Laois & Offaly Plantation

                 Laois & Offaly Plantation

Ireland Map (binary/octet-stream)

Background to the Plantation

The Plantation was conducted and carried out by  the Queen of England during the 16th and 17th century. The Plantation in Ireland involved the confiscation of land by the English crown and the colonisation of the land with English and Scottish settlers. Ireland has already had a past of smaller-scale immigration to as far back as the 12th century(The Norman Invasion).

This Plantation was established in the provinces of Munster and Leinster, mainly counties Laois and Offaly. These two counties were ruled by the two native Irish families, the O'Moores and the O'Connors . Laois and offaly are situated on the edge of The Pale.  The Pale is made up of Dublin and parts of Kildare, Meath and Louth.

How it Worked

The O'Moores and the O'Connors were enemies of English rule in Ireland and they constantly attacked  and raided The Pale, despite charging the residents of The Pale a form of protection money. In 1556 Queen Mary began the first plantation of English people into Ireland. She sent 'subjects'  to Ireland and she provided them with land to farm and live on. She hoped she would stop the O'Moores and the O'Connors from their attacks.

They revolted from the crown and as a result had their land confiscated from them, this was the same for any other Irish rebels. She gave their land to English planters , leaving the Irish with  no home or place to farm. Queen Mary hoped that this plantation would spread and influence English control and laws beyond The Pale and protect the area from raids by leading the native population

Sources

-Wikipedia -Discovering History