Ireland History

The industrial distress, which had come to be the habitual state of things in Ireland, had been aggravated in 1770 and the following years by a series of embargoes placed by the English Privy Council on the export of Irish provisions to foreign countries. These crippled and eventually almost destroyed one of the only two surviving branches of trade which remained to the country. In 1775 the American colonies, then on the verge of war, excluded Irish linens from their markets.

In 1778 the permission to export some few articles of food from Ireland to England, given some time previously, was withdrawn. The prohibition of the foreign provision trade had been justified on the ground that the rebel colonial army was being fed by Irish beef and pork, but for the refusal to admit Irish food into Great Britain no such excuse could be offered. It was due to mere commercial selfishness and weak pandering to the clamorous complaints of the English farmer and graziers.

The ruin was now complete and widespread amongst all classes and in all parts of the country. The Limerick and Cork merchants found themselves with huge stocks of unsold and unsaleable provisions on their hands. The Dublin weavers paraded the streets in procession carrying a black fleece. Ten thousand workpeople were said (May 1778) to have lost their employment. The Finances were reduced to a deplorable condition. In 1777 the expenses had exceeded the revenue by £80,000. La Touche, the Dublin banker, professed to be unable to advance £20,000 to the authorities. For lack of money the few regular troops left in the country were obliged to be left stationary; their travelling expenses could not be paid.

Posted on August 14th, 2008 under Uncategorized. Tags: 1770, 1775, 1778, american colonies, English, English Privy Council, irish trade, la touche, rebel colonial. Comments: None

Although they had many grievances, being, almost without exception, Catholics, the Lords of the Pale, and most of the Anglo-Irish nobility and gentry elsewhere at first hesitated to join the revolt. On their treatment by the Government authorities their future action would, to a great extent, depend. The Lord Justices, by so wording their first Proclamation as to make it appear that they considered the conspiracy as one of the ” Irish Papists ” in general; by receiving with marked coldness the professions of loyalty of some of the Palesmen, and by denying to several the arms which were absolutely necessary for the defence of their homes and families, certainly showed little discretion ; but their position was, without doubt, a difficult one.
They were aware that these men had little reason to feel attachment to the English Government; that the relatives of many of them were in actual rebellion, and they knew not whom to trust.

The determining factors which induced so many of the Anglo-Irish to throw in their lot with the insurgents were probably : first, the ruthless murders and destruction of property of which the Government troops were guilty ; secondly, the constant insults to their religion, and threats of persecution of it, uttered in the English Parliament and else¬where ; thirdly, the inclusion of the estates of many of them in the list made by the English authorities of the land to be confiscated after the repression of the rebellion (February, 1642).

In December, 1642, seven of the Pale Lords met by appointment five delegates from the insurgents, headed by Rory O’More, on the hill of Crofty near Drogheda. O’More stated the grievances which had induced them to rebel. He protested that they were not disloyal to the King, and begged the Palesmen to join with them in the cause of their country and their religion.

Posted on August 10th, 2008 under The Insurrection Of 1641. Tags: Catholics, English, families, Government, irish, Lord Justices, Palesmen, Papists, rebellion, the Lords of the Pale. Comments: None