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Ireland 1685–1714

  • 15 subtopics
  • 45 things to know
  • A2 Unit 2
  • A2 Unit 2, one option of four

What Ireland 1685–1714 covers

Ireland 1685–1714 is examined in A2 2, Historical Investigations and Interpretations — the option chosen from four. It covers Ireland in 1685: land, church and the two communities, James II, Tyrconnell and the Catholicisation of Ireland, the remodelling of the army, the judiciary and the corporations, the land settlement and Protestant fears in Ireland, James II's first year in England: support, opposition and rebellion, James II's pro-Catholic policies in England, opposition in England and the causes of the Glorious Revolution, the outbreak of war and the Siege of Derry, the Patriot Parliament and the campaign of 1689, the Battle of the Boyne, from the Boyne to Aughrim: Limerick, Cork and Athlone, the Battle of Aughrim, the second siege of Limerick and the Treaty, the penal laws and the Protestant Ascendancy, Molyneux and the Union of 1707.

Where it is assessed

A2 Unit 2

Historical Investigations and Interpretations, one option of four.

Check the CCEA specification ↗

The 15 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Numbers

Who was Richard Talbot, Earl of Tyrconnell?

Numbers

Why did the Earl of Clarendon's period as Lord Lieutenant fail?

Key term

Assess how complete the transformation of Irish institutions was by 1688.

Key term

Why did James II hesitate over repealing the land settlement?

Key term

What did no Parliament meeting in Ireland before 1689 mean for the land question?

Key term

How did James II use the defeat of the rebellion?

Numbers

What happened at Magdalen College, Oxford?

Key term

What were the three questions of 1687–88?

Numbers

How important were the pro-Catholic policies in causing the Revolution?

Key term

Why did James II's fall matter so immediately for Ireland?

Key term

What happened at Derry on 7 December 1688?

Key term

Describe conditions inside Derry during the siege.

Key term

How has the siege been remembered since?

Numbers

What happened at Newtownbutler?

Numbers

Give the date of the Battle of the Boyne and explain the confusion over it.

Key term

Why did James II decide to stand at the Boyne?

Key term

What was the flanking move at Rosnaree?

Key term

What divided the Jacobite leadership after 1690?

Key term

What went wrong at Aughrim castle?

Key term

Give three reasons for the Jacobite defeat at Aughrim.

Key term

Why is Aughrim less remembered than the Boyne despite being more decisive?

Numbers

What was the Banishment Act of 1697?

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What did the Acts of 1704 and 1709 require of Catholic priests?

Key term

Were the penal laws politically or religiously motivated?

Key term

What is meant by the Protestant Ascendancy?

Numbers

How secure was the Protestant Ascendancy by 1714?

Key term

Why did the Restoration settlement leave Catholic landowners embittered?

Numbers

When did Ginkel begin the second siege of Limerick?

Key term

How was the population of Ireland divided by religion in the 1680s?

Key term

Why was the army the first institution Tyrconnell remodelled?

Key term

What promise did James II make to the Church of England at his accession?

Numbers

When did James II's Irish Parliament meet, and what was its composition?

Key term

Where did the Jacobite army regroup after the Boyne?

Numbers

What happened to Tyrconnell during the siege?

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When had the Irish Parliament last met before 1685?

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When did James II succeed to the throne, and why was his accession significant?

Key term

What was the effect of the army remodelling on Protestant settlers?

Key term

Why was land the central question in Irish politics in the 1680s?

Numbers

What was Argyll's rising?

Key term

What was the dispensing power?

Key term

Why did Anglican Tories turn against a king they had defended in 1685?

Key term

What was the Act of Attainder?

Numbers

What happened at the assault on Limerick in August 1690?

Numbers

What was the decisive move of the second siege?

Key term

How complete was Protestant control of land and office by 1714?

Take Ireland 1685–1714 further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

  • Godden v Hales vs The trial of the Seven Bishops

    Godden v Hales: the 1686 case in which a purged bench upheld the King's authority. The trial of the Seven Bishops: the 1688 trial in which a jury refused to, and the difference measures how much support had drained away in two years.

  • The Break of Dromore vs Newtownbutler

    The Break of Dromore: the March 1689 rout that left Protestant resistance confined to two towns. Newtownbutler: the July 1689 victory that ended the Jacobite position in Ulster altogether.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Roughly what share of Irish land was in Catholic hands in 1685?

    Model answer

    Catholics held roughly a fifth of the profitable land of Ireland in 1685, having held around three fifths before the wars of the 1640s.

  2. 2

    Which two statutes fixed the Restoration land settlement?

    Model answer

    The Act of Settlement of 1662 and the Act of Explanation of 1665 fixed the Restoration land settlement, confirming most Cromwellian grantees in possession while restoring some Catholic proprietors.

  3. 3

    What was the Court of Claims?

    Model answer

    The Court of Claims sat in 1663 to hear the cases of Catholics who said they had been dispossessed without cause, and it restored a small number of so-called innocent papists before it was wound up with most claims unheard.

  4. 4

    Why did the Restoration settlement leave Catholic landowners embittered?

    Model answer

    Catholic proprietors had expected the restoration of Charles II to bring back the estates they lost under the Cromwellian settlement, and instead most were left dispossessed while the men who had taken their land kept it.

  5. 5

    How was the population of Ireland divided by religion in the 1680s?

    Model answer

    About three quarters of the population were Catholic, roughly a tenth belonged to the established Church of Ireland, and a similar number were Presbyterian, concentrated in Ulster.

  6. 6

    What privileges did the Church of Ireland enjoy?

    Model answer

    The Church of Ireland was the established church, holding the cathedrals and parish churches, drawing tithes from the whole population and supplying the bishops who sat in the Irish House of Lords, although it served only a small minority of the people.

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Ireland 1685–1714 revision questions

What does Ireland 1685–1714 cover in CCEA A-Level History?
15 subtopics: ireland in 1685: land, church and the two communities, james ii, tyrconnell and the catholicisation of ireland, the remodelling of the army, the judiciary and the corporations, the land settlement and protestant fears in ireland, james ii's first year in england: support, opposition and rebellion, james ii's pro-catholic policies in england, opposition in england and the causes of the glorious revolution, the outbreak of war and the siege of derry, the patriot parliament and the campaign of 1689, the battle of the boyne, from the boyne to aughrim: limerick, cork and athlone, the battle of aughrim, the second siege of limerick and the treaty, the penal laws and the protestant ascendancy, molyneux and the union of 1707. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
How is Ireland 1685–1714 organised?
By the CCEA 4010 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.

Every question in Ireland 1685–1714, on a schedule.

Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.

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