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The Age of George III |
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Eighty percent of the population of Ireland, owning one third of the land, were Roman Catholics. All suffered from the Penal laws of 1697-1727. From the reign of Elizabeth I when the Church of England became the Established Church, there had been attempts made to eradicate Catholicism from the British Isles. Under William III this was enshrined in a series of laws that Edmund Burke described as "well-fitted for the oppression, impoverishment and degradation of a people as ever proceeded from the perverted ingenuity of man".
Examples of the Penal Laws
Priests did not officially exist since Anglicanism was the established Church. Priests relied on their congregations for gifts of food and money for their survival, while Anglican clergy had vast estates and few parishioners. Roman Catholics had to pay tithes (one tenth of their income) to the Anglican Church, and often paid rents as well.
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Last modified
12 January, 2016
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