You are not currently logged in. Please create an account or log in to view the full course.
How did the idea for the Plantation of Ulster arise?
- About
- Transcript
- Cite
Migration – The Plantation of Ulster, 1593-1643
In this course, Dr Ruth Canning (Liverpool Hope University) explores the Plantation of Ulster. In the first lecture, we think about how the idea for the Plantation of Ulster came about. In the second lecture, we think about what the plans and goals for the Plantation of Ulster were. In the third lecture, we think about who the people were who involved themselves in the plantation’s creation and operation. Next, we think about how tensions in Ireland led to the Irish Rebellion of 1641. In the fifth and final lecture, we think about the impacts and outcomes of the Plantation of Ulster.
How did the idea for the Plantation of Ulster arise?
In this lecture, we think about how the idea for the Plantation of Ulster arose, focusing in particular on: (i) James I as the monarch in power at the time of the establishment of the Plantation of Ulster; (ii) the celebration of the ascension of James I by Gaelic people as they saw this as an opportunity for all of Gaeldom to be under one Gaelic ruler; (iii) the Nine Years’ War (1593-1603), which had ravaged Ireland in the latter part of Elizabeth I’s reign; (iv) Hugh O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone, as a key figure in the opposition to English rule over Ireland; (v) Hugh O’Neill’s leadership of the Irish Catholic Confederates during the Nine Years’ War alongside ‘red’ Hugh Roe O’Donnell and Hugh Maguire; (vi) the implementation of a scorched earth campaign by the English during the Nine Years’ War to great effect; (vii) the damage incurred from the Nine Years’ War by both Ireland and England; (viii) John Davies, Attorney General for Ireland, who advocated for the reallocation of Irish land to loyal English and Scottish people; (ix) James I’s response to the Nine Years’ War being to pardon and return land to Hugh O’Neill and his Irish Catholic Confederate leaders, so as to avoid another war; (x) the presence and authority of Hugh O’Neill in Ulster as a limiter of English crown plans to establish colonies in the North of Ireland; (xi) the Flight of the Earls in 1607, when Hugh O’Neill and other leaders fled Ireland for Italy; (xii) O’Doherty’s Rebellion in 1608, which saw the burning of Derry in April, before his death in July at the Battle of Kilmacrennan; (xiii) the Plantation of Ulster as a proposed solution to rule over Ireland in the absence of the native leaders; (xiv) Thomas Blenerhasset’s writing, which highlighted the view that Ireland was an opportunity for England’s self-sufficiency.
Hi.
00:00:03My name is Ruth Canning,
00:00:07and I teach at Liverpool Hope University.
00:00:08I am a historian of early modern Ireland with a
00:00:10particular focus on on the impact of war on civilian
00:00:13accidents, identity formation, and the impact of colonialism.
00:00:17In this course, we are going to be exploring the ulster Plantation of
00:00:22sixteen This was a massive social
00:00:25engineering project,
00:00:28which involved the colonization of ulster by large numbers of
00:00:29English and Scottish people,
00:00:32people who would soon come to see them as British.
00:00:34It was not the first colonial project in our end, but
00:00:38its legacy has been the most enduring.
00:00:42It is anglo Irish politics to this day and it has been
00:00:45largely responsible for dictating the social,
00:00:49political, economic,
00:00:51and religious graphics of Northern Ireland in the modern period.
00:00:52Now, in this course,
00:00:57we are going to explore why the ulster Plantation was
00:00:58established, how it was implemented,
00:01:01who came to our end as planters and how this affected the
00:01:05native Irish elation.
00:01:08Later in the course,
00:01:10we will look at the impact of the sixteen forty one Rebellion
00:01:11on the ulster Plantation and finally,
00:01:15we will consider the the significance of the ulster plantations.
00:01:17Now in this first lecture,
00:01:22we will explore why the ulster Plantation was established
00:01:23under James the first, as in what drove the desire to
00:01:26colonize ulster and what conditions facilitated it It
00:01:30needs to be noted that this was not the first English colonial
00:01:34project in Ireland.
00:01:37In fact, it wasn't the first in Olster either,
00:01:38but these earlier projects had largely failed.
00:01:41So we need to consider how and why the ulster Plantation of
00:01:43sixteen ten was different.
00:01:47To do so, we need to gain some understanding of the events
00:01:49that led up to the plantation.
00:01:52When James the sixth of Scotland came to the English
00:01:55throne in sixteen o three,
00:01:58following Elizabeth the first death.
00:01:59He also inherited the kingdom of Ireland.
00:02:01Within Ireland, the ganic litter classes found much to celebrate with the
00:02:04accession of James the first because they saw the rise of a
00:02:08Scottish king as important for the political unification of
00:02:11all of Gaildom on one Gallic ruler.
00:02:15It was also thought or at least hoped that James was secretly
00:02:19capped and that he would be more sympathetic to the
00:02:23majority Irish Catholic population.
00:02:26But James was not Catholic and RN was not a welcome inheritance.
00:02:30Ireland had been ravaged by war in the last decade of Elizabeth
00:02:37Rain.
00:02:41Starting with Henry the eighth,
00:02:42Tudor Motors had pursued an increasingly aggressive policy
00:02:43of conquest and colonization in our own in an effort to
00:02:47complete the income eight twelfth century Anglo Norman conquest.
00:02:50This led to a number of significant wars,
00:02:56some of which were allowed by traditionally loyal,
00:02:58but mostly Catholic descendants of the twelfth century Anglo
00:03:00Norman conquerors.
00:03:03But it was the northern province of Olster that proved
00:03:05the most impenetrable and it threw up some of
00:03:08Ireland's greatest opponents to English rule, amongst them was
00:03:10Chionil, the Earl of Tyrone.
00:03:15He O'Neil and his ulster allies, Hugh O'Donnell,
00:03:17the Lord of Tear Connell, and Hugh Maguire,
00:03:20the Lord of Romana,
00:03:22led the Irish Catholic confederate in the nine years
00:03:23war from fifteen ninety three to sixteen o three.
00:03:27This was by far the greatest challenge to English rule that
00:03:30Ireland had yet experienced.
00:03:33For much of the war,
00:03:36the Irish Confederate had the upper hand and inflicted
00:03:37numerous embarrassing defeat on English Crown Forces.
00:03:40But the tide turned at Kinseil in sixteen o one.
00:03:44And for the remainder of the war,
00:03:47English armies pursued a devastating the effective
00:03:49scorched earth campaign.
00:03:52Hue O'Neil finally surrendered in March sixteen o three only a
00:03:55few days after Elizabeth had died.
00:03:59Now, the nine years war was the most expensive and destructive war
00:04:03tutors ever fought.
00:04:07The Irish population had been severely reduced by war,
00:04:09disease, and famine,
00:04:12while the land was utterly devastated by the crown's roof
00:04:14list, scorched earth campaign.
00:04:17But this war also took an immense toll on England.
00:04:20It consumed England's best military leaders,
00:04:24and it nearly bankrupted the English state by costing nearly
00:04:27two million pounds.
00:04:30In this respect, James inherited a very heavy crown.
00:04:33How is James supposed to unite, England, Wales, Scotland,
00:04:37Scotland, and Ireland on a shoot string budget.
00:04:40And more importantly,
00:04:44how is he going to ensure peace and stability in Ireland and
00:04:45make sure that it was governable?
00:04:49Now having led the greatest and most expensive challenge to
00:04:52English rule that the tutors had ever experienced One would
00:04:56naturally assume that Q O'Neil,
00:04:59the leader of the confederate forces,
00:05:01along with all of his allies,
00:05:02would have been intainted and executed for treason.
00:05:04Certainly, many crown officials,
00:05:08especially those who had served in Iran hoped to benefit from
00:05:10the tainted lands in ulster following the affected downfall
00:05:13of Fionil and his allies.
00:05:16These officials argued that the English conquest could never be
00:05:19completed unless it was followed up with a wholesale
00:05:22colonization of Ireland.
00:05:25They saw the defeat of the Irish Catholic in sixteen o
00:05:28three as an opportunity to clear Ireland its traditional
00:05:31leaders confiscate huge swathes of land and redistribute those
00:05:34lands to loyal English and uttertakers.
00:05:39Now, one of the leading advocates for this way of thinking with
00:05:44sir John Davies, the the English attorney general for
00:05:47Ireland.
00:05:50In his treaties,
00:05:51a discovery of the true causes of why Ireland was never
00:05:52entirely subdued.
00:05:55Davies argued that a borrower's country must be first broken by
00:05:57a war before it will be capable of good government.
00:06:00And when it is fully subdued and conquered,
00:06:04it it be not well planted and governed after the conquest,
00:06:06it will have Soon's return to the former barbarism.
00:06:09Now officials like Davies believed war was necessary to
00:06:13suppress the country by force and fear,
00:06:16but it needed to be followed up by large scale colonization
00:06:18projects in order to fully subjugate the native Irish,
00:06:22Anglo the country,
00:06:25extend protestantism and exploit Iran's natural resources.
00:06:26Unless all of these goals were achieved,
00:06:31conquest would never be complete,
00:06:34and the path would remain open for the Irish to rise again.
00:06:36Establishing plantations was not straightforward.
00:06:42Previous experiments in Arland have proven that plantations were expensive.
00:06:46They were vulnerable to attack,
00:06:50and they could easily fail if they were not propped up by the
00:06:52right government support, including the military.
00:06:54Support.
00:06:57But it also become apparent was that social reform through
00:06:58colonization needed to be reinforced by adequate,
00:07:01educational structures, a trained clergy and the rule of law.
00:07:04In particular, there needed to be at least the appearance of justice.
00:07:08However, none of these objectives had been by previous
00:07:13colonial projects.
00:07:17When James came to the throne,
00:07:19it was clear that the English crown did not have financial
00:07:20resources necessary to support or assist with any colonial endeavors.
00:07:24So rather than risk another expensive war, by executing
00:07:29Huoneel and his allies.
00:07:33James opted to not only forgive them,
00:07:35but he also returned their titles and lands and even gave them more.
00:07:37Like he had done in Scotland,
00:07:42the king had hoped to use local lords like Q O'Neil and
00:07:44O'Donnell as agents of reform and governance.
00:07:47So long as these law remain loyal and obedient,
00:07:51they provided cheap and effective means for governing
00:07:54dependent kingdoms.
00:07:57The continuing presence though,
00:08:00of Hionia and other Confederate leaders in Olster,
00:08:02scuppered Crown officials'
00:08:05ambitions to establish colony in the north of Ireland.
00:08:06The continuing presence and authority of Hugh O'Neil in
00:08:10Olster scuppered crown officials ambitions to to clear
00:08:13the land established colonies in the north of Ireland.
00:08:18They wouldn't have to wait long before an opportunity arose to
00:08:21push their agenda again.
00:08:24Ferering government plots undermine and murder him,
00:08:26and his fears were well warranted since this had
00:08:29happened to other lords.
00:08:31Hugh O'Neil, along with some of his northern allies,
00:08:33including O'Donnell wire,
00:08:36along with ninety six of their followers and kinsmen,
00:08:37fled Ireland for the continent in September sixteen o seven.
00:08:41They would never return turn.
00:08:45This event is known as the flight of the Urals.
00:08:48Their flight was as proof of their treason by government officials.
00:08:52And the exile lords were soon attainted and their lands were
00:08:56confiscated by the around.
00:08:59The flight was followed in sixteen o eight by the
00:09:01rebellion of Circaire O'Daugherty in derry.
00:09:04This was quickly suppressed.
00:09:07The two events, the flight and the rebellion,
00:09:10created both problems and opportunities for Crown
00:09:12Government.
00:09:15Problems because now there were no local lords to leave reform.
00:09:16And the absence of these lords could lead to a complete
00:09:20breakdown in social structures and result in a of rebellions.
00:09:23Another concern was that any alternative to ruling through
00:09:27local lords would be expensive.
00:09:30That's the government needed to come up with another plan and
00:09:33many crown officials saw this as an opportunity to push a
00:09:36major plantation scheme.
00:09:39They contended that between the nine years war,
00:09:42flight of the Earl's and the suppression of Rodarity's revolt,
00:09:45ulster had been cleared of its highest and mid ranking leaders and lords.
00:09:48There are lands could now be confiscated by the crown on
00:09:52account of their so called treasons,
00:09:55and the confiscated lands could be redistributed in a new
00:09:57social and political hierarchy could be imposed,
00:10:00which would suppress the remaining Irish population and
00:10:03bring profit to the crown.
00:10:06As a English planter, Thomas Blenner Hassett opined,
00:10:08England had a divine mission to reform or repair our end.
00:10:12And in return, our end would repay England and come mind.
00:10:16Fair England, thy flourishing sister, brave hibernia,
00:10:20commendeth unto thy due consideration,
00:10:23her youngest depopulated ulster.
00:10:26How the long continuance of lamentable wars have raised and
00:10:28utterly defaced whatsoever was beautiful in her to behold,
00:10:32and hath bereaved all her royalties, goodly ornaments,
00:10:36and well beseeming tears.
00:10:40If thou wilt now, but assist her with means to erect her ruins.
00:10:42She will nourish thee with much dainty provision,
00:10:46and so furnish thee as thou shalt not need to send to thy
00:10:48neighbor kingdoms for born.
00:10:52So far, we have looked at the background for why the
00:10:54plantation became the preferred solution for the imposition of
00:10:56English rule in Northern Ireland.
00:10:59In our next lecture,
00:11:01we will explore the ideas and proposals behind the ulster
00:11:02Plantation, as well as how it was supposed to be implemented.
00:11:06
Cite this Lecture
APA style
Canning, R. (2024, February 22). Migration – The Plantation of Ulster, 1593-1643 - How did the idea for the Plantation of Ulster arise? [Video]. MASSOLIT. https://massolit.io/courses/ireland-the-plantation-of-ulster-1593-1643
MLA style
Canning, R. "Migration – The Plantation of Ulster, 1593-1643 – How did the idea for the Plantation of Ulster arise?." MASSOLIT, uploaded by MASSOLIT, 22 Feb 2024, https://massolit.io/courses/ireland-the-plantation-of-ulster-1593-1643