Ireland History - Northern Irish History Belfast Dublin

The Ormond Peace

Above : Picture Of Rinuccini

Unfortunately, the majority of the members of the Supreme Council had listened to the deceitful words of Ormond and were playing into his hands. On March 28th, 1646, the peace was signed, without the knowledge of Rinuccini.

The ” Ormond Peace,” as it is generally called, comprised 30 Articles, of which the most important were :

1. That only an Oath of Allegiance, and not the Oath of Supremacy, should be required from Catholics.
2. That Catholics should have the right of holding all offices.
3. That Acts against Catholics, passed since August 1641, should be annulled!
4. That there should be an Act of Oblivion for all offences committed during the Rebellion, except in the case of persons guilty of murder or other serious crimes.
5. That land titles should be confirmed, and the Plantation schemes regarding Connacht, Tipperary, etc., abandoned.
6. That a Parliament should be summoned to pass the Clauses of the Peace, and that there should be no power to alter the Acts of this Parliament in England.
7. That 10,000 men should be raised for the King’s service, and others for the defence of Ireland itself.

It will be seen that the Articles of the Peace, while they, if observed, would redress the chief grievances of which the Catholics had complained from almost the beginning of James I’s reign, fell considerably short of guaranteeing the complete religious freedom promised them by the Glamorgan Treaty. Also, it should not be forgotten that Charles was now defeated and helpless, so that there to carry out the undertakings given in his name.

Moreover, the sending of the 10,000 troops, which would have been so helpful to his cause a year or so previously, had now been delayed till they could not reach him since all the English ports were in the hands of the Parliament, and would have been of little use if they had done so. If the Anglo-Irish party believed that the triumph of the Royalist cause would contribute to the ends they had in view, they should not have postponed their aid till this cause was hopelessly ruined, and the King reduced to such a pass that he was powerless to repay their assistance, even had he desired to do so.

At the beginning of the cessation, Eoghan Ruadh had, in obediencs to the orders of the Council, marched his troops back from Meath to Ulster and had established himself at Charlemont (Co. Armagh). Thers was another army under Preston, composed mainly of Leinster men.
was little prospect that he would be able

Tags: Acts of this Parliament, Articles of the Peace, Catholics, Clauses of the Peace, Glamorgan Treaty, Ormond Peace, Rinuccini