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162-753: Following the death of the Jacobite claimant to the British throne James Francis Edward Stuart on 1 January 1766, the pope recognised the legitimacy of the Hanoverian dynasty , which began a process of rapprochement between the Catholic Church and the United Kingdom . Over the next sixty-three years, various bills were introduced in Parliament to repeal restrictions against practise of

324-541: A political theology shared by Non-juring , Tory elements within the Church of England, and members of the Scottish Episcopal Church . These were the divine right of kings , their accountability to God, not man or Parliament; secondly, that monarchy was a divine institution; thirdly, legitimism , the crown's descent by indefeasible dynastic right, which could not be overturned or annulled; and lastly

486-601: A "Declaration against Popery", denouncing Transubstantiation , the Mass and the invocation of saints as idolatrous. With the Revolution of 1688 came a new crop of penal laws. These laws were more likely to be enforced. The sanguinary penalties of the sixteenth century had, in great measure, defeated their own end but were generally left on the statute book in terrorem. That is, the Elizabethan laws were so harsh that no one

648-574: A Catholic Relief Bill, which however was lost in Committee. Nothing daunted, he continued his efforts. He conceded the Veto, and yet each year the motion he brought forward was rejected. When he died in 1820 Plunket took the matter in hand, and in 1821 succeeded in passing a Bill through the House of Commons. Even the concession of the Veto could not buy off the hostility of the House of Lords, who threw out

810-435: A Popish recusant convict, and besides the monthly fine of twenty pounds, was prohibited from holding any office or employment, from keeping arms in his house, from maintaining actions or suits at law or in equity, from being an executor or a guardian, from presenting to an advowson , from practising the law or physic, and from holding office civil or military. He was likewise subject to the penalties attaching to excommunication,

972-725: A United Irishman, and a Protestant barrister named Theobald Wolfe Tone , the ablest of the United Irishmen, became secretary to the Catholic Committee. And when the Catholic delegates on their way to London passed through Belfast, their carriage was drawn through the streets by Presbyterians amid thunders of applause. The king received the Catholics, and William Pitt and Dundas, the Home Secretary, warned

1134-567: A broader conservative current in Enlightenment thought, appealing to those attracted to a monarchist solution to perceived modern decadence. Populist songs and tracts presented the Stuarts as capable of correcting a wide range of ills and restoring social harmony, as well as contrasting Dutch and Hanoverian "foreigners" with a man who even in exile continued to consume English beef and beer. While particularly calculated to appeal to Tories,

1296-560: A clause prohibiting religious orders of men to receive new members, and subjecting those who should disobey to banishment as misdemeanants. Finally, in 1871 (the Promissory Oaths Act 1871 ) the Roman Catholic Oath was abolished, as also the declaration against Transubstantiation. The other final impositions, such as admittance to Catholic religious orders and public processions being illegal, were repealed with

1458-481: A favourable opportunity to bring forward emancipation, but that this should remain a secret lest Protestant prejudice be excited and Protestant support lost. These assurances obtained Catholic support for the union. Not all of the Catholics, however, favoured it, and many of them opposed it to the last. Many more would have been on the same side had they not been repelled by the bigotry of Foster, who stubbornly refused to advocate emancipation, and in doing so failed to make

1620-404: A few exceptions, viz.: A Catholic cannot succeed to the throne, and a sovereign becoming a Catholic or marrying one, thereby forfeits the crown, and a Catholic cannot hold the office of Regent. Like the previous Relief Acts, that of 1829 still retained the "Roman Catholic Oath", to be imposed upon those who desire to enjoy its benefits. it likewise added something in the way of penal legislation by

1782-505: A government prepared to offer similar concessions. The ongoing Stuart focus on England and regaining a united British throne led to tensions with their broader-based supporters in 1745, when the primary goal of most Scots Jacobites was ending the 1707 Union. This meant that following victory at Prestonpans in September, they preferred to negotiate, rather than invade England as Charles wanted. More generally, Jacobite theorists reflected

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1944-598: A horse worth £5, and Catholic schools might be opened with the consent of the Protestant bishop of the diocese. These small concessions were not supplemented by others for ten years. In 1763 the Catholic Association fell to pieces. After ten years of inactivity, a Catholic committee was formed partly out of the debris of the defunct association. Its chairman was Thomas Browne, 4th Viscount Kenmare , and again it sought to have all Catholics act together. When

2106-465: A horse worth £5. They were deprived of arms and of the franchise, denied education at home and punished if they sought it abroad, forbidden to observe Catholic Holy Days, to make pilgrimages, or to continue to use the old monasteries as the burial places of their dead. For the clergy there was no mercy, nothing but prison, exile, or death. After the Catholics had vainly protested against the Bill "To Prevent

2268-575: A majority of the Catholic Committee favoured more assertive measures, Kenmare, and sixty-eight others who sympathized with him, seceded from its ranks. This was in 1791. The committee then chose for its leader John Keogh , a Dublin merchant and a man who favoured bolder measures and a decisive tone. Instead of begging for small concessions, he demanded the repeal of the whole penal code, a demand considered so extravagant that it had few friends in Parliament. Unrepresentative and corrupt, Parliament continued to be dominated by pensioners and placemen , and under

2430-456: A mile of any city or market town. Three years later an oath of allegiance was substituted for that of supremacy. A further concession was granted in 1778 when Catholics were allowed to hold leases of land for 999 years, and might inherit land in the same way as Protestants, the preamble of the Act declaring that the law was passed to reward Catholics for their long-continued peaceable behaviour, and for

2592-441: A number that increased significantly after the establishment of the Scottish Episcopal Church in 1712. Episcopalian ministers, such as Professor James Garden of Aberdeen, presented the 1707 Union as one in a series of disasters to befall Scotland, provoked by "the sins [...] of rebellion, injustice, oppression, schism and perjury". Opposition was boosted by measures imposed by the post-1707 Parliament of Great Britain , including

2754-527: A reigning monarch. For most of the period from 1690 to 1714, Parliament was either controlled by the Tories, or evenly split with the Whigs; when George I succeeded Anne, most hoped to reconcile with the new regime. The Earl of Mar , who led the 1715 rising, observed "Jacobitisme, which they used to brand the Tories with, is now I presum out of doors". However, George blamed the 1710-to-1714 Tory government for

2916-613: A reward of one hundred pounds was to anyone who should give information leading to the conviction of a Popish priest or bishop, who was made punishable by imprisonment for life. Moreover, any Papist who within six months of attaining the age of eighteen failed to take the Oath of Allegiance and Supremacy and subscribe to the Declaration against Popery, was disabled in respect to himself (but not of his heirs or posterity) from acquiring or holding land, and until he submitted, his next of kin who

3078-526: A separate Parliament until 1800, but the 1707 Union combined England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain . Anne viewed this as the unified Protestant kingdom which her predecessors had failed to achieve. The exiled Stuarts continued to agitate for a return to power, based on the support they retained within the three kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland. Doing so required external help, most consistently supplied by France, while Spain backed

3240-567: A series of proclamations deprived Catholic gentry of the right to bear arms or hold public office. The Catholic Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell , was appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland in 1687, and began building a Catholic establishment that could survive James. Fearing a short reign, Tyrconnell moved at a speed that destabilised all three kingdoms. James dismissed the English and Scottish Parliaments when they refused to approve his measures of religious tolerance , which he enforced using

3402-523: A violation of his coronation oath . There were at this period considerable dissensions within the Catholic ranks. These concerned first the question of Veto on the appointment of bishops in Ireland , which it was proposed to confer on the English Government, and belongs chiefly to the history of Emancipation in that country. There was another cause of dissension, more properly English, which

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3564-483: A young and powerful republic had arisen preaching the rights of man, the iniquity of class distinctions and religious persecution, and proclaiming its readiness to aid all nations who were oppressed and desired to be free. These attractive doctrines rapidly seized on men's minds, and Ireland did not escape their influence. The Ulster Presbyterians celebrated with enthusiasm the fall of the Bastille , and in 1791 founded

3726-642: Is after 1691, for various reasons disarmed and disenfranchised Irish Jacobites looked to European allies or the return of the Wild Geese, rather than planning a domestic revolt. From the 1720s on, many upwardly mobile Catholics were willing to swear loyalty to the Hanoverian regime, but balked at the Oath of Abjuration , which required denouncing the authority of the Pope and the doctrines of Transubstantiation and

3888-484: The 1719 Rising . While talks were also held at different times with Sweden , Prussia , and Russia , these never produced concrete results. Although the Stuarts were useful as a lever, their foreign backers generally had little interest in their restoration. Historian Frank McLynn identifies seven primary drivers in Jacobitism, noting that while the movement contained "sincere men [..] who aimed solely to restore

4050-775: The 1745 rising . Jacobitism was strongest in Ireland, the Western Scottish Highlands , Perthshire , and Aberdeenshire . Pockets of support were also present in Wales , Northern England , the West Midlands and South West England , all areas strongly Royalist during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms . In addition, the Stuarts received intermittent backing from countries like France , usually dependent on their own strategic objectives. In addition to

4212-735: The Catholic faith, but these bills encountered political opposition, especially during the Napoleonic Wars . With the exception of the Papists Act 1778 and the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791 ( 31 Geo. 3 . c. 32), these bills were defeated. Then, finally, most of the remaining restrictions against Catholics in the United Kingdom were repealed by the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 . Under laws passed in

4374-718: The Catholic Confederacy representing the Irish insurgents proclaimed allegiance to Charles, but the Stuarts were an unreliable ally, since concessions in Ireland cost them Protestant support in all three kingdoms. In addition, the Adventurers' Act , approved by Charles in March 1642, funded suppression of the revolt by confiscating land from Irish Catholics, much of it owned by members of the Confederacy. The result

4536-613: The Duke of Norfolk , head of the English Catholic community, sentenced to death for his role in 1715 but pardoned. Even so, sympathies were complex; Norfolk's agent Andrew Blood joined the Manchester Regiment , and he later employed another ex-officer, John Sanderson, as his master of horse. English Catholics continued to provide the exiles with financial support well into the 1770s. In 1689, around 2% of clergy in

4698-519: The Earl of Sunderland , his chief minister, felt only his removal could prevent it. Sunderland secretly co-ordinated an Invitation to William , assuring Mary and her husband, and James's nephew, William of Orange of English support for armed intervention. William landed in Brixham on 5 November with 14,000 men; as he advanced, James's army deserted and he went into exile on 23 December. In February 1689,

4860-544: The English Parliament appointed William and Mary joint monarchs of England, while the Scots followed suit in March. Most of Ireland was still controlled by Tyrconnell, where James landed on 12 March 1689 with 6,000 French troops. The 1689-to-1691 Williamite War in Ireland highlighted two recurring trends; for James and his successors, the main prize was England, with Ireland and Scotland secondary to that, while

5022-658: The French First Republic , Napoleon Bonaparte and Daniel O'Connell . Jacobite ideology has since influenced the Gaelic revival and much of traditional Irish nationalism . In England and Wales, Jacobitism was often associated with the Tories , many of whom supported James's right to the throne during the Exclusion Crisis . Tory ideology implied that neither "time nor statute law [...] could ameliorate

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5184-870: The Peace of Utrecht , which he viewed as damaging to his home state of Hanover . His isolation of former Tory ministers like Lord Bolingbroke and the Earl of Mar drove them first into opposition, then exile. Their exclusion from power between 1714 and 1742 led many Tories to remain in contact with the Jacobite court, which they saw as a potential tool for changing or pressuring the existing government. In 1715, there were co-ordinated celebrations on 29 May, Restoration Day , and 10 June, James Stuart's birthday, especially in Tory-dominated towns like Bristol , Oxford , Manchester and Norwich , although they remained quiet in

5346-544: The Real Presence as "base and idolatrous". After the effective demise of the Jacobite cause in the 1750s and '60s, many Catholic gentry withdrew support from the Stuarts. Instead, they created organisations like the Catholic Convention , which worked within the existing state for redress of Catholic grievances. When Charles died in 1788, Irish nationalists looked for alternative liberators, among them

5508-469: The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1926 . When Elizabeth became Queen of England, her Irish deputy was ordered "to set up the worship of God in Ireland as it is in England". The Irish Parliament soon enacted that all candidates for office should take the Oath of Supremacy ; and by the Act of Uniformity the Protestant liturgy was prescribed in all churches. For a time these Acts were mildly enforced. But when

5670-520: The Royal Prerogative . Doing so threatened to re-open disputes over religion, reward those who rebelled in 1685 and undermine his own supporters. It also ignored the impact of the 1685 Edict of Fontainebleau , which revoked tolerance for French Protestants and created an estimated 400,000 refugees, 40,000 of whom settled in London. Two events turned discontent into rebellion, the first being

5832-571: The Society of United Irishmen , having as the two chief planks in its programme Parliamentary reform and Catholic Emancipation. The Catholics and Dissenters, so long divided by religious antagonism, were coming together, and if they made a united demand for equal rights for all Irishmen, without distinction of creed, the ascendency of the Episcopalian Protestants, who were but a tenth of the population, must necessarily disappear. Yet

5994-542: The Third English Civil War , and Ormond went into exile in 1650. Defeat in 1652 led to the mass confiscation of Catholic and Royalist land, and its re-distribution among English Parliamentary soldiers and Protestant settlers. The three kingdoms were combined into the Commonwealth of England , regaining their separate status when the monarchy was restored in 1660. Charles's reign was dominated by

6156-523: The Treason Act 1708 , the 1711 ruling that barred Scots peers with English or British peerages from their seats in the House of Lords , and tax increases. Despite their own preferences, the Stuarts tried to appeal to this group; in 1745, Charles issued declarations dissolving the "pretended Union", despite concerns this would alienate his English supporters. However, opposition to post-Union legislation

6318-514: The battle of Aughrim in 1691, and the Treaty of Limerick ended the war in Ireland; future risings on behalf of the exiled Stuarts were confined to England and Scotland. The Act of Settlement 1701 barred Catholics from the English throne, and when Anne became the last Stuart monarch in 1702, her heir was her Protestant cousin Sophia of Hanover , not her Catholic half-brother James. Ireland retained

6480-549: The "Defenders" and the " Peep o' Day Boys " in Ulster became embittered with a change of names. The Defenders became United Irishmen, and these, despairing of Parliament, became republicans and revolutionists, and after Fitzwilliam's recall were largely recruited by Catholics. Their opponents became identified with the Orange society recently formed in Ulster, with William of Orange as its patron saint, and intolerance of Catholicism as

6642-495: The "Ministry of all the Talents" took office; but hope was soon dissipated by the death of Fox, and by the dismissal of Grenville and his colleagues. They had brought into Parliament a bill assimilating the English law to the Irish by allowing Catholics in England to get commissions in the army. But the king not only insisted on having the measure dropped, but also that ministers should pledge themselves against all such concessions in

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6804-543: The 1689 Parliament were annulled, penal laws criminalized the practice of Catholicism and barred Catholics from public life, while the Act of Attainder was used to justify further land confiscations. 12,000 Jacobite soldiers went into exile in the diaspora known as the Flight of the Wild Geese , the majority of whom were later absorbed into the French Royal Army 's Irish Brigade . About 1,000 men were recruited for

6966-494: The 1689–1691 Williamite War in Ireland and Jacobite rising of 1689 in Scotland , there were serious revolts in 1715 , 1719 and 1745, French invasion attempts in 1708 and 1744 , and numerous unsuccessful plots. While the 1745 Rising briefly seemed to threaten the Hanoverian monarchy, its defeat in 1746 ended Jacobitism as a serious political movement. Jacobite ideology originated with James VI and I , who in 1603 became

7128-468: The 1715 Rising. In the 1730s many 'Jacobite' demonstrations in Wales and elsewhere were driven by local tensions, especially hostility to Methodism , and featured attacks on Nonconformist chapels. Most English participants in 1715 came from traditionally Catholic areas in the northwest, such as Lancashire . By 1720 there were fewer than 115,000 in England and Wales, and most remained loyal in 1745, including

7290-528: The 17th century, the close connection between Scottish politics and religion meant regime changes were accompanied by the losers being expelled from the Church of Scotland . In 1690 , over 200 clergymen lost their parishes, mostly in Aberdeenshire and Banffshire , a strongly Episcopalian area since the 1620s. In 1745, around 25% of Jacobite recruits came from this part of the country. Episcopalianism

7452-576: The Boyne in 1690, telling his supporters to "shift for themselves". This led some to depict him as ( Irish : "Séamus an chaca" , "James of the shit"), who had deserted his loyal followers. However, Gaelic scholar Breandán Ó Buachalla claims his reputation subsequently recovered as "the rightful king...destined to return' and upper-class Irish Jacobite writers like Charles O'Kelly and Nicholas Plunkett blamed "corrupt English and Scottish advisors" for his apparent desertion. After 1691, measures passed by

7614-531: The British for rejecting their rightful king, although post 1710 this was blamed specifically on the Whigs . These views were not held by all Jacobites, while many Whigs argued the post 1688 succession was also "divinely ordained". After the 1701 Act of Settlement, Jacobite propagandists deemphasised the purely legitimist elements in their writing and by 1745, active promotion of hereditary and indefeasible right

7776-547: The Catholics was well known; he was the friend of Grattan and the Ponsonbys, the champions of Emancipation, and, in coming to Ireland, he believed he had the full sanction of Pitt to popularize Irish Government and finally settle the Catholic question. At once he dismissed Cooke, the Under Secretary, a determined foe of concession and reform, and also John Beresford who, with his relatives, filled so many offices that he

7938-434: The Catholics, dependent, however on their good conduct, and on the temper of the times. But something more than this was required. The anti-Unionists were making overtures to the Catholics, knowing that the county members elected by Catholic votes could be decisively influenced by Catholic voters. In these circumstances Castlereagh was authorized to assure the leading Irish Catholics that Pitt and his colleagues only waited for

8100-527: The Catholics. He supported the petition presented by Fox; he presented Catholic petitions himself in 1808 and 1810; and he supported Parnell's motion for a commutation of tithes ; but each time he was defeated, and it was plain that the Catholic cause was not advancing. The Catholic Committee, broken up by the rebellion, had been revived in 1805. But its members were few, its meetings irregularly held, its spirit one of diffidence and fear, its activity confined to preparing petitions to Parliament. Nor were its leaders

8262-400: The Church of England refused to take the oath of allegiance to William and Mary; one list identifies a total of 584 clergy, schoolmasters and university dons as Non Jurors . This almost certainly understates their numbers, for many sympathisers remained within the Church of England, but Non Jurors were disproportionately represented in Jacobite risings and riots, and provided many "martyrs". By

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8424-528: The Church of England, and ruling without Parliament led to a political crisis. Similar measures in Scotland caused the 1639–1640 Bishops' Wars , and installation of a Covenanter government. Organised by a small group of Catholic nobility, the October 1641 Irish Rebellion was the cumulative effect of land confiscation, loss of political control, anti-Catholic measures and economic decline. The Rebellion

8586-598: The Electors of Hanover". While Jacobite agents continued in their attempts to recruit the disaffected, the most committed Jacobites were often linked by relatively small family networks, particularly in Scotland; Jacobite activities in areas like Perthshire and Aberdeenshire centred on a limited number of influential families heavily involved in 1715 and 1745. Some of the most powerful landowning families preserved their establishment loyalties, but maintained traditions of Stuart allegiance by permitting younger sons to become involved in active Jacobitism; in 1745, Lewis Gordon

8748-530: The English.' He therefore resisted measures that might "dissatisfy his Protestant subjects" in England and Scotland, complaining "he was fallen into the hands of a people who would ram many hard things down his throat". When it became clear Parliament would only vote war taxes if he met their minimum demands, James reluctantly gave his assent to Tyrconnell's land bill and passed a Bill of attainder , confiscating estates from 2,000 mostly Protestant "rebels". Although he also approved Parliament's resolution that Ireland

8910-416: The French and Spanish armies annually, many with a "tangible commitment to the Stuart cause". Elements of the French Irish Brigade participated in the Scottish Jacobite rising of 1745. Irish-language poets, especially in Munster , continued to champion the cause after James' death; in 1715, Eoin O Callanain described his son Prince James Francis Edward Stuart as " taoiseach na nGaoidheal " or "chieftain of

9072-486: The Further Growth of Popery" of 1704, their protests ceased. The tide turned. The Irish Parliament became less bigoted, and after 1750 or thereabouts no more penal laws were passed. Claiming powers which it did not possess, the British Parliament asserted and exercised the right to legislate for Ireland, treated the Irish Parliament with disdain, and in the interests of English manufacturers imposed commercial restrictions on Irish trade. Dissatisfied with their English friends,

9234-419: The Gaels". As in England, throughout the 1720s, Prince James' birthday on 10 June was marked by celebrations in Dublin, and towns like Kilkenny and Galway . These were often accompanied by rioting, suggested as proof of popular pro-Jacobite sympathies. Others argue riots were common in 18th-century urban areas and see them as a "series of ritualised clashes". Combined with Jacobite rhetoric and symbolism in

9396-429: The Government a veto on episcopal appointments in return for a provision for the clergy. The bent of his mind was to support authority, even when authority and tyranny were identified, and through the terrible weeks of the rebellion his friendly relations with Dublin Castle were unbroken. He was foremost in every negotiation between the Government and the Catholics, and he and some of his colleagues went so far in advocating

9558-402: The Irish Protestants turned to their own Catholic countrymen. Dr. Curry, a Dublin physician, Mr. Wyse of Waterford, and Mr. Charles O'Connor, formed, in 1759, a Catholic Association, which was to meet at Dublin, correspond with representative Catholics in the country, and watch over Catholic interests. The new association was chiefly manned by Dublin merchants. Under its auspices, a loyal address

9720-418: The Irish junta that the time for concessions had come, and that if rebellion broke out in Ireland, Protestant ascendency would not be supported by British arms. And then these Protestants, whom FitzGibbon and the viceroy painted as ready to die rather than yield quietly, gave way. The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1793 was enacted, giving the Catholics the parliamentary and municipal franchise, and admitting them to

9882-414: The Jacobites in 1715, compared to 11,000 who joined the government army, and were the majority of the 9,000 to 14,000 who served in 1745. One reason was the persistence of feudalism in parts of rural Scotland, where tenants could be compelled to provide their landlords with military service. Many of the Highland clansmen who were a feature of Jacobite armies were raised this way: in all three major risings,

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10044-507: The King's Speech disappointed them; but when Pitt resigned and was succeeded by Addington, an aggressive anti-Catholic, they saw that they had been shamefully betrayed. In Parliament Pitt explained that he and his colleagues wished to supplement the Act of Union by concessions to the Catholics, and that, having encountered insurmountable obstacles they resigned, feeling that they could no longer hold office consistently with their duty and their honour. Cornwallis, on his own behalf and on behalf of

10206-435: The Lords to approve the bill. More serious were differences between Parliament and James, who resisted any measures that might "dissatisfy his Protestant subjects" in England and Scotland. These conflicted with the demands of the Irish Parliament, which in addition to land restoration included toleration for Catholicism and Irish autonomy. A French diplomat observed James had 'a heart too English to do anything that might vex

10368-421: The November 1688 Glorious Revolution , the Parliament of England ruled he had "abandoned" the English throne, which was given to his Protestant daughter Mary II of England , and her husband William III . On the same basis, in April the Scottish Convention awarded Mary and William the throne of Scotland. The Revolution created the principle of a contract between monarch and people, which if violated meant

10530-455: The Orangemen were let loose among them; destruction of Catholic property, free quarters, flogging, picketing, half-hanging, outrages on women followed, until at last Catholic patience was exhausted. Grattan and his friends, vainly protesting, withdrew from Parliament, and Clare and Foster had then a free hand. They were joined by Viscount Castlereagh, and under their management the rebellion of 1798 broke out with all its attendant horrors. When it

10692-434: The Protestant interest and the English interest in Ireland". This restricted Protestant Jacobitism to "doctrinaire clergymen, disgruntled Tory landowners and Catholic converts", who opposed Catholicism but still viewed James' removal as unlawful. A few Church of Ireland ministers refused to swear allegiance to the new regime and became Non-Jurors , the most famous being propagandist Charles Leslie . Since regaining England

10854-403: The Reverend James Webb was tried in the Court of King's Bench for saying Mass but was acquitted, the Chief Justice, Lord Mansfield , ruling that there was no evidence sufficient to convict. In 1769 and on other occasions, seemingly as late as 1771, Dr. James Talbot, coadjutor to Bishop Challoner , was tried for his life at the Old Bailey , on the charge of his priesthood and of saying Mass, but

11016-473: The Sacrament according to the rite of the Church of England , and likewise, taken the Oath of Supremacy . The first provision excluded all non-conformists; the second Catholics only. The Test Act 1673 imposed on all officers, civil and military, a "Declaration against Transubstantiation", whereby Catholics were debarred from such employment. Five years later, the Test Act 1678 required all members of either House of Parliament, before taking their seats, to make

11178-528: The Stuarts", it "provided a source of legitimacy for political dissent of all kinds". Establishing the ideology of active participants is complicated by the fact that "by and large, those who wrote most did not act, and those who acted wrote little, if anything." As a result, historians have taken different views on its primary driving force. These include being an aristocratic rejection of an increasingly Unitary state , feudal opposition to capitalism, or Scots and Irish nationalism. Jacobitism drew on elements of

11340-414: The Stuarts, their loyalty to Catholicism, and Ireland's status as a kingdom with a Crown of its own." In the first half of the 18th century, Jacobitism was "the primary allegiance of politically conscious Catholics". Irish Catholic support for James was predicated on his religion and assumed willingness to deliver their demands. In 1685, Irish bard Dáibhí Ó Bruadair celebrated his accession as ensuring

11502-405: The Veto; and Lord Fingall took a similar liberty with the Catholic Committee. The former, as having exceeded his powers, was promptly repudiated by the Irish bishops, the latter by the Catholic Committee, and this repudiation of the Veto was hailed with enthusiasm throughout Ireland. Daniel O'Connell believed that Catholic grievances might be redressed by peaceful agitation. From 1810 his position

11664-550: The better temper of the times, it was certain that these last relics of the penal code would soon disappear. Meantime what was needed was a sympathetic and impartial administration of the law. But with FitzGibbon the guiding spirit of Irish government this was impossible. The grandson of a Catholic peasant, he hated Catholics and seized upon every occasion to cover them and their religion with insults. Autocratic and overbearing, he commanded rather than persuaded, and since he became attorney-general in 1783, his influence in Irish government

11826-501: The bill; and it seemed as if emancipation would never come. The visit of George IV to Ireland in 1821 brought a brief period of hope. The king before leaving Ireland expressed his gratitude to his subjects, and counselled the different classes to cultivate moderation and forbearance. But to the end of his reign continued to oppose Catholic claims. In 1823 O'Connell founded the Catholic Association . His chief assistant

11988-511: The birth of James's son on 10 June 1688, which created the prospect of a Catholic dynasty. The second was James' prosecution of the Seven Bishops , which seemed to go beyond tolerance for Catholicism and actively attack the Church of England; their acquittal on 30 June caused widespread rejoicing throughout England and Scotland, and destroyed James's political authority. In 1685, many feared civil war if James were bypassed; by 1688, even

12150-707: The bishops had their way in the matter of the oath, the feud survived, and was proclaimed to the world by the formation in 1792 of the Cisalpine Club , the members whereof were pledged "to resist any ecclesiastical interference which may militate against the freedom of English Catholics". The Catholic Emancipation Act 1829 had as general effect to open public life to Catholics taking the prescribed oath, to enable them to sit in Parliament, to vote at elections (as previously they could not in England or Scotland, though they could in Ireland) to fill all offices of State with

12312-576: The bishops to support the Government; and Pitt's assurances that concessions would come in the United Parliament inclined them still more. From the first, indeed, Francis Moylan , Bishop of Cork , was a Unionist, as was John Thomas Troy , Archbishop of Dublin . In 1798 the latter favoured a union provided there was no clause against future emancipation, and, early in the following year, he induced nine of his brother bishops to concede to

12474-496: The bulk of the rank and file were supplied by a small number of north-western clans whose leaders joined the rebellion. Despite this, many Jacobites were Protestant Lowlanders, rather than the Catholic, Gaelic-speaking Highlanders of legend. By 1745, fewer than 1% of Scots were Catholic, restricted to the far north-west and a few noble families. The majority of the rank and file, as well as many Jacobite leaders, belonged to Protestant non-juring Episcopalian congregations. Throughout

12636-498: The chief article in its creed. These rival societies spread to the other provinces, and while every outrage done by Catholics was punished by Government, those done by Orangemen were condoned. In rapid succession Parliament passed an Arms Act, an Insurrection Act, an Indemnity Act, and a suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, and these placed the Catholics beyond the protection of law. An undisciplined soldiery recruited from

12798-701: The clergy. It was suppressed in 1825. At the same time a Catholic Relief Bill passed the House of Commons, but was thrown out in the Lords, and all that Ireland got from Parliament was the act suppressing the Association, or the Algerine Act, as it was often called. Jacobitism Jacobitism was a political ideology advocating the restoration of the Catholic House of Stuart to the British throne . When James II of England chose exile after

12960-507: The concession by a bitter speech, and by having an Act passed declaring the Catholic convention illegal, and prohibiting all such conventions, Catholic or otherwise, in the future. Relief from so many disabilities left the Catholics almost free. Few of them were affected by exclusion from the higher offices, fewer still by exclusion from the inner Bar; and liberal Protestants would always be found ready to voice Catholic interests in Parliament if they owed their seats to Catholic votes. Besides, in

13122-472: The contempt with which the Catholics were treated could weaken his attachment to Dublin Castle. He still favoured the Veto, but an event which occurred in 1808 showed that he was no longer supported by his brethren of the episcopacy. An English bishop, John Milner , who had sometimes acted as English agent for the Irish bishops, thought it right to declare to Grattan in their name that they were willing to concede

13284-469: The estate of his Catholic kinsman. The passing of this act was the occasion of the Gordon Riots (1780) in which the violence of the mob was especially directed against Lord Mansfield who had balked various prosecutions under the statutes now repealed. In 1791 there followed another the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791 ( 31 Geo. 3 . c. 32), far more extensive and far-reaching legislation. By it there

13446-625: The existing temper of the Catholic body. To consider their position and take measures for the future, the Catholic Committee had delegates appointed by the different parishes in Ireland, and in December, 1792, a Catholic convention commenced its sittings in Dublin. By some Protestants, it was derisively called the Back Lane Parliament , and every effort was made to discredit its proceedings and identify it with sedition. FitzGibbon excited

13608-513: The expansionist policies of Louis XIV of France, seen as a threat to Protestant Europe. When his brother and heir James announced his conversion to Catholicism in 1677, an attempt was made to bar him from the English throne . Nevertheless, he became king in February 1685 with widespread support in England and Scotland; a Catholic monarch was preferable to excluding the 'natural heir', and rebellions by Protestant dissidents quickly suppressed. It

13770-548: The fears of the Protestant landlords by declaring that the repeal of the penal code would involve the repeal of the Act of Settlement , and invalidate the titles by which they held their lands. The Catholic convention, however, went on unheeding, and, turning with contempt from the Dublin Parliament, sent delegates with a petition to London. The relations between Catholics and Dissenters were then so friendly that Keogh became

13932-399: The fight against the union a national struggle. As for the uneducated Catholics, they did not understand political questions, and viewed the union contest with indifference. The gentry had no sympathy with a Parliament from which they were excluded, nor the clergy for one which encouraged the atrocities of the recent rebellion. Gratitude for the establishment of Maynooth College inclined some of

14094-406: The first monarch to rule all three kingdoms of England , Scotland and Ireland . Its basis was divine right , which claimed his authority came from God, and the crown's descent by indefeasible hereditary right: James and his supporters emphasised his right to the throne by blood to forestall controversy over his appointment by Elizabeth I as her successor. Personal rule by the monarch eliminated

14256-478: The future; and when they indignantly refused he dismissed them. The Duke of Portland then became premier, with Spencer Perceval leader in the Commons; and the ministry going to the country in 1807 on a No Popery cry, were returned with an enormous majority. Grattan was then in Parliament. He had entered it in 1805 with reluctance, partly at the request of Lord Fitzwilliam, chiefly in the hope of being able to serve

14418-555: The government and oppress the common people. However, views on the 'correct' balance of rights and duties between monarch and subject varied, and Jacobites attempted to distinguish between 'arbitrary' and 'absolute' power. Non-juring Church of Ireland clergyman Charles Leslie was perhaps the most extreme divine right theorist, but even he argued the monarch was bound by "his oath to God, as well as his promise to his people" and "the laws of justice and honour". Jacobite pamphlets often suggested domestic issues were divine punishment on

14580-409: The influence of FitzGibbon and Foster, it refused to advance further on the path of concession. Even Charlemont and Flood would not join emancipation with parliamentary reform, and while willing to safeguard Catholic liberty and property would give Catholics no political power. But this attitude of intolerance and exclusion could not be indefinitely maintained. The French Revolution was in progress, and

14742-438: The king had one of his fits of insanity, and when he recovered complained that Pitt's agitation of the Catholic question was the chief cause of his illness; in consequence of which, when Pitt returned to power, in 1804, he bound himself never again to agitate the question during the lifetime of the king. Pitt himself died in 1806, after having opposed the Catholic claims in the preceding year. A brief period of hope supervened when

14904-463: The king must have yielded, for no government to which the great minister was opposed could have lived. Pitt's real reason for resigning in 1801 was, that the nation wanted peace, and he was too proud to make terms with Napoleon. He supported Addington's measures; nor did he lift a finger on behalf of the Catholics; and when the Treaty of Amiens was broken and the great struggle with France was being renewed, he brushed Addington aside with disdain. In 1801

15066-569: The king was violently opposed to them; that he had assented to the Union in the hope that it would "shut the door to any further measures with respect to the Roman Catholics" that he believed that to assent to such measures would be a violation of his coronation oath. Had Pitt been sincere he would have endeavoured to change the king's views, and failing to persuade he would have resigned office, and opposed his successor. And if he had acted thus

15228-516: The late 1720s arguments over doctrine and the death of its originators reduced the church to a handful of scattered congregations, but several of those executed in 1745 came from Manchester, the last significant assembly in England. Quaker leader William Penn was a prominent non-conformist supporter of James, although this was based on their personal relationship and did not survive his deposition. Another element in English Jacobitism

15390-517: The law did not recognize the existence of an Irish Catholic, and, assuredly the penal code had placed him effectually beyond its pale. It branded Catholics with proscription and inferiority, struck at every form of Catholic activity, and checked every symptom of Catholic enterprise. It excluded them from Parliament, from the corporations, from the learned professions, from civil and military offices, from being executors, or administrators, or guardians of property, from holding land under lease, or from owning

15552-459: The lead of Foster, incorruptible amidst corruption; Grattan and his friends returned to Parliament; and the opposition became so formidable that Castlereagh was defeated in 1799, and had to postpone the question of a union to the following year. During this interval, with the aid of Cornwallis who succeeded Camden as viceroy in 1798, he left nothing undone to ensure success, and threats and terrors, bribery and corruption were freely employed. Cornwallis

15714-407: The learned professions, and fill all civil and military offices; and they were protected in the possession of the lands they held. William III was in favour of these, and even more generous terms. The Treaty was not ratified. For more than a quarter of a century the work of outlawry and proscription was continued by an exclusively Protestant Parliament at Dublin. An Irish Judge declared in 1760 that

15876-531: The loss of his crown. The war which followed in Ireland was terminated by the Treaty of Limerick , and had its terms been kept, the position of the Catholics would have been at least tolerable. Granted such privileges as they had enjoyed in the reign of Charles II, with an Oath of Allegiance substituted for the Oath of Supremacy, and with a promise of a further relaxation of the penal enactments in force, they could practice their religion without hindrance, sit in Parliament and vote for its members, engage in trade and in

16038-490: The many works of Aisling poetry composed in the Irish language and widespread popular support for rapparees , or Jacobite guerrillas , like Éamonn an Chnoic , John Hurley , and Galloping Hogan , provides, some historians now claim, proof of popular support for a Stuart restoration. Others, however, argue that it is hard to discern "how far rhetorical Jacobitism reflected support for the Stuarts, as opposed to discontent with

16200-453: The monarch could be removed. A key tenet of Jacobitism was that kings were appointed by God, making the post-1688 regime illegitimate. However, it also functioned as an outlet for popular discontent and thus was a complex mix of ideas, many opposed by the Stuarts themselves. Conflict between Prince Charles and Scottish Jacobites over the Acts of Union 1707 and divine right seriously undermined

16362-643: The movement preserved an unusual level of veneration. Tartan cloth, widely adopted by the Jacobite army in 1745, was used in portraiture as a symbol of Stuart sympathies, even before the Rising. Outside elite social circles, the Jacobite community circulated propaganda and symbolic objects through a network of clubs, print-sellers and pedlars, aimed at the provincial gentry and middling sort. In 1745, Prince Charles ordered commemorative medals and miniature pictures for clandestine distribution. Papists Act 1688 The Papists Act 1688 ( 1 Will. & Mar. c. 9)

16524-457: The need for Parliaments, and required political and religious union, concepts widely unpopular in all three kingdoms. Divine right also clashed with Catholic allegiance to the Pope and with Protestant nonconformists , since both argued there was an authority above the king. The 17th-century belief that 'true religion' and 'good government' were one and the same meant disputes in one area fed into

16686-540: The other; Millenarianism and belief in the imminence of the Second Coming meant many Protestants viewed such issues as urgent and real. As the first step towards union, James began standardising religious practices between the churches of England , Scotland and Ireland . After his death in 1625, this was continued by his son Charles I , who lacked his political sensitivity; by the late 1630s, instituting Personal Rule in 1629, enforcing Laudian reforms on

16848-480: The peace , and persons refusing it were to be adjudged Popish recusants convict and to forfeit, and be proceeded against accordingly. Thus the refusal of the oath was placed on the same footing as a legal conviction, and the person so convicted was rendered liable to all penalties under those statutes. At the same time an obligation was imposed on Catholics requiring them to register their names and estates, and to enroll their deeds and wills. These penal laws remained on

17010-417: The people; Arthur French , Mr. Hussey, and Mr. Clinch were men of little ability; Denys Scully was a clever lawyer who had written a book on the penal laws; and Thomas Dromgoole was a lawyer with a taste for theology and Church history, a Catholic bigot ill-suited to soften Protestant prejudice or win Protestant support. As for Dr. Troy, he was still the courtly ecclesiastic, and neither Pitt's treachery nor

17172-555: The pope excommunicated the queen, and the Spanish king made war on her, and both in attempting to dethrone her found that the Irish Catholics were ready to be instruments and allies, the latter, regarded as rebels and traitors by the English sovereign and her ministers, were persecuted and hunted down. James II of England insisted on Catholic predominance and soon picked a quarrel with his Protestant subjects which resulted in

17334-419: The pope has temporal as well as spiritual jurisdiction in this realm. Those taking this oath were exempted from some of the provisions of the Act of Settlement . The section as to taking and prosecuting priests were repealed, as also the penalty of perpetual imprisonment for keeping a school. Catholics were also enabled to inherit and purchase land, nor was a Protestant heir any longer empowered to enter and enjoy

17496-477: The pope's spiritual jurisdiction could also be tried for treason. Parents were prohibited from educating their children in the Catholic faith. Saying Mass was punishable by a fine of 200 marks , while attending Mass was subject to a fine of 100 marks. The statutes of recusancy punished nonconformity with the Established Church by a fine of twenty pounds per lunar month during which the parish church

17658-458: The price for these concessions was to largely remove the Anglican element from Irish Jacobitism, which thereafter became almost entirely a Catholic ideology. After 1690, Irish Jacobites were also split between Tyrconnell's 'Peace party' who continued to seek a negotiated solution, and a 'War party' led by Patrick Sarsfield who favoured fighting on to the end. James left Ireland after defeat at

17820-550: The primary French objective was to absorb British resources, not necessarily restore the Stuarts. Elections in May 1689 produced the first Irish Parliament with a Catholic majority since 1613. It repealed the Cromwellian land seizures, confiscated land from Williamites, and proclaimed Ireland a 'distinct kingdom from England', measures annulled after defeat in 1691. A Jacobite rising in Scotland achieved some initial success but

17982-544: The purpose of allowing them to enjoy "the blessings of our free constitution". Distrust of them, however, continued, and though they subscribed money to equip the volunteers, they would not be admitted within the ranks. Nor was the Irish Parliament of 1782 willing to do more than to repeal the law compelling bishops to quit the kingdom, and the law binding those who had assisted at Mass to give the celebrant's name. Further, Catholics were no longer prohibited from owning

18144-541: The question badly and irritated interests he ought to have appeased. Lastly, it is certain that FitzGibbon poisoned the king's mind by pointing out that to admit Catholics to Parliament would be to violate his coronation oath. The change, however it be explained, was certainly complete. The new viceroy was instructed to conciliate the Catholic clergy by establishing a seminary for the education of Irish priests, and he established Maynooth College . But all further concessions to Catholics and every attempt to reform Parliament, he

18306-527: The realm. If they did not depart, or returned without licence, they were guilty of a capital felony. The Oath of Allegiance , enacted under James I in 1606 in immediate aftermath of the Gunpowder Plot , required Catholic recusants to declare their loyalty to James. By the Corporation Act 1661 , no one could legally be elected to any municipal office unless he had within the year received

18468-416: The reign of Elizabeth I , any English subject receiving Holy Orders of the Church of Rome and coming to England was guilty of high treason , and any one who aided or sheltered him was guilty of a capital felony . It was likewise made treason to be reconciled to the Church of Rome and to procure others to be reconciled. Any official, civil and ecclesiastical, who refused to take the Oath of Supremacy denying

18630-533: The retiring ministers, assured the Irish Catholic leaders, and in language which was free from every shade of ambiguity, that the blame rested with George III, whose stubborn bigotry nothing could overcome. He promised that Pitt would do everything to establish the Catholic cause in public favour, and would never again take office unless emancipation were conceded; and he advised the Catholics to be patient and loyal, knowing that with Pitt working on their behalf

18792-468: The revived supremacy of both the Catholic Church in Ireland and the Irish language . Tyrconnell's expansion of the army by the creation of Catholic regiments was welcomed by Diarmuid Mac Carthaigh, as enabling the native Irish 'Tadhg' to be armed and to assert his dominance over "John" the English Protestant. Conversely, most Irish Protestants viewed his policies as designed to "utterly ruin

18954-531: The rightful king and condemning the "treasonous subjects" who had ousted him. There were some divisions among Irish Jacobites on the issue of returning all Catholic lands confiscated in 1652 after the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland . The majority of the Irish House of Commons wanted the 1652 Cromwellian Act of Settlement repealed in its entirety, with ownership returned to that prevailing in 1641. This

19116-464: The scriptural injunction of passive obedience and non-resistance, even towards monarchs of which the individual subject might disapprove. Jacobite propagandists argued such divinely sanctioned authority was the main moral safeguard of society, while its absence led to party strife. They claimed the 1688 Revolution had enabled political corruption and allowed selfish opportunists, such as Whigs, religious dissenters, and foreigners, to take control of

19278-502: The selfish and corrupt junta who ruled the Parliament, and ruled Ireland, would not yield an inch of ground, and only under the strongest pressure from England was an act passed in 1792 admitting Catholics to the Bar, legalizing marriages between Catholics and Protestants, and allowing Catholic schools to be set up without the necessity of obtaining the permission of a Protestant bishop. Such grudging concessions irritated rather than appeased in

19440-414: The sin of usurpation", while shared Tory and Jacobite themes of divine right and sacred kingship may have provided an alternative to Whig concepts of "liberty and property". A minority of academics, including Eveline Cruickshanks , have argued that until the late 1750s the Tories were a crypto-Jacobite party; others, that Jacobitism was a "limb of Toryism". However, the supremacy of the Church of England

19602-420: The stamp of men to conduct a popular movement to success. Keogh was old, and age and the memory of the events he had passed through chilled his enthusiasm for active work. Arthur Plunkett, 9th Earl of Fingall was suave and conciliatory, and not without courage, but was unable to grapple with great difficulties and powerful opponents. Jenico Preston, 12th Viscount Gormanston and Trimbleston were out of touch with

19764-462: The status quo". Nevertheless, fears of resurgent Catholic Jacobitism among the ruling Protestant minority meant anti-Catholic Penal Laws remained in place for most of the eighteenth century. As the Penal Laws forbade Irish Catholics to have military training or even to own or carry arms, there were no Irish risings in either 1715 or 1745 to accompany those in England and Scotland; one suggestion

19926-422: The statute book unmitigated till late in the eighteenth century, and although there was less and less disposition to put them in force, there was ever the danger, which upon occasion grew more acute. In 1767 a priest named Malony was tried at Croydon for his priesthood, and condemned to perpetual imprisonment, which, at the end of two or three years, was commuted "by the mercy of the Government" to banishment. In 1768

20088-808: The time were advised by the Orangemen, and governed by coercion acts. O'Connell's difficulties were increased by the continued agitation of the Veto . In opposing it he was aided by the bishops and the clergy; but John Thomas Troy and Lord Fingall , aided by the English Catholics, procured a rescript from Rome in their favour. The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1813 extended the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1793's relief to Irish Roman Catholics in England. In 1813, Grattan, supported by Canning and Castlereagh, passed through its second reading

20250-422: The triumph of their cause was near. Cornwallis noted with satisfaction that this advice was well received by Dr. Troy and his friends. But those who knew Pitt better had no faith in his sincerity, and their estimate of him was proved to be correct, when he again became Prime Minister in 1804, no longer the friend of the Catholics but their opponent. The fact was that he had played them false throughout. He knew that

20412-501: The union, that Grattan angrily described them as a "band of prostituted men engaged in the service of Government". This language is unduly severe, for they were clearly not actuated by mercenary motives; but they certainly advanced the cause of the union. Remembering this, and the assurances given by Castlereagh, they looked for an early measure of emancipation, and when in 1801 the United Parliament first opened its doors, their hopes ran high. The omission of all reference to emancipation in

20574-473: The university and to office. They were still excluded from Parliament in the sense that the oath required before taking a seat was repugnant to them, and from the higher offices, and from being king's counsel, but in all other respects they were placed on a level with Protestants. In the Commons Foster spoke and voted against the Bill. In the Lords, though not opposing it, FitzGibbon spoiled the effect of

20736-509: The war effort. Tyrconnell ensured a predominantly Catholic electorate and candidates by issuing new borough charters, admitting Catholics into city corporations, and removing "disloyal members". Since elections were not held in many northern areas, the Irish House of Commons was 70 members short, and 224 out of 230 MPs were Catholic. Known to 19th-century Irish historians as the " Patriot Parliament ", it opened by proclaiming James as

20898-412: The wide range of themes adopted by Jacobite pamphleteers and agents periodically drew in disaffected Whigs and former radicals. Such "Whig-Jacobites" were highly valued by the exiled court, although many viewed James II as a potentially weak king from whom it would be easy to extract concessions in the event of a restoration. The role of Jacobitism in Irish political history is debated; some argue that it

21060-596: Was a "distinct kingdom" and laws passed in England did not apply there, he refused to abolish Poynings' Law , which required Irish legislation to be approved by the English Parliament. Despite his own Catholicism, James viewed the Protestant Church of Ireland as an important part of his support base; he insisted on retaining its legal pre-eminence, although agreeing landowners would only have to pay tithes to clergy of their own religion. However,

21222-535: Was a Protestant might enjoy his lands, without being obliged to account for the profits. The recusant was also incapable of purchasing, and all trusts on his behalf were void. With the Security of the Sovereign Act 1714 ( 1 Geo. 1. St. 2 . c. 13) a new element was introduced, namely 'constructive recusancy'. The Oath of Allegiance and Supremacy might be tendered to any suspected person by any two justices of

21384-464: Was a broad-based popular movement and the main driver of Irish Catholic nationalism between 1688 and 1795. Others see it as part of "a pan-British movement, rooted in confessional and dynastic loyalties", very different from 19th-century Irish nationalism. Historian Vincent Morely describes Irish Jacobitism as a distinctive ideology within the broader movement that "emphasised the Milesian ancestry of

21546-552: Was a handful of disaffected radicals, for whom the exiled Stuarts provided a potential alternative to the Whig establishment. An example was John Matthews, a Jacobite printer executed in 1719; his pamphlet Vox Populi vox Dei emphasised the Lockean theory of the social contract , a doctrine very few Tories of the period would have supported. Scottish Jacobitism had wider and more extensive roots than in England. 20,000 Scots fought for

21708-557: Was a three-way contest between the Confederacy, Royalist forces under the Protestant Duke of Ormond , and a Covenanter-led army in Ulster. The latter were increasingly at odds with the English government; after Charles' execution in January 1649, Ormond combined these factions to resist the 1649-to-1652 Cromwellian conquest of Ireland . Charles II repudiated his alliance with the Confederacy, in return for Scottish support in

21870-470: Was a young barrister named Sheil. They were old friends, but had quarrelled about the Veto. To evade the Convention Act the new association, specially formed to obtain emancipation "by legal and constitutional means", was merely a club, but it gradually made headway. Dr. Doyle, Bishop of Kildare , joined it at an early stage, as did Daniel Murray , Coadjutor Archbishop of Dublin, and many hundreds of

22032-477: Was acquitted on similar grounds. Such instances were not solitary. In 1870, Charles Butler found that one firm of lawyers had defended more than twenty priests under prosecutions of this nature. In 1778 a Catholic committee was formed to promote the cause of relief for their co-religionists, and though several times elected afresh, continued to exist until 1791, with a short interval after the Gordon Riots. It

22194-516: Was again an oath to be taken, in character much like that of 1778, but including an engagement to support the Protestant Succession under the Act of Settlement ( 12 & 13 Will. 3 . c. 2). Catholics were no longer to be summoned to take the Oath of Supremacy, or to be removed from London; the legislation of George I, requiring them to register their estates and wills, was repealed; while the legal professions were opened to them. It

22356-462: Was also central to Tory ideology, and James lost their support when his policies seemed to threaten that primacy. The Act of Settlement 1701 excluding Catholics from the English throne was passed by a Tory administration; for the vast majority, Stuart Catholicism was an insuperable barrier to active support, while the Tory doctrine of non-resistance also discouraged them from supporting the exiles against

22518-467: Was also viewed as temporary; James was 52, his second marriage was childless after 11 years, and his Protestant daughter Mary was heir. His religion made James popular among Irish Catholics, whose position had not improved under his brother. By 1685, Catholic land ownership had fallen to 22%, from 90% in 1600, not least through Catholic landlords converting to the Anglican Church. After 1673,

22680-598: Was always uniformly aristocratic in composition, and until 1787 included no representation of the hierarchy and then but three co-opted members. In the same year, 1778, was passed the first 'Act for Catholic Relief', the Papists Act 1778 . By this, an oath was imposed, which besides a declaration of loyalty to the reigning sovereign, contained an abjuration of the Pretender, and of certain doctrines attributed to Catholics, as that excommunicated princes may lawfully be murdered, that no faith should be kept with heretics, and that

22842-481: Was called the "King" of Ireland. FitzGibbon and Foster he seldom consulted. Further, when Grattan, at the opening of Parliament, introduced an Emancipation Bill, Fitzwilliam determined to support it. Of all that he did or intended to do, he informed the English Ministry, and got no word of protest in reply, and then when the hopes of the Catholics ran high, Pitt turned back and Fitzwilliam was recalled. Why he

23004-437: Was connected with the adjuration of the supposed Catholic doctrines contained in the oath imposed upon those who wished to participate in the benefits conferred by the Act of 1791, as previously by that of 1778. The lay members of the Catholic committee who had framed this disclaimer were accused by the vicars Apostolic, who then administered the Church in England, of tampering with matters of ecclesiastical discipline; and although

23166-416: Was firmly to oppose. He was to encourage the enemies of the people and frown upon their friends, and he was to rekindle the dying fires of sectarian hate. And all this he did. Beresford and Cooke were restored to office, Foster favoured more than ever, FitzGibbon made Earl of Clare, Grattan and Ponsonby regarded with suspicion, and the corrupt majority in Parliament petted and caressed. The religious factions of

23328-416: Was his primary objective, James viewed Ireland as a strategic dead-end but Louis XIV of France argued it was the best place to launch a regime change war, since the administration was controlled by Tyrconnell and his cause was popular among the majority Catholic population. James landed at Kinsale in March 1689 and in May called the first Parliament of Ireland since 1666, primarily seeking taxes to fund

23490-416: Was however provided that all their assemblies for religious worship should be certified at Quarter Sessions . The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791 marked a step in the removal of Catholic grievances. William Pitt and his rival, Charles James Fox , were alike pledged to a full measure of Catholic Emancipation, but they were both thwarted by George III , who insisted that to agree to any such measure would be

23652-400: Was immense. His action on the regency question in 1789 procured him the special favour of the king and of Pitt, and he became a peer and Lord Chancellor. It was one of the anomalies of the Irish constitution that a change of measures did not involve a change of men, and hence the viceroy and the chief secretary, who had opposed all concessions to Catholics, were retained in office, and FitzGibbon

23814-659: Was intended as a bloodless coup, but its leaders quickly lost control, leading to atrocities on both sides. In May, a Covenanter army landed in Ulster to support Scots settlers. Although Charles and Parliament both supported raising an army to suppress the Rebellion, neither trusted the other with its control; these tensions ultimately led to the outbreak of the First English Civil War in August 1642. In 1642,

23976-475: Was not attended, there being thirteen of such months in the year. Such non-attendances constituted recusancy in the proper sense of the term, and originally affected all, whether Catholic or otherwise, who did not conform. In 1593 by the Popish Recusants Act 1592 , the consequences of such non-conformity were limited to Popish recusants. A Papist, convicted of absenting himself from church, became

24138-409: Was not permitted to travel five miles (8.0 km) from his house without licence, under pain of forfeiting all his goods, and might not come to Court under a penalty of one hundred pounds. Other provisions extended similar penalties to married women. Popish recusants convict were, within three months of conviction, either to submit and renounce their papistry, or, if required by four justices, to abjure

24300-595: Was not restricted to Jacobites. Many Presbyterians opposed the establishment of the Episcopal Church in 1712 and other measures of indulgence, while the worst tax riots took place in Glasgow , a town noted for its antipathy to the Stuarts. As in England, some objected less to the Union than the Hanoverian connection; Lord George Murray , a senior Jacobite commander in 1745, was a Unionist who repeatedly disagreed with Charles, but opposed "wars [...] on account of

24462-437: Was opposed by a minority within the Catholic elite who had benefited from the 1662 Act of Settlement , a group that included James himself, Tyrconnell and other members of the Irish House of Lords . Instead, they suggested those dispossessed in the 1650s should be restored to half their estates and paid compensation for the remainder. However, with the Commons overwhelmingly in favour of complete restoration, Tyrconnell persuaded

24624-460: Was popular among social conservatives, as it emphasised indefeasible hereditary right, absolute obedience, and implied deposition of the senior Stuart line was a breach of natural order. The church continued to offer prayers for the Stuarts until 1788, while many refused to swear allegiance to the Hanoverians in 1714. However, even in 1690, a substantial minority accommodated to the new regime,

24786-401: Was presented to the viceroy, and another to George III on his accession to the throne. These friendlier dispositions, however, were slow to develop into legislative enactments, and not until 1771 did the first instalment of emancipation come. By the Act of that year Catholics were allowed to reclaim and hold under lease for sixty-one years 50 acres (20 ha) of bog but it should not be within

24948-458: Was restricted largely to a few Scots Episcopalians such as Lords Pitsligo and Balmerino . Instead they began to focus on populist themes such as opposition to a standing army, political corruption , and social injustice. By the 1750s, Charles himself promised triennial parliaments, disbanding the army and legal guarantees on freedom of the press . Such tactics broadened their appeal but also carried risks, since they could always be coopted by

25110-499: Was still left as if to prevent further concessions and to nullify what had been done. For a brief period, however, it seemed as if men as well as measures were to be changed. At the end of 1794 a section of the English Whigs joined Pitt's administration. The Duke of Portland became Home Secretary, with Irish affairs in his department, and Earl Fitzwilliam became Lord Lieutenant. He came to Ireland early in 1795. His sympathy with

25272-491: Was strongly in favour of emancipation as part of the union arrangement, and Castlereagh was not averse; and Pitt would probably have agreed with them had not Clare visited him in England and poisoned his mind. That bitter anti-Catholic boasted of his success; and when Pitt in 1799 brought forward his union resolutions in the British Parliament, he would only promise that at some future time something might be done for

25434-479: Was suppressed Pitt's policy of a legislative union gradually unfolded itself, and Foster and Clare, who had so long acted together, had reached the parting of the ways. The latter, with Castlereagh, was ready to go on and support the proposed union; but Foster drew back, and in the union debates his voice and influence were the most potent on the opposition side. His defection was considered a serious blow by Pitt, who vainly offered him offices and honours. Others followed

25596-483: Was that of leader, and the fight for emancipation was the fight made by O'Connell. It was an uphill fight. Anxious to attract the Catholic masses, and at the same time not to infringe on the Convention Act, he had drawn up the constitution of the Catholic Committee in 1809 with great care; but it went down before a viceregal proclamation, and the same fate befell its successor, the Catholic Board. The viceroys of

25758-405: Was thus repudiated, after being allowed to go so far, has never been satisfactorily explained. It may be because Pitt changed his mind, and meditating a union, wished to leave the Catholic question open. It may be because of the dismissal of Beresford who had powerful friends. It may be that Fitzwilliam, misunderstanding Pitt, went further than he wished him to go; and it seems evident that he managed

25920-729: Was ultimately suppressed. Several days after the Irish Jacobites were defeated at The Battle of the Boyne in July 1690, victory at Beachy Head gave the French temporary control of the English Channel . James returned to France to urge an immediate invasion of England, but the Anglo-Dutch fleet soon regained maritime supremacy, and the opportunity was lost. The Irish Jacobites and their French allies were finally defeated at

26082-684: Was widely believed to be a proxy for his brother, the Duke of Gordon . Many Jacobite leaders were closely linked to each other and the exile community by marriage or blood. This has led some historians, notably Bruce Lenman, to characterise the Jacobite risings as French-backed coup attempts by a small network drawn from the elite, though this view is not universally accepted. Family traditions of Jacobite sympathy were reinforced through objects such as inscribed glassware or rings with hidden symbols, although many of those that survive are in fact 19th-century neo-Jacobite creations. Other family heirlooms contained reference to executed Jacobite martyrs, for which

26244-429: Was willing to actually enforce them. In 1689, the Papists Act 1688 ( 1 Will. & Mar. c. 9) substituted a shorter form of the Oath of Allegiance and Supremacy, the clause aimed against Catholics being carefully retained. It was likewise ordered that all Papists and reputed Papists should be "amoved" ten miles (16 km) from the cities of London and Westminster. The Popery Act 1698 effective 25 March 1700, offered

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