Isaac Butt | |
|---|---|
 Isaac Butt, portrait byJohn Butler Yeats | |
| 1st Leader of theHome Rule League | |
| In office 21 November 1873 – 5 May 1879 | |
| Succeeded by | William Shaw |
| Member of Parliament forLimerick | |
| In office 1871–1879 | |
| Preceded by | Francis William Russell George Gavin |
| Succeeded by | Daniel Fitzgerald Gabbett Richard O'Shaughnessy |
| Member of Parliament forYoughal | |
| In office 1852–1865 | |
| Preceded by | Thomas Chisholm Anstey |
| Succeeded by | Joseph Neale McKenna |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 6 September 1813 Glenfin, County Donegal, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland |
| Died | 5 May 1879 (aged 65) Clonskeagh, Dublin, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland |
| Political party | Home Rule League (from 1873) |
| Other political affiliations | Home Government Association(1870–73) Irish Conservative Party (until 1870) |
| Alma mater | Trinity College Dublin |
| Occupation | Professor, lawyer, politician, andQueen's Counsel |
Isaac ButtQC MP (6 September 1813 – 5 May 1879) was anIrishbarrister, editor, politician,Member of Parliament in theHouse of Commons of the United Kingdom, economist and the founder and first leader of a number ofIrish nationalist parties and organisations. He was a leader in theIrish Metropolitan Conservative Society in 1836, theHome Government Association in 1870, and theHome Rule League in 1873. Colin W. Reid argues that Home Rule was the mechanism Butt proposed to bindIreland toGreat Britain. It would end the ambiguities of theAct of Union of 1800. He portrayed a federalisedUnited Kingdom, which would have weakened Irish exceptionalism within a broader British context. Butt was representative of a constructive national unionism.[1] As an economist, he made significant contributions regarding the potential resource mobilisation and distribution aspects of protection, and analysed deficiencies in the Irish economy such as sparse employment, low productivity, and misallocation of land.[2] He dissented from the establishedRicardian theories and favoured somewelfare state concepts.[3] As editor he made theDublin University Magazine a leading Irish journal of politics and literature.[4]
Butt was born in 1813 in Glenfin, a district bordering the Finn Valley inCounty Donegal inUlster, the northernprovince inIreland. Glenfin is a short distance west ofBallybofey, a town in East Donegal. He was born into anUlster Protestant family, being the son of aChurch of Irelandrector, and was descended from theO'Donnells of Tyrconnell,[5] through the Ramsays.[6] Butt received his secondary school education atThe Royal School inRaphoe in the Laggan district of EastDonegal, and atMidleton College inCounty Cork, before going toTrinity College Dublin (TCD), at the age of fifteen,[7] where he waselected a Scholar, and president of the (extern)College Historical Society.[8] Whilst there he co-founded theDublin University Magazine and edited it for four years. For much of his life he was a member of theIrish Conservative Party, and he founded the conservativeUlster Times newspaper.[8] He becameWhately Professor of Political Economy at Trinity in 1836 and held that position until 1841.[9]
After being called to the bar in 1838, Butt quickly established a name for himself as a brilliantbarrister. He was known for his opposition to theIrish nationalist leaderDaniel O'Connell's campaign for the repeal of the Act of Union.[10] He also lectured at Trinity College, Dublin, in political economy. His experiences during theGreat Famine led him to move from being anIrish unionist and anOrangeman[11] to supporting afederal political system for theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that would give Ireland a greater degree of self-rule. This led to his involvement in Irish nationalist politics and the foundation of theHome Rule League. Butt was instrumental in fostering links between constitutional and revolutionary nationalism through his representation of members of theFenians Society in court.
He began his career as aTory politician onDublin Corporation. He wasMember of Parliament forYoughal from 1852 to 1865, and forLimerick from 1871 to 1879 (at the1852 general election he had also been elected for the English constituency ofHarwich, but chose to sit for Youghal).
The failedFenian Rising in 1867 strengthened Butt's belief that a federal system was the only way to break the dreary cycle of inefficient administration punctuated by incompetent uprisings.[12] Having defended the leaders of theFenian revolt, Butt then from June 1869 became president of the Amnesty Association formed to secure the release of imprisoned Fenians,[13] supported actively amongst others byP. F. Johnson.
In 1870 Butt then founded theIrish Home Government Association. This was in no sense a revolutionary organisation. It was designed to mobilise public opinion behind the demand for an Irish parliament, with, as he put it, "full control over our domestic affairs".[12] He believed that Home Rule would promote friendship between Ireland and her neighbour to the east.
In November 1873 Butt replaced the Association with a new body, theHome Rule League, which he regarded as a pressure-group, rather than a political party. In thegeneral election the following year, 60 of its members were elected, forming then in 1874 theIrish Parliamentary Party. However, most of those elected were men of property who were closer to theLiberal cause.[14] In the meantimeCharles Stewart Parnell had joined the League, with more radical ideas than most of the incumbent Home Rulers, and was elected toParliament in a by-election inCounty Meath in 1875.[15]
Butt had failed to win substantial concessions atWestminster on the things that mattered to most Irish people: an amnesty for the Fenians of 1867, fixity of tenure for tenant-farmers and Home Rule. Although they worked to get Home Rulers elected, many Fenians along with tenant farmers were dissatisfied with Butt's gentlemanly approach to have bills enacted, although they did not openly attack him, as his defence of the Fenian prisoners in 1867 still stood in his favour.[16] However, soon a Belfast Home Ruler,Joseph Gillis Biggar (then a senior member of theIRB), began making extensive use of the ungentlemanly tactic of "obstructionism" to prevent bills being passed by the house.
When Parnell enteredParliament he took his cue fromJohn O'Connor Power and Joseph Biggar and allied himself with those Irish members who would support him in his obstructionist campaign. MPs at that time could stand up and talk for as long as they wished on any subject. This caused havoc in Parliament. In one case they talked for 45 hours non-stop, stopping any important bills from being passed. Butt, ageing, and in failing health, could not keep up with this tactic and considered it counter-productive. In July 1877 Butt threatened to resign from the party if obstruction continued, and a gulf developed between himself and Parnell, who was growing steadily in the estimation of both the Fenians and the Home Rulers.[17]
The climax came in December 1878, when Parliament was recalled to discuss thewar in Afghanistan. Butt considered this discussion too important to theBritish Empire to be interrupted by obstructionism and publicly warned the Irish members to refrain from this tactic. He was fiercely denounced by the young NationalistJohn Dillon, who continued his attacks with considerable support from other Home Rulers at a meeting of the Home Rule League in February 1879. Although he defended himself with dignity, Butt, and all and sundry, knew that his role in the party was at an end.[18]Barry O'Brien, in his biography of Parnell, interviews 'X' who relates: 'It was very painful. I was very fond of Butt. He was himself the kindest-hearted man in the world, and here was I going to do the unkindest thing to him.'[19]
Butt, who had been suffering from bronchitis, had a stroke the following May and died within a week. He was replaced byWilliam Shaw, who in turn was replaced byCharles Stewart Parnell in 1880.
Butt amassed debts and pursued romances. It was said that at meetings he was occasionally heckled by women with whom he had fathered children.[20] He was also involved in a financial scandal when it was revealed that he had taken money from several Indian princes to represent their interests in parliament.
He died on 5 May 1879 inClonskeagh in Dublin. His remains were brought by train, viaStrabane, toStranorlar in the east ofCounty Donegal, where he is buried in a corner of theChurch of Ireland cemetery beneath a tree by which he used to sit and dream as a boy.
Despite his chaotic lifestyle and political limitations, Butt was capable of inspiring deep personal loyalty. Some of his friends, such asJohn Butler Yeats (father of the poetW. B. Yeats) and the future CatholicBishop of Limerick,Edward Thomas O'Dwyer, retained a lasting hostility towards Parnell for his role in Butt's downfall.
In May 2010 the Church of Ireland (Anglican) parishes of Stranorlar, Meenglass and Kilteevogue instigated an annual memorial Service and Lecture in Butt's honour, inviting members of the professions of law, politics and journalism to reflect aspects of his life. Speakers have included Dr. Joe Mulholland, Senator David Norris, Dr. Chris McGimpsey and Prof. Brian Walker. His grave has been restored and the memorial now includes a wreath.
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| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forYoughal 1852 –1865 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forLimerick 1871–1879 With:George Gavin, to 1874 Richard O'Shaughnessy, from 1874 | Succeeded by |