called woodkernes, land was confiscated (forcibly taken) from the powerful O’More and O’Connor families. This confiscated land was given to English planters who Mary hoped would spread English laws and customs. This first plantation was not as successful as Mary had hoped but the English learnt from their mistakes.
Munster rebellion and
plantation Protestant Queen Elizabeth encouraged adventurers to come to Ireland and lay claim to (declare ownership of) land. She wanted to spread English law, custom, language and the Protestant religion throughout Ireland. In response to this, the FitzGeralds, a Catholic Anglo-Norman family who were also known as the Earls of Desmond, rebelled. Between 1569 and 1583, first James Fitzmaurice FitzGerald and then his cousin, the Earl of Desmond, rebelled. In 1579, 600 troops sent by the Pope landed in Smerwick harbour in County Kerry. The Pope wanted to ensure that Ireland remained Catholic. However, upon their arrival in Ireland, his troops were surrounded and massacred by Lord Deputy Mountjoy, an English nobleman and soldier who was in command of Elizabeth's troops in Ireland. The Earl was caught and killed by some of his Irish enemies who sent his head to Queen Elizabeth while his body was hung in Cork. The Earl of Desmond’s lands were fully confiscated by the English crown in 1586. Very quickly the rebellion was over and most of Munster lay in ruins. It is estimated that 30,000 people were killed and most of the region’s crops and cattle were destroyed which meant that famine gripped the countryside.
Fig 8.5 The 1586 Plantation of Munster.
Queen Elizabeth tried to make the Munster plantation more successful than the previous Laois-Offaly plantation by requiring settlers to come with English tenants and staff. They also had to promise to be ready to defend England from any Spanish invasion that could land in Ireland. These planters were known as undertakers as they undertook (promised) to uphold the Crown’s conditions. Again, the plantation did not draw as many planters from England as Elizabeth had hoped.