Irish Family History

The Catholic Association was established by Daniel O’Connell in 1823, in order to achieve Catholic emancipation in Ireland.

O’Connell’s strategy was to achieve emancipation so that Catholics could become MPs in the House of Commons, which could help him achieve his overall aim of Home Rule.

All Catholics were invited to join the Catholic Association; they had to pay a penny each month to belong. The Association was supported by the church which gave it credibility. Money that was raised served to finance and promote the Association’s activities.

In the 1828 Clare election, O’Connell stood against Fitzgerald, an English Protestant who was pro-emancipation. When O’Connell won the seat, Wellington, who headed the British government at the time, had to decide whether to declare the election null or to pass a Catholic Emancipation Act.

There was a great deal of support for O’Connell and there was some concern that violence might erupt if emancipation was not granted. Also, while the House of Lords was likely to support a repressive course of action, it was unlikely to get the support of the House of Commons who were largely in favour of emancipation.

Wellington decided that the best solution was to introduce Emancipation, and this legislation was enacted in 1829. As a result, Catholics could become MPs and work in most public offices.

However, despite the benefits that the Catholic Emancipation Act brought with it, many of the poorer classes were disappointed as O’Connell accepted a clause which increased the franchise qualification from forty shillings to ten pounds (based on the value of lands either owned or rented). The result was that a large proportion of the population (both Catholic and Protestant) was excluded from voting.

The Young Irelanders were a group who demanded the repeal of the union, and were willing to make this happen by force if necessary.  Led by William Smith O’Brien, the Protestant aristocrat and M.P., they had hoped to organise a rising in the autumn of 1848, but the government suspended Habeas Corpus on 22 July 1848. 

Habeas Corpus is a writ requiring that a person detained by authorities is brought before a court of law to determine whether the detention was legal.  Its suspension meant that any of the Young Irelanders could be detained without trial.

William Smith O’Brien decided that time should not be lost and a rising should take place as soon as possible.  Along with others including Meagher and Dillon, he travelled through Counties Wexford and Kilkenny arriving in Co. Tipperary village, The Commons, on 29th July.  At this point they had around 200 supporters with them, 50 of whom were armed with muskets and the remainder of whom had pikes, pitchforks and scythes.

Forty-seven policemen from Callan in Co. Kilkenny were seeking out the rebels; they spotted them and their supporters in The Commons and, given the numbers, instead of going into the village they turned in the direction of Kilkenny.  The rebels pursued them, however, and so the policemen turned to the nearest farmhouse, that of Mrs Margaret McCormack, entered and barricaded themselves into it with furniture, taking five of Mrs McCormack’s children hostage .

The rebels were considering setting fire to the house to ’smoke out’ the police, but after a discussion with Mrs McCormack, O’Brien went to the window of the house to talk to the police.  He said that if they dropped their arms he would let them go free.  However, one of the officers tried to take a shot at him and this started a skirmish between the two groups which lasted for a number of hours, with a number of people being fatally wounded.  The rebels fled as they noticed reinforcements from Cashel police arriving.

Smith O’Brien, Meagher plus MacManus and O’Donohoe were all arrested and tried for high treason.  Although sentenced to death, this was commuted to transportation to Van Diemen’s Land, partly due to a petition that was organised on behalf of William Smith O’Brien and was signed by over 80,000 people from Ireland and parts of England such as Liverpool and Manchester. Access unique Irish and British genealogical data at The Origins Network including the William Smith O’Brien petition.

The McCormacks emigrated to America soon several years after the events of 1848, but their house still stands at Ballingarry, Co. Tipperary, and has come to be known as the ‘Famine Warhouse.’ Managed by the OPW, it is 37km from Kilkenny.

Admission is free. Dr Thomas McGrath of Ballingarry, historian, was the author of the Exhibition content. The exhibition has been extremely well thought out, with information on the Famine (which was still ongoing at the time of the rebellion), European revolutions and the 1848 Rebellion itself. Eye-witness reports are included in the interesting display as well as images and photographs relating to the themes under discussion.

It takes around 40 minutes to view the house and exhibition, which comes highly recommended. The opening hours are as follows:

Summer (April - Sept): Wed - Sun 14.30-17.30
Winter (Oct - March): Sat & Sun only 14.00 - 16.00

Following the 1798 Rebellion the British Prime Minister, William Pitt, was convinced that the only course of action was a legislative union between Britain and Ireland.

According to McDowell (’The Protestant Nation (1775-1800)’, in The Course of Irish History, Eds. TW Moody and FX Martin), Pitt believed this would have three main effects:

• Enable co-ordinated activity should a further emergency arise
• Encourage investment in Ireland, thereby raising Irish living standards
• Remove fears of Catholic emancipation since Irish Protestants, although a minority in Ireland, would find themselves part of the United Kingdom’s Protestant majority

Although in 1799 this proposal met with strong opposition from a number of members and was rejected by a majority of five within the Irish parliament, the government was not deterred and set out to change their views. The Act was finally passed during the 1800 session of parliament. This was achieved, McDowell states, ‘partly by propaganda and persuasion, partly by trying to gratify the crudely personal objectives of many peers and MPs.’

The Act of Union came into effect on 1st January 1801, creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Many believed this would lead to Catholics being allowed to sit in parliament, particularly since Pitt had assured Roman Catholics that penal codes would be repealed. However, on 1st February 1801 King George III rejected emancipation.

A very useful source for the historian interested in the Act of Union is The Act of Union Virtual Library. This digital library is a partnership of Belfast Public Libraries, the Centre for Data Digitisation and Analysis at Queen’s University, Belfast, the Linen Hall Library, the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI), Information Services at Queen’s University, the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum and the Ulster Museum.

It includes digital images of pamphlets, newspapers, parliamentary papers and statutes which can be searched and browsed along with information about the library in which the originals are housed. There is also a very good summary of the Act of Union by Jonathan Bardon including the events leading up to it and the results of the Act. There is also a timeline of key dates relating to the Act. All in all, this website provides a fascinating insight into the Act of Union 1801.

This image shows the ‘Treaty Stone’ in Limerick, with King John’s Castle in the background.  The stone is so called because it is said that the Treaty of Limerick was actually signed on it, on 3rd October 1691. 

During the second siege of Limerick in September 1691, the Williamite army led by the Dutchman, Ginkel, attempted to besiege Limerick which was being defended by the Jacobite soldiers - supporters of Catholic King James II.  Many of the soldiers defending Limerick were Irish but they were also supported by French soldiers.  Following a large number of Irish casualties on 22nd September, the Jacobites called a truce.  Sarsfield was the main negotiator on their behalf, and on 3rd October 1691, he and Ginkel signed the Treaty of Limerick.

An online edition of the Treaty of Limerick can be viewed at University College Cork’s CELT  website (Corpus of Electronic Texts).   The terms of the treaty were that any soldiers of the Irish army who wanted to go to France should be allowed to do so, the Roman Catholic population should have the same rights to worship as they had done during the reign of Charles II  and they had the right to keep their property and land.

Around 14,000 soldiers left Ireland along with Sarsfield, but there was opposition to the terms of the treaty from protestant supporters in Ireland who thought it was too generous. Legislation in the following years restricted the rights of the Roman Catholics even further.