Absolutism In Ireland

By the eighteenth century the Irish were restricted in selling woollen goods abroad. The British economic system was transitioning into an ultimately mercantilist system issuing acts that subsequently restricted trade from Ireland exclusively to England. Further acts issued upon Ireland continually forbade Catholics to buy land or lease it for more than 31 years. By 1778, hardly 5% of Irish land would be owned by Catholics. Extreme conditions from 1740-1741 brought on a bad harvest, famine and illness. Desperation took the form of rioting when rumors of a unification between the Irish state and England became a possibility. The Whiteboys also known as ‘Levellers’ or a radical egalitarian collaboration mobilized in parts of Munster. Another
The despairing conditions of post-famine ireland and the subsequent struggle for power associated with the religious rivalry as well as the newly emerged radical groups such as the Whiteboys, the Steelboys, and the Oakboys led to an overthrow of the normative status quo in Ireland initiated conflict which would adherently find itself comparatively likened to the ongoing struggle against absolutism (The French Revolution 1789 – 1799). The progressive ideologies of the era, radically transformed the manner of political thinking, by means of “philosophes” such as Voltaire and Rousseau furthered the search for egalitarian revolution across Europe thus sparking the Irish Rebellion, (1798), an uprising that owed its origins to the Society of United Irishmen. This rebellion which was loosely inspired by the revolts of the American and French uprisings lobbied for parliamentary reform, universal male suffrage, as well Catholic emancipation and the elimination of British rule in
In collaboration with the Earl of Ormond, he built up an Irish army for the King's use. However, Wentworth's transformed into a “despot” of sorts, according to Connolly. The interests of the Crown were his priority, at the expense of all private interest. He alienated Catholic "Old English" aristocracy in Ireland by promoting the interests of immigrated Protestant settlers from England and Scotland, then alienated the settlers by enforcing anti-Puritan religious reforms and by supporting newly proposed taxes. The policy of driving the native Irish population from their lands was extended under Wentworth's administration. Despite Wentworth's attention to the King's interest, Charles I had never entirely trusted him. The king’s perception did waver until the crisis brought about by England's humiliating defeat by the Scots in the First Bishops' War (1639), after which Wentworth was recalled to England in January 1640. Ultimately he was elevated to the position of lord-lieutenant of Ireland, before he was executed in