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
11 - A ‘Curiosity [and] … an Oddity’: Referenda in 1986 and 1995
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
The period from 1969 to 1984 saw divorce reform in the majority of Western countries, but Ireland remained in the unique position with no provision for divorce, finding an ally only further afield in Malta. The establishment of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Marital Breakdown in 1985 was, however, an admission by the state that increasing numbers of marriages ended before the death of a spouse and laid the foundations for the first referendum to remove the constitutional ban on divorce in the following year. Social activism, clerical and political attitudes towards divorce reform as well as the cause of the defeat of the referendum are explored. Despite the referendum defeat, a significant and overdue era of Irish family law reform followed which laid the foundations for a second divorce referendum and ultimately the removal of the constitutional ban in the second divorce referendum of 1995. Keenly and often antagonistically fought, the result was so close that a recount was held. This left Ireland with the challenge of introducing legislation on divorce, an issue long-held as the pinnacle of liberalism where many remained resistant to reform
Keywords
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Irish DivorceA History, pp. 215 - 234Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020