Irish House of Commons
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- For the other body sometimes called the "Irish House of Commons", see House of Commons of Southern Ireland.
The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland, that existed from mediæval times until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a very restrictive franchise. Most notably, Roman Catholics were disqualified from sitting in the Irish parliament, even though they comprised the vast majority of the Irish population. From about 1716 until 1793, they were also disfranchised.
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.
[edit] 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."
[edit] Speakers (1689-1800)
- 1557, 1560 & 1568: James Stanyhurst
- 1661-????: Sir John Temple
- 1689-1692: Sir Richard Nagle
- 1692-1695: Sir Robert Levinge
- 1695-1703: Robert Rochfort
- 1703-1710: Alan Brodrick
- 1710-1713: John Foster
- 1713-1715: Alan Brodrick
- 1715-1729: William Conolly
- 1729-1733: Sir Ralph Gore
- 1733-1756: Henry Boyle
- 1756-1771: John Ponsonby
- 1771-1785: Edmund Sexton Perry
- 1785-1800: John Foster
[edit] 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.
[edit] Sessions
[edit] Parliaments of Henry VIII
[edit] Parliament 1536-1537
[edit] Parliament 1541-1543
- Trim Session 1542
[edit] Parliaments of Elizabeth I
| 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:
- Sir Richard Bingham
- Sir Warham St. Ledger
[edit] Parliaments of James I
| Number | Opened | Dismissed | Speaker | Sessions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ? | 18 May 1613 | 24 October 1615 | ? |
Members:
- Sir John Davies
- Sir John Everard, (Catholic d. 1624)
- Sir James Gough, Waterford
[edit] Parliaments of Charles I
| Number | Opened | Dismissed | Speaker | Sessions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 July 1634 | 18 April 1635 | ? |
Members:
- Patrick Darcy
- Sir Edward Fitzharris
- Maurice Fitzgerald
- Sir Henry Lynch
- Sir Thomas Luttrell
- Richard Martin
- Nicholas Plunkett
- Sir William Sarsfield
- Sir Nicholas White
| 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, Cathoic
- 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
[edit] Parliament of Charles II
| Number | Opened | Dismissed | Speaker | Sessions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 May 1661 | 7 August 1666 | ? |
Members:
- Nicholas Plunkett, Meath
- Sir Audley Mervyn, Tyrone
- Sir Maurice Eustace, Speaker
[edit] Parliaments of James II
| Number | Opened | Dismissed | Speaker | Sessions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 May 1689 | 20 July 1689 | ? |
Members:
[edit] Parliaments of William II and Mary II
| 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:
| Number | Opened | Dismissed | Speaker | Sessions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 21 September 1703 | 6 May 1713 | Alan Brodrick | 6 |
Members:
- Thomas Beecher
- Francis Bernard
- Henry Boyle
- Alan Brodrick, Whig, Speaker
- Thomas Brodrick
- Sir Toby Butler
- Percy Freke
- Francis Langston
- Sir John Perceval
- Edward Riggs
- Henry Tenison, Tory
| Number | Opened | Dismissed | Speaker | Sessions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 25 November 1713 | 1 August 1714 on death of Queen Anne | Alan Brodrick | 1 |
Members:
- Alan Brodrick, Whig, Speaker
- Richard Barry
- Michael Beecher
- Arthur Bernard
- Francis Bernard
- SirJohn Perceval
[edit] Parliament of George I
| Number | Opened | Dismissed | Speaker | Sessions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 November 1715 | 11 June 1727 | William Conolly | 6 |
Members:
