Irish House of Commons

The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800.  The upper house was the House of Lords.  The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive franchise, similar to the Unreformed House of Commons in contemporary England and Great Britain.  In counties, forty-shilling freeholders were enfranchised whilst in most boroughs it was either only the members of self-electing corporations or a highly-restricted body of freemen that were able to vote for the borough's representatives.  Most notably, Catholics were disqualified from sitting in the Irish parliament from 1691, even though they comprised the vast majority of the Irish population.  From 1728 until 1793 they were also disfranchised.  Most of the population of all religions had no vote.  The vast majority of parliamentary boroughs were pocket boroughs, the private property of an aristocratic patron.  When these boroughs were disfranchised under the Act of Union, the patron was awarded £15,000 compensation for each. 

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.  The House of Commons was abolished when the Irish parliament merged with its British counterpart in 1801 under the Act of Union, forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.  The House sat for the last time in Parliament House, Dublin on 2 August 1800. 

Speaker of the Commons

The Speaker of the Irish House of Commons was the presiding officer of the House and its most senior official.  The position was one of considerable power and prestige, and in the absence of a government chosen from and answerable to the Commons, he was the dominant political figure in the Parliament.  The last Speaker was John Foster. 

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. 

Notes

Sessions

Parliaments of Edward III
Parliament of 1374
William de Karlell,  Kilkenny
John de Karlell,  Kilkenny
Sir Richard Plunkett, Meath

Parliament of 1375
Sir Richard Plunkett, Meath
Henry Mitchell
John Tirel

Parliaments of Richard II

Parliament of 1380
Sir Richard Plunkett
John Tirel

Parliaments of Henry VI

Parliament of 1429
Sir Richard FitzEustace, Kildare

Parliament of 1450
John Chevir, Kilkenny, Speaker

Parliaments of Henry VIII

Parliament 1516

Parliament 1521–22

Parliament 1531

Parliament 1533

Parliament 1536–37
Members
Patrick Barnewall
Sir William Brabazon

Parliament 1541–43
First session held at    Dublin 13 June to 20 or 23 July 1541, 7 November 1541, 22 December 1541
Second session held at  Limerick 15 February to 7 or 10 March 1542
Third session held at  Trim  June 1542
Dissolved 19 November 1543

Speaker:  Sir Thomas Cusack

Parliament of Mary I

Parliaments of Elizabeth I

Members:
 Sir Edmond Butler
 Sir Thomas Cusack, Athenry
 Sir Christopher Barnewall, Dublin County
 James Stanyhurst, Speaker
Sir Lucas Dillon, Meath
Sir John Alan,  Kinsale
Francis Agard, Kinsale
John Parker, Trim
Sir Henry Radclyffe, Carlingford
 John Walsh, Youghal
John Portyngall, Youghal
Richmond Archbold, Cross Tipperary
Edmund Prendergast, Cross Tipperary
Nicholas White, County Kilkenny
Henry Draycott, Naas
John Meade, Cork City
Humphrey Warren, Carrickfergus
Barnaby Fitzpatrick later 2nd Baron Upper Ossory

Members:
List of Irish MPs 1585–86

Parliaments of James I

Members

Parliaments of Charles I

Parliament of 1634–35

Members

Parliament of 1639–49

Members:
List of Irish MPs 1639–49

Parliament of Charles II

Members:
List of Irish MPs 1661–66

Members:
 St. John Broderick
 Randolph Clayton
 Sir John Cole, 1st Baronet
 Sir Michael Cole
 Sir Robert Cole
 Sir Arthur Gore, 1st Baronet, Mayo
 Matthew Harrison
 Sir Robert King, 1st Baronet, Ballyshannon
 John Blennerhassett
 Robert Blennerhassett
 Richard Southwell, Askeaton
 Sir Richard Bulkeley, 1st Baronet, Baltinglass
 Sir Arthur Chichester
 Sir Thomas Bramhall
 Nicholas Ward, Downpatrick
Sir Edward Dering, 2nd Baronet, Lismore
Moses Hill, Drogheda
Sir Robert Reading, Ratoath
Sir William Flower, St. Canice
Oliver Wheeler, St. Canice
Daniel Redman, County Kilkenny
John Chambers, Ardee
John Ruxton, Ardee
Francis Harvey, Clonmines
John Povey, Swords
Sir Edward Smith, Lisburn
Sir John Lyndon, Carrickfergus
Robert Shapcote Wicklow Borough

Parliaments of James II

Members:

Parliaments of William III and Mary II

Members:
List of Irish MPs 1692–93

Members:
List of Irish MPs 1695–99

Parliaments of Anne

Members:
List of Irish MPs 1703–13

Members:
List of Irish MPs 1713–14

Parliament of George I

Members:
List of Irish MPs 1715–27

Parliament of George II

Members:
List of Irish MPs 1727–60

Members: (elected 1727)
 St John Brodrick
Henry Boyle
Sir Richard Cox, 2nd baronet
Sir Matthew Deane, 3rd Baronet
Charles Viscount Dungarvan
Anthony Malone, Westmeath (married Speaker Ralph Gore's daughter),
Thomas Carter
Luke Gardiner, Tralee Thomastown to 1755
Sir Arthur Acheson, 5th Baronet, for Mullingar
Edward Lovett Pearce
Robert Marshall
Eaton Stannard

Members: (elected 1728/29)

Members: (elected 1739)
John Ponsonby

Members: (in 1747)
Henry Gore, Tulsk
Frederick Gore, Killybegs
Sir Ralph Gore, Donegal County
Arthur Hyde
John Macarell, Carlingford
Henry Mitchell, Castlebar

Members: (elected 1751/1752)
Thomas Newenham, Cork
Sir Richard Cox, Cork
Cosby Nesbitt, Cavan
Frederick Gore, Killybegs
Henry Gore, Tulsk
Sir Ralph Gore, Donegal County
John Macarell, Carlingford
Henry Mitchell, Castlebar

Members: (elected 1753/1754)
Francis Pierpoint Burton, Killybegs
Robert Fitzgerald, Kerry
Henry Gore, Tulsk
Frederick Gore, Killybegs
Sir Ralph Gore, Donegal County
John Macarell, Carlingford
Henry Mitchell, Castlebar
Cosby Nesbitt, Cavan County
Mervyn Archdall
William Brownlow, Armagh, Independent
Francis Pierpoint Burton, Killybegs
Charles Viscount Dungarvan
Robert French
John Gore
Henry Gore, Tulsk
Frederick Gore, Killybegs
Sir Ralph Gore, Donegal County
Anthony Malone
John Macarell, Carlingford
Henry Mitchell, Castlebar
Edmund Pery, Independent
John Ponsonby
Abel Ram (Committee of Commons unseated Robert Leigh), Wexford

Members:
Sir Archibold Acheson
John Bowes
Benjamin Burton
Sir Charles Burton, Dublin
Francis Pierpoint Burton, Killybegs
Nathaniel Clements
Cunninghame
James Dunn, Dublin
Sir William Fownes
John Gore
Henry Gore
Frederick Gore
John Hely-Hutchinson, Cork
Henry Lyons
Anthony Malone
Cosby Nesbitt, Cavan County
Charles O'Hara
Edmond Pery, Independent
Sir Thomas Prendergast
Stone
Philip Tisdall

Parliaments of George III

Members:
List of Irish MPs 1761–68

Members:
List of Irish MPs 1769–76

Grattan's Parliament

Members:
List of Irish MPs 1776–83

Members:List of Irish MPs 1783–90

Members:
List of Irish MPs 1790–97

Members:List of Irish MPs 1798–1800

Means of resignation
Until 1793 members could not resign their seats.  They could cease to be a member of the House only by one of four ways:
 death
 expulsion
 taking Holy Orders
 being awarded a peerage and so a seat in the Irish House of Lords. 

In 1793 a methodology for resignation was created, equivalent to the Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds or the Manor of Northstead as a means of resignation from the British House of Commons.  From that date, Irish members could be appointed to the Escheatorship of Munster, the Escheatorship of Leinster, the Escheatorship of Connaught or the Escheatorship of Ulster.  Possession of one of these Crown offices, "office of profit under the Crown" with a 30-shilling salary, terminated one's membership of the House of Commons. 

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 I at Waterloo, and served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.  He represented his family borough of Trim, County Meath from 1790–98. 
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: 1705–77 Government and Treasury Official, Managed extensive financial functions from 1720–77 on behalf of the Government, de facto Minister for Finance 1740–77, 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". 

See also
History of Ireland
Parliament of Ireland
List of UK Parliamentary constituencies in Ireland 1801–1832

References

Sources
 Charles Ivar McGrath, The making of the 18th century Irish Constitution; Government, Parliament and the Revenue, 1692-1714, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2000, 
 Eoin Magennis, The Irish Political System 1740-1765, Doublin: Four Courts Press, 2000, 
 Moody/Vaughan, A new history of Ireland, Oxford, 1986,  and 
 Mary Frances Cusack, Illustrated History of Ireland, Project Gutenberg

External links
 Members Name Search (Commons and Lords, 1692–1800) Irish Legislation Database, Queen's University Belfast
  History of the Irish Parliament: Constituencies Ulster Historical Foundation
 Journals of the House of Commons of Ireland (proceedings from 1613)
 Index page for 14 volumes at HathiTrust
 large (~1 GB) PDF scans of 21 volumes from Oireachtas library) Index Vol.1 Index Vol.2 Vol.2 Vol.3 Vol.4 Vol.5 Vol.6 Vol.7 Vol.8 Vol.9 Vol.10 Vol.11 Vol.12 Vol.13 Vol.14 Vol.15 Vol.16 Vol.17 Vol.17 (Appendix) Vol.18 Vol.19 Vol.19 (Appendix)

 
Commons
Category:Defunct lower houses