The events leading up to and including the emancipation act (1829)

Daniel O'Connell is THAT girl.

What did the emancipation act do and when was it passed?

This was passed in 1829 and allowed Catholics to hold all but a few positions in office (i.e., they could now become MPs)

When and by who was the Catholic association formed?

It was formed in 1823 by Daniel O’Connell

Summarise the County Clare election

In 1828 the current MP for county Clare, Fitzgerald, had been promoted to president of the board of trade and so someone had to fill the void he left. That person would end up being O'Connell.

What made the Catholic Association stand out compared to other political organisations? (2)

In 1824 the Catholic Rent was introduced. This was a one penny membership fee that was affordable enough to attract plenty of members from the peasantry but also gave the CA a stable base of funds to organise events.

They also used local priests to spread their message to make it even more accessible to the common man

Why were the Brits reluctant to emancipate the Catholics?

The king swore to uphold the protestant anglican church during coronation. Catholics were also seen as inherently duplicitous thanks to their allegiance to the pope before the king

What is the test and corporations act and when was it repealed?

This forbade people who hadn’t sworn the oath of supremacy (allegiance to the Anglican church) from holding office. This was repealed in 1828.

Who were the 3 main support groups for the Catholic association?

1) The urban middle classes (particularly lawyers) who hoped to gain economically and professionally from emancipation

2) The rural middle classes who had links to the peasantry and local politics that were valuable

3) The parish priests. Arguably the most important of all as they spread the association’s word to local communities to drum up support

The emancipation act (1829) wasn’t all good however, what did it change to make voting less accessible?

It raised the 40 shilling freehold to £10, cutting the Irish electorate to 1/6 of its former size

What happened to O’Connell after the emancipation act?

He was made to run for office again as he had arguably done it illegally the first time. Unsurprisingly, he won again.