Latest / The History of Ireland: Rebellion, Empire, and Independence — Fexingo History / The Confederation of Kilkenny 1642-1649: Ireland's Lost Parliament
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about the 1641 Rebellion and the Plantation of Ulster, but there's this fascinating period right after that — from 1642 to 1649 — when Ireland essentially had its own government in Kilkenny, the Confederation of Kilkenny. It was a Catholic alternative state, trying to navigate between loyalty to King Charles I and the desire for religious freedom. Luna: Wait, an alternative state? So they were rebelling against the crown? Lucas: Not exactly — and that's the tricky part. The Confederate Catholics, as they called themselves, insisted they were loyal to Charles I. They took an oath that declared they were fighting not against the king, but for the king's rights and the Catholic religion against his Puritan enemies in the English Parliament. It was a delicate balancing act, and it tore them apart in the end. Lucas: The Confederation was formed in May 1642, just months after the 1641 uprising. The Catholic nobility, clergy, and Gaelic chieftains met in Kilkenny and set up a government with an executive council, a general assembly, and its own treasury. They even minted coins — the famous 'Confederation money' with the legend 'Coimisiún na hÉireann' on one side. Luna: They minted their own coins? That's pretty serious. Lucas: It was a statement of sovereignty. The assembly was modelled on the Irish Parliament but exclusively Catholic. They divided the country into four provinces, each with a general — Owen Roe O'Neill for Ulster, Thomas Preston for Leinster, and so on. All told, they fielded an army of maybe 60,000 at its peak. But their greatest enemy wasn't the English — it was their own divisions. Lucas: You see, the Confederation had two factions. The 'Peace Party' — mostly the Old English Catholic gentry like the Earl of Clanricarde — wanted a deal with Charles I that would guarantee Catholic toleration in exchange for military support against Parliament. The 'War Party' — led by hardliners like the papal nuncio Giovanni Battista Rinuccini — demanded full restoration of Catholic Church lands and the repeal of the Penal Laws, and they didn't trust the king. Luna: So Rinuccini was sent by the Pope? That must have added a whole other layer. Lucas: Absolutely. Rinuccini arrived in 1645 with money and arms from Pope Innocent X. He was a skilled diplomat but utterly inflexible. He insisted that any treaty must restore the Catholic Church to its pre-Reformation position — which meant taking back lands that had been in Protestant hands for generations. That was a non-starter for the Peace Party, who feared losing their own newly acquired estates. Lucas: Meanwhile, the war itself had mixed results. Owen Roe O'Neill won a stunning victory at the Battle of Benburb in June 1646 — he destroyed a Scottish Covenanter army in Ulster. It was the first major Gaelic victory in a generation. But Thomas Preston lost badly at Duncannon. And both generals were more interested in their own ambitions than co-operating. Luna: Benburb — that's the one where they used the terrain cleverly, right? Lucas: Exactly. O'Neill positioned his men on a hill with the River Blackwater at his back, so the Covenanters were forced to attack uphill through marshy ground. When they faltered, he sent in his pikemen and broke their lines. It was a textbook victory. But he couldn't follow it up because the Peace Party had already signed a truce with the king's representative, the Marquess of Ormond, without consulting O'Neill. Lucas: That first Ormond Peace in 1646 was a disaster. It granted Catholics some minor concessions — freedom of worship in private, but no repeal of the Penal Laws, no restoration of lands. Rinuccini excommunicated anyone who accepted it, and O'Neill openly defied the Confederation. For a moment, Ireland was on the verge of a three-way civil war: Confederates against each other, against Ormond, and against the English Parliament. Luna: And of course, while they were feuding, Cromwell was finishing his war in England. Lucas: Precisely. By 1649, the Confederates had reversed course again — they signed a second Ormond Peace, this time with the now-executed king's son, Charles II, effectively handing their armies over to a royalist coalition. But it was too late. Cromwell landed at Dublin in August 1649 with a battle-hardened New Model Army. The Confederate forces were exhausted, divided, and outmatched. Drogheda fell, Wexford fell — the rest was just mopping up. Lucas: One thing I want to mention about the Confederation's legacy is the role of the clergy. They were deeply involved in politics, and several bishops served on the Supreme Council. It was a theocratic element that Rinuccini pushed hard. But it alienated the Old English who had always maintained a certain distance between church and state. Luna: So the Catholic Church was more powerful in Ireland then than it was later, after the Penal Laws? Lucas: Ironically, yes. The Confederation was the last time the Catholic Church exercised overt political authority in Ireland until the 20th century. After Cromwell, the Penal Laws crushed that entirely. But the Confederation's failure also set a pattern — divisions between Gaelic and Old English, between hardliners and pragmatists, that would haunt Irish nationalism for centuries. Lucas: And here's a thought — you know, making this show episode by episode, we rely on listeners who value this kind of deep dive into specific chapters. A few of them chip in monthly at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, and that genuinely covers the research time. No ads, no sponsor pressure — just people who want these stories told. Luna: It's a good system. Keeps us honest. Lucas: Exactly. Anyway, back to Kilkenny — the Confederation's last act was tragic. In 1649, just as Cromwell was approaching, the Supreme Council sent an embassy to Charles II in exile, offering the crown of Ireland to him as a separate kingdom. Charles accepted, but by then, the Confederate army had melted away. The dream of a Catholic Ireland, independent under a Stuart king, died on the fields of Drogheda and Wexford. Luna: What happened to the leaders? O'Neill, Preston, Rinuccini? Lucas: O'Neill died in November 1649, possibly poisoned, though we don't know for sure. Preston surrendered to Cromwell in 1650 and lived out his days in obscurity. Rinuccini had already left Ireland in 1649, disillusioned, and died in Italy in 1653. The Confederation's papers were seized by Cromwell's forces, which is why we have such detailed records of their debates — they were used as evidence in the Cromwellian land confiscations. Luna: So the bureaucracy of the Confederation helped Cromwell steal their land. Lucas: That's the grim irony. The Confederation was Ireland's first experiment in modern constitutional government — an elected assembly, a written oath, a national treasury — and the very records of that experiment were used to dispossess the people who created it. It wasn't until the 20th century that the Confederation's efforts were reappraised, and even now, they're often overshadowed by the more famous 1916 Rising. Lucas: One last detail — the Confederation's general assembly met in the Tholsel building in Kilkenny, which still stands today. It's a beautiful medieval structure. If you ever visit Kilkenny, you can stand in the room where these men argued over the future of Ireland, knowing that Cromwell's army was just months away. Luna: I've been to Kilkenny, but I didn't know that. I'll have to look for it next time. Lucas: It's a powerful place. And it reminds us that Irish history is full of these 'what if' moments — what if the Confederation had united, what if Rinuccini had been more flexible, what if Charles I had trusted the Catholics more. But history didn't go that way. It went to Cromwell, then the Penal Laws, then the long wait for another chance. The Confederation of Kilkenny was that first chance, and it slipped away.