Graces, the

Graces, the, concessions promised to Irish interest groups by Charles I but left largely unratified. The Old English used the war with Spain in 1625 to request concessions in return for subsidies. Amid complaints from Protestant bishops, provincial conventions selected eight Old English and three Protestant settlers as delegates. A further outbreak of war with France strengthened their negotiating position. In May 1628 51 articles were agreed with the English privy council. Although the Old English were promised legislation to secure property titles, they gained nothing substantial on recusancy fines or the oath of supremacy. This reassured the Protestant interest who were promised an easing of conditions for Ulster planters. In return the crown received four successive quarterly subsidies of £40,000 sterling.

The crown subsequently used the intricacies of Poynings's Law and the end of hostilities as excuses not to ratify the Graces. In the 1634 parliament the Old English were misled by Wentworth when they supported his financial bills in the first session in the hope of getting the Graces in the second. In 1641 Charles I again promised to enact the Graces to obtain support from the Irish parliament but the rising of 1641 closed the matter.

Hiram Morgan