Ireland: history 1782 to 1921

For the history of Ireland before 1603, see Ireland: history to 1154, Ireland: history 1154 to 1485, Ireland: history 1485 to 1603, and Ireland: history 1603 to 1782.

The period 1782–1921 saw a Catholic-Gaelic revival, particularly following the scourge of the potato famine in the mid-19th century, with increasing emancipation, successful agitation to secure tenant rights, and movement to Home Rule. The Protestant northeast, however, united to protect its status and prestige.

An independent Irish parliament The American Revolution of 1775–83 led indirectly to the granting of an independent Irish parliament. British troops had been withdrawn from Ireland for service in America, and invasion by the French (who supported the American colonists against Britain) seemed imminent. The Irish (Protestant and Catholic alike) formed a ‘patriot’ volunteer force to resist invasion. They soon discovered the extent of their power, and, led by Henry Grattan, obtained the withdrawal of trade restrictions and the repeal of Poynings's Law, thereby granting the Irish Parliament its independence (1782).

The United Irishmen Both Catholics and Protestants in Ireland hailed the French Revolution of 1789 as the greatest blessing of the age. In 1791 Theobald Wolfe Tone and others founded the United Irishmen, which was repressed in 1794 and went underground, looking to France for military aid. In 1796 a French invasion under Gen Hoche failed at Bantry Bay, and in 1798 the United Irishmen organized a national rebellion. The leaders held out for Catholic Emancipation and parliamentary reform, and the peasantry were fighting for separation from Great Britain. The main battles were at New Ross and Vinegar Hill, and both were defeats for the rebels; a French landing was a failure.

The Act of Union and Catholic Emancipation The British prime minister William Pitt decided that only union could end Great Britain's difficulties in Ireland. But union was distrusted and disliked, and Grattan spoke strongly against it. It was only at enormous expense and after much bribery by means of honours that Pitt in 1800 persuaded the Irish Parliament to vote itself out of existence by the Act of Union, which became law in 1801. The Irish were to be represented in the British House of Lords at Westminster by 28 Irish peers and 4 bishops, elected for life by the whole of the Irish peerage, and, in the House of Commons, by 100 members. Ireland was to pay a certain amount to the British Exchequer, was to be given absolute free trade with Great Britain, and was to keep its judicial and executive systems. Pitt intended the Act of Union to be accompanied by Catholic emancipation, but King George III refused on conscientious grounds. Finally, in 1801, rather than break a pledge – understood if not definitely given – Pitt resigned. Roman Catholics were unable to sit in the House of Commons until 1829, when the Catholic Emancipation Act was passed permitting them to do so. This reform was achieved largely through the efforts of Daniel O'Connell. However, O'Connell's conservative attitude to social issues led to the breakaway Young Ireland movement, which mounted an unsuccessful uprising against British rule in 1848.

The Irish famine During the 17th and 18th centuries the potato was the staple diet of the Irish peasantry. In 1846 the potato crop failed, and this was followed by a famine that was to last until 1851, during which tens of thousands died. About this time Ireland also began to feel US competition in the corn market. Great Britain adopted free trade, and Ireland, with the loss of protection for its wheat, soon found it impossible to compete with the USA. Many smallholders were evicted by the landowners, and about 1.5 million people emigrated to the USA and Canada. Between 1864 and 1914 agriculture in Ireland changed from being primarily arable to being primarily pastoral.

The home rule movement Irish resentment at what was seen as the callousness of the landowning classes and the indifference of the British government led to a renewal of nationalist unrest, and in 1867 the Fenian movement organized an unsuccessful uprising. In 1870 the Home Rule Association was formed (see Irish home rule). Political unrest was aggravated by the land question. The Irish Land League, formed in 1879 by Michael Davitt and Charles Stewart Parnell, agitated for land reform and tenants' rights. The work of Parnell in consolidating the Irish Home Rule Party meant that for several years British politics were dominated by the ‘Irish Question’. The Liberal prime minister William Gladstone introduced two Home Rule Bills, one in 1886 and the other in 1893, but both were rejected by Parliament. In 1912 a third Home Rule Bill was introduced by the Liberal Party under Herbert Asquith. This met with vociferous protests from the Protestants of Ulster, who feared Catholic domination, and brought Ireland to the verge of civil war. Although the Bill received the Royal Assent in 1914, the operation of the Act was suspended owing to the outbreak of World War I.

World War I and the Easter Rising During World War I John Redmond, the leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party, persuaded many Irishmen to volunteer to fight for Great Britain, in an effort to keep home rule on track. But bitterness between the two countries remained intense, and many younger Irish nationalists rejected Redmond's compromising stance. In April 1916 the Irish Republican Brotherhood organized the Easter Rising, seizing the Dublin general post office and proclaiming a republic. After a week of fighting, the revolt was suppressed by the British army and most of its leaders were executed.

The establishment of the Irish Free State After the war and the death of John Redmond the political leadership of the country had slipped from the hands of the Irish Parliamentary Party, and the more militant Sinn Fein was becoming the dominant force in Ireland. Irish representatives returned in the general election of December 1918 met in an independent parliament (Dáil Éireann) in Dublin, and affirmed the independence of the country. From 1919 to 1921 there was guerrilla warfare against the British army, especially by the Irish Republican Army (IRA), formed in 1919. A truce was declared in 1921, and in the same year a parliament for the six northeastern counties of Ireland was established. The Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed on 6 December 1921, establishing the dominion status of the other 26 counties, and the Irish Free State came into being.

For subsequent developments in Ireland, see Ireland, Republic of and Northern Ireland.