The first unionists? Irish Protestant attitudes to union with England, 1653–9
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9982091 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Patrick Little (Parliament of United Kingdom, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2000 |
| Volume | 32 |
| Issue | 125 |
| Pages | 44-58 |
| Publication date | 2000-05-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Irish Historical Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0021-1214 • E-ISSN: 2056-4139 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0021121400014644 |
| OpenAlex | W2332721804 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 6 |
The enforced union of England and Scotland under the Cromwellian Protectorate has been extensively studied, not least because it stands half-way between the union of the crowns in 1603 and the Act of Union of 1707. Without this historical imperative, however, the way in which Ireland was incorporated into the English state remains largely neglected. When dealing with the theory and practice of union in the 1650s, historians have usually dismissed Ireland in a few lines before turning to Scotland — an approach which creates the impression that the English state had absorbed Ireland almost unconsciously. According to David Stevenson, ‘Ireland presented few problems as to her status once conquered ... When the English Parliament had abolished monarchy in England and established the republic, it had done the same in Ireland: the new Commonwealth was that of England and Ireland.’ Others have agreed. Ivan Roots has described the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland as creating ‘a de facto union’, while the Instrument of Government of 1653 (which provided the constitutional basis for protectoral government in England) ‘assumed a union’ between the two nations. By the end of 1653, as John Morrill asserts, Ireland was ‘presumed’ to have been ‘incorporated into an enhanced English state’. Thus, either by the mere fact of conquest, or by implication through the 1653 constitution, union had been achieved without any complications
Colonialism · Commonwealth · Constitution · Economic history · Government (linguistics · Irish · Monarchy · Parliament · Political science · Politics · Protectorate · Protestantism · State (computer science · Historical Studies of British Isles · History · Irish and British Studies · Law · Scottish History and National Identity
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |