The Protectorate the initiative of General George Monck. The Protectorate The Protectorate was the period during the Commonwealth (or, to monarchists, the Interregnum) when England and Wales, Ireland and Scotland were governed by a Lord Protector as a republic. The Protectorate began in 1653 when, following the dissolution of the Rump Parliament and then Barebone's Parliament, Oliver Cromwell was appointed Lord Protector of the Commonwealth under the terms of the Instrument of Government. In 1659 the Protectorate Parliament was dissolved by the Committee of Safety as Richard Cromwell, who had succeeded his father as Lord Protector, was unable to keep control of
Charles Porter (Lord Chancellor of Ireland) the Government. Porter appears to have been the only member of the Dublin administration in whom the King confided, which suggests that James initially trusted him. However Porter strongly objected to the policy of wholesale replacement of Protestant office-holders by Catholics, and this rapidly undermined his credit with James II. Porter quarreled violently with the Duke of Tyrconnel, the effective leader of the Irish Catholics, and soon to be Lord Deputy of Ireland. Tyrconnel, true to his nickname of "Lying Dick Talbot", (he was not related to Charles), falsely accused him taking bribes, and he was dismissed from office early