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Author: * Cinaedh Cruithni -
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Date: Jun 19, 2006 - 11:45
While Jacobitism was closely linked with Catholicism from the outset particularly in Ireland, elsewhere in Britain Catholics were in a tiny minority by 1689 and the bulk of Jacobite support came from other groups. Catholics formed about 75% of the population of Ireland, but in England only around 1% and in Scotland about 2%.
Ireland
Irish support for James II was mostly from Catholics, though by taking the French side against the League of Augsburg, he was siding against the Papacy. William was allied to many Catholic states, including the Holy Roman Empire and his elite force the Dutch Blue Guards had the Papal Banner with them. The war in Ireland was predominantly a Catholic nationalist uprising and after its defeat in 1691 their only military contribution to Jacobite support came from the Irish Brigade of the French army.
Jacobitism in Ireland had its roots in Irish support for the Stuart dynasty which dated back to the accession of James I to throne in 1603. Gaelic poets in Ireland lauded James as the first "Irish" king of the Three Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, because of his family's Gaelic ancestry. James and his successors were also viewed as being less hostile to Catholicism than the Tudors. In the Wars of the Three Kingdoms of the 1640s, Irish Catholics, organised in Confederate Ireland pledged allegiance to Charles I and Charles II against the English Parliament. As a result, most Catholic landowners had their lands confiscated after the Parliaments victory and the Catholic Church suffered harsh repression. James II, the first openly Catholic king of England for over century was therefore viewed as a saviour by Irish Catholics. James appointed an Irish Catholic - Tyrconnell - as Lord Deputy of Ireland, re-admitted Catholics into the army and militia and introduced toleration for the Catholic religion. During the Williamite war in Ireland, he also reluctantly agreed to proclaim the autonomy of the Irish Parliament from the English one and the restitution of lands confiscated from Catholics after the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. The demands of religious toleration, legislative autonomy and land ownership were the three key elements of Irish Jacobitism, which remained influential until the mid eighteenth century.
From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobitism#Jacobite_community.2C_ideology_and_policy
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