
King Henry VIII of England Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagr ...
to be the head of the
Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the secon ...
. In 1539, Henry dissolved the monasteries in Ireland. Only Christ Church in Dublin survived this dissolution by changing its constitution from one of monasticism to a secular one that was based on that of St. Patrick. The introduction of the Reformation to Ireland is regarded as the end of the medieval period in Ireland. During the reign of Henry VIII's son,
Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...
, attempts were made to introduce Protestant liturgy and bishops to Ireland. However, this met with hostility within the Church and was opposed even by those who had previously conformed. A return to Catholic supremacy ensued during the reign of Queen
Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She ...
, in the 1550s. However, in 1560, her half-sister and successor Queen
Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...
enacted a religious settlement consisting of an Act of Supremacy and Act of Uniformity in an attempt to impose
Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
. Elizabeth made herself the supreme governor of the Church of Ireland. With few exceptions the Irish Catholic hierarchy conformed. During Elizabeth's reign, the bulk of Protestants in Ireland were confined to the ranks of new settlers and government officials, who formed a small minority of the population. Elizabeth's reign saw the introduction of a
Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...
printing typeface (1571) for the purpose of evangelisation; the establishment of Trinity College, Dublin, to train ministers (1592); and the first translation of the
New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...
into
Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
(1603). Despite all this, the Reformation ground to a halt and ultimately failed. Some reasons for this failure include: a dedicated and vigorous campaign by Continentally-trained Catholic priests; failure to make use of the
Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...
, the native tongue of around 90% of the population; and the alienation of the
Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
in political developments and the view amongst the Gaelic Irish that this was another attempt by the English at conquest and forced Anglicisation. The dissolution of the monasteries saw the property of many parishes granted to lay people whose main concern was economic rather than spiritual; this, along with the wars that raged in Ireland throughout the 16th and 17th centuries left many parish churches—now the property of the Established Church (especially rural ones), in a ruinous state.


17th century


Puritans

During the reigns of both
Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...
and
James VI & I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until hi ...
, some Protestants who adhered to forms of
Puritanism The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. P ...
escaped persecution in England and
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
by settling in Ireland. Here they were openly welcomed by the state-sponsored
Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the secon ...
for their strong anti-Catholicism and dedication to preaching, which it highly sought.


Early 17th century

Throughout the reigns of Elizabeth I and
James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...
, several plantations occurred seeing the arrival of British settlers, the majority of which were Protestant. In 1604, the Scottish Catholic Randal MacDonnell, set about settling his lands in
the Route ''The Route'' is a Ugandan film directed by Jayant Maru, based on a screenplay he wrote. It is about human trafficking in Uganda. Cast * Sharon Detoro as Samantha * Thomas Kayondo as Sam * Edlyn Sabrina as Sabrina * Felix Bwanika as Mr. Ny ...
and Glynnes in
County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...
with Protestants from the Scottish Lowlands. This was followed by the considerably determined private plantation of counties Antrim and Down by James Hamilton and
Sir Hugh Montgomery Sir Hugh Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of the Great Ards (c. 1560 – 15 May 1636) was an aristocrat and a soldier, known as one of the "founding fathers" of the Ulster-Scots along with Sir James Hamilton, 1st Viscount Claneboye. Montgomery ...
, which saw English and Scottish Protestants settling in their estates. In 1606, the notorious
Border reiver Border reivers were raiders along the Anglo-Scottish border from the late 13th century to the beginning of the 17th century. They included both Scottish and English people, and they raided the entire border country without regard to their vi ...
clan of the Grahams of Eskdale, Leven and Sark, were invited to settle in
County Roscommon "Steadfast Irish heart" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Roscommon.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Connacht , subdi ...
. By 1607 a steady supply of Scottish Protestants were migrating to eastern
Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...
, settling on the estates of Hamilton, MacDonnell, and Montgomery. Whilst many Presbyterian Lowlanders fled Kintyre in Scotland for MacDonnell's lands, Hebridean Catholics migrated as well, ensuring that the Glens of Antrim would remain Catholic as the rest of the county became predominantly Protestant. That same year, the
Flight of the Earls The Flight of the Earls ( ir, Imeacht na nIarlaí)In Irish, the neutral term ''Imeacht'' is usually used i.e. the ''Departure of the Earls''. The term 'Flight' is translated 'Teitheadh na nIarlaí' and is sometimes seen. took place in Se ...
occurred, which saw vast tracts of land in Ulster spanning the counties of Armagh, Cavan, Coleraine, Donegal,
Fermanagh Historically, Fermanagh ( ga, Fir Manach), as opposed to the modern County Fermanagh, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Fermanagh. ''Fir Manach'' originally referred to a distinct kin group of a ...
, and Tyrone, escheated to
James VI & I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until hi ...
. This was followed by the Plantation of Ulster, which saw Protestant British settlers colonise these counties. In 1610,
The Honourable The Irish Society The Honourable The Irish SocietyIn full, the "Society of the Governor and Assistants, London, of the New Plantation in Ulster, within the Realm of Ireland". is a consortium of livery companies of the City of London established during the Plantat ...
was established to undertake and finance the plantation of the new county of Londonderry (made up of County Coleraine and parts of Antrim, Donegal, and Tyrone) with British Protestant subjects. Whilst a substantial number of English and Scottish people did come over and settle during the Plantation of Ulster, they tended to disperse to other parts of the province resulting in those tasked with settling the land having to retain native Irish who remained predominantly Catholic. James VI & I's campaign to pacify the borders resulted in great numbers of Border reiver families arriving in Ulster. The Border reiver families were not known for their religiousness and the Reformation had made little impact on them. Once they had settled in Ulster they realised the advantages of becoming Protestants and conformed to the established church. Between 1615 and 1620, a policy of "discovery and regrant" was used in various parts of Ireland; however, few settlers were attracted to these plantations, resulting basically in new landowners. This policy was used in the counties of Leitrim, Longford, northern
Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 N ...
, as well as parts of King's County and Queen's County. By the 1630s, Protestant settlers from
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
were migrating to Ireland by their own initiative, and helped initiate a colonial spread from the ports where they arrived and into the hinterlands of Ulster. It is estimated that in regards to
Presbyterianism Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
, that there were less than 10,000 adherents during the early seventeenth century.


Lord Wentworth

The
Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the secon ...
by the 1630s was a broad church that accepted various different Protestant practices and beliefs. As the Presbyterian church was not yet established in Ireland, Presbyterians were more than happy to join the Church of Ireland, which then exercised a good deal of tolerance and understanding. Across the island, the predominant doctrine within the Church of Ireland was puritanism, which like Presbyterianism, favoured simple and plain forms of worship and clothing. During the reign of
Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...
, however, The 1st Viscount Wentworth (created 1st
Earl of Strafford Earl of Strafford is a title that has been created three times in English and British history. The first creation was in the Peerage of England in January 1640 for Thomas Wentworth, the close advisor of King Charles I. He had already succe ...
in 1640), Lord Deputy of Ireland, and Dr
William Laud William Laud (; 7 October 1573 – 10 January 1645) was a bishop in the Church of England. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles I in 1633, Laud was a key advocate of Charles I's religious reforms, he was arrested by Parliament in 1640 ...
,
Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...
, sought to bring the Irish church into line with that in England by stamping out puritanism, and the anti-episcopal views of the Scottish ministers operating in Ulster. They also sought to replace the preferred form of worship amongst Protestants in Ireland with the more elaborate and orthodox Anglican style favoured by Charles I. To help achieve this, Lord Wentworth and Archbishop Laud introduced and enforced the English
Thirty-Nine Articles The Thirty-nine Articles of Religion (commonly abbreviated as the Thirty-nine Articles or the XXXIX Articles) are the historically defining statements of doctrines and practices of the Church of England with respect to the controversies of the ...
along with stricter disciplinary canons in 1634. This was followed by puritan ministers who held Presbyterian sympathies being dismissed from the church, causing some of the leading ministers to make an abortive attempt to reach America hoping to find more liberty for their beliefs. In 1635, Lord Wentworth proposed a plantation of
Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms ( Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Del ...
, which would have seen all Catholic land confiscated and settled with only English Protestants, with the hope of converting the Gaelic and
Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
Catholics to the state religion. This plantation would not see the light of day as Wentworth alienated Protestant and Catholic alike in Ireland, and Charles I got into ever more trouble with
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
. Between 1640 and 1641, Protestants and Catholics alike in the Irish Parliament united in opposition to Wentworth, and pushed for the Graces—first arranged in 1628—to be confirmed as well as filing lists of complaints about his behaviour and practices. This union of cause survived until the common denominator, Wentworth (by now
Earl of Strafford Earl of Strafford is a title that has been created three times in English and British history. The first creation was in the Peerage of England in January 1640 for Thomas Wentworth, the close advisor of King Charles I. He had already succe ...
), was executed by the English parliamentarians in May 1641.


Rebellion and birth of Irish Presbyterianism

By the 1630s, more than a quarter of land in Ireland was owned by Protestants, by the outbreak of the Irish Rebellion of 1641, they held roughly three-fifths. Whilst the uprising initially targeted the English settlers in Ulster, the native Irish soon turned upon the Scots. The 1641 rebellion in Ulster was largely a response to the dispossession of Irish Catholics during the plantation, and resulted in the deaths of thousands of Protestant settlers. Modern historians have revised the figures to state that around 4,000 settlers were killed with another 8,000 dying from disease and exposure. It is claimed that between a third to half of these deaths were Presbyterians. A direct consequence of the rebellion was the arrival in 1642 of a Scottish army to Ulster, this army was routed by a smaller force of native Irish at the battle of Benburb, fled back to Carrickfergus where it played no further role in the Cromwellian reconquest. The Presbyterian chaplains and office-elders in this army set up the first Presbytery in Ulster, on 10 June 1642 in
Carrickfergus Carrickfergus ( , meaning " Fergus' rock") is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It sits on the north shore of Belfast Lough, from Belfast. The town had a population of 27,998 at the 2011 Census. It is County Antrim's oldest ...
,
County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...
. This was the beginning the history of the Presbyterian church in Ireland.


Wars of the Three Kingdoms

Following on directly from the Irish rebellion, the
English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
started in 1642 and quickly spread to Ireland and Scotland becoming the
Wars of the Three Kingdoms The Wars of the Three Kingdoms were a series of related conflicts fought between 1639 and 1653 in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, then separate entities united in a personal union under Charles I. They include the 1639 to 1640 B ...
. One of the best estimates given for the scale of death during this period gives an estimated 112,000 Protestants, along with around 504,000 Catholics, dying from plague, war or famine, from a pre-war population of around one-and-a-half million. With the victory of the Parliamentarians, the Cromwellian Act for the Settlement of Ireland 1652 saw Catholics found guilty of disloyalty having their estates confiscated and granted to loyal Protestants. Whilst Protestants also guilty of disloyalty were to lose some of their estates, they ended up being given fines, the majority of which were never paid. The result of this land settlement saw a mass changing of land ownership as Catholic ownership almost disappeared completely east of the River Shannon. It also greatly increased the number of Protestants in Ireland, and saw them come to dominate both the countryside and urban centres and have near absolute control over politics and trade.


Restoration Ireland

By the 1660s, Catholics owned hardly more than one-fifth of land. Protestant immigration to Ireland had started in earnest in the aftermath of the restoration of the monarchy in Ireland in 1660, helped by acts such as that "to Encourage Protestant Strangers to Settle in Ireland", passed in 1662. French Protestants, known as
Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...
s, escaping persecution in France formed their own small community in Dublin where they became famous for developing
poplin Poplin, also called tabinet (or tabbinet), is a fine (but thick) wool, cotton or silk fabric that has a vertical warp and a horizontal weft. Nowadays, the name refers to a strong material in a plain weave of any fiber or blend, with crosswis ...
and handsome stone buildings called "Dutch Billy's". Around the same time,
Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
—regarded as "foreign Protestants"—settled in Dublin having originally sought refuge in
Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...
. The Plantation of Ulster also finally swung into full motion as a constant stream of English and Scottish families made their way to the north of Ireland. The death of Charles I in 1649 saw puritanism reach its peak as the Church of Ireland became restricted allowing other Protestant denominations to freely expand. Puritans also went about establishing non-conforming Protestant churches such as Baptist, Quaker, Congregational, as well as Presbyterian. As puritanism refused to conform to the doctrines of the established church it became known as "nonconformity", with those not adhering to the Church of Ireland being classified as Dissenters.


Williamite era

The revocation of the
Edict of Nantes The Edict of Nantes () was signed in April 1598 by King Henry IV and granted the Calvinist Protestants of France, also known as Huguenots, substantial rights in the nation, which was in essence completely Catholic. In the edict, Henry aimed pr ...
in 1685 saw great numbers of Huguenots flee from France, with as many as 10,000 migrating to Ireland during the 1690s, including veterans from the Huguenot regiments in the army of William III. In total twenty-one Huguenot communities were established the most notable of which was established at Portarlington, Queen's County. Some Huguenot congregations conformed to the Church of Ireland, though others maintained their own instilling some hostility from the established church. Scottish Presbyterian immigration to Ulster also reached its peak during this period and that of Queen Anne (1702-1707).


18th century


German Palatines

In 1709
German Palatines Palatines (german: Pfälzer), also known as the Palatine Dutch, are the people and princes of Palatinates ( Holy Roman principalities) of the Holy Roman Empire. The Palatine diaspora includes the Pennsylvania Dutch and New York Dutch. In 1709 ...
fled persecution to England from the
Rhineland The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhinelands ...
in the
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
. Eight hundred and twenty-one families consisting of 3,073 people were resettled in Ireland that year. Of 538 families initially taken on by as tenants, 352 are reported to have left their holdings, with many returning to England. By late 1711 only around 1,200 of the Palatines remained in Ireland. The number of families dwindled to 162 by 1720. Areas where the Palatines settled included counties
Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...
,
Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...
,
Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...
, and
Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 N ...
. Despite the exodus of Palatines in the years after their initial arrival in Ireland, a second relocation carried out in 1712 saw the establishment of two successful settlements, one being around
Rathkeale Rathkeale () is a town in west County Limerick, in Ireland. It is 30 km (18 mi) southwest of Limerick city on the N21 road to Tralee, County Kerry, and lies on the River Deel. Rathkeale has a significant Irish Traveller population, and ...
, County Limerick, the other around
Gorey Gorey () is a market town in north County Wexford, Ireland. It is beside the main M11 Dublin to Wexford road. The town is also connected to the railway network along the same route. Local newspapers include the ''Gorey Guardian''. As a growi ...
, County Wexford. Limerick Palatines, despite some conversions to Catholicism, largely remained religiously and culturally endogenous. The Palatines responded well to the teachings of
Methodism Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's br ...
, with
John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...
visiting them several times. By the 1820s they became victims of sectarian grief at the hands of Catholic agrarian societies, which further encouraged Palatine emigration from Ireland, resulting in them ceasing to be a separate grouping. Despite this, their distinctive way of life survived long into the 19th century.


The Penal Laws and converts to Protestantism

From 1697 to 1728, various Penal Laws were enacted by the Irish Parliament primarily targeting Catholics of the aristocracy, landed and learned classes. Some of these laws, however, also targeted Protestant Dissenters. Under one of these laws, Dissenters could only be married in the Church of Ireland otherwise it was not legal, making their children illegitimate in the eyes of the law. Another law passed in 1704 sought to prevent anyone who did not have communion in the Church of Ireland from holding public office, however as Catholics had already been excluded from public office this primarily targeted Dissenters. This test would not be removed until the Protestant Dissenter Relief Act was passed in 1780. However, the legal position of Dissenters was still restricted in the Irish Parliament by landlords and bishops. Dissenter marriages would not be legally recognised until an act passed in 1842. Despite being the target of various penal laws, Dissenters remained vocal advocates of those that targeted Catholics so kept their complaints to a courteous tone. Indeed, penal laws similar to those passed by the Irish Parliament, were imposed against Protestants in France and
Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...
, but in these cases it was by a majority against a minority, which was not the situation in Ireland. The Penal Laws did encourage 5,500 Catholics, almost exclusively from the aristocracy and landed gentry, to convert to Protestantism. In 1703, 14% of land in Ireland was owned by Catholics. However, following the conforming of the majority of these landowners by 1780, Catholics only owned 5% despite making up three-quarters of the population of Ireland. Some of these converts were high profile, such as The 5th Earl of Antrim, whose conversion meant that in the province of Ulster there were no Catholic estates of any note. Others were less so, however made the most of the opportunities that opened up for them, one example being
William Conolly William Conolly (9 April 1662 – 30 October 1729), also known as Speaker Conolly, was an Irish politician, Commissioner of Revenue, lawyer and landowner. Career William Conolly was born the son of an inn-keeper, Patrick Conolly, in Ballysh ...
. William Conolly was a Gaelic Catholic from
Ballyshannon Ballyshannon () is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. It is located at the southern end of the county where the N3 from Dublin ends and the N15 crosses the River Erne. Incorporated in 1613, it is one of the oldest towns in Ireland. Location B ...
,
County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...
; however, in the years following his conversion to Protestantism, he would become the
Speaker of the Irish House of Commons The Speaker of the Irish House of Commons was the presiding officer of the Irish House of Commons until its disestablishment in 1800. In the absence of a government chosen from and answerable to the Commons, the Speaker was the dominant politica ...
as well as Ireland's richest man despite being the son of an innkeeper. The Penal Laws ensured that for the next century, Ireland was to be dominated by an Anglican elite composed of members of the Church of Ireland. This elite would come to be known as the
Protestant Ascendancy The ''Protestant Ascendancy'', known simply as the ''Ascendancy'', was the political, economic, and social domination of Ireland between the 17th century and the early 20th century by a minority of landowners, Protestant clergy, and members of th ...
. Ironically, despite attempts by some, the Ascendancy had no real desire to convert the mass of the Catholic population to Protestantism, fearing that it would dilute their own exclusive and highly privileged position, and many of the penal laws were poorly enforced. Despite the Penal Laws and the domination of an Anglican minority over an overwhelming Catholic majority, open religious violence seems to have been quite rare during most of the 18th century. Not until the
Armagh disturbances The Armagh disturbances was a period of intense sectarian fighting in the 1780s and 1790s between the Ulster Protestant Peep o' Day Boys and the Roman Catholic Defenders, in County Armagh, Kingdom of Ireland, culminating in the Battle of the Dia ...
in the 1780s did sectarian divisions come back to the fore.


Dissenter grievances and emigration

Many of the Presbyterians who left Scotland for Ireland did so to escape the regime in place there, and as such, held anti-government views and were not trusted. Whilst they were anti-Catholic and helped populate landlords' estates along with other Dissenters, they suffered from political, religious and economic restrictions. Having sided with the Establishment and fighting alongside members of the Church of Ireland during the
Williamite War in Ireland The Williamite War in Ireland (1688–1691; ga, Cogadh an Dá Rí, "war of the two kings"), was a conflict between Jacobite supporters of deposed monarch James II and Williamite supporters of his successor, William III. It is also called th ...
, Presbyterians were hoping that their loyalty and efforts would help redress their grievances, and they did find favour with William III. The Irish Parliament and Established Church were opposed to giving them full civil rights, and during Queen Anne's reign, penal laws targeting Dissenters came into force. By the 1720s, there was some redressing of Dissenter issues with the Indemnity Act and Toleration Act, followed by the Synod of Ulster in 1722 sending King George I an address of the injustices they faced. During the 17th century the Dissenter population was low. However, after the reign of King William III, they formed a substantial portion of the Protestant population in Ireland (especially in
Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...
), and increasingly became more politically active. The main issues Dissenters were concerned with were those that affected them most due to the Penal Laws: religious discrimination; economic development; and the matter of land. Dissenters often were tenants rather than landowners, and faced ever increasing rents as landowners sought to increase their income. Any improvements made to the land by a tenant increased its value giving landlords an excuse to raise the rent. Other landlords simply demanded and raised rents on a whim. Those who could not afford to pay were forcibly evicted without warning. Tenants also had to follow the landlords' preferred choice in elections, which then were not held by secret ballot. One way to alleviate problems was to gain the favour of the landlord. Eventually groups of tenants, some of which became movements such as the Hearts of Steel, Hearts of Oak and the
Whiteboys The Whiteboys ( ga, na Buachaillí Bána) were a secret Irish agrarian organisation in 18th-century Ireland which defended tenant-farmer land-rights for subsistence farming. Their name derives from the white smocks that members wore in the ...
, started to commit acts of crime against their landlords to raise awareness of their grievances. This included attacking cattle, burning buildings, and threatening letters amongst other acts. The larger groups, whilst sharing some grievances, had different primary focuses. For the Hearts of Oak, it was the paying of cess as well as tithes and small dues to the Church of Ireland. For the Hearts of Steel it was evictions and rents. They also had different tactics, which affected how successful they were. The Hearts of Oak acted during the day and in a highly public manner, which allowed the authorities to clamp down on them easier. The Hearts of Steel, however, took to performing secretive actions in the middle of the night. Historian Francis Joseph Biggar states that the only options available for disillusioned Dissenters were to move to the towns, become a beggar, or emigrate to America, with emigration the preferred choice. Few Presbyterians seemed to choose returning to their native Scotland. In contrast, the Catholics, who suffered worst of all from the Penal Laws, chose to remain in Ireland, staying as close as possible to the parish of their ancestors. Prior to the outbreak of the American War of Independence in 1776, between 100,000 and 250,000 Presbyterians emigrated from
Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...
for the colonies in North America. The scale of this migration was such that in 1773, within the space of a
fortnight A fortnight is a unit of time equal to 14 days (two weeks). The word derives from the Old English term , meaning "" (or "fourteen days," since the Anglo-Saxons counted by nights). Astronomy and tides In astronomy, a ''lunar fortnight'' is ha ...
, around 3,500 Ulster emigrants landed at
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
alone. One knock-on effect of this emigration was parts of Ulster only being Catholic because of the depopulation of Protestants.


Political reform

The outbreak of the American War of Independence in 1776 had an important impact on Ireland. Many had relatives living in the colonies and thus a deep interest, with some entertaining notions of what a break from Britain might do for Ireland. British troops based in Ireland were transported to America to participate in the conflict, which raised fears of a possible French invasion, leading to the foundation of the
Volunteers Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...
consisting of Dissenters and Anglicans, with some Catholic support. Whilst the Volunteers were formed as a defensive force, they quickly became involved in politics.


19th century

The Dublin area saw many churches like the exquisite "Pepper Canister" – properly known as Saint Stephen's – built in the Georgian style during the 19th century. When Ireland was incorporated in 1801 into the new
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Great B ...
, the Church of Ireland was also united with the Church of England to form the
United Church of England and Ireland The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
. At the same time, one archbishop and three bishops from Ireland (selected by rotation) were given seats in the House of Lords at Westminster, joining the two archbishops and twenty-four bishops from the Church of England. In 1833, the British Government proposed the Irish Church Measure to reduce the 22 archbishops and bishops who oversaw the Anglican minority in Ireland to a total of 12 by amalgamating sees and using the revenues saved for the use of parishes. This sparked the Oxford Movement, which was to have wide repercussions for the
Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...
. As the official established church, the Church of Ireland was funded partially by
tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more ...
s imposed on all Irish landowners and tenant farmers, irrespective of the fact that it counted only a minority of the populace among its adherents; these tithes were a source of much resentment which occasionally boiled over, as in the
Tithe War The Tithe War ( ga, Cogadh na nDeachúna) was a campaign of mainly nonviolent civil disobedience, punctuated by sporadic violent episodes, in Ireland between 1830 and 1836 in reaction to the enforcement of tithes on the Roman Catholic majority ...
of 1831/36. Eventually, the tithes were ended, replaced with a lower levy called the tithe rent charge. The
Irish Church Act 1869 The Irish Church Act 1869 (32 & 33 Vict. c. 42) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which separated the Church of Ireland from the Church of England and disestablished the former, a body that commanded the adherence of a small min ...
(which took effect in 1871) finally ended the role of the Church of Ireland as state church. This terminated both state support and parliament's role in its governance, but also took into government ownership much church property. Compensation was provided to clergy, but many parishes faced great difficulty in local financing after the loss of rent-generating lands and buildings. The Church of Ireland made provision in 1870 for its own government, led by a General Synod, and with financial management by a Representative Church Body. With disestablishment, the last remnants of tithes were abolished and the Church's representation in the House of Lords also ceased.


20th century and 21st century


20th century decline

In 1991, the population of the
Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...
was approximately 3% Protestant. The figure in the same geographical area was over 10% in 1891, indicating a fall of 70% in the relative Protestant population over the past century. The Protestant depopulation in the Republic of Ireland during 1891-1991 was dramatic. Establishment of the
Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between ...
in 1922 may have further accelerated this phenomenon as many Protestants were wary of living in a majority Catholic country and therefore chose to emigrate to the United Kingdom. In 1861 only the west coast and Kilkenny were less than 6% Protestant. Dublin and two of the 'border counties' were over 20% Protestant. In 1991, however, all but four counties were less than 6% Protestant; the rest were less than 1%. There were no counties in the Republic of Ireland which had experienced a rise in the relative Protestant population over the period 1861 to 1991. Often, the counties which managed to retain the highest proportion of Protestants were the ones which started off with a large proportion. In
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
, only counties Londonderry, Tyrone and Armagh have experienced a significant loss of the relative Protestant population; in these cases, the change was not as dramatic as in the Republic.


21st century growth

The previous pattern of decline started to change during the 1990s. By the time of the 2006 census of the Republic of Ireland, a little over 5% of the state was Protestant. The 2011 census of the Republic of Ireland found that the Protestant population in every county had grown. In 2012, the '' Irish Independent'' reported that "Irish Anglicanism is undergoing a quite remarkable period of growth" due to immigration and Irish Catholics converting.


Politics


Irish Parliament

Prior to the Plantation of Ulster in the opening decades of the 17th century, the Irish Parliament consisted of Catholic
Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
and Gaelic Irish MPs. Whilst these MPs had few ideological objections to making Henry VIII head of the Irish church as well as to the establishment of Anglicanism in Ireland under Elizabeth I, resistance to government policies started to grow. To help tip the balance of power in Parliament in favour of Protestants, Sir Arthur Chichester, the Lord Deputy of Ireland, established sixteen new corporate towns in Ulster in the 1610s. These towns were little more than villages or planned towns. This resulted in Ulster alone returning 38 MPs to the Irish Parliament with the three other provinces altogether contributing 36, giving the government a majority of 32. This majority was reduced upon appeal by the Old English to six. However, under Lord Deputy Wentworth in 1640, a further sixteen Old English seats were removed. During 1640 and 1641, the interests of the Old English and New English combined to seek Wentworth's removal. With the drastic decrease in Catholic landowners after the Cromwellian land settlement in the 1640s, by the time of the Restoration parliament in 1661, only one Catholic MP was returned to the Irish Parliament. However, his election was overturned. The Protestant interest in Ireland would be no less compliant to English authority than the Old English had been. The convention of 1660, called after the restoration of the monarchy, saw 137 parliamentary members elected, all of whom were Protestant. It called upon King Charles II to summon a Parliament consisting of Protestant peers and commons, as well for the re-establishment of the Church of Ireland. Despite backing the restoration, as well as the system of
episcopacy A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
, it also asserted the Irish Parliament's legislative superiority over itself and its intent to set and collect its own taxes.


Cultural and literature impact

The
Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the secon ...
undertook the first publication of the
Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
in
Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
. The first Irish translation of the
New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...
was begun by Dr Nicholas Walsh,
Bishop of Ossory The Bishop of Ossory () is an episcopal title which takes its name after the ancient of Kingdom of Ossory in the Province of Leinster, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been ...
, who worked on it until his death in 1585. The work was continued by John Kearny, his assistant, and Dr Nehemiah Donellan,
Archbishop of Tuam The Archbishop of Tuam ( ; ga, Ard-Easpag Thuama) is an archbishop which takes its name after the town of Tuam in County Galway, Ireland. The title was used by the Church of Ireland until 1839, and is still in use by the Catholic Church. Histor ...
; it was finally completed by William O'Domhnuill. Their work was printed in 1602. The work of translating the Old Testament was undertaken by Dr William Bedel (1571–1642),
Bishop of Kilmore The Bishop of Kilmore is an episcopal title which takes its name after the parish of Kilmore, County Cavan in Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other bishopr ...
, who completed his translation within the reign of Charles I, although it was not published until 1680 in a revised version by Dr
Narcissus Marsh Narcissus Marsh (20 December 1638 – 2 November 1713) was an English clergyman who was successively Church of Ireland Bishop of Ferns and Leighlin, Archbishop of Cashel, Archbishop of Dublin and Archbishop of Armagh. Marsh was born at Hannin ...
(1638–1713), Archbishop of Dublin. Bedell had also undertaken a translation of the
Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...
in 1606. An Irish translation of the revised prayer book of 1662 was effected by John Richardson (1664–1747) and published in 1712.


Denominations


See also

* Anglo-Irish *
Protestantism by country There are between 800 million and 1 billion Protestants worldwide,Jay Diamond, Larry. Plattner, Marc F. and Costopoulos, Philip J. ''World Religions and Democracy''. 2005, page 119link(saying "Not only do Protestants presently constitute 13 perc ...
* Protestantism in the Republic of Ireland *
Religion in Northern Ireland Christianity is the largest religion in Northern Ireland. At the 2021 census, the prevalence rates for the main religions were: Catholic (42 per cent); Presbyterian (16 per cent); Church of Ireland (11.5 per cent); Methodist (2.4 per cent ...
*
Ulster Protestants Ulster Protestants ( ga, Protastúnaigh Ultach) are an ethnoreligious group in the Irish province of Ulster, where they make up about 43.5% of the population. Most Ulster Protestants are descendants of settlers who arrived from Britain in the ...
* Ulster-Scots


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Further reading

*, reviews recsent scholarship * Comerford, R. et al. ''Religion, conflict and coexistence in Ireland'' (Dublin, 1990) *Crawford, Heather K . ''Outside the glow: Protestants and Irishness in independent Ireland'' (University College of Dublin Press, 2010) 240pp. *d'Alton, I. "'A vestigial population'? Perspectives on Southern Irish Protestants in the twentieth century", ''Eire-Ireland'' 44 (Winter 2009–10) * Deignan, Padraig. ''The Protestant community in Sligo, 1914–1949'' (Dublin: Original Writing Ltd, 2010) 385pp. {{ISBN, 978-1-907179-58-7
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...