As the 1640s progressed and England plunged into turmoil, Irish war victims fell out of the public eye, at least in print and political discourse. Many, however, continued to wander English roads in search of charity, possibly hoping for a future return to Ireland. by 1643, they were largely left to their own devices as the charitable projects that had mobilized English sympathy and activism in 1641 and 1642 gradually disappeared. Much of this reflected the basic anti-popish motivations behind early responses to the rebellion. Irish war victims might be objects of pity, but as the evidence from the first months of the rebellion clearly illustrates, they served as warnings of the evil intentions and basic cruelty of a papist enemy that might soon target England. When war came to England in 1642, much of the momentum for activism on behalf of the Irish dropped off in favor of mobilization for war at home.

The language of the Act for a Speedy Contribution and Loan presented the collections as part of a relief effort for individuals despoiled in the 1641 rebellion. In reality much of the money collected in English parishes did not reach the hands of those most in need. Parliament sent some funds to Ireland and several hard-pressed communities in England received permission to spend contribution money locally. Much of the charity, however, remained in London where the parliamentary Committee for the Contribution Money used it to assist relatively high-status individuals who had fled the war.