JAMES THE SECOND (1665-1685)

From A Concise History of Ireland by P. W. Joyce

« Religious Troubles | Contents | Siege of Derry »

621. In 1685 James II. succeeded his brother as king of England. He was a Roman Catholic, and his accession gave great joy to the Catholics of Ireland, and corresponding alarm to the Protestants. He soon entered on the dangerous task of gradually restoring the Catholic religion in both countries. Colonel Talbot (619), a strict Catholic, of a disposition over-zealous and imprudent, was sent to Ireland as commander of the forces, and was created earl of Tirconnell. As a sort of set-off, the king appointed his own brother-in-law, lord Clarendon, who was a Protestant, lord lieutenant, in place of Ormond.

622. But Clarendon was a mere shadow; Tirconnell was the real ruler; and one of his first acts was to disarm the militia, who were all Protestants. He also appointed Catholic officers all through the army, as well as Roman Catholic judges on the bench; and many other important posts were filled up by Catholics. He made an attempt to have the Act of settlement (609) repealed; but failed.

623. At length in 1687 Tirconnell was appointed lord lieutenant. This created quite a panic among the Protestants, and terrific rumours ran rife of intended massacres; so that hundreds fled from their homes to England and elsewhere.

624. In the midst of all this excitement and alarm, and while Tirconnell openly persevered in his course, William prince of Orange landed in England in November 1688, with a fleet and an army, at the invitation of some of the leading Protestants. King James, at the first appearance of danger, fled to France (in December); and William took possession of the throne of England without opposition. But he had to fight for Ireland.

« Religious Troubles | Contents | Siege of Derry »

FEATURED eBOOKS

Truelove's Journal: A Bookshop Novella

From a sad, comfortless childhood Giles Truelove developed into a reclusive and uncommunicative man whose sole passion was books. For so long they were the only meaning to his existence. But when fate eventually intervened to have the outside world intrude upon his life, he began to discover emotions that he never knew he had.

This is a story for the genuine booklover, penned by an Irish bookseller under the pseudonym of Ralph St. John Featherstonehaugh.

Annals of the Famine in Ireland

Annals of the Famine in Ireland

Annals of the Famine in Ireland, by Asenath Nicholson, still has the power to shock and sadden even though the events described are ever-receding further into the past. When you read, for example, of the poor widowed mother who was caught trying to salvage a few potatoes from her landlord's field, and what the magistrate discovered in the pot in her cabin, you cannot help but be appalled and distressed.

The ebook is available for download in .mobi (Kindle), .epub (iBooks, etc.) and .pdf formats. For further information on the book and author see details ».

Ireland's Welcome to the Stranger

Ireland's Welcome to the Stranger

This book, the prequel to Annals of the Famine in Ireland cannot be recommended highly enough to those interested in Irish social history. The author, Mrs Asenath Nicholson, travelled from her native America to assess the condition of the poor in Ireland during the mid 1840s. Refusing the luxury of hotels and first class travel, she stayed at a variety of lodging-houses, and even in the crude cabins of the very poorest. Not to be missed!

The ebook is available for download in .mobi (Kindle), .epub (iBooks, etc.) and .pdf formats. For further information on the book and author see details ».

The Scotch-Irish in America

The Scotch-Irish in America

Henry Ford Jones' book, first published in 1915 by Princeton University, is a classic in its field. It covers the history of the Scotch-Irish from the first settlement in Ulster to the American Revolutionary period and the foundation of the country.

The ebook is available for download in .mobi (Kindle), .epub (iBooks, etc.) and .pdf formats. For further information on the book and author see details ».

MAILING LIST

letterJoin our mailing list to receive updates on new content on Library, our latest ebooks, and more.

You won't be inundated with emails! — we'll just keep you posted periodically — about once a monthish — on what's happening with the library.