King Henry VIII's reign saw a new departure regarding the English crown's attitude and policy to Ireland. Before his reign the English crown held no sway in most parts of Ireland, however by the time Henry's daughter Elizabeth passed over to her successor King James I of England he was undisputed ruler of the entire island of Ireland. Between the four sovereigns of the House of Tudor - Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary and Elizabeth; they completed the conquest of Ireland. By 1500, England had delegated the running of Ireland to the most powerful of the Hiberno-Norman families, the Fitzgeralds of Kildare. However, they supported a number of Yoirkist pretenders to the English throne and finally staged a rebellion led by Silken Thomas. Henry crushed the rebellion and now sought to implement a cost effective method of protecting the Pale and protecting England's vulnerable western flank from foreign invasion. He implemented a system of surrender and regrant in which the Gaelic lords were encouraged to surrender their lands to the king and have them returned if they swore an oath of loyalty. Those who surrendered were expected to speak English, wear English style clothes, pay rent, remain loyal to the Crown and in return they would be protected and could sit in the Irish parliament. Henry's intention was to completely transform the Irish population from its disparate parts to one class, all of whom would be anglicised. King Henry VIII also attempted to introduce the Reformation into Ireland as part of the policy of Anglicisation of the country. It was only successful in the Pale, where by the end of Henry's reign, all the religious houses had been dissolved. However, it ultimately had little success, Henry's successor Edward VI met with resistance, his successor, Mary, was a Catholic and she officially restored Catholicism. Queen Elizabeth I attempted to implement Protestantism across all her dominions. She met with very stiff opposition from Catholicism in Ireland, in fact it soon became a banner for Irish unity and as resistance to the English crown.
Russell Shortt is a travel consultant with Exploring Ireland, the leading specialists in customised, private escorted tours, escorted coach tours and independent self drive tours of Ireland. Article source: http://www.exploringireland.net
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