Union, Act of (Ireland)

Union, Act of (Ireland), 1801. United the parliaments of Great Britain and Ireland, abolished the Irish Parliament in Dublin, and ended Irish legislative independence granted in 1782. The Act originated from Britain's difficulties in governing Ireland especially after the Irish rising of 1798, and was designed to strengthen British security against France. The first bill in 1799 failed because of the opposition of powerful protestant interests which dominated the Irish Parliament. They were bought off by bribery and lavish promises of honours and titles and the Act came into force on 1 January 1801. In place of her own House of Commons of 300 members, Ireland was given 100 MPs at Westminster, drawn from the counties and larger boroughs, while 28 Irish peers were elected for life by the whole Irish peerage to represent them in the Lords. Four bishops of the Church of Ireland, serving in rotation, also entered the Lords. The Act was intended to pave the way for catholic emancipation in Ireland but George III refused to consent and Pitt, the prime minister, resigned. The Act was always unpopular in Ireland, Daniel O'Connell and later Charles Stewart Parnell leading the agitation for repeal, but it lasted until 1920.

E. A. Smith