King James II Stuart, Irish elites and patriot parliament

The article is devoted to the insufficiently studied episode of the "Glorious revolution" of 1688-1689, the political fight on Green Island. On the basis of historical sources, the author shows the main directions of Irish policy of last catholic king James II, who tried to fight for his lost British throne, because the majority of population of this catholic country remained loyal to his patron. The author pays special attention to investigating the policy of different ethnic groups represented in Patriot Parliament by their elites. There were two elite groups who supported king James II and tried to influence him: "Old English" aristocracy and "Old Irish" nobility. King's own elite group also consisted of "New English" and "New Scots", but during the "Glorious revolution" the majority of them supported the counterpart of king James II - William Orange. Basing the study on historical sources the author proves that eventually king James II had two groups of supporters: "Old English" and "native Irish". The article is concerned with non-investigated problem of negotiations between king James II and Irish elites and analyses the demands of the last. The author proves that acts and decisions of patriot parliament were the Irish population's answers to the program and suggestions of king James II and that the main concessions were given to "Old English" aristocracy. The demands of "Old Irish" in agrarian issue were mainly ignored. The Patriot Parliament based the foundations of Jacobite political regime in Ireland during the restoration rebellion of 1689-1691.