• Catholics and the law in Restoration Ireland
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Catholics and the law in Restoration Ireland

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In Restoration Ireland the law primarily served the interests of the English state and the Anglo-Protestant community. This book is the first to explore how Irish Catholics experienced a legal sys...
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  • 14 January 2025
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In 1660 Charles II was restored to the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland, but his hold on power was precarious. In particular, Ireland was fundamentally unstable - Catholics formed the majority of the population in a country where Protestantism was the established religion, a state of affairs unique in Europe. It was through the law that the restored Stuart monarchy governed its subjects and its colonial dependencies, and this book examines how Catholics engaged with and experienced English common law primarily through the eyes of Catholic clerics and Gaelic poets. It also examines how Catholics engaged with the Courts and the particular challenges they faced as lawyers. The book draws on an extensive body of primary source materials, including Irish-language poetry and little-used archival material relating to elite Catholic families.
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Price: £85.00
Pages: 248
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Imprint: Manchester University Press
Series: Studies in Early Modern Irish History
Publication Date: 14 January 2025
ISBN: 9781526176356
Format: Hardcover
BISACs:

HISTORY / Europe / Ireland, Legal history, HISTORY / Europe / Great Britain / Stuart Era (1603-1714), LAW / Legal History, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Religion, Politics & State, Religion and politics
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'In Catholics and the Law in Restoration Ireland, Paul Smith offers an illuminating and innovative study of English common law as it was promulgated, enforced, and resisted in 17th-century Irish communities... Smith’s analysis is most convincing when he provides fully fleshed-out details of localized Catholic experiences of law in Restoration Ireland. The complexity at the heart of the volume is what makes Smith’s analysis shine. This volume is recommended for readers interested in Irish history, Restoration British history, legal historians, and anyone interested in early modern popular culture.'
David Greder, Reading Religion

Introduction: the centrality of law
1 Accommodating the law: Oliver Plunkett and John Brenan
2 Challenging the law: clerical critics
3 Rejecting English law: Irish poetry
4 Using the law: Catholics and the Court of Claims
5 Working within the law: Catholics and the legal profession
Conclusion: the Catholic threat neutralised
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Index