The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland, that existed from mediæval times until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a very restrictive franchise. Most notably, Roman Catholics were disqualified from sitting in the Irish parliament, even though they comprised the vast majority of the Irish population. From about 1716 until 1793, they were also disenfranchised.
The British appointed Irish executive, under the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, was not answerable to the House of Commons but to the British government. However, the Chief Secretary for Ireland was usually a member of the Irish parliament. In the Commons, business was presided over by the Speaker who, in the absence of a government chosen from and answerable to the Commons, was the dominant political figure in the parliament. The House of Commons was abolished when the Irish parliament merged with its British counterpart in 1801 under the Act of Union.
Famous members
- Henry Grattan — went on to serve as an Irish member of the United Kingdom House of Commons.
- Boyle Roche — the "father" of Irish bulls
- Hon. Arthur Wellesley — later became Duke of Wellington, defeated Napoleon at Waterloo, and served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He represented his family borough of Trim, County Meath from 1790-1796.
- William Conolly — a past Speaker, Conolly remains today one of the most widely known figures ever to be produced by the Irish parliament. He is famous not just for his role in parliament but also for his great wealth that allowed him to build one of Ireland's greatest Georgian houses, Castletown House.
- Nathaniel Clements , 1705-1777 Government and Treasury Official, Managed extensive financial functions from 1720 - 1777 on behalf of the Government, de facto Minister for Finance 1740 - 1777, extensive property owner and developer. major influence on the architecture of Georgian Dublin and the Irish Palladian Country house.
- John Philpot Curran — orator and wit, originator of the quotation "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."
Speakers (1689-1800)
Engraving of section of the Irish House of Commons chamber by Peter Mazell based on the drawing by Rowland Omer 1767
Constituencies
The House was elected in the same way as the British House of Commons. By the time of the Union, the shape of the House had been fixed with two members elected for each of the 32 Counties of Ireland, two members for each of 117 Boroughs, and two members for Dublin University, a total of 300 members. The number of Boroughs invited to return members had originally been small (only 55 Boroughs existed in 1603) but was doubled by the Stuart monarchs.
Sessions
Parliament 1536-1537
Parliament 1541-1543
Members:
Members:
Parliaments of James I
Members:
Members:
Members:
- Nicholas Barnewall, Catholic
- Patrick Barnewall,Trim
- John Bellew
- Sir Richard Blake, Galway
- Sir Piers Crosby
- Geoffrey Browne, Catholic
- Thomas Burke, Catholic, Mayo
- Oliver Cashell, Louth
- William Cole, Protestant, Fermanagh, d. 1653
- Simon Digby, Protestant
- Sir Maurice Eustace, Speaker, Protestant
- Richard Fitzgerald, Protestant, Strabane
- Sir Roebuck Lynch
- Donagh MacCarthy, Viscount Muskerry, Catholic
- Richard Bellings, Catholic
- Sir Phelim O'Neill, Catholic
- James Montgomery, Protestant
- Nicholas Plunkett, Catholic, Meath
- Edward Rowley, Protestant
- Hardress Waller, Protestant
- John Walsh, Catholic
Members:
Members:
-
Members:
Members:
Parliaments of Anne
Members:
Members:
Members:
Members: (elected 1727)
Members: (elected 1728/29)
Members: (elected 1739)
Members: (in 1747)
Members: (elected 1751/1752)
Members: (elected 1753/1754)
- Mervyn Archdall
- William Brownlow, Armagh, Independent
- Francis Pierpoint Burton, Killybegs
- Charles Viscount Dungarvan
- Robert French
- John Gore
- Henry Gore, Tulsk
- Frederick Gore, Killybegs
- Sir Ralph Gore, Donegal County
- Anthony Malone
- John Macarell, Carlingford
- Henry Mitchell, Castlebar
- Edmund Pery, Independent
- John Ponsonby
- Abel Ram (Committee of Commons unseated Robert Leigh), Wexford
Members:
Members:
Members:
Grattan's Parliament
Members:
Members:
Members:
Members:
Resignation
Until 1793 members could not resign their seats. They could cease to be a member of the House only by one of four ways:
In 1793 a methodology for resignation was created, equivalent to the Chiltern Hundreds in the British House of Commons. Irish members could now be appointed to either the Escheatorship of Munster, the Escheatorship of Leinster, the Escheatorship of Connaught or the Escheatorship of Ulster. Possession of one of these Crown offices, with entailed a 30/ (30 shilling) salary, automatically terminated one's membership of the House of Commons.
See also
References
- Charles Ivar McGrath, The making of the 18th century Irish Parliament 1692-1714, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2000, ISBN 1-85182-554-1
- Eoin Magennis, The Irish Political System 1740-1765, Doublin: Four Courts Press, 2000, ISBN 1-85182-484-7
- Moody/Vaughan, A new history of Ireland, Oxford, 1986, ISBN 0-19-821742-0 and ISBN 0-19-821739-0
- Mary Frances Cusack, Illustrated History of Ireland, Project Gutenburg
|
