Henry VIII, King of England Becomes King of Ireland

The year 1541 proved an eventful one for Henry VIII of England, by then in the latter part of a reign that had transformed the English church and state. Earlier, in February 1542 by the modern calendar, his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, was beheaded on charges of adultery, following accusations of misconduct that had shaken the king and his court.

In June 1541 the Irish Parliament passed the Crown of Ireland Act, which elevated Henry from Lord of Ireland—a title held by English monarchs since the medieval period—to King of Ireland. The change reflected Henry's break with the papacy, since the older lordship had rested on a grant traditionally attributed to papal authority. Asserting a royal title placed the English crown's claim to Ireland on a new and independent footing.

Henry's assumption of the Irish kingship inaugurated a policy of bringing Gaelic and Anglo-Irish lords under closer royal control, partly through a program of surrender and regrant by which chieftains acknowledged the king and received their lands back as crown tenants. The new royal title shaped the constitutional relationship between England and Ireland for centuries and marked a significant step in the extension of English authority across the island.