Britain, Ireland, and the disastrous 1801 Act of Union
Marjie Bloy, Ph. D., Senior Research Fellow, the Victorian Web
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n 1789 the French Revolution began, and in 1793 France declared war against Britain. The ideas of the French Revolution — liberty, equality, fraternity and democracy — plus the religious link, were favoured by the Irish, and Ireland traditionally had been the back door to England. The Irish could see that religious inequality had been abolished in France and that a democratic government had been set up. Irish Roman Catholics wanted equality; Irish Protestants wanted parliamentary reform. Both groups wanted economic reform.
Many moderate Irish politicians wanted Catholic Emancipation and parliamentary reform, but thought that Ireland should support England in the crisis and wanted to preserve the link with Britain. However, there were others who were more extreme in their views. Among these were Theobald Wolfe Tone and Lord Edward Fitzgerald who formed the United Irishmen in 1792 which aimed at "breaking the connection with England, asserting the independence of our country, uniting all Irishmen in place of the denominations of Protestants and Catholics." The organisation tried to unite Dissenters and Catholics against Anglican rule, and it grew rapidly. Pitt moved equally quickly. In 1793 the Irish parliament was persuaded to pass the Catholic Relief Act which gave Catholics the right to vote. Voters still had to be 40/- freeholders, and Roman Catholics, although they could stand as candidates, were not allowed to take a seat in parliament. Catholic voters could realistically only vote for Protestants. Pitt's 1793 Act was only a part-solution.
In 1795 Earl Fitzwilliam was made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He was a Whig and an Irish absentee landowner who believed that Roman Catholics should have complete political equality. This he announced as a policy which raised hopes in Ireland, but Fitzwilliam was recalled within three months on the King's orders and in disgrace.
After 1795 there were increasing incidents of sectarian violence in Ireland, exacerbated by the attempts of the United Irishmen to enlist French help in their struggle to free Ireland from English control. The Protestants in Ireland formed the Orange to safeguard Protestantism in Ireland which merely escalated the problem.
In May 1798 an Irish rising occurred with the avowed aim of Catholic Emancipation and parliamentary reform. Many peasants joined because they wanted tithes to be abolished; some educated men wanted independence. Pitt believed that Ireland could not be allowed the luxury of an independent parliament, because the Irish might decide on an independent nation and make Ireland a base for England's enemies. Pitt therefore decided on an Act of Union which would totally tie Ireland to Great Britain
The 1801 Act of Union
In 1800 the Act of Union was passed by both the Irish and British parliaments despite much opposition. It was signed by George III in August 1800 to become effective on 1 January 1801. Pitt intended to follow the Act of Union with other, more far reaching reforms, including Catholic Emancipation, but was thwarted by George III, who refused to break his Coronation Oath to uphold the Anglican Church. The 1801 Act of Union said that
- Ireland was to be joined to Great Britain into a single kingdom, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
- the Dublin parliament was abolished. Ireland was to be represented at Westminster by 100 MPs, 4 Lords Spiritual and 28 Lords Temporal (all were Anglicans).
- the Anglican Church was to be recognised as the official Church of Ireland.
- there was to be free trade between Ireland and Britain.
- Ireland was to keep a separate Exchequer and was to be responsible for two-seventeenths of the general expense of the United Kingdom.
- Ireland kept its own Courts of Justice and civil service.
- no Catholics were to be allowed to hold public office.
- there was to be no Catholic Emancipation.
Ruling Ireland direct from Westminster solved nothing. The union was a political expedient in wartime, solving none of the grievances in Ireland over land, religion or politics. It had no social dimension at all. Ireland's economic problems were also ignored. The Act did increase the sense of grievance in Ireland however.
Pitt did not see the Act of Union as a solution to the Irish problem. He knew that social and economic reforms were essential, as was Catholic Emancipation. George III refused to allow full emancipation so Pitt resigned in protest because he had intended to follow the Act of Union with reforms.
The Act became a liability rather than an asset. Peers holding Irish estates opposed concessions to Roman Catholics, as did the King, because of vested interests and religious bigotry. The threat to the status quo and potential violence together with patriotic zeal against Catholics stopped full Catholic Emancipation and ended all Pitt's intended reforms.
Content last modified April 1997; links last added 14 January 2002