Monarchy of Ireland
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Monarchical systems of government have existed in Ireland from ancient times. In most of Ireland, this continued until 1949, when it transitioned to being the Republic of Ireland. Northern Ireland, as part of the United Kingdom, remains under a monarchical system of government.
The office of
The Union of the Crowns in 1603 expanded the personal union to include Scotland. The personal union between England and Scotland became a political union with the enactments of the Acts of Union 1707, which created the Kingdom of Great Britain. The crowns of Great Britain and Ireland remained in personal union until it was also ended by the Acts of Union 1800, which united Ireland and Great Britain into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in January 1801.
In December 1922, most of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom, becoming the
Gaelic kingdoms
Gaelic Ireland consisted of as few as five and as many as nine Primary kingdoms (Cúicide/Cóicide 'fifths') which were often subdivided into many minor smaller kingdoms (Tuatha, 'folkdoms'). The primary kingdoms were
The names of Connacht, Ulster, Leinster and Munster are still in use, now applied to the four modern provinces of Ireland. The following is a list of the main Irish kingdoms and their kings:
- Kings of Ailech (5th century to 1185)
- Kings of Airgíalla(?-1590)
- Kings of Connacht(406–1474)
- Kings of Leinster(634 to 1603 or 1632 (de facto))
- Kings of Mide(8th–12th centuries)
- Kings of Osraige (to 12th century)
- Kings of Munster(4th century to 1138 or 1194 (claimant))
- Kings of Thomond(1118–1543)
- Kings of Ulster(5th–12th centuries)
Ard Rí co febressa: High Kings with opposition
Máire Herbert has noted that "Annal evidence from the late eighth century in Ireland suggests that the larger provincial kingships were already accruing power at the expense of smaller political units. Leading kings appear in public roles at church-state proclamations ... and at royal conferences with their peers." (2000, p. 62). Responding to the assumption of the title ri hErenn uile ("king of all Ireland") by Mael Sechlainn I in 862, she furthermore states that
the ninth-century assumption of the title of "ri Erenn" was a first step towards the definition of a national kingship and a territorially-based Irish realm. Yet change only gained ground after the stranglehold of Uí Néill power-structures was broken in the eleventh century. ... The renaming of a kingship ... engendered a new self-perception which shaped the future definition of a kingdom and of its subjects.
— Herbert, 2000, p. 72
Nevertheless, the achievements of
High Kings of Ireland, 800-1198
- Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid, 846–860
- Áed Findliath, 861–876
- Flann Sinna, 877–914
- Niall Glúndub, 915–917
- Donnchad Donn, 918–942
- Congalach Cnogba, 943–954
- Domnall ua Néill, 955–978
- Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill, 979–1002 and 1014–1022
- Brian Boru, 1002–1014
- Donnchad mac Briain, died 1064
- Diarmait mac Máel na mBó, died 1072
- Toirdelbach Ua Briain, died 1086
- Muirchertach Ua Briain, died 1119
- Domnall Ua Lochlainn, died 1121
- Toirdelbach Ua Conchobair, c.1119-1156
- Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn, c.1156-1166
- Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair, 1166-1198
Ruaidrí, King of Ireland
Upon the death of
One of Ruaidrí's first acts as king was the subduing of Leinster, which resulted in the exile of its king, Diarmait Mac Murchada. Ruaidrí then obtained terms and hostages from all the notable kings and lords. He then celebrated the Oenach Tailteann, a recognised prerogative of the High Kings, and made a number of notable charitable gifts and donations. However, his caput remained in his home territory in central Connacht (County Galway). Ireland's recognised capital, Dublin, was ruled by Ascall mac Ragnaill, who had submitted to Ruaidri.
Only with the arrival of MacMurrough's Anglo-Norman benefactors in May 1169 did Ruaidrí's position begin to weaken. A series of disastrous defeats and ill-judged treaties lost him much of Leinster, and encouraged uprisings by rebel lords. By the time of the arrival of Henry II in 1171, Ruaidrí's position as king of Ireland was increasingly untenable.
Ruaidrí at first remained aloof from engagement with King Henry, though many of the lesser kings and lords welcomed his arrival as they wished to see him curb the territorial gains made by his vassals. Through the intercession of
Henry was unwilling or unable to enforce the terms of the treaty on his barons in Ireland, who continued to gain territory in Ireland. A low point came in 1177 with a successful raid into the heart of Connacht by a party of Anglo-Normans, led by one of Ruaidrí's sons, Prince Muirchertach. They were expelled, Ruaidhrí ordering the blinding of Muirchertach, but over the next six years his rule was increasingly diminished by internal dynastic conflict and external attacks. Finally, in 1183, he abdicated.
He was twice briefly returned to power in 1185 and 1189, but even within his home kingdom of Connacht he had become politically marginalized. He lived quietly on his estates, died at the
Lordship of Ireland: 1171–1542
By the time of Ruaidrí's reign in 1171, King
By the 1390s the Lordship had effectively shrunk to
For the duration of the 15th century, royal power in Ireland was weak, the country being dominated by the various clans and dynasties of Gaelic (
Lords of Ireland, 1177–1542
- John (1177–1216)
- First man to be made King of England.
- First man to be made
- Henry III (1216–1272)
- Henry III granted Ireland to his son, Edward I, in 1254 on condition that it would never be separated from the Crown.
- Battle of Druim Dearg(also known as the Battle of Down).
- Edward I (1272–1307)
- Edward II (1307–1327)
- Edward Bruce, Earl of Carrick and brother of Robert Bruce, King of Scotland, declared himself High King of Ireland during a failed rebellion of 1315–1318, which formed part of the larger war between England and Scotland.
- Edward III (1327–1377)
- Richard II (1377–1399)
- Robert de Vere was created Duke of Ireland in 1386, but forfeited his titles in 1388.
- Henry IV (1399–1413)
- Henry V (1413–1422)
- Henry VI (1422–1461)
- Edward IV (1461–1470)
- Henry VI (1470–1471)
- Edward IV (1471–1483)
- Edward V (1483)
- Richard III (1483–1485)
- Henry VII (1485–1509)
- Lambert Simnel claimed to be Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick, and was crowned "King Edward VI" in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin on 24 May 1487. His claim ended with the Battle of Stoke Field, 16 June 1487.
- Perkin Warbeck claimed to be Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York ("Richard IV") and gained some Irish support before a failed invasion of England in 1495.
- Henry VIII(1509–1542)
The title of Lord of Ireland was abolished by Henry VIII, who was made
Kingdom of Ireland, 1542–1800
Re-creation of title
The title "King of Ireland" was created by an act of the Irish Parliament in 1541, replacing the Lordship of Ireland, which had existed since 1171, with the Kingdom of Ireland.
The
The title of King of Ireland was created after Henry VIII had been excommunicated in 1538, so it was not recognised by European Catholic monarchs. Following the accession of the Catholic Mary I in 1553 and her marriage to Philip II of Spain, in 1554, Pope Paul IV issued the papal bull "Ilius" in 1555, recognising them as Queen and King of Ireland together with her heirs and successors.[3]
For a brief period in the 17th century, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms from the impeachment and execution of Charles I in 1649 to the Irish Restoration in May 1660, there was no 'King of Ireland'. After the Irish Rebellion of 1641, Irish Catholics, organised in Confederate Ireland, still recognised Charles I, and later Charles II, as legitimate monarchs, in opposition to the claims of the English Parliament, and signed a formal treaty with Charles I in 1648. However, in 1649, the Rump Parliament, victorious in the English Civil War, executed Charles I, and made England a republic, or "Commonwealth". The Parliamentarian general Oliver Cromwell came across the Irish Sea to crush the Irish royalists, temporarily uniting England, Scotland, and Ireland under one government, and styling himself "Lord Protector" of the three kingdoms (see also Cromwellian conquest of Ireland). After Cromwell's death in 1658, his son Richard emerged as the leader of this pan-British Isles republic, but he was not competent to maintain it. The Parliament of England at Westminster voted to restore the monarchy, and in 1660 King Charles II returned from exile in France to become King of England, King of Scotland and King of Ireland.
Union with Great Britain, 1707–1922
The
During the early 18th century, a significant number of Irishmen who had fled Ireland in the aftermath of the
Partition: Irish Free State and Northern Ireland, 1922–1936
In early December 1922, most of
The King's title in the Irish Free State was exactly the same as it was elsewhere in the British Empire, being from 1922 to 1927: "
According to
Despite a lack of change in his title, George V's position as king of that country became separated from his place as King of the United Kingdom (as occurred with all the other British Dominions at the time). The
Abdication crisis, President of Ireland and Republic of Ireland Act, 1936–1949
The constitutional crisis resulting from the
According to Desmond Oulton (owner of
The British monarchy, specifically, continued and continues in Northern Ireland, which remains a part of the sovereign state that is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. From 1921 until 1973, the British monarch was officially represented in Northern Ireland by the Governor of Northern Ireland.
List of monarchs of Ireland
Monarchs of Ireland
British monarchs:
- Henry VIII (1542–1547); Lord of Ireland, 1509–1542; made king by the Crown of Ireland Act 1542
- Edward VI (1547–1553)
- Lady Jane Grey (1553; disputed)
- Mary I (1553–1558)
- Philip (of Spain) (1554–1558) jure uxoris; the Spanish king (Mary's husband)'s title as King of Ireland was reinforced by the Treason Act 1554
- Elizabeth I (1558–1603)
- James I (1603–1625)
- Charles I (1625–1649)
The Wars of the Three Kingdoms (incorporating the Irish Rebellion of 1641, Confederate Ireland, the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland and the Irish Confederate Wars) took place between 1639 and 1653. Charles I was executed in 1649 and his son Charles II was recognised by some Irish lords as King of Ireland. The Interregnum began with England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales ruled by the Council of State, then the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell (1649–1658) and his son Richard Cromwell (1658–1659). The Restoration in Ireland was effected in 1660 without major opposition, Charles II being declared king on 14 May 1660 by the Irish Convention.
- Charles II (1660–1685)
- James II (1685–1689)
- Mary II(1689–1694)
The position of King of Ireland was contested by William III and James II between 1689 and 1691, after the Glorious Revolution of 1688. The Crown and Parliament Recognition Act 1689 made William King of Ireland, and this was reinforced by his victory at the Battle of the Boyne (part of the Williamite War in Ireland).
- Anne (1702–1714)
- The Acts of Union 1707 united the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. However, the Kingdom of Ireland remained a separate state.
- George I (1714–1727)
- George II (1727–1760)
- George III (1760–1801)
The
- George III (1801–1820)
- George IV (1820–1830)
- William IV (1830–1837)
- Victoria (1837–1901)
- Edward VII (1901–1910)
- George V (1910–1922)
Monarchs of the Irish Free State and Ireland
- George V (1922–1936) (The Irish Free State became a self-governing Dominion of the British Empire and subsequently, in 1931, a legislatively independent country.)
- Edward VIII (1936)
- Arguably George VI (1936–1949), whose status was diminished (see Irish head of state from 1922 to 1949).
Following the Ireland Act 1949, only the part of Ireland known as Northern Ireland remained part of a monarchy.
King's title, George V – George VI
The king's title in the Irish Free State, when it became a self-governing Dominion of the British Empire, and its constitutional successor from December 1936 to April 1949, was the same as elsewhere in the British Commonwealth,[15] but it was unclear whether the President of Ireland was Head of state of Ireland (1936 to 1949) or the king, George VI.
The changes in the
Proposed Irish monarchy
In 1906, Patrick Pearse, writing in the newspaper An Claidheamh Soluis, envisioned the Ireland of 2006 as an independent Irish-speaking kingdom with an "Ard Rí" or "High King" as head of state.[18][19]
During the Easter Rising in Dublin in 1916, some Republican leaders, including Pearse and Joseph Plunkett, contemplated giving the throne of an independent Ireland to Prince Joachim of Prussia.[20][21] While they were not in favour of a monarchy in itself, Pearse and Plunkett thought that if the uprising were successful and Germany won the First World War, they would insist on an independent Ireland being a monarchy with a German prince as king, in the same way as Romania and Bulgaria.[22] The fact that Joachim did not speak English was also considered an advantage, as he might be more disposed to learning and promoting the use of the Irish language.[23] In his memoirs, Desmond FitzGerald wrote:
That would have certain advantages for us. It would mean that a movement for de-anglicisation would flow from the head of the state downwards, for what was English would be foreign to the head of the state. He would naturally turn to those who were more Irish and Gaelic, as to his friends, for the non-nationalist element in our country had shown themselves to be so bitterly anti-German ... For the first generation or so it would be an advantage, in view of our natural weakness, to have a ruler who linked us with a dominant European power, and thereafter, when we were better prepared to stand alone, or when it might be undesirable that our ruler should turn by personal choice to one power rather than be guided by what was most natural and beneficial for our country, the ruler of that time would have become completely Irish.[24]
Ernest Blythe recalls that in January 1915 he heard Plunkett and Thomas MacDonagh express support for the idea at an Irish Volunteers meeting. No objections were made by anyone and Bulmer Hobson was among the attendees. Blythe himself said he found the idea "immensely attractive".[25]
In the 1930s, an organisation known as the Irish Monarchist Society, whose members included Francis Stuart and Osmonde Esmonde, plotted to overthrow the Irish Free State and establish an independent Irish Catholic monarchy under a member of the O'Neill dynasty.[29][30]
According to Hugo O'Donnell, 7th Duke of Tetuan, de Valera raised the idea of an Irish monarchy with his great-grandfather Juan O'Donnell.[31]
Raymond Moulton O'Brien, the self-styled "Prince of Thomond", and the United Christian Nationalist Party, of which O'Brien was the leader, wanted to reestablish the monarchy with O'Brien as king.[32]
References
Citations
- ^ Scarisbrick, J.J. English Monarchs: Henry VIII. University of California Press.
- Parr, Katherine (2011). "Last Will and Testament of Dowager Queen Katherine Parr". In Mueller, Janel (ed.). Katherine Parr: Complete Works and Correspondence. University of Chicago Press. p. 178.
- ^ "The papal bull "ILIUS" of 1555 conferring the title of King of Ireland upon Philip II".
- ^ Pittock 2006, p. 210.
- ^ a b c Aston 2002, p. 222.
- ^ a b The Times, 4 March 1927
- ^ The Irish Law Times and Solicitor's Journal: Public general statutes, J. Falconer, 1929, p. 66
- ^ "Black v Chrétien: Suing a Minister of the Crown for Abuse of Power, Misfeasance in Public Office and Negligence". Murdoch University Electronic Journal of Law. 9 (3). September 2002. Retrieved 2 October 2008.
- ^ Executive Authority (External Relations) Act, 1936. Dublin: Irish Statute Book. 12 December 1936. 3.2. Retrieved 6 May 2009.
- ISBN 0300030711.
- JSTOR 10.1086/508399.: "After the enactment of the 1936 External Relations Act and the 1937 Constitution, Ireland's only remaining link with the crown had been the accreditation of diplomats. The president of Ireland was the head of state. When opposition deputies asked de Valera whether Ireland was a republic—a favorite pastime in the mid-1940s—he tended to resort to dictionary definitions showing that Ireland had all the attributes of a republic."
- Republic of Ireland Act 1948.
- ISBN 0-333-80265-9.
Ireland reluctantly remained a member of the Commonwealth as Irish citizens remained British Subjects. However, Irish representatives stopped attending Commonwealth meetings in 1937 and Ireland adopted a position of neutrality in World War II. Ireland became a Republic in 1949 and formally left the Commonwealth.
- ^ ISBN 978-1781171936
- ^ Proclamation altering the Style and Titles appertaining to the Crown, London, 13 May 1927.[1]
- ^ Heads of government attending the 1926 Imperial Conference included W. T. Cosgrave, then serving as President of the Executive Council (prime minister) from 1922 to 1932. It was recorded that the distinct characteristics and histories of each was recognised by the parties attending the Conference,
- ^ See Alistair B. Fraser (1998). "The Flags of Canada". For the chronology of Canadian flags from 1870, at the time of the Irish republican movement, see Appendix III. For explanation of the distinction between national flags and monarchical badges or blazons of arms see Chapter I: "... a nation needs emblems and symbols to preserve traditions and inspire love of country. Of these symbols, the coat of arms and the flag are the chief." Charles Frederick Hamilton, Assistant Comptroller, R.C.M.P (1921) "The function of a flag is to send the simple message of identity. The function of arms is to dignify an individual, or institution, or country by special identifying symbolism and by appropriate reference to ancestry." John Ross Matheson, Canada's Flag: A Search for a Country (Boston G.K. Hall, 1980), p. 7. "Canada's flag serves to identify something Canadian. More specialized in its use, Canada's arms identify national authority and jurisdiction. Leaving aside strictly decorative uses of either, the flag is used wherever one wishes to make the simple statement: Canada or Canadian; the arms only where the authority of the nation is asserted." Alistair B. Fraser, 1998, op.cit.
- ^ In My Garden, An Claidheamh Soluis, 4 August 1906
- ^ Patrick Pearse Predicts the Future, Dublin Review of Books, Bryan Fanning, 20 May 2013
- ^ Memoirs of Desmond FitzGerald, 1913–1916, Desmond FitzGerald; Routledge & K. Paul, 1968, p. 141
- ^ Irish nationalism: a history of its roots and ideology, Seán Cronin, Continuum, 1981, p. 255
- ^ The Irish Factor, 1899–1919: Ireland's Strategic and Diplomatic Importance for Foreign Powers, Jérôme aan De Wiel, Irish Academic Press, 2008, p. 66
- ^ Abject Loyalty: Nationalism and Monarchy in Ireland During the Reign of Queen Victoria, James H. Murphy, CUA Press, 2001, p. 301
- ^ "Inside the GPO in 1916: Desmond FitzGerald's eyewitness account". Irish Times. 21 March 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
- ^ An Irish Monarchy, The Irish Times, 15 April 1966
- ^ Feeney, Brian (2002). Sinn Féin: a Hundred Turbulent Years. Dublin: The O'Brien Press. pp. 32–33.
- ^ The new nationalism, 1916-18, F S L Lyons, in A New History of Ireland: Ireland under the Union, II, 1870-1921, William Edward Vaughan, Clarendon Press, 1976, p. 233
- ^ Michael Laffan, The Resurrection of Ireland: The Sinn Féin Party, 1916-1923, p. 241
- ^ Francis Stuart: A life, Geoffrey Elborn, Raven Arts Press, 1990, p. 101
- ^ Kevin Kieley, Francis Stuart: Artist and Outcast, p. 98
- ^ Ireland In The 20th Century, Tim Pat Coogan, Random House, p. 175
- ^ Aan de Wiel, Jérôme (2007). "The Principality of Thomond and His Royal Highness Raymond Moulton Seághan O'Brien, 1936–1963; Ireland's Greatest Diplomatic Farce" (PDF). North Munster Antiquarian Journal. 47: 95–109. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
Sources
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- Pittock, Murray GH (2006). Poetry and Jacobite Politics in Eighteenth-Century Britain and Ireland. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521030274.
- Synchronismen der irischen Konige, Rudolf Thurneysen, ZCP 19, 1933, pp. 81–99.
- The Uí Brian Kingship in Telach Oc, James Hogan, in Feil-Sgrighinn Eoin Mhic Neill, pp. 406–444, ed. John Ryan, Dublin, 1938.
- Early Irish History and Mythology, T.F. O'Rahilly, 1946.
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