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Irish House of Commons

Lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Irish House of Commons
For the current house of representatives in Ireland, see Dáil Éireann. For the body which existed between 1921 and 1922, see House of Commons of Southern Ireland.

The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until the end of 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive franchise, similar to the unreformed House of Commons in contemporary Great Britain. Catholics were disqualified from sitting in the Irish parliament from 1691, even though they comprised the vast majority of the Irish population.

Quick Facts Type, History ...
Irish House of Commons
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Type
Type
History
Established1297
Disbanded1 January 1801
Succeeded byHouse of Commons of the United Kingdom
Leadership
John Foster (1785–1800)
Seats300[a]
Elections
Plurality block voting with limited suffrage
Meeting place
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The Irish House of Commons (by Francis Wheatley, 1780)
Footnotes
  1. In 1800.
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The Irish executive, known as the Dublin Castle administration, 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.

From 1 January 1801, it ceased to exist and was succeeded by the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.

Franchise

The limited franchise was exclusively male. From 1728 until 1793, Catholics were disfranchised, as well as being ineligible to sit in the Commons. Most of the population of all religions had no vote. In counties, forty-shilling freeholders were enfranchised while in most boroughs it was either only the members of self-electing corporations or a highly restricted body of freemen that were eligible to vote for the borough's representatives. The vast majority of parliamentary boroughs were pocket boroughs, the private property of an aristocratic patron.

Abolition

The House of Commons was abolished under the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Ireland into the Kingdom of Great Britain to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland with effect from 1 January 1801. The Irish House of Commons sat for the last time in Parliament House, Dublin on 2 August 1800. One hundred of its members were designated or co-opted to sit with the House of Commons of Great Britain, forming the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The patron of pocket boroughs that were disfranchised under the Act of Union was awarded £15,000 compensation for each.[1]

Speaker of the Commons

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Drawing of the front of the Irish Parliament House with the dome, seen from the street-level, in the 18th century
Main article: Speaker of the Irish House of Commons

The Speaker of the Irish House of Commons was the presiding officer of the House and its most senior official. The position was one of considerable power and prestige, and in the absence of a government chosen from and answerable to the Commons, he was the dominant political figure in the Parliament. The last Speaker was John Foster.

Constituencies

Summarize
Perspective
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Engraving of section of the Irish House of Commons chamber by Peter Mazell based on the drawing by Rowland Omer 1767

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. By the time of the Union, there were 150 constituencies, each electing two members by plurality block voting; an elector could vote for one or two of the candidates, with the two receiving most votes being returned. The constituencies had different franchises as follows: [2]

Following the Act of Union, from 1801, there were 100 MPs from Ireland in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The Irish constituencies at Westminster were a subset of those in the Irish House of Commons as follows:

  • the 32 counties and two most populous county borough constituencies, Cork City and Dublin City, retained two MPs each;
  • the 6 other county boroughs, the university, and the 25 most populous boroughs were reduced to one MP each;
  • the 84 least populous Irish parliamentary boroughs were disfranchised after the Union
More information Constituency, Type ...
ConstituencyTypeCountyCreation[a]FranchiseFate after the union
County AntrimCountyAntrim1570[3]FreeholdersTwo seats
AntrimBoroughAntrim1666PotwalloperDisfranchised
ArdeeBoroughLouth1378CorporationDisfranchised
ArdfertBoroughKerry1639?CorporationDisfranchised
ArdsCountyDownBy 1560[4]Previously disfranchised[b]
County ArmaghCountyArmagh1585 (September)[5]FreeholdersTwo seats
ArmaghBoroughArmagh1613 (26 March) [6]Ecclesiastical corporation - Bishop's boroughOne seat
AskeatonBoroughLimerick1613 (30 March)[6]CorporationDisfranchised
AthboyBoroughMeathBy 1560[4][c]ManorDisfranchised
AthenryBoroughGalway1310?[d]CorporationDisfranchised
AthloneBoroughWestmeath1606 (10 December)[6]CorporationOne seat
AthyBoroughKildareBy 1560[4]CorporationDisfranchised
AugherBoroughTyrone1613 (15 April)[6]CorporationDisfranchised
BallynakillBoroughQueen's County1612 (10 December)[6]CorporationDisfranchised
BallyshannonBoroughDonegal1613 (23 March)[6]CorporationDisfranchised
BaltimoreBoroughCork1613 (25 March)[6]PotwalloperDisfranchised
BaltinglassBoroughWicklow1664CorporationDisfranchised
BanagherBoroughKing's County1629CorporationDisfranchised
BandonbridgeBoroughCork1613 (30 March)[6]CorporationOne seat
BangorBoroughDown1613 (18 March)[6]CorporationDisfranchised
BannowBoroughWexfordBetween 1614 and 1634[e]CorporationDisfranchised
BelfastBoroughAntrim1613 (27 April)[6]CorporationOne seat
BelturbetBoroughCavan1613 (30 March)[6]CorporationDisfranchised
BlessingtonBoroughWicklow1670CorporationDisfranchised
BoyleBoroughRoscommon1613 (25 March)[6]CorporationDisfranchised
CallanBoroughKilkennyBy 1585[f]CorporationDisfranchised
CarlingfordBoroughLouth13?[g]CorporationDisfranchised
County CarlowCountyCarlow1297[12][h]FreeholdersTwo seats
CarlowBoroughCarlow1613 (19 April)[6]CorporationOne seat
CarrickBoroughLeitrim1613 (30 March)[6]CorporationDisfranchised
CarrickfergusCounty boroughAntrim[i]1326Freeholder and householderOne seat
CarysfortBoroughWicklow1629CorporationDisfranchised
CashelBoroughTipperaryBy 1585[4][j]CorporationOne seat
CastlebarBoroughMayo1613 (26 March)[6]CorporationDisfranchised
CastlemartyrBoroughCork1676CorporationDisfranchised
County CavanCountyCavan1579[14] or 1584[15]FreeholdersTwo seats
CavanBoroughCavan1610 (15 November)[6]CorporationDisfranchised
CharlemontBoroughArmagh1613 (29 April)[6]CorporationDisfranchised
CharlevilleBoroughCork1673CorporationDisfranchised
County ClareCountyClareBy 1376[k][16]FreeholdersTwo seats
ClogherBoroughTyroneBy 1613[l]Ecclesiastical corporation - Bishop's boroughDisfranchised
ClonakiltyBoroughCork1613 (5 March)[6]CorporationDisfranchised
ClonmelBoroughTipperaryBy 1560[4]CorporationOne seat
ClonminesBoroughWexfordBetween 1614 and 1634[m]CorporationDisfranchised
County ColeraineCountyLondonderry1585 (September)[5]FreeholdersPreviously disfranchised
ColeraineBoroughLondonderry1613 (25 March)[6]CorporationOne seat
ConnachtCountyMultiple[n]1297[12]Previously disfranchised[n]
County CorkCountyCork1297[12]FreeholdersTwo seats
Cork CityCounty boroughCork[i]1299Freeholder and FreemenTwo seats
DingleBoroughKerryBy 1585[4][o]CorporationDisfranchised
County DonegalCountyDonegal1585 (September)[5]FreeholdersTwo seats
Donegal BoroughBoroughDonegal1613 (27 February)[6]CorporationDisfranchised
DoneraileBoroughCork1640ManorDisfranchised
County DownCountyDown1570[3]FreeholdersTwo seats
DownpatrickBoroughDownBy 1585[4][p]PotwalloperOne seat
DroghedaCounty boroughLouth[i]1299Freeholders and freemenOne seat
County DublinCountyDublin1297[12]FreeholdersTwo seats
Dublin CityCounty boroughDublin[i]1299Freeholders and freemenTwo seats
Dublin UniversityUniversityDublin[q]1613[r]GraduatesOne seat
DuleekBoroughMeathBetween 1614 and 1661[s]CorporationDisfranchised
DundalkBoroughLouthBy 1560[4]CorporationOne seat
DungannonBoroughTyrone1612 (27 November)[6]CorporationOne seat
DungarvanBoroughWaterfordBy 1560[4]PotwalloperOne seat
DunleerBoroughLouth1679CorporationDisfranchised
EnnisBoroughClare1613 (27 February)[6]CorporationOne seat
EnniscorthyBoroughWexford1613 (25 May)[6]CorporationDisfranchised
EnniskillenBoroughFermanagh1613 (27 February)[6]CorporationOne seat
County FermanaghCountyFermanagh1585 (September)[5]FreeholdersTwo seats
FernsCountyWexfordBy 1579[20]FreeholdersPreviously disfranchised[t]
FethardBoroughTipperaryBy 1560[21]CorporationDisfranchised
FethardBoroughWexford1613 (15 April)[6]CorporationDisfranchised
ForeBoroughWestmeathBetween 1614 and 1634[u]CorporationDisfranchised
County GalwayCountyGalwayBy 1579 [23]FreeholdersTwo seats
Galway BoroughCounty boroughGalway[i]By 1400[v][24]FreemenOne seat
Gorey (also Newburgh)BoroughWexford1620CorporationDisfranchised
GowranBoroughKilkenny1608 (15 September)[6]CorporationDisfranchised
GranardBoroughLongford1679ManorDisfranchised
HarristownBoroughKildare1684CorporationDisfranchised
HillsboroughBoroughDown1662CorporationDisfranchised
InistiogeBoroughKilkennyBy 1585[4]CorporationDisfranchised
JamestownBoroughLeitrim1622CorporationDisfranchised
KellsBoroughMeathBy 1560[4]CorporationDisfranchised
KerryCountyKerry1297[12]FreeholdersTwo seats
KilbegganBoroughWestmeath1613 (27 February)[6]CorporationDisfranchised
County KildareCountyKildare1297[12]FreeholdersTwo seats
KildareBoroughKildareBy 1560[4]CorporationDisfranchised
Kilkenny CityCounty boroughKilkenny[i]1299?Freeholders and FreemenOne seat
County KilkennyCountyKilkenny1297[12][h]FreeholdersTwo seats
KillybegsBoroughDonegal1616CorporationDisfranchised
KillyleaghBoroughDown1613 (10 March)[6]CorporationDisfranchised
KilmallockBoroughLimerickBy 1560[4]CorporationDisfranchised
King's CountyCountyKing's County1556[25][26]FreeholdersTwo seats
KinsaleBoroughCork1334?[w]Corporation and FreemenOne seat
KnocktopherBoroughKilkenny1665PotwalloperDisfranchised
LanesboroughBoroughLongford1642CorporationDisfranchised
County LeitrimCountyLeitrim1583FreeholdersTwo seats
LiffordBoroughDonegal1613 (27 February)[6]CorporationDisfranchised
County LimerickCountyLimerick1297[12]FreeholdersTwo seats
Limerick CityCounty boroughLimerick[i]1299Freeholders and FreemenOne seat
LisburnBoroughAntrim1661PotwalloperOne seat
LismoreBoroughWaterford1613 (6 May)[6]ManorDisfranchised
County LondonderryCountyLondonderry1613FreeholdersTwo seats
Londonderry CityBoroughLondonderry1613 (29 March)[6][x]CorporationOne seat
County LongfordCountyLongford1571[28][29][30]FreeholdersTwo seats
LongfordBoroughLongford1669CorporationDisfranchised
LouthCountyLouth1297[12]FreeholdersTwo seats
MallowBoroughCork1613 (27 February)[6]ManorOne seat
MaryboroughBoroughQueen's County1571CorporationDisfranchised
County MayoCountyMayoBy 1579[23]FreeholdersTwo seats
County MeathCountyMeath1297[12][h]FreeholdersTwo seats
MidletonBoroughCork1671CorporationDisfranchised
County MonaghanCountyMonaghan1585 (September)[5]FreeholdersTwo seats
MonaghanBoroughMonaghan1613 (26 March)[6]CorporationDisfranchised
MullingarBoroughWestmeathBy 1560[4]ManorDisfranchised
NaasBoroughKildareBy 1560[4]CorporationDisfranchised
NavanBoroughMeath1469CorporationDisfranchised
New RossBoroughWexfordBy 1400[v][24]CorporationOne seat
NewcastleBoroughDublin1613 (30 March)[6]CorporationDisfranchised
NewryBoroughDown1613 (27 February)[6]PotwalloperOne seat
Newtown LimavadyBoroughLondonderry1613 (30 March)[6]CorporationDisfranchised
NewtownardsBoroughDown1613 (25 March)[6]CorporationDisfranchised
Old LeighlinBoroughCarlowBetween 1614 and 1634Ecclesiastical corporation - Bishop's boroughDisfranchised
PhilipstownBoroughKing's County1571CorporationDisfranchised
PortarlingtonBoroughQueen's County1668CorporationOne seat
Queen's CountyCountyQueen's County1556 [25][26]FreeholdersTwo seats
RandalstownBoroughAntrim1683Freeman / PotwalloperDisfranchised
RathcormackBoroughCorkBetween 1614 and 1692[y]Potwalloper / ManorDisfranchised
RatoathBoroughMeathBetween 1614 and 1661[z]ManorDisfranchised
County RoscommonCountyRoscommon1297[12]FreeholdersTwo seats
RoscommonBoroughRoscommon1613 (27 February)[6]CorporationDisfranchised
St CaniceBoroughKilkenny[aa]Between 1614 and 1661[ab]Ecclesiastical corporation - Bishop's boroughDisfranchised
St JohnstownBoroughDonegal1618CorporationDisfranchised
St JohnstownBoroughLongford1628CorporationDisfranchised
County SligoCountySligoBy 1579[23]FreeholdersTwo seats
SligoBoroughSligo1613 (30 March)[6]CorporationOne seat
StrabaneBoroughTyrone1613 (18 March)[6]CorporationDisfranchised
SwordsBoroughDublinBy 1585[4][ac]PotwalloperDisfranchised
TaghmonBoroughWexfordBetween 1614 and 1634[ad][ae]CorporationDisfranchised
TallowBoroughWaterford1613 (1 May)[6]Manor / PotwalloperDisfranchised
ThomastownBoroughKilkenny1541CorporationDisfranchised
County TipperaryCountyTipperary1297[12]FreeholdersTwo seats
Cross TipperaryCountyTipperaryBy 1585FreeholdersPreviously disfranchised[af]
TraleeBoroughKerry1613 (31 March)[6]CorporationOne seat
TrimBoroughMeathBy 1560[4]CorporationDisfranchised
TuamBoroughGalway1613 (30 March)[6]CorporationDisfranchised
TulskBoroughRoscommon1663CorporationDisfranchised
TyroneCountyTyrone1585 (September)[5]FreeholdersTwo seats
Liberty of UlsterCountyMultiple[ag]1297[12][h]Previously disfranchised[ag]
County WaterfordCountyWaterford1297[12]FreeholdersTwo seats
Waterford CityCounty boroughWaterford[i]1299Freemen and freeholdersOne seat
County WestmeathCountyWestmeath1543[37][38]FreeholdersTwo seats
County WexfordCountyWexford1297[12][h]FreeholdersTwo seats
WexfordBoroughWexfordBy 1400[v][24]FreemenOne seat
County WicklowCountyWicklow1577;[39][ah] 1606[41]FreeholdersTwo seats
WicklowBoroughWicklow1613 (30 March)[6]CorporationDisfranchised
YoughalBoroughCork1374Corporation and FreemenOne seat
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Notes
  1. The date of either: the earliest Parliament at which it is known to have received a writ of election or sent representatives; or else: the earliest charter or statute granting representation. Outside the Pale, places enfranchised after the Norman conquest often had long periods unrepresented prior to the Tudor reconquest.
  2. The territory of Ards, one of the medieval sheriffdoms of the Earldom of Ulster, was included in the reconstituted County Down in 1570.
  3. "Athboy was an ancient borough by prescription with a charter dated 1410, 9 Henry IV. There were further charters of 9 Henry VII and 8 James I all confirming the liberties and privileges of the corporate or free borough."[7]
  4. "Athenry was a very old town with writs with grants and charters going back to at least the reign of Edward II. There is one for 14 October 1310 and there are a number for the reign of Richard II in the 1390s."[8]
  5. "Bannow was a borough by prescription, and no charter could be found for it in 1800"[9]
  6. "Callan was a medieval borough by prescription, with charters and grants from the reigns of Edward III, Richard II and Henry IV."[10]
  7. "Carlingford was another ancient borough, with charters going back to the reign of Edward II."[11]
  8. created as a Liberty
  9. A separate county corporate.
  10. "Cashel was a medieval foundation said to have been established in the year 1216 by Donat, Archbishop of Cashel, and incorporated under his successor, Marianus O'Brien, in 1233. It had various subsequent charters before it emerged in its modern form by a 1585 charter of 26 Eliz. I and a 1638 charter of Charles I."[13]
  11. It was represented in the Parliament of 1376
  12. "It was probably a borough by prescription confirmed by a 1630 charter, 5 Chas. I ..."[9]
  13. "Clonmines, like Bannow, was a borough by prescription, and no charter was available"[9]
  14. The medieval county of Connacht was subdivided in 1570 into the modern counties of Galway and Mayo.
  15. Then called Dengenechoyshe.
  16. "Downpatrick was recognised as early as the reign of Henry IV, when letters of protection were granted to the inhabitants. No charter of incorporation is extant, but it returned two MPs to the 1586-7 parliament of Elizabeth I"[17]
  17. The University was in the county of the city of Dublin. The electorate was its provost, fellows and scholars.
  18. "[I]n 1613 [James I] granted the University a further charter enabling it to return two members of parliament."[18]
  19. "Duleek was [an] ancient borough with a charter of Edward IV."[19]
  20. The area of Ferns, corresponding to the northern part of County Wexford, was briefly made a separate shire between the 1570s before merging back into Wexford in the 1600s.
  21. "Fore appears to have been a borough by prescription: the Rolls Office issued a negative certificate to the Commissioners for Union Compensation."[22]
  22. It was represented in the parliaments in the late 14th century
  23. "Kinsale was a medieval borough. The earliest charter extant is that of 1589, 31 Eliz. I, which refers to a 1334 charter of 7 Edw. III"[27]
  24. Previously incorporated as Derry, 11 July 1604.
  25. "Rathcormack was ... incorporated by charter, which was produced at the Union. Some boroughs, particularly those incorporated before or during the early years of the seventeenth century ... "[31]
  26. "No charter is extant for this borough"[32]
  27. In the county of the city of Kilkenny rather than county Kilkenny.
  28. "St Canice was a very ancient borough and thought to have been from remote antiquity part of the See of Ossory. In 1606 a patent appears to have been granted by James I, whereby Irishtown was to be a corporation ..., but, the muniments of the temporalities of the Bishops of Ossory having been lost during the troubles, in 1678 Charles II made a new grant of a corporation" "[33]
  29. "Swords had the distinction of being the most notorious borough in the Irish Parliament. Its charter was lost. The memorial presented by John Beresford and Francis Synge declared that it was 'an ancient borough by prescription'; another memorial declared that it had been enfranchised from 'time immemorial'. The portreeve, James Stewart, said 'that the said corporation is an open borough by Charter' dated 11 April, 5 James II - i.e. 1690! Most memorialists simply stressed that it was of great antiquity."[34]
  30. "Taghmon was a borough by prescription; no charter could be found for it in 1800. It is mentioned in 1642, so it must have existed before then."[35]
  31. It did not return members in 1613 and returned two members in 1634.[36]
  32. Cross Tipperary last returned MPs in 1634, and was definitively merged with Tipperary in 1716.
  33. The medieval liberty of Ulster was subdivided in 1570 into the modern counties of Antrim and Down.
  34. The county of Wicklow created in 1577 seems not to have functioned and ceased to exist some time after 1586[40]
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Henry Boyle, speaker between 1733 and 1756
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John Ponsonby, speaker between 1756 and 1771
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Edmund Perry, speaker between 1771 and 1785
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John Foster, last speaker of the Irish House of Commons (1785–1800)

Means of resignation

Until 1793 members could not resign their seats. They could cease to be a member of the House in one of four ways:

In 1793 a means for resignation was created, equivalent to the Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds or the Manor of Northstead as a means of resignation from the British House of Commons. From that date, Irish members could be appointed to the Escheatorship of Munster, the Escheatorship of Leinster, the Escheatorship of Connaught or the Escheatorship of Ulster. Possession of one of these Crown offices, "office of profit under the Crown" with a 30-shilling salary, terminated one's membership of the House of Commons.

Notable members

See also

References

Sources

External links

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