O’Reilly’s Dublin Synod
The central domestic business remained the restoration land settlement. The Act of Settlement of 1662 and the Act of Explanation of 1665 had tried to reconcile claims produced by more than two decades of rebellion, Confederate government, Cromwellian conquest and royal restoration. In broad terms, Cromwellian soldiers and Adventurers were confirmed in much of the land assigned to them, while limited classes of former proprietors, including some Catholics judged ‘innocent’ of rebellion, could seek restoration. The arrangement did not undo confiscation. It set rules for distributing its consequences.