Prelude to Restoration in Ireland: The End of the Commonwealth, 1659-1660

390 Pages·1999·1.42 MB·English

by  Aidan Clarke

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ThisstudyfillsamajorgapinthemainstreamnarrativeofIrishhistoryby
reconstructingpoliticaldevelopmentsintheyearbeforetherestorationof
CharlesII. It is the first treatment of the complexIrish dimensionof the
king’sreturn.
TheissueofthemonarchydidnotstandaloneinIreland.Entangledwith
itwasthequestionofhowtherestorationoftheoldregimewouldaffecta
Protestant colonial community which had changed in character and for-
tune as a result of the Cromwellian conquest, the immigration that had
accompanieditandthemassivetransferoflandthatfollowed.Asthereturn
ofCharlesbecameincreasinglyprobable,Cromwellianandpre-Cromwel-
liansettlerswereunitedintheirdeterminationtoensurethattherestora-
tionofCharlesdidnotdeprivethemoftheirgains.Thisaccountdiscloses
howtheleadersoftheProtestantestablishmentprotecteditsinterestsby
managingthetransitionbacktomonarchy.
Aidan ClarkeisErasmusSmith’sProfessorofModernHistory,Trinity
College,Dublin,andaformerpresidentoftheRoyalIrishAcademy.
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PRELUDE TO
RESTORATION IN IRELAND
The end of the commonwealth, 1659–1660
idan larke
A C
         
The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom
  
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK
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477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia
Ruiz de Alarcón 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain
Dock House, The Waterfront, Cape Town 8001, South Africa
http://www.cambridge.org
©Aidan Clarke 2004
First published in printed format 1999
ISBN 0-511-03689-2 eBook(Adobe Reader)
ISBN 0-521-65061-5 hardback
To Oisin, Caoimhe,
Subhanora and Ceasan
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Contents
Acknowledgements [viii]
Conventionsandabbreviations [ix]
Map:RepresentationintheGeneralConvention [xii]
1 Akindofcolony [1]
2 Commissionersandsubmissioners:MaytoJune [21]
3 Theruleoftherump:JulytoOctober [56]
4 Thethreefoldcord:OctobertoDecember [92]
5 Settingupforthemselves:JanuarytoFebruary [131]
6 Theelectionreturns [169]
7 TheGeneralConventionofIreland:MarchtoApril [243]
8 Withoutexpectationofresurrection:MaytoJune [292]
Appendix:MembersoftheGeneralConvention [321]
Selectbibliography [326]
Index [346]
Acknowledgements
I have accumulated the familiar debts and obligations which add to the
pleasures of research and I would like gratefully to acknowledge the
financial assistance provided by the Royal Irish Academy/British Acad-
emy exchange scheme and the Arts and Social Sciences Benefaction at
TrinityCollegeDublin;thehospitalityoftheFellowsofHertfordCollege,
Oxford,andofJamesWelshatKing’sCollege,London;andthecourtesy
and professionalism of the staffs of the libraries and archives in which I
workedandwithwhichIdealtbycorrespondence.My particularthanks
are due to Toby Barnard, who would have done this better, for much
kindness and a good deal of information; to Sarah Barber, Bob Hunter,
BridMcGrath,JaneOhlmeyer,KevinO’Herlihy,MichealOSiochru´ and
Harold O’Sullivan who have supplied me with references, copies of
documents or odds and ends of information; to Matthew Stout who
preparedtheconstituencymap;toCiara´nBradywhocommentedonthe
text with disconcerting honesty and James McGuire who, among other
things, saved me from an egregious error on the first page; to Linda
Montgomery who helped me with pagebreaks, spreadsheets, tabs and
othersuchmysteries;toMaijaandDylanwhosemorningwalksgaveme
timetothink;toMary,foreverything.‘Andfortherest’,inthewordsof
Daniel Burston, ‘I do everywhere (to the best of my Remembrance)
acknowledge my debt to my Creditors, from whom I have borrowed
them,andwithwhosestockIhavetraded.’
[viii]