TOWARDS EMANCIPATION, 1774-1830 Flashcards
What percentage of the population of Ireland were Catholic?
80%
What were some of the Penal Laws? (7)
- No intermarriage
- No religious education in Catholic theology
- No Catholic could hold public office or military rank
- No Catholic was allowed to vote
- Any Catholic who converted to Protestant to their religion would be executed
- No Catholic allowed to buy or inherit land from a Protestant
- System of gavelkind applied to Catholic inheritance
How much land did the Protestants retain in Ireland?
95%
What bill did Sir Hercules and John Mason introduce in 1761, and again in 1773?
To allow Catholics to rent land for more than 31 years
Who stirred up nationalist sentiment in the 1760s?
Henry Flood
The 1774 Oath of Allegiance
Allowed Catholics, and Protestant sects outside the Established Church to declare their loyalty to the King, George II
What did the 1774 Oath of Allegiance allow the Catholics to do?
Start breaking down anti-Catholic sentiments that revolved around perceptions of their trustworthiness and loyalty
The First Catholic Relief Act 1778 (6)
- Threat posed by Americans WOI encouraged a more conciliatory attitude towards Catholics by British Politicians.
- France declared war on Britain in 1778.
- Pledged support for Irish MP Luke Gardiner’s Catholic Relief bill which proposed allowing Catholics who had taken the oath to bequeath landholdings to their heir and buy land.
- Allowed long leases rather than outright buying.
- Less about improving the conditions of Irish Catholics.
- More about securing Ireland in the empire and expanding British army.
The Second Catholic Relief Act 1782 (5)
- Threat posed by Irish Volunteers.
- Granted the right to buy land so long as it was not in parliamentary boroughs.
- Removed restrictions against Catholic education and the Catholic clergy
- Catholics more independent through landownership and chance to improve education.
- Motivated by British security and retain Irish Catholic support.
The Third Catholic Relief Act 1792-93 (4)
- Threat by Catholic Committee which in 1791 seeked additional reform.
- Granted right to practice law in 1792.
- Fear because of French Revolution.
- Catholics able to hold most military and civil posts and could vote in local and general elections.
Gordon Riots 1780 (3)
- Anti-Catholic riots which took place after the passage of the First Catholic Relief Act.
- Lord George Gordon wanted a repeal of the Papist Act.
- 700 people killed.
What were Irish Catholics political activists like?
Not well organised, aristocratic and very conservative
What did Henry Grattan’s emancipation bill propose?
Emancipation but with a government veto on Church appointments
When was Henry Grattan’s bill on emancipation proposed?
1808
Who accepted HG’s Emancipation bill terms?
Aristocratic Catholic’s
Who rejected HG’s Emancipation bill terms?
Catholic middle classes and Catholic bishops
When was the Catholic Board created?
1811
What was the creation of Catholic Board intended to do?
Co-ordinate the growing Catholic demand for themselves
Who was the leader of the Catholic Board?
Daniel O’Connell
Why did the Catholic Board maintain its opposition to any qualification of emancipation?
It was an affront to their rights and no Protestant qualification existed.
When was the demise for O’Connells Catholic board?
1814
What was the split between the Catholic Board caused by?
Aristocrats who supported the veto and thought O’Connells rejection was too aggressive
What was the new organisation called and opened after the failure of the Catholic Board?
The Catholic Association, 1823
What was ‘Catholic rent’?
A subscription of one penny a month which members of the Catholic Association paid sponsor activities and promote cause of emancipation.
