Summary: Munster Plantation
Key dates:
The leading Irish family in Munster was the Desmonds who were defeated by the forces of the crown in 1583. Nearly half a million acres of their land was confiscated by parliament in 1586 and many Englishmen, including Sir Walter Raleigh, undertook to plant the area in an attempt to make it less hostile. The confiscated land was divided into seignories of between 2,000 and 12,000acres. Elaborate lists of essential requirements were compiled. About 15,000 may have crossed to Ireland as part of this plantation but they were far outnumbered by the native Irish and many of them returned to England because of their very hostile reception.
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