What were the aims and objectives of Gladstone's Policy in Ireland and were they successful?
What were the aims and objectives of Gladstone’s Policy in Ireland and were they successful? Daniel Nuth
Professor Mansergh once wrote, ‘the condition of Ireland in the middle years of the nineteenth century, or at least all of it outside Ulster, dismayed and distressed those who saw it – from Italian nationalists to Communist internationalists, to Frenchmen Germans, Americans and by no means least, to Englishmen, whether economist, officials or ordinary voyagers’. English rule in Ireland, whether by coercion or conciliation, had been a failure – illustrated above all in Irish eyes by its unsympathetic response to the tragedy of the famine. Some Englishmen, like John bright, sought to right Ireland’s wrongs but most politicians, like Disraeli, saw Ireland as a problem best avoided or ignored. Gladstone, imbued with a strong moral, proved the exception. He sought to remove Irish grievances so that Englishmen might be able to look their fellow Europeans in the face. Gladstone’s primary aim was in his own words to ‘pacify the Irish’ but Dr Hammond offers a more detailed view of his objectives. According to Hammond Gladstone’s objective was to ‘change the English temper towards Ireland, to shake fundamental view of property and economics and to overcome all the prejudices that estranged men divided by race, religion and history.’ His biographer Magnus wrote that Gladstone believed that it might yet be possible to reconcile the Irish to a continuance of British rule. In Ireland therefore Gladstone’s policy aims and objectives were clear, he wanted to alleviate economic and religious grievances felt by the Irish. However there was of course a pragmatic side to Gladstone and historians have argued that Gladstone’s measures were also deployed to help unite his party and stave off attacks from potential party leaders. This essay will evaluate these areas and attempt to give a balanced conclusion pertaining to the success of Gladstone’s policy.
The Protestant Church of England was the established church of Ireland. However 88% of the Irish population were Catholic. They were forced to pay 10% of their income to the church even thought they never attended its services. Disestablishment of the Church of Ireland had first priority because it was a measure that according to Alan O’Day enjoyed the highest degree of unanimity. Catholic ecclesiastics, Irish Presbyterians and other non-Episcopalian Protestants (i.e. those disapproving of bishops), along with British Nonconformists, were all agreed. Due to the number of non-conformists in the Liberal Party this was also a beneficial Act for party unity as this was a cause that the party could fight for together. The problem of Tithes was solved by the Irish Church Act, this declared that all Irishmen were no longer required to pay money to the Anglican Church. Pearce supports this measure by saying that it was ‘one of the more successful pieces of Irish legislation passed by Gladstone’. A sentiment shared by Alan O’Day who concluded that no subsequent Gladstonian proposal achieved an equivalent success. The Act had a limited effect on the Irish resentment for the English and Abbott who argued that the Act ‘did not have a profound effect upon the Irish’ supports this. This was because much of their active hatred for the church had been transferred to the landlord, when tithes collection became the responsibility of the latter. In retrospect, however, the Act can be viewed as an important milestone, and it is possible to agree with O’Hegarty’s assessment. ‘It was the first breach of the Union, against the most determined opposition of those in Ireland who profited by the Union, and for those whose benefit it had been established and maintained'. Gladstone, as soon as the Act was passed, immersed himself for three months in the problems of Irish agriculture, for he realised that real improvement in Ireland would depend on success in this sphere.
