Broken by a War, Capable of Good Government

Abstract

This chapter examines the often-ignored decades prior to the plantation of Ulster, from the 1570s, when the first colonisation attempts in the area took place, to the aftermath of the ‘Flight of the Earls’, when the wholescale confiscation of the six escheated counties became possible. Farrell argues that this period, which saw a series of devastating wars and the resultant depopulation of the province, was decisive in laying the groundwork for the successful establishment of colonists, which had proved impossible in the 1570s because of indigenous resistance—this chapter offers an explanation of why such resistance was practically non-existent by 1609.

‘A barbarous country must first be broken by a war before it will be capable of good government.’ Davies, ‘A discovery,’ reproduced in Historical tracts, 4.