The article highlights the paradox of limited religious latitude within a kingdom still structured by conquest, Protestant landownership and military authority. Plunkett’s synods rebuilt Catholic discipline while carefully affirming civil loyalty, and his mediation with Tyrone tories shows how church leadership could become useful to the state. This contrasts intriguingly with Penn’s defence of conscience alongside his role as an improving landlord, suggesting that tolerance and power operated unevenly. To what extent should Berkeley’s policy be understood as genuine practical accommodation, rather than a strategy that used selected religious leaders to stabilise an unequal Restoration settlement for Ireland’s diverse communities?