Clergy Registration
Archived: 13 October 2026
In 1704, Queen Anne’s Irish parliament enacted measures reinforcing Protestant political supremacy after the Williamite wars. The Popish Clergy Register required Catholic secular priests to register, provide sureties and remain locally confined, while excluding new clergy and threatening noncompliance with punishment. Its companion Popery Act restricted Catholic inheritance, education, conversion, office holding and family autonomy, though implementation varied. Parliament simultaneously encouraged Protestant immigrants, notably Huguenots, through selective naturalisation. Other statutes established Dublin’s coercive workhouse system and regulated credit, excise and livestock trade. These measures classified clergy, heirs, migrants and poor people, extending state supervision into worship, households, markets and streets.
