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Irish House of Commons
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The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland, that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive franchise: in counties forty shilling freeholders were enfranchised whilst in most boroughs it was either only the members of self electing corporations or a highly restricted body of freemen that were able to vote for the borough's representatives.

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The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland, that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive franchise: in counties forty shilling freeholders were enfranchised whilst in most boroughs it was either only the members of self electing corporations or a highly restricted body of freemen that were able to vote for the borough's representatives. Most notably, Roman Catholics were disqualified from sitting in the Irish parliament from 1691, even though they comprised the vast majority of the Irish population. From 1728 until 1793 they were also disenfranchised. Most of the population of all religions had no vote.
The British appointed Irish executive, under the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, was not answerable to the House of Commons but to the British government. However, the Chief Secretary for Ireland was usually a member of the Irish parliament. In the Commons, business was presided over by the Speaker who, in the absence of a government chosen from and answerable to the Commons, was the dominant political figure in the parliament. The House of Commons was abolished when the Irish parliament merged with its British counterpart in 1801 under the Act of Union.
Famous members
- Henry Grattan — went on to serve as an Irish member of the United Kingdom House of Commons.
- Boyle Roche — the "father" of Irish bulls
- Hon. Arthur Wellesley — later became Duke of Wellington, defeated Napoleon at Waterloo, and served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He represented his family borough of Trim, County Meath from 1790-1796.
- William Conolly — a past Speaker, Conolly remains today one of the most widely known figures ever to be produced by the Irish parliament. He is famous not just for his role in parliament but also for his great wealth that allowed him to build one of Ireland's greatest Georgian houses, Castletown House.
- Nathaniel Clements , 1705-1777 Government and Treasury Official, Managed extensive financial functions from 1720 - 1777 on behalf of the Government, de facto Minister for Finance 1740 - 1777, extensive property owner and developer. major influence on the architecture of Georgian Dublin and the Irish Palladian Country house.
- John Philpot Curran — orator and wit, originator of the quotation "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."
Speakers (1689-1800)
*1557, 1560 & 1568: James Stanyhurst
Constituencies
The House was elected in the same way as the British House of Commons. By the time of the Union, the shape of the House had been fixed with two members elected for each of the 32 Counties of Ireland, two members for each of 117 Boroughs, and two members for Dublin University, a total of 300 members. The number of Boroughs invited to return members had originally been small (only 55 Boroughs existed in 1603) but was doubled by the Stuart monarchs.
Sessions
Parliament 1536-1537
Parliament 1541-1543
| Number | Opened | Dismissed | Speaker | Sessions |
|---|
| 1 | 12 January 1559 | 1 February 1559 | | ? | | 2 | 17 January 1568 | 25 April 1571 | | ? |
Members:
- Sir Edmond Butler
- Sir Christopher Barnwall
| Number | Opened | Dismissed | Speaker | Sessions |
|---|
| 3 | 26 April 1585 | 14 May 1586 | Nicholas Walsh | ? |
Members:
Parliaments of James I
| Number | Opened | Dismissed | Speaker | Sessions |
|---|
| ? | 18 May 1613 | 24 October 1615 | | ? |
Members:
| Number | Opened | Dismissed | Speaker | Sessions |
|---|
| 1 | 14 July 1634 | 18 April 1635 | | ? |
Members:
| Number | Opened | Dismissed | Speaker | Sessions |
|---|
| 2 | 16 March 1639 (prorogued 1641) | 30 January 1649 | | ? |
Members:
- Nicholas Barnewall, Catholic
- Patrick Barnewall,Trim
- John Bellew
- Sir Richard Blake, Galway
- Sir Piers Crosby
- Geoffrey Browne, Catholic
- Thomas Burke, Catholic, Mayo
- Oliver Cashell, Louth
- William Cole, Protestant, Fermanagh, d. 1653
- Simon Digby, Protestant
- Sir Maurice Eustace, Speaker, Protestant
- Richard Fitzgerald, Protestant, Strabane
- Sir Roebuck Lynch
- Donagh MacCarthy, Viscount Muskerry, Catholic
- Richard Bellings, Catholic
- Sir Phelim O'Neill, Catholic
- James Montgomery, Protestant
- Nicholas Plunkett, Catholic, Meath
- Edward Rowley, Protestant
- Hardress Waller, Protestant
- John Walsh, Catholic
| Number | Opened | Dismissed | Speaker | Sessions |
|---|
| 1 | 8 May 1661 | 7 August 1666 | | ? |
Members:
| Number | Opened | Dismissed | Speaker | Sessions |
|---|
| 1 | 7 May 1689 | 20 July 1689 | | ? |
Members:
| Number | Opened | Dismissed | Speaker | Sessions |
|---|
| 1 | 5 October 1692 | 26 June 1693 | Sir Robert Levinge | 1 |
Members:
- Richard Aldworth
- Francis Annesley( brother of Maurice)
- Maurice Annesley (brother of Francis)
- Thomas Beecher
- Henry Boyle
- Alan Brodrick
- St. John Brodrick
- Sir Francis Brewster, Chancellor of the Exchequer
- Randall Brice
- Alan Broderick (brother of Thomas)
- Thomas Broderick (brother of Alan)
- Joseph Coghlan
- Sir Richard Levinge, Speaker
- Stephen Ludlow
- Robert Molesworth
- Neave
- William Ponsonby
- Brigadier Rawdon
- John Reading
- Edward Richardson
- Rochfort (Speaker)
- Philip Savage
- Edward Singleton
- James Sloane
- Richard Warburton
- Brigadier William Wolsely
| Number | Opened | Dismissed | Speaker | Sessions |
|---|
| 2 | 27 August 1695 | 14 June 1699 | Robert Rochford | 2 |
Members:
Parliaments of Anne
| Number | Opened | Dismissed | Speaker | Sessions |
|---|
| 3 | 21 September 1703 | 6 May 1713 | Alan Brodrick | 6 |
Members:
Members:
Parliament of George I
| Number | Opened | Dismissed | Speaker | Sessions |
|---|
| 1 | 12 November 1715 | 11 June 1727 | William Conolly | 6 |
Members:
Parliament of George II
Members: (elected 1727)
Members: (elected 1728/29)
Members: (elected 1739)
Members: (in 1747)
- Henry Gore, Tulsk
- Frederick Gore, Killybegs
- Sir Ralph Gore, Donegal County
- Arthur Hyde
- John Macarell, Carlingford
- Henry Mitchell, Castlebar
Members: (elected 1751/1752)
- Thomas Newenham, Cork
- Sir Richard Cox, Cork
- Cosby Nesbitt, Cavan
- Frederick Gore, Killybegs
- Henry Gore, Tulsk
- Sir Ralph Gore, Donegal County
- John Macarell, Carlingford
- Henry Mitchell, Castlebar
Members: (elected 1753/1754)
- Francis Pierpoint Burton, Killybegs
- Robert Fitzgerald, Kerry
- Henry Gore, Tulsk
- Frederick Gore, Killybegs
- Sir Ralph Gore, Donegal County
- John Macarell, Carlingford
- Henry Mitchell, Castlebar
- Cosby Nesbitt, Cavan County
- Mervyn Archdall
- William Brownlow, Armagh, Independent
- Francis Pierpoint Burton, Killybegs
- Charles Viscount Dungarvan
- Robert French
- John Gore
- Henry Gore, Tulsk
- Frederick Gore, Killybegs
- Sir Ralph Gore, Donegal County
- Anthony Malone
- John Macarell, Carlingford
- Henry Mitchell, Castlebar
- Edmund Pery, Independent
- John Ponsonby
- Abel Ram (Committee of Commons unseated Robert Leigh), Wexford
Members:
Parliaments of George III
| Number | Opened | Dismissed | Speaker | Sessions |
|---|
| 1 | 22 October 1761 | 28 May 1768 Octennial Act | John Ponsonby | 4 |
Members:
| Number | Opened | Dismissed | Speaker | Sessions |
|---|
| 2 | 17 October 1769 | 5 April 1776 | John Ponsonby to 4 March 1771, Edmond Pery Sexton | 5 |
Members:
Grattan's Parliament
| Number | Opened | Dismissed | Speaker | Sessions |
|---|
| 3 | 18 June 1776 | 25 July 1783 | Edmond Sexton Pery | 4 |
Members:
| Number | Opened | Dismissed | Speaker | Sessions |
|---|
| 4 | 14 October 1783 | 8 April 1790 | Edmond Sexton Pery | 7 |
Members:
| Number | Opened | Dismissed | Speaker | Sessions |
|---|
| 5 | 2 July 1790 | 11 July 1797 | John Foster | 8 |
Members:
- Denis Browne, Mayo County
- Peter Burrows
- Todd Jones
- John Beresford
- Sir Boyle Roche, Tralee
| Number | Opened | Dismissed | Speaker | Sessions |
|---|
| 6 | 9 January 1798 | 31 December 1800 | John Foster | 3 |
Members:
Resignation Until 1793 members could not resign their seats. They could cease to be a member of the House only by one of four ways:
In 1793 a methodology for resignation was created, equivalent to the Chiltern Hundreds in the British House of Commons. Irish members could now be appointed to either the Escheatorship of Munster, the Escheatorship of Leinster, the Escheatorship of Connaught or the Escheatorship of Ulster. Possession of one of these Crown offices, with entailed a 30/ (30 shilling) salary, automatically terminated one's membership of the House of Commons.
See also
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