MAY+COURSE+REVISION+NOTES

HOME RULE QUESTIONS
 * 2011 What attempts were made to gain Home Rule, 1870-1886 and why were those attempts unsuccessful?
 * 2010 What did Parnell contribute to Land reform and to the development of the H.R Movement?
 * 2009 Who was the more effective leader, Butt or Parnell.
 * Sample Why were the elections in 1885 and in 1886 so important to the future development of Irish politics?
 * How did the H.R movement develop under the leadership of John Redmond from 1900-1914

} Put forward the idea of Home Rule } 1870 Home Gov Association } 1873 Home Rule League } Home Rule Confederation of Great Britain. } 1874 the New Home Rule Party } Problems of the Party } Obstructionism } Parnell and split } William Shaw and not Parnell
 * __ ISAA C BUTT __**

} Parnell and the New Departure } Fenian and Church support } Leader of Home Rule Party 1880 } 1881 Land Act and Kilmainham Treaty turning point } Phoneix Park Murders } I882 Irish National League sit,act,vote } Parnell, Chamberlin and Central Board Scheme } 1885 Parnell and the Conservatives in the 1885 election } 335 Liberals v 249 Conservatives. HR 86 seats. } Flying the Hawarden Kite. Parnell and Gladtsone for Jan 1886. } Home Rule Bill 1 1886 } Conservatives, Unionists and liberal Unionists all voted against 341 to 311 votes. } Conservatives in power for next 20 years } Parnell and Plan of campaign } “Parnellism and Crime”- Piggott Forgeries. } O Shea Divorce case } Gladstone’s threat to Justin Mc Carthy } Committee Room 15. 45 to 27 Parnellite split. } Death of Parnell. } Parnellites elect Redmond as Leader
 * __ CHARLES STEWART PARNELL __**

} Parnellites, Anti Parnellites, United Irish league. } He supported Parnell. } John Dillon, Tim Healy and William o Brien. } 1893 Home Rule Bill 2 defeated in Lords } 1900 Redmond brings the party together } 1906 Liberals don’t need HR support and only offer the Irish Council Bill in 1907. } Asquith and the parliament Act 1911. } Home Rule Bill 1912 is passed. } Unionist Resistance. } Redmond was willing to accept “Home Rule within Home Rule” for Ulster. } Redmond and Dillon represented the Home Rulers at the Buckingham Palace Conference 1914. } The Home Rule Party took over Eoin Mc Neills “Irish Volunteers”. } Guns imported into Howth 1914. } Threat of Civil war but WW1. } Most of the volunteers supported Redmond’s call to fight for Britain. “national volunteers”. } The Irish Volunteers supported the IRB
 * __ JOHN REDMOND __**


 * The Suffrage Movement **


 * The sense of duty of Queen Victoria who reigned from 1837-1901 made her a role model for women
 * The late nineteenth century saw the beginning of a movement for women’s rights; these rights included education, employment, marriage and property
 * By the end of the nineteenth century women activists realised that real reform would only be achieved by women’s involvement in the political system; this meant obtaining the right to vote or **suffrage**which became a central issue in the cause of women’s rights.
 * Key concept: **Feminism**: Feminism is a broad term that refers to the cause of women’s political and social rights, such as access to jobs and the right to vote. Feminists believed that women should have the same legal, political and social rights as men. In the nineteenth century women were treated as second class citizens who were forced to obey the laws of men. Feminists challenged the traditional role of women in society – that of wives and mothers


 * The Status of Women**


 * Women were not regarded as being equal to men. A man was seen as the head of the family and the key decision maker. This may not have been the case in private but was the public image in most cases. The laws reflected how unequal society was:
 * Property rights: When a woman married, her property automatically became the property of her husband
 * Money: When a woman married, any money she had, including savings, became the property of her husband
 * Children: If a marriage broke down, the husband was entitled to custody of the children.


 * Employment**:


 * Women had limited employment opportunities. A career was out of the question for most women. They were not allowed to become doctors, lawyers or accountants and were also not permitted to study for a degree in university.
 * Working-class women worked outside the home to help support their families. In all jobs women were paid less than men
 * Most people believed that a woman’s important role was a domestic one (as wife and mother).
 * In the late nineteenth century an increased number wanted to develop careers and delay marriage.


 * Extension of the vote**


 * As a result of these reforms the political system became more democratic: In 1832 the middle classes were given the right to vote, this was extended to the urban working class in 1867 and rural labourers were allowed to vote in1884.
 * By 1900 only those who rented or owned property above a certain value could vote; approx 30% of all adults in Britain and Ireland could vote but no females could vote.


 * Key Personality: Isabella Tod **


 * In 1836 she was born into a middle class, Presbyterian family. She saw it as her duty to improve the circumstances of women. She became active in the temperance movement and recognised that alcohol abuse was the cause of many social problems, which fell heavily on women
 * In 1864 she campaigned against the Contagious Diseases Act which permitted the arrest of any woman suspected of being a prostitute. These women could be examined, by force if necessary, for any sexually transmitted disease. After much pressure from Tod and other women activists this law was repealed.
 * She was involved in the campaign to improve property rights for women. **The Married Women’s Act**, 1882 allowed women to remain separate owners of their property after marriage. The Guardianship of children Act, 1886, gave women the right to seek custody of their children in the event of a marriage break-up.
 * She believed women could only make advances in society through greater involvement in politics. This meant obtaining the right to vote in elections.

With this in mind, she set up the North of Ireland’s Women’s Suffrage committee in 1872. It aimed to influence public and political opinion by moderate means – TDs were petitioned, meetings were organised. Her distrust
 * of the Catholic Church and her strong opposition to repeal limited the appeal of this movement.
 * Tod died in 1896. She was not as radical in her methods as later generations of feminists. But she showed them that the only way to influence decisions was to involve themselves in political and social issues.


 * Key concept: Suffrage ** The right to vote is called franchise, or suffrage. Women who fought for their right to vote were known as suffragettes. Until the beginning of the twentieth century peaceful means were used by the suffragettes but they had no success – each suffrage bill was defeated. A new more militant approach was adopted. Suffragettes such as Emmeline Pankhurst heckled politicians, chained themselves to railings and went on hunger strike when imprisoned. In Ireland, Hanna Sheehy Skeffington and Margaret Cousins founded the Irish Women’s Franchise league and followed the example of the British suffragettes.


 * Women begin to organise Politically**


 * //The Ladies Land League//: Established in 1881 by Fanny and Anna Parnell the Ladies Land league provided an example of an active and militant women’s group. It supported the land league, looked after evicted families and jailed activists. Their radical activities led to clashes with Parnell.
 * //The Dublin Women’s Suffrage Association//: In 1876, Anna and Thomas Haslam founded the Dublin Women’s Suffrage Association. She was a Quaker (a radical Christian group that treated men and women as equals). They campaigned for women’s rights (petitions, lectures). The DWSA had limited appeal; most of its members were Unionists and campaigned against home rule.
 * //1898 Local government Act//: allowed women to vote and run for election at local level
 * In 1899, the DWSA became the //Irish Women’s Suffrage and local Government Association// – it encouraged women to stand for local election; 35 women were elected onto local councils in 1899. However, women were still not allowed to vote in national elections. The Association was willing to be patient and tried to increase support for their cause.


 * Inghinidhe na hEireann (daughters of Ireland)**


 * In 1900, Maude Gonne and jenny Wise Power founded Inghinidhe na hEireann; it was a nationalist organisation which ran language classes for children, put on Irish plays and encouraged people to speak Irish.
 * Between 1908-1911 they published a newspaper, //Bean na hEireann//, in which they promoted women’s suffrage.


 * Opposition to Women’s suffrage**


 * Most political leaders were very cautious about extending the right to vote to women. Redmond and Dillon feared it would damage the cause of home rule.
 * Some men held views about women that were based on ignorance and prejudice. Some argued that women were too emotional and would be unable to make balanced, rational judgements. Some men believed that women were not as intelligent as men, and therefore could not understand complex political and economic issues. Others claimed that if women were given the right to vote they would be exposed to political vices, corruption.
 * There were concerns that women involved in politics would be distracted from their main role – looking after their families.
 * Political parties feared that their opponents would benefit if women were granted the vote.
 * 1870, 1871 Gladstone blocked bills that provided for women’s suffrage
 * Pope Pius X also spoke out against women’s suffrage: “women electors, women deputies? Oh no… women in parliament. That is all we need. The men have already caused enough confusion”
 * Given the opposition of political and religious leaders the cause of women suffrage looked bleak


 * Key Personality: Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington**


 * In 1877, Sheehy-Skeffington was born into a middle class family in Kanturk Co Cork; her father served as a home rule MP for Galway; she attended UCD where she met her husband Francis Skeffington, a supporter of women’s rights
 * In 1908, she helped to found the Irish Women’s Franchise league. She believed that the campaign for women suffrage should avoid the divisive issues of nationalism and unionism. She was drawn into nationalist politics when her husband was killed by the British in 1916.
 * She joined Sinn Fein and later oppose the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921
 * She was critical of aspects of the Irish constitution which restricted women’s rights


 * The Irish Women’s Franchise League**


 * Inspired by the militant activities of the Women’s Social and Political Union led by Emmeline Pankhurst in Britain, Sheehy-Skeffington and Cousins established the Irish Women’s Franchise League (IWFL)


 * It brought together radical and moderate feminists; by 1912 it had over 1,000 members
 * It established its own newspaper the //Irish citizen//which had a circulation of 3,000 issues per week
 * The IWFL put pressure on the home rule party to insert a clause for the voting rights of women. Redmond was opposed to this proposal.
 * Encouraged by British suffragettes the IWFL became more militant to gain maximum publicity: meetings were disrupted, public buildings were damaged; many were arrested and went on hunger strike, Prime Minister Asquith was attacked by English suffragettes while in Dublin.
 * IWFL gained publicity for their aims but were politically unsuccessful.


 * Conclusion:**


 * The outbreak of world War 1 put an end to much of the suffragette activity
 * Women took leading roles in Sinn Fein
 * In 1918, the British rewarded women for their significant contribution during the war – all women over the age of 30 were given the right to vote. In that year, Countess Markievicz became the first woman elected to the House of Commons.

=__** TO WHAT EXTENT DID THE LAND AGITATION OF THE PERIOD 1870-1914 LEAD TO LAND REFORM? **__= INTRO Land agitation or upset was because of the Land Question which was about the ownership and control of land. Tenants demanded the 3F’sFair rent, fixture of tenure and free sale from their Landlords. The Land agitation began with Gladstone’s promise to solve the Land question. When this wasn’t successful a land war ensued. A national movement called the Land League coordinated this agitation and clashed with both Liberal and Conservative governments. Land reform resulted in the form of a number of Land Acts which saw the complete transfer of land from Landlord to tenant by 1914. By 1870 farmers had a lot of political clout in Ireland. They had more votes than any other group.

Prime Minister William Gladstone stated that his mission was to “pacify Ireland” and he aimed to do this by solving the Land Question. In 1870 he introduced his Land Act which offered to legalise the Ulster Custom (compensate any farmer for farm improvements), offer compensation to any farmer that was evicted and allow a farmer to purchase the farm by repaying over 35 years. Most tenants couldn’t avail of any of these three and turned to agitation

The Land League was founded by Michael Davitt in Irishtown, Co. Mayo in 1879. In the previous 2 years there had been bad harvests, a dorp in grain price and an increase in evictions. Parnell offered to make this his “new departure” and solve the land question. He renamed the Mayo land League the Irish National land league. He was president and Davitt secretary. He fundraised £80000 in America. The league’s peaceful agitation involved Parnell’s fiery speeches against landlords in parliament, the use of public demonstrations and the use of boycotting landlords who evicted tenants. Gladstone and the Liberals responded with the Coercion Act and Davitt was arrested. Parnell continued to stay in parliament and attack british policy whom conceded to the 1881 land Act.

Gladstone offered the 3f’s and Land purchase for tenants not in arrears. This suited the large tenant farmer but not the small one. Parnell needed to get the act improved so had himself arrested by insulting the Prime Minister. In Kilmainham jail he called for violent agitation. He called on “Captain Moonlight” which involved the attacking of Landlord property and their families. He also called for a “No rent manifesto” and the Ladies Land League to continue his work while he was in prison. Land reform was granted through the Kilmainham Treaty where an improved 1881 land act was offered in exchange for agrarian peace. Parnell now felt the Land Question solved and turned to Home Rule.

In 1885 Parnell was trying to play the Liberals and Conservatives off each other in exchange for Home Rule. The Conservatives offered him the Ashbourne land Act which offered a fund of £5 million for tenants to buy out their farms and a 100% of the loan was offered. 25000 tenants subscribed. The Conservatives decided to solve the Land Question without Parnell by their new policy of ”killing home rule with kindness”. It had 2 approaches; a series of land acts and the use of coercion. Land agitation resumed with the tenants new “Plan of campaign” where tenants themselves would withhold their rents if they felt them too high. The Chief Secretary, Arthur Balfour responded with coercion by way of the “perpetual Crimes Act”. All campaign leaders were arrested. He was knicknamed “ Bloody Balfour” when police opened fire on protesting tenants in Mitchelstown killing 2. He then responded with Land reform with the “Balfour Land Act of 1891”. A fund of £33 million was made available to tenants. He also introduced the congested districts board which introduced better agricultural methods, increased farm size and the development of cottage industry.

In the 1890’s Land Agitation was continued by William O Brien and his new organisation “The United Irish League”. They demanded compulsory buying out of all Landlords. The Landlords themselves agreed to this proposal. They were sick of the agitation and were losing political control through the new Secret Ballot Act and the new Local Government Act. A land Conference was held and George Wyndham the new Chief secretary announced his 1903 Wyndham Land Act. The British government would put up a massive £100 million fund and farmers could take 68 years to pay back. 200000 tenants subscribed. In 1909 this was improved with the Birrell Act where the British Government ordered that all Landlords sell to their tenants. The Land Question was solved. Further land reform was given with the setting up of the Co-op movement by Horace Plunkett and the establishment of the Department of Agriculture.

By 1914 Land agitation had achieved Land reform to such an extent that the landlord was gone from Ireland. But a new type of agitation would begin, agitation for independence.

= THE PROMOTION OF A CULTURAL IDENTITY, NORTH AND SOUTH 1912-1949. = = = = = Cultural identity was promoted in Ireland, North and South, through language, education, religion and the Arts. The Unionist government, under Sir James Craig, wanted to promote a British, Protestant state. Cumann na nGaedhael (1922-1932) and Fianna Fáil (1932-1949) wanted to promote a Catholic, Gaelic one. After Gov. Of Ireland Act 1920, the Unionist Government went about creating “A Protestant Parliament for a Protestant People”. On the declaration of a Free State in 1922, Dáil Éireann wanted to re-establish a distinctively Irish Ireland. = = The Unionist Government in the North wanted to create a cultural identity based on that of Great Britain. However many Nationalists were not willing to let go of their traditional Irish heritage. The Minister for Education, Lord Londonderry – aim, unite Catholics and Protestants but not popular with leading Unionists .The 1923 Education Act was passed whereby local councils would be responsible for northern schools and the curriculum. These councils which were unionist dominated focused on British history and the Irish language was forbidden to be taught within normal school hours. This led to huge sectarian tension. Through education and language, the Unionists promoted a largely British cultural identity.
 * __CULTURAL IDENTITY QUESTION __**

After years of British Rule, the Irish language had gone into decline but CNG went about bringing Irish back into people’s everyday lives. Minister for Education Eoin Mac Neill of the Gaelic League changed the curriculum. He revived Irish as a spoken language and made the teaching of Irish and History compulsory.Teacher training colleges were established and in 1926 the University Education Act was passed which established the National Universities of Ireland.Irish place names were changed from English to Irish e.g Kingstown became Dun Laoghaire. Scholarships were given for Gaeltacht students.

Fianna Fáil had great interest in the Irish language and made its revival one of FF’s priorities when they came into office in 1932. More intensive revival of Irish following CNG/ by 1943 9000 teachers could teach through Irish/ Irish compusory for Leaving Cert, 1934/ Mandatory or civil service jobs/ Vocational Act 1920. The new constitution Bunreacht na hÉireann 1937/ Article made Irish “first official language” of the State.

CNG wanted to promote a Catholic state and Religion was one of the ways that CNG promoted a Catholic cultural identity in Ireland. Boundary Commission 1925- the Irish free state had to except partition. The south became a largely catholic state with the protestant churches going into decline. CNG tried to address this by appointing 24 protestants to the senate. Between 1926 and 1936 the protestant population fell by 12% with many leaving for Britain. No protestant unionist was elected in the 1923 election .The catholic church started to shape government policy. WT Cosgrave had a close relationship with Archbishop Byrne of Dublin.Byrne influenced Cosgrave on social and moral issues, this led the Governments censorship policies. By having such close associations between church and state, from the very beginning, The Free State was always going to have a Catholic cultural identity.

 On coming to power F.F successfully organised the Eucharistic Congress in 1932. A religious festival held every 3 years throughout the world. 1932 was the 1500th anniversary of the introduction of Christianity to Ireland. F.F ALSO PASSED LAWS Criminal law amendment act banned the import of contraceptives .Bunreacht na hEireann 1937 recognised the “special position” of the catholic church in Ireland It also followed catholic stances on divorce, the role of mothers and the family. The public dance halls act made it necessary for a license to hold a dance and the parish priest would have to be present. Dev was heavily influenced by his former headmaster at Blackrock College Archbishop of Dublin John McQuaid. He influenced many of Dev decisions regarding religion. Yet Dev resisted his request to adopt Catholicism as the sole religion of the state in Bunreacht na hEireann 1937 as he didn’t want to offend other religions. However Catholicism was made the main symbol of Irish cultural identity under F.F

 The Arts were hugely importing in promoting different cultural identities both North and South. North; John Hewitt’s poem “The Bloody Brae” asserted his peoples right to be in the North “This is my Country”. Message of warning to Nationalists. South; Despite censorship and other obstacles, the world of literature and the Arts was used widely to promote a distinctly Irish cultural identity. Seán Ó’Ríordáin- poems as Gaeilge/ WB Yeats – Noble prize for literature 1923/Lady Gregory/ In 1924 CNG started giving annual grant to he Abbey Theatre Visual Art- Jack B Yeats/ Evie Hone (KP) 1933 joined An Túr Gloine – co-op for making stained glass/ Her pieces became renowned abroad – Eton Chapel. ·

 Religion most effective in promoting cultural identity, South became clearly a Catholic State, the North clearly protestant. Revival of Irish not as successful as De Valera hoped because outside the Gaeltacht, very few spoke Irish as part of their daily lives Censorship diminished the role the Arts could play – James Joyce’s “Ulyssess” caused outrage. Cultural identities of the North and South were promoted in very different ways and over time, the North and South began to lose many of the cultural links that held them together. = =

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