Ferryquay Gate Closes
Richard Talbot, earl of Tyrconnell, governed Ireland for James II as lord deputy. A Catholic royalist and an energetic political operator, Tyrconnell had spent the previous years remodelling the Irish administration. Catholics were increasingly appointed to offices in the army, law, local government and county administration from which they had long been excluded. In the army, the change was especially conspicuous: Protestant officers and soldiers had been removed or marginalised, while Catholic recruitment and promotion accelerated.