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105-721: In 1880, Charles Stewart Parnell had visited Chicago and the American branch of the Irish National Land League was established there. The first Irish Race Convention was held on 30 November – 2 December 1881, following a Clan na Gael convention in August. It covered the recent emerging links between the more violent groups, such as the Fenians , the Land League and the growing Irish Home Rule movement that

210-525: A physical force Irish organisation that had staged a rebellion in 1867. Parnell made it his business to cultivate Fenian sentiments both in Britain and Ireland and became associated with the more radical wing of the Home Rule League, which included Joseph Biggar (MP for Cavan from 1874), John O'Connor Power (MP for County Mayo from 1874) (both, although constitutionalists, had links with

315-623: A National Convention representative of the Irish race throughout the world." Pope Leo XIII sent a blessing in Latin : "Sanctissimus, bonum spirituale et temporale Hibernorum exoptans, finem dissensionum precatur". The convention thanked him profusely: "The Irish Race Convention begs to express its profound gratitude to the Holy Father (i.e., the Pope) for his most kind and salutary message, which all

420-621: A Parnellite bloc of 86 Irish Home Rule MPs holding the balance of power in the Commons. Parnell's task was now to win acceptance of the principle of a Dublin parliament. Parnell at first supported a Conservative government – they were still the smaller party after the elections – but after renewed agrarian distress arose when agricultural prices fell and unrest developed during 1885, Lord Salisbury 's Conservative government announced coercion measures in January 1886. Parnell switched his support to

525-503: A Protestant English merchant family, which came to prominence in Congleton , Cheshire, early in the 17th century where two generations held the office of Mayor of Congleton before moving to Ireland. The family produced a number of notable figures, including Thomas Parnell (1679–1718), the Irish poet, and Henry Parnell, 1st Baron Congleton (1776–1842), the Irish politician. Parnell's grandfather William Parnell (1780–1821), who inherited

630-752: A bitter verbal offensive. They were imprisoned under a proclaimed Coercion Act in Kilmainham Gaol for "sabotaging the Land Act", from where the No Rent Manifesto , which Parnell and the others signed, was issued calling for a national tenant farmer rent strike . The Land League was suppressed immediately. Whilst in gaol, Parnell moved in April 1882 to make a deal with the government, negotiated through Captain William O'Shea MP, that, provided

735-614: A bout of activity, he left for America in December 1879 with John Dillon to raise funds for famine relief and secure support for Home Rule. Timothy Healy followed to cope with the press and they collected £70,000 for distress in Ireland. During Parnell's highly successful tour, he had an audience with American President Rutherford B. Hayes . On 2 February 1880, he addressed the United States House of Representatives on

840-513: A firm 'party pledge' which obliged party MPs to vote as a bloc in parliament on all occasions. The creation of a strict party whip and formal party structure was unique in party politics at the time. The Irish Parliamentary Party is generally seen as the first modern British political party, its efficient structure and control contrasting with the loose rules and flexible informality found in the main British parties, which came to model themselves on

945-734: A furious enemy of the Conservatives) and the House of Lords where many Whigs sat (a second Home Rule Bill would pass the Commons in 1893 only to be overwhelmingly defeated in the Lords). Parnell next became the centre of public attention when in March and April 1887 he found himself accused by the British newspaper The Times of supporting the brutal murders in May 1882 of the newly appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland , Lord Frederick Cavendish , and

1050-558: A general election to obtain a mandate for Irish Disestablishment (which had been a major cause of dispute between Conservatives and Liberals since the 1830s), but the result of the July 1886 general election was a Liberal defeat. The Conservatives and the Liberal Unionist Party returned with a majority of 118 over the combined Gladstonian Liberals and Parnell's 85 Irish Party seats. Salisbury formed his second government –

1155-628: A gold medal by the United States Congress for gallantry in the U.S. Navy). Parnell belonged to the Church of Ireland , disestablished in 1868 (its members mostly unionists ) though in later years he began to drop away from formal church attendance; and he was connected with the aristocracy through the Powerscourts. Yet it was as a leader of Irish Nationalism that Parnell established his fame. Parnell's parents separated when he

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1260-716: A great deal and never completed his degree. In 1871, he joined his elder brother John Howard Parnell (1843–1923), who farmed in Alabama (later an Irish Parnellite MP and heir to the Avondale estate), on an extended tour of the United States. Their travels took them mostly through the South and apparently, the brothers neither spent much time in centres of Irish immigration nor sought out Irish-Americans. In 1874, he became High Sheriff of Wicklow , his home county in which he

1365-682: A minority Conservative government with Liberal Unionist support. The Liberal split made the Unionists (the Liberal Unionists sat in coalition with the Conservatives after 1895 and would eventually merge with them) the dominant force in British politics until 1906 , with strong support in Lancashire , Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham (the fiefdom of its former mayor Joseph Chamberlain who as recently as 1885 had been

1470-592: A powerful Anglo-Irish Protestant landowning family in County Wicklow , he was a land reform agitator and founder of the Irish National Land League in 1879. He became leader of the Home Rule League , operating independently of the Liberal Party , winning great influence by his balancing of constitutional, radical, and economic issues, and by his skilful use of parliamentary procedure. He

1575-606: A restrained speaker in the House of Commons, but his organisational, analytical and tactical skills earned wide praise, enabling him to take on the presidency of the British organisation. Butt died in 1879, and was replaced as chairman of the Home Rule League by the Whig -oriented William Shaw . Shaw's victory was only temporary. From August 1877, Parnell held a number of private meetings with prominent Fenian leaders. He visited Paris where he met John O'Leary and J. J. O'Kelly both of whom were impressed by him and reported positively to

1680-637: A sizeable landlord support for home rule. During the agrarian crisis, which intensified in 1886 and launched the Plan of Campaign organised by Parnell's lieutenants, he chose in the interest of Home Rule not to associate himself with it. All that remained, it seemed, was to work out details of a new home rule bill with Gladstone. They held two meetings, one in March 1888 and a second more significant meeting at Gladstone's home in Hawarden on 18–19 December 1889. On each occasion, Parnell's demands were entirely within

1785-454: A small minority faction until his death in 1891. Parnell's funeral was attended by 200,000, and the day of his death is still remembered as Ivy Day . Parnell Square and Parnell Street in Dublin are named after him, and he is celebrated as the best organiser of an Irish political party up to that time, and one of the most formidable figures in parliamentary history. Charles Stewart Parnell

1890-512: A sovereign and independent nation. " The intention of the resolution was that once passed it would be presented as a joint aspiration of all Irish-American organizations under the auspices of the IAM to political candidates in U.S. elections for their endorsement in exchange for political support. Several prominent American Congressmen from both the Republican and Democratic parties pledged to attend

1995-539: A special Mass to be said in St Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan for the intentions of Irish Unity. More than 2,000 people packed into the cathedral for the occasion, which was seen as a preliminary move ahead of the actual Convention and the huge turnout indicative of the growing interest in the event. (Citation: Irish Echo) Over the coming months, the IAM continued to organize and prepare a program of events for

2100-587: Is the one to play" . In the course of a long and fierce debate Gladstone made a remarkable Home Rule Speech , beseeching parliament to pass the bill. However, the split between pro- and anti-home rulers within the Liberal Party caused the defeat of the bill on its second reading in June by 341 to 311 votes. Parliament was dissolved and elections called, with Irish Home Rule the central issue. Gladstone hoped to repeat his triumph of 1868 , when he fought and won

2205-469: Is the ultimate goal at which all we Irishmen aim. None of us whether we be in America or in Ireland ... will be satisfied until we have destroyed the last link which keeps Ireland bound to England. His activities came to an abrupt end when the 1880 United Kingdom general election was announced for April and he returned to fight it. The Conservatives were defeated by the Liberal Party ; William Gladstone

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2310-606: The 1800 Act of Union merged the Kingdom of Ireland into a combined United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland . In the mid-19th century, the Great Famine (1845–1852) resulted in the death or emigration of over two million people . At the time, trade agreements were controlled by the British government and whilst hundreds of thousands were suffering from hunger, Irish dairy products and wheat harvests were exported to Britain and other overseas territories. A Home Rule Bill

2415-487: The Gael ') which was to be made permanent and to be funded by the formative Irish government . The Irish delegation was supposed to represent "the Irish people", but this comprised senior members of Sinn Féin who were for and against the treaty. Debate on the treaty turned on the definition of whether or not the treaty embodied Ireland's "full" right to independence. Those against the treaty said not; those in favour said it

2520-587: The Irish Parliamentary Party in 1890. Archbishop Walsh of Toronto had said: "Let a great National Convention be held in Dublin, composed of chosen representatives of the clergy and people of Ireland and of an advisory representation of the Irish race abroad." John Dillon on behalf of the INF replied: "That this party approves of the suggestion made by the Archbishop of Toronto in favour of

2625-616: The Marshall Aid plan, and the solution was to make this aid conditional upon the end of partition. Congressman John E. Fogarty was the main mover. On 29 March 1950, he proposed the Fogarty Resolution as a part of the Marshall Plan Foreign Aid Bill, arguing that Northern Ireland was costing Britain $ 150,000,000 annually, and that American financial support for Britain was thereby prolonging

2730-603: The Second Dáil provide a £5000 loan to Fine Ghaedheal. A Dáil special committee considered the matter and reported in June, recommending a loan. The Dáil voted to accept the report without the loan. By this stage the Irish Free State was effectively a republic, and had remained neutral in World War II . The main issue in 1947 was to end the partition of Ireland . America was supporting Britain through

2835-672: The Tudor family, so Parnell had a distant relationship with the British royal family . John Henry Parnell himself was a cousin of one of Ireland's leading aristocrats, Viscount Powerscourt , and also the grandson of a Chancellor of the Exchequer in Grattan's Parliament , Sir John Parnell , who lost office in 1799, when he opposed the Act of Union . The Parnells of Avondale were descended from

2940-436: The "ne plus ultra" to the progress of Ireland's nationhood, and we never shall. Both British parties toyed with various suggestions for greater self-government for Ireland. In March 1885, the British cabinet rejected the proposal of radical minister Joseph Chamberlain of democratic county councils which in turn would elect a Central Board for Ireland . Gladstone on the other hand said he was prepared to go 'rather further' than

3045-855: The 17th century, the Penal Laws outlawed the Catholic clergy and precluded Catholics in Ireland from owning or leasing land above a certain value, accessing higher education and certain professions, and gave primacy to the established church , the Church of Ireland . While these laws were later eased, including by the Treaty of Limerick which followed the Williamite War in Ireland (1688–1691), by 1778 Catholics still held only around 5% of land in Ireland. The United Irishmen Rebellion of 1798 (which sought to end British rule in Ireland) failed, and

3150-604: The 1916 convention was John W. Goff . Comprising 2,300 delegates at the Hotel Astor , was held six weeks before the Easter Rising , and considered the division between the Home Rule parties and the more militant nationalists. The Rising would be supported by Clan na Gael, but other members remained hopeful that the 1914 Home Rule Act , which had been passed but suspended during World War I, might work. A majority at

3255-626: The Avondale Estate in 1795, was an Irish liberal Party MP for Wicklow from 1817 to 1820. Thus, from birth, Charles Stewart Parnell possessed an extraordinary number of links to many elements of society; he was linked to the old Irish Parliamentary tradition via his great-grandfather and grandfather, to the American War of Independence via his grandfather, to the War of 1812 (where his grandfather Charles Stewart (1778–1869) had been awarded

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3360-577: The Convention. Delegates from numerous countries with significant Irish populations, including Argentina and Australia were invited to participate. The IAM drew up a resolution, which was to be passed at the Convention, fixed for June 11th, 1994. The wording of the resolution was as follows: " We, the children of the Irish Diaspora, demand that Britain set a date for withdrawal from our ancestral homeland so that Ireland may exercise its right to be

3465-780: The Convention. On Easter Monday, April 4th, 1994, Gerry McGeough began a three year prison sentence for the earlier weapons charges and was no longer directly involved in the preparations for the Convention. By this time, however, a strong committee had been formed, which, under the guidance of Vic Sackett brought the Convention to fruition. In recognition of the event, New York City designated June 11th as ‘Irish Race Convention Day’. Executive Committee and Dedication [1] Irish Echo Article April 1994 https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ui=2&ik=aa14da0d6b&attid=0.1&permmsgid=msg-a:r-4225797634069041231&view=att&disp=safe&realattid=f_lx6cqsq40 Charles Stewart Parnell Charles Stewart Parnell (27 June 1846 – 6 October 1891)

3570-648: The English king and eventually spanned several centuries that involved British control of parts, or the entirety, of the island of Ireland. Most of Ireland gained independence from the United Kingdom following the Anglo-Irish War in the early 20th century. Initially formed as a Dominion called the Irish Free State in 1922, the Republic of Ireland became a fully independent nation state following

3675-761: The FOIF and severed mutual links in October 1920. In turn, the FOIF President Bishop Gallagher called de Valera a "foreign potentate", and Bishop Turner referred to him as the " Pancho Villa of Ireland". Membership of the FOIF soon declined from over 100,000 to less than 20,000. Held on 3 November 1919, this first Australian convention was chaired by Thomas Ryan KC, the Labor party Premier of Queensland . Archbishop Mannix read out messages he had exchanged with Arthur Griffith , and supported

3780-537: The Home Rule League Party, of which he was to remain the re-elected leader for over a decade, spending most of his time at Westminster , with Henry Campbell as his personal secretary. He fundamentally changed the party, replicated the INL structure within it and created a well-organised grassroots structure, introduced membership to replace "ad hoc" informal groupings in which MPs with little commitment to

3885-512: The IRB), Edmund Dwyer-Gray (MP for Tipperary from 1877), and Frank Hugh O'Donnell (MP for Dungarvan from 1877). He engaged with them and played a leading role in a policy of obstructionism (i.e., the use of technical procedures to disrupt the House of Commons ability to function) to force the House to pay more attention to Irish issues, which had previously been ignored. Obstruction involved giving lengthy speeches which were largely irrelevant to

3990-483: The Irish claim to sovereignty. Archbishop Redwood of New Zealand also attended. Monsignor Curran estimated that 1,000 delegates were present, and that the Irish "block vote" was then about 23% of the electorate. In 1921, Laurence Ginnell was sent to organise a smaller convention in Buenos Aires, Argentina . The effect was to link up with the expatriate Irish there, and to demonstrate the world-wide scope of

4095-587: The Liberals. The prospects shocked Unionists . The Orange Order , revived in the 1880s to oppose the Land League, now openly opposed Home Rule. On 20 January, the Irish Unionist Party was established in Dublin. By 28 January, Salisbury's government had resigned. The Liberal Party regained power on 1 February, their leader Gladstone – influenced by the status of Norway , which at the time

4200-407: The New Departure endorsed the Fenian movement and its armed strategies. Working together with Davitt (who was impressed by Parnell ) he now took on the role of leader of the New Departure, holding platform meeting after platform meeting around the country. Throughout the autumn of 1879, he repeated the message to tenants, after the long depression had left them without income for rent: You must show

4305-451: The Parnellite model. The Representation of the People Act 1884 enlarged the franchise, and the IPP increased its number of MPs from 63 to 85 in the 1885 election . The changes affected the nature of candidates chosen. Under Butt, the party's MPs were a mixture of Catholic and Protestant , landlord and others, Whig , Liberal and Conservative , often leading to disagreements in policy that meant that MPs split in votes. Under Parnell,

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4410-429: The Permanent Under-Secretary, Thomas Henry Burke , in Dublin's Phoenix Park , and of the general involvement of his movement with crime (i.e., with illegal organisations such as the IRB ). Letters were published which suggested Parnell was complicit in the murders. The most important one, dated 15 May 1882, ran as follows: Dear Sir, – I am not surprised at your friend's anger, but he and you should know that to denounce

4515-569: The United States in May of 1992 on foot of charges from 1982 relating to the procurement of weapons for use by the IRA against the British in the North of Ireland, had been released on bail within weeks of his arrival in the US and immediately set about speaking and organizing on behalf of the Irish Republican cause among Irish-Americans. He joined the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) at this time and worked closely on Irish and Catholic issues with many of its prominent members, including Vic Sackett from Long Island. The plans for an Irish Race Convention in

4620-413: The accepted parameters of Liberal thinking, Gladstone noting that he was one of the best people he had known to deal with, a remarkable transition from an inmate at Kilmainham to an intimate at Hawarden in just over seven years. This was the high point of Parnell's career. In the early part of 1890, he still hoped to advance the situation on the land question, with which a substantial section of his party

4725-423: The case did not come to trial until 15 November 1890. The two-day trial revealed that Parnell had been the long-term lover of Mrs. O'Shea and had fathered three of her children. Meanwhile, Parnell assured the Irish Party that there was no need to fear the verdict because he would be exonerated. During January 1890, resolutions of confidence in his leadership were passed throughout the country. Parnell did not contest

4830-404: The constituency of Cork City , from 1880 until 1891. During his first year as an MP, Parnell remained a reserved observer of parliamentary proceedings. He first came to attention in the public eye in 1876, when he claimed in the House of Commons that he did not believe that any murder had been committed by Fenians in Manchester . That drew the interest of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB),

4935-486: The convention chairman were therefore unusually important. This also caused an immediate division between John Devoy , who proposed the moderate Father Hurton, being mindful of the "hostile press", and Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington and Jim Larkin who proposed the more combative John Forrest Kelly . The convention ended with an address by Judge Goff to President Wilson, which was considered to be mild and conciliatory: "to take such measures as are best calculated to bring about

5040-401: The convention supported the American policy of neutrality during the war, and were opposed to any alliance with Britain. Woodrow Wilson won the 1916 United States presidential election with help from Irish-Americans and his campaign slogan: "He kept us out of War". An important result was the formation of the " Friends of Irish Freedom " that worked as a co-ordinating body to support: "...

5145-501: The country, though there were fewer in Ulster than in the other provinces. Parnell left the day-to-day running of the INL in the hands of his lieutenants Timothy Harrington as Secretary, William O'Brien , editor of its newspaper United Ireland , and Tim Healy . Its continued agrarian agitation led to the passing of several Irish Land Acts that over three decades changed the face of Irish land ownership, replacing large Anglo-Irish estates with tenant ownership. Parnell next turned to

5250-399: The delegates receive as a signal favour, and as the happiest augury of peace." A number of practical resolutions followed, primarily on the progress of land ownership reform . Eventually the Irish Parliamentary Party did reunite in 1900, chaired by Redmond, and achieved the enactment of the Home Rule Act 1914 , but this was suspended for the duration of the First World War. The Chairman of

5355-426: The divorce action at a hearing on 15 November, to ensure that it would be granted and he could marry Mrs O'Shea, so Captain O'Shea's allegations went unchallenged. A divorce decree was granted on 17 November 1890, but Parnell's two surviving children were placed in O'Shea's custody. British rule in Ireland British rule in Ireland built upon the 12th century Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland on behalf of

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5460-490: The government settled the "rent arrears" question allowing 100,000 tenants to appeal for fair rent before the land courts, then withdrawing the manifesto and undertaking to move against agrarian crime, after he realised militancy would never win Home Rule. Parnell also promised to use his good offices to quell the violence and to cooperate cordially for the future with the Liberal Party in forwarding Liberal principles and measures of general reform. His release on 2 May, following

5565-410: The idea of a Central Board. After the collapse of Gladstone's government in June 1885, Parnell urged the Irish voters in Britain to vote against the Liberal Party. The November general elections (delayed because boundaries were being redrawn and new registers prepared after the Third Reform Act) brought about a hung Parliament in which the Liberals with 335 seats won 86 more than the Conservatives, with

5670-466: The independence of Ireland". Joseph McGarrity helped organize this convention which was held on 22–23 February, with over 5,000 delegates. The convention discussed the success of Sinn Féin in the 1918 election , the declaration in January of the Irish Republic in Dublin, and the hope that America would support Irish participation at the forthcoming Paris peace conference . The principle of self-determination at article 5 in Wilson's Fourteen Points

5775-434: The independence of Ireland, the industrial development of Ireland, the use and sale of Irish products, and to revive Irish culture." Held on 18–19 May, and organised by the Friends for Irish Freedom, this convention looked forward to the end of the world war, in which America was now an ally of Britain. The convention therefore had the difficult task of steering between its support for militant groups such as Sinn Féin , which

5880-406: The kings of England then claimed sovereignty. By the late Late Middle Ages , Anglo-Norman control was limited to an area around Dublin known as the Pale . Enacted in 1494, Poynings law ensured that the Irish parliament could not meet without the approval of England's monarch and Privy Council . In 1541, English king Henry VIII changed Ireland's status from a lordship to a kingdom, and he

5985-533: The landlord that you intend to keep a firm grip on your homesteads and lands. You must not allow yourselves be dispossessed as you were dispossessed in 1847. Parnell was elected president of Davitt's newly founded Irish National Land League in Dublin on 21 October 1879, signing a militant Land League address campaigning for land reform . In so doing, he linked the mass movement to the parliamentary agitation, with profound consequences for both of them. Andrew Kettle , his 'right-hand man', became honorary secretary. In

6090-506: The late 1870s and was still the most likely alternative leader) refused to serve at all, while Joseph Chamberlain briefly held office then resigned when he saw the terms of the proposed bill. On 8 April 1886, Gladstone introduced the First Irish Home Rule Bill , his object to establish an Irish legislature, although large imperial issues were to be reserved to the Westminster parliament. The Conservatives now emerged as enthusiastic unionists, Lord Randolph Churchill declared, "The Orange card

6195-557: The letters were a fabrication created by Richard Pigott , a disreputable anti-Parnellite rogue journalist. Pigott broke down under cross-examination after the letter was shown to be a forgery by him with his characteristic spelling mistakes. He fled to Madrid where he committed suicide. Parnell was vindicated, to the disappointment of the Tories and the Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury . The 35-volume commission report published in February 1890, did not clear Parnell's movement of criminal involvement. Parnell then took The Times to court and

6300-442: The money. The FOIF was led by John Devoy and Judge Cohalan (a judge of the New York Supreme Court ), and believed that a sophisticated and conciliatory approach would ensure the best diplomatic support for Ireland at the Paris conference. De Valera and other Irish delegates expected the FOIF to demand and secure immediate recognition by the USA of the Irish Republic. A division on policy arose, Sinn Féin tried unsuccessfully to reform

6405-462: The most capable and militant Leader of the American republican Clan na Gael organisation, John Devoy . In December 1877, at a reception for Michael Davitt on his release from prison, he met William Carrol who assured him of Clan na Gael's support in the struggle for Irish self-government. This led to a meeting in March 1878 between influential constitutionalists, Parnell and Frank Hugh O'Donnell, and leading Fenians O'Kelly, O'Leary and Carroll. This

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6510-566: The murders was the only course open to us. To do that promptly was plainly our best policy. But you can tell him, and all others concerned, that, though I regret the accident of Lord Frederick Cavendish's death, I cannot refuse to admit that Burke got no more than his deserts. You are at liberty to show him this, and others whom you can trust also, but let not my address be known. He can write to House of Commons. Yours very truly, Chas S. Parnell. A Commission of Enquiry , which Parnell had requested, revealed in February 1889, after 128 sessions that

6615-436: The nationalist movement. In January 1922, the convention had to consider the Anglo-Irish Treaty that had just been ratified and which divided nationalist opinion. It was held in Paris to emphasise Ireland's emerging status as an independent state to the rest of Europe. The proposed Irish Free State was to be created in December 1922. The body organising the convention was named Fine Ghaedheal ( Irish for 'Family of

6720-430: The newspaper paid him £5,000 (equivalent to £695,000 in 2023) damages in an out-of-court settlement. When Parnell entered the House of Commons on 1 March 1890, after he was cleared, he received a hero's reception from his fellow MPs led by Gladstone. It had been a dangerous crisis in his career, yet Parnell had at all times remained calm, relaxed and unperturbed which greatly impressed his political friends. But while he

6825-441: The next 20 years, the IRB ceased to be an important force in Irish politics, leaving Parnell and his party the leaders of the nationalist movement in Ireland. Parnell now sought to use his experience and huge support to advance his pursuit of Home Rule and resurrected the suppressed Land League, on 17 October 1882, as the Irish National League (INL). It combined moderate agrarianism, a Home Rule programme with electoral functions,

6930-441: The number of Protestant and landlord MPs dwindled, as did the number of Conservatives seeking election. The parliamentary party became much more Catholic and middle class, with a large number of journalists and lawyers elected and the disappearance of Protestant Ascendancy landowners and Conservatives from it. Parnell's party emerged swiftly as a tightly disciplined and, on the whole, energetic body of parliamentarians. By 1885, he

7035-475: The partition of Ireland. On 27 September 1951, Fogarty's resolution was defeated in Congress by 206 votes to 139, with 83 abstaining – a factor that swung some votes against his motion was that Ireland had remained neutral during World War II. The Irish Race Convention that was held at the Jacob Javits Center in New York on June 11th, 1994 was initially conceived by Gerry McGeough, an Irish Republican from Co Tyrone. McGeough, who had been extradited from Germany to

7140-494: The party voted differently on issues, often against their own party. Some did not attend the House of Commons at all, citing expense, given that MPs were unpaid until 1911 and the journey to Westminster was both costly and arduous. In 1882, he changed his party's name to the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP). A central aspect of Parnell's reforms was a new selection procedure to ensure the professional selection of party candidates committed to taking their seats. In 1884, he imposed

7245-437: The passage of the Statute of Westminster in 1931. It effectively became a republic with the passage of a new constitution in 1937, and formally became a republic with the passage of the Republic of Ireland Act in 1949. Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom as a constituent country. From the late 12th century, the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland resulted in Anglo-Norman control of much of Ireland, over which

7350-459: The public platform to ask for money – and I'm going to get it – for guns and munitions to send to the men in Ireland who are prepared to carry out that fight for Ireland's absolute independence (Applause)." The outcome was a rare moral victory for de Valera's anti-treaty followers; the seven-men executive committee had four of his nominees, while the pro-treaty side only had one of its candidates elected, Eoin MacNeill . MacNeill deplored that: "...

7455-530: The same period. Parnell saw the need to replace violent agitation with country-wide mass meetings and the application of Davitt's boycott , also as a means of achieving his objective of self-government. Gladstone was alarmed at the power of the Land League at the end of 1880. He attempted to defuse the land question with dual ownership in the Land Law (Ireland) Act 1881 , establishing a Land Commission that reduced rents and enabled some tenants to buy their farms. These halted arbitrary evictions, but not where rent

7560-644: The signing of the Kilmainham Treaty , Parnell did take the IRB oath, possibly for tactical reasons. What is known is that IRB involvement in the League's sister organisation, the Home Rule Confederation of Great Britain , led to the moderate Butt's ousting from its presidency (even though he had founded the organisation) and the election of Parnell in his place, on 28 August 1877. Parnell was

7665-622: The so-called Kilmainham Treaty , marked a critical turning point in the development of Parnell's leadership when he returned to the parameters of parliamentary and constitutional politics, and resulted in the loss of support of Devoy's American-Irish. His political diplomacy preserved the national Home Rule movement after the Phoenix Park killings of the Chief Secretary Lord Frederick Cavendish , and his Under-Secretary, T. H. Burke on 6 May. Parnell

7770-568: The state of Ireland and spoke in 62 cities in the United States and in Canada. He was so well received in Toronto that Healy dubbed him "the uncrowned king of Ireland". (The same term was applied 30 years earlier to Daniel O'Connell .) He strove to retain Fenian support but insisted when asked by a reporter that he personally could not join a secret society. Central to his whole approach to politics

7875-399: The topic at hand. This behaviour was opposed by the less aggressive chairman (leader) of the Home Rule League, Isaac Butt . Parnell visited the United States that year, accompanied by O'Connor Power. The question of Parnell's closeness to the IRB, and whether indeed he ever joined the organisation, has been a matter of academic debate for a century. The evidence suggests that later, following

7980-544: The tradition of those that had taken place over the previous generations, began to fully crystalize in the summer of 1993 and an umbrella group, the Irish American Movement (IAM) was formed. The IAM’s primary role was to facilitate meetings involving a wide spectrum of Irish-American organizations as well as plan and fundraise for the Convention itself. On September 15th of that year, McGeough and New York-based Catholic activist Kathleen O’Callaghan arranged for

8085-474: The undertaking obtained from Mr. de Valera that party politics should not be introduced into the Congress, and that its funds and machinery would not be applied to party purposes has already been violated in one important particular, and that the undertaking in which Mr. de Valera and his nominees went to Paris as part of the official Irish Delegation was violated by them." In March 1922, de Valera proposed that

8190-581: Was self-governing but under the Swedish Crown – moving towards Home Rule, which Gladstone's son Herbert revealed publicly under what became known as the "flying of the Hawarden Kite ". The third Gladstone administration paved the way towards the generous response to Irish demands that the new Prime Minister had promised, but was unable to obtain the support of several key players in his own party. Lord Hartington (who had been Liberal leader in

8295-434: Was a significant step towards full independence. The Chair, Rev. Dr. O'Reilly was perplexed: "... at first he had not been able to understand how the word 'full' could be political, but he had now been enlightened by the speeches of Mr. de Valera's supporters." The Very Rev. T. J. Shanley said that Americans would still continue to help Ireland, and that: "... I am going back to America for one purpose and one alone, to go on

8400-645: Was again Prime Minister. Sixty-three Home Rulers were elected, including twenty-seven Parnell supporters, Parnell being returned for three seats: Cork City , Mayo and Meath . He chose to sit for the Cork seat. His triumph facilitated his nomination in May in place of Shaw as leader of a new Home Rule League Party, faced with a country on the brink of a land war. Although the League discouraged violence, agrarian outrages grew from 863 incidents in 1879 to 2,590 in 1880 after evictions increased from 1,238 to 2,110 in

8505-495: Was also an officer in the Wicklow Militia (commissioned as Lieutenant 25 February 1865, retired 1870 ). He was noted as an improving landowner who played an important part in opening the south Wicklow area to industrialisation. His attention was drawn to the theme dominating the Irish political scene of the mid-1870s, Isaac Butt 's Home Rule League formed in 1873 to campaign for a moderate degree of self-government. It

8610-425: Was ambiguity in that he allowed his hearers to remain uncertain. During his tour, he seemed to be saying that there were virtually no limits. To abolish landlordism , he asserted, would be to undermine English misgovernment, and he is alleged to have added: When we have undermined English misgovernment we have paved the way for Ireland to take her place amongst the nations of the earth. And let us not forget that that

8715-483: Was an Irish nationalist politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom from 1875 to 1891, Leader of the Home Rule League from 1880 to 1882, and then of the Irish Parliamentary Party from 1882 to 1891, who held the balance of power in the House of Commons during the Home Rule debates of 1885–1886. He fell from power following revelations of a long-term affair, and died at age 45. Born into

8820-560: Was born in Avondale House , County Wicklow. He was the third son and seventh child of John Henry Parnell (1811–1859), a wealthy Anglo-Irish Anglican landowner, and his American wife Delia Tudor Stewart (1816–1898) of Bordentown, New Jersey , daughter of the American naval hero Admiral Charles Stewart (the stepson of one of George Washington 's bodyguards). There were eleven children in all: five boys and six girls. Admiral Stewart's mother, Parnell's great-grandmother, belonged to

8925-608: Was displeased. Parnell's leadership was first put to the test in February 1886, when he forced the candidature of Captain William O'Shea , who had negotiated the Kilmainham Treaty, for a Galway by-election . Parnell rode roughshod over his lieutenants Healy, Dillon and O'Brien who were not in favour of O'Shea. Galway was the harbinger of the fatal crisis to come. O'Shea had separated from his wife Katharine O'Shea , sometime around 1875, but would not divorce her as she

9030-555: Was elected that year for the predominantly Irish Illinois's 2nd congressional district . By 1896, two Home Rule Bills had been defeated in the London parliament , and the Home Rule movement had split over its support for Parnell. A Conservative and Liberal Unionist coalition was in power, both being firmly opposed to Home Rule. The main purpose of the convention was to try to re-unite the Redmond and Dillon factions that had divided

9135-593: Was excluded, Woodrow Wilson refused his support, and in retaliation Irish pressure groups refused to vote as usual for the Democratic Party in the 1920 United States presidential election , partially causing Harding's victory. A fund-raising drive by the Friends of Irish Freedom (FOIF) to sell bonds issued by the Irish Republic eventually raised over $ 5m., but disputes arose over the management of

9240-575: Was expected to apply to Ireland. Much mention was made of the bravery of the "Fighting 69th" in the war. The hero of the hour was the American-born Irish republican leader Éamon de Valera . The convention appointed the American Commission on Irish Independence to go to Europe to report and lobby; its members were Frank P. Walsh , Edward Fitzsimmons Dunne , and Michael J. Ryan . In the event, Irish participation at Paris

9345-647: Was expecting a substantial inheritance. Mrs. O'Shea acted as liaison in 1885 with Gladstone during proposals for the First Home Rule Bill. Parnell later took up residence with her in Eltham , Kent, in the summer of 1886, and was a known overnight visitor at the O'Shea house in Brockley , Kent. When Mrs O'Shea's aunt died in 1889, her money was left in trust. On 24 December 1889, Captain O'Shea filed for divorce, citing Parnell as co-respondent, although

9450-686: Was followed by a telegram from John Devoy in October 1878 which offered Parnell a " New Departure " deal of separating militancy from the constitutional movement as a path to all-Ireland self-government, under certain conditions: abandonment of a federal solution in favour of separatist self-government, vigorous agitation in the land question on the basis of peasant proprietorship, exclusion of all sectarian issues, collective voting by party members and energetic resistance to coercive legislation. Parnell preferred to keep all options open without clearly committing himself when he spoke in 1879 before Irish Tenant Defence Associations at Ballinasloe and Tralee . It

9555-478: Was hierarchical and autocratic in structure with Parnell wielding immense authority and direct parliamentary control. Parliamentary constitutionalism was the future path. The informal alliance between the new, tightly disciplined INL and the Catholic Church was one of the main factors for the revitalisation of the national Home Rule cause after 1882. Parnell saw that the explicit endorsement of Catholicism

9660-458: Was imprisoned in Kilmainham Gaol , Dublin, in 1882, but he was released when he renounced violent extra-Parliamentary action . The same year, he reformed the Home Rule League as the Irish Parliamentary Party , which he controlled minutely as Britain's first disciplined democratic party. The hung parliament of 1885 saw him hold the balance of power between William Gladstone 's Liberal Party and Lord Salisbury 's Conservative Party . His power

9765-534: Was in support of this movement that Parnell first tried to stand for election in Wicklow, but as high sheriff was disqualified. He was unsuccessful as a home rule candidate in the 1874 County Dublin by-election . On 17 April 1875, Parnell was first elected to the House of Commons in a by-election for Meath , as a Home Rule League MP , backed by Fenian Patrick Egan . He replaced the deceased League MP, veteran Young Irelander John Martin . Parnell later sat for

9870-514: Was leading a party well-poised for the next general election, his statements on Home Rule designed to secure the widest possible support. Speaking in Cork on 21 January 1885, he stated: We cannot ask the British constitution for more than the restitution of Grattan's parliament , but no man has the right to fix the boundary of a nation. No man has the right to say to his country, "Thus far shalt thou go and no further", and we have never attempted to fix

9975-472: Was led by Parnell. Organised by John F. Finerty , and attended by Home Rule MPs T. P. O'Connor and Tim Healy , the convention's Home Rule Fund had soon raised $ 500,000. John Finerty listed a convention at Philadelphia, where the main business was establishing local branches of the American branch of the Irish National League. Alexander Sullivan of Chicago was elected President, and Finerty

10080-424: Was not until Davitt persuaded him to address a second meeting at Westport, County Mayo in June that he began to grasp the potential of the land reform movement. At a national level, several approaches were made which eventually produced the "New Departure" of June 1879, endorsing the foregone informal agreement which asserted an understanding binding them to mutual support and a shared political agenda. In addition,

10185-479: Was of vital importance to the success of this venture and worked in close cooperation with the Catholic hierarchy in consolidating its hold over the Irish electorate. The leaders of the Catholic Church largely recognised the Parnellite party as guardians of church interests, despite uneasiness with a powerful lay leadership. At the end of 1885, the highly centralised organisation had 1,200 branches spread around

10290-680: Was one factor in Gladstone's adoption of Home Rule as the central tenet of the Liberal Party. Parnell's reputation peaked from 1889 to 1890, after letters published in The Times , linking him to the Phoenix Park killings of 1882, were shown to have been forged by Richard Pigott . The Irish Parliamentary Party split in 1890, following the revelation of Parnell's long adulterous love affair, which led to many British Liberals, many of whom were Nonconformists , refusing to work with him, and engendered strong opposition from Catholic bishops. He headed

10395-623: Was opposed to British rule in Ireland , and proclaiming the loyalty of Irish-Americans to the USA. America had enacted conscription in 1917 , but the Irish Conscription Crisis of 1918 had recently arisen, unifying most nationalist parties in Ireland. In America, the Hindu German Conspiracy Trial had just ended, revealing the link between Clan na Gael and the defendants. Public relations and selecting

10500-522: Was passed in 1912 but not brought into law due to the outbreak of World War I in 1914. The Easter Rising of 1916 resulted in the execution of the rebellion's leaders. In the 1918 Irish general election , the nationalist Sinn Féin party won a majority of Irish seats, and in 1919 these elected MPs declared the independence of the Irish Republic . The Irish War of Independence followed from 1919 to 1921. The Government of Ireland Act of 1920 and

10605-603: Was proclaimed King of Ireland . The Ulster Plantation began in the 17th century and involved the settling of English and Scottish Protestants in Ulster. Coinciding largely with the Eleven Years' War , the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland was led by Oliver Cromwell between 1649 and 1651, resulting in the confiscation of land from many native landowners and regranting to Parliamentarian supporters . Introduced in

10710-410: Was shocked to the extent that he offered Gladstone to resign his seat as MP. The militant Invincibles responsible fled to the United States, which allowed him to break links with radical Land Leaguers. In the end, it resulted in a Parnell – Gladstone alliance working closely together. Davitt and other prominent members left the IRB, and many rank-and-file Fenians drifted into the Home Rule movement. For

10815-516: Was six, and as a boy, he was sent to different schools in England, where he spent an unhappy youth. His father died in 1859 and he inherited the Avondale estate, while his older brother John inherited another estate in County Armagh . The young Parnell studied at Magdalene College, Cambridge (1865–1869) but, due to the troubled financial circumstances of the estate he inherited, he was absent

10920-571: Was unpaid. Historian R. F. Foster argues that in the countryside the Land League "reinforced the politicization of rural Catholic nationalist Ireland, partly by defining that identity against urbanization, landlordism, Englishness and—implicitly—Protestantism." Parnell's own newspaper, the United Ireland , attacked the Land Act and he was arrested on 13 October 1881, together with his party lieutenants, William O'Brien , John Dillon, Michael Davitt and Willie Redmond , who had also conducted

11025-599: Was vindicated in triumph, links between the Home Rule movement and militancy had been established. This he could have survived politically were it not for the crisis to follow. During the period 1886–1890, Parnell continued to pursue Home Rule, striving to reassure British voters that it would be no threat to them. In Ireland, unionist resistance (especially after the Irish Unionist Party was formed) became increasingly organised. Parnell pursued moderate and conciliatory tenant land purchase and still hoped to retain

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