Learn about the 15th earl of Desmond rebellion against the English crown and the formation of the Munster Plantation
Learn about the 15th earl of Desmond rebellion against the English crown and the formation of the Munster Plantation
A discussion of English colonization of the vast estates in Munster, Ireland, that belonged to the 14th (or 15th) earl of Desmond, who died in 1583 while in rebellion against the English crown. Sir Walter Raleigh and the poet Edmund Spenser were among those who received some of the land.
Courtesy of Folger Shakespeare Library; CC-BY-SA 4.0 (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
Transcript
[MUSIC PLAYING] THOMAS HERRON: The Munster Plantation was formed after the death of the 15th earl of Desmond, who had rebelled against the Crown with the support of Catholic continental powers. His death opened up huge amounts of land in the southwestern province of Ireland called Munster. And at that point, having rebelled against the Crown, he was a tainted, lost his lands, and up to 500,000 acres. Some of the best land in the province, which is one of the traditionally wealthiest provinces in Ireland, was open for exploitation.
People like Edmund Spenser, who was not just a poet but also an administrator. Most of his poetry could be assumed to have been written in Ireland or at the time that he was there. And other people like Sir Walter Raleigh, for example, who was at court and a favorite of the queen but who also fought in the Irish wars. Edmund Spenser, for example, wrote about in The Faerie Queen, he allegorized Raleigh in The Faerie Queen fighting Irish villains.
Sir Walter Raleigh had supported, financed the expedition to Roanoke in the outer banks of North Carolina. So you have parallel colonial scenes as it were. Irish colonization, Munster Plantation's very much a transatlantic phenomenon at this time.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
People like Edmund Spenser, who was not just a poet but also an administrator. Most of his poetry could be assumed to have been written in Ireland or at the time that he was there. And other people like Sir Walter Raleigh, for example, who was at court and a favorite of the queen but who also fought in the Irish wars. Edmund Spenser, for example, wrote about in The Faerie Queen, he allegorized Raleigh in The Faerie Queen fighting Irish villains.
Sir Walter Raleigh had supported, financed the expedition to Roanoke in the outer banks of North Carolina. So you have parallel colonial scenes as it were. Irish colonization, Munster Plantation's very much a transatlantic phenomenon at this time.
[MUSIC PLAYING]