Confederate Ireland refers to the period of Irish self-government between the Rebellion of 1641 and the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland in 1649.

During this time, two-thirds of Ireland is governed by the Irish Catholic Confederation, also known as the "Confederation of Kilkenny" (based in the city of Kilkenny).

The remaining Protestant-controlled enclaves in Ulster, Munster and Leinster are held by armies loyal to the royalists, parliamentarians or Scottish Covenanters during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.

The Confederates fail to defeat the English armies in Ireland in 1642–49 in a conflict known as the Irish Confederate Wars and join a royalist alliance in 1648 against the Rump Parliament.