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Negotiations between Charles I and the Confederation of Kilkenny lasted from January, 1643, until his death in January, 1649, and were carried on from time to time in Paris and Rome as well as Dublin, Kilkenny and Oxford. Charles required troops, arms and money to enable him to defeat the English Parliament and the Scots: the Confederates desired religious freedom and political concessions. The operations of Charles' several agents were rarely co-ordinated; the Confederacy was split into factions. It is the primary object of this thesis to provide a full account of their complex transactions against the background of the war in England and the struggle for Catholic supremacy in Ireland. In view of its unique importance and the accessibility of numerous original sources, many of which are now in print, the history of the Confederation has been strangely neglected. The only would-be major work to have appeared, Professor T.Coonan's The Irish Catholic Confederacy and the Puritan Revolution (1934), is partisan, weak on relations with England, and based almost entirely on published material. In this thesis, use of the abundant sources available, including a number that are unprinted, and due attention to the English side of affairs make it possible to reconstruct several key episodes for the first time and to throw further light on disputed or imperfectly known problems. At the same time, received views of Charles' methods and character and of the Confederates' political inexperience, disunity, and failure to formulate a coherent policy are confirmed and expanded. The machinery used in the negotiations and the parts played in them by Henrietta Maria in Paris, Kenelm Digby in Rome, and the various Royalist agents in Ireland, are described in detail. An attempt is also made to assemble all the accessible evidence relevant to the Earl of Glamorgan's well-known mission, to discuss the theories put forward to explain his powers, and to suggest a novel and possibly definitive interpretation.

This thesis examines the consequences and implications of the premature deaths of royal heirs in seventeenth-century Britain. In just four generations between 1603 and 1700 the Stuart dynasty suffered the loss of over twenty-five legitimate offspring before their twenty-first year. Several of these deaths had significant political repercussions, threatening both the continuity of the royal line and consequently the security of the nation. The cultural memory of these lost heirs continued decades and even centuries later. My work seeks to establish the historical significance of their long-lasting appeal by assessing their princely representation in life and analysing its development after death. This study is firmly located within visual culture. However, definitions and classifications of the “visual” are necessarily broad. The emphasis is upon the consideration of seventeenth-century British art as part of a wider cultural process. The opening chapter addresses an apparently obvious, though somewhat neglected, issue - the critical importance of royal heirs. Through examination of the imagery and ceremonial attached to Stuart childbearing and christenings, it asserts the real symbolic significance of princely progeny. Chapter Two develops the study of youthful princely representation. It assesses the portrayal of Stuart heirs as they matured and seeks to identify the principal characteristics. Specifically, it is argued that, from a young age, the projection of Protestantism and martial aptitude was crucial to the formation of their personae. Chapter Three analyses how deceased Stuart heirs were commemorated in the months and years immediately after their deaths. It is contended that the enduring memory of these princes was the result, not of official commemoration, but of the large-scale public response to their deaths. The loss of an heir not only threatened the future of the dynasty but also the stability of the realm. The fourth chapter explores how, through visual and cultural propaganda, the surviving Stuarts attempted to re-group and to assuage social and political anxieties. Chapters Five and Six assess the long-term legacy of these princes in the decades and centuries after their deaths, as well as the political circumstances which gave rise to their enduring memory. These concluding chapters reveal the extent to which memories of deceased Stuart princes lingered, asserting that their representations were often employed for negotiation of the issues and anxieties of later ages. Throughout, my work seeks to establish the importance of these lost heirs and protectors of the Stuart Protestant line. I have endeavoured to retrieve the reputations of princes who came to represent potent symbols of both promise and loss.

This thesis examines travel to continental Europe as undertaken by several generations of Irish Protestants between 1660 and 1727. Historians draw parallels between the Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland and other polities in ancien régime Europe, but these demand an exploration of contemporary encounters. Research on the Irish in Europe concentrates on Catholics without much regard to Protestant experiences, while work on English or British travel overlooks ways in which Irish Protestant voyages differed. This thesis analyses the experiences of Church-of-Ireland families from the gentry, nobility and aristocracy, especially the Southwells, Percevals, Molesworths, Molyneuxs, Boyles and Butlers. Correspondence, notebooks and financial accounts reconstruct their voyages, mainly to France, Italy, the Low Countries and Germany, and their attitudes towards the practice of travel. Journeys to other destinations are incorporated, as are the voyages of neighbours, acquaintances and employees. Purposes varied, but travel was consistently considered an opportunity for 'improvement'. The thesis follows the successive preoccupations of travellers, beginning with demonstrations of 'fitness to travel'. Wealthy young men were judged according to criteria that privileged anglicisation and Protestantism, though linguistic skill was a more socially-comprehensive standard. Advisors emphasised civil conversation and written observation, but warnings to avoid 'countrymen' were ignored. The company of English-speaking travellers and Irish Catholic expatriates created distinctive European experiences. Foreign hosts often saw uncomplicated Englishmen, though some recognised Irish difference. Anglican travellers held qualified membership of a 'Protestant international', drawing on a cross-confessional 'stock of friends'. Travellers received tuition that complicates perceptions of travel as 'informal' education and they memorialised experiences through souvenirs and gifts. Voyages encouraged some into English residence and identifications, though others brought improvements home to Ireland. 'Improvement', as it related to wealthy Church-of-Ireland families, functioned not as a binary between approved England and disdained Ireland but a triangular exchange in which continental Europe featured prominently.

This thesis represents an important investigation into the much-neglected period of exile endured by many Royalists as a consequence of the violence and alienation of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms (1639-1651).Drawing from extensive archival research conducted in Britain, Ireland and Europe, this study expands upon existing literature on royalism, British and Irish interaction with Continental Europe and seventeenth-century mentalities more generally in order to illumine the unique issues faced by these exiles. Central to this study are the roles and experiences of the Irish element within Charles II’s exiled court. Recent studies focussed upon the place of Ireland within Europe and the North Atlantic are employed to assess such issues as confessional division, court culture, the impact of memory and the influence of conflicting European ideas upon the survival of the exiles and the course of the restoration cause. A thematic, rather than chronological structure is employed in order to develop these interpretations, allowing for an approach which emphasizes the place of individuals in relation to broader Royalist mentalities. Dominant figures include Murrough O’Brien, Lord Inchiquin (c. 1614-1674), Theobald, Lord Taaffe (d. 1677), John Bramhall (1594-1663), Church of Ireland bishop of Derry, Daniel O’Neill (c. 1612-1664), Father Peter Talbot (SJ) (c. 1618/20 – 1680) and James Butler, marquis of Ormond (1610-1688). Through investigation of Irish strands of royalism and the wider issues in which they were set in the course of civil war and exile, this thesis makes a powerful argument for the need to consider seventeenth-century ideas of allegiance and identity not only within a ‘Three Kingdoms’ approach, but Europe more generally. It also makes a compelling case for the centrality of Irish Royalists in the formation and implementation of policy during the exile period through their familiarity with and access to European centres of power and influence.