United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
This article is about the historical state called the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801–1927). For information about its modern successor states, see the main articles: United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland.For other meanings of the terms "United Kingdom" and "UK" , see United Kingdom (disambiguation) and UK (disambiguation); for other uses of "Ireland", see Ireland (disambiguation).For an explanation of terms like England, (
Great)
Britain and United Kingdom
see British Isles (terminology).The
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was created on
1 January 1801 (first day of
19th century) by the merger of the
Kingdom of Great Britain (itself a merger of the former Kingdoms of
Scotland and
England in 1707) and the
Kingdom of Ireland. It ended upon
Irish independence on
6 December,
1922 when the
Anglo-Irish Treaty created the
Irish Free State.
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The first king of the new United Kingdom, King George III
His decision to block Catholic Emancipation seriously undermined Irish support for the Act of Union. |
The merger followed the
Irish Rebellion of 1798 and the crisis over the mental health of King
George III, given that both separate kingdoms could in theory appoint different
regents. The union was enacted by means of the
Act of Union, passed by both the
Irish Parliament and the
British Parliament. The
British government controversially awarded gifts of titles, land and money to
Irish Members of Parliament to encourage their support for the merger, since most of them had previously been against union. Some saw this as offering compensation for the loss of status through loss of seats that this would bring (many of the seats represented
rotten boroughs and were seen as the "property" of families and of financial benefit). Most outside the Irish parliament, and most historians subsequently, saw it as blatant
bribery to achieve something that could not be achieved by normal means.
Under the terms of the merger, the Irish Parliament was abolished, and Ireland was to be represented in the united parliament, meeting in the
Palace of Westminster. Part of the trade-off for Irish Catholics was to be the granting of
Catholic Emancipation, which had been fiercely resisted by the all-
Anglican Irish Parliament. However, this was blocked by
King George III who argued that emancipating Roman Catholics would breach his
Coronation Oath.
|
Daniel O'Connell, MP
Leading Irish Nationalist politician in first half of the 19th century |
The Act of Union was initially seen favourably in Ireland, given that the old Irish parliament was seen as hostile to the majority Catholic population, some of whose members had only been given the vote as late as 1794 and who were legally debarred from election to the body. The
Roman Catholic hierarchy endorsed the Union. However King George III's decision to block Catholic Emancipation fatally undermined the appeal of the Union. Leaders like
Henry Grattan who sat in the new parliament, having been leading members of the old one, were bitterly critical.
The eventual achievement of
Catholic Emancipation in 1829, following a campaign by
Daniel O'Connell, who had won election to Westminster and who could not for religious beliefs take the
Oath of Supremacy, removed the main negative that had undermined the appeal of the old parliament, the exclusion of Catholics. From 1829 on a demand grew again for a native Irish parliament separate from Westminster. However, his campaign to repeal the Act of Union ultimately failed.
Later leaders, such as
Charles Stewart Parnell, campaigned for a version of Irish self-government called
Home Rule within the United Kingdom, which was nearly achieved in the 1880s under the (British) ministry of
William Ewart Gladstone. However, the measure was defeated in Parliament, and following the ascension of the
Conservatives to the majority, the issue was buried as long as that party was in power. The constant delaying of Home Rule created the frustration that eventually led to political violence and independence.
In 1919,
Sinn Féin MPs elected to Westminster formed a unilaterally independent Irish parliament in
Dublin,
Dáil Éireann with an executive under the
President of Dáil Éireann,
Éamon de Valera. A
War of Independence was fought between 1919 and 1921. During that war, on
23 December 1920, the British government unilaterally rushed through the act of parliament which partitioned Ireland, the
Government of Ireland Act 1920. Finally on 6 December 1922, twenty-six of Ireland's counties seceded from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and formed the independent
Irish Free State. Six counties, called
Northern Ireland, remained in the United Kingdom.
Thereafter, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland continued in name until 1927 when it was renamed as the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in accordance with the
Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927.
Despite having complete political independence from each other since 1922, the union left the two countries intertwined with each other in many respects. Due to ongoing disputes, people in Northern Ireland now have de facto
dual nationality. They can apply for and travel under either Irish or British passports.
Ireland used the
Irish Pound from 1928 until 2001 when it was replaced by the
Euro. Until it joined the
ERM in 1979, the Irish pound was
directly linked to the
Pound Sterling.
Decimalisation of both currencies occurred simultaneously on
Decimal Day in 1971. Coins of equivalent value had the same dimensions and size until the introduction of the
British Twenty Pence coin in 1982.
|
The new boundaries
In 1922 twenty six Irish counties left the United Kingdom. Just six counties remained in the new United Kingdom. Its name was changed to reflect this change in 1927. |
Though the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland came to an end in 1922, the monarch continued to use the title of
King or
Queen of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until 1927. Then, under the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927, new titles were introduced for the British monarch so that he would reign as '
King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland', in Britain, and '
King of Ireland', in Ireland.
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George III (
1801–1820)
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George IV (1820–1830)
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William IV (1830–1837)
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Victoria (1837–1901)
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Edward VII (1901–1910)
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George V (1910–1922/
1927)
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History of Ireland (1801-1922)*
History of the United Kingdom*
British History Online
