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Ulster opposition to Catholic emancipation, 1828–9

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2016

Suzanne T. Kingon
Suzanne T. Kingon*
Affiliation:
School of History, Queen’s University of Belfast
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Extract

The centre stage of early nineteenth-century Irish politics has long been held by Daniel O’Connell and the Catholic Association. This may be justifiable, as O’Connell created a mass constitutional movement for liberal reform out of a Catholic, peasant population on the fringe of Europe. Less justifiable is the single perspective that sees the struggle for Catholic emancipation as Catholic Ireland’s battle with the British establishment. In 1828 and 1829 there was also a massive Protestant political campaign in Ireland. This centred on the new Brunswick Clubs and Ulster. Yet anti-Catholic and Ulster politics merit few sentences in narratives of these years. Indeed, there is a general neglect of Ulster politics in the first half of the nineteenth century. Presbyterianism, the evangelical revival, Catholicism, sectarian conflict, the Orange Order, the Irish Yeomanry, the economy and the growth of Belfast as a city have all received detailed treatment, but the nuances of politics remain vague. The Catholic Association appears to have reduced Ulster’s importance in shaping political developments in the island as a whole from its high-water mark of the 1790s. This does not, however, justify simply leaving Ulster out of the story. This article aims to look at the Ulster anti-emancipation campaign and to correct the skewed picture of Ireland in these years.

Type
Research Article
Information
Irish Historical Studies , Volume 34 , Issue 134 , November 2004 , pp. 137 - 155
Copyright
Copyright © Irish Historical Studies Publications Ltd 2004

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35 Ibid., 4 Nov. 1828.

36 Ibid., 11 Nov. 1828.

37 Ibid., 7Oct. 1828.

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44 Petitions delivered to Col. Blacker, n.d. (ibid., f. 46).

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46 Star of Brunswick, 6 Dec. 1828.

47 Belfast News-Utter, 7 Oct. 1828.

48 Ibid., 12 Sept. 1828.

49 ‘Resolutions at the foundation of the Portadown Brunswick Club’, 25 Sept. 1828 (N.L.I., MS 5017, f. 8).

50 Belfast News-Letter, 7 Oct. 1828.

51 Ibid., 12 Sept. 1828.

52 ‘Rules for forming auxiliary branches of the Brunswick Club’, n.d. (N.L.I., MS 5017, f.2).

53 Belfast News-Letter, 10 Jan. 1829.

54 Ibid., 26 Sept. 1828.

55 Newry Commercial Telegraph, 30 Sept. 1828.

56 Northern Whig, 13 Nov. 1828.

57 ‘Address to the Roman Catholics of this neighbourhood’, n.d. (N.L.I., MS 5017, f. 36). Original emphasis.

58 Ibid.

59 Belfast News-Letter, 25 Jan. 1828.

60 Ibid., 3 June 1828.

61 ‘Report on the foundation meeting of Portadown Brunswick Club’, n.d. (N.L.I., MS 5017, f. 10).

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74 Northern Whig, 4 Dec. 1828.

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80 Belfast News-Letter, 3 Oct. 1828.

81 Star of Brunswick, 6 Dec. 1828.

82 Belfast News-Letter, 2 Dec. 1828.

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86 Ibid., 24 Jan. 1829.

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89 Ibid., 30 Sept. 1828.

90 Star of Brunswick, 27 Dec. 1828.

91 Belfast News-Letter, 3 Oct. 1828.

92 Star of Brunswick, 10 Jan. 1829.

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94 Ibid., 29 Nov. 1828.

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98 In December 1828 the Star of Brunswick estimated that 30,000 had assembled at Omagh. In March 1829 it was 20,000. The paper gave no figure of attendance for the Fermanagh meeting at Enniskillen on 26 Mar. 1829, but reminded its readers that at the last meeting of the county upwards of 30,000 had assembled.

99 See for example Bp Fowler of Ossory to Abp Beresford, 1 Mar. 1829 (P.R.O.N.I., Beresford papers, D/664/A/37, ff 173-4); Bp Verschoyle of Killala to Abp Beresford, 1 Mar. 1829 (ibid., D/664/A/38, ff 176-7); bp of Elphin to Abp Beresford, 8 Mar. 1829 (ibid., D/664/A/43A, ff 199-200).

100 Bp Fowler to Abp Beresford, 1 Mar. 1829 (ibid., D/664/A/37, ff 173-4).

101 Belfast News-Letter, 3 Apr. 1829.

102 Star of Brunswick, 14 Mar. 1829.

103 Belfast News-Letter, 17 Apr. 1829.

104 Star of Brunswick, 7 Mar. 1829. Emphasis added.

105 Ibid. Emphasis added.

106 Leveson Gower to Peel, 9 July 1829 (N.A.I., M736, Leveson Gower letter-books, i, 221).

107 For a detailed summary see Bardon, Ulster, p. 247.

108 Belfast News-Letter, 17, 21 July 1829.

109 Machin, Catholic question, p. 155.