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2nd Irish Parliament of King Charles I

The Parliament 1640–1649, also called Parliament 1639–1648[1] using an unadjusted Old Style (O.S.) calendar,[a] was the second of the two Irish parliaments of King Charles I of England. It voted taxes in 1640 and was then overshadowed by the Irish Rebellion of 1641. It was legally dissolved by the King's death in 1649.[2]

Background

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The Parliament was called by the Earl of Strafford, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, because of King Charles I's need to raise funds and men to fight against the Scots in the Second Bishops' War. The main item on the agenda therefore was taxation.

Parliaments: previous, subject of the article, and next
Monarch # Years Remark
Charles I of England 1 1634–1635
2 1640–1649
Charles II of England 1 1661–1666

Proceedings

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1st session

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Lord Lieutenant Strafford

Parliament was opened on 16 March 1640 by Christopher Wandesford, whom the Lord Lieutenant Strafford had appointed his Lord Deputy.[3][4] On that same day the parliament elected Sir Maurice Eustace, one of the two members for County Kildare, as speaker.[5] Strafford arrived two days later.[3] The parliament then unanimously voted four subsidies of £45,000[6] (about £10,100,000 in 2023[7]) to raise an Irish army of 9,000[8] for use by the king against the Scots in the Second Bishops' War. On 31 March Strafford prorogued parliament until the first week of June.[9][10] On 3 April 1640 Strafford left Ireland.[11]

2nd session

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Lord Deputy Wandesford opened the 2nd Session on 1 June.[12][13] News from England was the Short Parliament had refused subsidies to the King.[14] The Irish MPs regretted having voted subsidies and wanted to sabotage their action by changing how the subsidies would be evaluated and collected.[15] After two weeks of inconclusive discussions, Wandesford prorogued parliament on 17 June.[16]

3rd session

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Parliament reconvened on 1 October 1640 for its 3rd Session.[17] The Commons created a committee for grievances. The committee prepared a remonstrance (complaint) against Strafford, that was then approved by the House of Commons.[18] This remonstrance is also called the "November Petition". Wandesford prorogued parliament on 12 November,[19] a day after Strafford's impeachment in Westminster by the Long Parliament.[20] A delegation of 13 MPs,[21] headed by Audley Mervyn, travelled to London to submit the remonstrance to the King, arriving on 21 November.[22] On 12 November Wandesford prorogued Parliament until 26 January 1641.[19] The Irish House of Lords had not acted on grievances during the 3rd Session, but after its prorogation some Lords decided to send Gormanston, Dillon, Kilmallock, and Muskerry to London to present separate Lords' grievances.[23][24]

4th session

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The Irish Parliament met in its 4th Session on 26 January 1641.[19] Lord Deputy Wandesford had died on 3 December[25] and the Irish government had devolved upon the Lords Justices, Parsons and Borlase.[26] The Lords recognised its members who had gone to London as one of its committees.[27] On 18 February the Lords' grievances were written up in 18 articles. The main complaint was that Strafford had overtaxed them.[28]

On 20 February 1641, Muskerry, aged about 70, died in London[29] during his parliamentary mission. His son, Charles MacCarty, one of the two MPs of County Cork, succeeded his father at the Lords. In the resulting byelection Redmond Roche was elected to his seat at the Commons.[30] Muskerry's place in the Lords' delegation in London stayed vacant until 3 March when the Lords appointed Thomas Roper, 2nd Viscount Baltinglass in his stead.[31][32][33] The Lords Justices prorogued parliament on 6 March.[34]

5th session

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On 11 May 1641 parliament reconvened for its 5th session.[35] The Catholic MPs tried to impeach Loftus, the chancellor, and Ranelagh, the vice-president of Connaught, but failed.[36]

Table of sessions
Later sessions are poorly recorded.
Session Start End Remark
1st 16 Mar 1640[37] 31 Mar 1640[38] Voted 4 subsidies unanimously[39]
2nd 1 Jun 1640[12] 17 Jun 1640[16] Inconclusive[16]
3rd 1 Oct 1640[17] 12 Nov 1640[19] Remonstrance passed[18]
4th 26 Jan 1641[19][40] 6 Mar 1641[34]
5th 11 May 1641[35] 7 Aug 1641[40] Impeachments of Loftus and Ranelagh failed
6th 9 Nov 1641 9 Nov 1641 Adjourned on the same day.[41]
16 Nov 1641 17 Nov 1641 Voted a protest against the rising
7th 11 Jan 1642
8th 1 Aug 1642[42]

Expulsions and cessation

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In June 1642 Sir Robert Lynch[43] and Redmond Roche (on the 22nd)[44] were expelled from parliament for having joined the rebels. There must have been others in the same case. William H. Grattan Flood in his ‘History of Enniscorthy’ (1898) says on 22 June 1642, nine MPs from Co. Wexford, described as “rotten and unprofitable members, fit to be cut off,” were formally expelled. Sir Thomas Esmonde, MP for Enniscorthy; Christopher Hollywood and Gerald Cheevers for the Borough of Bannow; John Furlong and Patrick French MPs for Wexford ; Nicholas Dormer and Christopher Brooke for New Ross; Hugh Rochford and Nicholas Stafford for Fethard. These were nine of forty members who were expelled

The sessions of the Parliament ceased in 1647 when Marquess of Ormond handed Dublin over to the Parliamentarians,[45] but King Charles I never formally dissolved the parliament. Legally, the Parliament is considered dissolved by King Charles I's execution in 1649.

See also

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Notes and references

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Notes

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  1. ^ The parliament's start date and end date are both affected by the shift in the start of the year from 25 March to 1 January in the calendar reform of 1750. The opening date, the 16 March 1640, was still in 1639 according to the Old Style (O.S.) calendar, in force in Great Britain and Ireland at the time. Similarly, the end date, 30 January 1649 (the execution of Charles I),[46] was still in 1648 according to O.S.[47]

Citations

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  1. ^ House of Commons 1878, p. 604, 6th table row. "1639 / 16 March / 1648 / 30 January"
  2. ^ Fryde et al. 1986, p. 44, line 17. "Charles I. ... exec. 30 Jan. 1649 ..."
  3. ^ a b Wedgwood 1961, p. 276. "Two days before he came, Wandesford, now Lord Deputy since Strafford had become Lord Lieutenant, had opened Parliament."
  4. ^ Asch 2004, p. 152, right column, line 18. "... the Irish Parliament which had met on 16 March."
  5. ^ Mahaffy 1900, p. 259, line 14. "Petitioner [Eustace] was chosen Speaker on 16 March 1639 [O.S.] quite suddenly."
  6. ^ Wedgwood 1961, p. 276, line 4. "... they voted four subsidies of £45,000 each without a single negative ..."
  7. ^ UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
  8. ^ Wedgwood 1961, p. 277, line 8. "The Irish Parliament had agreed on the provision of a force of eight thousand foot and a thousand horse."
  9. ^ Asch 2004, p. 152, right column, line 43. "The Irish parliament was prorogued on 31 March [1640] ..."
  10. ^ Wedgwood 1961, p. 277, line 4. "... he [Strafford] prorogued Parliament until the first week in June ..."
  11. ^ Wedgwood 1961, p. 278. "On the evening of Good Friday, April 3rd, he [Wentworth] took leave of his wife and his friend, Wandesford, not knowing ..."
  12. ^ a b Gardiner 1904, p. 155, line 3. "The Parliament of Ireland met for its second session on June 1."
  13. ^ Wedgwood 1961, p. 291, line 12. "... Christopher Wandesford, now Lord Deputy, opened the second session of Parliament in June."
  14. ^ Gardiner 1904, p. 120. "... the refusal of the House of Commons to support him."
  15. ^ Wedgwood 1961, p. 291. "... protests about the subsidies — so vociferously voted three months before. The Commons were resolved first to reorganize the basis of assessment and undo the work ..."
  16. ^ a b c Wedgwood 1961, p. 291, penultimate line. "After an unprofitable fortnight, Wandesford prorogued Parliament until October."
  17. ^ a b Clarke 1976, p. 277. "On the same day, Christopher Wandesford, deputising for the lord lieutenant, prorogued parliament to 1 October."
  18. ^ a b Wedgwood 1961, p. 320. "Poor Christopher Wandesford, as Lord Deputy, exerted no control at all; he had managed to prorogue the house, but not until after the remonstrance had been voted."
  19. ^ a b c d e Lord Mountmorres 1792b, p. 40. "... but the parliament was prorogued on that day, to prevent any further proceedings until the 26 of January following."
  20. ^ Asch 2004, p. 153, right column, line 39. "On the same day [11 November 1640] a committee of the Commons accused him of high treason and impeached him before the Lords."
  21. ^ Woolrych 2002, p. 163, line 36. "They sent it over to England ... in the charge of thirteen members, who spanned the whole gamut from Irish and Old-English Catholics to New English puritans and Scottish Presbyterians."
  22. ^ Wedgwood 1961, p. 320, line 16. "On November 21st Audley Mervyn ... appeared with a remonstrance from Dublin."
  23. ^ Carte 1851, p. 244. "... thought fit to delegate the lords Gormanston, Kilmallock, and Muskery to present their grievances to his majesty."
  24. ^ Bagwell 1909, p. 303. "... deputed Gormanston, Dillon, and Kilmallock to carry their grievances to London. When Parliament reassembled [i.e. 26 Jan 1641] this action was confirmed and Lord Muskerry was added to the number."
  25. ^ Clavin 2009, Penultimate paragraph. "... died in Dublin on 3 December 1640."
  26. ^ Woolrych 2002, p. 164. "To replace him [Wandesford] Charles appointed two Lords Justices of considerably lesser stature, Sir John Borlase, an elderly soldier, and Sir William Parsons ..."
  27. ^ Carte 1851, p. 244, line 28. "... an order passed, authorizing the three above-mentioned with lord viscount Dillon of Castellogallen, to be a committee to present grievances to his majesty ..."
  28. ^ Carte 1851, p. 245. "These grievances were of Feb. 18 drawn up in eighteen articles, wherein they complained, that the nobility were overtaxed ..."
  29. ^ Ó Siochrú 2009, 2nd paragraph, 1st sentence start. "On the death of his father (20 February 1641) ..."
  30. ^ McGrath 1997, p. 257. "Redmond replaced his nephew by marriage McCarthy."
  31. ^ Carte 1851, p. 244, line 33. "... and lord Muskery dying soon after, the viscount Baltinglass was appointed in his stead."
  32. ^ Lord Mountmorres 1792b, p. 349. "On the 3d of March, Lord Baltinglass was appointed a commissioner in England in the room of Lord Muskery, deceased;"
  33. ^ House of Lords 1779, p. 173, left column. "Agreed by the House, that the Lord Viscount Baltinglass shall supply the Room of the Lord Muskry."
  34. ^ a b Lord Mountmorres 1792b, p. 44. "From the 28th of February to the 6th of March one thousand six hundred and forty, on which last day the articles of impeachment ..."
  35. ^ a b Lord Mountmorres 1792a, p. 353. "... prorogation from the 4th of March to the 11th May;"
  36. ^ Perceval-Maxwell 1994, p. 175. "Impeachment could only be exercised through parliament ... and the limits to its value had been demonstrated when the Protestant majority united to prevent the impeachment of Loftus and Ranelagh."
  37. ^ Asch 2004, p. 152, right column, line 18. "... the Irish Parliament which had met on 16 March."
  38. ^ Asch 2004, p. 152, right column, line 43. "The Irish parliament was prorogued on 31 March [1640] ..."
  39. ^ Wedgwood 1961, p. 276, line 4. "... they voted four subsidies of £45,000 each without a single negative ..."
  40. ^ a b Kearney 1959, p. 209. "The Irish parliament sat from January 26 to March 4, and from May 11 to August 7."
  41. ^ Bagwell 1909, p. 328. "Parliament met accordingly on November 9 and immediately adjourned till the 16th ..."
  42. ^ Lord Mountmorres 1792a, p. 354. "The parliament met on the 1st of August one thousand six hundred and forty-two after a long interval during which the rebellion had broken out."
  43. ^ Cokayne 1900, p. 241, line 24. "Sir Robert Lynch, Bart. [I. [Ireland] 1622], of Galway, s. [son] and h. [heir], suc. [succeeded] to the baronetcy in Feb. 1634/5; was MP [i. [Ireland] ] for Galway 1639 till expelled, June 1642."
  44. ^ House of Commons 1878, p. 609. "Redmond Roche, esq., expelled 22 June 1642 for the rebellion. / Cahirdougan / ditto [Cork County]"
  45. ^ Airy 1886, p. 56, left column. "On the 28th [July 1647] Ormonde delivered up the regalia and sailed for England, landing at Bristol on 2 Aug."
  46. ^ Fryde et al. 1986, p. 44, line 17. "Charles I. ... exec. 30 Jan. 1649 ..."
  47. ^ Gerard 1913, p. 739, right column. "[The year began]... from 1155 till the reform of the calendar in 1752 on 25 March, so that 24 March was the last day ..."

Sources

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