Irish House of Commons

Irish House of Commons
First past the post with limited suffrage
Meeting place
The House of Commons in session (by Francis Wheatley, 1780)
Footnotes
^ In 1800.

The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until the end of 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive franchise, similar to the unreformed House of Commons in contemporary Great Britain. Catholics were disqualified from sitting in the Irish parliament from 1691, even though they comprised the vast majority of the Irish population.

The Irish executive, known as the Dublin Castle administration, under the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, was not answerable to the House of Commons but to the British government. However, the Chief Secretary for Ireland was usually a member of the Irish parliament. In the Commons, business was presided over by the Speaker.

From 1 January 1801, it ceased to exist and was succeeded by the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.

Franchise

The limited franchise was exclusively male. From 1728 until 1793, Catholics were

The House of Commons was abolished under the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Ireland into the Kingdom of Great Britain to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland with effect from 1 January 1801. The Irish House of Commons sat for the last time in Parliament House, Dublin on 2 August 1800. One hundred of its members were designated or co-opted to sit with the House of Commons of Great Britain, forming the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The patron of pocket boroughs that were disfranchised under the Act of Union was awarded £15,000 compensation for each.^[1]

Speaker of the Commons

The Speaker of the Irish House of Commons was the presiding officer of the House and its most senior official. The position was one of considerable power and prestige, and in the absence of a government chosen from and answerable to the Commons, he was the dominant political figure in the Parliament. The last Speaker was John Foster.

Constituencies

The number of boroughs invited to return members had originally been small (only 55 Boroughs existed in 1603) but was doubled by the Stuart monarchs. By the time of the Union, there were 150 constituencies, each electing two members:^[2]

• 32 county constituencies;
• 8 county borough constituencies;
• 109 borough constituencies;
• Dublin University.

Following the Act of Union, from 1801, there were 100 MPs from Ireland in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The constituencies were adapted from those in the Irish House of Commons as follows:

• 32 county constituencies, with two MPs each;
• 2 county borough constituencies, Cork City and Dublin City, both with two MPs;
• 31 county borough and borough constituencies, with one MP each;
• Dublin University, with one MP.

Notes

Means of resignation

Until 1793 members could not resign their seats. They could cease to be a member of the House in one of four ways:

• death,
• expulsion,
• taking
  Holy Orders
  , or
• being awarded a peerage and so a seat in the Irish House of Lords.
• Standing down at election to the House.

In 1793 a means for resignation was created, equivalent to the Crown Steward and Bailiff of the

resignation from the British House of Commons. From that date, Irish members could be appointed to the Escheatorship of Munster, the Escheatorship of Leinster, the Escheatorship of Connaught or the Escheatorship of Ulster. Possession of one of these Crown offices, "office of profit under the Crown" with a 30-shilling

salary, terminated one's membership of the House of Commons.

Notable members

• United Kingdom House of Commons
  .
• Boyle Roche: The "father" of Irish bulls
• Napoleon I at Waterloo, and served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He represented his family borough of Trim, County Meath
  from 1790 to 1798.
• William Conolly: A past Speaker, Conolly was notable not just for his role in parliament but also for his great wealth that allowed him to build one of Ireland's greatest Georgian houses, Castletown House.
• Nathaniel Clements: 1705–77 Government and Treasury Official, Managed extensive financial functions from 1720 to 1777^{[dubious – discuss]} on behalf of the Government, de facto Minister for Finance 1740–77, extensive property owner and developer. A major influence on the architecture of Georgian Dublin and the Irish Palladian Country house.
• John Philpot Curran: Orator and wit, originator of the quotation "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty".

See also

• List of parliaments of Ireland
• History of Ireland

References

1. ^ Porritt, Edward (1963). The Unreformed House of Commons. Parliamentary Representation Before 1832. CUP Archive. pp. 185–187. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
2. ^ Johnston-Liik 2006, p. 222.
3. ^ ^{a b} Fiants Ire. Eliz. No 1530
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t} Hardiman, James (1842). "Appendix III: The lordes spirituall and temporall, counties, cytties, and borough-townes, as are answerable to the Parlyament in this realme of Ireland ; and souche as weare sommoned unto the Parlyament holden before the right honorable Sir John Perrot, knyght, Lord Deputie Generall of the realme of Ireland, xxvi. die Aprilis, anno regni Regine nostre Elizabeth, vicesimo septimo. A. D. 1585.". A Statute of the fortieth Year of Edward III., enacted in a Parliament held in Kilkenny, A. D. 1367, before Lionel Duke of Clarence, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Now first printed from a MS.in the Library of his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, Lambeth. With a Translation and Notes. Tracts relating to Ireland. Vol. II. Dublin: Irish Archaeological Society.
5. ^
   ISBN 9780198202424.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Inquisitionum in Officio Rotulorum Cancellariae Hiberniae Asservatarum Repertorium (Repertory of the Inquisitions of the Chancery of Ireland) Volume II, page xix 'An Order for the division, setting out and appoyntinge of the boundes, lymytts and circuits of sixe severall sheires or countyes within the pvince of Ulster within this realme of Ireland, viz. the countye of Tyron, the countye of Donnyngall, the countye of Fermanaghe, the countye of Colrane, the countye of Armaghe and the countye of Monohon ... the firste of September anno dei 1585, annoque d[omi]n[a]e Regin[a]e Elizabeth', 27mo'
6. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as} Moody, T.W. (1939). "The Irish Parliament under Elizabeth and James I". Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 45 (6): 72–76.
7. ^ (Johnston-Liik 2002, p. 301)
8. ^ (Johnston-Liik 2002, p. 240)
9. ^ ^{a b c} (Johnston-Liik 2002, p. 356)
10. ^ (Johnston-Liik 2002, p. 253)
11. ^ (Johnston-Liik 2002, p. 289)
12. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o} Betham, William (1830). Dignities, Feudal and Parliamentary. London: Thomas and William Boone. p. 262.
13. ^ (Johnston-Liik 2002, p. 327)
14. ^ "Turlough Lynagh (O'Neill)'s pretence to harm ... the new made county of Cavan" Proceedings and orders of the Chancellor, Council and Gentlemen of Meath and Dublin, August 21 1579, Calendar of the State Papers relating to Ireland, of the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI., Mary, and Elizabeth, Volume 2, 1574-1585 page 184
15. ^ "O'Reilly's country erected into the County of Cavan" Lord Deputy Perrot to Walsyngham, 16 November 1584, Calendar of the State Papers relating to Ireland, of the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI., Mary, and Elizabeth, Volume 2, 1574-1585 page 537
16. ^ (Johnston-Liik 2002, p. 221)
17. ^ (Johnston-Liik 2002, p. 231)
18. ^ (Johnston-Liik 2002, p. 303)
19. ^ Moody, T.W.; Martin, F.X.; Byrne, F.J. (1984). A New History of Ireland, Vol IX, Maps, Genealogies, Lists. Oxford University Press. p. 108.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
20. ^ (Johnston-Liik 2002, p. 352), citing Report of the Commissioners of Union Compensation - Cities, Towns and Boroughs, p. 47
21. ^ ^{a b c} "Orders to be observed by Sir Nicholas Malby, Knight, for the better government of the Province of Connaght" Printed in O'Flaherty's Chorographical Description of West Or H-Iar Connaught: Written A.D. 1684 ed. Hardiman, P. 304
22. ^ ^{a b} An Act "whereby the King and Queen's Majesties, and the Heires and Successors of the Queen, be entituled to the Counties of Leix, Slewmarge, Irry, Glinmaliry, and Offaily, and for making the same Countries Shire Grounds." 303/554 - 3 & 4 Phil & Mar, c.2 (1556). The Act was repealed in 1962.
23. ^
    ISBN 1-144-76601-X
    .
24. ^ (Johnston-Liik 2002, p. 209)
25. ^ Fiants Ire. Eliz. No 1486
26. ISBN 978-0-19-969715-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
27. ^ "The Annaley, formerly governed by O’Farrale Bane and O’Farrale Boy, is erected into a shire called Longford." Lord Chancellor and Council to the Queen, March 23, 1571,Calendar of the State Papers relating to Ireland, of the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI., Mary, and Elizabeth, Volume 1, 1509-1573, page 440
28. ^ (Johnston-Liik 2002, p. 305)
29. ^ (Johnston-Liik 2002, p. 211)
30. ^ (Johnston-Liik 2002, p. 259)
31. ^ (Johnston-Liik 2002, p. 235)
32. ^ (Johnston-Liik 2002, p. 360)
33. ^ Members of Parliament - Return (in part) to an Order of the House of Lords, dated 13th July 1877
34. ^ Counties of Meath and Westmeath Act 1543 (294/554) 34 Henry VIII cap 1 (Ire) An Act for the division of Methe into two shires.
35. ISBN 1-144-76601-X
    .
36. ^ Fiants Ire. Eliz. No 3003, 22 March 1577
37. ^ Moody, T. W.; Martin, F. X.; Byrne, F. J. (1984). A New History of Ireland, Vol IX, Maps, Genealogies, Lists. Oxford University Press. p. 108.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
38. ISBN 9780198202424.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )

Sources

• Mary Frances Cusack, Illustrated History of Ireland, Project Gutenberg
• Johnston-Liik, Edith Mary, ed. (2002). History of the Irish parliament, 1692–1800. Belfast: Ulster Historical Foundation.
• Johnston-Liik, Edith Mary (2006). MPs in Dublin: Companion to the History of the Irish Parliament 1692-1800. Belfast: Ulster Historical Foundation.
  ISBN 1903688604
  .
• McGrath, Charles Ivar (2000). The making of the 18th century Irish Constitution: Government, Parliament and the Revenue, 1692-1714. Dublin: Four Courts Press.
  ISBN 1-85182-554-1
  .
• Magennis, Eoin (2000). The Irish Political System 1740-1765. Dublin: Four Courts Press.
  ISBN 1-85182-484-7
  .
• Moody/Vaughan, A new history of Ireland, Oxford, 1986,
  ISBN 0-19-821739-0
• Return of the name of every member of the lower house of parliament of England, Scotland, and Ireland, with name of constituency represented, and date of return, from 1213 to 1874. C. Vol. 69-I. HMSO. 1878.

External links

• Members Name Search (Commons and Lords, 1692–1800) Irish Legislation Database, Queen's University Belfast
• History of the Irish Parliament: Constituencies Ulster Historical Foundation
• Journals of the House of Commons of Ireland (proceedings from 1613)
  • Index page for 14 volumes at HathiTrust
  • large (~1 GB) PDF scans of 21 volumes from Oireachtas library) Index Vol.1 Index Vol.2 Vol.2 Vol.3 Vol.4 Vol.5 Vol.6 Vol.7 Vol.8 Vol.9 Vol.10 Vol.11 Vol.12 Vol.13 Vol.14 Vol.15 Vol.16 Vol.17 Vol.17 (Appendix) Vol.18 Vol.19 Vol.19 (Appendix)