Reformation in Ireland
Ultimately Pope Clement VII refused the petition; consequently, in order to give legal effect to his wishes, it became necessary for the King to assert his lordship over the Catholic Church in his realm.
One major factor was the absence of indigenous support, which hindered the enforcement and circulation of Protestant reforms during Elizabeth I's reign.
[1]The lack of Irish Protestant preachers throughout the sixteenth century hindered the spread of Reformation ideas, as the movement struggled to establish a foothold among the native population.
In marked distinction to the situation in England, in Ireland the houses of friars had flourished in the 15th century, attracting popular support and financial endowments, undertaking many ambitious building schemes, and maintaining a regular conventual and spiritual life.
Irish monasteries, by contrast, had experienced a catastrophic decline in numbers, such that by the 16th century, it appears that only a minority maintained the daily religious observance of the Divine Office.
Nevertheless, Henry was determined to carry through a policy of dissolution in Ireland – and in 1537 introduced legislation into the Irish Parliament to legalise the closure of monasteries.
Henry remained resolute however, and from 1541 as part of the Tudor conquest of Ireland, he continued to press for the area of successful dissolution to be extended.
Bishopricks, colleges, glebes and tithes were divided without mercy amongst the great men of the time, or leased out on small rents for ever to the friends and relations of the incumbents.
; and the rest at even a lower rate.Henry's son Edward VI of England (1547–53) formally established Protestantism as the state religion, which was as much a religious matter as his father's reformation had been political.
[6] In turn it was agreed that the former monasteries would stay dissolved, so as to preserve the loyalty of those who had bought monastic lands, by an Act passed in January 1555 and the agreement of Pope Julius III.
Philip and Mary were also granted a papal bull in 1555 by Pope Paul IV to reconfirm their status as the Catholic King and Queen of the new Kingdom of Ireland.
Initially Elizabeth tolerated non-Anglican observance, but after the promulgation in 1570 of the Papal Bull, Regnans in Excelsis, Catholics were increasingly seen as a threat to the security of the state.
Due to the unsettled state of the country Protestantism made little progress, unlike in Celtic Scotland and Wales at that time.
The bulk of Protestants in Ireland during Elizabeth's reign were confined to the ranks of new settlers and government officials, who formed a small minority.
Elizabeth established Trinity College Dublin in 1592, partly in order to train clergy to preach the reformed faith.
The reign of James I (1603–25) started tolerantly, and the Treaty of London (1604) was signed with Spain, but the Gunpowder Plot in 1605 caused him and his officials to adopt a harder line against Catholics who remained in the majority, even in the Irish House of Lords.
So few had converted to Protestantism that the Catholic Counter-Reformation was introduced in 1612, much later than in the rest of Europe, typically marked by the Council of Trent, convened in 1545.
[11] The Flight of the Earls in 1607 led on to the Plantation of Ulster, but many of the new settlers were Presbyterian and not Anglican; reformed, but not entirely acceptable to the Dublin administration.
The Restoration period that followed and the brief reign of the Catholic James II were characterised by unusual state tolerance for religions in their kingdoms.
During the Patriot Parliament of 1689, James II – despite remaining Catholic – refused to abolish his position as head of the Church of Ireland, so ensuring that Protestant bishops attended its sessions.
Despite the Reformation's association with military conquest, the country produced outstanding philosophers who were Anglican Irish writers, some of whom were Church of Ireland clergy, such as James Ussher, Archbishop of Dublin later Primate of Ireland; Jonathan Swift, priest; John Toland, essayist, philosopher and free thinker; George Berkeley, bishop.
