United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland - The Acts of Union

The Acts of Union

Despite being a kingdom in its own right, Ireland before 1801 did not have full sovereignty. The Kingdom of Ireland was a settler state, with the King of Ireland being the same person as the King of England (and, since the 1603 ascension of the Stewart dynasty, the King of Scotland). Its government was headed by a Lord Lieutenant and his Chief Secretary, who were responsible to the government of Great Britain rather than to the Parliament of Ireland. Before 1782 the Irish parliament was also severely fettered, and the Irish courts were subordinated to the jurisdiction of the British House of Lords in London.

Ireland gained a degree of independence in the 1780s thanks to Henry Grattan. During this time the effect of the penal laws on the majority Catholic population was reduced, and Catholics were given the vote in 1794; however, they were still excluded from becoming members of the Irish House of Commons. This brief period of limited independence came to an end following the Irish Rebellion of 1798; occurring during the British war with revolutionary France, the British government's fear of an independent Ireland siding against them with the French resulted in the decision to unite the two countries. This was brought about by legislation in the parliaments of both kingdoms, and came into effect on 1 January 1801.

The Irish had been led to believe by the British that their loss of legislative independence would be compensated for with Catholic Emancipation, i.e. by the removal of civil disabilities placed upon Roman Catholics in both Ireland and Great Britain. However, King George III was bitterly opposed to Catholic Emancipation, and blocked his government from introducing it into the Parliament of the United Kingdom. This meant that an initial popularity in Ireland for the union soon waned, with even Protestant leaders such as Grattan being critical.