The Dublin riots of 1822 and Catholic Emancipation

218 Pages·012.26 MB·English

by  Condon, Mary D

THE DUBLIN RIOTS OF 1822 AND
CATHOLIC MANCIPATION
A Thesis
Presented to
the Faculty of the Department of H istory
U niversity of Southern C alifornia
In P a rtia l Fulfillm ent
of the Requirements fo r the Degree
M aster of A rts
by
Mary D. Condon
June 1950
UMI Number: EP59604
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INTRODUCTION
The w riter was f ir s t a ttra c te d to th is subject by
noticing the disproportionate amount of space devoted to a
rio t at the Dublin Theatre Royal in the Parliam entary
Debates fo r the session of 1823. Dublin was noted fo r its
turbulence and i t is d iffic u lt to understand why an obscure
rio t at a th eatre should provoke so much atten tio n from the
le g isla tu re . The heaving of a b o ttle and a piece of wood at
the King*s rep resen tativ e by a couple of Orangemen might
dem onstrate th at these in v eterate lo y a lists were d is s a tis ­
fied w ith the current adm inistration but i t is not enough,
in its e lf , to account fo r the prolonged scrutiny given to
the in cid en t.
In v estig atio n disclosed th a t the th eatre rio t was the
culm inating episode in a se rie s of disturbances during the
f ir s t year of W ellesley’s v icero y alty . I t was apparent also
th at these disturbances were a ll connected w ith C atholic
Emancipation and w ith the policy of co n ciliatio n which the
B ritish government had adopted to soothe C atholic and
P ro testan t dissension. T heoretically , the parliam entary
a c tiv ity re la te d to the th eatre rio t was concerned w ith the
v a lid ity of th a t policy of co n ciliatio n . In a c tu a lity , i t
referred to m atters of in tern al d iscip lin e during a period
of weakened p arty lin e s. The facto rs which produced the
:.ifir
rio t continued to operate in Ireland and, Parliam ent fa ilin g
to provide a sa tisfac to ry solution, were resolved in the
atmosphere of th e ir o rig in .
For students of p o litic a l theory the incident has two
in te re stin g aspects. I t is a case study of the functioning
of p arty government in the absence of a clear-cu t m ajority.
I t is a dem onstration, also , of the dangers attendant upon
parliam entary in v estig atio n when the power to compel a
w itness to answer is not u tiliz e d .
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE HERITAGE OF THE PAST...................................................... 1
II. THE POLICY OF CONCILIATION................................................. 31
I I I . CONCILIATION IN PARLIAMENT................................................. 95
IY. THE EFFECT OF CONCILIATION: THE CATHOLIC
ASSOCIATION................................................................................. 170
BIBLIOGRAPHY..............................................................................................- 199
APPENDIX . . ............................................................................................... 220
CHAPTER I
THE HERITAGE OF THE PAST
Dublin in 1822 was ren t by in te rn a l factio n and
popular turbulence. In th is i t was a re fle c tio n of the
sta te of the country as a whole. Ireland was suffering from
the readjustm ent common to many post-w ar periods, w ith a
resu ltin g economic depression, and from changes incident to
the merging of its parliam ent w ith th a t of Great B rita in .1
This was fu rth er com plicated by the gradual d isso lu tio n of
the penal laws and the reluctance of those who had the
monopoly of power to relin q u ish i t . Dublin was p ecu liar in
th a t i t was th e focal point of a ll p a rtie s. Although i t had
lo st its positio n as the seat of a le g isla tu re i t remained
the center of p o litic a l power; and to i t were a ttra c te d the
leaders of every factio n w ithin the country.
C onflict in Dublin had a relig io u s b asis. C atholic
and P ro testant competed fo r power. The two groups were
sim ilar in th a t in each the s p irit of nationalism was
strong, each desired the retu rn of le g isla tiv e independence,
and each diverted a portion of its energies to th a t cause.
U nited, th e ir e ffo rts might have proved form idable; but
1 By the sta tu te 40 Geo. I l l , c.67 the two le g is­
la tu re s became one, effectiv e January 1, 1801.
separatism and factio n kept them ap art. The major p art of
th e ir a c tiv ity was devoted to internecine w arfare w hile each
pursued its separate path towards a common goal.
P arty factio n was a h eritag e from the English con­
quest of the islan d , more p a rtic u la rly from the constant
changes of opinion regarding the best means by which a
policy of subjugation could be carried out. The idea of
assim ilatin g the Iris h was at an early stage abandoned in
favor of ejectin g them, of pushing them towards the w estern
areas, and of populating the seaboard of the Iris h channel
w ith im m igrants, s e ttle rs , and p lan ters who, i t was thought,
could be re lie d upon to m aintain the English in te re s t. This
process was successful only as long as the immigrants con­
sidered them selves m erely as a garrison in an enemy’s
country. As soon as a n atio n al s p irit arose amongst them i t
had to be repeated. Coercion altern ated w ith co n ciliatio n ,
as the n ecessity fo r a new colonization became apparent.
The h isto ry of the English conquest of Irelan d is the
h isto ry of a series of confiscations of the land, co n fis­
cations which were sometimes undertaken by force, sometimes
as p en alties fo r real or invented reb ellio n s, and often by
leg al c h ic a n e ry Y e t regardless of the adm inistration,
whether under E lizabeth or W illiam I I I , the basic purpose
does not appear to have been to reward mendicant co u rtiers
so much as to create in Ireland a P rotestant ascendancy
3
strong enough to prevent the country being used as a base of
reb ellio n or of invasion against Ingland.
A sim ilar motive seems to have been behind the com­
m ercial re stric tio n s of the seventeenth and eighteenth
2
cen tu ries. I t has been suggested th a t had Irelan d been
treated as a colony, or had from the f ir s t a policy of con­
solid atio n w ith England been adopted, i t would have attain ed
3
considerable w ealth and p ro sp erity . But the narrow con­
ception of n atio n al in te re sts which dominated English
economic policy was reinforced by a p ecu liar jealousy f e lt
towards Irelan d because i t was a Roman C atholic country.
But th is feelin g of jealousy was caused by p o litic a l
rath er than relig io u s m otives. England hated Roman
C atholicism because i t seemed to be fraught w ith danger
to the sta te . There was always a fear haunting the
English le g isla tu re th a t Ireland might support the
P retender, or might enable the King to over rid e the
C o n stitu tio n .4
Furtherm ore, Ire la n d ’s geographical, in d u stria l, and
©
The seventeenth century re stric tio n s were directed
against the agrarian C atholic Iris h . By the penal laws of
the eighteenth century they were shut out from the owner­
ship of land and from the professions. Some branches of
commerce, however, remained open to them; so th a t many
C atholics prospered in trad e, p a rtic u la rly in the seaport
towns. D. Gwynn, The Struggle for C atholic Emancipation
(London: Longmans, Green and Company, 1928), 13-14.
2
A. E. M urray, A H istory of the Commercial and
Financial R elations between England and Irelan d from the
Period of the R estoration. Preface by W. A. S. Hawkins
(London: P. S. King & Son, 1903), v ii- v iii.
4
Murray, o£. cit.. 11-12.
4
p o litic a l situ atio n made her lia b le to be g reatly affected
by E nglish commercial policy. Irelan d lay near to the
English coast and her in d u stria l resources in the seven­
teenth and eighteenth cen tu ries, p rio r to the u tiliz a tio n of
coal and iro n , were very sim ilar to those of England.
N early every occupation which could be successfully pursued
in Irelan d seemed to be one also suited to England, and
th erefo re one in which the English government and people
would brook no com petition. At the same tim e, the weakness
of th e Iris h Parliam ent prevented i t from pursuing a policy
of re ta lia tio n by laying heavy d u ties on the im portation of
English goods. -----
\
The re su lt of these re s tric tio n s was tw o-fold. \
\
A griculture became the dominant, almost the sole industry; ^
w hile commercial discrim ination forced the ab ler C atholics )
i
i
to em igrate to countries where careers were open to them, j
I
and prevented those who remained from acquiring the c a p ita l i
necessary to engage in commercial fam ing. Recourse was had
I
to a system of tenancy-labor. In retu rn fo r th e ir services]
i
i
ag ric u ltu ral workers were offered an acre or h alf-acre of I
\
ground on which to ra ise one crop, eith er potatoes or o ats, I
5
and to erect a mud cabin. The ease w ith which potatoes
An acre produced, on an average, 320 bushels of
potatoes—enough to feed a fam ily of eight fo r a year. Two
acres of land would have been necessary to feed the same
number on wheat. E. L. Woodward, The Age of Refom (Oxford:
at the Clarendon P ress, 1938), 514.