16th Century Ireland
With the Normans and the English planted into Ireland our society was in a state of confusion. Most anglo settlers had been heavily influenced by the Irish culture and were forced to stop after the introduction of the Statutes of Kilkenny. These rules were not followed by every anglo norman or English man so desperate measures needed to be taken by those who ruled England.
In England the Tudor revolution was started when King Henry VIII was looking for ways to divorce his wife at the time. He did this by renouncing the Catholic Church and the authority of the Pope and declared himself the leader of the Church of England. He was determined to be the one and only ruler and wanted to reduce the power of the provincial magnates. This of course was to affect Ireland. The English lords in the Pale in Dublin supported Henry VIII’s new regime.
The Earl of Kildare was summoned to London where he was imprisoned in the Tower of London. Word was sent to Ireland that the Earl had died whereas he did not actually die until 1536.
The Earl had left his only son Lord Offaly, (more famously known as silken Thomas) in charge with instructions that if he was dismissed from office that Lord Offaly should make it known that the FitzGeralds were a force to be reckoned with. This show of strength turned into a rebellion which was quickly quashed by the English army. Culminating, with the execution of silken Thomas himself, in 1537. Within three years the FitzGerald reign was over.
Henry VIII was now overall ruler of Wales and had reduced the power of the magnates in the North of England. In Ireland he dissolved the Irish monasteries and remitted their revenues to the state. In 1541, he declared himself King of Ireland. He subdued the Irish chieftains by taking their lands then returning them but with an English legal title.
Henry VIII did not introduce any British colonies to Ireland this was left until after his death. His daughter, Mary, encouraged colonisation in the 1550’s. However, the religious reformation waited even longer until Mary’s sister Elizabeth became queen in 1558. Although Henry VIII had created the Church of England he did not practice the new faith. Elizabeth on the other hand did and she reigned for 45 years.
The first 30 years of Queen Elizabeth’s reign saw a constant stream of settlers into Gaelic and Anglo-Norman areas. In the 1560’s and 1570’s Eastern Ulster was planted. The Earldom of Desmond which had so far clung to the old religious and political traditions rebelled and was totally and brutally defeated.
Queen Elizabeth did not want to cover the cost of taking total control of Ireland but this was going to prove inevitable. The battle between Gaelic Ireland and England was poised to begin with the 9 years war in Ireland.
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