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Ireland 1778–1803

The decline of the Volunteers by 1789

  • 3 things to know
  • A2 Unit 2

Overview

The reform conventions and their failure, the Catholic question as a source of division, and the withdrawal of gentry support.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

Why did the achievement of 1782 itself weaken the movement?

Numbers

How did the end of the American war affect the Volunteers?

Key term

How did the Irish House of Commons respond to Flood's reform bill in 1783?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    How did the argument between simple repeal and renunciation damage the Volunteers?

    Model answer

    The dispute set Grattan against Flood and split the movement between those who thought the constitutional question settled in 1782 and those who insisted it was not.

  2. 2

    Why did the achievement of 1782 itself weaken the movement?

    Model answer

    Free trade and legislative independence were the two aims that had held very different men together, and once both were won the Volunteers had no single object left to unite them.

  3. 3

    How did the end of the American war affect the Volunteers?

    Model answer

    Peace in 1783 removed the danger of French invasion that had justified arming in the first place, so the original purpose of the corps disappeared.

  4. 4

    What did the Volunteer Convention at the Rotunda in November 1783 demand?

    Model answer

    The convention, meeting in Dublin under Lord Charlemont, drew up a plan for a radical reform of parliamentary representation to break the control of boroughs by their patrons.

  5. 5

    How did the Irish House of Commons respond to Flood's reform bill in 1783?

    Model answer

    The Commons refused even to receive the bill, declaring that they would not legislate at the point of the bayonet for an armed body sitting outside parliament.

  6. 6

    Which question divided the Volunteers most bitterly after 1782?

    Model answer

    The question of admitting Catholics to the franchise divided them, with the Bishop of Derry in favour and Lord Charlemont and Flood firmly opposed.

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