Edward Cavanagh. A comparative reflection on the Honourable Irish Society in law and history by History Hub

'Corporations, property rights, and the imperial constitution:
A comparative reflection on the Honourable Irish Society in law and history' by Edward Cavanagh (Ottawa/Cambridge).

Presentation recorded at the 2015 Tudor and Stuart Ireland Interdisciplinary Conference which took place from August 28-29 2015 in Maynooth University. Podcasting by Real Smart Media.

In 1613, The Irish Society, a joint-stock company made up of several London interests, was by charter incorporated for the purpose of administering Derry and Coleraine, sites earmarked for the settlement of dissenting Presbyterian Scots. From this point on, during the reign of the Irish Society, the Gaelic Irish and the Old English of Ulster were met with Scottish settlers who intended not to return to Scotland but rather to transform into Ulstermen and Ulsterwomen, and to conceive and birth the same. Such is the framework of the well-known history of settler colonialism in Northern Ireland, which this paper has no want to contradict. Rather, I hope here to encourage a discussion about the comparative nature of Northern Irish legal history within a broad imperial framework by analysing the activity of corporations. Which companies are comparable to The Irish Society? Which others are resistant to comparison? Reflecting on a global investigation into how land titles were created and conferred to corporate entities, and what these episodes tell us about the blurry lines between private international law and public international law in the period between 1590 and 1930, this paper will discuss what makes The Irish Society universal and what makes it unique.

The Tudor and Stuart Ireland conference was generously supported by UCD School of History, UCD Research, Marsh's Library, Graduate Studies Office at Maynooth University, the Department of History at Maynooth University and the Irish Research Council (New Foundations Award).