The Cross of Saint Patrick - The Catholic Unionist Tradition in Ireland

506 Pages·1984·27.555 MB·English

by  John Biggs-Davison, George Chowdharay-Best

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WITHDRAWN
UCR LIBRARY
THE CROSS OF ST PATRICK
The Catholic Unionist Tradition in Ireland
JOHN BIGGS-DAVISON
and
GEORGE CHOWDHARAY-BEST
HE
ENSAL
PRESS
John Biggs-Davison 1984 ©
George Chowdharay-Best 1984 ©
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without the prior permission of The Kensal Press.
British Library in Publication Data.
Biggs-Davison, John
The Cross of Saint Patrick: the Catholic Unionist tradition in Ireland.
Ulster Unionist Party—History 2. Catholics—Northern Ireland—History 3. Christianity and_ politics
1. Title II. Chowdharay-Best, George
305.6’2'0416 BR115.P7
ISBN 0-946041-26-1
Published by The Kensal Press
Kensal House, Abbotsbrook, Bourne End, Buckinghamshire.
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Butler & Tanner Ltd., Frome & London
Typeset by Tek, England
PREFACE
This book is needed and traverses new ground. Told that it was being
prepared, a highly educated politician, who shall be nameless, replied:
‘But were there any Catholic Unionists?’ He reminds one of us of the
Member of Parliament (unfortunately untypical) who was being briefed
on the Royal Ulster Constabulary by an Assistant Chief Constable, who
happened to be a Roman Catholic, and asked him whether there were
any Catholics in the police.
This book is dedicated to those many Catholics who wrote and
spoke and who fought and died in foreign wars and Irish troubles,
faithful to the crown and loyal to the Union. Theirs was a noble, and
living, cause, and the title of this book symbolizes both cause and sacrifice.
The earliest Irish (as distinct from Norman-Irish or Anglo-Irish)
device known is the red hand of the O’Neills, which one of us chose as
the emblem of his earlier book, The Hand is Red. But the red saltire of
St Patrick, too, is of a respectable antiquity. It appears in the arms of the
FitzGeralds of Kildare from at least the fifteenth century, and G.A. Hayes-
McCoy in his posthumously-published and definitive History of Irish Flags
(1979) has pointed to evidence of its use as an Irish national flag at least
as early as 1612. In 1783 it was included in the badge of the Knights of
St Patrick, the Irish counterpart of the Order of the Garter in England
and of the Thistle in Scotland. The FitzGeralds of Kildare became Dukes
of Leinster after 1766; a FitzGerald remains premier Duke of Ireland; and
the Republic’s Oireachtas or Parliament occupies Leinster House, the
former ducal residence in Dublin, today. Even more germane to our
story is the fact that it was one of the FitzGeralds who gave his name to
the first major Unionist document in the strict sense, the Leinster
Declaration of 1830, which was drawn up by a Catholic solicitor and
signed by many of his co-religionists as well as by Protestants.
When the Union between Great Britain and Ireland was formally
ratified in 1801, the cross saltire of St Patrick was incorporated in the
Union Flag, where it has remained to this day. The justification of that
continued inclusion lies in the fact of Northern Ireland’s still being an
integral element in that Union. The breakaway of the south has led to
much bloodshed, and, in the long perspective of centuries, may come to be
seen as merely an episode in an association sometimes violent, sometimes
peaceful. At any rate the events of the last century and more have failed
to destroy friendships and mutual esteem, which in individual cases have
grown rather than diminished. Long may that friendship survive.
We acknowledge our debt to the following individuals and
institutions, and if any through inadvertence have been missed out we
ask their forgiveness — but any mistakes are ours alone: the late Major
Eric Beaumont, Dr Mary Belton, Mr Louis Boyle, The British Library,
Mr Robin Chichester-Clarke, Mr Alistair B. Cooke, the late 12th Earl
of Fingall, Mr Adrian FitzGerald, Dr Roy Foster, Sir James Henry, Bt.,
The Library of the House of Commons, The London Library, Dr A.P.
Malcomson, Dr H. Montgomery Hyde, The National Library of Ireland
(Dublin), His Grace the Duke of Norfolk, K.G. and His Grace’s Librarian
and Assistant Librarian, Mr Bill O’Hara, Sir John Pope-Hennessy, Public
Record Office (London), Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
(Belfast), Professor Robert Shackleton, F.B.A.
We also thank Miss Fay Stockwell and Miss Virginia Utley and,
above all, our wives Pamela and Elspeth for their encouragement and
forbearance.
Contents
PART I
The Union and its Aftermath
Chapter 1 MYUCCUE CEOEO L eee ene ec ere eee rete cece n tea zaseces se<t sees anas 7
Chapter 2 Ns Eo ase nce cena nae = shad ennee evs cans pare manera Sen 13
Chapter 3 TRS TRYST OER, -sosnacootcraee 0ce Acoere psasue reoara cnchce gonnaaea snecoen sccr aecSr000 00: ae
Chapter 4 Errifeanichiiserniernt sg. o2cc5ecs.6 Wess 4s Reena ea 63
Chapter 5 The Rebellion Of 1798 onc... <cciccc.cccscrecsnsceer<rennenntanesunceerenueennnrene ve:
Chapter 6 TREY LORT ECON Ty sata eiets a Ss aa ee cas cee cr SUS ead PN eb enssnoderadese OT
Chapter 7 Ermancipation ..............cccccccsseeseeneeeeeneeeneceseessceneeeneessseseseenaecnnes 105
Chapter 8 The Repeal Agitation ...............::::cectceescseesc escteesee eseeeenteeeneetsae y 143
Chapter 9 Famine and Feniamnis .................:0:ccsscesecccesseccensneseneeeseteeeoeserees 165
Ae il
The Assault on the Union
Chapter 10 The First Home Rule Bill ....................ccceessecccceesreeeeeeensneeeeenneees 193
Chapter 11 The Pope and the Plan of Campaign..................::-: eee 225
Chapter 12 The Second Home Rule Bill ..................::cccceeeteeeenese teereeeteee s 245
Chapter 13 Land and Education ................:::ctceecnsseee sneette eeesteeeeeetesen s 271
Chapter 14 The Third Home Rule Bill .............::: cect 283
Chapter 15 The First World War ...............-:ccccssssssssersccsnncccssseescsseensnssnsceserees 305
Chapter 16 Whe Treaty ....0...:-:-coocssceressoesssstacensseeetessgerenseatensodescenseedsnsaassnerreree 325
Chapter 17 Between the Wars ..........se.tt.ee: t:estcese cste cnsecs enceene enes tnees cett ee 339
Chapter 18 War and Troubles .............-cc cscs eesee rete teeeesteneenenneeeseenenseneentneti 359
Chapter 19 Catholics for the Crow2 .........:.::r:ececsec esssesst eenerert eenne sneenneene ns 385
INES ——— Gpactoeeaeeeoenococ oe ecoorececeace pase enact ons cadeca Heatt eenies e0n cede uno Lo.Gcu0n asd ocqa et 395
Bibliography — <-.....-...c2---.nscscesscecseseseeonsocevssnensesssesenencncnencneretensccrscseasnanenencsansananeseees 453
a ay ca fant ap ahee sui santa spaceatince vate tie nanhiyoaroas io clekacetdecmnsaheenn a+ 472
Illustrations
The tenth Earl of Ormonde’s instructionfso r a parley with O’ Neill. (1599)
Father James Healy of Little Bray.
Sir John Ross-of-Bladensburg.
Dr. John Healy, Catholic Archbishop of Tuam.
Henry, 15th Duke of Norfolk as Lord Mayor of Sheffield by E. Moore.
Arundel Castle. By permission ofH is Grace the Duke of Norfolk.
Sir Denis Henry, Bt by permission of Sir James Henry, Bt.
Edmund, 1st Viscount FitzAlan of Derwent by Oswald Birley.
Arundel Castle. By permission of His Grace the Duke of Norfolk.
C. E. McGloughlin 1866-1932 taken in 1930.