Note 577 — Chapter XVIII · ON THE CONSTITUTION OF IRELAND (continued 2)

Sir William Petty, in 1672, reckons the inhabitants of Ireland at 1,100,000; of whom 200,000 English, and 100,000 Scots; above half the former being of the established church. Political Anatomy of Ireland, chap. ii. It is sometimes said in modern times, though very erroneously, that the presbyterians form a majority of protestants in Ireland; but their proportion has probably diminished since the beginning of the eighteenth century.