The Dublin parliament began to legislate society into two separate and unequal parts,
through the Penal Laws. These laws were to create a system in which Anglicans would
be guaranteed special privileges while catholics would be discriminated against. The
most important penal law was the one which abolished the principle of primogeniture for
catholics. Land could no longer be given to the first born son. Under the new rule the
land would be given to the first if he converted to protestantism, otherwise the land
would be divided equally among all sons. This was intended to reduce the catholics from
owning land. On the political side of the penal laws, catholics were not allowed to teach
in schools, hold seats in the colonial assembly, vote in elections, obtain public
employment, practice their religion. To make sure that this would be taken seriously
another of the penal laws made it a crime for a catholic to possess or own a firearm
("Kelley" 7)
The British had kept tight control over Ireland during the 1700's, and also limited the
Irish parliament's powers. Many Irish-protestants had objected to these restrictions.
More land that the catholics owned had been disappearing into England's hands. By
1704, catholics in Ireland only held about a seventh of the land. They could not gain
land because they were prohibited from having land handed down to them, bought by
them or rented by them ("Ireland" World Book 426).