Home Rule League | |
|---|---|
.svg) The Irish harp, along with the coat of arms of theprovinces of Ireland, played a prominent role in Home Rule League literature. | |
| Founded | 1873; 152 years ago (1873) |
| Dissolved | 1882; 143 years ago (1882) |
| Preceded by | Home Government Association |
| Succeeded by | Irish Parliamentary Party |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Centre tocentre-left |
| Colours | Green |
TheHome Rule League (1873–1882), sometimes called theHome Rule Party, was an Irishpolitical party which campaigned forhome rule for Ireland within theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, until it was replaced by theIrish Parliamentary Party.[1] TheHome Rule Confederation of Great Britain was a sister organisation inGreat Britain.
Following the failure of theFenian Rising of 1867 less revolutionary tactics were considered.[2] The Home Rule League grew out of theHome Government Association, a pressure group formed in 1870 and led byIsaac Butt, a Dublin-based barrister who had once been a leading Irish Tory before becoming a convert toIrish nationalism. On 18–21 November 1873, the loose association re-constituted itself as a full political party, the Home Rule League, and in the1874 general election, many of whom were from an Irish aristocratic or gentryChurch of Ireland background, some newly dedicated former IrishLiberal Party members, such asSir John Gray MP, and other more radical members who gathered aroundCavan MPJoseph Biggar andMeath MPCharles Stewart Parnell. This radical wing of the party launched parliamentaryfilibusters to obstruct the passage of Parliamentary business, to the embarrassment of Butt and frustration of successive British governments.
On 28 August 1877 Parnell was elected leader of the Home Rule Confederation of Great Britain in place of Butt. In January 1878, Butt retained control of the Home Rule League in Ireland, which had a more middle-class and less Fenian membership and structure.[3] The division affected the disciple of theparliamentary party at Westminster.[4]
Following Butt's death in 1879,William Shaw served as chairman (leader) for one parliamentary session. In 1880, Parnell was elected chairman of the party, and in the1880 general election, the party increased its number of seats. In 1882, as part of a wholesale move from being an informal alliance to a cohesive unified, political movement Parnell renamed it theIrish Parliamentary Party to pursueIrish Home Rule. The party under Parnell, himself a Protestant, became more radical,[5] middle class, and Catholic. It largely, though not completely, squeezed out other political rivals, notably the Irish Liberal Party and theIrish Conservative Party.
