Orders made and established by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and the rest of the general Assembly of the Kingdom of Ireland, met at the City of Kilkenny, the four & twentieth day of October Anno Domini 1642. and in the 18. year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord King Charles, by the Grace of God King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland etc.  
INPRIMIS, that the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland, shall have & enjoy its privileges & immunities according to the Great Charter, enacted, or declared within the Realm of England, in the ninth year of the reign of King Henry the third, sometimes King of England, and Lord of Ireland, and afterwards enacted, and confirmed in this Realm of Ireland; and that the common Law of England, and all the Statutes of force in this Kingdom, which are not against the Catholic Roman Religion, or the liberty of the Natives, and other subjects of this Kingdom, shallbe observed throughout the whole Kingdom: and that all proceed in Civil, or Criminal causes shallbe according to the said Laws.  
2. Item, that all, and every person and persons within this Realm shall bear faith and true Allegiance unto our said Sovereign Lord King Charles, by the grace of God King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, his Heirs and lawful Successors; & shall vphould and maintain his and their rights, and lawful prerogatives, with the uttermost skill, & power of every such person and persons, against all manner of persons whatsoever.  
3. Item, that the Common Laws of England and Ireland, and the said Statute called the Great Charter, and every clause, branch, and article thereof, and all other Statutes confirming, expounding, or declaring the same, shallbe punctually observed within this Realm (so farforth as the condition of the present times during this war can by possibility give way thereunto,) and after the war is ended, the same to be observed without any limitation, or restriction whatsoever.  
4. Item, For as much as the City of Dublin, the usual and principal seat of sustice of this Kingdom, where the Parliaments, and ordinary Courts were held, and some other places where the Provincial Counsels were sometimes kept, are as yet possessed, & commanded by the malignant Party, who are enemies to God, their King, and all his Majesties well affected subjects; this Assembly is necessitated, during this war, in some formalities and circumstances, to deviate from the proceed prescribed by the said Laws and Statutes, yet nevertheless retaining the substance, and essence thereof, so farforth as the endless malice and cruelty of their Enemies, the said malignant Party, doth permit, who shut up the said places, and all other passages and ways to his Majesty's justice & mercy, from his Majesties well affected subjects of this Kingdom: For the exaltation therefore of the Holy Roman Catholic Church, for the advancement of his Majesty's service, & the preservation of the lives, estates, & liberties of his Majesty's true subjects of this Kingdom, against the injustice murders, massacres, rapes, depredations, robberies, burn, frequent breaches of public faith and quarter, and destruction, daily acted and perpetrated upon his Majesty's said subjects, and advised, contrived, & continually executed by the said malignant Party, some of them managing the Government, and affairs of Estate in Dublin, and in some other parts of this Kingdom, to his Highness' greatest disservice, & complying with their confederates the malignant Party in England, and elsewhere, who as it is manifest to all the world, do complot and practise to dishonour, and destroy his Majesty, his Royal Consort the Queen, their Children, and Monarchicke Government, which is of most dangerous consequence to all the Monarches, and Princes of Christendom: The said Assembly doth order, and establish a Council, by the name of Supreme Council, of the confederate Catholics of Ireland, who are to consist of the number of four and twenty, to be forthwith named by this Assembly, whereof twelve at the least, to be forthwith named, shall reside in this City, or where else within this Kingdom they shall think expedient; and the members of the said Council are to have equal votes, and two parts of three, or more concurring present votes, to conclude; and no fewer to sit in Council then nine, whereof seven at the least are to concur. And of the four and twenty a Precedent shallbe named by this Assembly, who is to be one of the said twelve resident, and in case of his death, absence, or sickness the rest of those who shallbe resident may name a Vice-president of the four and twenty; and this Assembly is forthwith to name a Secretary, and Clerk of the said Council, the Secretary to be of the said four and twenty; and the said Council shall have the powers and preeminences following (uz.) That Lords-generalls', and all other Commanders of Armies, and Civil Magistrates and Officers, in the several Provinces, shall observe their Orders and Decrees, and shall do nothing contrary to their directions, and shall give them speedy advertisement, and account of their proceed and actions, with as much expedition as may be. That the said Council shall have power to order, and determine all such matters, as by this Assembly shallbe left undetermined, and shallbe recommended unto them; and their orders therein to be of force until the next Assembly, and after, until the same be revoked. That the said Council shall have power and Authority to question, and inflict condign punishment upon all Commanders of Armies exempted from the powers of Generals, and upon the Generals themselves, and upon all Governors, Magistrates, and other persons, of what degree or quality soever, and upon any of themselves, in case of delinquency. That the said Council shall have Power & Authority to do, and execute all manner of acts, and things conducing to the advancement of the Catholic Cause, and Good of this Kingdom, and concerning this war as if done by this Assembly; and shall have power to hear, and determine all matters Capital, Criminal, or Civil, excepting the right or Title of Land. That the Generals and other Commanders of Armies, and all Governors and Civil Magistrates, and all other person within this Realm, shall obey the orders and decrees of the said Council, touching the present service. That the said Council shall have for their guard the number of five hundred foot, and two hundred horse, to be equally extracted out of the Armies of the four Provinces.  
5. It is further ordered, and established, that in every Province of this Kingdom, there shallbe a Provincial Council, and in every County a County-Councell, the Provincial Council to be composed of the number of two of each County, and the said Provincial Council shall choose a Precedent of themselves.  
6. That the Provincial Council shall sit four times a year, and oftener if there be cause for it: That they shall have power and authority to review, or reverse the judgements or Decrees of the County-Councells, the party complaining entering security de adiudicaris soluendis: And shall during the troubles, have power to hear, and determine all matters of the Crown, as judges of Oyer, and Terminer, and Goal-delivery were wont to do, so that no Spiritual person be present at the determining of matters of blood. And shall have power to hear and determine all Civil Causes, and to establish recent possessions, so they meddle not with title of Land, other then in case of Dower, or jointures. And the Sheriffs, Provincial Generals, & all Commanders of Armies in case of disobedience, are respectively required to execute their decrees and orders; and in case of debts and accounts great consideration is to be had of the disability of Creditors occasioned by the war.  
7. Item, in every County, there shallbe a County-Councell consisting of the number of one, or two of each Barony, at the election of the County; and where there are no Baronies, the Council of such County to be of the number of twelve; and the said County-Councell, shall have power & authority, in all points as justices of Peace, to hear & determine all matters concerning the office of justice of Peace, & all matters of the Crown happening within every such County, & the delinquent being a Freehoulder, may if he please have his trial in the Province; and to hear and determine debts, trespasses, & personal demands, and to do all things as justices of Peace were accustomed to do; and to restore and establish possessions, taken by force or fraud since these troubles; & likewise to take especial care, that Tenants and Farmers be kept to their Farms where they were used, and be preserved from extortion and oppression; and that Trade, Tradesmen, Manufactories, Agriculture, and Husbandry be maintained, and Markets duly kept.  
8. Item, that in every County there shallbe Coroners, high Sheriffs, high Constables, petty Constables, & Gaolers, who are to do their respective offices as accustomed; the high Sheriff to be confirmed, or nominated by the supreme Council, out of three to be presented by the County-Councell; and the High Sheriff is required to execute the Commands, Orders, & Decrees of the Provincial, and County-Councell.  
9 Item, in Cities, and Towns corporate; justice is to be done, and the Law executed as accustomed.  
10. Item, in every County the high Sheriff shallbe Provost-marshall, and shall have power to execute a Layman not worth five pounds, and none other, for murder, manslaughter, burglary, theft, robbery, or other capital offence: Provided the person to be executed, may have four and twenty hours' time to prepare his soul; and that the supreme Council, or Provincial Council, shall, & may name more Provost-marshalls, as they shall think expedient, qualified with the like authority.  
11. Item, it is further ordered and agreed, that no temporal Government, or jurisdiction shallbe assumed, kept, or exercised within this Kingdom, or within any Province or County thereof, during these troubles, other then as before is expressed, excepting such jurisdiction and Government, as is, or shallbe approved or instituted by this general Assembly, or the supreme Council.  
12. Item, it is further ordered, that whosoever hath entered since the first day of October 1641. or shall hereafter during the continuance of the war in this Kingdom, enter into the Lands, Tenements or Hereditaments of any person, or persons who have been in possession of such Lands, Tenements or Hereditaments, at, or immediately before the said first of October, either by himself or his under tenants, or by receiving of the rents, issues, or profits thereof, shall immediately upon demand restore the said possession to the party, or parties so put out, with such reasonable damages as the County, Provincial, or supreme Council shall think fit: and if the party refuse to restore the said possession, so gained as aforesaid, upon demand of the party so put out, his Heirs, or Assigns made to the said possessor, his servants, or adherents in the premises, or publication of this order within the Parish, where such Land lieth, that upon his, or their denial thereof, or default therein, he, his heirs, and Assigns shall for ever after be debarred and secluded from all and every right, title, interest, or demand which he, or they may make, or pretend to all, or any the said Lands, Tenements or Hereditaments: and if after such denial or default made, the said party, his Heirs or Assigns, shall not immediately restore the possession of the said Lands, Tenements, or Hereditaments so gained, to the party grieved, his Heirs or Assigns; that then he, and they, and his, and their adherents in the Premises, shallbe declared, and proceeded with as enemies. Provided, and so it is meant, that if any of the said parties so put out, be declared a Neuter, or Enemy by the supreme, or Provincial Council, to the general Cause; that then the party who gained the possession as aforesaid, shall give up the possession to such person, or persons as shallbe named either by the said County, Provincial, or supreme Council, to be disposed of towards the maintenance of the general Cause, upon the pain and penalty aforesaid. And as for the Rents, & main Profits of the said Lands, Tenements, and Hereditaments, & all kind of Rents, Goods, or Chattles taken or detained from any Catholic as aforesaid, due satisfaction is to be made for the same, to the parties from whom the same Rents, Goods, or Chattles were, or shallbe taken or detained, since these troubles began, as the Provincial Council, or County-Councell shall respectively order.  
13. Item, it is further ordered and established, for the removal of all Civil disorder and enimity, and to the end all men may bend their thoughts and actions to the common Cause, that all possessions of Lands and Hereditaments shall continue, and remain unto such as have already joined in this union, as they have been for three years past; next before the beginning of these troubles; and that no title of Land shallbe drawn into any debate or question until the next Assembly, other then in case of Mortgages, Leases, and particular estates de facto determined, or determinable by effluxion, or other determination thereof.  
14. Item, for the avoiding of Nationall distinction between the subjects of his Majesty's Dominions, which this Assembly doth utterly detest and abhor, and which ought not to be endured in a well governed Commonwealth: It is ordered, and established, that on pain of the highest Punishment which may be inflicted by authority of this Assembly, that every Roman Catholic as well English, as Welsh, and Scottish, who was of that profession before these troubles, and who will come, and please to reside in this Kingdom, and join in the present union, shallbe preserved, and cherished in his life, goods and estate, by the power and authority, and force if need require it, of all the Catholics of Ireland, as fully and freely, as any Native borne therein, and shallbe acquitted, and eased of one third part in three parts to be divided, of public charges and leuyes raised, or to be raised for the maintenance of this Holy war.  
15. And it is further ordered, and established, that there shallbe no distinction, nor comparison betwixt old Irish, and old or new English, or betwixt septs and families, or betwixt Citizens or Townsmen, and Countrymen joining in this union, on pain of the highest punishment that can be inflicted by any of the Counsels aforesaid, according to the nature and quality of the offence, and division like to springe, & arise from thence.  
16. Item, it is further ordered & established, that all new Converts, borne in any of his Majesty's dominions, or elsewhere (without manifest occasion given) those persons converted to the contrary, and joining in this cause, shallbe accounted as Catholic Natives, to all intents and purposes.  
17. Item, it is further ordered and established, that all Artificers, Artisans, Navigators and Mariners not being denizens, who shall please to reside in this Kingdom, shall during their residence in this kingdom, after such time as they, and their families shallbe here settled, have and enjoy the free liberties and privileges of Natives in all respects.  
18. Item, it is further ordered and established, that whereas, in regard of the present estate, and condition of the Kingdom of England, no Native of this Kingdom, especially if he be a Catholic, or any other Catholic, is there admitted of, or permitted to continue in the Inns of Court; and to the end the laudable laws of England, and Ireland may not die amidst the disasters of the times; that one Inn of Court shallbe erected in such place of this Kingdom, as the supreme Council shall think fit, for the training up of the Gentry of the Kingdom to the knowledge of those Laws.  
19 Item, it is further ordered and established for the advancement of learning, that in every Province of this Kingdom, Free-Schooles shallbe erected and maintained, so many, and in such places, and in such manner and form, as to the Metropolitan, and Ordinary of the Diocese, in the respective Provinces, shallbe thought fit.  
20 Item, it is further ordered and established, that no Lords, Gentlemen, or other persons shall raise, or keep any Companies of soldiers, or troops of horse, but such as shallbe authorized by the supreme Council, Provincial Council, or County-Councell, or Magistrate within their own Corporate Town: and that the Statutes against Cease & Conye or Livery, be duly put, in execution: And that no company, or soldiers whatsoever shallbe paid, or relieved by the County excepting such as are, or shallbe enroled in the Marshals list, and none shallbe billetted but by the Constables.  
21. Item, it is further ordered and established, that Church Lands and Tithes impropriate in the hands of Catholic owners before these troubles and joining in this cause, may be left to them according to their several estates, until the same be disposed of by Parliament; they in the interim answering their rents as accustomed.  
22. Item, it is further ordered and established, that the King's Customs, Rents, Revenues, Arrears, and Duties, and the rents, issues, and profits of Lands, and Hereditaments, and Goods and Charters of Enemies and Newters, which are, or shall be declared by the Provincial or supreme Council, or by the general Assembly, be received and collected, and be disposed for his Majesty's use and service.  
23. Item, it is further ordered & established, that in every County, there be Collectors, and Receivers to be appointed by the County-Councell, and that they be accountable unto the said County-Councell for the same, which County-Councell shallbe accountable to the Provincial Council therein half yearly, and the Provincial Council to the supreme Council yearly, to the end the same may not be concealed, or misapplied.  
24. Item, it is ordered and agreed, that where any Archbishops, Bishops, or other Dignitarie, or any person, or persons whatsoever, hath, or enjoyeth any Lands, Tenements, or Hereditaments, Tithes, or Church-livings, in one County or Province, or hath, or shall keep his, or their Residence in another County or Province, that in all such cases the profits accrueing out of such Lands, Tenements, or Hereditaments, tithes, or Church-livings to the general use, shallbe employed within the said County or Province, where the said Lands, Tenements, and Hereditaments tithes or Church-livings do lie, as by the several County-Councells respectively shallbe thought fit, for the public cause.  
25. Item, it is ordered and established by the said general Assembly, that any woman being a Roman Catholic, and wife to any Protestant, or Catholic, that hath forsaken his house, estate, and wife, and adheres unto the Enemy, that every such wife may enter into her loynture, if any be conveyed unto her, or may recover the thirds of her said husband's estate, as if her said husband were actually dead; and that every such wife shallbe in such condition and capacity to sue, and to be impleaded, as if her said husband had been exiled, or abjured the Realm by judgement of Law, except the Provincial, or supreme Council in particular cases, order the contrary.  
26. Item, it is ordered and established, that the possessions of the Protestant Archbishops, or Bishops, Deans, Dignitaries, and Pastors in the right of their respective Churches, or their Tenants, in the beginning of these troubles, shallbe deemed taken, & construed as the then possessions of the Catholic Archbishops, Deans, Dignitaries, Pastors, and their tenants respectively, to all intents and purposes, and that those possessions are intended within the precedent order for setlement of possessions.  
27. Item, it is ordered and established, that no man being prisoner by authority of any of the Counsels aforesaid, shallbe enlarged without the order of the said Counsels respectively, and that no protection be given to servants, or other men of the Enemies party, without the like order of the chief Commander of the Army, in the several Provinces, or Counties.  
28. Item, that whereas abuses have been committed in some parts of this Kingdom in taking of Arms, Ammunition, or other Merchandizes, from Merchants arrived in Creeks, or Harbours, far from their intended Port, by reason of tempest, or the danger of the Enemy, to the greatest discouragement of the merchant: It is therefore ordered & established, that where any ship, or ships, or other vessel shall come, or arrive in any Harbour, Bay, or Creek within this Kingdom, laden with Arms, Ammunition, or other merchandizes, that in such ease, all those that are, or shallbe in Command in the adjacent Counties respectively, shall protect, and defend the said merchants, their goods, and servants, and shall at the charges of the said merchants, procure carriage for the said goods, and safely convey the same to the said Merchants intended Port, and not to suffer any of the same, under colour of paying for the same, or otherwise to be disposed of, or taken, before the same come unto the intended Port, and be entered into the list of the Commissioners, by the express direction in writing of the said Commissioners: and that any who shall rob, steal, or violently take any of the said goods, contrary to this order, shallbe deemed, and punished as Enemies to the public good of this Kingdom, and suffer death therefore.  
29. That certain Commissioners shallbe appointed in every Port-town, of the Freemen, & Residents therein, by the Provincial, or supreme Council, for the viewing of all the arms, & ammunition that shallbe hereafter imported into this Realm from beyond Seas, and to certify the same to the supreme Council with all speed; and to prevent abuses in the sale, or issuing, or disposing of them.  
30. Item, it is ordered and established, that where Soldiers do run from their Garrisons, or Commanders, unto other Counties, or Provinces, that the Commander, or chief Governor of the said County or Province, upon complaint made thereof, shall send bacl the said fugitive Soldiers to their Commanders, to be dealt with, according to justice.  
31. Item, it is ordered and established, that the debts, and other duties owing to creditors of this union, by Newters, and Enemies, shallbe paid out of the goods, Lands, Tenements, and Hereditaments of the said Newters, and Enemies respectively, before any other public charge be answered thereout.  
32. Item, it is ordered and established, that no Soldier, or other person, without Command from the County-Councell, shall meddle with the Goods, or Lands of Newters, or Enemies.  
33. Item, it is ordered and established, that to prevent the springing up of all Nationall distinctions, the Oath of Association, or Union be taken solemnly, after Confession and receiving of the Sacrament, in the Parish Churches throughout the Kingdom; and the names of all Persons of rank and quality in every parish, who takes the same, be enroled in Parchment, and be returned, signed and sealed by the Parish Priest, to the Ordinary of every Diocese, who is to keep the same in his Treasury, and to certify a copy thereof under seal to the Metropolitan, who is to keep that, and to certify a true copy thereof under his Metropolitan Seal to the Rolls of the Kingdom, where the same is to be enroled.  
Exam. per Richard She: supr. Conc. Cler.  
FINIS.