What in your view was the short term significance of the granting of Catholic Emancipation in 1829?

Authors Avatar

What in your view was the short term significance of the granting of Catholic  Emancipation in 1829?

The passing of Catholic Emancipation in 1829 enabled Catholics to have a voice in government and gave Catholics the ability to take part in politics which had been denied from them for many years. The act represented a key victory for Irish Catholics in their pursuit for greater civil rights and influence in Ireland since it acted as a catalyst for the shakeup of the political climate in Britain which would make the situation of Ireland a prominent issue. Ironically the passage of Catholic Emancipation in 1829 led to dramatic changes in Britain with the division and then collapse of the old Tory Party, this was due to the opposition of the Ultra Tories to Catholic Emancipation. This led to a decade of Whig government at Westminster. However, its significance is questionable because of the various issues in Ireland which had either not been addressed or had been unintentionally caused by the act, and its relevancy to the majority of Ireland was negligible.

Join now!

The historians Foster and Jackson both highlight that the passing of the Catholic Emancipation Act led to significant gains for Roman Catholics in Ireland. Foster states that the act granted Roman Catholics with virtually full civil and political rights which enabled them to “sit in parliament” as MPs since the former anti-Catholic oaths that MPs had taken were replaced by the relatively uncontroversial Oath of Allegiance and thus accepted them as part of the political system. He also identifies that Emancipation enabled them to occupy “most high offices” in state, with minor exceptions such as Prime Minister, however, both ...

This is a preview of the whole essay