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The Recusancy referred to those who refused to attend services of the established Church of Ireland. The individuals were known as "recusants". The term, which derives ultimately from the Latin recusare , was first used in England to refer to those who remained within the Roman Catholic Church and did not attend services of the Church of England, with a 1593 statute determining the penalties against "Popish recusants".
The native Irish and the "Old English" , while subject to the English crown, were overwhelmingly opposed to the Anglican and dissenting churches, and the vast majority remained Catholic, which had tragic implications for the later history of Ireland. The Catholics of Ireland suffered the same penalties as recusants in England, which were exacerbated by impatience with the rebellious nature of the Irish, English contempt for a subject race and the desire for Irish land and property.