Ireland History

Above: Mrs. PArnell

In 1838, the Rev. Theobald Mathew, a young priest belonging to the order of Capuchin Friars, joined a Temperance Society that had been started in Cork, by some Protestant gentlemen, chiefly Quakers. He took the total abstinence pledge, and soon became the leading spirit in the society. From that time forth he devoted himself almost, exclusively to the cause of Temperance, going all through Ireland, preaching to immense congregations, and administering the total abstinence pledge to vast numbers of people of all religious denominations. A wonderful change soon came over the country; for drunkenness with its attendant evils and miseries almost disappeared. The good effects were long felt, and arc to some extent felt still. For though the practice of drinking did in some measure return, it was not nearly so general as formerly; and drunkenness, which before Father Mathew’s time was always looked upon with a certain degree of indulgence, and by some was considered a thing to boast of, is now universally regarded as discreditable. Through the earnest exertions of individuals and societies all over the country, the cause of Temperance has been lately making great advances, and on all hands it is admitted that the evil of drink is gradually but surely growing less and less as years go by.

O’Connell and other Irish leaders had all along hoped to have the Act of Union repealed, that is, to get back for Ireland Grattan’s parliament, with all its independence and all its privileges. But the struggle for Emancipation absorbed so much of their energies that for about thirty years after the Repeal agitation was started in 1810, it was carried on only in a faint sort of way. In 1840 it was vigorously renewed, when O’Connell founded the Repeal Association: and in 1843 he began to hold great public meetings in favor of Repeal, at which vast numbers of the people attended, eager to support the movement, and to hear his magnificent addresses. At one meeting held on the hill of Tara, the ancient seat of the Irish kings, it was computed that a quarter of a million of people were present. About thirty of these meetings-” Monster Meetings ” as they came to be called-were held during 1843. At last the Government took action, and “proclaimed,” i.e. forbade, the meeting that was arranged to be held at Clontarf on the 8th October. After this O’Connell and several others were arrested, tried, and convicted. But when they had spent three months in prison, they had to be released in September 1843 : because the House of Lords, before whom O’Connell brought the case, decided that the trial was not. a fair one, inasmuch as the government had selected a one- sided jury. It may be said that this ended the agitation for Repeal.

In those days almost the whole population of Ireland subsisted on the potato. But in 1845 and 1846 the potato crop failed, and there was a great famine, the most calamitous the country had ever experienced. In 1846 and 1847 the people died by hundreds of thousands of starvation and fever. The preventive measures taken by Government, in the shape of public works, were quite inadequate : but the English people individually made noble efforts to save the starving peasantry; and money in enormous amounts came pouring in. One sad feature of this great national catastrophe was that in each of those two years Ireland produced quite enough of corn to iced the people of the whole country; but day after day it was exported in leader of modern tunes after O’Connell. He was a great leader of men, and by him the members of the Party were held together in a manner never equaled, so that they acted and voted as one man. The land agitation became daily more intense and violent, and boycotting was very generally brought into play against those who resisted or opposed the movement. An attempt was made to put down the whole agitation by a Coercion Act passed at the instance of Mr. Forster, chief secretary for Ireland, giving the authorities power to arrest and keep in prison, without trial, all persons ” reasonably suspected ” of breaking the law. During the passing of this bill, Parnell and another Irish member, Joseph Biggar, obstructed and delayed the proceedings in every possible way, by taking advantage of the rules of the House of Commons, but not breaking them. In spite of all they could do, however, the bill was passed (1881).

Posted on January 21st, 2008 under Irish Modern Era. Tags: bill, death, forster, ireland, o'connel', rev. theobald matthew. RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback.