The article raises a contrast between institutions that reinforced hierarchy and those that enabled collective expression. Carteret’s suspension of Wood’s halfpence showed that organised Protestant opposition could obstruct policy, whereas the Presbytery of Antrim institutionalised disagreement over conscience within Presbyterianism. Meanwhile, Dublin’s Grand Lodge demonstrates the growth of voluntary association without proving political influence. Taken together, these episodes suggest that public life in 1725 Ireland was neither controlled from above nor broadly inclusive. How might historians compare the roles of print, religious networks, and fraternal sociability in shaping political awareness, while recognising the continuing exclusions faced by Catholics and Presbyterians?