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The Confederate Oath of Association was an oath of allegiance made by Irish Confederate Catholics during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms (1638–53).
Background
Its roots lay in the wider Wars of Religion at the time, the recent Tudor conquest saw the status of much of the Hiberno-Norman and Gaelic Irish gentry challenged, some were not fully assimilated into the nobility of the new Kingdom of Ireland. Following this Plantations, especially by the Scottish in Ulster also saw the seizure of much land to the dismay of the Irish — religious differences were an issue, the Irish remained mostly Catholic, incomers were either Presbyterian, Anglican or Puritan. During 1641 there was an open attempt by the Irish Catholic gentry to reconquer and seize power.
Their oath was drafted at a synod at Kilkenny in May 1642. It emphasised the Confederates' loyalty to the monarchy, their unity, their commitment to protect each other's property rights and their desire for equality of religious practises. It remained current until the end of the wars in 1653.
Although not a complete success, the Confederates as they would later be known established four strongholds across the island — around Ulster under Phelim O'Neill, around The Pale under Thomas Preston, 1st Viscount Tara, in the south east under Richard Butler, 3rd Viscount Mountgarret and in the south west under Donagh MacCarthy, Viscount Muskerry. Following this the Scottish Covenanters drove O'Neill's forced out from Ulster, while English Royalists took care of the Pale. In response the Irish with the areas that they still held proclaimed a Confederate Ireland with its capital at Kilkenny; a constitution was drawn up by lawyer Patrick D'Arcy in consultation with a committee of noblemen, clergy and gentry — including this oath of allegiance. The Confederates accepted Charles I of the House of Stuart as their sovereign, however they wished to secure full rights for Catholics in Ireland, toleration of the Catholic religion and governance by its own local aristocracy.