The Graces (Ireland)

The Graces were a series of reforms sought by Roman Catholics in Ireland in 1628–1634. Since the introduction of the Reformation in Ireland, based on the English model and directed by the English Crown, the rights of the Catholic majority in the Kingdom of Ireland had been curtailed. A number of influential Catholics in the Parliament of Ireland (both Old English and members of the Gaelic nobility of Ireland) sought to redress this during the reign of King Charles I by proposing reforms to allow Catholics loyal to the Crown to play their full role in Irish society, both legally and officially. Although the King was sympathetic, during the time of Thomas Wentworth, who was the Lord Deputy of Ireland from 1632 to 1640, these aims were frustrated. The discontent resulting from the lack of reform played a part in the outbreak of the Irish Rebellion of 1641.