MMMM This page intentionally left blank ThisstudyfillsamajorgapinthemainstreamnarrativeofIrishhistoryby reconstructingpoliticaldevelopmentsintheyearbeforetherestorationof CharlesII. It is the first treatment of the complexIrish dimensionof the king’sreturn. TheissueofthemonarchydidnotstandaloneinIreland.Entangledwith itwasthequestionofhowtherestorationoftheoldregimewouldaffecta Protestant colonial community which had changed in character and for- tune as a result of the Cromwellian conquest, the immigration that had accompanieditandthemassivetransferoflandthatfollowed.Asthereturn ofCharlesbecameincreasinglyprobable,Cromwellianandpre-Cromwel- liansettlerswereunitedintheirdeterminationtoensurethattherestora- tionofCharlesdidnotdeprivethemoftheirgains.Thisaccountdiscloses howtheleadersoftheProtestantestablishmentprotecteditsinterestsby managingthetransitionbacktomonarchy. Aidan ClarkeisErasmusSmith’sProfessorofModernHistory,Trinity College,Dublin,andaformerpresidentoftheRoyalIrishAcademy. MMMM PRELUDE TO RESTORATION IN IRELAND The end of the commonwealth, 1659–1660 idan larke A C           The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom    The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia Ruiz de Alarcón 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain Dock House, The Waterfront, Cape Town 8001, South Africa http://www.cambridge.org ©Aidan Clarke 2004 First published in printed format 1999 ISBN 0-511-03689-2 eBook(Adobe Reader) ISBN 0-521-65061-5 hardback To Oisin, Caoimhe, Subhanora and Ceasan MMMMM Contents Acknowledgements [viii] Conventionsandabbreviations [ix] Map:RepresentationintheGeneralConvention [xii] 1 Akindofcolony [1] 2 Commissionersandsubmissioners:MaytoJune [21] 3 Theruleoftherump:JulytoOctober [56] 4 Thethreefoldcord:OctobertoDecember [92] 5 Settingupforthemselves:JanuarytoFebruary [131] 6 Theelectionreturns [169] 7 TheGeneralConventionofIreland:MarchtoApril [243] 8 Withoutexpectationofresurrection:MaytoJune [292] Appendix:MembersoftheGeneralConvention [321] Selectbibliography [326] Index [346] Acknowledgements I have accumulated the familiar debts and obligations which add to the pleasures of research and I would like gratefully to acknowledge the financial assistance provided by the Royal Irish Academy/British Acad- emy exchange scheme and the Arts and Social Sciences Benefaction at TrinityCollegeDublin;thehospitalityoftheFellowsofHertfordCollege, Oxford,andofJamesWelshatKing’sCollege,London;andthecourtesy and professionalism of the staffs of the libraries and archives in which I workedandwithwhichIdealtbycorrespondence.My particularthanks are due to Toby Barnard, who would have done this better, for much kindness and a good deal of information; to Sarah Barber, Bob Hunter, BridMcGrath,JaneOhlmeyer,KevinO’Herlihy,MichealOSiochru´ and Harold O’Sullivan who have supplied me with references, copies of documents or odds and ends of information; to Matthew Stout who preparedtheconstituencymap;toCiara´nBradywhocommentedonthe text with disconcerting honesty and James McGuire who, among other things, saved me from an egregious error on the first page; to Linda Montgomery who helped me with pagebreaks, spreadsheets, tabs and othersuchmysteries;toMaijaandDylanwhosemorningwalksgaveme timetothink;toMary,foreverything.‘Andfortherest’,inthewordsof Daniel Burston, ‘I do everywhere (to the best of my Remembrance) acknowledge my debt to my Creditors, from whom I have borrowed them,andwithwhosestockIhavetraded.’ [viii]