Tyrconnell’s New Charters
Tyrconnell’s appointment as lord deputy was recorded on 8 January 1687, replacing the Protestant lord lieutenant, Henry Hyde, second earl of Clarendon. He was sworn into office in February. The distinction mattered: Tyrconnell held the practical powers of chief governor but the deliberately lesser title of lord deputy signalled James II’s caution. The king wanted Catholic advancement, but did not wish to provoke Protestant subjects unnecessarily or to commit himself immediately to a wholesale revision of the land settlement.