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Government policy and the Irish party crisis, 1890–921

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2016

L.P. Curtis Jr
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Extract

Captain O’Shea’s successful divorce petition in November 1890 not only set in motion the forces which shattered the unity of Parnell’s party but also extricated the Salisbury ministry from a position of acute discomfort. Among unionists of all political complexions there was profound relief when news of dissension over the divorce and its aftermath first leaked out of Committee Room 15. Government supporters, already chagrined by Parnell’s triumphant emergence from the ordeal of the special commission, had expected a lengthy and inconclusive hearing in the divorce court. Not even in their fondest dreams did they imagine that the Irish leader would refuse to defend the suit or that the reaction of the Liberal leaders would imperil the ‘union of hearts’. Lord Cranbrook expressed the joy and hopes of his cabinet colleagues when he wrote in his diary on November 27: ‘Consternation prevails among the separatists. Can we get the advantage of the confusion to pass our measures?’ The answer to this question was in the affirmative. Much of the opposition to the Irish land purchase bill disappeared overnight, and parliament adjourned for the holidays on December 9 after a brief session which was notable for the absence of obstruction. O’Shea’s handiwork and Gladstone’s sensitivity to nonconformist opinion thus combined to give the government a new lease of life.

Type
Research Article
Information
Irish Historical Studies , Volume 13 , Issue 52 , September 1963 , pp. 295 - 315
Copyright
Copyright © Irish Historical Studies Publications Ltd 1963

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Footnotes

1

The following account is based on three main manuscript sources: the Balfour Papers, British Museum (Add. MSS 49683-49962); the Crimes Records, State Paper Office, Dublin Castle (S.P.O.I.); and the Salisbury Papers, Christ Church, Oxford.

References

2 Hardy, Gathorne, First earl of Cranbrook: a memoir (1910), ii. 321-2Google Scholar.

3 The Land Purchase (Ireland) Bill and the tithes bill were postponed until the next session, while the local taxation bill aroused hostility on both sides of the house (Annual Register 1890, pp. 147-70).

4 See The Times, 17-19 Nov. 1890.

5 Thus Lord Cranbrook observed: ‘ I hope our people will let the stew alone, and not stir it. It will last the longer if they do.’ ( Hardy, Gathorne, op. cit., ii. 322 Google Scholar.)

6 Initially, W.H. Smith also favoured this course, writing toAkers-Douglas before the Kilkenny election: ‘ Is it sound policy torun a unionist as against the Parnellite and his anti-Parnellite competitor? I rather incline to the view that we ought to try our strength if we have any.’ (Viscount Chilston, Chief whip (1961), p. 202.)

7 Balfour to Ridgeway, 27 Nov. 1890; Balfour to Col. A.E. Turner, 1 Dec. 1890 (Add. MS 49829); Dugdale, B., Arthur James Balfour (1936), i. 183-4Google Scholar.

8 Ridgeway to Balfour, 29 Nov. 1890 (Add. MS 49811).

9 To fill the vacancy created by the death of E.P.M. Marum on 21 Sept. 1890. For a detailed account of the Kilkenny election, see F.S.L. Lyons, The fall of Parnell (1960), pp. 159-77.

10 Pope-Hennessy at one time called himself a catholic conservative; while Scully, a J.P. and D.L. for co. Tipperary, , had been educated at Christ Church Oxford (B.A. 1869)Google Scholar.

11 Healy, T.M., Letters and leaders of my day (New York, 1929), i. 341-2Google Scholar.

12 The Times, 9-10 Dec. 1890. In 1885 the conservative candidate at Kilkenny had polled 324 votes.

13 Cecil, Lady Gwendolen, Life of Robert, marquis of Salisbury (1932),iv. 398-9Google Scholar.

14 Balfour to Ridgeway, 10 Dec 1890 (Add. MS 49829).

15 Ridgeway to Balfour, 10, 11 Dec. 1890. (ibid. 49811).

16 The Times, 13, 15 Dec. 1890.

17 ibid., 19 Dec. 1890.

18 Cardinal Manning was among those who wished just this result. See P.J. Walsh, William J. Walsh, archbishop of Dublin (1928), pp. 409-24. See also Lyons, op. cit., 172-7 and O’Brien, R.B., The life of Charles Stewart Parnell (1899), ii. 299–306 Google Scholar.

19 Morley, J., The life of William Ewart Gladstone (1903), iii. 453-7Google Scholar.

20 For details of the Boulogne negotiations, see Lyons, op. cit., ch. 8-9. Through the Special Crime Branch of the R.I.C. the administration knew only that these talks had reached a deadlock. See S.P.O.I. reports of District Inspector Crime Special (D.I.C.S.)Crane, 5 Jan., 2 Feb., 1891.

21 The anti-Parnellite member, Peter Macdonald, died on March 13, having sat for North Sligo since 1885 (The Times, 14 Mar. 1891).

22 Ibid. 24 Mar. 1891.

23 Ridgeway to Balfour, 25, 26 Mar. 1891 (Add. MS 49811).

24 Balfour to W. Russell Fenton, 23 Mar. 1891; Balfour to Salisbury, 23 Mar. 1891; Balfour to Ridgeway, 25 Mar. 1891 (ibid., 49829).

25 Freeman’s Journal, 3 Apr. 1891; The Times, 1-4 Apr. 1891; Ridgeway to Balfour, 10 Apr. 1891 (BM., Add. MS 49812). In 1892 the conservative candidate polled 958 votes in Sligo.

26 Lyons, op. cit., p. 265.

27 Ridgeway to Balfour, 13 July 1891 (Add. MS 49812). Questionswere asked in the commons about the size of the illiterate vote at Sligo, and several unionist members attacked the practice of using priests as personation agents (Hansard, 3rd series, v. 352, 370-2).

28 Balfour to Ridgeway, 18 Apr. 1891 (Add. MS 49829). For Parnell’s rebuttal, see Hansard, 3rd series, v. 352, 840-4.

29 Ridgeway to Balfour, 14, 15 May 1891 (Add. MS 49812). Theamalgamation did not take place until 1892 and only after a long dispute between the editors and directors of the two papers. See Healy, op. cit., ii. 372-81.

30 The vacancy at Carlow was created by the death in June of the O’Gorman Mahon who had been absent from Committee Room 15 but later repudiated Parnell.

31 S.P.O.I., D.I.C.S. Crane, 4 July 1891. In 1885 the conservative candidate had received 751 votes.

32 The figures were: Hammond 3,755 votes, Kettle 1,539. The Times called the result a triumph for the Irish priesthood which had always detested the ‘National movement’ (The Times, 9 July 1891).

33 Ridgeway to Balfour, 9 July 1891 (Add. MS 49812).

34 Ridgeway to Balfour, 13 July 1891 (ibid.).

35 Balfour to Ridgeway, 13 July 1891 (ibid. 49830).

36 Ridgeway wanted to keep Dillon and O’Brien out of the political scene as long as possible by starting bankruptcy proceedings against them upon their release. Both men had forfeited their recognizances in October, 1890 when they fled to France. See Ridgeway to Balfour, 11, 13 July 1891 (ibid. 49812).

37 See The Times, 21-29 Oct. 1891, and F.S.L. Lyons, The Irish parliamentary party, 1890-1910, pp. 30-4.

38 Ridgeway to Balfour, 10, 12, 13 Oct. 1891 (Add. MS 49812).

39 Quoted in Viscount Chilston (op. cit., p. 224).

40 Freeman’s Journal, 16 Oct. 1891.

41 Balfour to Ridgeway, 15 Oct. 1891 (Add. MS 49830). Ridgeway replied that the government’s greatest danger lay in the possibility that Healy might be murdered by the Parnellites: ‘ His life is very precious. So long as he lives, there will always be discord and bitterness.’ Ridgeway to Balfour, 19 Oct. 1891 (ibid. 49812).

42 Captain Dominick Ronayne Patrick Sarsfield of Doughcloyne, co. Cork; educated at Trinity College, Dublin, (B.A. 1851); high sheriff of Cork 1877-8; owned 1,518 acres; alleged grand master of the Cork Orange Lodge. Sarsfield’s nomination had been reported unofficially in the Irish press as early as October 19. See Freeman’s Journal, 19-27 Oct. 1891.

43 Balfour to S.K. McDonnell, 29 Oct. 1891 (Add. MS 49830).

44 Balfour to A. Akers-Douglas, 28 Oct. 1891 (ibid.). See also S. K. McDonnell to R.W.E. Middleton, 30 Oct. 1891 (Salisbury Papers).

45 Balfour to A.H. Smith-Barry, 30 Oct. 1891 (Add. MS 49830).

46 The Times, 28 Oct., 4 Nov. 1891.

47 Balfour to G.J. Goschen, Nov. n.d., 1891 (Add. MS 49830).

48 Freeman’s Journal,27-30 Oct. 1891.

49 Out of 10,267 registered voters, 3,669 voted for Flavin, 2,157 for Redmond, and 1,161 for Sarsfield. In 1885 the conservatives had polled some 1,400 votes.

50 The Times, 7-17 Nov. 1891. According to The Times’ Irish correspondent one priest boasted that the clergy ‘ had it in their power to “ return a broomstick for Cork ” ’.

51 Balfour to Lord Wolmer, 10 Nov. 1891 (Add. MS 49830).

52 The Times, 10 Nov. 1891. The Duke of Norfolk and other English Roman Catholics were much offended by the last part of this passage. For details see the author’s Coercion and conciliation in Ireland, 1880-92 (1963) pp. 325-7.

53 Ibid. 25 Nov. 1891.

54 See ibid. 29, 30 June, 7 July 1892.

55 S.P.O.I., D.I.C.S. Jones, 2 Nov. 1891.

56 Balfour to A. Akers-Douglas, 19 Jan. 1889 (Add. MS 49827). Balfour wanted to use conservative party funds to help the Irish unionists pay registration fees and other expenses. Failing such a subsidy, he expected ‘ serious disaster ’.

57 Balfour to Salisbury, 22 Nov. 1891 (Salisbury Papers).

58 ‘ They have been very much cowed, and have allowed the idea that their vote was useless as well as dangerous to themselves, toinduce them to remain at home.’ (Salisbury to C.N. Warton, 22 July 1892, ibid.)

59 Ridgeway to Balfour, 27 Apr. 1892 (Add. MS 49812).

60 Salisbury to Lord Denbigh, 5 Aug. 1892 (Salisbury Papers). Denbigh had served as aide-de-camp to Lord Londonderry during the latter’s Irish viceroyalty.