Masshouse Resistance
Archived: 14 October 2026
In 1679, amid the Popish Plot scare, Ormond's Irish administration intensified measures against Catholic worship, clergy and suspected disorder. Proclamations targeted bishops, Jesuits, masshouses and tories, linking religious nonconformity with threats to royal authority. Officers entering the Merchants' Quay masshouse met resistance, demonstrating both continuing Catholic worship and contested enforcement. A public Protestant fast nationalised fears of conspiracy. Catholic leaders, including Peter Talbot and Oliver Plunkett, faced confinement; Plunkett's December arrest made him the scare's principal Irish target. Authorities also guarded against Scottish unrest, pursued outlaws, regulated revenue and tobacco, and sponsored rebuilding projects, combining coercion, administration and Restoration display.
