Displacement and relocation in early modern Ireland: Studies of transplantation settlement in Connacht and Clare

This thesis is a study of three diverse Catholic families that received land during the mid seventeenth-century Cromwellian transplantation to and within Connacht and Clare. Transplantees, while being united in their status as landowning Catholics, were far from a homogenous group. The families who are the focus of this study reflect that diversity. They include the O'Davorens, a minor Gaelic service family from the Burren, Co. Clare, the O'Callaghans, a Gaelic lordly family from Duhallow, Co. Cork, and the Nugents, an Old English family from Delvin, Co. Westmeath, who as barons and later Earls, were members of the titular aristocracy. The manner in which these families dealt with the social and economic consequences of their displacement from their anciently held family holdings, and their relocation to new lands is the primary concern. The material culture, especially the settlement archaeology generated by the families, reflects the way in which they negotiated the changes wrought by the shifting political, social and economic frameworks of early modern Ireland. The approach is interdisciplinary. It weaves the strands of archaeological, historical and geographical sources together to create interpretative narratives that address these issues. Both the patrimonial and transplantation lands allocated to the families are treated, with a focus on domestic architecture, demesne landscapes, funerary monuments and territorial organisation. It is concluded that the transplantation had a significant impact on the landscape of Connacht, resulting in the creation of estates, buildings and settlements