See Plantations of Ireland
From 1579 to late 1580, Raleigh took part in the suppression of the Desmond Rebellions. He was present at the siege of Smerwick, where he led the party that beheaded some 600 Spanish and Italian soldiers.[15][16] In September 1584, Queen Elizabeth I had the land surveyed to be divided amongst her "Undertakers"(People she appointed to undertake supervision of colonization of the region) to colonize.[17][18]
In 1585, Raleigh received 40,000 acres (16,000 ha) (approximately 0.2% of Ireland) in the Munster Plantation, including the coastal walled town of Youghal and, further up the Blackwater River, the village of Lismore.[17][18]
Raleigh made the town of Youghal in Ireland his occasional home during his 17 years as an Irish landlord, frequently being domiciled at Killua Castle, Clonmellon, County Westmeath. He was mayor there from 1588 to 1589.[18] Raleigh encouraged veterans of the earlier attempts of the Roanoke Colony settle in Ireland, including Thomas Hariot and John White from the 1585 trip. (He was the governor of the 1587 trip, but returned with the delivery ship to acquire additional supplies.) Raleigh is credited with introducing potatoes to England and Ireland.[11] Potatoes would in time have an outsized role in Irish farming and culture. A potato crop failure in the 1800s would lead to the Great Famine.
Amongst Raleigh's acquaintances in Munster was another Englishman who had been granted land in the Irish colonies, poet Edmund Spenser.[17][18] Raleigh's management of his Irish estates ran into difficulties which contributed to a decline in his fortunes. In 1602, he sold the lands to Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork, who subsequently prospered under kings James I and Charles I.[19]
