Plantations of Ireland

Plantations in 16th and 17th century Ireland were the seizure of land owned by the native Irish and granting of it to colonists from Britain. This process began under the reign of Henry VIII and continued under Elizabeth I, James I and Charles II. Whereas the early plantations tended to be small "exemplary" colonies, the later ones such as the Munster and Ulster plantations were mass confiscations of land from rebel Irish landowners and the importation of large numbers of settlers from England, Scotland and Wales. The final official plantations took place under Oliver Cromwell’s English Commonwealth – which settled thousands of Parliamentarian soldiers in Ireland. However, outside of the state sponsered plantations, significant migration into Ireland continued well into the 18th century, from both Britain and continental Europe. The plantations substantially altered the demography of Ireland, creating large communities of people who had a British and Protestant identity, in contrast to the earlier Irish and Roman Catholic inhabitants. They also affected the politics of the country, creating a British Protestant ruling class and strengthening the control of the London government over Ireland. The Plantations also substantially changed the physical and economic nature of Irish society - opening up what had been a subsistence economy to intensive commerical agriculture and trade.