Did we all know Ireland is overthrowing a king today?

Ireland is to overthrow King James II, today - over 300 years after his death.

In what is likely to be one of the more peaceful overthrowings of a monarch, an order from 1685 proclaiming James to be King of Ireland is being abolished in the Dáil later today.

King James was the last Catholic King of Ireland - he ruled for three years until he was overthrown by William of Orange in the Glorious Revolution. As well as being King of Ireland and England, he ruled Scotland as James VII. He died in 1701.

Look how fancy he was.

Portrait by Sir Godfrey Kneller. Pic via Wiki Commons

A separate order from 1689, declaring William and his wife Mary as the rulers of Ireland, is also among the 5,782 orders being revoked as part of the latest overhaul of ancient and obsolete law.

Other orders being revoked include a ban on being drunk and swearing on Sundays as well as:

- A Proclamation of 1817 reserving oatmeal and potatoes for consumption by the "lower orders of people"

-An Order of 1801 providing for a general fast and thanksgiving in England and Ireland

-An Order of 1815 providing that a prayer of thanksgiving be offered for the victory at the Battle of Waterloo

-A Proclamation of 1665 appointing the first Wednesday of every month as a day of fasting and humiliation on account of the bubonic plague in London

Did we know we were supposed to be doing all that fasting? Oops.

The orders are being abolished under the Statute Law Repeal Bill, which will begin its journey through the Dáil today.

So it should only take another 325 years until it''''''''s through.

READ MORE: 50 everyday phrases coined by William Shakespeare

HT: breakingnews.ie