The
Nationalist Party was a term commonly used to describe a number of parliamentary political parties and constituency organisations supportive of Home Rule for Ireland from 1874 to 1922. It was also the name of the main Irish nationalist
Nationalist PartyThe Nationalist Party† - was the continuation of the Irish Parliamentary Party, and was formed after partition, by the Northern Ireland-based members of the IPP....
in Northern Ireland from 1921 to 1978.
The Home Government Association
The
Home Government AssociationThe Home Government Association was a pressure group founded by Isaac Butt in 1870 in support of home rule for Ireland.Its inaugural public meeting was held on 1 September 1870.It became the Home Rule League in 1873....
was founded in 1870 by
Isaac ButtIsaac Butt Q.C. M.P. was an Irish barrister, politician, Member of Parliament , and the founder and first leader of a number of Irish nationalist parties and organisations, including the Irish Metropolitan Conservative Society in 1836, the Home Government Association in 1870 and in 1873 the Home...
, this was superseded in November 1873 by the
Home Rule LeagueThe Home Rule League, sometimes called the Home Rule Party, was a political party which campaigned for home rule for the country of Ireland from 1873 to 1882, when it was replaced by the Irish Parliamentary Party.-Origins:...
and the Home Rule Confederation its British sister organisation.
Home Rule League
It was founded under Isaac Butt in November 1873 as the
Home Rule LeagueThe Home Rule League, sometimes called the Home Rule Party, was a political party which campaigned for home rule for the country of Ireland from 1873 to 1882, when it was replaced by the Irish Parliamentary Party.-Origins:...
. After the death of Butt the party soon divided into radicals led by
Charles Stewart ParnellCharles Stewart Parnell was an Irish landowner, nationalist political leader, land reform agitator, and the founder and leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party...
and
WhiggishThe Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
members under
William ShawWilliam Shaw was an Irish Protestant nationalist politician. He was a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and one of the founders of the Irish home rule movement....
. Shaw became leader for a year 1879–1880, but was defeated by Parnell the next year. The Whiggish members all lost their seats in 1885.
Home Rule Party
The
Home Rule PartyThe Home Rule League, sometimes called the Home Rule Party, was a political party which campaigned for home rule for the country of Ireland from 1873 to 1882, when it was replaced by the Irish Parliamentary Party.-Origins:...
was set up by a group of Irish home Rule MPs' at a meeting in Dublin on 3 March 1874 to pursue the restoration of an Irish legislature.
Irish Parliamentary Party
The party was reformed by Parnell as the
Irish Parliamentary PartyThe Irish Parliamentary Party was formed in 1882 by Charles Stewart Parnell, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nationalist Members of Parliament elected to the House of Commons at...
in 1882, the constituency organisation of which was the Irish National League. Both were commonly referred to as the Nationalist Party, as were the organisations which developed from the Parnellite Split, the majority anti-Parnellite
Irish National FederationThe Irish National Federation was a nationalist political party in Ireland. It was founded in March 1891 by former members of the Irish National League who had left the Irish Parliamentary Party in protest when Charles Stewart Parnell refused to resign the party leadership as a result of his...
and the rump Parnellite Irish National League.
The Nationalist Party appellation was applied to the reunited Irish Parliamentary Party in 1900. It also covered smaller breakaway factions, such as those led by
Tim HealyTimothy Michael Healy, KC , also known as Tim Healy, was an Irish nationalist politician, journalist, author, barrister and one of the most controversial Irish Members of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
,
D. D. SheehanDaniel Desmond Sheehan, usually known as D. D. Sheehan was an Irish nationalist, politician, labour leader, journalist, barrister and author...
and
William O'BrienWilliam O'Brien was an Irish nationalist, journalist, agrarian agitator, social revolutionary, politician, party leader, newspaper publisher, author and Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
. Some of its members were elected to
Dáil ÉireannDáil Éireann is the lower house, but principal chamber, of the Oireachtas , which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann . It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote...
in the early years of the
Irish Free StateThe Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...
as independents or for William Redmond's National League Party which was to merge into Cumann na nGaedheal. Bridget Redmond, William's wife, was elected in Waterford for
Fine GaelFine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000...
until 1952.
Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland)
After the general election of 1918, the term Nationalist Party was taken on by the remnants of old Irish Parliamentary Party under
Joseph DevlinJoseph Devlin, also known as Joe Devlin, was an Irish journalist and influential nationalist politician...
as the
Nationalist PartyThe Nationalist Party† - was the continuation of the Irish Parliamentary Party, and was formed after partition, by the Northern Ireland-based members of the IPP....
in the new creation of
Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. It developed a reputation for being heavily disorganised and being little more than a collection of elected members with their own local machines. Many calls were made for the party to develop an overall organisation but it fell apart in the late 1960s. The party was eventually subsumed into the
Irish Independence PartyThe Irish Independence Party was an nationalist political party in Northern Ireland, founded in October 1977 by Frank McManus and Fergus McAteer...
in October 1977.
The Party in Britain
In addition to the organisations in Ireland outlined above, the term Nationalist Party was also used to describe the party run in
LiverpoolLiverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
during the 1920s by T.P. O'Connor, MP for the
Liverpool ScotlandLiverpool Scotland was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
division. After O'Connor's death in 1929, no candidate stood in the
ensuing by-electionThe Liverpool Scotland by-election, 1929 was a parliamentary by-election held in England on 14 December 1929 to elect a new Member of Parliament for the House of Commons constituency of the Scotland division of Liverpool....
to succeed him in the Irish Nationalist interest.
Home Rule League
- Isaac Butt
Isaac Butt Q.C. M.P. was an Irish barrister, politician, Member of Parliament , and the founder and first leader of a number of Irish nationalist parties and organisations, including the Irish Metropolitan Conservative Society in 1836, the Home Government Association in 1870 and in 1873 the Home...
1874–1879
- William Shaw
William Shaw was an Irish Protestant nationalist politician. He was a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and one of the founders of the Irish home rule movement....
1879–1880
- Charles Stewart Parnell
Charles Stewart Parnell was an Irish landowner, nationalist political leader, land reform agitator, and the founder and leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party...
1880–1882
Irish Parliamentary Party
- Charles Stewart Parnell
Charles Stewart Parnell was an Irish landowner, nationalist political leader, land reform agitator, and the founder and leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party...
1882–1891
- John Redmond
John Edward Redmond was an Irish nationalist politician, barrister, MP in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party from 1900 to 1918...
(Parnellite minority) 1891–1900
- Justin McCarthy
Justin McCarthy was an Irish nationalist and Liberal historian, novelist and politician. He was a Member of Parliament from 1879 to 1900, taking his seat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland- Early life :He was born in Cork, and was educated at a school there...
(anti-Parnellite majority) 1891–1892
- John Dillon
John Dillon was an Irish land reform agitator from Dublin, an Irish Home Rule activist, a nationalist politician, a Member of Parliament for over 35 years, and the last leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party....
(anti-Parnellite majority) 1892–1900
- John Redmond
John Edward Redmond was an Irish nationalist politician, barrister, MP in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party from 1900 to 1918...
(reunited party) 1900–1918
- Joe Devlin
Joseph Devlin, also known as Joe Devlin, was an Irish journalist and influential nationalist politician...
1918–1921
Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland)
- Joe Devlin
Joseph Devlin, also known as Joe Devlin, was an Irish journalist and influential nationalist politician...
1921–1934
- Thomas Joseph Campbell
Thomas Joseph Campbell , known as T. J. Campbell, was an Irish nationalist newspaper editor, politician and judge.Brought up as a Roman Catholic in Belfast, Campbell studied at St Malachy's College and the Royal University of Ireland. In 1895, he began editing the Irish News, a local nationalist...
1934–1946
- James McSparran
James McSparran QC , was an Irish nationalist politician.McSparran was born in Glasgow to an Irish family He studied at St Mungo's Academy, Glasgow, then St Malachy's College in Belfast, Queen's University of Belfast, and the National University of Ireland.McSparran was appointed to the Irish Bar...
1946–1953
- Eddie McAteer
Eddie McAteer was an nationalist politician in Northern Ireland.Born in Coatbridge, Scotland, McAteer's family moved to Derry in Northern Ireland while he was young. In 1930 he joined the Inland Revenue, where he worked until 1944. He then became an accountant and more actively involved in politics...
1953–1959
- Cahir Healy
Cahir Healy was an Irish politician.Born in Mountcharles in County Donegal, he became a journalist working on various local papers. He joined Sinn Féin on its foundation in 1905. He later campaigned against the inclusion of County Fermanagh and County Tyrone in Northern Ireland, arguing that they...
1959–1965
- Eddie McAteer
Eddie McAteer was an nationalist politician in Northern Ireland.Born in Coatbridge, Scotland, McAteer's family moved to Derry in Northern Ireland while he was young. In 1930 he joined the Inland Revenue, where he worked until 1944. He then became an accountant and more actively involved in politics...
1965–1973
- Fergus McAteer
Fergus McAteer is an accountant and former politician in Northern Ireland.The son of Nationalist Party leader Eddie McAteer, Fergus was active in the civil rights movement of the late 1960s. He was arrested during the events of Bloody Sunday and charged with throwing stones, but the charges were...
1973–1977
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