WI Ireland had adopted Protestantism just like Wales

What if Ireland had adopted Protestantism without much resistance, just as Wales did?
Also, what if the Gaelic rebelions of the 16th and 17th century hadn't happened either, so that the indigenous Gaelic aristocracy had excepted the authority of the English Crown?
 

B-29_Bomber

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What if Ireland had adopted Protestantism without much resistance, just as Wales did?
Also, what if the Gaelic rebelions of the 16th and 17th century hadn't happened either, so that the indigenous Gaelic aristocracy had excepted the authority of the English Crown?

What you have to understand is that the English weren't exactly good overlords and generally preferred to replace the native aristocracy with a Anglo one.
 
The Irish are really, really unlikely to convert to Anglicanism. OTOH, Wales had a LOT of Nonconformists (Methodists, etc.). So. If Ireland converted to actual protestantism (probably not Presbyterianism, but something Anabaptist, say), that would be very interesting. Considering that the Presbyterians were disenfranchised, just like the Catholics were for quite a while, the discrimination against the Irish could still continue.

OTOH, Protestantism wants one to be able to read - if only the Bible, so that would have some major effects.

(For an early PoD, have Wycliffe and the Lollards make huge progress in Ireland while England is still RC.)
 
I think an interesting question would be what if Henry VIII wasn't so interested in a divorce. Someone said "In the year 1525, King Henry VIII had a problem with Anne Boleyn's pants -- specifically, whether or not he could legally get in them."
 
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Well for one thing I would expect a Protestant Ireland to be vastly more Gaelic speaking. I also don't find it impossible for them to become Anglicans. But becoming any kind of Protestant demand a early translation of the Bible into Gaelic.

In general I think Norway would be a good model for conversion. Norway had in the Middle Ages a very close connection with Catholism, a major part of their economy build on Nidaros being a important pilgrim destination. The Danish kings pretty much converted the almost entire population through two generation. It simply demanded that the Danish king kept the old clergy (many which was crypto-Catholics), but as they died off, he limited new clergy to priest educated in Copenhagen.
 
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