Ormond’s Forfeit
The Scottish rising had effectively collapsed by the opening months of 1716, but its aftermath sharpened official fears in Ireland. On 1 February the Irish government offered a reward for Ormond’s apprehension. Eight days later it prohibited the enlistment of Catholics in the army. Such a proclamation did not mean that every Catholic man was a suspected rebel, nor that Ireland faced an imminent invasion. It does show, however, that the state connected military security to religious exclusion. Officials were determined that the armed forces in Ireland should be politically dependable at a time when the Stuart cause still had international patrons and Irish sympathisers.