 This control was further consolidated during the wars and conflicts of the 17th century , which witnessed English and Scottish colonisation in the <unk> of Ireland , the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and the <unk> War . Irish losses during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms ( which , in Ireland , included the Irish Confederacy and the <unk> conquest of Ireland ) are estimated to include 20 @,@ 000 battlefield casualties . 200 @,@ 000 civilians are estimated to have died as a result of a combination of war @-@ related famine , displacement , guerrilla activity and pestilence over the duration of the war . A further 50 @,@ 000 were sent into indentured servitude in the West Indies . Some historians estimate that as much as half of the pre @-@ war population of Ireland may have died as a result of the conflict . 
