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The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland, that existed from mediæval times until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a very restrictive franchise. Most notably, Roman Catholics were disqualified from sitting in the Irish parliament, even though they comprised the vast majority of the Irish population. From about 1716 until 1793, they were also disfranchised.

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.
• 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, in 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.

Speakers (1689-1800)

• Sir Richard Nagle 1689-1692
• Sir Richard Levinge 1692-1695
• Robert Rochfort 1695-1703
• Alan Brodrick 1703-1710
• John Forster 1710-1713
• Alan Brodrick 1713-1715
• William Conolly 1715-1729
• Sir Ralph Gore 1729-1733
• Henry Boyle 1733-1756
• John Ponsonby 1756-1771
• Edmund Sexton Perry 1771-1785
• John Foster 1785-1800

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.

Irish Boroughs

Borough	County	Creation	Enfranchised	Fate after the union
Antrim	County Antrim	1666	Potwalloper	Disfranchised
Ardee	County Louth	1378	Corporation	Disfranchised
Ardfert	County Kerry	1639?	Corporation	Disfranchised
Armagh	County Armagh	1613	Corporation	One seat
Askeaton	County Limerick	1614	Corporation	Disfranchised
Athboy	County Meath	1613	Manor	Disfranchised
Athenry	County Galway	1310?	Corporation	Disfranchised
Athlone	County Westmeath	1607	Corporation	One seat
Athy	County Kildare	1614	Corporation	Disfranchised
Augher	County Tyrone	1614	Corporation	Disfranchised
Ballynakill	Queen's County	1613	Corporation	Disfranchised
Ballyshannon	County Donegal	1613	Corporation	Disfranchised
Baltimore	County Cork	1614	Potwalloper	Disfranchised
Baltinglass	County Wicklow	1664	Corporation	Disfranchised
Banagher	King's County	1629	Corporation	Disfranchised
Bandon-Bridge	County Cork	1614	Corporation	One seat
Bangor	County Down	1613	Corporation	Disfranchised
Bannow	County Wexford	?	Corporation	Disfranchised
Belfast	County Antrim	1613	Corporation	One seat
Belturbet	County Cavan	1614	Corporation	Disfranchised
Blessington	County Wicklow	1670	Corporation	Disfranchised
Boyle	County Roscommon	1614	Corporation	Disfranchised
Callan	County Kilkenny	1264	Corporation	Disfranchised
Carlingford	County Louth	13??	Corporation	Disfranchised
Carlow	County Carlow	1613	Corporation	One seat
Carrick	County Leitrim	1614	Corporation	Disfranchised
Carrickfergus	County Antrim	1326	Freeholder and householder	One seat
Carysfort	County Wicklow	1629	Corporation	Disfranchised
Cashel	County Tipperary	?	Corporation	One seat
Castlebar	County Mayo	1614	Corporation	Disfranchised
Castlemartyr	County Cork	1676	Corporation	Disfranchised
Cavan	County Cavan	1611	Corporation	Disfranchised
Charlemont	County Armagh	1613	Corporation	Disfranchised
Charleville	County Cork	1673	Corporation	Disfranchised
Clogher	County Tyrone	1264	Ecclesiastical	Disfranchised
Clonakilty	County Cork	1613	Corporation	Disfranchised
Clonmel	County Tipperary	?	Corporation	One seat
Clonmines	County Wexford	?	Corporation	Disfranchised
Coleraine	County Londonderry	16??	Corporation	One seat
Cork City	County Cork	1264	Freeholder and Freemen	Two seats
Dingle	County Kerry	1607	Corporation	Disfranchised
Donegal	County Donegal	1613	Corporation	Disfranchised
Doneraile	County Cork	1640	Manor	Disfranchised
Downpatrick	County Down	1586	Potwalloper	One seat
Drogheda	County Louth	1264	Freeholders and freemen	One seat
Dublin City	County Dublin	1264	Freeholders and freemen	Two seats
Duleek	County Meath	?	Corporation	Disfranchised
Dundalk	County Louth	1264	Corporation	One seat
Dungannon	County Tyrone	1613	Corporation	One seat
Dungarvan	County Waterford	1610	Potwalloper	One seat
Dunleer	County Louth	1679	Corporation	Disfranchised
Ennis	County Clare	1613	Corporation	One seat
Enniscorthy	County Wexford	1613	Corporation	Disfranchised
Enniskillen	County Fermanagh	1613	Corporation	One seat
Fethard	County Tipperary	1608	Corporation	Disfranchised
Fethard	County Wexford	1613	Corporation	Disfranchised
Fore	County Westmeath	?	Corporation	Disfranchised
Galway	County Galway	1264	Freemen	One seat
Gorey	County Wexford	1620	Corporation	Disfranchised
Gowran	County Kilkenny	1609	Corporation	Disfranchised
Granard	County Longford	1679	Manor	Disfranchised
Harristown	County Kildare	1684	Corporation	Disfranchised
Hillsborough	County Down	1662	Corporation	Disfranchised
Innistiogue	County Kilkenny	?	Corporation	Disfranchised
Jamestown	County Leitrim	1622	Corporation	Disfranchised
Kells	County Meath	1561	Corporation	Disfranchised
Kilbeggan	County Westmeath	1613	Corporation	Disfranchised
Kildare	County Kildare	15??	Corporation	Disfranchised
Kilkenny	County Kilkenny	1264?	Freeholders and Freemen	One seat
Killybegs	County Donegal	1616	Corporation	Disfranchised
Killyleagh	County Down	1613	Corporation	Disfranchised
Kilmallock	County Limerick	15??	Corporation	Disfranchised
Kinsale	County Cork	1334?	Corporation and Freemen	One seat
Knocktopher	County Kilkenny	1690?	Potwalloper	Disfranchised
Lanesborough	County Longford	1642	Corporation	Disfranchised
Lifford	County Donegal	1613	Corporation	Disfranchised
Limerick City	County Limerick	1264	Freeholders and Freemen	One seat
Lisburn	County Antrim	1661	Potwalloper	One seat
Lismore	County Waterford	1614	Manor	Disfranchised
Londonderry City	County Londonderry	16??	Corporation	One seat
Longford Borough	County Longford	1669	Corporation	Disfranchised
Mallow	County Cork	1613	Manor	One seat
Maryborough	Queen's County	1571	Corporation	Disfranchised
Midleton	County Cork	1671	Corporation	Disfranchised
Monaghan Borough	County Monaghan	1613	Corporation	Disfranchised
Mullingar	County Westmeath	1583	Manor	Disfranchised
Naas	County Kildare	1570	Corporation	Disfranchised
Navan	County Meath	1469	Corporation	Disfranchised
New Ross	County Wexford	?	Corporation	One seat
Newcastle	County Dublin	c. 1613	Corporation	Disfranchised
Newry	County Down	1612	Potwalloper	One seat
Newtown Limavady	County Londonderry	16??	Corporation	Disfranchised
Newtownards	County Down	1614	Corporation	Disfranchised
Old Leighlin	County Armagh	?	Ecclesiastical corporation	Disfranchised
Philipstown	King's County	1571	Corporation	Disfranchised
Portarlington	Queen's County	1668	Corporation	One seat
Randalstown	County Antrim	1683	Freeman / Potwalloper	Disfranchised
Rathcormack	County Cork	c. 1611	Potwalloper / Manor	Disfranchised
Ratoath	County Meath	?	Manor	Disfranchised
Roscommon Borough	County Roscommon	?	Corporation	Disfranchised
St Canice/Irishtown	County Kilkenny	1264?	Corporation	Disfranchised
St Johnstown	County Donegal	before 1619	Corporation	Disfranchised
St Johnstown	County Longford	1628	Corporation	Disfranchised
Sligo Town	County Sligo	1614	Corporation	One seat
Strabane	County Tyrone	1613	Corporation	Disfranchised
Swords	County Dublin	?	Potwalloper	Disfranchised
Taghmon	County Wexford	bef. 1642	Corporation	Disfranchised
Tallow	County Waterford	?	Manor / Potwalloper	Disfranchised
Thomastown	County Kilkenny	1541	Corporation	Disfranchised
Tralee	County Kerry	1613	Corporation	One seat
Trim	County Meath	1572	Corporation	Disfranchised
Tuam	County Galway	1614	Corporation	Disfranchised
Tulsk	County Roscommon	1663	Corporation	Disfranchised
Waterford City	County Waterford	1264	Freemen and freeholders	One seat
Wexford Town	County Wexford	?	Freemen	One seat
Wicklow Town	County Wicklow	1614	Corporation	Disfranchised
Youghal	County Cork	?	Corporation and Freemen	One seat

Parliaments

Parliament 1536-1537

Parliament 1541-1543

• Trim Session 1542

Parliament 1557-1558

Parliaments of Elizabeth 1

No.1 12 January 1559-1 February 1559

1560

No.2 17 January 1568-25 April 1571

1569-1571

• Sir Edmond Butler
• Sir Christopher Barnwall

No.3 26 April 1585-14 May 1586

• Sir Richard Bingham
• Sir Warham St.Ledger
• Nicholas Walsh, Speaker

Parliament of James 1 18 May 1613-24 October 1615

• Sir John Davies
• Sir John Everard, Catholic d.1624
• Sir James Gough, Waterford

Parliaments of Charles 1

No.1 14 July 1634-18 April 1635

• Patrick Darcy
• Sir Edward Fitzharris
• Maurice Fitzgerald
• Sir Henry Lynch
• Sir Thomas Luttrell
• Richard Martin
• Nicholas Plunkett
• Sir William Sarsfield
• Sir Nicholas White

No.2 16 March 1639-30 January 1649

• Nicholas Barnewall, Catholic
• Patrick Barnewall,Trim
• John Bellew
• Sir Richard Blake, Galway
• Sir Piers Crosby
• Geoffrey Browne, Cathoic
• 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
• Donough McCarthy, Catholic
• James Montgomery, Protestant
• Nicholas Plunkett, Catholic, Meath
• Edward Rowley, Protestant
• Hardress Waller, Protestant
• John Walsh, Catholic

Parliament of Charles 11

No.1 8 May 1661-7August 1666

• Nicholas Plunkett, Meath
• Sir Audley Mervyn, Tyrone
• Sir Maurice Eustace, Speaker

Parliaments of James 11

No.1 7 May 1689-20 July 1689

Parliaments of William 111 and Mary 11

1692 (27 August/5 October-26 June 1693))

• members
• Richard Aldworth
• Francis Annesley(brother of Maurice)
• Maurice Annesley (brother of Francis)
• Alan Brodrick
• Sir Francis Brewster, Chancellor of the Exchequer
• Randall Brice
• Alan Broderick (brother of Thomas)
• Thomaas Broderick (brother of Alan)
• Joseph Coghlan
• Sir Richard Levinge, Speaker?
• Stephen Ludlow
• Robert Molesworth
• Neave
• William Ponsonby
• Brigadier Rawdon
• John Reading
• Rochfort (Speaker)
• Philip Savage
• Edward Singleton
• James Sloane
• Richard Warburton
• Brigadier William Wolsely

Parliament 27 August 1695-14 June 1699

Parliament 1703/1710

• Alan Brodrick, Whig, Speaker
• Sir Toby Butler
• Henry Tenison,Tory

Parliament 1713/1714

• Alan Brodrick, Whig, Speaker

Parliament of George 1, 12 November 1715 - 11June 1727

Election 1715

• William Conolly, Speaker
• St. John Brodrick

Election 1723

• Willian Conolly, Speaker,
• St John Brodrick

Parliament of George 11 1727 -1760

Election 1727

• Sir Richard Cox
• Anthony Malone (Married Speaker Gore's daughter),Westmeath
• St. John Brodrick
• Thomas Carter
• Luke Gardiner, Tralee to 1727, Thomastown to 1755
• Sir Ralph Gore, Speaker, Chancellor of the Exchequer,died February, 1733
• Edward Lovett Pearce

Election 1737/1738

Election 1739

• John Ponsonby

1747

• Henry Gore, Tulsk, Co. Roscommon
• Frederick Gore, Killybegs, Co.Donegal
• Sir Ralph Gore, Donegal
• John Macarell, Carlingford
• Henry Mitchell, Castlebar

Election1751/52

• Thomas Newenham, Cork
• Sir Richard Cox, Cork
• Cosby Nesbitt, Cavan Borough
• Frederick Gore, Killybegs
• Henry Gore, Tulsk
• Sir Ralph Gore, Donegal
• John Macarell, Carlingford
• Henry Mitchell, Castlebar

Election 1753/1754

• Francis Pierpoint Burton, Killybegs
• Robert Fitzgerald, Kerry
• Henry Gore
• Frederick Gore
• Sir Ralph Gore, Donegal
• John Macarell, Carlingford
• Henry Mitchell, Castlebar
• Cosby Nesbitt, Cavan Borough

Parliament 1755/1756

• Mervyn Archdall
• William Brownlow,Independent, Armagh
• Francis Pierpoint Burton, Kilybegs
• Robert French
• John Gore
• Henry Gore,Tulsk
• Frederick Gore, Killybegs
• Sir Ralph Gore, Donegal
• Anthony Malone
• John Macarell, Carlingford
• Henry Mitchell, Castlebar
• Edmund Pery,Independent
• John Ponsonby
• Abel Ram (Committee of Commons unseated Robert Leigh),Wexford

Parliament 1757/1760

• 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 Borough
• Charles O'Hara
• Edmond Pery ,Independent
• John Ponsonby (Speaker and Commissioner of revenue)
• Sir Thomas Prendergast
• Stone
• Philip Tisdall

Parliaments of George III

• No. 1, 22 October 1761 - 28 May 1768
• John Foster
• Charles Lucas
• Edmund Sexton Pery
• Thomas Waite

Election 1766

• Andrews
• Beauchamp
• Bowes
• HEnry Flood, Kilkenny
• Lucas
• Cosby Nesbitt, Cavan Borough
• Sir Lucius O'Brien, Co.Clare

No.2 17 October 1769 - 5 April 1776

• Robert Clements, Donegal
• Colonel Alexander Montgomery, Donegal

No.3, 18 June 1776 - 25 July 1783

• Sir Edward Newenham, Independent

No.4, 14 October 1783 - 8 April 1790

• Welbore Agar, Kilkenny
• Isaac Corry
• Thomas Coughlan, Carlingford
• Henry Flood
• Sir William Godfrey, Tralee

• Henry Grattan, Independent
• Robert Jephson, Granard
• Sir Richard Johnstone, Blessington
• Sir James May, Waterford
• James Carrique Ponsonby, Tralee
• Ponsoy

1790

• Nathaniel Warren

No. 5, 20 May 1790 - 11 July 1797

• Denis Browne, Mayo
• Peter Burrows
• Todd Jones
• John Beresford

No.6, 9January 1798 - 31 December 1800

• Charles O'Hara
• Lucius O'Brien
• Edmond Sexton Pery

Resignation

Until 1793 members could not resign their seats. They could only cease to be a member of the House 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

Lower Houses of Irish Parliaments 1171-present
House of Commons mediæval - 1800 | House of Commons of Southern Ireland 1921-1922 | House of Commons of Northern Ireland 1922-1972 | Dáil Éireann (House of Assembly) 1919-1922 | Dáil Éireann (Chamber of Deputies) 1922-1937 | Dáil Éireann (House of Representatives) 1937-present
See Also First Dáil | Second Dáil | Third Dáil

• reference,The making of the 18 century Irish Parliament 1692-1714 byCharles Ivor McGrath, 4 Courts Press 2000 ISBN 1-85182-554-1,[[Irish Political System 1740-1765 by Eoin Magennis, 4 Courts Press 2000 ISBN 1-85182-484-7, A new history of Ireland Moody/Vaughan,Oxford 1986 ISBN 0-19-8217420-0 vol 3 1535-1601, Oxford 1978 ISBN 0 19 821739 0

 

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