The Reformation

Justin McCarthy
1903
Chapter IV | Start of Chapter

The religious and political movements which brought about the Reformation were the source of new enmities and new struggles in Ireland. By far the greater part of the Irish remained absolutely faithful to the form of Christian worship which had been established in the island by St. Patrick. It is a curious fact, which must interest all students of Irish history, that some of the noble families who had settled in Ireland and conformed to the doctrines of the Protestant Church remained still faithful to the principle of Irish nationality. It will be seen in subsequent chapters that almost every rebellion in Ireland against the Sovereignty of England, down even to times in the recollection of living men, had some descendant of one of these families amongst its leaders.