NUI MAYNOOTH Ohscoü Na Héireanns Mà Nuad
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L-0. I W r NUI MAYNOOTH OHscoÜ na hÉIreanns Mà Nuad The duke of Ormond, the Popish Plot, and the Exclusion Crisis, 1677- 82. by Thomas J. Doyle THESIS FOR THE DEGREE OF M.LITT. DEPARTMENT OF MODERN HISTORY NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND MAYNOOTH HEAD OF DEPARTMENT: Professor R. V . Comerford Supervisor of Research: Dr Raymond Gillespie November 2004 S u m m a r y This thesis is concerned with rectifying a largely unexplored aspect of Restoration Ireland— that of how politics conducted between all three Stuart kingdoms was seen from the perspective of, and impacted upon, the Irish government. It accomplishes * this in three ways: first by using the discovery of several Catholic plots and the resultant political instability in England and Scotland to expose the tensions inherent in the duke o f Ormond’s position as lord lieutenant of Ireland; second by highlighting the dynamics of instability that distorted his position during such periods and finally by outlining how the duke of Ormond undertook to manage such tensions and re establish his position in the Stuart political nation. In so doing this thesis arrives at a more representative picture of the role and position of the Irish government and kingdom within the Stuart monarchy before the accession of James, duke o f York. It begins with the political fallout of Titus Oates’s discoveries in September 1678 before detailing the fragility of Ormond’s position because of the political upheavals in England and Scotland. By early 1680 growing animosity between the crown and the Whigs compelled the latter to use unconstitutional means to assert their position and embarrass the duke of York by proving that his key alley Ormond had suppressed evidence about an Irish Catholic plot. In late 1680 the Whigs brought this plot before parliament to prepare the ground for the duke of York’s exclusion. However at this moment of crisis and despite his dire financial straits Charles II refused to have the institution of monarchy circumscribed by parliament. From this point onwards Ormond’s position strengthened gradually culminating in his arrival in London to participate in the overthrow o f the W hig political ascendancy in London. TABLE OF CONTENTS P age Acknowledgements iii Abbreviations iv Introduction 1 Chapter One Ormond and the origin of the 18 Popish Plot, 1678-79. Chapter Two The realignment of the Stuart 64 polity, 1679. Chapter Three Oliver Plunkett and the Popish 107 Plot, 1679-80. Chapter Four The Irish Plot and 147 parliamentary politics, 1680-81. Chapter Five Royalist resurgence and 190 reaction, 1681-82. Conclusion 222 Bibliography 229 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to express my gratitude to a number of people for their help in the completion of this thesis. Professor R. V Comerford and the staff of the Department of Modem History, N. U. I., Maynooth. My supervisor Dr. Raymond Gillespie for his patience, encouragement and direction. The suggestions and criticism of those who sacrificed their time and expended much effort in reading drafts of this work, Thomas Luke Byme, John Bradley, Michael Geary, Paddy Gallagher, Andreas Boldt, Feichin McDermott, Austin Stewart, and Catriona O’ Loughlin. My friends and colleagues on the staff of Deansrath Community College, Clondalkin. I would also like to thank my family in particular my brothers and sisters, Patrick, Michelle, Shane and Niâmh and also Elizabeth Nolan for their patience and support over the past two years. ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviations used in the footnotes and bibliography are listed below. They consist of (a) the relevant items from the list in Irish Historical Studies, supplement I (Jan. 1968) and (b) abbreviations, on the same model, for sources and works not included in the Irish Historical Studies list. Bodl. Carte MS Carte Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, Oxford Cal. S. P. dom. Calendar of the state papers, domestic, 1547-1695 (81 vols, London, 1867-77) D.N.B Dictionary of National Biography E.H.R English Historical Review (London, 1886-) Egmont MSS Reports on the manuscripts of the earl of Egmont (H. M. C., 2 vols, London, 1905-9) Fortescue MSS The manuscripts of J. B. Fortescue, Esq., preserved at Dropmore (H. M. C., 10 vols, London, 1892-1927) Hastings MSS Report on the manuscripts of the late Reginald Rawdon Hastings, esq. (H. M. C., 4 vols, London, 1928-47) History History: the quarterly journal of the Historical Association (London, 1916-) Hist. Jn. The Historical Journal (Cambridge, 1958- ) H.M.C Historical Manuscripts Commission I. E. R. Irish Ecclesiastical Record (171 vols, Dublin, 1864- 1968) I . H . S. Irish Historical Studies: the joint journal of the Irish Historical Society and the Ulster Society for Irish Historical Studies (Dublin, 1938-) Ormonde MSS Historical Manuscripts Commission, Calendar of the manuscripts of the marques of Ormonde, preserved at Kilkenny castle (new ser., 8 vols., London, 1902-20) Oxford D.N.B Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (60 vols, Oxford, 2004) Portland MSS The manuscripts of his grace the duke of Portland, preserved at Welbeck Abbey (H. M. C., 10 vols, London, 1891-1931) Seanchas Ardmhaca Seanchas Ardmhaca: journal of the Armagh Diocesan Historical Society ([Armagh], 1954-) CONVENTIONS Stylistically spellings from contemporary sources have been modernised and dating is according to Old Style or Julian calendar for the day and the month but according to New Style or Gregorian calendar for the year beginning on the 1 January. I would like to dedicate this thesis to my loving parents, Tom and Colette Doyle. INTRODUCTION 1 The aim of this thesis is to examine and clarify the position of Ireland within the composite Stuart monarchy during the period 1677-82 by focusing on the position of its viceroy at this time, James Butler, first duke of Ormond. At the outset however, it is necessary to briefly outline Ormond’s career in the years preceding 1677. The histo y of seventeenth-century Ireland cannot be written or understood without taking full account of one of its most dominating and enduring figures, James Butler, duke of Ormond (1610-88). He was bom in Clerkenwell, Middlesex, on 19 September 1610, the eldest son of Thomas, Viscount Thurles and Elizabeth Poyntz.1 In 1619, after his father was drowned in the Irish Sea, James was declared a royal ward and put into the hands of George Abbot, archbishop of Canterbury, as James I was determined to promote the Protestant interest in Ireland by raising the children of prominent recusants in that faith wherever he could .2 In 1633, upon the death of his grandfather, Walter Butler, he became the twelfth earl of Ormond. However unlike his predecessors, it was impossible for Ormond to play the role of a typical feudal overlord. His Protestant upbringing and debts of over £45,000, accrued by his grandfather in his efforts to reunite the Butler lands, dictated from the word go that it would be to his advantage to serve the crown and the Protestant interest in Ireland over any local interests.3 During the 1630s, Ormond actively supported the efforts of the lord deputy of Ireland, Thomas Wentworth, to consolidate royal power through plantation, the enforcement of religious conformity with the Church of England and the enlargement of the Irish army.4 During the fractious period of the 1640s when civil war engulfed all three kingdoms of the Stuart polity, Ormond led the king’s 1 Toby Barnard and Jane Fenlon (ed.), The dukes of Ormonde, 1610-1745 (London, 2000), p. xi; J. C. Beckett, The cavalier duke: a life o f James Butler, T‘ duke of Ormond (Belfast, 1990), pp 6-7. 2 Ibid., p. 8. 3 David Edwards, ‘The poisoned chalice: the Ormond inheritance, sectarian division and the emergence of James Butler, 1614-42’ in Toby Barnard and Jane Fenlon (ed.), The dukes o f Ormonde, 1610-1745 (London, 2000), pp 63, 70-1, 82. 2 forces in Ireland and in 1644 he was appointed lord lieutenant of Ireland, the first Irishman to hold the position in over one hundred years.5 With the collapse of the royalist cause in Ireland, Ormond was forced into exile on the continent together with the displaced Stuarts and their adherents, where he became one of the principal advisors to Charles I’s eldest son, Charles.6 With the Restoration of the Stuarts in 1660, Ormond’s loyalty and service was well rewarded: he was made lord high steward of England, lord steward of the king’s household, lord lieutenant of Somerset, high steward of Westminster, Kingston, and Bristol, Baron Butler of Llanthony, earl • • 7 • of Brecknock in the English peerage and promoted to a duke m the Irish peerage. His estates, which had been confiscated during the Interregnum, were restored and in • 8 • November 1661, he was appointed lord lieutenant of Ireland for the second time. His subsequent administration of Ireland can be noted for his attempts to come to grips with the aftermath of the 1640s and ’50s, the deeply divisive issues of land and religion, and a shattered economy.9 On 14 February 1669, two years after the banishment from England of his key ally, Edward Hyde, earl of Clarendon, Ormond himself was removed from office, not because of a hostile court, but as Ronald Hutton contends, because Charles II wanted more compliant ministers. This was in order to pursue policies opposed by Ormond such as a more liberal religious policy in Ireland and, externally to promote close relations with France.10 Out of office and out of favour, the early 1670s were a particularly difficult period in Ormond’s career. His income was substantially decreased before he had been able to reduce the massive 4 S.