The Normans had nearly seized all of Ireland by the 1300's. As time passed the
loyalty the Normans had towards England weakened as they mixed in and married the
Irish and also adopted their language. By the early 1400's England actually owned only a
small area around Dublin called the Pale.
Henry VIII in 1534, tried to regain England's power in Ireland. In order to do this he
had to take all the power away from the Earls of Kildare, who were the Norman
noblemen who had long controlled the English interests in Ireland. Henry also forced the
Irish parliament to recognize him as the King of Ireland, he established English laws in
Ireland and tried to convert the Irish into protestants, but he had little success ("Ireland"
World Book 426).
In 1541 King Henry VIII of England had declared himself King of Ireland which
caused a process known as The Reformation. This was the change that made England a
protestant nation from a Roman Catholic nation ("Northern" World Book 529). This
change had little effect on Ireland because it still remained mostly Roman Catholic.
Queen Mary I, daughter of Henry VIII continued her father's policies, she tried to
make the English rule stronger by establishing the Plantation of Ireland. With this rule
land was seized in two counties in central Ireland and redistributed to English settlers.
Roman Catholic services were prohibited and bishops and priests were executed
("Ireland" World Book 426). This caused a lot of tension and anger among the Irish
Catholics who were becoming more united and were building up Anti-English attitudes.
By trying to force people into protestantism, it only made the people turn more against
the English.