LAWS IN IRELAND FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF POPERY commonly known as the PENAL LAWS

In Ireland, the "Penal Laws" is the name given to the code of laws passed by the Protestant Parliament of Ireland which regulated the status of Roman Catholics through most of the eighteenth century. These laws are key to understanding the history of the period as well as the sectarian conflicts that still plague Northern Ireland.

The declared purpose of the Irish Penal Laws, like that of the apartheid laws of recent South African history, was to disenfranchise the native majority from all power, both political and economic. Unlike apartheid, the disabilities created by the Penal Laws were aimed not at a particular race or ethnic group, but at the adherents of a particular religion. The ideal was to entice the colonised Irish into wholesale conversion to Protestantism. A Catholic could avoid the oppressive effects of these laws by conversion, although the statutes went to great lengths to ferret out insincere conversions and backsliders. By deliberately defining the haves and the have-nots, the politically powerful and the oppressed, on the basis of religion, these statutes had a profound effect, not only on the eighteenth century, but on the subsequent history of Ireland to the present day.

The purpose of this site is not to discuss the historical context of the Penal Laws or their enforcement, or their effect, but simply to make the raw material accessible to historians, legal scholars, students, and other interested people.

On this site you will find the text of those Penal Laws which were passed in Ireland during the reigns of William and Mary, William III, Anne, and George I and II, that is to say, from 1691 to 1760. In addition, the site contains certain English statutes relating to the status of Irish Catholics. Until the union of the two countries at the beginning of the nineteenth century, England and Ireland had separate parliaments, although the English parliament had the power to pass laws applying to Ireland. Unless otherwise noted, the statutes in this site are acts of the Irish parliament.

The full texts which appear on this site are in the public domain, both because of the centuries which have elapsed since they were first published, and because the nature of statutes, which presumes promulgation to every inhabitant subject to them, logically precludes any claim of ownership or right to limit distribution.

The copyright in the summaries, notes, and organization of the site belongs to M. Patricia Schaffer, who invites free copying and use for scholarship and educational purposes. The Web and Internet were established for the broad dissemination of human knowledge and access should not be restricted to particular students or paying customers. She does request acknowledgement for any published use of her work.

We hope you will find the site useful. Please feel free to forward this message to others who may be interested. We would be pleased to receive your feedback and suggestions. For comments on the site, to report errors or technical difficulties,or to suggest additions, please contact the law library at [email protected] © 2000 M. Patricia Schaffer

http://www.law.umn.edu/irishlaw/index.html