The data presented in this appendix does not represent a comprehensive picture of the number of soldiers who went to Ireland during the early modern period. It is not possible to establish accurately the number of levies that took place during this period, let alone the number of men in each levy and from whence they were drawn. As David Trim has argued, ‘statistics from the period are inherently unreliable’. The historian is confronted by a lack of evidence, contradictory contemporary estimates, exaggeration by government officials and the often impossible task of discovering whether a levy was cancelled before the men left port. Any military statistics from this period can only be tentative and incomplete.

What is presented below is a compilation and rationalisation of the evidence concerning Irish impressments that survives in the State Papers, Irish State Papers and Acts of the Privy Council. This has, where appropriate, been augmented and confirmed by evidence drawn from elsewhere and presented in two tables. Table A2.1 lists the numbers of men requested by the Privy Council for each completed levy. Table A2.2 presents the number of men requested by the Privy Council for each levy that was cancelled before the recruits could be sent to Ireland. In some cases levies were cancelled and then fully recalled at a later date; in these cases the data is included in both tables (these are highlighted in the notes to Table A2.2).