ABSTRACT
Ireland’s contribution to empire in the period 1692–1770 has been examined thus far in terms of the sustaining of the army both at home and abroad and in the innovative undertaking to build and maintain a countrywide network of barracks. But that contribution would not have been possible without a more immediate and fundamental commitment of money to the public purse for the purposes of covering the expense of the army and barracks. To fully measure that military contribution, it is necessary to assess exactly how much money was spent on that enterprise, what percentage of Ireland’s public funds that expenditure represented, where the money came from in the first place, and the degree of innovation, experimentation and political and public commitment evident therein towards making that financial contribution. This chapter examines these matters in relation to public income and expenditure in general and to taxation in particular.
