Forfeiture Claims
Archived: 14 October 2026
In 1700, the Act of Resumption required claimants to register interests in forfeited Irish estates at Chichester House, Dublin, producing over 3,000 claims involving families, creditors, tenants and purchasers. The process consolidated a post-Williamite Protestant order while exposing Catholic insecurity over land and rights. Ireland remained a separate but subordinate kingdom, governed through London-linked institutions amid confessional restrictions and commercial controls, notably woollen export limits. Agricultural life, regional trade and Dublin's growth continued under unequal conditions. Intellectual activity included Edward Lhuyd's antiquarian work, Ulster printing and George Berkeley's Trinity admission. Paperwork, property, religion and allegiance defined this unsettled post-war society.
