Protestant Ascendancy

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The Protestant Ascendancy (Irish: An Chinsealacht Phrotastúnach; also known as the Ascendancy) was the sociopolitical and economic domination of Ireland between the 17th and early 20th centuries by a small Anglo-Irish ruling class, whose members consisted of aristocrats, landowners, barristers, politicians, clergymen, military officers and prominent professions, which were all by practice and law closed to Catholics and Presbyterians. They were either members of the Church of Ireland or the Church of England and wielded a disproportionate amount of social, cultural and political influence in Ireland. The Ascendancy existed as a result of British rule in Ireland, as land confiscated from the Irish Catholic aristocracy was awarded by the Crown to Protestant settlers from Great Britain. During the Tudor conquest of Ireland, land owned by Irish nobles was gradually confiscated by the Crown over several decades. These lands were sold to colonists from Great Britain as part of the plantations...

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