ABSTRACT
Ireland, a part of the multiple kingdoms of the English monarchs in the early modern period, was a country deeply divided by the religious strife of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. After the Protestant Reformation had been introduced in England, the English lord deputies (or viceroys) in Ireland tried to introduce Protestantism there as well. However, they did not succeed in their attempt at a state-sponsored Reformation. A majority of the Gaelic Irish and the Old English (descendants of medieval English settlers) defied all attempts by the state to convert them to Protestantism and staunchly adhered to the Catholic religion. This caused conflict in many areas, but especially in Dublin where the two religions clashed in a small urban space.
