Giovanni Battista Rinuccini - Factionalism in Ireland

Factionalism in Ireland

The Confederate's Supreme Council was dominated by wealthy landed magnates, predominantly of Old English origin, who were anxious to come to a deal with the Stuart monarchy which would guarantee their land ownershp, full civil rights for Catholics, and toleration of Catholicism. However, they were opposed by many within the Confederation, who wanted better terms, including self-government for Ireland, a reversal of the land confiscations of the plantations of Ireland and establishment of Catholicism as the state religion. A particularly sore point in the negotiations with the English Royalists was the insistence of some Irish Catholics on keeping in Catholic hands Protestant churches taken in the war. Rinuccini accepted the assurances of the Supreme Council that such concerns would be addressed in the Duke of Ormonde's peace treaty with the Royalists, negotiated in 1646.

However, when the terms were published, they granted only the private practice of Catholicism. Alleging that he had been deliberately deceived, Rinuccini publicly backed the militant Confederate faction, which included most of the Catholic clergy and Irish military commanders such as Owen Roe O'Neill; on the other side there were the Franciscans Peter Marchant, and later Raymond Caron. In 1646, when the Supreme Council tried to get the Ormonde Peace passed, Rinuccini excommunicated them and helped to get the Treaty voted down in the Confederate General Assembly. The Assembly had the members of the Supreme Council arrested for treason and elected a new Supreme Council.