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The Graces were a series of reforms sought by Roman Catholics in Ireland in 1628–1634. Since the introduction of the
Reformation in Ireland The Reformation in Ireland was a movement for the reform of religious life and institutions that was introduced into Ireland by the English administration at the behest of King Henry VIII of England. His desire for an annulment of his marriage ...
, based on the English model and directed by the
English Crown This list of kings and reigning queens of the Kingdom of England begins with Alfred the Great, who initially ruled Wessex, one of the seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms which later made up modern England. Alfred styled himself King of the Anglo-Sax ...
, the rights of the Catholic majority in the
Kingdom of Ireland The Kingdom of Ireland ( ga, label=Classical Irish, an Ríoghacht Éireann; ga, label=Modern Irish, an Ríocht Éireann, ) was a monarchy on the island of Ireland that was a client state of England and then of Great Britain. It existed fro ...
had been curtailed. A number of influential Catholics in the Parliament of Ireland (both Old English and members of the
Gaelic nobility of Ireland This article concerns the Gaelic nobility of Ireland from ancient to modern times. It only partly overlaps with Chiefs of the Name because it excludes Scotland and other discussion. It is one of three groups of Irish nobility, the others bei ...
) sought to redress this during the reign of King Charles I by proposing reforms to allow Catholics loyal to the Crown to play their full role in Irish society, both legally and officially. Although the King was sympathetic, during the time that Thomas Wentworth, who was the Lord Deputy of Ireland from 1632 to 1640, these aims were frustrated. The discontent resulting from the lack of reform played a part in the outbreak of the Irish Rebellion of 1641.


Background

The
Anglo-Spanish War (1625–1630) The Anglo–Spanish War was a war fought by Spain against the Kingdom of England, the Kingdom of Scotland and the United Provinces from 1625 to 1630. The conflict formed part of the Eighty Years' War. Background In 1622, Philip IV reigne ...
forced Charles I of England to maintain troops in Ireland to defend the country against a possible Spanish invasion. Despite the introduction of the Reformation by Henry VIII of England, most people in the
Kingdom of Ireland The Kingdom of Ireland ( ga, label=Classical Irish, an Ríoghacht Éireann; ga, label=Modern Irish, an Ríocht Éireann, ) was a monarchy on the island of Ireland that was a client state of England and then of Great Britain. It existed fro ...
had remained Roman Catholic. On the accession of King Charles I in 1625, whose queen was the French Catholic princess Henrietta Maria, many Catholics expected the new king to be more favourable to their religion. The wealthier Catholics who sat in the Irish House of Lords and the
Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the Irish House of Lords, House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a h ...
formed a committee in which participated Luke Plunket, 10th Baron of Killeen and
Sir William Talbot, 1st Baronet Sir William Talbot, 1st Baronet (died 16 March 1634), was an Irish lawyer and politician. Birth and origins William was the son of Robert Talbot of Carton, County Kildare, who was the third son of Sir Thomas Talbot of Malahide, County Dub ...
. That committee petitioned the king to have anti-Catholic legislation removed.


Negotiation

King Charles I had indicated in 1626 that he would concede certain rights to the Irish Catholics and Irish landlords in general if paid well enough. In June 1627 a convention was elected that chose 11 agents to be sent to England to negotiate with the King. Three were Protestants, the remaining eight Old English Catholics. They were: * Lord Killeen *Sir Thomas Lutrell *
Sir William Talbot, 1st Baronet Sir William Talbot, 1st Baronet (died 16 March 1634), was an Irish lawyer and politician. Birth and origins William was the son of Robert Talbot of Carton, County Kildare, who was the third son of Sir Thomas Talbot of Malahide, County Dub ...
* Sir Lucas Dillon *
Sir Henry Lynch, 1st Baronet Sir Henry Lynch, 1st Baronet (died 1635) was an Irish baronet, knight, lawyer, and land agent (i.e. estate manager). Lynch was among the first of his family to become a lawyer, and several of his younger sons followed him into this profession, ...
*Sir Edward FitzHarris *Sir John Meade *Lord Power *Richard Osborne * Arthur Forbes *Andrew Stewart At Whitehall in 1628 the King and the Irish delegation agreed on 51 articles. These concessions are known as the Graces because the agreement was entitled "Matters of Grace and Bounty". At the core of the Graces were land rights and religious freedom. The payment was fixed at £120,000 sterling (about £ in ) in three yearly instalments. The Graces had been proclaimed, and a first instalment had been paid.


Incomplete ratification

The Irish Parliament should have ratified the Graces promptly, but the Lord Deputy
Lord Falkland Viscount Falkland is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. Referring to the royal burgh of Falkland in Fife, it was created in 1620, by King James VI, for Sir Henry Cary, who was born in Hertfordshire and had no previous connection to Scotland ...
never summoned the parliament needed for this purpose. The parliament called in 1634 was the first Irish parliament since the proclamation of the Graces. The Irish therefore expected to see them confirmed in this parliament, while Wentworth expected trouble when he refused. The Irish parliament next sat in late 1634 and the order of business was led by Thomas Wentworth who had been Lord Deputy of Ireland since 1632. Wentworth's priority was to make Ireland profitable for Charles, and the first items on the agenda were supply bills that were passed without dissent. The Catholic members had all agreed to the new taxes on the understanding that their Graces—by now in form of a list of 51 articles—would be passed in the second session from 4 November to 14 December. The Catholic MPs in the Commons briefly had a majority caused by the absence of some Protestant MPs, and this increased their hopes that all the Graces would be enacted. On 27 November Wentworth refused to allow two of the Graces. These were to extend the English statute of limitations to Ireland (then 70 years), and to guarantee the titles of the current landowners in
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 Delbhn ...
, a province where the great majority of landlords were Catholic. Consequently, the subsequent bills introduced by Wentworth were all opposed by the Catholic members. The Graces were shelved despite further representations to Charles. On 16 December Wentworth wrote as follows to Edward Coke in London: :"''The Popish Party have been ill to please this Session, but after I had the 27th of last Month given our Answer to their Graces, they lost all Temper ...''" Historians disagreed to what extent Wentworth's letters on the 1634 session reflect reality, or whether were an unduly boastful and selective account to his colleagues in London. Given the few opportunities for parliamentary sessions at that time, debate also continues on whether or not the Catholic parliamentarians were unduly inflexible; they should perhaps have accepted 49 out of the 51 Graces in 1634, and then campaigned in London to try to secure the last two.


Outcomes

The hopes dashed by the matter of the Graces were compounded by Wentworth's subsequent policies in Ireland. Particularly, he then challenged the freehold titles of many Old English families in Connacht that could be rectified only by the payment of large fines. The ensuing ill-feeling contributed in part to the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and the establishment of
Confederate Ireland Confederate Ireland, also referred to as the Irish Catholic Confederation, was a period of Irish Catholic self-government between 1642 and 1649, during the Eleven Years' War. Formed by Catholic aristocrats, landed gentry, clergy and military ...
that led on, ultimately, to the
Cromwellian conquest of Ireland The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland or Cromwellian war in Ireland (1649–1653) was the re-conquest of Ireland by the forces of the English Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Cromwell invaded Ireland wi ...
in 1649–53. For English political reasons, Wentworth was tried by parliament and executed in May 1641. Following Wentworth's attainder in April 1641, King Charles and the Privy Council of England instructed the Irish Lords Justices on 3 May 1641 to publish the required Bills to enact the Graces. However, the law reforms were not properly implemented before the rebellion in late 1641.


See also

* Early Modern Ireland 1536–1691 *
Catholic emancipation Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, and later the combined United Kingdom in the late 18th century and early 19th century, that involved reducing and removing many of the restricti ...
* Penal Laws


Citations and sources


Citations


Sources

* – 1613 to 1641 * * – 1624 to 1632 * * * * * * * * * {{Kingdom of Ireland 17th century in Ireland History of Catholicism in Ireland Irish Rebellion of 1641