The Act of Union 1800 merged the Kingdom of Ireland and the Kingdom of Great Britain (itself a merger of England and Wales and Scotland under the Act of Union 1707) to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on 1 January 1801. The act received the Royal Assent on 1 August 1800. Prior to this act the two kingdoms had been in personal union with each other since 1541, when the Irish Parliament proclaimed King Henry VIII of England King of Ireland.

The Act was passed by both the British and Irish parliaments. Contemporary laws excluded all non-Anglicans from membership, an exclusion that meant that over 90% of the Irish population who belonged to other faiths, most notably Roman Catholicism, the religion of the majority, from membership. Catholics were denied the vote until the 1790s. This Irish Parliament was the central institution in what had become known by the 1780s as the Protestant Ascendancy. It was also responsible for a series of anti-Catholic discriminatory laws known as the Penal Laws. It had been given a large measure of independence by the Constitution of 1782, after centuries of being subordinated to the English (and later, British) Parliament. Thus, many members had guarded its autonomy jealously, including Henry Grattan, and had rejected a previous motion for Union in 1799. However, a concerted campaign by the British government, the uncertainty that followed the Irish Rebellion of 1798, and the fact that the Irish and British parliaments, when creating a regency during King George III's "madness", gave the Prince Regent different powers, led Great Britain to decide to merge the two kingdoms and their parliaments. The final passage of the Act in the Irish Parliament was achieved with substantial majorities, achieved in part according to contemporary documents through bribery, namely the awarding of peerages and honours to critics to get their votes.Alan J. Ward, The Irish Constitutional Tradition p.28. Whereas the first attempt had been defeated in the Irish House of Commons by 109 votes against to 104 for, the second vote in 1800 produced a result of 158 to 115.ibid p.28.

The Act had eight articles:

• Articles I-IV dealt with the political aspects of the Union which included Ireland having over 100 MPs representing it in the united parliament, meeting in the Palace of Westminster (more than would be proportionate according to population). Ireland gained 100 seats in the House of Commons and 32 seats in the House of Lords: 28 representative peers elected for life, and 4 clergymen of the (Anglican) Church of Ireland, chosen for each session.
• Article V created a united Protestant Church of England and Ireland
• Article VI created a customs union in which British duties on some Irish goods would be removed, but Irish duties on imports would remain.
• Article VII stated that the Ireland would have to contribute two seventeenths towards the expenditure of the United Kingdom. The figure was a ratio of Irish to British foreign trade.
• Article VIII formalised the legal and judicial aspects of the Union.

Part of the attraction of the Union for many Irish Catholics was the promise of Catholic Emancipation, thereby allowing Roman Catholic MPs (which had not been allowed in the Irish Parliament). However this was blocked by King George III who argued that emancipating Roman Catholics would breach his Coronation Oath; it was delayed until 1829.

The flag created by the merger of the Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801 still remains the flag of the United Kingdom. Known as the "Union Flag" (or Union Jack), it combines the flags of England and Scotland with St Patrick's Cross, representing Ireland.

See also

• Repeal (Ireland)
• Unionists (Ireland)
• King of Ireland

Footnotes

Sources

• Alan J. Ward, The Irish Constitutional Tradition: Responsible Government and Modern Ireland 1782–1992 (Irish Academic Press, 1994)

External links

• Act of Union - Virtual Library
• Abstract of an article from the journal History about the Act of Union.

Constitutional laws of the United Kingdom | Constitutional laws of Ireland prior to independence | History of Great Britain | History of Ireland | History of Ireland 1801-1922 | 1800 in law | Unionism

Act of Union 1800 | Acta de Unión (1800) | Acht an Aontais 1800 | Atto di Unione (1800) | 連合法 (1800年) | Acto de União de 1800