Lesson 6: The Political Situation
The Act of Union , enacted in 1800 , which closed the Irish Parliament and forced Irish Leaders to spend most of their time 'lobbying' in London , left the Country without Leaders and was responsible for creating the class of 'absentee landlords.'
The Political Situation
Ireland prior to 1845 was a disaster waiting to happen. One of the main reasons for this was the political system. Once the Irish Parliament was closed down , under the Act of Union , 105 Irish MPs were elected to serve in the British House of Commons . As well as the ordinary Members of Parliament , a number of others , persuaded by Peerages to abolish the Irish Parliament , now sat in the House of Lords.
There was a need for these politicians ‘to spend a substantial amount of each year in London , maintaining the lifestyle appropriate to a Member of Parliament’ (1)
Consequently , only a very few landed gentry could afford to stand for Parliament. The ‘Absentee Landlords’ often beggared their Irish estates to support their fashionable style of living abroad.
In the early 1800s, the majority of Irish Members of Parliament identified with one or other of the two major political parties; Liberal or Conservative. Conservatives, still known today as the Tory Party , represented the Establishment , both Church and State. The Liberal Party, known as the Whigs , although drawn from the same landed class ,were in favour of political and religious reform. Catholic Emancipation was achieved in 1829 which allowed more representation of Catholics. This in turn caused more political agitation to change the tithe system , and to seek the repeal of the Act of Union .
This latter activity led to the formation of the Repeal Party , led by Daniel O’Connell. In his heyday, O’Connell , ‘The Great Liberator,’ had worked tirelessly for the Irish people, but a group of young firebrands in the party , organised by John Mitchel , who
‘resented 0’Connell’s autocratic leadership and his tendency to favour an inner circle dominated by sycophantic favourites and untalented members of his own family.’ (2) withdrew from the Repeal Party in 1846 and set up their own organisation , the Irish Confederation. By this time , Daniel O’Connell’s health was beginning to fail and ironically , he died in 1847 , the ‘blackest’ year in the famine years.
The Young Irelanders were later tried for treason , a number including Mitchel transported , while William Smith O’Brien ,with about 40 armed men and about a hundred peasants took part in the Rebellion of 1848 , which consisted of ‘The Battle of Ballingarry’ in Tipperary , where the rebels found themselves surrounded by police.and the Rebellion ended ignominiously.
Attacks by Secret Societies, Ribbonmen , Defenders and others against Agents for their cruelty during mass evictions continued However, Politics for the rest of the Century moved towards legitimate Land Reform Policies.
