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Ireland: Union, famine and Home Rule

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In 1801 Ireland became part of the United Kingdom. A terrible famine and the long fight over Home Rule shaped the century that followed.

The Act of Union, 1800

The Act of Union of 1800 joined Ireland and Great Britain into the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801. Ireland's parliament in Dublin closed and Irish MPs sat at Westminster.
Most Irish people were Catholic, but at first Catholics could not be MPs. Daniel O'Connell campaigned until Catholic Emancipation (1829) let Catholics sit in Parliament.

The Great Famine, 1845 to 1852

Many poor Irish families depended on the potato. In 1845 a disease called potato blight destroyed the crop, and it failed again in the following years.
About one million people died and about one million more emigrated, many to Britain and America.
The British government's help was too little and too slow, and food was still exported from Ireland. This caused lasting anger.

Home Rule

Home Rule meant Ireland would have its own parliament for Irish affairs, while staying in the UK.
Charles Stewart Parnell led the Irish Home Rule MPs. Prime Minister William Gladstone introduced Home Rule bills in 1886 and 1893; both failed.
Many Protestants in Ulster strongly opposed Home Rule. The question was still unsettled in 1901.
Worked example

Why did the Great Famine cause lasting anger towards the British government?

  1. Around a million people died and a million emigrated.
  2. Help from the government was slow and limited.
  3. Food continued to be exported from Ireland while people starved.

Answer: Huge loss of life, slow help and continuing food exports made many Irish people blame the government.

Key idea

Act of Union 1800 (UK from 1801). Catholic Emancipation 1829 (O'Connell). Great Famine 1845 to 1852: potato blight, about a million died and a million emigrated. Home Rule: Parnell; Gladstone's bills of 1886 and 1893 failed; Ulster Protestants opposed it.

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