In Dublin in 1885, the Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union, renamed the Irish Unionist Party in 1896, was formed. At the time, there was great political unrest within Ireland, with some of the nation enthusiastically backing the Irish Home Rule Movement, which sought out Ireland’s independent sovereignty and self-government, detached from the United Kingdom, and the rest of the nation wishing to continue the union between Ireland and Great Britain. The Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union (ILPU) wished to maintain relations between Great Britain and Ireland, and rallied much support, resulting in loyalists winning 54 seats in the Irish election of 1885. There were several reasons for the support of unionism, as it benefitted many groups and individuals, such as business owners, landowners and many protestants.
One main appeal of the ILPU, and the reason many people opposed Home Rule, was the economy. Under the union between Ireland and Great Britain, Belfast alone grew from 20,000 to 349,000 people in just 100 years, and Ireland witnessed a great boom in industry, with employment in engineering and many other fields rising significantly. This led to Ireland’s economy flourishing, and as a result many people linked Ireland’s prosperity with the union, as Great Britain at the time was undergoing an industrial revolution. Not only did the economy as a whole improve, but many individuals saw an increase in wealth due to land ownership, which became a large part of income for many individuals, specifically protestants. To the rest of the world, Ireland was the prime example of the gain a country could get under the British empire, and to many, this was reason enough to oppose Home Rule, as they feared without the aid of Great Britain, Ireland’s economy would rapidly deplete. This was amplified by the fact that the union offered several amenities to Ireland, such as free trade.
The campaign led by the ILPU and other unionists to go against Home Rule and rally support for the union consisted of several different tactics such as riots, meetings and advertisements using pamphlets and leaflets that were distributed to the public. One notable set of riots took place in the summer of 1886, which ended with the death of 32 people, and 422 arrests. The majority of riots and conflicts surrounding the union had the involvement of both Catholics and Protestants, as at the time there was a large degree of religious tension between the two groups. This was amplified by the fact that unionism was often associated with Protestantism, resulting in many Catholics opposing the union and therefore becoming involved with political conflicts such as the conservative pro-union riots. The campaign was also aided by the fact many people in Britain backed the union, notably key political groups, such as the Conservative Party, which in 1885, had 247 seats in the British Parliament. These methods of campaigning gained the unionist movement, and eventually the ILPU, lots of popularity within Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom, and therefore preserved a united Ireland until 1921, and involvement in the commonwealth until 1949.
However, despite gaining a lot of popularity, the ILPU also faced a lot of opposition. This mainly came from Catholics and working-class individuals, who resented the Protestant-lead land ownership system because the price of rent rose, and landlords exploited their tenants at this time, despite the Land Act of 1881 which sought to protect tenants. Due to the amount of religious tension, Catholics tended to oppose unionism, as it was typically equated with Protestants, and therefore for a matter of principle, Catholics generally opposed movements that supported and aided Protestantism. Another key reason many people opposed the union and consequently the ILPU, was because they believed Great Britain should not have sovereignty over Ireland, as they believed in the importance of Irish independence. This belief in independence was intensified by the example of the USA and France, as their fights for independence in 1783 and 1789 respectively acted as testament that British sovereignty was not needed for a country to prosper.
Overall, the Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union was a relatively successful movement, which campaigned for the preservation of union and relations between Great Britain and Ireland, as it gained lots of support throughout the United Kingdom and utilised political techniques, such as riots, to increase popularity. However, the ILPU was just delaying the inevitable, as religious tensions divided the country, making it impossible for Ireland to stay one nation, as the Catholic majority in what is now the Republic of Ireland strongly opposed this. The problems within Ireland that flourished under the Union, such as land ownership and education problems, were also too large to ignore, and simply increased public resentment, slowly diminishing the efforts of the ILPU, and later Irish Unionist Party.
By Katie P
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