The article highlights a striking contradiction: Protestant elites could defend Ireland’s legislative dignity against Westminster while supporting a settlement that excluded the Catholic majority from meaningful political security. Molyneux’s argument linked constitutional autonomy to trade and legal appeals, yet the May deadline showed how state power simultaneously weakened Catholic institutional life. This raises questions about whether demands for Irish self-government were primarily principled, economic, or confined by confessional interests. How should we interpret Molyneux’s constitutional challenge alongside the banishment of Catholic clergy: as an early defence of national autonomy, a defence of Protestant privilege, or a mixture still needing evidence?