You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly. You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
alternatehistory.com
The challenge for this thread is to have England conquer Ireland earlier than our timeline's Tudor conquest of Ireland. During one of the semi-regular Protestant Ireland threads, a firm crowd favourite alongside its sister Keep Ireland In The UK threads, MikeStone8 made the very good point that by the time the Tudor conquest of Ireland was completed by James I the Counter-Reformation was in full swing with the Jesuits able to argue the Protestants on equal terms. So I'm looking for some way for England to reassert central authority by 1520 so as to give them some time before Henry VIII introduces the Acts of Supremacy in 1534.
Looking at things two of the major impediments to the English monarchs going off adventuring in Ireland are the Hundred Years' War that ran from 1337 to 1453 and then the follow-on War of the Roses that started just a couple of years later in 1455 and went on until 1487 which effectively blocks out a century and a half. Taking the creation of the Lordship of Ireland and the Synod of Cashel as a logical starting point that leaves between 1172 and 1337 as the first window of opportunity and between 1487 and 1520 as our second. That's roughly 165 years and 35 years respectively to work with. The earlier window does seem to be easier since it's larger and IIRC the English controlled more of Ireland before losing authority over a lot of it except the Pale. I'm still trying to nail down some decent possibilities so any suggestions would be appreciated. In the later window the Yorkist rebellion with Lambert Simnel seems like a good opportunity, perhaps have Henry VII be much less forgiving of Earl of Kildare and decide that Ireland has been causing enough trouble to put a final stop to it. Anyone got any good ideas?