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
Carrickfergus and Belfast (constituency) Carrickfergus and Belfast (constituency) Carrickfergus and Belfast was a constituency in Ireland, that returned a single Member of Parliament to sit in the House of Commons of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland. It was represented in the three Protectorate Parliaments, between 1654 and 1659. Ireland was united with England and Scotland under a republican government, after the defeat of the Royalists in the English Civil War and related conflicts, which had affected all three kingdoms. Under the Instrument of Government, of 15 December 1653, the Lord Protector and the English Council of State were given power to provide