The Cromwellian Land Settlement of Ireland - Professor David Brown

The Cromwellian Land Settlement of Ireland, devised during the late 1650s, is usually seen as an extension of England’s Tudor and Stuart colonisations of the Irish provinces of Munster and Ulster respectively. While true on one level, in that a deepening process of colonisation did take place, this interpretation is an oversimplification of what happened. Under Cromwellian rule, Ireland became England’s first true imperial possession: a ’blank canvass’, to quote Cromwell directly, onto which England could paint any society it wished. However, once this grand vision passed from the conceptual to the implementation stage, it quickly became clear that those charged with realising the Protector’s dream were more interested in quick profits than a New Jerusalem.


This lecture is part of the Connected Sociologies module on Empires and Colonialism. Read more and download lesson plans here: https://thesociologicalreview.org/pro...


Resources

The Down Survey of Ireland https://downsurvey.tchpc.tcd.ie/
Cromwellian Surveys of Ireland on the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland https://virtualtreasury.ie/gold-seams
The 1641 Deposition https://1641.tcd.ie/


Questions for Discussion

1. How significant was the Irish land settlement in the context of Englands colonial expansion?
2. Following the Restoration of Charles II in 1660, why was Ireland treated differently to Scotland or England?
3. Why are Ireland and the Irish commonly excluded from colonised or colonial groupings?