Editing Kingdom of Ireland (section)

===Stuart Ireland===
{{Main|History of Ireland (1536–1691)}}
{{Further|Irish Confederate Wars|Cromwellian conquest of Ireland}}

In 1603 James VI [[King of Scots]] became [[James VI and I|James I of England and Ireland]], uniting the Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland in a [[personal union]]. James established the [[Plantation of Ulster]] in 1606, the largest of all English and Scottish plantations in Ireland. It had a lasting legacy; into the 20th century, most of Ulster had a [[Ulster Protestants|Protestant]] and [[Ulster unionism|Pro-Union]] majority in its population.{{sfn|Stewart|1989|p=38}}

The political order of the kingdom was interrupted by the [[Wars of the Three Kingdoms]] starting in 1639. During the subsequent [[Interregnum (England)|interregnum]] period, England, Scotland and Ireland were ruled as a republic until 1660. This period saw the rise of the loyalist [[Irish Catholic Confederation]] within the kingdom and, from 1653, the creation of the republican [[Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland]]. The kingdom's order was restored 1660 with [[Restoration (Ireland)|the restoration]] of [[Charles II of England|Charles II]]. Without any public dissent, Charles's reign was backdated to his father's execution in 1649.