The imposition of Protestantism on the Irish population was one of the main aims of Tudor policy. Although, at the beginning of the 17th century, the English conquest of Ireland was almost completed, the English could not secure Irish conformity to the Protestant church. The aim of this assignment is to examine the reasons for the failure of Reformation in Ireland. I claim that, with regard to the religious as well as the social and political conditions in 16th century Ireland, the Reformation was hardly likely to succeed. I will try and prove this thesis by giving an impression of what the situation in Ireland was like at that time and in what way it affected the failure of Reformation.
There are basically two opposing views on the religious situation in pre-Reformation Ireland. On the one hand, there are historians holding the view that the Irish pre-Reformation church was in serious need of reform. This is actually supported by Steven G. Ellis:
"In general, the combination of abuses in the Gaelic church, its poverty, the region's political instability, and the papacy's lack of interest in the problem promoted a worsening religious climate." (Ellis, p. 191)
Others however, like James Lydon, believe that 'the state of the Irish church was no worse than elsewhere, and in many respects much better.' (Lydon, p. 131) I tend to agree with Lydon's view. Of course corruption was taking place among the clergy, but that happened everywhere in Europe at that time. Ireland, in this regard, was no exception. Furthermore, religious life in Ireland was obviously very vital. The great success of the Observantine friars, who were almost adored by the Irish population, is an evidence for that vitality in religion. The same is to be said about the increasing establishment of new parish churches, chantries and Colleges throughout the Anglo-Irish parts of the country. Therefore, I believe that the Irish church was at least in no more serious need of reform than all the other churches in Europe.
Nevertheless, Reformation did take place in Germany and Holland, so why not in Ireland? As far as I can see, one main reason for this difference is that in Germany as well as in Holland Reformation was not imposed on the population by colonial power. People were just dissatisfied with the Catholic Church and the papacy, therefore they wanted reform. In Ireland, however, the situation was completely different. There was actually no longing for a reformation of the church among the Irish population. All those anti-papal and anti-clerical thoughts that had been emerging at the continent and in England simply did not exist in Ireland. Therefore, the Gaelic as well as the Anglo-Irish were soon convinced that the imposition of Reformation by the English was just a further step in the English colonization and plantation policy. Religious matters became once more mixed up with politics.
However, during the first years of Reformation under Henry VIII there was hardly any opposition to the new ecclesiastical legislation. The reasons for this are quite obvious: Henry did not actually want to introduce Protestantism in Ireland. What he was looking for was outward conformity. Henry remained Catholic, so reformation for him meant merely reformation within the Catholic Church. Although Henry broke with Rome and the pope, the Irish church remained close to Rome during the years of the Henrican Reformation. Besides, non-conformists did not need to expect harsh punishment. Another reason for this missing opposition during the first years of Reformation lies probably in the clerical system in 16th century Ireland: A centrally organized united Irish church did actually not exist. The single parish and its church were actually more important in the popular religious practice. Therefore, most of the Irish did not bother about Henry being head of the Irish church.
But the situation changed under Edward and especially later on under Elizabeth. Edward's protectors insisted on the theological change. They introduced the Book of Common Prayer, and the images and relics of the Catholic Church were destroyed. However, in practice changes could not be achieved. The biggest problem that Edward and later on also Elizabeth had, was that of the Irish speaking population. The whole Reformation campaign was so much based on the English language that Gaelic people had hardly any chance to get in contact with Luther's ideas. Quite on the contrary, they were alienated by the exclusive use of the English language. Therefore, Reformation was just seen as a matter of anglicization and colonization among the Irish-speaking population. Therefore, when the first catechism appeared in Irish in 1571 and the New Testament in 1603 it was far too late to fill the Irish with enthusiasm about the Reformation ideas.
The Anglo-Irish, too, became more and more inaccessible to the English Reformation campaign. There was no popularizing of the Reformation ideas taking place, therefore, regarding all the prohibitions and penalties that especially Elizabeth implemented, the Irish must have seen Reformation as nothing more than a cruel act of suppression committed by the English.
The Reformation campaign was always going hand in hand with new plantation programmes and other measures oppressing the Gaelic and Anglo-Irish population. Therefore, religion became attached to political struggles. Hugh O'Neill for instance, in his rising, claimed to fight against the English in defence of 'Christ's Catholic religion'.
No wonder then that the majority of the Irish population remained Catholic, even after almost seventy years of English Protestant supremacy. Right from the beginning there was no strong objection to the Catholic practice, the English had big problems in popularizing the Reformation ideas, above all because of the huge number of Irish-speaking inhabitants. Furthermore, the political aspect of the Reformation campaign was always playing a more important role than the religious one. Reformation was not likely to succeed in that way.
Bibliography
Steven G. Ellis,The impact of religious reform; in: Tudor Ireland: Crown, Community and the Conflict of Cultures, 1470-1603. (1985), pp. 183-227.
James Lydon, The making of Ireland: from ancient times to the present (London, 1998), pp. 129-162.
