3C. Catholic Emancipation

Question 1

When were the first Penal Laws passed, and under which monarch?

Answer 1

1695
William III

Question 2

What did the Penal Laws under William III enforce?

Answer 2

• No intermarriage with Protestants; any children of existing marriages to be raised Protestant
• No religious education in Catholic theology; children were not to be sent abroad for a Catholic education either
• No Catholic could hold public office or military rank
• No Catholic was allowed to vote
• Any Catholic found to have converted a Protestant could be executed
• System of gavelkind applied to Catholic inheritance

Question 3

What was Gavelkind?

Answer 3

Gavelkind describes a system of inheritance whereby land is divided equally between male heirs

This results in the dispersion of wealth over generations between successors resulting in lower overall wealth.

Question 4

When was the Oath of Allegiance passed?

Answer 4

1774

Question 5

What did the 1774 Oath of Allegiance allow?

Answer 5

• Allowed Catholics and non-Anglican Protestant sects to declare loyalty to George III

This offered them the chance to start breaking down anti-Catholic sentiments that revolved around perceptions of disloyalty and untrustworthiness.

Question 6

Why was the 1778 First Catholic Relief Act passed?

Answer 6

Fear of Irish sympathy for America following start of American War of Independence after 1775, as well as war with France (a Catholic nation) which declared war on Britain in 1778

Question 7

When was the First Catholic Relief Act passed?

Answer 7

1778

Question 8

What did the 1778 First Catholic Relief Act allow?

Answer 8

Catholics who had taken the 1774 Oath of Allegiance could now:

• bequeath landownings to their heirs (without gavelkind)
• buy land
• obtain long leases up to 999 years

Question 9

Why was the 1778 First Catholic Relief Act significant?

Answer 9

It opened the door to further reform - first major step in dismantling Penal Laws

Question 10

What happened in London in 1780?

Answer 10

Anti-Catholic Gordon riots took place in London, killing 700 people.

Question 11

Why was the 1782 Second Catholic Relief Act passed?

Answer 11

• Hoped to create support within the Irish Catholic population to isolate the Irish Volunteers (Protestant, created 1778) who had 60,000 men by 1782.

Question 12

When was the Second Catholic Relief Act passed?

Answer 12

1782

Question 13

What did the 1782 Second Catholic Relief Act allow?

Answer 13

• All Catholics had the right to buy land, so long as it was not in Protestant boroughs.
• Restrictions against Catholic education and the Catholic clergy were removed

Question 14

Why was the 1792 Third Catholic Relief Act passed?

Answer 14

Passed in response to the Catholic Committee, which began to petition the Irish Parliament for additional Catholic rights in 1791

Question 15

What did the 1792 Third Catholic Relief Act allow?

Answer 15

Catholics may practise law - lucrative!!!

Question 16

When was the Third Catholic Relief Act passed?

Answer 16

1792

Question 17

When was the Fourth Catholic Relief Act passed?

Answer 17

1793

Question 18

What did the 1793 Fourth Catholic Relief Act allow?

Answer 18

• Catholic were able to hold most military and civil posts
• Catholics could vote in local and general elections

Question 19

Why was the 1793 Fourth Catholic Relief Act passed?

Answer 19

After the credibility of the Catholic Committee to represent all Catholics was called into question, an all-Ireland Catholic convention was arranged in Dublin in December 1792.

This convention sent a delegation to London to discuss the abolition of the remaining Penal Laws with Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger.

Question 20

What did Grattan’s 1808 Bill suggest?

Answer 20

Grattan introduced a bill in May 1808 that would grant Catholic emancipation with a government veto on Church appointments.

He suggested this as English anti-Catholicism believed that Catholics could never be loyal subjects as they held allegiance to the papacy in Rome.

A veto would thus allow the Crown to block politically unreliable placements.

Question 21

Why was Grattan’s 1808 Bill not passed?

Answer 21

• Although many of the aristocratic Catholics in Ireland accepted the terms, the middle classes saw it as a betrayal of their Church and of their national interests.
• The level of discontent that the veto raised upset Catholic bishops, who decided to reject it in September 1808

Question 22

What was the effect of the rejection of Grattan’s 1808 Bill?

Answer 22

The rejection of the bill undermined the position of the aristocratic Catholic activists, as it became apparent that they did not share the interests of the wider Catholic community.

Question 23

What were the features of the 1811-14 Catholic Board?

Answer 23

• Led by Daniel O’Connell, an Irish barrister and one of the first Catholics to be called to the bar.
• Intended to coordinate the growing demand for Catholic emancipation among the emergent Catholic middle class.
• Wider representative base - several aristocratic members but overwhelmingly middle-class Catholics committed to emancipation without veto.

Question 24

Why did the 1811-1814 Catholic Board collapse?

Answer 24

In June 1812, a motion was passed for the issue of Catholic emancipation to be considered. As such, Prime Minister Lord Liverpool introduced a bill in February 1813.

However, the bill contained a veto on Church appointments similar to its 1808, and thus was rejected by the Catholic Board.

This rejection fractured the Catholic Board as aristocratic members supported the veto, leading to political infighting which spilled into the public domain.

The Catholic Board dissolved in June 1814.

Question 25

How did the dissolution of the Catholic Board in June 1814 halt the progress of further legislation?

Answer 25

Without the Catholic Board, the issue lost the political will and votes to pass through both Houses of Parliament.

A further bill was introduced in 1819 by Grattan, retaining the veto, and only narrowly defeated by two votes in Parliament.

Successive legislation introduced by his successor, William Plunkett (MP for Dublin University) introduced two further bills - one for emancipation, the other a separate bill retaining the veto. Both were defeated in the House of Lords.

Question 26

When was the Catholic Association first founded?

Answer 26

1823

Question 27

How was ‘Catholic rent’ successful?

Answer 27

Members of the Catholic Association were asked to pay a subscription of 1p / month, known as ‘Catholic rent’, collected when they attended mass on Sundays.

This policy was successful for several reasons:

1. It generated a huge amount of revenue! In its first year, the Association raised £1,000 a week - 960,000 pennies a month - and had been able to invest £10,000 by the end of 1823.
2. A low cost of subscription encouraged the growth of a large support base from a wide social range.
3. It allowed members to actively support the movement, increasing Catholic interest and participation in emancipation.

Question 28

Why was the Catholic Association banned in June 1825?

Answer 28

With secure finances as a result of the Catholic rent, the association quickly began to press firmly for Catholic emancipation:

• This was achieved through the publication of pamphlets and funding public meetings on the issue of further reforms.
• Fiercer pressing for emancipation quickly increased the popularity of the association, its membership reaching six figures by the end of 1823
• This rapid growth led the British government to become concerned about the potential threat to stability the group presented, leading to its ban in June 1825

Question 29

How did the Catholic Association change its tactics after reforming in 1826?

Answer 29

• Avoided fiery rhetoric so as to not give the government an excuse to ban it a second time
• Since 1826 was an election year, they campaigned for sympathetic emancipation candidates and actively against those who opposed it.

Question 30

What successes did the Catholic Association have in 1826?

Answer 30

As a result of their campaigning, the 1826 elections saw the Irish counties of Roscommon, Louth, Longford and West Meath reject their existing candidates in favour of emancipation supporters.

This gave the cause a louder voice in Parliament.

Question 31

Why did a by-election occur in County Clare in 1828?

Answer 31

Prime Minister wished to reshuffle his ministers. At the time, any new candidate given a government position had to stand for re-election.

In June 1828, the sitting MP for County Clare, William Vesey Fitzgerald, was selected as President of the Board of Trade and therefore had to stand for a by-election

Question 32

Why did Fitzgerald have a strong position for the County Clare by-election?

Answer 32

• He had been MP of County Clare for 10 years
• He was a resident landlord with a good reputation
• He was sympathetic to Catholic emancipation

Question 33

Why was Daniel O’Connell chosen to run against Fitzgerald in the County Clare by-election?

Answer 33

The Catholic Association first sought a Protestant to stand against Fitzgerald, and selected Captain William Nugent McNamara. However, he was unwilling to stand as Fitzgerald was a close friend.

Upon failing to find a Protestant to stand, O’Connell decided to stand himself, and announced his candidacy on 24 June 1828

Question 34

What was the significance of O’Connell standing in the County Clare by-election?

Answer 34

There was no law forbidding Catholics from standing for election, but they could not sit in parliament because of the requirement to swear an oath of supremacy declaring the British monarch above all others, which was incompatible with Catholicism.

Victory for O’Connell would severely embarrass the British government and highlight the unfairness of the remaining Penal Laws.

Question 35

How did the Catholic Association encourage voters in Clare to choose O’Connell in the 1828 by-election?

Answer 35

Members of the Catholic Association canvassed voters in Clare to O’Connell; the most vociferous of whom, O’Gorman Mahon and Thomas Steele, were willing to duel any landowner who objected to his tenants being approached.

On the day of the election, the Association and its clerical supporters in particular conveyed voters to the voting booth to ensure as many people as possible cast their vote for O’Connell

Question 36

What were the results of the County Clare by-election?

Answer 36

O’Connell comfortably won the seat, 2,057 to Fitzgerald’s 982 votes

• Gentry and well-to-do voters supported Fitzgerald, but the predominantly Catholic small farmers voted for O’Connell

Question 37

What obstacles existed between O’Connell winning the County Clare by-election and taking his seat in Parliament?

Answer 37

The first bill passed by the Duke of Wellington’s Tory government was not made retrospective - O’Connell still needed to take the Oath of Supremacy, which was incompatible with Catholicism.

When trying to take his seat in May, it was declared vacant by the solicitor-general Nicholas Conyngham Tindal, who demanded a re-election.

This election was duly organised - O’Connell stood unopposed and was re-elected on 30 July 1829.

Question 38

When was the Roman Catholic Relief Act pased?

Answer 38

1829

Question 39

What did the 1829 Roman Catholic Relief Act allow?

Answer 39

• Catholics could sit as MPs in Westminster
• Catholics were able to stand for all public offices except for those of lord chancellor, monarch, regent, lord lieutenant of Ireland and judicial appointments.

Question 40

Why was the 1829 Roman Catholic Relief Act passed?

Answer 40

• Tory party was vulnerable as it was recovering from instability which emerged after the loss of the strong leadership of Lord Liverpool, who died in 1827.
• Extent of interest that emancipation campaign and the County Clare by-election had created meant that denying reform could create serious unrest.

Question 41

Why was the 1829 Parliamentary Elections (Ireland) Act passed?

Answer 41

To ease the 1829 Roman Catholic Relief bill through Parliament, Peel accepted a more restricted franchise so as to pacify the most critical opposition.

Question 42

What did the 1829 Parliamentary Elections (Ireland) Act enforce?

Answer 42

The Act increased the wealth qualification for voting from the traditional 40-shilling freehold to a £10 householder, massively restricting the franchise from poor Irish voters.

Question 43

How significantly did the 1829 Parliamentary Elections (Ireland) Act decrease the number of Irish voters?

Answer 43

Numbers of Irish voters fell from 216,000 (215,901) to 40,000 (39,872).

Question 44

What were the long-term effects of the 1829 Roman Catholic Relief Act and Parliamentary Elections (Ireland) Act?

Answer 44

The 1829 Parliamentary Elections (Ireland) Act caused resentment of Daniel O’Connell from poor Irish voters, as they were disenfranchised so he could take his seat in Parliament.

However, the passing of the 1829 Roman Catholic Relief Act was generally positive as it removed the majority of the remaining Penal Laws and gave Catholics greater political representation to address further issues.