Irish Patriot Party
Encyclopedia
The Irish Patriot Party was the name of a number of different political groupings in Ireland
throughout the 18th century. They were primarily supportive of Whig
concepts of personal liberty combined with an Irish identity that rejected full independence, but advocated strong self-government within the British Empire
. The definition of "patriot" in the 18th century was subtly different from its meaning today, but it was commonly used before the rise of chauvinist popular nationalism in the 19th century.
For historical reasons the Irish Parliament at the time was exclusively Anglican Protestant (Episcopalian). Their main achievement was the Constitution of 1782
, which gave Ireland legislative independence.
" had sat in Dublin before James II
, and briefly obtained de facto legislative independence, while ultimately subject to the English monarchy. The parliament's membership mostly consisted of land-owning Roman Catholic Jacobites
who lost the ensuing Williamite War in 1689-91.
The name was then used from the 1720s to describe Irish supporters of the British whig party, specifically the Patriot faction within it. Swift's
"Drapier's Letters" and earlier works by Molyneaux
and Charles Lucas
are seen as precursors, deploring the undue control exercised by the British establishment over the Irish political system. In contrast with the 1689 parliament, this movement consisted of middle-class Protestants. The appointed senior political and church officials were usually English-born.
The "Money Bill dispute" of 1753-56 arose from the refusal of Henry Boyle
, an MP and Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland, to allow an Irish revenue surplus to be paid over to London. Supported by the Earl of Kildare
and Thomas Carter
, Boyle was dismissed by the viceroy Dorset
, and then appealed to public opinion as a defender of Irish interests. In 1755 the next viceroy
arranged a favourable compromise, and Boyle was re-instated and created Earl of Shannon
.
It was also used to describe Irish allies of the Patriot Whigs of William Pitt the Elder in the 1750s and 1760s. The philosophy was that their legal and trading benefits, and personal freedoms, of being of English origin that derived from Magna Carta
, and more so the Bill of Rights
that arose from the 1688 Revolution
, were largely reduced for those living in Ireland. The Dependency Act of 1719
was considered particularly obnoxious.
In the latter half of the 18th century some influential but relatively small grouping of Irish politicians emerged who called themselves the Irish Patriot Party. This was led in its early years by Henry Flood
who was succeeded by Henry Grattan
, who inspired the party for most of its life.
. In the absence of the regular garrison, they served largely as a bargaining tool for the Irish patriot politicians in their bid to gain greater powers from London, without having to fire a shot in anger. Similar to the American colonists before 1776, they arranged local "non-importation agreements" in 1779, where the signatories undertook not to buy British goods as a form of protest. Their aim was not to achieve full sovereignty
, but complete self-government.
The young Jonah Barrington
recalled the -
In April 1782 Grattan argued against compromise and secured autonomy. The Dublin parliament voted him £100,000 in thanks, of which he accepted £50,000. Fearing a similar secession to the one which had just lost them the Thirteen American colonies
, the British government agreed to their demands. George Washington
had announced, provocatively "Patriots of Ireland, your cause is identical with mine".
Such was the influence of Grattan that the subsequent eighteen years of greater legislative independence were known as Grattan's Parliament, with the odious 1719 Act repealed by the Repeal of Act for Securing Dependence of Ireland Act 1782
. The sympathetic Fox-North Coalition
government in London agreed that the Irish parliament would legislate exclusively for Ireland. Having support from the Irish parliament and the British government, and wanting the fullest constitutional agreement on the new status of Ireland, Grattan also sought and obtained a further Declaratory Act from the Parliament of Great Britain
that was passed on 22 January 1783, which included this formula:
The only remaining constitutional link between the monarchies of Ireland and Britain was the Crown, represented by the viceroy. Grattan's view was that a beneficial link should be maintained with Britain, and compared his policy to Ireland's geographic
situation in a neat formula:
The reformist Patriots struggled in the following years to gain anything approaching a majority on social reform issues in the Irish House of Commons
, though in 1793 another Catholic Relief Act was passed. In 1789 the reformist element formally established the "Irish Whig Party" but soon lost goodwill in London for its views on the Regency crisis.
and to enter Trinity College Dublin as students, but this reform had to be pushed along by London, no doubt to Grattan's embarrassment. Opponents of this reform spoke of the need to protect a "Protestant Ascendancy
". The 1793 Act was based on the British Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791
.
The growth of the radical United Irish movement from 1791 upstaged Grattan by calling for a complete break with Britain and full emancipation for all religions in a new republic. Given its support for France in the War of the First Coalition
, it was outlawed from 1795.
In 1795 the London government sponsored reforms, to head off trouble, by repealing the Hearth tax and funding a Catholic seminary
at Maynooth
. However, earlier in the year it had quickly recalled the new viceroy Lord Fitzwilliam
, who had intended to effect further Catholic reliefs and to appoint Grattan to the administration. The sacking of FitzWilliam and the imposition of martial law
in March 1797 caused Grattan and his supportive group of MPs to withdraw from parliament in May 1797, and by then the civil unrest caused by the army, the militia, the Orange Order, the Defenders
and the United Irishmen had made Ireland ungovernable.
The unsuccessful 1798 rebellion
launched in May 1798 by the republican United Irishmen seriously damaged the Patriot cause. Although most liberal Patriots opposed the rebellion, they became tarnished by association, and support dropped for them. Some Patriot MPs of the 1780s, such as James Napper Tandy
and Lord Edward FitzGerald
, had become United Irish leaders in the 1790s. The Rebellion, which had been launched in co-ordination with a French invasion, provoked the British government of William Pitt
into pushing through the 1800 Act of Union
, merging the parliaments of Ireland and Great Britain into the new "United Kingdom". Naturally the Patriots opposed this in colourful debates in 1799 and 1800.
in 1800, the Irish Parliament was abolished. A few Irish Patriots took up seats in the new unified British House of Commons
in London
, under the notional leadership of Grattan. Within a few years they had become almost entirely submerged within the British Whig Party, with whom they were allied, and disappeared from the political map.
Grattan's advocacy of liberal-minded moderate Irish nationalist self-rule with links to Britain had a resonance over the following century. It was taken up by Daniel O'Connell
's Repeal Association
in the 1830s that intended to repeal the Act of Union; by the Young Ireland
movement in the 1840s; and later by the Irish Parliamentary Party
that campaigned for a restoration of Home Rule
in Ireland. The IPP and its successors dominated the political scene in Ireland for decades until its defeat by the fully separatist Sinn Féin
movement in the 1918 general election.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
throughout the 18th century. They were primarily supportive of Whig
British Whig Party
The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
concepts of personal liberty combined with an Irish identity that rejected full independence, but advocated strong self-government within the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
. The definition of "patriot" in the 18th century was subtly different from its meaning today, but it was commonly used before the rise of chauvinist popular nationalism in the 19th century.
For historical reasons the Irish Parliament at the time was exclusively Anglican Protestant (Episcopalian). Their main achievement was the Constitution of 1782
Constitution of 1782
The Constitution of 1782 is a collective term given to a series of legal changes which freed the Parliament of Ireland, a Medieval parliament consisting of the Irish House of Commons and the Irish House of Lords, of legal restrictions that had been imposed by successive Norman, English, and later,...
, which gave Ireland legislative independence.
Early Irish Patriots
In 1689 a short-lived "Patriot ParliamentPatriot Parliament
The Patriot Parliament is the name given to the session of the Irish Parliament called by King James II of Ireland during the War of the Two Kings in 1689. The parliament met in one session, from 7 May 1689 to 20 July 1689, and was the only session of the Irish Parliament under King James II.The...
" had sat in Dublin before James II
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
, and briefly obtained de facto legislative independence, while ultimately subject to the English monarchy. The parliament's membership mostly consisted of land-owning Roman Catholic Jacobites
Jacobitism
Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
who lost the ensuing Williamite War in 1689-91.
The name was then used from the 1720s to describe Irish supporters of the British whig party, specifically the Patriot faction within it. Swift's
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...
"Drapier's Letters" and earlier works by Molyneaux
William Molyneux
William Molyneux FRS was an Irish natural philosopher and writer on politics.He was born in Dublin to Samuel Molyneux , lawyer and landowner , and his wife, Anne, née Dowdall. The second of five children, William Molyneux came from a relatively prosperous Anglican background...
and Charles Lucas
Charles Lucas (politician)
Charles Lucas was an Irish apothecary, physician and politician. He sat as Member of Parliament for Dublin City and was known as the "Irish Wilkes" because of his radical views.-Early life:...
are seen as precursors, deploring the undue control exercised by the British establishment over the Irish political system. In contrast with the 1689 parliament, this movement consisted of middle-class Protestants. The appointed senior political and church officials were usually English-born.
The "Money Bill dispute" of 1753-56 arose from the refusal of Henry Boyle
Henry Boyle, 1st Earl of Shannon
Henry Boyle, 1st Earl of Shannon, PC was a prominent Irish politician.Boyle was the second son of Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Boyle , second son of Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery. His mother was Lady Mary O'Brien, daughter of Murrough O'Brien, 1st Earl of Inchiquin...
, an MP and Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland, to allow an Irish revenue surplus to be paid over to London. Supported by the Earl of Kildare
James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster
Lieutenant-General James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster, etc. PC , styled Lord Offaly until 1744 and known as The Earl of Kildare between 1744 and 1761 and as The Marquess of Kildare between 1761 and 1766, was an Irish nobleman, soldier and politician.-Background:Leinster was the son of Robert...
and Thomas Carter
Thomas Carter (1690–1763)
Thomas Carter was a politician, a Member of Parliament, Master of the Rolls, Privy Councillor and Secretary of State for Ireland. He was "an able and intriguing man" - Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford.-Political career:...
, Boyle was dismissed by the viceroy Dorset
Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset
Lionel Cranfield Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset, PC was an English political leader and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He was the son of the 6th Earl of Dorset and 1st Earl of Middlesex and the former Lady Mary Compton, younger daughter of the 3rd Earl of Northampton...
, and then appealed to public opinion as a defender of Irish interests. In 1755 the next viceroy
William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire
William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire, KG, PC , styled Lord Cavendish before 1729 and Marquess of Hartington between 1729 and 1755, was a British Whig statesman who was briefly nominal Prime Minister of Great Britain...
arranged a favourable compromise, and Boyle was re-instated and created Earl of Shannon
Earl of Shannon
Earl of Shannon is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1756 for the prominent Irish politician Henry Boyle, who served as Speaker of the Irish House of Commons and as Chancellor of the Irish Exchequer. He was made Viscount Boyle, of Bandon, and Baron Castle Martyr at the same time,...
.
It was also used to describe Irish allies of the Patriot Whigs of William Pitt the Elder in the 1750s and 1760s. The philosophy was that their legal and trading benefits, and personal freedoms, of being of English origin that derived from Magna Carta
Magna Carta
Magna Carta is an English charter, originally issued in the year 1215 and reissued later in the 13th century in modified versions, which included the most direct challenges to the monarch's authority to date. The charter first passed into law in 1225...
, and more so the Bill of Rights
Bill of rights
A bill of rights is a list of the most important rights of the citizens of a country. The purpose of these bills is to protect those rights against infringement. The term "bill of rights" originates from England, where it referred to the Bill of Rights 1689. Bills of rights may be entrenched or...
that arose from the 1688 Revolution
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
, were largely reduced for those living in Ireland. The Dependency Act of 1719
Dependency of Ireland on Great Britain Act 1719
The Dependency of Ireland on Great Britain Act 1719 was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of Great Britain passed in 1719 ....
was considered particularly obnoxious.
Grattan's Patriots
Henry Flood
Henry Flood , Irish statesman, son of Warden Flood, Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench for Ireland, was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and afterwards at Christ Church, Oxford, where he became proficient in the classics...
who was succeeded by Henry Grattan
Henry Grattan
Henry Grattan was an Irish politician and member of the Irish House of Commons and a campaigner for legislative freedom for the Irish Parliament in the late 18th century. He opposed the Act of Union 1800 that merged the Kingdoms of Ireland and Great Britain.-Early life:Grattan was born at...
, who inspired the party for most of its life.
Limited success
They came to prominence during the American War of Independence when they pushed for legislative independence for Ireland. With the possible threat of invasion by France in 1778, a large militia had been formed known as the Irish VolunteersIrish Volunteers (18th century)
The Irish Volunteers were a militia in late 18th century Ireland. The Volunteers were founded in Belfast in 1778 to defend Ireland from the threat of foreign invasion when regular British soldiers were withdrawn from Ireland to fight across the globe during the American War of Independence...
. In the absence of the regular garrison, they served largely as a bargaining tool for the Irish patriot politicians in their bid to gain greater powers from London, without having to fire a shot in anger. Similar to the American colonists before 1776, they arranged local "non-importation agreements" in 1779, where the signatories undertook not to buy British goods as a form of protest. Their aim was not to achieve full sovereignty
Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...
, but complete self-government.
- They also wanted freer tradeFree tradeUnder a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...
with the outside world, as Irish overseas trade had been greatly restricted and taxed since the 1650s by the Navigation Acts. Merchants had to sell through England and could not trade directly with other countries or even within the British EmpireBritish EmpireThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
. A host of Irish goods were banned from export including wool. Reforming the Navigation Acts in December 1779 was the Patriots' most useful achievement, and fostered a modest economic boom in the 1780s. - While the Patriots and the viceroyLord Lieutenant of IrelandThe Lord Lieutenant of Ireland was the British King's representative and head of the Irish executive during the Lordship of Ireland , the Kingdom of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
-led Irish administration often disagreed strongly on how the country should be governed, they shared a belief that Ireland should have greater self-government. Controls such as Poynings' Law were abolished. - From 1780 the Irish Parliament refused to vote for taxes to support the British Government in and outside Ireland.
The young Jonah Barrington
Jonah Barrington (judge)
Sir Jonah Barrington , was one of no less than sixteen children, six at least, and probably seven were sons of John Barrington, a landowner in County Laois...
recalled the -
- "... military ardour which seized all Ireland, when the whole country had entered into resolutions to free itself for ever from English domination. The entire kingdom took up arms, regiments were formed in every quarter, the highest, the lowest, and the middle orders, all entered the ranks of freedom, and every corporation, whether civil or military, pledged life and fortune to attain and establish Irish independence.
- "My father had raised and commanded two corps - a dragoon regiment called the Cullenagh Rangers, and the Ballyroan Light Infantry. My elder brother commanded the Kilkenny Horse and the Durrow Light Dragoons. The general enthusiasm caught me, and before I well knew what I was about, I found myself a military martinet and a red-hot patriot. Having been a university man, I was also considered to be, of course, a writer, and was accordingly called on to draw up resolutions for volunteer regiments all over the county."
In April 1782 Grattan argued against compromise and secured autonomy. The Dublin parliament voted him £100,000 in thanks, of which he accepted £50,000. Fearing a similar secession to the one which had just lost them the Thirteen American colonies
Thirteen Colonies
The Thirteen Colonies were English and later British colonies established on the Atlantic coast of North America between 1607 and 1733. They declared their independence in the American Revolution and formed the United States of America...
, the British government agreed to their demands. George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
had announced, provocatively "Patriots of Ireland, your cause is identical with mine".
Such was the influence of Grattan that the subsequent eighteen years of greater legislative independence were known as Grattan's Parliament, with the odious 1719 Act repealed by the Repeal of Act for Securing Dependence of Ireland Act 1782
Repeal of Act for Securing Dependence of Ireland Act 1782
The Repeal of Act for Securing Dependence of Ireland Act 1782 was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of Great Britain passed on 17 April 1782. As suggested by the title, it served to repeal the entirety of the Dependency of Ireland on Great Britain Act 1719. It was itself repealed by the...
. The sympathetic Fox-North Coalition
Fox-North Coalition
The Fox-North Coalition was a government in Great Britain that held office during 1783. As the name suggests, the ministry was a coalition of the groups supporting Charles James Fox and Lord North...
government in London agreed that the Irish parliament would legislate exclusively for Ireland. Having support from the Irish parliament and the British government, and wanting the fullest constitutional agreement on the new status of Ireland, Grattan also sought and obtained a further Declaratory Act from the Parliament of Great Britain
Parliament of Great Britain
The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and Parliament of Scotland...
that was passed on 22 January 1783, which included this formula:
- Be it enacted that the right claimed by the people of Ireland to be bound only by laws enacted by his Majesty and the Parliament of that kingdom, in all cases whatever shall be, and is hereby declared to be established and ascertained for ever, and shall at no time be questioned or questionable.
The only remaining constitutional link between the monarchies of Ireland and Britain was the Crown, represented by the viceroy. Grattan's view was that a beneficial link should be maintained with Britain, and compared his policy to Ireland's geographic
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
situation in a neat formula:
- "The channelSt George's ChannelSt George's Channel is a sea channel connecting the Irish Sea to the north and the Celtic Sea to the southwest.Historically, the name "St Georges Channel" was used interchangeably with "Irish Sea" or "Irish Channel" to encompass all the waters between Ireland to the west and Great Britain to the...
forbids union; the ocean forbids separation".
Problems
- From 1783-84 the Patriots could not agree how far and how fast the Penal LawsPenal Laws (Ireland)The term Penal Laws in Ireland were a series of laws imposed under English and later British rule that sought to discriminate against Roman Catholics and Protestant dissenters in favour of members of the established Church of Ireland....
restricting Ireland's Roman Catholics should be reformed. Conservatives (including Flood) pointed to the Relief Act of 1778Papists Act 1778The Papists Act 1778 is an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain and was the first Act for Catholic Relief. Later in 1778 It was also enacted by the Irish parliament....
and felt that enough had been reformed, but liberals including Grattan wanted to reform the titheTitheA tithe is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash, cheques, or stocks, whereas historically tithes were required and paid in kind, such as agricultural products...
laws and to include Catholics in parliament. This division generally led to conservative majorities against reform until 1793. - The viceroy increased the conservative majority by wielding patronage when required; MPs were effectively bribed by being given sinecureSinecureA sinecure means an office that requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service...
posts with large salaries. - Grattan mistakenly preferred an opposition role and allowed the viceroy to nominate a conservative administration that was generally nicknamed the "Junta". He failed to reform the titheTitheA tithe is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash, cheques, or stocks, whereas historically tithes were required and paid in kind, such as agricultural products...
laws in 1788 that were generally unpopular with poorer Catholics. - Ireland's new right to free trade led to a dispute with PortugalPortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
in 1780-87; Irish exports were embargoed while English exports were not. Some Patriots unsuccessfully advocated declaring war on Portugal, which was then allied to England. The dispute emphasized Ireland's complete reliance on the Royal NavyRoyal NavyThe Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
to protect its overseas trade and merchant shipping.
The reformist Patriots struggled in the following years to gain anything approaching a majority on social reform issues in the Irish House of Commons
Irish House of Commons
The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland, that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords...
, though in 1793 another Catholic Relief Act was passed. In 1789 the reformist element formally established the "Irish Whig Party" but soon lost goodwill in London for its views on the Regency crisis.
French revolution
The French revolution emphasised the Patriots' divisions. The major reform of the Catholic Relief Act in 1793 allowed Catholics to vote, to practise as lawyers, to act as grand jurorsGrand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
and to enter Trinity College Dublin as students, but this reform had to be pushed along by London, no doubt to Grattan's embarrassment. Opponents of this reform spoke of the need to protect a "Protestant Ascendancy
Protestant Ascendancy
The Protestant Ascendancy, usually known in Ireland simply as the Ascendancy, is a phrase used when referring to the political, economic, and social domination of Ireland by a minority of great landowners, Protestant clergy, and professionals, all members of the Established Church during the 17th...
". The 1793 Act was based on the British Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791
Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791
The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791 is an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain passed in 1791 relieving Roman Catholics of certain political, educational, and economic disabilities. It admitted Roman Catholics to the practise of law, permitted the exercise of their religion, and the existence of...
.
The growth of the radical United Irish movement from 1791 upstaged Grattan by calling for a complete break with Britain and full emancipation for all religions in a new republic. Given its support for France in the War of the First Coalition
First Coalition
The War of the First Coalition was the first major effort of multiple European monarchies to contain Revolutionary France. France declared war on the Habsburg monarchy of Austria on 20 April 1792, and the Kingdom of Prussia joined the Austrian side a few weeks later.These powers initiated a series...
, it was outlawed from 1795.
In 1795 the London government sponsored reforms, to head off trouble, by repealing the Hearth tax and funding a Catholic seminary
St Patrick's College, Maynooth
St Patrick's College, Maynooth is the "National Seminary for Ireland" , and a Pontifical University, located in the village of Maynooth, 15 miles from Dublin, Ireland. The college and seminary are often referred to as Maynooth College. The college was officially established as the Royal College...
at Maynooth
Maynooth
Maynooth is a town in north County Kildare, Ireland. It is home to a branch of the National University of Ireland, a Papal University and Ireland's main Roman Catholic seminary, St. Patrick's College...
. However, earlier in the year it had quickly recalled the new viceroy Lord Fitzwilliam
William FitzWilliam, 4th Earl FitzWilliam
William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 4th Earl Fitzwilliam PC , styled Viscount Milton until 1756, was a British Whig statesman of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. In 1782 he inherited his uncle Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham's estates, making him one of the richest people in...
, who had intended to effect further Catholic reliefs and to appoint Grattan to the administration. The sacking of FitzWilliam and the imposition of martial law
Martial law
Martial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis— only temporary—when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively , when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law...
in March 1797 caused Grattan and his supportive group of MPs to withdraw from parliament in May 1797, and by then the civil unrest caused by the army, the militia, the Orange Order, the Defenders
Defenders (Ireland)
The Defenders were a militant, vigilante agrarian secret society in 18th century Ireland, mainly Roman Catholic and from Ulster, who allied with the United Irishmen but did little during the rebellion of 1798.-Origin:...
and the United Irishmen had made Ireland ungovernable.
The unsuccessful 1798 rebellion
Irish Rebellion of 1798
The Irish Rebellion of 1798 , also known as the United Irishmen Rebellion , was an uprising in 1798, lasting several months, against British rule in Ireland...
launched in May 1798 by the republican United Irishmen seriously damaged the Patriot cause. Although most liberal Patriots opposed the rebellion, they became tarnished by association, and support dropped for them. Some Patriot MPs of the 1780s, such as James Napper Tandy
James Napper Tandy
James Napper Tandy , was an Irish rebel leader.-Political activism:A Dublin Protestant and the son of an ironmonger, Tandy went to the famous Quaker boarding school in Ballitore, south Kildare, also attended by Edmund Burke who was eight years older.He started life as a small tradesman...
and Lord Edward FitzGerald
Lord Edward FitzGerald
Lord Edward FitzGerald was an Irish aristocrat and revolutionary. He was the fifth son of the 1st Duke of Leinster and the Duchess of Leinster , he was born at Carton House, near Dublin, and died of wounds received in resisting arrest on charge of treason.-Early years:FitzGerald spent most of his...
, had become United Irish leaders in the 1790s. The Rebellion, which had been launched in co-ordination with a French invasion, provoked the British government of William Pitt
William Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger was a British politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He became the youngest Prime Minister in 1783 at the age of 24 . He left office in 1801, but was Prime Minister again from 1804 until his death in 1806...
into pushing through the 1800 Act of Union
Act of Union 1800
The Acts of Union 1800 describe two complementary Acts, namely:* the Union with Ireland Act 1800 , an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain, and...
, merging the parliaments of Ireland and Great Britain into the new "United Kingdom". Naturally the Patriots opposed this in colourful debates in 1799 and 1800.
Act of Union and Legacy
Following the Act of UnionAct of Union 1800
The Acts of Union 1800 describe two complementary Acts, namely:* the Union with Ireland Act 1800 , an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain, and...
in 1800, the Irish Parliament was abolished. A few Irish Patriots took up seats in the new unified British House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, under the notional leadership of Grattan. Within a few years they had become almost entirely submerged within the British Whig Party, with whom they were allied, and disappeared from the political map.
Grattan's advocacy of liberal-minded moderate Irish nationalist self-rule with links to Britain had a resonance over the following century. It was taken up by Daniel O'Connell
Daniel O'Connell
Daniel O'Connell Daniel O'Connell Daniel O'Connell (6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847; often referred to as The Liberator, or The Emancipator, was an Irish political leader in the first half of the 19th century...
's Repeal Association
Repeal Association
The Repeal Association was an Irish mass membership political movement set up by Daniel O'Connell to campaign for a repeal of the Act of Union of 1800 between Great Britain and Ireland....
in the 1830s that intended to repeal the Act of Union; by the Young Ireland
Young Ireland
Young Ireland was a political, cultural and social movement of the mid-19th century. It led changes in Irish nationalism, including an abortive rebellion known as the Young Irelander Rebellion of 1848. Many of the latter's leaders were tried for sedition and sentenced to penal transportation to...
movement in the 1840s; and later by the Irish Parliamentary Party
Irish Parliamentary Party
The Irish Parliamentary Party was formed in 1882 by Charles Stewart Parnell, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nationalist Members of Parliament elected to the House of Commons at...
that campaigned for a restoration of Home Rule
Home rule
Home rule is the power of a constituent part of a state to exercise such of the state's powers of governance within its own administrative area that have been devolved to it by the central government....
in Ireland. The IPP and its successors dominated the political scene in Ireland for decades until its defeat by the fully separatist Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
movement in the 1918 general election.
See also
- British Whig PartyBritish Whig PartyThe Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
- Patriot WhigsPatriot WhigsThe Patriot Whigs and, later Patriot Party, was a group within the Whig party in Great Britain from 1725 to 1803. The group was formed in opposition to the ministry of Robert Walpole in the House of Commons in 1725, when William Pulteney and seventeen other Whigs joined with the Tory party in...
- Protestant NationalistProtestant NationalistIrish nationalism has been chiefly associated with Roman Catholics. However, historically this is not an entirely accurate picture. Protestant nationalists were also influential supporters of the political independence the island of Ireland from the island of Great Britain and leaders of national...