ABSTRACT
This chapter reflects on the deep consequences that the surrender at Limerick in 1691 had for the Irish Mission. The tolerant policies implemented by William III were a stimulus for the missionary practice. By 1692, the number of viatica was at an all-time high. This demonstrates the direct link between political events in England and Ireland and the missionary structure. Despite the irregular output of missionaries and parliamentary attempts to have the regular clergy expelled from Ireland, the Mission continued working unhampered. Internecine strife persisted, with the various religions’ orders struggling to take control over the Mission, and many would-be missionaries were often compelled to seek alternative sources of funding. The Irish Mission was to undergo a radical change in the 1690s, when the terms ‘Irish Mission’ and ‘Northern Mission’ became interchangeable. These reflections about the scope of the Mission stress contemporary perceptions about the geographic North and the limitation of the missionary activity to the British Isles.
