The history of British involvement in Ireland goes back beyond the 19th century but here we will look at the main issues and problems that relate to the period 1815-1914.

Essentially we can identify 3 main issues at the heart of differences between the English government and Ireland in the 19th century :

Economic problem :- This lay at the centre of Irish difficulties. Most Irish rent-paying farmers were unable to support themselves effectively on their crops. Failure to pay rent, arrears of rent and eviction created a vicious circle from which peasant farmers could not easily escape.

Religious problem :- A Catholic majority (80%) without political rights and having to pay tithes (10% of yearly produce) to the Protestant Church of Ireland. (This, and the difficult past that Irish Catholics suffered in the 17th century, helps explain the development of sectarian politics in the 20th century.)

Political problem :- As a result of the Act of Union 1800 by which Irish MP's were sent to Westminster after the abolition of the Dublin Parliament. the administration of Ireland was left in British hands from Dublin Castle.

Ireland 1815-1870 -The Emancipation movement led by Daniel O'Connell in the early 19th century called for Catholics in parliament. O'Connell's political objective was the re-introduction of an Irish parliament elected by Irishmen. The first stage towards this end was the gaining of catholic emancipation. This meant the repeal of those laws which banned Catholics from sitting in parliament and holding public offices. O'Connell also wished to see the end of powers and privileges of the protestant church in Ireland.

The campaign for Catholic Emancipation was carried on in the teeth of opposition from Tories and Whigs.

Eventually the Catholic Relief Act was passed which allowed Catholics to vote for MP's who could go to the British parliament. O'Connell also pressed for an Irish Parliament but this was opposed by both Whig and Tory governments. At the same time the young Ireland movement attempted to raise the nationalist cause in Ireland with little success. In 1845,1846, and 1847 Irish agriculture was decimated by the potato famine in which almost a million people died and another million emigrated to America between 1845-1848. The weak attempts by the British government to help the Irish peasantry at this time left a feeling of bitterness and resentment which found an easy home in the growing nationalist movement. One of these, the Fenian Brotherhood, was founded in America in 1858.Their aims were revolutionary, they hoped to foment, arm and lead the Irish peasantry in a rebellion against British rule. They made little headway in Ireland but they did complete some violent acts in England and Canada.

Gladstone and Home Rule - In 1867 on becoming prime minister WE Gladstone pronounced that 'my mission is to pacify Ireland', in 1869 he tackled the religious issue by passing the Irish Church Disestablishment Act. The act took away the church's right to collect tithes. The Church of Ireland was no longer the established (official) Church of Ireland. This was not enough, however, to answer the demands of the nationalists. In 1870 Gladstone passed the Irish land Act. This aimed to solve the problems faced by Irish tenant farmers. Absentee English landlords often raised rents unfairly and did not compensate tenants for improvements made on the land. Generally as there was a scarcity of available land in Ireland the tenant faced much hardship. The Land Act actually did very little to help solve these problems. The House of Lords made many alterations to the bill which when passed was virtually unworkable. Evictions continued especially after the 1879 harvest failure and this led to increasing violence from the land league, which had been formed to protect tenants.

The 1872 Secret Ballot Act allowed Irish tenants to vote for the representative of their choice in the British parliament. This led to the rapid growth of the Home Rule party. Gladstone resorted to the Coercion Act in 1881 when the problem became too difficult. this allowed for imprisonment without trial. In 1880, in his second administration Gladstone passed the second land act which gave the 3 'f's; fixity of tenure, free sale and fair rent. however, violence continued and Charles Stuart Parnell, the leader of the Home Rule party was arrested. In 1882 Parnell and Gladstone agreed to the Kilmainham Treaty (made while Parnell was in Kilmainham gaol) where the Home Rule party agreed to co-operate with the liberals in parliament. The Phoenix Park murders in 1882 led to tougher coercion measures and soured relations between the Home Rule party and the liberals.

By 1885 Gladstone had converted to the idea of Home Rule for Ireland and introduced the first Home Rule Bill in 1886. this promised [a] an Irish parliament, [b] no Irish MP's at Westminster and [c] British control of foreign and defence policies. This bill was rejected after Joseph Chamberlain and his followers deserted to the conservatives. Gladstone introduced a second Home Rule Bill in 1892. This promised [a] an Irish parliament [b] Irish MP's at Westminster and [c] British control over defence and foreign policy. This was defeated by the House of Lords.

Parnell, in the meantime, was discredited by the O'shea divorce case. He died in 1891 leaving the Home Rulers temporarily disunited.

The Conservative governments of this time continued with a policy of coercion but in 1903 passed Whyndam's Land Purchase Act which enabled Irish farmers to buy their own farms with government loans.

However, the Home Rule movement was still strong and in 1910 home rule MP's held the balance in parliament. In 1914 the Third Home Rule bill became law after a two year delay imposed by the House of Lords. At this point Ulster protestants strongly opposed home rule as they feared a Catholic majority. Together with the Conservatives they opposed home rule and were prepared to use force if necessary. The Ulster Volunteer Force was formed at this time (1913). By the end of 1913 Ulster protestants appeared prepared to fight to keep Ulster in the union. Churchill believed the Ulstermen to be traitors and and planned to send warships to Belfast to prevent rebellion. At the Curragh army camp in 1914 British officers said they would not fight against the Ulstermen. A conference called in London to discuss the situation in 1914 was interrupted by the outbreak of the first world war. As a result Home Rule was withdrawn for the duration of the war.

The failure of Home Rule led to the growth of revolutionary groups in Southern Ireland e.g the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB). As a secret society its objective was an Irish republic with no ties to Britain. The IRB gave support to the Irish volunteers who formed in 1913 to answer the challenge of the Ulster volunteers and fight for home rule. In 1916 the Irish volunteers seized buildings in Dublin (the Easter Rising) but were defeated. The subsequent executions of the rebel leaders won sympathy for Sinn Fein, the republican movement. In 1919 Irish MP's declared independence and held their own parliament in Dublin. The resulting civil war in Ireland between British forces and Sinn Fein led to the 1920 government of Ireland act. This granted a separate parliament to the six Northern Irish (Protestant) counties (partition). This was rejected by Sinn Fein.

In 1921 the Anglo-Irish treaty ended the civil war and recognised southern Ireland (Eire) as a dominion with its own government. However, the treaty had not achieved a United Ireland and although southern Ireland had virtual independence, dominion status was less satisfactory than a republic. The treaty was approved by the Dail (Irish parliament) but it had opponents. From 1922 to 1923 there was another civil war in Ireland between the supporters of the treaty (Free Staters) and its opponents. The Free Staters won.

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