The Penal Laws: How Britain Controlled Ireland Through Oppression, Division, and Fear
Irish History Through the Lens of Rebellion and Resistance
This Work is an Ode to My Ancestors
Every word, every lesson, every story I share is an act of remembrance and resistance—an ode to my ancestors who fought, survived, and built against all odds.
I do this work to honor them. To reclaim what was taken. To ensure that history is told through our lens—not through the distortions of empire, but through the voices of those who lived, resisted, and thrived.
And I am sharing it with you.
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Yesterday, we explored the Irish Rebellion of 1798, a moment when Protestants and Catholics set aside their divisions and fought together for freedom.
But long before the Rebellion, the British understood that a united Irish people were dangerous. And so, they did what all colonial powers do: they used the law to divide, conquer, and suppress.
This is where the Penal Laws of Ireland (1697–1727) come in.
These laws weren’t just rules—they were a caste system, a strategy of social control that ensured British dominance over Ireland for generations.
If they sound familiar, it’s because the same tactics were later used against Black people in the Americas.
Because colonizers don’t innovate. They replicate.
If you have ever wondered how a people can be colonized without shackles, without whips, and without armies on every street corner, the Penal Laws provide the answer: they legislate oppression.
But as history shows us, oppression always breeds resistance.
What Were the Penal Laws?
The Penal Laws were a series of statutes aimed primarily at Catholic Irish people, but they also affected poor Protestant dissenters who didn’t conform to the Church of England.
At their core, these laws were about power. The British knew that a united Ireland—Catholics and Protestants together—could overthrow them. So, they used religion as a weapon of division. This wasn’t just oppression—it was cultural genocide.
How Did the Penal Laws Work?
Land Theft – Catholics could not buy or inherit land. If a Catholic landowner died, his land had to be divided among all sons—unless one converted to Protestantism. If he did, he got everything.
Banning Irish Education – Catholic schools were outlawed, forcing the Irish to rely on hedge schools—secret, illegal gatherings where they could learn their own history.
Criminalizing Catholicism – Mass had to be held in secret, and priests were hunted down like criminals.
No Political Power – Catholics couldn’t vote, hold office, or be part of government.
No Economic Power – They were barred from higher professions like law or medicine.
No Protection Under Law – A Catholic couldn’t testify against a Protestant, meaning landlords and authorities could abuse them with impunity.
These laws were designed to make Irish Catholics powerless, landless, and voiceless.
And they worked—until the Irish fought back.
How the Penal Laws Shaped Irish Resistance
Oppression breeds resistance. And the Irish? We don’t go down without a fight.
Hedge Schools – Secret, underground schools taught Irish children their language, history, and culture, preserving knowledge that Britain tried to erase.
Defiant Priests – Catholic clergy risked execution to deliver mass in hidden locations, ensuring the survival of the faith.
Whiteboys & Secret Societies – Underground groups emerged, burning landlords' estates, resisting evictions, and waging guerrilla warfare against British rule.
Political Organizing – Leaders like Daniel O’Connell and Wolfe Tone fought to dismantle the laws and push for Irish independence.
The Penal Laws didn’t just oppress—they radicalized the Irish.
Every major rebellion that followed—from the 1798 Uprising to the 1916 Easter Rising—was fueled by the anger and resistance these laws created.
Colonization Through Law: The British Blueprint for Oppression
The Penal Laws were not unique to Ireland—they were a test run.
The British perfected the use of the legal system to enforce racial, economic, and religious subjugation in Ireland first, and then exported these strategies across the empire.
The Black Codes in the U.S. mirrored Ireland’s Penal Laws, restricting land ownership, criminalizing literacy, and controlling movement.
Apartheid South Africa used pass laws and racial segregation just as the British did in Ireland.
Indigenous boarding schools in North America were modeled after Ireland’s forced cultural erasure, ensuring generations of lost language and identity.
The British empire was built on legal oppression—and Ireland was the first experiment.
But just as they tried to erase Irish culture, the Irish fought back in ways the empire never expected.
Faith as Resistance: The Hidden Catholic Church
The British knew that to destroy a people, you must take away their culture, their faith, and their sense of belonging.
And so, they outlawed Catholicism.
Priests were executed or exiled.
Churches were seized and repurposed for Protestant worship.
Catholics had to meet in secret, in the dead of night, in hidden locations.
But instead of fading away, Catholicism became stronger.
Mass was held at Mass Rocks, secret outdoor altars hidden in the countryside.
Traveling priests risked execution to baptize, marry, and offer last rites.
Families passed down religious traditions in whispers, ensuring their faith survived.
Every Mass was a defiant act of resistance. Every hidden gathering was proof that oppression could not break them.
The Black-Irish Connection: The Blueprint for Jim Crow
If the Penal Laws sound familiar, that’s because they became the model for another oppressive system: Jim Crow in the United States.
The British empire perfected the art of social control in Ireland before exporting it to their American colonies.
Parallels between the Penal Laws and Jim Crow:
Land Theft
Penal Laws: Catholics were barred from owning land.
Jim Crow: Black Americans were locked out of homeownership through redlining and racist policies.
Banning Education
Penal Laws: Irish were denied access to schools, forcing them into hedge schools.
Jim Crow: Black schools were underfunded or banned outright in many places, forcing Black educators to teach in secret.
Criminalizing Identity
Penal Laws: Catholics couldn’t worship freely, and Irish language/culture was suppressed.
Jim Crow: Black communities were criminalized simply for existing, and African cultural traditions were erased.
No Legal Rights
Penal Laws: Irish couldn’t testify against Protestants, leaving them without protection under law.
Jim Crow: Black Americans were denied legal standing in court, making them vulnerable to lynchings and white violence.
Restricted Voting & Political Power
Penal Laws: Catholics couldn’t vote or hold office.
Jim Crow: Black Americans faced literacy tests, poll taxes, and intimidation to keep them from voting.
The Irish were not enslaved, but they were colonized—and the same empire that built the transatlantic slave trade built the system that crushed Ireland.
This is why Irish and Black liberation intersect. Because we were never meant to be free under empire.
Breaking the Chains: How the Penal Laws Were Dismantled
The Penal Laws lasted for over 100 years—but they were not permanent.
They were fought, resisted, and eventually overthrown through revolution and political pressure.
Catholic Emancipation (1829) – Led by Daniel O’Connell, this ended many of the restrictions on Catholics, marking a major victory for Irish rights.
The 1916 Easter Rising & Irish War of Independence (1919–1921) – These rebellions broke British control over most of Ireland, leading to the creation of the Irish Free State.
Civil Rights Movement in Northern Ireland (1960s–1970s) – Inspired by the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, Irish activists fought against the remaining anti-Catholic discrimination in the North.
And today?
We remember The Penal Laws as a warning:
3 things you must keep at the forefront of your mind:
Oppression is built into law. It is never accidental.
Empires use division as a weapon to keep people fighting each other.
Freedom is never given—it is taken back through resistance.
Why This History Still Matters
We are still living with the consequences of colonization—in Ireland, in the U.S., and across the world.
The same tactics of suppression used by the British in Ireland are still being used today against marginalized people everywhere.
So, the lesson?
History doesn’t just repeat itself—it evolves.
And the only way to break the cycle is to learn from the past and fight for the future.
Because oppression is a system—but so is resistance.
Further Learning: Watch, Read, and Experience
📺 Watch:
The Faith of Our Fathers (Film)
Michael Collins (1996) – The fight to dismantle British rule.
📖 Read:
To Hell or Barbados by Sean O’Callaghan – The exile of the Irish under British rule.
Share this history. Keep the rebellion alive.
Conclusion: Who Were You Before You Were White?
One of the most important questions I ask when offering decolonization counseling:
Who were you before you were white?
Because whiteness, as we know it today, was not always the reality for the Irish. Race, as a construct, is not ancient—it was created, manipulated, and weaponized to serve colonial power.
The Irish were not initially considered "white" in the way we think of it now. In the British hierarchy, they were categorized as an inferior ethnic group—uncivilized, unfit for self-rule, and often depicted in the same grotesque caricatures that would later be used to dehumanize Black people.
Before assimilation into whiteness, the Irish were simply Irish—a people with their own land, language, customs, and identity. A people who fought for centuries against colonial oppression, who faced mass starvation, land theft, and forced migration.
The Penal Laws were not just about religion—they were about social control. They were an early blueprint for racial caste systems like Jim Crow in the U.S., and they functioned by dividing people, stripping them of power, and offering them one way out: assimilation.
What did becoming white cost?
It cost language—Irish was suppressed, and English was enforced.
It cost culture—traditional Irish practices, clothing, and beliefs were erased or mocked.
It cost solidarity—many Irish immigrants, particularly in the U.S., were given a path to whiteness by turning against Black people and aligning with white supremacy.
And yet, before all of this, the Irish and African struggles were deeply connected. Both were colonized, displaced, and brutalized by the same empire. Both found ways to resist through music, food, and underground networks of survival.
This is why I ask, who were you before you were white? Because before race became a global hierarchy, people knew who they were based on their land, their culture, and their communities. And in reclaiming that knowledge, there is power.
So, if you are of Irish descent, I ask you:
Do you know your history?
Do you know who your people were before empire redefined them?
And what would it mean to reconnect to that legacy—not as whiteness, but as resistance?
Because empire always wants you to forget. But history? History is waiting for you to remember. My first assignment I give to those seeking to reconnect is food and music, so I offer this to you during this Irish History month.
Music & Food: The Culture That Sustained Resistance
Oppression may have shaped Ireland’s history, but resistance, music, and food have always been our answer to it. Even in the darkest times under the Penal Laws, the Irish found ways to keep our traditions alive.
Rebel Songs: The Soundtrack of Resistance
Music has always been an act of defiance. When Britain tried to erase Irish identity, our songs became weapons—telling the stories of oppression, rebellion, and resilience.
🎵 "Óró, Sé do Bheatha ‘Bhaile" – An Irish folk song that dates back to the 16th century but became a rallying cry during the Irish War of Independence. Originally about pirates, it was later adapted to celebrate Irish resistance.
🎵 "Come Out Ye Black and Tans" – A fiery song challenging the legacy of British forces in Ireland, originally directed at Irish people who fought for the empire.
🎵 "A Nation Once Again" – An anthem for Irish unity and independence, calling for a free Ireland after centuries of British rule.
Food: Resistance on a Plate
Under the Penal Laws, Irish Catholics were stripped of land, meaning they had to survive on whatever small plots they could farm. This is where the reliance on the potato began—it was one of the few crops that could sustain families on very little land.
Here are a few traditional Irish dishes that were born from resilience and survival:
Boxty (Irish Potato Pancakes) – A staple food that required only grated potatoes, flour, salt, and water—simple, filling, and made from whatever was available.
Colcannon – Mashed potatoes with cabbage or kale, often made in poor households because both ingredients were easy to grow and packed with nutrition.
Soda Bread – With wheat restricted and yeast difficult to access, Irish people adapted by making bread with baking soda instead of yeast, creating a dense, hearty bread that became a staple.
Coddle – A dish from Dublin made of sausages, bacon, onions, and potatoes—essentially a stew of scraps, showing how the Irish made the most of what little they had.
Irish Root Vegetable Stew – Without access to high-quality meats, people often made thick stews with turnips, carrots, and whatever small cuts of meat they could find.
Try This: Make a pot of Colcannon or Soda Bread while listening to the rebel songs above. Cooking and music are both ways to honor our ancestors who fought for survival.
Final Reflection: Resistance is in Our Bones
The Penal Laws were meant to erase Irish identity—but instead, they solidified it.
We kept our stories alive through song.
We kept our culture alive through food.
We kept our history alive through rebellion.
And we still do.
Coming Up Next: The Magdalen Laundries – A Legacy of State Violence Against Women
Tomorrow, we turn our attention to The Magdalen Laundries, a system of forced labor, abuse, and secrecy that lasted well into the 20th century.
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In Solidarity and Liberation,
Desireé B. Stephens CPS-P
Educator | Counselor | Community Builder
Founder, Make Shi(f)t Happen
I have always enjoyed German food, music, folk art, and the like, but never explored Germany’s history and what the Nazi era says about my ancestors. I was a toddler while my dad served in the U.S. army during WW2. I realize now that nobody in our big extended family ever talked about Nazi Germany!
Thank you for this and this whole series! I'm still processing through so many thoughts and feelings which has been so confusing (thanks white supremacy culture) but this had been resonating so deeply. My goodness, thank you.
If I may make a song suggestion, it's not Irish per se but a moving song about Irish resistance to colonialism and oppression. I certainly find it very moving and powerful.
https://www.last.fm/music/David+Rovics/_/St.+Patrick+Battalion