My View

This is the view from my favorite spot to sit at school. I get a lot of studying done here. And such an awesome view.

Midterm for Irish History

I am just posting this because it was something that I was proud of, and an example of my writing. Enjoy, lol.

The history of Ireland and Britain are closely entwined, making it essential to examine the relationship between the two countries to understand the history of each. In the eighteenth century, Britain controlled Ireland through political and economical means, to the extent that Ireland could be regarded as a colony. Britain asserted its influence over Ireland through the issuance of penal laws, which were laws that assured protestant ascendency and oppressed the Catholic majority. Although there were inadequacies with the penal laws, Britain demonstrated, in the eighteenth century, effective control of Ireland through further expansion in strength of the British Parliament.
The penal laws were also known as “Laws in Ireland for the Suppression of Popery”.[1] They addressed many aspects of Irish Catholic life such as: religion, marriage, voting, education, land and others.[2] The first penal law was enacted in 1558 during the reign of Elizabeth I and the last in 1759 during the reign of George II. [3] The first of the laws enacted addressed law professions, who were expected to take an oath to the monarch in order to practice in that profession[4] and that oath included an oath against transubstantiation, which was the belief that the bread and the wine become the body and blood of Christ, which is a Catholic belief. This would be against Catholics belief to take such an oath. An example of one such law, issued in 1691 stated,
“I, A.B., do solemnly and sincerely, in the presence of God, profess, testify, and declare, that I do believe that in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper there is not any transubstantiation of the elements of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ at or after the consecration thereof by any person whatsoever.”[5]
The laws expanded to require that people in Ireland take the oath to do such things as to be in the military, sit or vote in Parliament, or be a guardian to a child.[6]
Britain enacted penal laws that affected other aspects of life for most of the Irish Catholics. One law excluded the education of any child in a Catholic school or university, and also prohibited education in Catholic educational systems in other countries.[7] The penal laws were used to disarm the Catholics. They were forced to surrender their arms or were subjected to a search and the weapons were seized by justices, mayors, sheriffs or officers.[8] Penal laws were issued that demanded that all officials of the papacy leave Ireland. According to the penal laws this included “all popish archbishops, bishops, vicars-general, deans, jesuits, monks, friars, and all other regular popish clergy.”[9]
The penal laws that were most efficient in suppressing the rights of Irish Catholics regarded land. Britain excluded Catholics from owning property, and ensured land would get in the hands of the Protestants. A penal law enacted in 1702 is an excellent example of what Britain intended. The penal law stated,
“To the end that none of the aforesaid purchased forfeited estates may ever descend to any Papist but shall remain to be held and enjoyed by Protestants for the strengthening of the English interest and Protestant religion.”[10]
Another example of Britain’s control of land is seen in the penal laws concerning inheritance of land. One of these laws clearly stated that “No papist shall inherit or take any other interests in land owned by a Protestant.”[11]
In his book, The Making of Ireland, historian James Lydon reports the following statistics concerning land ownership. In 1688, Catholics owned twenty-two percent of Irish land.[12] By 1702 that percentage had dropped to fourteen percent and in 1776 Catholics owned just five percent of Irish land.[13] The penal laws not only forced Catholics to forfeit previously owned land, but prevented landlords from leasing property to Catholics.
The penal laws were effective as a form of British control to some extent. The penal laws succeeded in withholding Catholics from legal professions. The penal laws prohibited Catholics from voting or sitting in Parliament. The penal laws with the Catholic restrictions made it difficult for Catholics to participate in politics. The second factor that made the penal laws efficient was the exclusion of land from Catholics. This is important because landlords, who did lease their holdings to Catholics, were in a position to influence the Catholics who could vote. There were not any secret ballots, therefore the vote could be controlled through coercion and other methods used by landlords and officials. In, The Making of Ireland, Lydon suggests that freeholders would not allow Protestant landlords to give leases to those whose vote they could not control.
The penal laws though effective in these important ways, were also ineffective in some ways, mainly because of the failure of the British to enforce these laws. Lydon shows the failure of this enforcement through statistics. In 1704 there were 1,089 priests and three bishops registered, and in 1731, there were 254 and 1,445 clergy, and by 1750 there were eight hundred clergy.[14] Lydon states that with a Catholic population of about 1,750,000 in 1731, there was one priest for every thousand Catholics.[15] These statistics come from a penal law forcing all clergy to register. Those who did register were expected to leave the country and those who did not register would be prosecuted. This means that the results would not be a true reflection of the amount, in fear of having to leave Ireland or fear of prosecution. However this showed that Irish Catholics were able to monetarily support their clergy and bishops, providing them places to stay in Ireland.
Another in inefficiency of the penal laws was that despite the efforts to exclude Catholics from most forms of political power, Catholics were still able to assert some influence. Lydon provides an example of this in The Making of Ireland. In 1731, a mayor had sheriffs search a place called “Black Street” which was known to be a friary, the mayor reported “‘could not find or discover any of the said friars’”.[16] Lydon adds: “But an entry for November 1731 in the Augustinian ledger tells us why ‘November 9… a bottle of wine for ye sheriffs’”.[17] This shows that local clergy bribed the sheriffs, so that they would not report them to the mayor and higher officials.
Another way that Britain controlled Ireland was economically. This was initiated by the war of succession between James II and William of Orange for the British crown. James II, who was Catholic, became king in1685 and passed laws ending the discrimination of Catholics and dissenters to gain support.[18] His actions caused him to lose most support in England, as the some of the British supported William of Orange, who was a protestant to become king. James II went to Ireland while William of Orange stayed in England with the support of Parliament. This war between the two came at a great cost to Britain and Ireland. William of Orange’s cost to Britain for the war was estimated at six million pounds.[19] James II caused detriment to the Irish economy because in order to pay for the war, he introduced brass money to Ireland. This in turn caused a financial crisis because it inflated the monetary system of Ireland.[20]
The result at the end of the war was that Britain needed to raise revenue. This caused laws to be initiated that raised the taxes in Ireland. Taxation was an important way for Britain to control Ireland. The penal laws addressed the issue of taxation, and tied the raised taxes to those who refused to take the oath of allegiance and against transubstantiation. The following penal law is an example:
“All persons, except women, children under 18, and persons paying no more than 2 shillings tax, who fail to take the oaths of allegiance, abhorrence, and the declaration against transubstantiation shall pay double the tax that they otherwise would be charged with.”[21]
The economy of Ireland was also controlled by British parliament. One example of their legislative action was the introduction of a bill in 1697 that suppressed the wool industry of Ireland and encouraged the linen industry.[22] The reason for this bill was that the Irish wool industry was threatening the English wool industry. In 1699, legislation against the export of Irish wool was approved.[23] This bill was not approved however without opposition that came from Ireland. Opposition came from William Molyneux, who was a parliament representative of Dublin University, came out in opposition of this bill. [24] He voiced his opinion in a publication called The Case of Ireland’s being Bound by Acts of Parliament in England, Stated (1770).[25] Molyneux stated in the publication “nothing should give a Superiority to one People over another in Trade, but superior Honesty, Industry and Skill; no Treaty can bind to the utter Ruin of either Party.”[26] Molyneux also opposed the taxation of Ireland from Britain, and maintained that taxation without consent or representation was unnatural.[27]
Another example of British control of the economy by parliamentary action over Ireland was the Copper Patent, which was granted to William Wood in 1722.[28] The copper patent was introduced as a solution to a problem with the shortage of silver coins in Ireland.[29] The Irish response, even of the Protestant ascendency, to this patent was not at all expected by the British parliament. Irish officials opposed the patents and a series of publications were issued to sway public opinion and the Irish revenue commissioners questioned the right of the London treasury. These reactions caused great concern for the British, because of the fear of revolution at the time. One of the publications opposing the Copper Patent came from Jonathan Swift, the Dean of St. Patrick’s in Ireland. These were called the Drapier’s Letters, and were written under the name of M.B. Drapier.[30] In these publications Swift appealed directly to the shopkeepers and urged them not to accept the newly minted money.[31] Swift explained the poor quality and worth of the new coins, and the damage that they would do especially since they be easily and cheaply counterfeited.[32]
British control in Ireland was effective and precise. There were exceptions to the penal laws, in the fact that the laws were not enforced thoroughly. The penal laws were sometimes not enforced thoroughly; however despite this inadequacy and the grievances voiced by some in the protestant ascendency, such as Molyneux and Swift, Britain still gained effective control of Ireland. Britain successfully used the penal laws and other parliamentary action as a powerful means of political and economic control.
[1] Schaffer, M. Patricia. LAWS IN IRELAND FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF POPERY commonly known as the PENAL LAWS. 26 March 2008. Regents of the University of Minnesota. 26 March 2008. http://local.law.umn.edu/irishlaw/intro.html.
[2] Schaffer, Penal Laws.
[3] Schaffer, Penal Laws.
[4] Schaffer, Penal Laws.
[5] Schaffer, Penal Laws. English Statute 3 Will & Mary, c.2 1691.
[6] Schaffer, Penal Laws.
[7] Schaffer, Penal Laws.
[8] Schaffer, Penal Laws.
[9] Schaffer, Penal Laws. 9 Will III c.1 (1697).
[10] Schaffer, Penal Laws. English Statute 1 Ann c.26 (1702).
[11] Schaffer, Penal Laws. 2 Ann c.6 (1703).
[12] Lydon, James. The Making of Ireland. (New York: Routledge, 1998) page 217.
[13] Lydon, Ireland. Page 223.
[14] Lydon, Ireland. Page 222.
[15] Lydon, Ireland. Page 223.
[16] Lydon, Ireland. Page 225.
[17] Lydon, Ireland. Page 225.
[18] Lydon, Ireland. Page 207.
[19] Lydon, Ireland. Page 219.
[20] Lydon, Ireland. Page 215.
[21] Schaffer, Penal Laws. 9 Will III c.8 (1697).
[22] Lydon, Ireland. Page 229.
[23] Lydon, Ireland. Page 230.
[24] Lydon, Ireland. Page 229.
[25] William Molyneux, The Case of Ireland being bound by Acts of Parliament in England, Stated, with a new Preface (London: J. Almon, 1770). Accessed from http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/1769 on 2008-03-29.

[26] Molyneux. The Case.
[27] Lydon, Ireland. Page 229.
[28] Lydon, Ireland. Page 231.
[29] Lydon, Ireland. Page 231.
[30] Swift, Jonathan. A Modest Proposal and Other Satires. (New York:Amherst,1995) Page 220.
[31] Swift. Modest Proposal. Page 221.
[32] Swift. Modest Proposal. Page 228.

Me and Jackie

This was taken on our youth camping trip this summer.