Strafford in Ireland 1633-1641: A Study in Absolutism, Second Edition

337 Pages·1989·1.27 MB·English

by  Hugh F. Kearney

STRAFFORD IN IRELAND
1633-41

STRAFFORD
IN IRELAND
1633-41
A Study in Absolutism
HUGH KEARNEY
Amundson Professor of British History,
University of Pittsburgh
The right of the
University of Cambridge
to print anil sell
all manner of books
was granted by
Henry VIII in 1534.
The University has printed
and published continuously
since 1584.
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge
New York Port Chester
Melbourne Sydney
Published by the Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge
The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 IRP
40 West 20th Street, New York, NY IOOII, USA
10 Stamford Road, Oakleigh, Melbourne 3166, Australia
© Hugh Kearney 1959, 1989
First published by Manchester University Press 1959
This edition first published by Cambridge University Press 1989
British Library cataloguing in publication data
Kearney, Hugh
Strafford in Ireland 1633-41: a study in absolutism.
1. Ireland. Political events, 1603-1691
1. Title
941.506
Library of Congress cataloguing in publication data
Kearney, Hugh F.
Strafford in Ireland, 1633-41: a study in absolutism / Hugh Kearney.
p. cm.
Bibliography
Includes index.
ISBN o 521 37189 9, ISBN o 521 37822 2 (pbk)
1. Strafford, Thomas Wentworth, Earl of, 1593-1641. 2. Ireland—
—History—1625-1649. 3. Despotism. 1. Title.
DA396.S8K4 1989
941.506'092'4-dc 19 88-34293 CIP
ISBN o 521 37189 9 hardcovers
ISBN o 521 37822 2 paperback
Transferred to digital printing 2003
GTS
To
MY PARENTS
'Mind, none of us would feel exactly like this. What saves us is
efficiency—the devotion to efficiency. But these chaps were not much
account, really. They were no colonists; their administration was
merely a squeeze and nothing more, I suspect. They were conquerors
and for that you want only brute force. . . . The conquest of the earth,
which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different
complexion or slightly flatter nose than ourselves is not a pretty thing
when you look into it too much. What redeems it is the idea only. An
idea at the back of it; not a sentimental pretence but an idea; and an
unselfish belief in the idea—something you can set up and bow down
before, and offer a sacrifice to. . . .'
Joseph Conrad,
Heart of Darkness
CONTENTS
page
PREFACE (1989) . . . . . . .. ix
INTRODUCTION (1989) . . . . . .. xi
PREFACE (1959) . . . . . .. xxxiii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . . . . .. xxxix
ABBREVIATIONS xl
1. ANGLO-IRISH RELATIONS 1
(i) The Sixteenth-Century Background 1
(ii) Politics, 1620-30 . . . . .. 7
2. T HE OLD ENGLISH IN IRELAND . . . - 15
3. T HE APPOINTMENT OF WENTWORTH . .. 24
4. T HE FINANCIAL BACKGROUND . . . . 32
5. PROLOGUE TO PARLIAMENT . . . .. 42
6. T HE PARLIAMENT OF 1634-5 . . . .. 45
7. T HE POLITICS OF THE 1634 PARLIAMENT . . 53
8. T HE INSTRUMENTS OF 'THOROUGH' . . .. 69
9. T HE PLANTATION OF CONNACHT . . . - 85
10. CHURCH AND STATE 104
11. WENTWORTH'S ECONOMIC POLICY . . . . 1 30
(i) The Economic Background . . . . 1 30
(ii) The Irish Wool Trade 137
(iii) Irish Linen . . . . . . . 1 54
(iv) The Irish Customs Farm 159
(v) Summary . . . . . . . 1 68
12. PERSONAL PROFIT 171
Vll
Viii CONTENTS
page
13. THE DOWNFALL OF WENTWORTH'S ADMINISTRATION 185
(i) Opposition in Ulster . . . . . 1 85
(ii) Opposition in Parliament 189
(iii) The Parties in Parliament . . . . . 1 92
14. THE IMPEACHMENT OF WENTWORTH . . -199
15. AFTERMATH IN IRELAND. . . . .. 209
16. CONCLUSION . . . . . . .. 216
APPENDICES 223
I. The Membership of the 1634 Parliament . . 223
II. List of Members of the Parliament of 1640 . . 260
III. Commission for Defective Titles 1636 . . 264
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE . . . . .. 269
BIBLIOGRAPHY 277
INDEX 287
LIST OF F I G U R ES
1. Fines for Liveries of Land, 1622-41 . . .. 76
2. Pardons and Licences of Alienation, 1622-41 . . 78
3. Exports of wool from Ireland, 1632-40 . . - 1 52
4. Exports of Linen Yarn, 1635-40 . . . . 1 58
5. Irish Customs duties, 1628-41 . . .. 160
MAP
Ireland under Strafford, 1633-41 . . . xlii-xliii
PREFACE (1989)
I am grateful to Janelle Greenberg, Anne Hileman, John Adam-
son, Hiram Morgan and William Davies, who helped me in
various ways. Brian Wormald, who over thirty years ago first
encouraged me to study Strafford's Irish deputyship, once again
was a rich source of illumination. I am also much indebted to
John Morrill (a former pupil of the great 'Straffordian' J. P.
Cooper) for reading a draft of the Introduction and indicating
where the argument needed to be focussed more sharply. On
Ireland I owe a great debt to the work of Brendan Bradshaw,
Nicholas Canny and Aidan Clarke.
I have taken the opportunity to make some minor corrections,
following suggestions made by Dr. Donal Cregan.
I wish also to express my thanks for financial assistance to Dr.
Alberta Sbragia and the West European Studies Unit (U.C.I.S.)
of the University of Pittsburgh. Finally I wish to pay tribute to
the memory of the late Dr. R. Dudley Edwards, friend, mentor
and colleague.
IX