Book contents
- Irish Divorce
- Irish Divorce
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction: The ‘Anatomy of a Divorce’
- 1 Divorce in Two Legislatures: Irish Divorce, 1701–1857
- 2 The Failings of the Law: The Cases of Talbot and Westmeath
- 3 A Non-Inclusive Reform: Ireland and the Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857
- 4 Divorce in the Post-Reform Era of 1857–1922: ‘Like Diamonds, Gambling, and Picture-Fancying, a Luxury of the Rich’
- 5 The Widening Definition of Marital Cruelty
- 6 Divorce in Court, 1857–1922
- 7 ‘An Exotic in Very Ungenial Soil’: Divorce in the Northern Ireland Parliament, 1921–1939
- 8 With as ‘Little Provocation as Possible’: The Northern Ireland Move to Court
- 9 An ‘Unhappy Affair’: Divorce in Independent Ireland, 1922–1950
- 10 Marriage Law ‘in This Country Is an Absolute Shambles’: The Reform Agenda
- 11 A ‘Curiosity [and] … an Oddity’: Referenda in 1986 and 1995
- 12 The ‘Last Stretch of a Long Road’: The Family (Divorce) Law Act of 1996
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
7 - ‘An Exotic in Very Ungenial Soil’: Divorce in the Northern Ireland Parliament, 1921–1939
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 January 2020
- Irish Divorce
- Irish Divorce
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction: The ‘Anatomy of a Divorce’
- 1 Divorce in Two Legislatures: Irish Divorce, 1701–1857
- 2 The Failings of the Law: The Cases of Talbot and Westmeath
- 3 A Non-Inclusive Reform: Ireland and the Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857
- 4 Divorce in the Post-Reform Era of 1857–1922: ‘Like Diamonds, Gambling, and Picture-Fancying, a Luxury of the Rich’
- 5 The Widening Definition of Marital Cruelty
- 6 Divorce in Court, 1857–1922
- 7 ‘An Exotic in Very Ungenial Soil’: Divorce in the Northern Ireland Parliament, 1921–1939
- 8 With as ‘Little Provocation as Possible’: The Northern Ireland Move to Court
- 9 An ‘Unhappy Affair’: Divorce in Independent Ireland, 1922–1950
- 10 Marriage Law ‘in This Country Is an Absolute Shambles’: The Reform Agenda
- 11 A ‘Curiosity [and] … an Oddity’: Referenda in 1986 and 1995
- 12 The ‘Last Stretch of a Long Road’: The Family (Divorce) Law Act of 1996
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
In Northern Ireland, the parliamentary system of divorce, replete with the shortcomings of Westminster’s practice, was introduced as a stopgap measure in 1925. Inherent conservatism and the long-lived reluctance to debate an issue with the potential to deepen the religious divide meant that this system survived in Northern Ireland until 1939. This chapter profiles those who divorced in the Northern Ireland parliament in terms of gender, class, region and religion. It also highlights the continued significance of the Westropp precedent which, with Westminster’s passage of the 1923 Matrimonial Causes Act equalising the grounds for divorce in court, allowed divorce bills in the Northern Ireland parliament to be brought by women solely on the previously male preserve of spousal adultery. This also allowed men to bring bills on the grounds of aggravated adultery such as adultery and desertion. Attitudes regarding the moral issues encircling divorce are also explored as a backdrop to the slow process of moving Northern Irish divorce from parliament to court.
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- Irish DivorceA History, pp. 131 - 146Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020