Ireland 1868-1905

Question 1

Define the 3 F’s which the Irish Tenant League (1850) wanted?

Answer 1

Fixity of tenure, freedom to sell and fair rent

Question 2

Identify the aims and methods of republicans like the Fenians and the Irish republican Brotherhood.

Answer 2

-Independence for Ireland
-revolutionary violence & terrorism.

Question 3

What did the republicans do in GB and abroad that so shocked British public opinion?

Answer 3

Failed rebellions in Canada & Ireland, attacks on police in Clerkenwell & Manchester.

Question 4

What quote is associated with Gladstone and Ireland in 1868?

Answer 4

‘My mission is to pacify Ireland’.

Question 5

Identify two achievements of the Irish Church Act 1869.

Answer 5

-Disestablishment of the Protestant Church of Ireland in a population that was 80% Catholic
-abolition of the tithe.

Question 6

Identify three proposals of the Irish Land Act 1870 designed to solve the Irish land problem.

Answer 6

-Extend Ulster Custom
-regulate evictions
-empowered magistrates to determine fair rents.

Question 7

Why was the Irish Land Act 1870 a failure and why would this be a major problem in 1879?

Answer 7

-Unable to extend the Ulster Custom
-fair rent ill-defined
-magistrates were landlords,
-unsympathetic to tenants.

Question 8

Why did Gladstone’s policies indicate he was treating Ireland as a special case in GB?

Answer 8

Intervention into landlord-tenant relations was a departure from conventional laissez faire approach.

Question 9

What is meant by ‘Bright’s Clause’ and what happened to it?

Answer 9

Land purchase proposal intended for inclusion in the Land Act but withdrawn because of
Whig objections.

Question 10

What was proposed by the Irish Universities bill 1873 and why did it fail?

Answer 10

-Non-denominational universities rejected by Catholic and Protestant churches in Ireland,
-vetoed by House of Lords.

Question 11

What were the political consequences of Gladstone’s reforms for the Irish Liberals and the Liberal government in 1874?

Answer 11

Irish Protestants antagonised
-tenant farmers felt betrayed
-Irish Liberals turned to IHR and
Liberals destroyed as an electoral force in Ireland.

Question 12

Who set up the Home Rule League in 1874?

Answer 12

Isaac Butt

Question 13

Define Irish Home Rule (IHR) and explain how it differs from national independence.

Answer 13

Ireland given a parliament and government responsible for domestic affairs only; foreign
trade, defence and international relations remains controlled by Westminster so full
sovereignty is not extended to make Ireland independent. Stays within the union.

Question 14

Identify the policy Parnell and his supporters implemented in the House of Commons to press for IHR.

Answer 14

Parliamentary obstructionism via filibustering; very disciplined to gain IHR from Westminster.

Question 15

Identify the economic factor contributing to the Land wars.

Answer 15

Agricultural depression.

Question 16

How many tenants were evicted between 1879-1883?

Answer 16

14,600

Question 17

Who mainly led the Irish Land League, what was his political background and what did the League demand?

Answer 17

Michael Davitt
-fenian
-3 Fs

Question 18

Who was the president of the League in 1879 and what is meant by the ‘Great Departure’?

Answer 18

Parnell, the unity of constitutional IHR with extra-parliamentary rural disruption of the land League.

Question 19

Identify the methods organised by the League in the Land wars and the number of deaths and outrages involved.

Answer 19

-Rent strikes
-boycotting
-67(deatha)
-2,600. (outrages)

Question 20

In one word describe what the Land Wars did to rural Ireland.

Answer 20

Ungovernable.

Question 21

Using legislation, explain ‘Kicks and Kindness’.

Answer 21

-Kicks are policies of coercion implemented to crush the land wars e.g Coercion Acts
-kindness is a reform intended to bring reform to end the land war e.g Land Act 1881.

Question 22

Why was Parnell the ‘uncrowned King of Ireland’ in 1880?

Answer 22

supported by IPP, Catholic church and the Land League.

Question 23

Identify three reasons why the Irish Land Act 1881 largely achieved the 3 Fs.

Answer 23

It extended the 3 Fs – fair rent fixed to 15 years, independent magistrates, interest in land extended.

Question 24

What two problems in rural Ireland inhibited the success of the Irish Land Act 1881.

Answer 24

Poor quality of farmland in western Ireland; enormous rent arrears incurred during the land wars.

Question 25

What political problem did the Irish Land Act 1881 present to Parnell and how did Forster resolve it for him in 1881?

Answer 25

Whether to carry on with the Land League or focus on parliament; imprisoned by Forster.

Question 26

What was involved in the Kilmainham Treaty and why did it suggest progress resolving the Land Wars?

Answer 26

Gladstone promised to introduce a rent arrears bill and consider IHR if Parnell agreed to make the Irish Land Act 1881 work and bring peace to the countryside of Ireland.

Question 27

Who committed the Phoenix Park murders (6 May 1882) and what were the consequences for the
progress suggested by the Kilmainham Treaty?

Answer 27

-The republican group called the Invincibles who killed Cavendish(chief secretary of Ireland)
-Kilmainham Treaty abandoned.

Question 28

How did the Catholic Church, the Secret Ballot Act 1872 and the third Reform Act 1884
benefit Parnell and his supporters?

Answer 28

-The Catholic church advised its followers to vote for Parnell’s party
-voters could vote secretly and avoid pressures or intimidation of landlord
-vote extended to rural
householders to most tenant farmers – who voted for the IPP who voted IHR.

Question 29

What measures did Salisbury take in Ireland to weaken the link between Gladstone and Parnell?

Answer 29

Land purchase by 100% government loans (Ashbourne Act 1885); relaxation of coercion.

Question 30

Which party did Parnell advise his supporters in mainland Britain to vote for in 1885 and why?

Answer 30

Conservative as they seemed to support the introduction of IHR.

Question 31

Summarise the 1885 election results in Ireland for the IPP and the Liberals.

Answer 31

IPP won every seat south of Ulster (85 + 1 in Liverpool so ’86 in 86’); Libs 335; Cons 249
-Libs destroyed in Ireland.

Question 32

Why was ’86 in 86’ so important to the composition of the Commons in 1886?

Answer 32

IPP held the balance of power in the Commons IHR a necessity for formation of either a Lib or Con majority.

Question 33

Summarise the provisions of the IHR Bill 1886.

Answer 33

-Bi-cameral parliament in Ireland for domestic affairs; power over trade, defence and foreign
-trade reserved for Westminster
-no Westminster representation for Ireland; withdrawn land
purchase bill.

Question 34

Identify three reasons why the Whigs, Chamberlain and the Conservatives opposed the Bill.

Answer 34

-IHR seen as a stepping stone to independence and break-up of union; —–lack of protection for protestant minority
-reward for violence; possible threat to the Empire.

Question 35

What is the ‘Orange Card’ and who said it?

Answer 35

-‘Ulster will fight and Ulster will be right’
-implied armed resistance to implementation of IHR
and justification for such unlawful activity by leading Conservative MP, Randolph Churchill.

Question 36

What happened to the IHR Bill and what were the consequences for the Liberal Party immediately afterwards and in the general election of 1886?

Answer 36

-Bill was defeated by 30 votes; 93 Libs voted against it,
-Hartington and Chamberlain left the party to form the Liberal Unionists which won 78 seats in June 1886 general election and supported the Cons.

Question 37

What happened to (a) Parnell, (b) the IPP and IHR between 1886 and 1893?

Answer 37

a)Parnell departed from extra-parliamentary rural resistance of Land League’s’ ‘Plan of Campaign but Kitty O’Shea affair meant he lost leadership of IPP and he died in 1891
b)IPP was divided over the future; -Gladstone introduced another, second, IHR bill in 1893 (same as 1886 but Ireland also elected MPs to Westminster) which passed the Commons by 43 votes only to be vetoed by the Lords.