1st Irish Parliament of King Charles I

The Parliament 1634–1635 was the first of the two Irish parliaments of Charles I. The main purpose was to raise money by taxation and to ratify the Graces, a bundle of concessions to Irish Catholic landowners. Six years of taxes were voted, but few of the graces were ratified.

Background

Charles I, king of England, Scotland, and Ireland, summoned the Irish Parliament of 1634–1635 to put the Irish government on a sound financial footing.^[1] The preceding parliament had been the Parliament of 1613–1615, the only Irish parliament of James I. In this parliament James I had created more than 30 pocket boroughs under Protestant control.^[2][3][4] The Irish House of Commons of 1634 therefore had 254 members: 112 Catholic and 142 Protestant.^[5][6] In 1632 Charles I had appointed Thomas Wentworth (the future Earl of Strafford) as his lord deputy of Ireland.^[7] Wentworth had taken office in July 1633.^[8]

Irish Parliaments:
Monarch	#	Years	Chief governor^[a]	Remark
James I	1	1613–1614	Chichester, L.D.	The 1st with a Protestant majority
Charles I	1	1634–1635	Strafford, L.D. then L.L.
	2	1640–1649
			Leicester, L.L.
			Ormond, L.L.

 

The Lord Deputy Thomas Wentworth

Proceedings

During the parliament the King stayed in England and was represented at the parliament in Dublin by his lord deputy. Parliament was opened on 14 July 1634^[9] at Dublin Castle^[10] by the lord deputy.^[11] Nathaniel Catelyn, one of the two members for Dublin City, was elected speaker.

Taxation

Wentworth insisted that subsidies needed to be attended to first.^[12] Six subsidies of £50,000 (about £8,900,000 in 2021^[13]) each,^[14] or according to another source £240,000 (about £42,700,000 in 2021^[13]) altogether,^[15] were voted by the Commons unanimously^[16] on 19 July 1634.^[17] These subsidies were approved by the Lords on 2 August, when the 1st session was closed and prorogued to the 4 November by the lord deputy.^[18]

The Graces

Main article: The Graces (Ireland)

King Charles I had indicated in 1626 that he would concede certain rights to the Irish Catholics if paid well enough. These concessions are known as the Graces.^[19] At Whitehall in 1628^[20] the King and a delegation of Irish noblemen had agreed on 51 articles.^[21] At the core of the Graces were land rights and religious freedom.^[22] The payment had been fixed at £120,000 sterling (about £25,100,000 in 2021^[13]) in three yearly instalments.^[23][24] The Irish Parliament should have confirmed the Graces promptly, but the then lord deputy, Lord Falkland, had never summoned that parliament.^[25] The parliament summoned in 1634 was the first Irish parliament since the proclamation of the Graces. Irish Catholics, therefore, expected to see them confirmed in this parliament^[26][27] while Wentworth expected trouble when he refused.^[28]

The ratification of the Graces was tabled afterwards. Of the 51 articles Wentworth let 10 be voted into law, the others would be left at the discretion of the government, except articles 24^[29] and 25,^[30] concerning land tenure, which he rejected.^[31] The Catholic MPs felt that the King had cheated them.^{[citation needed]}

Other laws

The Catholic MPs expressed their anger by voting against any law later proposed by Wentworth and due to absenteeism among the Protestant MPs, the Catholics were able to vote several laws down.^[32] The government recalled the absent Protestant MPs, and the laws passed.^[33] Wentworth dissolved parliament on 18 April 1635.^[34]

Table of sessions
Session	Start	End	Remark
1st	14 Jul 1634^[11]^[35]	2 Aug 1634^[36]	Voted 6 subsidies unanimously^[16]
2nd	4 Nov 1634^[37]	15 Dec 1634^[38]	Legislation voted, including ratification of some of the Graces"^[31]
3rd	26 Jan 1635^[39]	18 Apr 1635^[34]

See also

• List of acts of the Parliament of Ireland to 1700
• List of parliaments of Ireland

Notes and references

Notes

1. The title "chief governor of Ireland" is a general term for the king's representative and head of the executive in Ireland. The actual title was either Lord Lieutenant (L.L.), Lord Deputy (L.D.), or Lord Justice.^[40]

Citations

1. Asch 2004, p. 147, right column, line 15: "The foundations for a sound financial policy were to be laid by a generous grant of parliamentary taxation."
2. Bagwell 1909, p. 109: "James created thirty-nine new boroughs expressly for parliamentary purposes ..."
3. Gardiner 1883, p. 285, bottom: "It was accordingly proposed in the autumn of 1611 that 36 new boroughs should receive charters empowering them to send no less than 72 members to Parliament, and as in these cases the right of election was confined to the exclusively Protestant corporations, there can no longer be any doubt on which side the majority would be."
4. Wedgwood 1961, p. 149, line 12: "The creation of a number of new boroughs in the interests of Protestant settlers, and the plantation of Ulster gave the Protestants the majority in the Parliament of 1613 ..."
5. Gillespie 2006, p. 103, line 11: "In the parliament that met in 1634 the House of Commons had 254 members of whom 112 were Catholic and 143 Protestant."
6. Gardiner 1884, p. 47, bottom: "On July 14, 1634, Parliament met. As Wentworth had hoped, the Protestants, many of whom were official dependents of the government were in a small majority."
7. Asch 2004, p. 146, right column, line 23: "Wentworth was appointed lord deputy on 12 January 1632 ..."
8. Wedgwood 1961, p. 126, line 31: "... he [Wentworth] embarked at Chester and reached Dublin bay early in the morning of July 23rd [1633]."
9. Kearney 1959, p. 53: "Parliament met on 14 July [1634] and the first session lasted until 2 August."
10. MacNeill 1917, p. 408: "From the meeting of Elizabeth's first Irish Parliament in 1560 till 1641, the Parliaments met in Dublin Castle in rooms arranged for the purpose."
11. Wedgwood 1961, p. 150: "Parliament met on July 14th, 1634. Wentworth rode down in state ..."
12. Wedgwood 1961, p. 151, line 33: "... making it clear that nothing whatever would be done in the way of legislation until the subsidies had been voted."
13. UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
14. Cusack 1871, p. 307, penultimate line: "... six subsidies of 50,000ℓ each were voted ..."
15. Joyce 1903, p. 192, line 31: "Parliament met in 1634 and passed subsidies amounting to £240,000;"
16. Wedgwood 1961, p. 152: "... voted six subsidies unanimously ..."
17. Kearney 1959, p. 54: "The fact that the subsidies were voted unanimously on 19 July [1634] ..."
18. House of Lords 1779, p. 25, right column: "...  we have thought it convenien   to prorogue this present parliament ..."
19. Kelsey 2004, p. 431, right column, line 31: "In 1626 ... the English crown indicated a willingness to concede proprietary rights and religious freedom to the Old English gentry, the so-called 'graces'."
20. Gillespie 2006, p. 76: "The deputation had its first formal audience with the king on 28 March 1628 ..."
21. Gillespie 2006, p. 77, line 4: "The list was redrafted in fifty-one 'Instructions and Graces' ...'"
22. Wallace 1973, p. 46, last paragraph: "... 'Graces, of which the most significant concerned land tenure and religion."
23. Gillespie 2006, p. 77, line 3:"Their price was fixed at £40,000 sterling each year for three years "
24. Clarke 1976, p. 238: "In return for the 'graces' the agents agreed that three successive annual subsidies of £40,000 (English), payable quarterly, to meet the calculated deficiency of the cost of supporting the army."
25. Joyce 1903, p. 191, line 24: "... the king and Falkland dishonestly evaded the summoning of parliament;"
26. Joyce 1903, p. 192, line 28: "The Irish landholders, still feeling insecure, induced the deputy to summon a parliament, with the object to have the graces confirmed;"
27. Gardiner 1899, p. 274, right column, line 10: "What the catholic members expected was that Wentworth would introduce bills to confirm the 'graces' ..."
28. Carte 1851, p. 122: "He [Wentworth] was not without apprehensions that the parliament might press for the confirmation of all the graces given 24 May 1628 in instructions given to Lord Falkland;"
29. Gillespie 2006, p. 77, line 26: "Article 24 promised security of tenure ..."
30. Gillespie 2006, p. 77, line 31: "Article 25 provided security of title for those in the province of Connaught ..."
31. Wedgwood 1961, p. 156, line 1: "... Wentworth agreed that ten only should become statute law, and that all the rest, with the exception of two, should be continued at the discretion of the government. The two exceptions, articles 24 and 25, affecting land tenure ..."
32. Wedgwood 1961, p. 156, line 29: "... rejected Hand over Head all that was offered them from his Majesty and this State;"
33. Wedgwood 1961, p. 157: "... the Protestants were now at full strength and the remaining ten days of the session all the important government measures were ... hurried through the House."
34. Wedgwood 1961, p. 160: "When parliament rose on April 18th, 1635, Wentworth had every reason to congratulate himself."
35. Gardiner 1899, p. 274, left column: "Parliament met on 14 July 1634."
36. Gardiner 1899, p. 274, right column, line 1: "... on 2 Aug. [1634] parliament was prorogued."
37. Gardiner 1899, p. 274, right column, line 9: "The second session of parliament commenced on 4 Nov. [1634]."
38. Lord Mountmorres 1792, p. 329: "On the 15th of December [1634] the parliament was prorogued."
39. Kearney 1959, p. 64: "It remains now to consider the third session of the parliament: from 26 January 1634/35 to 18 April "
40. Wood 1935, p. 1: "The titles of the chief governors of Ireland have been various ... lieutenant of the king, lieutenant general and general governor, deputy or lord deputy, justiciar or lord justice ..."

Sources

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• Clarke, Aidan (1976). "Chapter 8: Selling Royal Favours, 1624–32". In Moody, Theodore William; Martin, F. X.; Byrne, Francis John (eds.). A New History of Ireland. Vol. 3. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 233–242. ISBN 0-19-820242-3. – 1624 to 1632
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• Kelsey, Sean (2004). "Cary, Henry, first viscount Falkland". In Matthew, Henry Colin Gray.; Harrison, Brian (eds.). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 10. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 430–432. ISBN 978-0-1986-1360-2.
• MacNeill, John Gordon Swift (1917). The Constitutional and Parliamentary History of Ireland till the Union. Dublin: The Talbot Press. – Snippet view
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