Charles Stewart Parnell Part One.../.pptx

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1. IRELAND 1884 TO 1914

2. WHAT IS PARLIAMENTARY TRADITION? Achieving political changes through non violent means such as mass demonstrations, placing pressure on the British government and Laws passed in government Daniel O’Connell and Charles Stewart Parnell were two politicians that fought for changes in politics through parliamentary tradition and had significant impact on Irish politics during the 19 th and 20 th centuries

3. KEY TERMS Nationalist – Believed that the Irish people are their own nation Constitutional Nationalists – Wanted the re-establishment of a parliament in Ireland and to achieve this through political means Home Rule: Ireland would have its own parliament in Dublin to govern local affairs such as education/health but Westminster controlled trade and foreign affairs. Ireland would remain in the UK Radical Nationalists: Wanted full independence from Britain and believed they should use force if necessary. Wanted a Republic that did not include a monarch and its representative were chosen by its citizens Unionists – Someone who wanted Ireland to remain apart of the UK with Britain

4. CHARLES STEWART PARNELL THE ‘UNCROWNED KING OF IRELAND’

5. Early Life C.S.P was born on 27 June 1846 in Co Wicklow to Anglo-Irish Protestant landowners Studied at Cambridge University but never completed his studies Elected to Parliament in 1875 as a member of the Home Rule Party for Co Meath Agreed with the beliefs of the Home Rule Movement – Ireland should govern its own affairs in Dublin while remaining apart of the UK

6. PARNELL AND THE HOME RULE PARTY Parnell had ties with the IRB/Fenians when he stated in Westminster in 1876 that no murder had been committed by the Manchester Martyrs Referring to the death of a policeman in Manchester in 1876, shot by Fenians as they tried to release two of their colleagues Supported the policy of parliamentary obstruction – deliberate interference with the progress of legislation (passing laws) by making very long speeches to delay parliament until they dealt with Irish matters Strengthened his ties with the IRB/Fenians

7. The Smashing of the Van (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2cWmUcpvSI) Listen to the lyrics and try guess what key event are the Wolfe Tones referring to HINT: Manchester

8. PARNELL AND THE LAND LEAGUE Parnell’s popularity rose when he tried to solve ‘ The Land Question’ Established the Land League with Fenians such as Michael Davitt and John Devoy Aim of Land League: Fairer rents for tenants with the long term goal of tenants owning/buying their land ‘New Departure’ – a new policy by the Fenians to work with Parnell to promote Irish self-government and land reform United physical force tradition and the parliamentary tradition New Departure policy combined physical force tradition and parliamentary tradition

9. Parnell and the Land Wars A land war between tenants and landlords broke out in the countryside The Land League demanded that PM Gladstone bring in Land Reform Gladstone introduced the Land Act 1881 which provided fairer rents for tenants and a land court to decide the rents Parnell favoured the act but asked people to test it in the courts leading to political agitation Political Agitation means encouraging people to form local groups to demand better treatment by refusing to pay rent or cooperate with landlords Parnell’s role in the political agitation and violence led to him and other MPs being jailed in Kilmainham Gaol in 1881.

10. PARNELL AND KILMAINHAM TREATY While Parnell was imprisoned, violent disturbances broke out Gladstone realised it would be better to release Parnell and make amends In May 1882, Parnell and Gladstone signed The Kilmainham Treaty which gave tenants access to land courts and help tenants who owed money paid their rents. Parnell also promised to discourage violence Led to a split from Parnell and the Fenians/IRB but boosted Parnell and the Home Rule party’s popularity Four days later, a group of IRB men called ‘The Invincibles ’ ambushed and killed two British politicians in the Phoenix Park Murders making radical nationalists less popular

11. Fight for Home Rule In 1882 the Home Rule Party became Irish Parliamentary Party By 1884, all men who owned or rent property worth £10 or more were granted the right to vote (300,000 more voters)

12. The First Home Rule Bill The Irish Parliamentary Party won 86 seats in 1885 British General Election Meant that Parnell’s party held the balance of power in parliament Parnell allied with Gladstone and the Liberal Party making Gladstone PM again The First Home Rule Bill (1886) stated that: Irish MPs and Lords would leave Westminster Parliament in Ireland could make laws for internal affairs Westminster would keep control of external affairs A viceroy would represent the British Monarch in Ireland

13. Response to First Home Rule Bill Conservative Party was against the Home rule Bill as many felt it would lead to Ireland gaining full independence eventually The bill was defeated in June 1886 by 341 votes to 311 votes Liberal Party split as a result of the defeat leading to another election Conservatives gained majority power while Irish Parliamentary party kept similar amount of seats

14. False Accusations – Piggott Forgeries In 1887, The London Times published letters in articles called Parnellism and Crime These letters seemed to show that Parnell supported the Phoenix Park Murders (murder of 2 British Politicians by Fenians) Parnell said these letters were forged and upon investigation, he was proven innocent The letters were written by a journalist named Richard Piggott Parnell’s reputation and popularity grew after this incident Source 2 Parnell cleared We entirely acquit Mr Parnell and the other respondents of the charge of insincerity in their denunciation of the Phoenix Park murders, and find that facsimile letter on which this charge was chiefly based as against Mr Parnell is a forgery. (Report of the Special Commission, February 1890)

15. Downfall of Parnell Parnell’s downfall came after because of the O’Shea Divorce Case Parnell was in a relationship with Katherine (Kitty) O’Shea since 1880 and they had a number of children O’Shea was married to Captain William O’Shea but had been separated for years before meeting Parnell In 1890, Kitty’s husband filed for divorce, publicly naming Parnell in the divorce proceedings When the case became public due to the divorce, Catholic Ireland disapproved and Parnell’s popularity became to change

16. Downfall of Parnell Contd. Gladstone said his Liberal Party could no longer support Home Rule if Parnell continued to be a leader Led to a split in the Irish Parliamentary Party with Parnell becoming the leader of the Irish National League Despite campaigning, parnell’s health rapidly deteriorated Parnell and O’Shea married in 1891 but died five months later due to pneumonia aged 45

17. Significance of Parnell Parnell was a well able politician who led the majority of people in Ireland during many difficult political situations He was Protestant leader and landlord who led a Catholic tenant population Established a disciplined political party Brought about Land Reform in the 1881 Land Act by establishing the Land League with Davitt and Devoy Forced Gladstone and the Liberal Party to bring in the First Home Rule Bill Named ‘The Uncrowned King of Ireland’ “Do what is beyond your strength even should you fail sometimes.” – Charles Stewart Parnell

18. KEY TERMS Parliamentary obstruction – Deliberate interference with the progress of legislation by making long speeches to delay the passage of laws until Irish matters were dealt with Political Agitation – Encouraging people to form local groups to demand better treatment e.g. not paying rent or cooperating with local landlords New Departure - a new policy by the Fenians to work with Parnell to promote Irish self-government and land reform combining the physical force tradition and parliamentary tradition Land Act 1881 which provided fairer rents for tenants and a land court to decide the rents Kilmainham Treaty (1882) – Gave tenants access to land courts and helped tenants pay their rents. Land League – Founded by CSP, Michael Davitt and John Devoy with the aim of fairer rents for tenants, prevent evictions and in the long term land ownership

19. Homework Watch video https://www.gillexplore.ie/AfoCustom/GillExplore/Display/GillExploreMediaDialogue.cfm?MediaFileItemCode=144070&DesignStyleCode=9&SkinCode=4 Answer questions put up on Teams Answer source questions