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There was an outpouring of loyal sentiment across these islands when King Charles II died suddenly in February 1685. He was succeeded by his brother, who reigned as King James II.

James was a Roman Catholic but was widely popular among the general Protestant population in Britain at the time of his accession.

In Ireland, James was naturally hailed by Roman Catholics, but many Anglican Protestants hoped that he would guarantee the finely-balanced constitutional, religious and land settlements. 

James’s clumsy actions over the next three years led to a widespread fear that he meant to introduce the twin evils of what the poet Andrew Marvell decried as ‘popery and arbitrary government’. This paved the way for a Dutch invasion of England in 1688 and several years of brutal warfare in Ireland.

Citation:
On the Sacred Memory of our Late Sovereign (Dublin, 1685).,
Marsh's Library Exhibits,
accessed December 6, 2025,
https://www.marshlibrary.ie/digi/items/show/472