The 1641 Depositions are one of the most important resources for 17th century historical research in Ireland, and particularly useful in genealogical terms for those with Protestant ancestry in Ulster. Comprised of 19,010 pages within 31 volumes at the Manuscripts and Archives Research Department at Trinity College Dublin (catalogued under MSS 809-841), the depositions contain some 8000 witness statements concerning the 1641 Irish rebellion by the Catholic Irish and Old English inhabitants of Ireland. In addition, they also provide first-hand accounts of some of the equally bloody reprisals carried out in its immediate aftermath by Protestants.

Following the Flight of the Earls in 1607, when Irish Catholic nobles fled to Europe in the aftermath of the Nine Years War, a series of plantations was commenced in Ulster by James VI/I with the aim of introducing loyal Protestant Scots and Englishmen in a bid to pacify the area. The scheme was based on an earlier plantation initiative carried out by James’s predecessor, Elizabeth I, in Munster. The early settlers entrenched themselves in fortified houses on lands granted to them by the Crown in counties Tyrconnell (Donegal), Tyrone, Fermanagh, Cavan, Coleraine (Londonderry) and Armagh, where they soon established small villages and townships.

Counties Antrim and Down were excluded from the Plantation scheme, with settlements already established there in 1607 by Scottish nobles Hamilton and Montgomery, and with a large body of Scottish Catholics already resident in the north of Antrim under the protection of the MacDonell clan.

The sudden influx of settlers was resented by the dispossessed native Catholic Irish, but it would take political troubles in Britain a few decades later to create the opportunity to retaliate. Following Charles I’s attempts to impose the Anglican Church on Scotland in the 1630s, many Scots Presbyterians had returned to their homeland to prepare to defend their religious liberty. To the Scots, the episcopal Anglican religion was theologically far too close to Catholicism, which they had abolished in the Reformation of 1560. This struggle, which became known as the Bishops’ Wars, subsequently triggered civil wars in both Ireland and England.

To tackle the Scots, Charles had raised a Catholic Irish army in 1639 with the intention of invading Scotland. At the same time, two Ulster-based Gaelic Irish landowners, Phelim O’Neill and Rory O’More, plotted to seize control of the Irish parliament in Dublin in support of the king, in return for religious toleration of their Catholicism – apparent confirmation to the Scots, and the English, that Charles was moving towards implementing Catholicism in his three kingdoms.

Rebellion breaks out
On 23 October 1641, a full blown rebellion against the English settlers broke out in Ulster, soon escalating to an attack on Scottish settlers, and across the length and breadth of Ireland. During the course of the rebellion, some 4000 Protestants were slaughtered and a further 8000 forced to flee from the island back to Britain, or south towards Dublin. Events had slipped well beyond the control of its instigators, who had hoped to seize control of the country peacefully.

In Ulster, the attacks were particularly brutal, although losses were soon exaggerated by English Parliamentarians, who claimed some 200,000 planters had been massacred there. When a Scottish Covenanter Army arrived in 1642, Protestant reprisals were equally brutal towards the Catholic Irish population.

The 1641 Depositions
The 1641 Depositions held at Trinity College were compiled in two main phases. The first were recorded through a series of commissions under eight Church of Ireland clergymen in late 1641 and throughout 1642. This was followed by a subsequent commission of enquiry in 1652 to investigate atrocities after the October 1641 rebellion, with evidence gathered against many of those responsible who were subsequently tried, imprisoned and, in some cases, banished or executed.

Eleven of the volumes held in Dublin concern the province of Leinster; there are ten for Munster, eight for Ulster and two for Connacht. All of these have now been digitised by Dublin-based Eneclann (www.eneclann.ie) and placed online at http://1641.tcd.ie, as part of a major collaboration between Trinity College Dublin and the Universities of Aberdeen and Cambridge.

As witness statements to the atrocities carried out during the rebellion and its aftermath, the depositions spare very little detail.

Perhaps the most well-known incident of the entire period was the massacre of some 80 Protestant men, women and children in Portadown.

The account of Elizabeth Price notes that they had been driven “off the bridge into the water and then and there instantly and most barbarously drowned the most of them. And those that could not swim and came to the shore they knocked on the head, and so after drowned them, or else they shot them to death in the water”. Price claimed to have been kept alive in order that the rebels might find some money she was believed to be hiding, but she in turn claimed that her feet were burned and that she was whipped.

Several accounts recall how settlers were burned out of their homes, shot on site, raped, hanged, and more. There are 16 main categories of accounts recorded. These are cases of apostasy (renunciation of faith), arson, assault, captivity, death by privation (starvation), desecration of religious property, killing, military action, multiple killing (such as the massacres at Portadown, Islandmagee and Belturbett), rape, robbery, stripping of clothes, signs and wonders (natural phenomena, and presumed supernatural phenomena such as miracles and apparitions), words (quotes attributed to the rebels), supporting statements, and succour (giving support to Protestant refugees). Additional categories include alleged cases of witchcraft, enforced labour, and even cannibalism. Although the majority of statements were given by Protestants, some Catholic witnesses were also interviewed.

Snapshot of Irish life
In addition to the actions of the rebellion, the depositions also paint an extraordinarily detailed picture of life in Ireland at that time, particularly within the planted settlements in Ulster. They describe in great detail how some of the settlements were constituted, how their lands were transacted or enclosed, how buildings such as schools and mansions were erected, and more. They also note some of the industrial and trade based activities under way at a local level. The level of detail makes them essential reading for areas where your ancestors resided, even if they are not specifically mentioned by name; but for many researchers they can be especially useful when ancestors are named, often describing relationships with other extended members of the family. The online presentation of the depositions allows you to search for accounts in several ways. You can browse them individually by manuscript number, but if you freely register an account with the site you can also carry out name searches, or perform searches by county. You can view the original images of the depositions and also read transcribed copies. Note that there is no Soundex facility for names, and as names can vary in spelling, you may need to try several variants, eg Smith, Smyth and Smythe, for the same individual.