Ireland Under the Union 1800–1900

What Ireland Under the Union 1800–1900 covers

Ireland Under the Union 1800–1900 is examined in A2 1, Change Over Time — the option chosen from five. A student taking this option may not also take AS 2 Option 3: Ireland 1823–67. It covers the Protestant ascendancy and the supporters of the Union, the power of the Irish landlord, the decline of the landlords and the land legislation from 1870, industrialisation in Ulster across the century, Ulster and Southern unionism from 1885, the Protestant Churches and support for the Union, the Catholic Church and the growth of nationalism, constitutional nationalism from Grattan to Emancipation, O'Connell after 1829: reform, repeal and the limits of moral force, Butt, Parnell and the Irish Parliamentary Party, Davitt, the Land League and the New Departure, revolutionary nationalism 1803–67 compared, cultural nationalism from Davis to the Gaelic Revival, the British government's response 1800–1900 and Ireland's social and economic transformation across the century.

The 15 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• The Protestant ascendancy and the supporters of the UnionWho supported the Union before 1885, the position of the Church of Ireland and the reasons the ascendancy declined after 1870.Open →
• The power of the Irish landlordThe scale of landownership, rents and tenure, the role of the agent, and the political and social influence a great estate carried.Open →
• The decline of the landlords and the land legislation from 1870Three Fs, congested Districts Board and constructive unionism.Open →
• Industrialisation in Ulster across the centuryLinen and shipbuilding in Belfast, the growth of the city and its population, and the economic case Ulster made against Home Rule.Open →
• Ulster and Southern unionism from 1885Motives of Southern Unionists and motives of Ulster Unionists.Open →
• The Protestant Churches and support for the UnionThe Church of Ireland, Presbyterian opinion before and after disestablishment, and the pulpit as a political platform.Open →
• The Catholic Church and the growth of nationalismThe Devotional Revolution and Cardinal Cullen, the Church's attitude to secret societies, and its part in Emancipation, Repeal and Home Rule.Open →
• Constitutional nationalism from Grattan to EmancipationGrattan's Parliament and its loss, the Catholic Committee and the Catholic Association, and the methods that carried Emancipation in 1829.Open →
• O'Connell after 1829: reform, repeal and the limits of moral forceThe Lichfield House Compact, the Repeal Association and the monster meetings, and why moral force could not deliver repeal.Open →
• Butt, Parnell and the Irish Parliamentary PartyHome Government and the Home Rule League, obstruction at Westminster, the New Departure and the party after the divorce case.Open →
• Davitt, the Land League and the New DepartureMichael Davitt's background, league's aims and new Departure.Open →
• Revolutionary nationalism 1803–67 comparedEmmet in 1803, Young Ireland in 1848 and the Fenians in 1867, their aims and methods and why each failed.Open →
• Cultural nationalism from Davis to the Gaelic RevivalThomas Davis and The Nation, the Gaelic Athletic Association, the Gaelic League and the National Literary Society.Open →
• The British government's response 1800–1900Consequences of that failure, long-term political consequence of the Famine for the Union and gladstone's principal Irish measures.Open →
• Ireland's social and economic transformation across the centurySocial structure of pre-Famine rural Ireland, essential causes of the Famine and demographic consequences of the Famine.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Ireland Under the Union 1800–1900 further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Southern Unionists vs Ulster Unionists

  Southern Unionists: a scattered propertied minority working through Westminster and the Lords. Ulster Unionists: a territorial community with industry, numbers and a mass organisation.

• The Land League vs The Irish National League

  The Land League: the agrarian body of 1879 suppressed in 1881. The Irish National League: the party machine of 1882 that put Home Rule above the land question.

• The New Departure vs The Kilmainham Treaty

  The New Departure: the understanding that brought revolutionary support to constitutional politics. The Kilmainham Treaty: the bargain that ended the agitation in return for an arrears settlement.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What is meant by the Protestant ascendancy?

   Model answer

   The Protestant ascendancy was the Anglican landed and professional class that had monopolised political power, land and office before 1800 and that continued after the Union to hold the estates, the magistracy, county government, Trinity College and the established church.

2. 2

   How did Protestant attitudes to the Union change between 1800 and the 1830s?

   Model answer

   Protestant opinion was deeply divided in 1800, with much of the Ascendancy opposing a measure that abolished their own parliament, but once Emancipation and O'Connell's mass movement appeared the same class came to regard the Union as the only guarantee of their position.

3. 3

   Which groups supported the Union in the middle decades of the century?

   Model answer

   Support came from the landed proprietors, the Church of Ireland, the Orange Order and popular Protestantism, the northern manufacturers, and increasingly from Presbyterians who had once been the most radical part of the population.

4. 4

   Why did Ulster Presbyterians move from radicalism towards unionism over the century?

   Model answer

   Presbyterians gained legal equality and the increased regium donum, prospered in Belfast's industrial economy, were drawn together by the evangelical revival, and came to see O'Connell's movement as Catholic in character rather than as the reform they had wanted in 1798.

5. 5

   Who was Henry Cooke, and why does he matter to the development of unionism?

   Model answer

   Henry Cooke was the dominant figure in conservative Presbyterianism, who allied his church with the Church of Ireland and with Toryism at the Hillsborough demonstration of 1834 and publicly challenged O'Connell when he came to Belfast in 1841.

6. 6

   How was county government in Ireland controlled before 1898?

   Model answer

   Counties were run by grand juries of unelected landowners, who levied the county cess and controlled roads, bridges and much local expenditure, so landed Protestants governed localities in which they were often a small minority.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Ireland Under the Union 1800–1900 revision questions

What does Ireland Under the Union 1800–1900 cover in CCEA A-Level History?

15 subtopics: the protestant ascendancy and the supporters of the union, the power of the irish landlord, the decline of the landlords and the land legislation from 1870, industrialisation in ulster across the century, ulster and southern unionism from 1885, the protestant churches and support for the union, the catholic church and the growth of nationalism, constitutional nationalism from grattan to emancipation, o'connell after 1829: reform, repeal and the limits of moral force, butt, parnell and the irish parliamentary party, davitt, the land league and the new departure, revolutionary nationalism 1803–67 compared, cultural nationalism from davis to the gaelic revival, the british government's response 1800–1900 and ireland's social and economic transformation across the century. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Ireland Under the Union 1800–1900 organised?

By the CCEA 4010 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.