When the English reconquered Ireland in the three great conflicts of the 16th and 17th centuries - the Nine Years War, the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and the Williamite War - it wasn’t just the Irish who they were subduing. They were of course doing that also, and the 16th and 17th centuries saw the destruction of the Gaelic Aristocracy in the Nine Years War, the confiscation of their lands and the subsequent planting of British settlers (most notably in Ulster where a plurality identify as British to this day), the Cromwellian Conquest and forced removal of the Irish to the west (‘To Hell or to Connacht’ being Cromwell’s defining phrase), and a century of peace until the rebellion of 1798. Later nationalist historians weren’t wrong to adopt the lense that these invasions were a case of one people, united in their Protestantism and dislike of the savage Gaels, conquering another who (barring a few traitors) were united in opposition. One only has to have a glance at Spensers
The 'Old English', an Elite out of favour.
The 'Old English', an Elite out of favour.
The 'Old English', an Elite out of favour.
When the English reconquered Ireland in the three great conflicts of the 16th and 17th centuries - the Nine Years War, the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and the Williamite War - it wasn’t just the Irish who they were subduing. They were of course doing that also, and the 16th and 17th centuries saw the destruction of the Gaelic Aristocracy in the Nine Years War, the confiscation of their lands and the subsequent planting of British settlers (most notably in Ulster where a plurality identify as British to this day), the Cromwellian Conquest and forced removal of the Irish to the west (‘To Hell or to Connacht’ being Cromwell’s defining phrase), and a century of peace until the rebellion of 1798. Later nationalist historians weren’t wrong to adopt the lense that these invasions were a case of one people, united in their Protestantism and dislike of the savage Gaels, conquering another who (barring a few traitors) were united in opposition. One only has to have a glance at Spensers