Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, by Sir Anthony Van Dyck (died 1641), National Portrait Gallery, London. Wentworth was appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland in 1632 and his main purpose, openly proclaimed, was to rule Ireland well in order to supply men and money to the King. He would make the country prosperous in order to wring from it abundant taxes for his sovereign; but he aimed at its entire submission and the transference of what remained of Irish soil to English owners. And so well did he succeed that he was able to boast at the end of his term of office that he had left the country prospering, its debts paid, its revenues increased, the army paid and disciplined, the poor relieved, the rich awed, and justice done to all alike. This said, his disdain of the Irish, his ruthless policies in overseeing the new plantations in Ulster, Wexford, and Longford, plus his extension of these into Connacht drove the Irish into open and uncontrolled rebellion in 1642

Timeline 1640: Prologue to Rebellion in Ireland & Civil War in England

Timeline 1640 (Julian dates have been adjusted to modern time frame) The Irish Uprising of 1641 was a long-term result of the “plantation” policy of Tudor and Stuart monarchs under which Ireland was aggressively colonised by Protestant settlers from England and Scotland. From the mid-16th century, Irish landowners were dispossessed to make way for the settlers…

Ormonde Halfcrown. S.6545. Obv. Crown above C and R, a line circle around, and a somewhat crude blunt toothed outer border. Only cross of crown touches the inner line circle. Only the tail of the trailing R crosses the circle. A faint triangular pellet divides the C and R. The C has a near Roman top seraph, and no bottom seraph. Rev. Huge bold II, height 15.0mm, and shorter VI, height 11.3mm. All four corners of the IIVI cut across the inner line circle of 25.5mm diameter. Minute central pellet before V. An almost snakelike S with almost parallel Roman seraphs is centered above the II, and almost bisected by the line circle with bottom of top seraph of S just touching the outside of the inner circle. Well formed D, height 3.6mm, with a longer top seraph than bottom seraph, is above right side of V and closer to circle than to the V. Struck on an unusually round sterling plate flan, still showing part of original silver detail on obverse

O’Brien Coin Guide: The Ormonde Money of 1643-44

Introduction The 1642 ‘Lords Justices’ issues were followed in 1643 by a larger (fourth) emergency issue of better made, but still crude, silver coins. These are collectively known as ‘Ormonde Money’ since they were issued by the Lord Justice, the Earl of Ormonde (James Butler) some time between 1643-1644. Ormonde’s active career began in Ireland had begun…

Duke of Ormonde’s gold coinage of 1646-7, Pistole, Dublin, undated, stamped 4dwt 7grs both sides

O’Brien Coin Guide: Introduction to the Emergency Coinages of the Great Rebellion of 1641-52

Introduction Many people think of the Great Rebellion as a two-sided fight – the Irish Catholics versus the Anglo-Irish Protestants … but it was a lot more complicated than that. There were at least five opposing parties during the rebellion, which have been described by Carlyle as follows :- the Catholics of the Pale demanding…