YEAR 13 HISTORY AS IRELAND WEEK ONE ANSWERS - Ballyclare Secondary School

YEAR 13 HISTORY AS

     IRELAND
     WEEK ONE
     ANSWERS

8 MARK QUESTION 1
•   WHY DID O’CONNELL WANT TO ACHIEVE CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION?
•
•   The Penal Laws meant that at the start of the 19th century Catholics were still not able to become
    MPs, and were barred from many positions in local government (corporations), in the legal
    profession, and in the armed forces. It also gave the Church of Ireland (Protestant) a privileged
    position in a country that was overwhelmingly Catholic, and O’Connell wanted to destroy this
    privilege and bring freedom and equality to the Catholic Church. The bar on Catholics becoming
    MPs meant that the issues affecting the majority of the Irish people (e.g. poverty, education, lack of
    industry, etc) could not be addressed by Catholics in the Westminster parliament.
•   O’Connell saw emancipation as a means of gaining ‘justice for Ireland’, not just in political terms,
    but in social and economic terms, and not just for the elites in Ireland, but for all Irish people. He
    believed that emancipation would allow Catholics not only to vote in elections but to enter
    parliament, and thereby ensure that they would have some direct influence over the government
    of Ireland. To this end it should be said that O’Connell saw emancipation as a stepping stone
    towards his ultimate goal, which was the repeal of the Act of Union (he had given public support to
    this as early as 1811) and the return of a legislative assembly to Dublin which would allow Irish
    people, both Catholic and Protestant, to control Irish affairs.

8 MARK QUESTION 1
• The Act of Union had taken away the control of Irish affairs
  from the Irish people, and the laws for Ireland were made
  in Westminster by English MPs. As a first step towards the
  repeal of the Union, emancipation would give Catholics in
  Ireland more control over the laws by which they were
  governed. In addition, it would give them the same rights
  as Protestants, and as a consequence they would have
  better opportunities for promotion in the judiciary and the
  administration, again giving Catholics a direct influence
  over the way they were governed.
•
•

8 MARK QUESTION 2
•   HOW DID O’CONNELL TRY TO WIN CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION?
•
•   To achieve his aims of Catholic emancipation, O’Connell harnessed the support and organisation of the Catholic
    Church to help achieve his aims. By engaging the Catholic Church in the campaign he mobilised the most
    influential institution in Ireland to promote his campaign. In particular, the idea of the Catholic rent to provide
    funds for the campaign was a masterstroke because it widened the movement for emancipation, drew widespread
    support from most sections of Catholic society, particularly the middle-classes, and achieved a sense of unity and
    involvement for all those who contributed to the Catholic rent.
•
•
•
•
•   Alongside this, the formation of the Catholic Association proved to be a powerful organising structure for the
    campaign, and it was crucial in mobilising support when contesting the by-elections in Waterford and Clare (1828).
    By contesting the by-elections O’Connell was able to publicise the arguments for emancipation, and the
    mobilisation of the 40-shilling freeholders at these elections was crucial to the electoral success of the movement,
    because it effectively guaranteed success for the emancipation candidates. The Catholic Association was crucial in
    raising the profile for the campaign to win Catholic emancipation, and much of the success of the campaign can be
    laid at its door. Its supporters presented emancipation as a cure for all the social ills that faced Catholics in Ireland,
    and as such its appeal was widespread, and a very potent source of propaganda for the movement.

8 MARK QUESTION 2
• In addition, O’Connell used his considerable powers of
  oratory to galvanise support at the mass rallies that were
  organised, and the sheer size and potential for disorder
  that accompanied such rallies proved effective in
  intimidating the British government into bringing in the
  Emancipation Act in 1829. O’Connell’s brinkmanship, and
  his aggressive rhetoric, were powerful levers in persuading
  a weak government of the necessity of bringing in
  emancipation if rebellion was to be avoided in Ireland.
•
•
•

8 MARK QUESTION 3
•   WHY DID MOST SECTIONS OF IRISH SOCIETY SUPPORT O’CONNELL IN THE                  CAMPAIGN FOR
    CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION?
•
•   O’Connell’s campaign for Catholic emancipation drew support from most sections of Irish society,
    O’Connell changed the whole character of the Roman Catholic movement by bringing in the clergy
    and the peasantry (not just the gentry and the middle-classes), and gave them all a sense of united
    purpose that they had never known before. The peasantry, mostly Catholic, believed that
    emancipation would also bring them more social and economic benefits in addition to the obvious
    political ones, and would bring about changes to the tithe system, which was particularly resented
    by them. They hoped that the system of land tenure would be addressed in their favour as a
    consequence of a successful campaign. The middle-classes were also attracted by the prospect of
    greater political and social advancement/benefits as a consequence of emancipation, particularly in
    the opening up of positions that were barred to them under the Penal Laws, in professions such as
    the law, government and the armed forces. The Catholic Church were drawn by the symbolism of
    religious freedom which emancipation seemed to embrace, and this also drew Presbyterians into
    the campaign, in the belief that they too would achieve civil and religious freedom and equality
    (this was to be achieved with the repeal of the Test and Corporations Act of 1828). The final
    attraction of the campaign was O’Connell himself – his charismatic personality and oratorical skills
    were undoubted attractions to many people who were drawn to his mass rallies, and as the
    ‘Liberator’ he was to be a focal point of the campaign for emancipation. He promised a cure for all
    the social, economic and religious grievances that caused resentment in Ireland – he promised
    ‘justice for Ireland’.
•

22 MARK QUESTION
•   FOR WHAT REASONS WAS O’CONNELL SUCCESSFUL IN HIS CAMPAIGN FOR CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION?
•
•   There are a number of factors that help to explain why O’Connell’s campaign for emancipation was a success. First
    of all, the role of the Catholic Association was central to the campaign for emancipation insofar as it organised
    publicity, coordinated rallies and the collection of funds for the campaign. It also helped to develop O’Connell’s
    electoral strategy, and in some ways it acted as a ‘Catholic Parliament’, debating the key social and political issues
    of the day. The admission of Catholic priests to the Association helped to create a channel of communication
    between O’Connell and the wider population, not least the peasantry. The peasantry provided huge numbers for
    the formidable mass rallies that were held during the campaign, and it was the peasantry who helped to finance
    the campaign by contributing to the penny rent. In addition, they were part of the 40 shilling freeholders who
    were vital to the success of by-election campaigns such as the one held in Co. Clare, and they helped to provide
    the momentum for the campaign by their participation in the mass rallies addressed by O’Connell.
•
•   O’Connell’s campaign for emancipation drew support not just from the peasantry, but from several different
    sections of Irish society – in addition to the peasantry, O’Connell drew support from the middle-classes, the clergy
    and the Catholic Church, as well as the professional classes. This widespread support helped to bring legitimacy to
    the movement and raised its profile. The support of the Catholic Church was of crucial importance, for it was the
    Catholic Church that effectively financed the campaign through the clergy’s collection of the penny rent. It was
    also the clergy’s support for O’Connell that helped to legitimise the campaign, and it was the clergy who helped to
    ensure peace and order when unrest threatened to break out amongst the peasantry. Support also came from the
    professional and middle classes (they played a leading role in the Catholic Association) who saw the potential
    rewards that would come their way through the passing of emancipation , and this was encouraged by O’Connell’s
    assertion that emancipation was the cure for other social grievances felt by most of the Catholic population in
    Ireland. Indeed, this also helped to attract support from other dissenters such as the Presbyterians who sought
    the repeal of the Test and Corporations Acts.

22 MARK QUESTION
•   The campaign for emancipation reached its climax in the latter half of the 1820’s, at a time when
    the Tory Party was in some disarray following the resignation of Lord Liverpool in 1827. Up until
    1827, the Tories had become used to stable leadership, but Liverpool’s successors failed to unite
    the party, and Canning, Goderich and Wellington failed to provide that stable, confident leadership
    to which the Tory Party had become accustomed. The issue of emancipation only served to
    exacerbate the divisions within the party. The uncertainty within the government coincided with,
    and was magnified by, O’Connell’s victory at the Clare by-election, and the tensions in the cabinet
    over the issue of emancipation only deepened, with many senior Tories refusing to serve in the
    cabinet. These political difficulties undermined cabinet unity and this weakness in the British
    government contributed to the success of the campaign.
•
•
•   The final explanation for the successful campaign lies in the leadership of O’Connell himself. He
    was a very charismatic figure who dominated the movement for Catholic emancipation, and he
    thrived on titles such as the ‘Liberator’. His skills of oratory both attracted and inspired the people
    who turned out for his mass rallies, whilst his sometimes ambiguous rhetoric caused anxiety and
    uncertainty in the British government. In portraying emancipation as a cure for all social ills,
    O’Connell succeeded in widening the appeal of emancipation to a broad section of the population
    and so gave more legitimacy to the campaign. Emancipation would not have been achieved had it
    not been for the charisma and tactical sense of O’Connell. His use of the penny rent (Catholic rent),
    his mobilisation of the 40 shilling freeholders, his skilful rhetoric, and his tactic of using by-elections
    to highlight and publicise the campaign for emancipation, all played their part in his successful
    campaign.