The Early Years of Irish Plantation

In 1570, the pope decided to excommunicate Elizabeth for her support of Protestant reforms. Increasingly, Catholic Ireland was seen as a problem because it could be used as a base to overthrow Elizabeth. Sir Thomas Smith came forward and asked Elizabeth for permission to establish his own plantation in Northern Ireland. In November of 1571, Elizabeth gave him permission to settle 360,000 acres in Ulster. But after struggling to survive for about a year, Smith's son was attacked and killed.