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: 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, Roman 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 disenfranchised. Most of the population of all religions had no vote.
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 who, in the absence of a government chosen from and answerable to the Commons, was the dominant political figure in the parliament. The House of Commons was abolished when the Irish parliament merged with its British counterpart in 1801 under the Act of Union.
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 at Waterloo, and served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He represented his family borough of Trim, County Meath from 1790-1796.
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 , 1705-1777 Government and Treasury Official, Managed extensive financial functions from 1720 - 1777 on behalf of the Government, de facto Minister for Finance 1740 - 1777, 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."
Speakers (1689-1800)
1557, 1560 & 1568: James Stanyhurst
1661-?: Sir John Temple
1689-1692: Sir Richard Nagle
1692-1695: Sir Robert Levinge
1695-1703: Robert Rochfort
1703-1710: Alan Brodrick
1710-1713: John Forster
1713-1715: Alan Brodrick
1715-1729: William Conolly
1729-1733: Sir Ralph Gore
1733-1756: Henry Boyle
1756-1771: John Ponsonby
1771-1785: Edmund Sexton Pery
1785-1800: 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.
Parliament 1541-1543
Trim Session 1542
Members:
Sir Edmond Butler
Sir Christopher Barnwall
Members:
Sir Richard Bingham
Sir Warham St. Ledger
Parliaments of James I
Members:
Sir John Davies
Sir John Everard, (Catholic d. 1624)
Sir James Gough, Waterford
Members:
Patrick Darcy
Sir Edward Fitzharris
Maurice Fitzgerald
Sir Henry Lynch
Sir Thomas Luttrell
Richard Martin
Nicholas Plunkett
Sir William Sarsfield
Sir Nicholas White
Members:
Nicholas Barnewall, Catholic
Patrick Barnewall,Trim
John Bellew
Sir Richard Blake, Galway
Sir Piers Crosby
Geoffrey Browne, Catholic
Thomas Burke, Catholic, Mayo
Oliver Cashell, Louth
William Cole, Protestant, Fermanagh, d. 1653
Simon Digby, Protestant
Sir Maurice Eustace, Speaker, Protestant
Richard Fitzgerald, Protestant, Strabane
Sir Roebuck Lynch
Donagh MacCarthy, Viscount Muskerry, Catholic
Richard Bellings, Catholic
Sir Phelim O'Neill, Catholic
James Montgomery, Protestant
Nicholas Plunkett, Catholic, Meath
Edward Rowley, Protestant
Hardress Waller, Protestant
John Walsh, Catholic
Members:
Nicholas Plunkett, Meath
Sir Audley Mervyn, Tyrone
Sir Maurice Eustace, Speaker
Members:
Members:
Richard Aldworth
Francis Annesley( brother of Maurice)
Maurice Annesley (brother of Francis)
Thomas Beecher
Henry Boyle
Alan Brodrick
St. John Brodrick
Sir Francis Brewster, Chancellor of the Exchequer
Randall Brice
Alan Broderick (brother of Thomas)
Thomas Broderick (brother of Alan)
Joseph Coghlan
Sir Richard Levinge, Speaker
Stephen Ludlow
Robert Molesworth
Neave
William Ponsonby
Brigadier Rawdon
John Reading
Edward Richardson
Rochfort (Speaker)
Philip Savage
Edward Singleton
James Sloane
Richard Warburton
Brigadier William Wolsely
Members:
Thomas Beecher
Francis Bernard
Charles Boyle
St. John Brodrick
Thomas Brodrick
Edward Richardson
Sir Nicholas Acheson, 4th Baronet
Parliaments of Anne
Members:
Thomas Beecher
Francis Bernard
Henry Boyle
Alan Brodrick, Whig, Speaker
Thomas Brodrick
Sir Toby Butler
Percy Freke
Francis Langston
Sir John Perceval
Edward Riggs
Henry Tenison, Tory
Members:
Alan Brodrick, Whig, Speaker
Richard Barry
Michael Beecher
Arthur Bernard
Francis Bernard
Sir John Perceval
Members:
St John Brodrick
Henry Boyle
Members: (elected 1727)
St John Brodrick
Henry Boyle
Sir Richard Cox
Sir Matthew Deane
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 Mullinger
Edward Lovett Pearce
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
Members:
William Brabazon Ponsonby
John Foster
Sir John Freke
John Hely Hutchinson
John Lysaght
Charles Lucas
Edmund Sexton Pery
Thomas Waite
Andrews
Beauchamp
Bowes
Henry Flood, Kilkenny
Lucas
Cosby Nesbitt, Cavan County
Richard Townsend
Sir Lucius O'Brien, Clare County
Members:
Robert Clements, Donegal County
John Hely Hutchinson
Colonel Alexander Montgomery, Donegal County
James Agar, Tralee (replaced by Sir Boyle Roche)
Grattan's Parliament
Members:
Henry Grattan
Richard Longfield
John Hely Hutchinson
Sir R.T. Meade
Sir Edward Newenham, Independent
Sir Boyle Roche, Gowran
Sir John Dillon, 1st Baronet
Benjamin Caldwell
Members:
Welbore Agar, Kilkenny
Isaac Corry
Thomas Coughlan, Carlingford
Henry Flood
Sir William Godfrey, Tralee
Henry Grattan, Independent
Robert Jephson, Granard
Sir Richard Johnstone, Blessington
John Hely Hutchinson
Sir James May, Waterford
James Carrique Ponsonby, Tralee
Ponsoy
Augustine Warren
Nathaniel Warren (possibly a member of the 5th session)
Sir Boyle Roche, Portarlington
Benjamin Caldwell
Members:
Denis Browne, Mayo County
Peter Burrows
Todd Jones
John Beresford
Sir Boyle Roche, Tralee
Members:
Charles O'Hara
Lucius O'Brien
Edmond Sexton Pery
Sir Boyle Roche, Old Leighlin
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 Chiltern Hundreds in the British House of Commons. Irish members could now be appointed to either the Escheatorship of Munster, the Escheatorship of Leinster, the Escheatorship of Connaught or the Escheatorship of Ulster. Possession of one of these Crown offices, with entailed a 30/ (30 shilling) salary, automatically terminated one's membership of the House of Commons.
See also
History of Ireland
Member of Parliament (pre-Union Ireland)
References
Charles Ivar McGrath, The making of the 18th century Irish Parliament 1692-1714, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2000, ISBN 1-85182-554-1
Eoin Magennis, The Irish Political System 1740-1765, Doublin: Four Courts Press, 2000, ISBN 1-85182-484-7
Moody/Vaughan, A new history of Ireland, Oxford, 1986, ISBN 0-19-821742-0 and ISBN 0-19-821739-0
Mary Frances Cusack, Illustrated History of Ireland, Project Gutenburg
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