Irish Home Rule Charles Stewart Parnell & Irish Parliamentary Party Issac Butt & Home Rule League Charles Stewart Parnell & Irish Parliamentary Party https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T98eHUgiiiU

Isaac Butt Isaac Butt was born in September 1813 in Co. Donegal. He trained as a barrister and became a member of both the Irish and English bar. He was a noted conservative lawyer but after the famine of the 1840’s he became increasingly liberal. He defended participants in the young Ireland revolt (1848). He entered parliament as a liberal conservative in 1852 and managed to become deeply in debt. He defended Fenians after the revolt of 1867 and led the Amnesty Association that campaigned for their release. In 1869 he founded the Tenant League to renew the demand for tenant right. Federalism was the political policy favoured by Butt as the solution to Irish political and economical problems. Butt proposed that a separate Irish parliament be set up in Dublin to control domestic affairs. There was no question of Ireland leaving the British Empire and Irish MPs would continue to sit at Westminster. In May 1870 a meeting was called to organise a new body that would try to win support for the idea of an Irish parliament. As a result the Home Government Association was formed as a constitutional movement to campaign for this cause. It attracted a wide range of views (including Protestants, Catholics, landlords, tenants and Fenians) that contrasted with each other. This movement would dominate Irish politics for most of the next fifty years.

The early years, 1870-1873, saw only limited growth for the movement The early years, 1870-1873, saw only limited growth for the movement. This was because Butt’s original intention was that the association would be a pressure group rather than a political party. Also Butt did not attempt to link Home Rule with other issues such as land reform and the Catholic Church was suspicious of the movement. However in 1872 the Secret Ballot Act allowed voters to vote in secret. The Liberal party failed to satisfy the Catholic wish of funding for Catholic schools and the church began to support the idea of Home Rule. The Association became better organised and financed and Home Rulers began to link the issue to other causes thus gaining more support. It was becoming more Catholic and nationalist. Finally in 1873 Butt turned the movement into a proper political party calling it the Irish Home Rule Party. In the election of 1874 the party won 59 seats. After the election the party committed itself to a policy of independent opposition. However the Conservatives under Benjamin Disraeli had an overall majority in the House of Commons and this made it hard for the party to make much of an impact. However it was soon clear that the Home Rule Party had problems. Only about 20 of the Home Rule MP’s were committed to its cause. Butt’s tactics were to win the respect of English MP’s by peaceful persuasion. Butt himself proved to be a disappointment as he was regularly absent from parliament. He had to work constantly as a barrister to pay off his debts. By 1875 a small radical fraction became frustrated with Butt’s leadership and began to act on their own. This was clear evidence of weakness in leadership and in the party. Obstructionism was the policy of interrupting the business of parliament by adopting delaying tactics. The main method was to talk continuously during debates in the House of Commons. One of the main leaders was Joseph Biggar. The policy was widely condemned in Britain and by Butt who believed it would damage the Home Rule cause in Britain. However the obstructionists argued that since British MP’s blocked Irish reforms, they were entitled to do the same with laws the British wanted. The party was becoming deeply split and Butt had little control over the radicals who openly defied him.

Butt’s influence was waning Butt’s influence was waning. Much of the reason for this was the emergence of a more charismatic political figure, Charles Stewart Parnell. He was elected an MP for Meath in 1875 and joined with the obstructionists. Parnell was viewed as an alternative leader to Butt. In 1877 he replaced Butt as leader of the Home Rule Confederation of Great Britain. Butt’s parliamentary tactics were openly criticised by some of his own MPs. His failure to control his party gave the impression to many that the whole Home Rule cause was collapsing. In 1879 Butt died and Parnell was elected leader in 1880. Butt’s weakness as a leader was an opportunity for Parnell to rise to power so quickly. Summary Butt left behind a very divided party. His policy of federalism was not a weak idea but it was clear that it meant different things to different people. He never really controlled his party. His definition of Home Rule was more limited than many of his party. Other important issues such as land reform were not given the same attention by Butt. However he outlined a reform of the government of Ireland and this idea would dominate politics for decades. He also left behind a national organisation that would be reorganised by Parnell into a powerful political movement

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaoMKQXx8co

Charles Stewart Parnell was born in June 1846 and died in 1891 Charles Stewart Parnell was born in June 1846 and died in 1891. Charles Stewart Parnell is one of the leading figures in recent Irish history and is most associated with Home Rule and the issues surrounding it. Parnell’s parents were strong Irish nationalists and he grew up with an increasing resentment over London’s dominance of Ireland. Parnell actively involved himself in politics after the execution of three Fenians in 1874. These men became known as the ‘Manchester Martyrs’ and many in Ireland believed that their execution was a gross mis-justice. Parnell, aged 29, quickly made a name for himself and in 1875 he was elected the Member of Parliament for Meath. He joined Issac Butt’s Home Rule Party. Parnell quickly realised that one way of bringing attention to the cause of the Irish was to totally disrupt the workings of the ‘Mother of all Parliament’s’. Parnell became skilled at talking and talking. His speeches could go on for hours ‘Filibustering’ and caused great disruption to what were seen to be the sacrosanct ways of Westminster.

Prof Geoghan short lecture on the Land issue: https://www. youtube In 1879, the Irish National Land League was founded and Parnell was appointed its president. The Land League had three simple policies, the so-called ‘Three F’s’; Fair rent Fixed tenure Free sale of land Parnell’s long term target was for the farmers of Ireland to own their own land. Gladstone’s attempts to push through land reform for Ireland was defeated in the House of Lords. This pushed the Land League into supporting acts of violence in an effort to force Westminster into passing land reform acts. In 1880, Charles Stuart Parnell publicly stated his belief: “When a man takes a farm from which another has been evicted you must shun him on the roadside when you meet him, you must shun him in the streets of the town, you must shun him in the shop, you must shun him in the fair green and in the marketplace, and even in the place of worship, by leaving him alone, by putting him in a moral Coventry, by isolating him from the rest of his country as if he were the leper of old, you must show your detestation of the crime he has committed.” Such a tactic was used against a land agent called Boycott and boycotting was used as a word to describe the tactic espoused by Parnell. Parnell travelled to America to further his cause and to raise money for the nationalist movement in Ireland. In the latter he was very successful raising £26,000 and many referred to Parnell as the “Uncrowned King of Ireland”.

A typical eviction scene in rural Ireland – The Land Agent working for the Landowner delivers the eviction notice & the R.I.C. were often present to prevent local violence against this process. It was highly humiliating and devastating to be evicted at this time as the workhouse was typically the place of refuge!

However, for all the support he received both in America and Ireland, Parnell was singularly unsuccessful in getting any land reform in Ireland. This lead to more violence in rural Ireland and the British government introducing legislation to counter this. A Coercion Act lead to the arrest of Parnell and others in 1881 and the Irish Land League was suppressed. In March 1882, Parnell and Gladstone agreed to the ‘Kilmainham Treaty’. This lead to the release of Parnell and the anger that surrounded the land issue in Ireland abated for a while. Parnell condemned those who murdered Lord Frederick Cavendish and T Burke in the Phoenix Park murders. Gladstone continued his dialogue with Parnell and remained committed to Home Rule. Towards the end of 1882, things appeared to be going the way of Parnell. In December 1882, the Irish National League was created to replace the Irish land League. Parnell wanted this new party to be under his control with the primary aim of winning Home Rule. By 1884, the Irish National League was very much controlled by Parnell. The strength of the party and Parnell’s standing in Ireland at this time was shown in the results of the 1885 national election. The Irish National League won every seat in Ireland with the exception of Dublin University and eastern Ulster. Nationally, the 1885 election was won by Gladstone and the Liberal Party. Gladstone had made his support for Home Rule clear but this was affirmed in his own mind by the sheer success of Parnell’s party in Ireland. Gladstone’s support for Home Rule brought him into direct conflict with the Conservatives who believed that any weakening of London’s role in Ireland would lead to the break-up of the British Empire as others within the Empire would seek to get the same as the Irish.

The so-called ‘Establishment’ used whatever tactic it could to undermine the position Parnell held in Ireland and to discredit him. In 1887, “The Times” produced a series of articles that, so the paper claimed, proved that Parnell was linked to murders in Ireland. One letter had the signature of Parnell on it – a letter that excused and supported the Phoenix Park murders. The government set-up an enquiry and it took two years before it was proved that all the evidence used by the ‘Times was forged. One of the forgers later committed suicide in Madrid. Parnell received a large sum of money from the “Times” and his name was fully and publicly cleared. 1889 was the year when Parnell’s political power was at its height – Gladstone entertained him at his home at Hawarden and he was made a freeman of Edinburgh. However, after this, his political power declined sharply In Victorian Britain, divorce was still seen as a scandalous issue. Marriage was seen as sacrosanct and anyone involved with ‘meddling’ in someone else’s marriage was seen as a “cad” or “bounder”. In December 1889, Parnell became involved in a divorce that was to end his political influence and the trauma of this divorce probably hastened his early death. Parnell was named in the divorce papers between Captain O’Shea and his wife, Katherine. Many instinctively remembered the recent attempt by “The Times” to set-up Parnell and this was initially seen as another way of undermining the authority of a popular politician. However, Parnell was not set-up – he had been seeing Katherine O’Shea as early as 1880.

His close confidants advised Parnell to take time-off from politics to allow the issue to die a natural death. He refused. Parnell managed to split the party that represented many of the people of Ireland at Westminster – the Irish Parliamentary Party. Some sided with Parnell while others did not. Twenty-seven sided with Parnell and forty-four sided with the party’s vice-chairman Justin McCarthy. This split spilled over into Ireland where you were either seen as one of Parnell’s supporters or you were not – it became very black or white. The power of the Roman Catholic Church was important here, especially in rural areas where it held much power. To the Church, the sanctity of marriage was critical and divorce was seen almost as a sin. The biggest sinner of all was the person who was central to the divorce, i.e. the cause of it. Parnell’s political reputation suffered badly but not terminally. In June 1891, he married Katherine and remained active in politics. However, many feel that he pushed his body too hard as he did not spare himself from travelling throughout the country giving speeches about the Irish issue. In October 1891, aged forty-five, Parnell died in Brighton, Sussex. Impact He fortified the Parliamentary method of achieving Irish independence through steady Constitutional reform (Home Rule) His downfall illustrated just how powerful the ‘British Establishment’ was when they wanted to remove someone who they considered to be a significant threat to their own interests.