Date: c. 1642-1643

Description:

Charles I, Confederate Catholics, Kilkenny Issues (1642-1643), Copper Halfpenny, crown over crossed sceptres, linear circle and legend surrounding both sides, rev crowned harp with C to left, R to right, 5.23g (DF 263; Nelson type I; S 6555).

• Quite weakly struck as usual
• Good Fine (gF)
• Toned
• Rare

Country:

• Ireland

Category:

• Anglo-Norman
  • House of Stuart
• Charles I
  • Confederate (Kilkenny) Money
  • Also known as “Rebel Money”
• Hammered

Additional Information:

• Charles I (1625-49)
  • After his succession, Charles quarrelled with the Parliament of England, which sought to curb his royal prerogative. Charles believed in the divine right of kings and thought he could govern according to his own conscience.
    • He caused the War of the Three Kingdoms, lost the English Civil War, was tried and convicted of treason. He was was beheaded in 1649.
• Confederation of Kilkenny (1642-49)
  • When the Great Rebellion broke out in 1642, all hell broke loose in Ireland and multiple scores began to get settled amidst a haze of sectarian violence, land grabs, political intrigue and good old fashioned Irish internecine warfare.
  • The Catholic clergy exerted themselves to bring about union amongst the Catholics; and on the 24th of October 1642 a general assembly or parliament—delegates of the most distinguished persons from both sides—met in Kilkenny: this is known as the “Confederation of Kilkenny.”
    • There were eleven bishops, fourteen lords, and 226 commoners.
    • The assembly took upon themselves to govern the country—or that part of it outside the influence of Ormonde—and appointed generals over the army: O’Neill for Ulster and Preston for Leinster.
    • To manage affairs with greater facility they elected from their number a “Supreme council.”
    • And they issued a decree for raising money and for levying men, who were to be drilled by the officers that had come with Preston and O’Neill.

Further Reading:

• Irish Coinage during the reign of King Charles I
• O’Brien Coin Guide: Richmond ‘Patent’ Farthings (1625-34)
• O’Brien Coin Guide: Maltravers ‘Patent’ Farthings (1634-36)
• O’Brien Coin Guide: Maltravers ‘Rose’ Farthings (1636-49)
• O’Brien Coin Guide: Introduction to the Emergency Coinages of the Great Rebellion of 1641-49
  • Timeline 1640 – Prologue to Rebellion in Ireland & Civil War in England
  • Timeline 1641 – The Great Rebellion breaks out in Ireland
  • Timeline 1642 – The Great Rebellion in Ireland & Civil War in England
• O’Brien Coin Guide: The Ormonde Money of 1643-44
• O’Brien Rare Coin Review: The Confederate Catholic ‘Rebel Money’ Coinage of 1642-43
• O’Brien Rare Coin Review: The Ormonde Gold ‘Pistole’ of 1646
• O’Brien Rare Coin Review: Coinage of the Cities of Refuge (Bandon 1646-49)
  • Blog Post – Selected Biographies of the Great Irish Rebellion & English Civil War
  • Blog Post – The Proliferation of Unofficial Irish ‘Farthing Tokens’ in the 17th Century