Irish Parliamentary Party
The Irish Parliamentary Party (Irish: Páirtí Parlaiminteach na hÉireann) was founded in 1882 by the leader of the Nationalist Party Charles Stewart Parnell, thus transforming the Home Rule League into a parliamentary party with fixed rules. The aim of the party was a self-determining Irish Parliament (Home Rule).
Every party member had to swear an oath to stand by the party, to act and vote in its interests. This was the first time in Western politics that a party's political leadership had given instructions on how to vote. Members were still paid an allowance from the party's funds.
In 1891, as a result of the scandal surrounding Parnell's affair with the married Katharine O'Shea, the party divided into two camps, Parnell's supporters (so-called Parnellites) and his opponents (so-called anti-Parnellites). Only four of Parnell's supporters were Protestants, including Pierce Mahony. However, under the leadership of John Redmond and his deputy John Dillon, there was a reunion of the party in 1900. The party introduced and succeeded in passing many important social laws during this period.
The Local Government Act of 1908, for example, diminished the importance of the existing landlord-dominated group of juries, replacing them with 49 county, urban and rural district councils run by Irishmen. The assemblies were very popular in Ireland, establishing a new political class that showed it was capable of running Irish affairs. This led to a resurgence of hope for Home Rule. However, due to the great dominance of Irish Parliamentary Party members within these assemblies, there was also much nepotism.
After the 1910 election and the reduction of the veto power of the House of Lords by the Parliament Act, the party achieved the legislative adoption of Home Rule, but this was not implemented for the time being because of the First World War. During the war the party supported the National Volunteers. The Easter Rising of 1916 and the execution of its leaders as traitors was a severe blow to the party's policy based on non-violence.
→ Main article: John Redmond#The failure of his policies
The Catholics turned to Sinn Féin, the Protestants to the UUP. In the 1918 House of Commons election, the party lost almost all of its 74 seats and was only able to hold 7 seats in the North East. As a result, the party disbanded. In the newly formed Northern Ireland it re-established itself as the Nationalist Party of Northern Ireland, from 1978 Irish Independence Party, dissolved in 1985.
Leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party, 1882-1918.
- Charles Stewart Parnell 1882-1891
- John Redmond (Parnellite wing) 1891-1900
- Justin McCarthy (anti-Parnellite wing) 1891-1892
- John Dillon (anti-Parnellite wing) 1892-1900
- John Redmond (reunited party) 1900-1918
- John Dillon 1918
Questions and Answers
Q: What was the Irish Parliamentary Party?
A: The Irish Parliamentary Party was a nationalist political party in Ireland that wanted Ireland to be able to govern itself, instead of being governed by the United Kingdom.
Q: Who created the Irish Parliamentary Party?
A: The Irish Parliamentary Party was created in the nineteenth century by Isaac Butt.
Q: Who was the most famous leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party?
A: The most famous leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party was Charles Stewart Parnell.
Q: What did the Home Rule bill announced by British Prime Minister William Gladstone entail?
A: The Home Rule bill announced by British Prime Minister William Gladstone would make Ireland leave the United Kingdom. Ireland would become a British colony which could govern itself. Ireland would have its own parliament, instead of having representatives in the British Parliament.
Q: Was the original Home Rule bill passed?
A: No, the original Home Rule bill was not passed.
Q: Did any of the other Home rule bills succeed?
A: No, none of the other Home Rule bills succeeded.
Q: What happened instead of the failed Home Rule bills?
A: Instead of the failed Home Rule bills, an independent Irish Free State was created in most of the island, and a Home Ruled Northern Ireland was created in six counties of Ulster that stayed in the United Kingdom.
