ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the period between Clarendon's dismissal and the cancellation of the second Declaration of Indulgence, when the so-called Cabal dominated English politics, for signs of change in Anglo-Irish policy resulting in political gains for Irish Catholics. The new viceroy, whose wife was a Catholic, was a supporter of religious toleration and was therefore not only acceptable to the Cabal but also satisfied the king's secret treaty requirements. The dominance of the so-called 'Cabal' or 'Somerset Cabal', the king's pro-French policy and the Dublin administration of Berkeley certainly placed the Catholic interest, and Peter Talbot and his family in particular, in considerable favour. By the end of 1667 there were signs that at least one major Anglo-Irish politician was adjusting his position. The Catholic 'nominees' from the Act of Explanation including Richard Nugent, Earl of Westmeath, and Francis Bermingham, Lord Athenry, who had been trying in vain to pressurize Ormond and the king for satisfaction, acquired an unlikely advocate.
