Kingdom of Ireland
Ireland, 1542–1801. Draft, not yet reviewed
The Kingdom of Ireland was a dependency of England from 1542 to 1707, and then of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800. The conquest of the island was completed early in the 17th century. It involved the confiscation of land from the native Irish Catholics and its colonisation by Protestant settlers from Britain. Following the failed republican Irish Rebellion of 1798, the parliament of Ireland and parliament of Great Britain passed the Acts of Union 1800.
Seat of power: Dublin
Rulers
Henry VIII of England
King of Ireland, 1542–1547
By the terms of the Crown of Ireland Act 1542, Henry VIII of England became "King of Ireland", theoretically elevating Ireland to coequal status with England, as a kingdom in personal union. There followed an expansion of English control during the Tudor conquest.
Portrait of Henry VIII of England: Workshop of Hans Holbein the Younger, Public domain, file
Edward VI of England
King of Ireland, 1547–1553
Edward VI was King of England and Ireland from 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine.
Portrait of Edward VI of England: Circle of William Scrots, Public domain, file
Mary I
King of Ireland, 1553–1558
Mary I was Queen of England and Ireland from 1553 until her death in 1558. Furthering the Tudor conquest of Ireland, English colonists were settled in the Irish Midlands under Mary and Philip's reign.
Portrait of Mary I: Antonis Mor, Public domain, file
Philip II of Spain
King of Ireland (Iure uxoris), 1554–1558
He was also jure uxoris King of England and Ireland from his marriage to Queen Mary I in 1554 until her death in 1558. In 1555 Pope Paul IV issued a papal bull recognising Philip and Mary as rightful King and Queen of Ireland. King's County and Philipstown in Ireland were named after Philip as King of Ireland in 1556.
Portrait of Philip II of Spain: Sofonisba Anguissola, Public domain, file
Elizabeth I of England
King of Ireland, 1558–1603
In Ireland, her policy was to grant land to her courtiers and prevent the rebels from giving Spain a base from which to attack England. In the course of a series of uprisings, Crown forces pursued scorched-earth tactics, burning the land and slaughtering man, woman and child. During a revolt in Munster led by Gerald FitzGerald, Earl of Desmond, in 1582, an estimated 30,000 Irish people starved to death.
Portrait of Elizabeth I of England: Unidentified painter, Public domain, file
James VI and I
King of Ireland, 1603–1625
James VI and I was King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603, until his death in 1625. He supported colonisation that polarised the crown's interest groups in Ireland. After the Union of the Crowns in 1603, he based himself in England, returning to Scotland only once in 1617, and styled himself King of Great Britain and Ireland.
Portrait of James VI and I: Attributed to John de Critz, Public domain, file
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Charles I of England
King of Ireland, 1625–1649
Charles I was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 1625 until his execution in 1649. The Earl of Strafford, Lord Deputy of Ireland since 1632, had emerged as Charles's right-hand man and pursued a policy that he termed "Thorough", which aimed to make central royal authority more efficient and effective at the expense of local or anti-government interests. Strafford's administration had improved the Irish economy and boosted tax revenue, but had done so by heavy-handedly imposing order.
Portrait of Charles I of England: Workshop of Anthony van Dyck, Public domain, file
Charles II of England
King of Ireland, 1660–1685
Charles II was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651 and King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. In Ireland, a convention had been called earlier in the year and had already declared for Charles.
Portrait of Charles II of England: John Michael Wright, Public domain, file
James II of England
King of Ireland, 1685–1688
James II was King of England and Ireland from February 1685 until he was deposed in the 1688 Glorious Revolution. At James's urging, the Irish Parliament passed an Act for Liberty of Conscience that granted religious freedom to all Roman Catholics and Protestants in Ireland. James was ultimately defeated at the Battle of the Boyne on 1 July 1690.
Portrait of James II of England: School of Peter Lely, Public domain, file
William III of England
King of Ireland, 1688–1702
He ruled England, Scotland, and Ireland with his wife, Queen Mary II, until her death in 1694. William personally intervened to lead his armies to victory over James at the Battle of the Boyne on 1 July 1690, after which James fled back to France. Ginkell took command in Ireland in the spring of 1691, and following the Battle of Aughrim, succeeded in capturing both Galway and Limerick, thereby effectively suppressing the Jacobite forces in Ireland within a few more months.
Portrait of William III of England: Godfrey Kneller, Public domain, file
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Mary II of England
King of Ireland, 1689–1695
Mary II was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland with her husband, King William III and II, from 1689 until her death in 1694.
Portrait of Mary II of England: Godfrey Kneller, Public domain, file
Anne of Great Britain
King of Ireland, 1702–1714
Anne was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 8 March 1702, and Queen of Great Britain and Ireland following the ratification of the Acts of Union 1707 merging the kingdoms of England and Scotland, until her death in 1714. While Ireland was subordinate to the English Crown and Wales formed part of the kingdom of England, Scotland remained an independent sovereign state with its own parliament and laws.
Portrait of Anne of Great Britain: Michael Dahl, Public domain, file
George I of Great Britain
King of Ireland, 1714–1727
George I was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1714 until his death in 1727. The list of regents was opened, the members sworn in, and George was proclaimed King of Great Britain and King of Ireland.
Portrait of George I of Great Britain: Workshop of Godfrey Kneller, Public domain, file
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George II of Great Britain
King of Ireland, 1727–1760
George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1727 until his death in 1760.
Portrait of George II of Great Britain: Thomas Hudson, Public domain, file
George III of Great Britain
King of Ireland, 1760–1801
George III was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1760 until his death in 1820. In 1800, the British and Irish parliaments passed an Act of Union that took effect on 1 January 1801 and united Great Britain and Ireland into a single state, known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
Portrait of George III of Great Britain: Allan Ramsay, Public domain, file
Culture
- The Trinity library has housed the Book of Kells since 1661 and the Trinity College harp since 1782.
- By the late 17th century, the state was dominated by the Protestant Anglo-Irish minority, known as the Protestant Ascendancy. The Protestant Church of Ireland was the state church.
- For most of the kingdom's history, the Irish Catholic majority suffered legal discrimination: under the penal laws, Catholicism was suppressed and Catholics were barred from government, parliament, the military, and most public offices.
- However Gaelic culture and Irish language, was maintained to a significant extent by the majority of the original native population.
Picture
Trinity College Dublin was founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I through a royal charter.
Image: Stephen Bergin steve_, CC0, file
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Sources
Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.