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After the defeat at Kinsale,
and the subsequent surrender at Mellifont in 1603, Hugh
ONeill gave up his Irish title, ONeill, and took the title
Earl of Tyrone. He was allowed to retain most of the lands that
had been granted to Conn ONeill in 1542. Rory O'Donnell, younger
brother of Red Hugh, became Earl of Tyrconnell on the same terms.
The two Earls traveled to
London, where the new King, James I, confirmed the Treaty of
Mellifont. But the English officials who ruled Ulster were unfriendly
and tried to turn the lord deputy in Dublin against the Earls.
They spread a rumor that ONeill and O'Donnell were planning
another rebellion, and the Earls were summoned to London for
questioning. Fearing for their safety, the Earls decided that
the best course would be to leave the country and, in 1607,
they sailed from
Rathmullen on Lough Swilly for the mainland of Europe.
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After
the Flight of the Earls, the government confiscated their lands and decided
to plant six counties of Ulster, this became the basis for the subsequent
Ulster Plantation. The last vestiges of an independence Irish parliament
was destroyed by the creation of 40 boroughs out of small hamlets, a political
manoeuvre that secured a permanent majority to the English Crown. When
the new settlers arrived they found a barren uncultavated land, most of
the native population were dead, killed in warfare although the majority
probably died from starvation and exposure after their homes were destroyed.
Armagh, Cavan, Derry, Donegal, Fermanagh, and Tyrone
were planted with new settlers. The plantations of Queen Mary and Queen
Elizabeth I had not been successful, and the government planned the new
settlement more carefully. It divided the land into estates of three sizes:
810 hectares (2000 acres), 607 hectares (1500 acres), and 405 hectares
(1000 acres).
Estates were granted to three kinds of people:
English and Scottish settlers, who were not allowed to have Irish tenants;
Servitors (men who had served in the English army in Ireland), who might
take both British and Irish tenants; and Irishmen,
who could have Irish tenants. Rents were low, but settlers were expected
to build fortified houses.
The City of London Companies received all the lands
between the Foyle and the Bann rivers. They undertook to build up the
towns of Coleraine and Derry (renamed Londonderry) and to spend 20,000
pounds in developing their grant.
At the same time, two more counties of
Ulster, Antrim and Down, were settled, mainly by people from Scotland.
The Ulster settlement was the most successful of the plantations.
Its success helped to give the area the Protestant character it
has today.
The Cromwellian settlement. In the years
that followed, the government made other settlements in Carlow,
King's County, Leitrim, Longford, and Wexford. Even Old English
nobles (descendants of Norman settlers) lost their lands.
As a result of these plantations, bitter
feelings were aroused, and Roman Catholic landowners became alarmed,
justifiably none felt secure in their lands.
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