The Success of Sir Robert Peel’s Irish Policy
Sir Robert Peel’s strong-nerved and far-sighted approach to Ireland’s
social discontent demonstrated all the best attributes of the
innovative politician that he was. However, the minimal effect felt by
Irish people highlights the eventually fatal inefficiency of his
leadership. Peel’s policies were largely based on the principle of
“coercion and conciliation”: at first he took an authoritarian stance,
and only later looked to be persuasively appeasing. In doing so, Peel
hoped to promote Unionism, and hence to instil in the Irish a sense of
loyalty towards Britain. He aimed to stop Ireland’s radical threat by
winning over the Irish Catholics, and to create a convincingly secure
long-term relationship between the two governments. Tragically, it was
this last aim that Peel, and many of his successors, found most
elusive.
The challenge posed by Ireland’s resistance to British rule
necessitated willingness on Peel’s part to gain the support of the
country’s people. The Catholic population made up over seventy percent
of the main, and with the vote granted them by 1829’s Emancipation,
they had become a vital election target. It was widely understood that
the Catholic clergy guided and inspired the laity, and Peel recognised
their vital place in Irish society. It was they who had mobilised the
mass movements that had so pressurised the British government;
Catholic Emancipation of the late 1820s and the Repeal of the Union a
decade later had been forced by their immense weight. It was therefore
imperative that the Catholic clergy were converted from Nationalism to
Unionism: for Peel, the fa...
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...ic. His policies
were well-funded and well thought out, but lacked the effectiveness
needed to seriously impact on Ireland’s people. Whilst being driven by
the correct intention, the Maynooth and Colleges Bills exposed Peel’s
inability to engage with the Irish public. Other political manoeuvres,
such as the introduction of Lord Heytesbury, appeared to be hollow
gestures; certainly, their impact was minimal. From this perspective,
it appears that Britain’s true objective in Ireland was not to provide
long-term prosperity to the ailing population, but to guarantee
England’s short-term safety, and to deter other potential rebels. In
this sense, Peel was successful. But, as the Irish Famine affirmed
soon afterwards, Ireland’s public had been poorly served by Britain’s
Government. It is no wonder that they wanted their own.
Document 4 says, “The curse of the Popery, with its degrading idolatry and corrupting priesthood, is the root of Irelands misery.” The English Presbyterian that states this represents what the English people thought of the Irish. The Irish were not as developed as the English and the English did go in and industrialize in certain areas such as Ulster and parts of Dublin. Even though Ireland did gain wealth as Document 5 states, most of the money stayed within the Protestant population that came from England and Scotland. Document 5 blames it on the Irish character and the in general stupidity of the Irish people. The English also felt that if the Irish were given “Home Rule” then they would persecute against the Protestants in the north. Document 7 says that the worst people of Ireland (Catholics) will be under control of the best people of Ireland (Protestants). Eventually this was resolved when Ulster stayed a part of the United Kingdom. The Irish Catholics partially got
This subject proved to be extremely effective because: firstly religious liberalism united the party more firmly then most other issues; as champions of the Established Church, the conservatives would be obliged to defend the institution; and lastly it was a relatively guaranteed reform because: only 12% of the Irish population was Anglican by religious belief; and the Liberal party still held a majority in the house of commons due to the 1865 election. The passing of there first reform in Gladstone’s first ministry meant a lot to the Liberal party and Gladstone himself saw it as an immense personal triumph. Two other reforms were passed involving Ireland, in 1970 the first Irish Land Act was passed this included the introduction of the three F’s: fair rent, free sale and fixity of tenure.
* Pearce and Adelman B believed that Ireland benefited from the Union, especially after 1829, and ‘maintenance of the Union therefore became the bedrock of British policy for almost the next 100 years’. * Policies were often based on ignorance of the situation – the British tended to try to get away with as little as possible. For example, the Maynooth Grant 1845, Land Acts 1870 and 1881, the attempt to push Home Rule on the Irish in 1920 * ‘Irish practical problems were turned into English political ones’ (e.g. land) – something that they were n’t. Legislation was considered and judged in an English context, not in an Irish one.
That is not to say there was no opposition to the reformation, for it was rife and potentially serious. The opposition came from both the upper and lower classes, from the monks and nuns and from foreign European powers. This opposition however, was cleverly minimised from the outset, Cromwell’s master plan ensured court opposition was minimal and new acts, oaths and decrees prevented groups and individuals from publicly voicing their dissatisfaction. Those who continued to counter such policies were ruthlessly and swiftly dealt with, often by execution, and used as examples to discourage others. Henry’s desire for a nation free of foreign religious intervention, total sovereign independence, a yearning of church wealth and the desire for a divorce sewed the seeds for reform.
The Irish Famine 1845-1849 “Is ar scáth a chiéle a maireann na daoine” “It is with each other’s protection that the people live” From the Fifteenth through to the Nineteenth centuries English Monarchies and Governments had consistently enacted laws which it seems were designed to oppress the Irish and suppress and destroy Irish Trade and manufacturing. In the Penal laws of 1695 which aimed to destroy Catholicism, Catholics were forbidden from practicing their religion, receiving education, entering a profession, or purchasing or leasing land; since Catholics formed eighty percent of the Irish population, this effectively deprived the Irish of any part in civil life in their own country. In the eighteenth century the Irish condition had improved: The Irish merchant marine had been revived and ports improved, and the glass, linen, and clothing industries developed. Agriculture had also been improved and in 1782 the Irish Constitution was formed.
The American people turned to Republicanism because they believed in a political system run by the people, not by a supreme authority. It became clearer to them over the course of the American Revolution, and even before, that they had wanted equality and the liberty to run their own governemt. King George III parliament had imposed policies to weaken colonial power and assert authority, raised their taxes, and required them to house the British soldiers that enforced such policies.
The Effectiveness and Success of Parnell as an Irish Nationalist Leader Parnell was a very influential leader and had campaigned for many different causes but most noticeably he campaigned for land reform within Ireland, this was one of his most noticeable achievements as an Irish Nationalist Leader. Parnell was helped to power by the Land League. This was where the end of the Great Famine within Ireland meant that farmer's incomes fell by a large extent and they demanded the reduction of rents due to this. They demanded this because many farmers could not pay the rents so this meant that landlords evicted them.
...for the Irish Catholic immigrants as well as the others, “the old-stock drive for conformity and community represented attacks on their culture, religion and ethnicity. Repeatedly their stake in American society, their right to be American citizens, was denied” (Dumenil, 248). I agree that it was their right to become American citizens. Discriminating against Irish Catholic immigrants was unjust, especially for the reason that there is no rational or justifiable way to discriminate against which people are allowed to immigrate and which are not.
Catholics were not allowed to buy and sell land, get proper education, marry Protestants, or vote. This fueled problems in Ireland. After 1793 Britain was afraid, after losing America, that a revolution would happen in Ireland. So the restrictions on the Irish Catholics were done away with. This however angered the protestants who formed the Orange Order, who was against the Catholics.
In order to legitimise a regime or cause, traditions may be constructed around historical or mythological events, people or symbols that reinforce the image required to focus people’s conception of the past. People can be encouraged to invent a cohesive view of their shared ‘traditions’ by what could be called cherry picking bits of history.
Jeremy Silbert, This is not an attack, just my reply. You said: " The British government in the 1700s was not democratically elected. Within Britain, franchise was limited to the wealthiest.
During the mid 1840’s, blight in the potato crops in Ireland caused widespread starvation and migration of Irish citizens to the United States. Yet, the massive loss of life and massive exodus could have been avoided if British taxation upon the working class of Ireland was nullified. Though the struggle for liberation was already taking place, the potato famine furthered the cause and helped spread awareness. Furthermore, the potato famine made the average Irish family more reliant upon the government for subsidies and supports to get by.
INTRODUCTION The history of Ireland "that most distressful nation" is full of drama and tragedy, but one of the most interesting stories is about what happened to the Irish during the mid-nineteenth century and how millions of Irish came to live in America (Purcell 31). Although the high point of the story was the years of the devastating potato famine from 1845 to 1848, historians have pointed out that immigrating from Ireland was becoming more popular before the famine and continued until the turn of the twentieth century. In the one hundred years between the first recording of immigrants in
In this position, he witnessed a substantial amount of crime, most of which was violent and vicious. In Ireland, Peel developed the Peace Preservation Force, a centrally controlled uniform police unit. This reform provided him with the inspiration and experience needed to develop the Metropolitan Police Force. In a letter from Robert Peel to Mr. Goulburn, Chief Secretary of Ireland, Peel describes the actions that must be taken prior to creating a new police system. He recommends acting quickly and beginning with “a survey of arms and means of defense while we are comparatively at leisure in society.” His time in Ireland made him skeptical about long-term times of peace, and influenced his view that one must always remain alert. In 1822, Robert Peel became the Home Secretary of England for eight years, excluding an interruption of service in 1827 during the Canning and Goderich Ministries. In 1828, he resumed his plans for the Metropolitan Police. During his years as Home Secretary Peel’s logical attitude towards his work motivated him to clarify the legal
Swift, best known for “Gulliver’s Travels”, originally wrote this piece as a pamphlet in 1729 under the full title ”A Modest Proposal: For preventing the children of poor people in Ireland, from being a burden on their parents or country, and for making them beneficial to the public.” During the 1500’s England’s Protestant King, Henry VIII, ruled Ireland. Over the next several centuries, Protestant English became the primary landowners and government officials. They made many laws limiting the rights of the Irish Catholic, making it nearly impossible for any of them to advance.