Ireland and Scotland: historical perspectives on the Gaelic dimension 1560-1760

MacDonald, Fiona Anne (1994) Ireland and Scotland: historical perspectives on the Gaelic dimension 1560-1760. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

This thesis provides a general overview of the links between the Scottish Gaels of the western seaboard of Scotland and the Gaelic-speaking peoples of Ireland, especially of Ulster, between 1560 and 1760. It covers a period of dramatic transformation in Gaelic society, from the age of Reformation to the collapse of Jacobitism and the decline of clanship. The focus of fresh interpretation is on religious, social and, to a lesser extent, economic links, but political, military and cultural connections are also considered, in order to reach an understanding of the encompassing historical perspective which governs the relationship between the Gaels. Most connections in 1560 were related to the trade in Highland mercenaries to Ulster and Connacht, and to the growing territorial aspirations of a small colony of MacDonald settlers in Antrim. The Union of the Crowns in 1603 and the coterminous completion of the Tudor conquest of Ireland had a number of consequences on pan-Gaelic relations. The mercenary trade came to an end, leading to the creation a pool of redundant swordsmen in both countries. Highlanders were officially excluded from the plantation of Ulster in 1610, which introduced more of an English-speaking dimension to Scoto-Irish relations. In physical terms, the presence of English and Lowland Scots settlers in the north of Ireland divided the Gaels. In order to survive in Ulster, the MacDonnells of Antrim were forced to conform to the government in Dublin. This rendered the split between them and the Clan Donald South in Scotland permanent, and further undermined Gaelic solidarity in Ulster. The pan-Gaelic military connection is traced from the mercenary trade through the political realignment of 1603, to the Royalism of the civil war period when the Gaels entered the national arena, and finally to the limited links of the first and last Jacobite rebellions. The contribution made by the Gaels to each other's religious heritage was substantial. The factors which rejuvenated and sustained Catholicism in the Highlands and Islands after the Reformation are examined, particularly the role of the first missionaries, who were almost exclusively Irish regulars. During the seventeenth century, Irish Franciscans, Vincentians, Dominicans, Bamabites, lay Capuchins and secular priests were present on the Highland mission who, by the end of the century, were all working together under the Scottish secular mission head. In the eighteenth century, the number of Irish dropped as native Highlanders assumed responsibility for the mission. Conversely, the role of Gaelic-speaking ministers in the Church of Ireland, and in the Presbyterian church in Ulster from the late sixteenth century, is examined. The contribution of Gaelic-speaking, University-educated Scots to the embryonic Protestant Church in Ireland, when few Irish-speakers were conforming, was particularly significant. There was a considerable volume of commercial traffic across the North Channel, both legitimate trade and smuggling, in which the Gaelic elite played their part. The trade in military contraband and victuals during the Ulster rebellion (1594-1603), the grain trade, the Highland fishing industry in the late seventeenth century and their expeditions to Ireland, and the leasing of west coast forests by Irish tanning merchants in the eighteenth century, are all evaluated. There was also a substantial smuggling trade in salt, fish, grain, livestock, and various incidental items. The various factors between 1560 and 1760 which resulted in the permanent settlement of Highlanders in Ireland are elucidated, as well as the seasonal interchange of migrant workers and refugees from ecclesiastical and judicial discipline. Periods of war and the political realignment after them usually affected migration, and there was, thus, substantial Scottish settlement in Ireland in the Cromwellian period and after the 1690 Revolution, when land devastated by warfare was made available for settlement. On a more occasional basis, evidence indicates that Highlanders most often fled to Ulster to escape sanction, whereas the Irish were most attracted by the better provision made for poor relief in Scotland, particularly in Argyll and the southern Isles.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Colleges/Schools: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities > History
• Supervisor's Name: Macinnes, Prof. Allan
• Date of Award: 1994
• Depositing User: Enlighten Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:1994-75448
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 19 Nov 2019 20:05
• Last Modified: 14 Jun 2021 09:03
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/75448