Protestant interests? The 1641 rebellion and state formation in early modern Ireland.

This article examines the role played by the recollection of the Irish rebellion of 1641 (or more properly the perception of the often exaggerated accounts of atrocities committed by the rebels) in formulating fundamental legislative elements of the late seventeenth-century Irish state. Repressive and punitive measures against Irish Catholics, intended in part to forestall further rebellions, were justified and rationalized by the fear of a potential recurrence of the attacks on Protestants. Thus, the representation of 1641 played an integral part in the Restoration settlement in Ireland, and arguably underpinned the 'penal laws' of a later era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]