The formation of any early modern state was achieved usually by absorption or by conquest.
England had absorbed Wales and Cornwall by 1543, through parliamentary incorporation, political and cultural integration of the ruling elites, and administrative cohesion across church and state.
But Ireland, despite being declared a dependant kingdom in 1541, was not incorporated into a composite English kingdom. Successive Tudor monarchs failed to effect conquest and achieved little integration beyond Dublin and the surrounding 'Pale'.
The plantations were a British endeavour to overhaul Ireland's Catholic majority.
The limited impact of the Protestant Reformation in Ireland further compounded this failure. In a marked contrast to both Wales and Cornwall, the cultural distinctiveness of Ireland remained threatening.
This uneasy relationship was aggravated by large-scale migration to the plantations, which were a British endeavour to help overhaul Ireland's Catholic majority. Migrant planters came from both Scotland and England in the 17th century.
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