Page:Confiscation in Irish history.djvu/169

 Finally, Mr. Hardinge, who had specially investigated the question of the forfeitures, and published the results of his labours in a paper read before the Royal Irish Academy in 1866, gives a totally different account of the area held by Catholics and Protestants, respectively, in 1641. He gives figures for each county and province, of which the total per province is as follows:—

Of the forfeited area, 7,701,972 English acres were profitable. This is 2,300,000 acres short of the figures given by Petty as the amount of profitable land held by Catholics in 1641.

It would appear probable, therefore, on the whole, that very few of the Catholic landowners were able to prove a sufficient amount of "innocence"—using the word in its Cromwellian sense—to entitle them to any lands at all in Connaught. Those who did not get such lands lost everything, and either sought their livelihood on the Continent or lingered in want at home expecting the restoration of the King which they fondly hoped would end all their troubles. As I have said, at least six thousand landowners, and probably a