Religious Controversy
The most significant impediment to the implementation of Irish Home Rule was religious controversy. The British had a longstanding tradition of anti-Catholicism going back to the Protestant Reformation when Henry VII dissolved England's union with the Catholic Church. Various feuds between Catholic and Protestant factions existed throughout Britain's history, including the English Civil War. Ultimately the Protestants were victorious in these feuds, and Catholics were barred from ascending to the British Crown in the English Bill of Rights in 1689.[1]
The schism between the Protestants and Catholics escalated at this time due to the newly defined Roman Catholic doctrine of Papal Infallibility, which was formally defined at the first Vatican Council in 1870. The Protestants had always feared that Home Rule would render political control of Ireland into Catholic hands, and Papal Infallibility solidified their fears. In the mind of Protestants, Papal Infallibility ensured that Catholics, and therefore the majority of Ireland, would be more inclined to obey the decrees of the Pope than those of the British Empire. Butt and Parnell were confident that the Protestant Irish elite would remain the leaders of Irish Government if Home Rule was enacted. Gladstone vehemently opposed Papal Infallibility in his 1874 tract,The Vatican Decrees in their bearing on Civil Allegiance: A Political Expostulation.[2] However, he continued to press for Home Rule because of his desire to promote democratic principles even if it ran the risk of being heavily influenced by the Catholic Church.[3]
The majority of British Protestants disagreed with Butt, Parnell, and Gladstone on the implications of Irish Home Rule. Slogans such as “Home Rule is Rome Rule” were popular to discourage the anti-Catholic British from supporting Irish self-government.[4] They feared that the Catholics would govern Ireland, and that was a terrifying possibility they could not risk. The Protestant Irish landlords, being the minority in Ireland, feared that Home Rule would bring about strong oppressive influence from the Vatican. The growth of anti-Catholic sentiment was also spurred on by the surge of Catholic converts in Great Britain. “Between 1840 and 1900, the Catholic population in Britain more than doubled to 1,500,000.”[5] To many British, this growth in the number of Catholics seemed to threaten the power of the British Empire. It created a fear that the Pope would somehow come to lord over them all. Many of the Protestants of Ulster in Northern Ireland strongly opposed Gladstone’s attempts to enact Home Rule because they feared the repercussions that it would bring would be a Catholic nation. Lord Churchill, one of the leading Liberal Unionists, encouraged the men of Ulster to “play the orange card” and coined the phrase “Ulster will fight and Ulster will be right,”[6] meaning that Protestant Irish would under no circumstance accept any government run by Catholics, which would inevitably be the case if Home Rule were implemented.
Ultimately the possibility of a Roman Catholic government in Ireland brought about by Home Rule, proved to be too progressive, and seemingly dangerous in respect to maintaining British imperial sovereignty over Ireland. The risk Butt, Parnell, and Gladstone were willing to take by opening the door to the possibility that the Irish Catholics would control Ireland was not one that the majority of parliament and the British populace were willing to take. The fear of having an Irish neighbor who was more loyal to the Pope than to the British empire seemed very real, as voiced by the Unionists in Northern Ireland and the Liberal Unionists alongside the Conservatives in Parliament.
The schism between the Protestants and Catholics escalated at this time due to the newly defined Roman Catholic doctrine of Papal Infallibility, which was formally defined at the first Vatican Council in 1870. The Protestants had always feared that Home Rule would render political control of Ireland into Catholic hands, and Papal Infallibility solidified their fears. In the mind of Protestants, Papal Infallibility ensured that Catholics, and therefore the majority of Ireland, would be more inclined to obey the decrees of the Pope than those of the British Empire. Butt and Parnell were confident that the Protestant Irish elite would remain the leaders of Irish Government if Home Rule was enacted. Gladstone vehemently opposed Papal Infallibility in his 1874 tract,The Vatican Decrees in their bearing on Civil Allegiance: A Political Expostulation.[2] However, he continued to press for Home Rule because of his desire to promote democratic principles even if it ran the risk of being heavily influenced by the Catholic Church.[3]
The majority of British Protestants disagreed with Butt, Parnell, and Gladstone on the implications of Irish Home Rule. Slogans such as “Home Rule is Rome Rule” were popular to discourage the anti-Catholic British from supporting Irish self-government.[4] They feared that the Catholics would govern Ireland, and that was a terrifying possibility they could not risk. The Protestant Irish landlords, being the minority in Ireland, feared that Home Rule would bring about strong oppressive influence from the Vatican. The growth of anti-Catholic sentiment was also spurred on by the surge of Catholic converts in Great Britain. “Between 1840 and 1900, the Catholic population in Britain more than doubled to 1,500,000.”[5] To many British, this growth in the number of Catholics seemed to threaten the power of the British Empire. It created a fear that the Pope would somehow come to lord over them all. Many of the Protestants of Ulster in Northern Ireland strongly opposed Gladstone’s attempts to enact Home Rule because they feared the repercussions that it would bring would be a Catholic nation. Lord Churchill, one of the leading Liberal Unionists, encouraged the men of Ulster to “play the orange card” and coined the phrase “Ulster will fight and Ulster will be right,”[6] meaning that Protestant Irish would under no circumstance accept any government run by Catholics, which would inevitably be the case if Home Rule were implemented.
Ultimately the possibility of a Roman Catholic government in Ireland brought about by Home Rule, proved to be too progressive, and seemingly dangerous in respect to maintaining British imperial sovereignty over Ireland. The risk Butt, Parnell, and Gladstone were willing to take by opening the door to the possibility that the Irish Catholics would control Ireland was not one that the majority of parliament and the British populace were willing to take. The fear of having an Irish neighbor who was more loyal to the Pope than to the British empire seemed very real, as voiced by the Unionists in Northern Ireland and the Liberal Unionists alongside the Conservatives in Parliament.
[1] English Bill of Rights 1689, accessed from, http://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/england.asp
[2] William E. Gladstone, The Vatican Decrees in their bearing on Civil Allegiance: A Political Expostulation, accessed from. http://www.victorianweb.org/religion/Gladstone___Vatican.html
[3] Peter Stansky, Gladstone, A Progress in Politics, Boston, Toronto: Little Brown & Company Limited. 1979, 120.
[4] Lawrence J. McCaffrey, The Irish Question: 1800-1922, Lexington, Kentucky: University of Kentucky Press, 1968, 120.
[5] Oonagh Walsh, Ireland's Independence, 1880-1923. London, England: Routledge. 2002, 15.
[6] McCaffrey, 122.
*Image from Wikimedia Commons in Public Domain.
[2] William E. Gladstone, The Vatican Decrees in their bearing on Civil Allegiance: A Political Expostulation, accessed from. http://www.victorianweb.org/religion/Gladstone___Vatican.html
[3] Peter Stansky, Gladstone, A Progress in Politics, Boston, Toronto: Little Brown & Company Limited. 1979, 120.
[4] Lawrence J. McCaffrey, The Irish Question: 1800-1922, Lexington, Kentucky: University of Kentucky Press, 1968, 120.
[5] Oonagh Walsh, Ireland's Independence, 1880-1923. London, England: Routledge. 2002, 15.
[6] McCaffrey, 122.
*Image from Wikimedia Commons in Public Domain.