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National festivals, the state and ‘protestant ascendancy’ in Ireland, 1790–1829

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2016

Jacqueline R. Hill
Jacqueline R. Hill*
Affiliation:
St Patrick's College, Maynooth
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Extract

One indication of Ireland's divided political culture is that there is no general agreement between most catholics and most protestants on a single set of national symbols. To take the case of a national festival, in the Republic of Ireland, where ninety-four per cent of the population is catholic, St Patrick's day (17 March) is celebrated at the popular level, the state level, and is a bank holiday. In Northern Ireland too St Patrick's day is celebrated, but chiefly by catholics (thirty-one per cent of the population), while the festival associated with the majority protestant population is Orangemen's day (12 July) when William III's victory at the battle of the Boyne(l July 1690 O.S.) is commemorated. Both these festivals are kept as bank holidays in Northern Ireland (though not in the rest of the United Kingdom); the Republic of Ireland, however, extends no recognition to 12 July.

Type
Articles
Information
Irish Historical Studies , Volume 24 , Issue 93 , May 1984 , pp. 30 - 51
Copyright
Copyright © Irish Historical Studies Publications Ltd 1984

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References

1 Figures based on the 1971 census, in Facts about Ireland (Department of Foreign Affairs, Dublin, 1978), p. 21.

2 Report from the select committee appointed to enquire into the nature, character, extent and tendency of Orange lodges in Ireland (hereafter First report on Orange lodges), pp 22, 331, H.C. 1835 (377), xv.

3 Contemporary examples included the birthdays of reigning monarchs, such as that of George III (4 June). See Faulkner's Dublin Journal (hereafter F.D.J.), 5 June 1792.

4 Freeman's Journal (hereafter F.J.), 29 Mar. 1766.

5 Statutes of the Most Illustrious Order of St Patrick; to which is added the ceremony of the first installation in 1783 (Dublin, 1800).

6 See, e.g., F.D.J., 19 Mar 1796; Hibernian Journal (hereafter Hib. Jn.), 20 Mar. 1797; Statutes of the Most Illustrious Order of St Patrick, p. 32.

7 Hib. Jn., 20 Mar. 1793; F.D.J., 18 Mar. 1794.

8 Sheehy, Jeanne, The rediscovery of Ireland's past: the Celtic revival, 1830–1930 (London, 1980), p. 10 Google Scholar.

9 Ibid.

10 Moody, T W, Simms, J. G. and Woods, C. J., ‘Chronology, 1691–1800’ in Moody, T. W, Martin, F X. and Byrne, F J. (eds), A new history of Ireland, viii (Oxford, 1982), p. 275 Google Scholar.

11 Large gatherings of catholics assembled on such occasions and were sometimes viewed with suspicion by the authorities. See e.g., F.J., 19 Mar. 1805, describing the dispersal of crowds gathered to see a boxing match and to play football.

12 Act of Settlement, 12 & 13 Will. III, c. 2 (Eng.).

13 See The fundamental laws, statutes of the Ancient and Most Benevolent Order of the Friendly Brothers of St Patrick (Dublin, 1773), pp 5, 14–15Google Scholar.

14 Ibid., p. 12; F.D.J., 14 Mar. 1793 References to attending church rather than mass strongly suggest that the members were protestants.

15 Porter, Roy, English society in the eighteenth century (Harmondsworth, Middlesex, 1982). p. 169 Google Scholar.

16 See, e.g., F.J., 8 Nov 1766; Hib. Jn., 5 Nov. 1794.

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18 Ibid., iii, 40–42.

19 F.J., 5 Nov 1765.

20 Ibid., 8 Nov 1766.

21 Gilbert, , Hist. Dub., iii, 45–6Google Scholar.

22 F.D.J., 3 Nov. 1798.

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25 F. J. 5 Nov. 1765.

26 See, e.g., the eulogy on the Glorious Revolution in F.J., 20 Mar. 1764.

27 On 4 November 1779 William's statue was hung with placards bearing slogans such as ‘a free trade — or else’; ‘relief to Ireland’; ‘the glorious revolution’; in November 1782 one placard called for ‘an unequivocal bill of rights’, and another in 1783 urged the Volunteers, having obtained parliamentary independence, to seek ‘an equal representation of the people’ ( Gilbert, , Hist. Dub., iii, 45–50 Google Scholar).

28 First report on Orange lodges, pp 22, 83 (evidence of Lt Col. Verner, Rev. Mortimer O'Sullivan); Barrington, Jonah, Historic anecdotes and secret memoirs of the legislative union between Great Britain and Ireland (London, 1809), p. 54 Google Scholar; evidence of Daniel O'Connell to the select committee on the state of Ireland (Dublin Evening Mail, 28 Mar. 1825).

29 See the first resolution passed at a meeting of the Catholic Society of Dublin, 12 Mar. 1792 (Hib. Jn., 14 Mar. 1792).

30 The distinction was neatly brought out by Daniel O'Connell when he said in 1815, ‘I am sincerely a catholic, but not a papist’ — in other words, he would not submit to papal direction in political affairs ( Bowen, Desmond, The protest ant crusade in Ireland, 1800–70 (Dublin, 1978), p. 6 Google Scholar).

31 Senior, Hereward, Orangeism in Ireland and Britain, 1795–1836 (London & Toronto, 1966), pp 3–4 Google Scholar.

32 In 1644, of a population estimated at 24,000, some 70% were protestants ( Fitzpatrick, Samuel, Dublin: a historical and topographical account of the city (London, 1907), p. 95 Google Scholar). By 1814 estimates suggest that protestants represented only about 27% of the population (calculation based on figures in Warburton, John, Whitelaw, James and Walsh, Robert, A history of the city of Dublin (2vols, London, 1818), ii, 847–8Google Scholar; appendix xi, pp lxxiv–lxxv).

33 Dublin Evening Post (hereafter D.E.P.), 14 July 1778; F.D.J., 3 July 1788.

34 F. J., 5, 15 July 1766.

35 Gilbert, Hist. Dub., iii, 40.

36 D.E.R. 11, 14, 16 July 1778; F.D.J., 5 July 1787.

37 F.D.J., 16 July 1791; McDowell, R. B., Irish public opinion, 1750–1800 (London, 1944), pp 145–6Google Scholar.

38 Lecky, W E. H., A history of Ireland in the eighteenth century (new ed., 5 vols, London, 1892), iii, 114 Google Scholar.

39 The press began to divide over these issues in the 1780s (Inglis, Freedom of press, p. 21).

40 F.D.J., 19 July 1791.

41 See Dublin corporation's address to the protestants of Ireland (F.D.J., 13 Sept. 1792); Dr Duigenan's speech in the debate on the catholic relief bill, 4 Feb. 1793 (Commons’ jn. Ire., xv, 103, 129–30).

42 McDowell, R. B., Ireland in the age of imperialism and revolution, 1760–1801 (Oxford, 1979), pp 400–18Google Scholar.

43 Hill, Jacqueline, ‘The politics of privilege: Dublin corporation and the catholic question, 1792–1823’ in Maynooth Review, vii (1982), pp 17–36 Google Scholar.

44 The original aldermen of Skinner's Alley were members of Dublin corporation who were ousted by James II in 1688. They continued to meet in Skinner's Alley until the arrival of William III. As late as the 1780s it was possible for radicals like James Napper Tandy to hold office in the society. See Warburton, , Whitelaw, & Walsh, , History of Dublin, ii, 1068 Google Scholar; F.D.J., 8 July 1788.

45 F.D.J., 3 July 1792. In Sept. 1793 it was reported that the society was to be dissolved and reconstituted on its “pure and original foundation’: in other words, radicals were to be excluded (F.D.J., 24 Sept. 1793).

46 F.D.J., 17 July 1792.

47 Ibid., 6 Nov 1792.

48 From the 1780s the main celebrations in Dublin of Williamite victories took place on 1st as opposed to 12 July. See F.D.J., 5 July 1787, 3 July 1788.

49 F.D.J., 2 July 1795.

50 Lecky, , Ire., iii, 276–7Google Scholar; F.D.J., 2 July 1795.

51 F.D.J., 2 July 1795.

52 Senior, Orangeism, 1795–1836, pp 1–21, 76; Third report from the select committee appointed to inquire into the nature, character and tendency of Orange lodges in Ireland, p. 252, H.C. 1835 (476), xvi, 256.

53 Rules of the orange society, 1798, cited in Senior, Orangeism, 1795–1836, appendix A, p. 298. There seems to have been confusion over the date of the battle of the Boyne (1 July 1690 O.S. or 11 July 1690 N.S.). Celebration continued to be held on 1 July after 1752 when the N.S. calendar was adopted in Ireland. The Orangemen, in fixing on 12 July, may have been attempting to convert to N.S., which in the eighteenth century was eleven days ahead of O.S. (overlooking the fact that in the seventeenth century the difference had been only ten days). They may have been influenced by the fact that Aughrim, the more decisive of the two battles, was fought on 12 July 1691 (O.S.).

54 Ibid., p. 34.

55 Hib. Jn., 8 July 1796; D.E.P., 9 July 1796; Morning Post, 9 July 1796.

56 This distinction can be detected, e.g., in Dublin corporation's address to the protestants of Ireland (F.D.J., 13 Sept., 1792).

57 F.J. 13 July 1797

58 F.D.J., 3 July 1798.

59 F.D.J., 12 July 1798; Senior, Orangeism, 1795–1836, pp 75–6.

60 Reprinted in F.D.J., 6 Nov. 1798.

61 See, e.g., F.J., 6 Nov. 1800, 7 Nov 1801.

62 In 1804 petitions presented by Fox and Grenville on behalf of the catholics were rejected by large majorities in both houses of parliament ( Report on the manuscripts of J.B. Fortescue, ed. Fitzpatrick, Walter, ix (H.M.C., London, 1915), p. xiv Google Scholar).

63 Giffard, being a sheriffs peer, was a member for life of the common council of Dublin corporation; he was editor of the F.D.J. (one of several newspapers subsidised by the Irish executive), and, soon after the establishment of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland, became deputy grand master (Senior, Orangeism, 1795–1836, pp 62, 72–6; Inglis, Freedom of press, pp 57–62).

64 Senior, Orangeism, 1795–1836, p. 178.

65 D.E.P., 17 July 1806; F.J., 18 July 1806.

66 Inglis, Freedom of press, pp 113–15.

67 For Bedford's strained relations with Dublin Orangemen, see duke of Bedford to Lord Grenville, 20 Mar 1807 (Fortescue MSS, ix, 121).

68 F.J., 5 Nov 1806; F.D.J., 6 Nov. 1806.

69 Senior, Orangeism, 1795–1836, p. 180.

70 See, e.g., F.D.J., 5 Nov. 1808; 5 Nov 1811; First report on Orange lodges, p. 402.

71 MacDonagh, Oliver, Ireland: the union and its aftermath (revised ed., London, 1977), pp 19–20 Google Scholar.

72 Inglis, Freedom of press, p. 114.

73 According to a speech in the house of commons by the chief secretary on 7 March 1811, when the duke of Richmond took office he told the catholics that ‘no protestant should be encouraged to degrade or hurt their feelings’ (D.E.P., 12 Mar. 1811).

74 Gash, Norman, Aristocracy and people: Britain, 1815–1865 (London, 1979), pp 125–6Google Scholar.

75 The duke of Cumberland opposed emancipation, the duke of Gloucester was a supporter. See also Senior, Orangeism, 1795–1836, p. 140; Earl Grey to Lord Grenville, 27 May 1813 (Fortescue MSS, ix, 340–41).

76 Bolton, G. C., The passing of the Irish act of union (London, 1966), p. 130 Google Scholar.

77 Motions and petitions against emancipation passed Dublin corporation in 1805, 1807, 1812, and almost annually from 1816 to 1829. See Sir Gilbert, John, Calendar of ancient records of Dublin (19 vols, Dublin, 1889–1944), vols xv–xviiiGoogle Scholar.

78 Debate on the Maynooth grant, 29 Apr. 1808 (Hansard 1, ix, cols 128–9; Fortescue MSS. ix, p. xli).

79 Speech of John Giffard in Dublin corporation (F.D.J., 18 July 1812).

80 See Sir Richard Musgrave, Memoirs of the different rebellions in Ireland from the arrival of the English (2 vols, 3rd ed., Dublin, 1802). Musgrave became grand treasurer of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland in 1801 (Senior, Orangeism, 1795–1836, p. 143).

81 F.D.J., 14 July 1807.

82 See ibid., 5 Nov. 1811.

83 F.J., 13 July 1808.

84 Ibid., 16 July 1811.

85 In London the Irish representatives celebrated St Patrick's day under the aegis of the Benevolent Society of St Patrick, a charitable organisation (patron, the duke of Kent) dedicated to relieving distress among the Irish community in London. See, e.g., D.E.P., 21 Mar. 1807

86 Speech of the earl of Moira at the Benevolent Society of St Patrick dinner (D.E. P., 21 Mar 1807).

87 Some of these M.P.s may have been influenced by pressure from catholic voters in their constituencies. See Jupp, P.J., ‘Irish M.P.s at Westminster in the early nineteenth century’ in Beckett, J.C. (ed.), Historical Studies. VII (London, 1969), pp 65–80 at pp 72–3Google Scholar

88 D.E.P., 26 Mar. 1812.

89 F.J., 19 Mar. 1805.

90 Ibid., 1 Oct. 1811. By party tunes the F.J. probably had in mind ‘The protestant boys’, which at an early stage became identified with the Orange order. See Zimmerman, Georges-Denis, Irish political street ballads and rebel songs, 1780–1900 (Geneva, 1966), p. 297 Google Scholar

91 F.D.J., 19 Mar 1807.

92 The state coach commissioned by Lord Fitzgibbon, when he became lord chancellor of Ireland in 1789, and completed in 1790, was extensively decorated with shamrocks (National Museum of Ireland). Fitzgibbon (later earl of Clare) was a staunch opponent of catholic political rights in the 1790s.

93 F.J., 14 Apr. 1813.

94 See ibid., 14 July 1813, 14 July 1815.

95 See Sibbett, R. M., Orangeism in Ireland and throughout the empire (2 vols, London, [1939], i, 184 Google Scholar.

96 F.J., 14 July 1813: speech of John Giffard in Dublin corporation (F.J., 20 Feb. 1819).

97 D.E.P., 23 Mar. 1811; F.J., 5 Oct. 1812, 14 Apr. 1813, 14 July 1815 (report taken from F.D.J.), 3 Oct. 1818.

98 Senior, Orangeism, 1795–1836, p. 177; Hill, , ‘Politics of privilege’, pp 26–32 Google Scholar.

99 Senior, Orangeism, 1795–1836, p. 178.

100 Ibid., pp 192–3.

101 Ibid., pp 151–9; Earl Grey to Lord Grenville, 27 May 1813 (Fortescue MSS, ix, 340–41); Inglis, Freedom of press, pp 151–2.

102 F.J., 16 July 1811, 13 July 1816.

103 Ibid., 13 July 1813, 14 July 1815.

104 Ibid., 13 July 1819.

105 Hill, , ‘Politics of privilege’, pp 30–31 Google Scholar.

106 For Insights into the relations between the executive and the conservatives, see duke of Bedford to Lord Grenville, 20 Mar. 1807; same to same, 1 Apr. 1807 (Fortescue MSS, ix, 121, 129–30).

107 In advance of 12 July 1821 the lord mayor (Abraham Bradley King, an Orangeman and holder of a government contract to supply stationery who was subsequently made a baronet on the occasion of the king's visit) expressed his determination that the statue should not be decorated; the Freeman warned that a ‘lower class’ of Orangemen planned to defy the lord mayor's wishes, and in the event the statue was decorated on the 12th (F.J., 11, 13 July 1821).

108 Ibid., 13 July, 1, 4, 6 Nov. 1822.

109 Ibid., 16 Dec. 1822.

110 Ibid., 3 Jan. 1823.

111 Senior, Orangeism, 1795–1836, p. 208.

112 D.E.P., 4 Nov. 1828. After emancipation, conservative protestants in Dublin began to.place more emphasis on celebrating 5 November (an anniversary with anti-catholic overtones which was still officially recognised in England), and to complain that church and state did not sufficiently honour this anniversary See Warder, 10 Nov 1832; resolution passed at a meeting of the Dublin Protestant Operative Association, 26 Oct. 1843, ‘Public meetings November 1841 [to] August 1847’ (minute book in possession of the late J. A. McClelland of Belfast).

113 Gilbert, , Hist. Dub., iii, 55 Google Scholar; Craig, Maurice, Dublin, 1660–1860 (Dublin, 1952), pp 76, 215–16, 309Google Scholar; Irish Times, 10 Feb. 1982.

114 D.E.P., 19 Mar. 1829.

115 Warder. 18, 28 Mar 1829. This report suggests the persistence at the popular level in Dublin of one of the United Irishmen's symbols, the cap of liberty. In forcing passers-by to salute the cap, the catholics were aping the conduct of Orangemen at William s statue on Williamite anniversaries (F.J., 13 July 1822). The celebration of 14 July, another tradition associated with the United Irishmen, had continued in Dublin down to 1803 ( McDowell, , Public opinion & govt policy, p. 156 Google Scholar).

116 Dublin Evening Mail, 19 Mar. 1832; see also ibid., 18 Mar. 1833.

117 F.J., 18 Mar. 1836.

118 Ibid., 18 Mar. 1845.

119 An attempt by a botanist to fix the species of the shamrock in the 1890s was unsuccessful ( Sheehy, , Rediscovery of Ireland's past, p. 10 Google Scholar).

120 F.J., 18 Mar. 1857

121 Elliott, Marianne, Partners in revolution: the United Irishmen and France (London, 1982), pp 302–6Google Scholar.

122 See the speeches of Henry Grattan and Robert Shaw to the electors of Dublin city (F.J., 1 July 1818).

123 Rose, Richard, Governing without consensus (Boston, 1971), pp 227, 258Google Scholar.

124 Sheehy, , Rediscovery of Ireland's past, p. 69 Google Scholar; Bowen, , Prot. crusade, pp 50–52 Google Scholar.

l25 See the report of a meeting of Dublin citizens to protest against the abolition of the office of viceroy in Nation, 25 Mar. 1850.

126 It follows from this that the politicisation of the Patrician tradition occurred during the first three decades of the nineteenth century, rather than at the end of the century as suggested by Alter, Peter, ‘Symbols of Irish nationalism’ in Studio Hibcrnica. xiv (1974). pp 104–23 at pp 112–13Google Scholar.