United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland: Encyclopedia - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, was created on 1 January 1801 by the merger of the Kingdom of Great Britain (itself a merger of the former Kingdoms of Scotland and England in 1707) and the Kingdom of Ireland. It ended upon Irish independence on 6 December 1922 when the Anglo-Irish Treaty created the Irish Free State.

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland - Origins

The merger followed the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and the crisis over the mental health of King George III, given that both separate kingdoms could in theory appoint different regents. The union was enacted by means of the Act of Union, passed by both the Irish Parliament and the British Parliament. The British government controversally awarded gifts of titles, land and money to Irish Members of Parliament to encourage their support for the merger, since most of them had previously been against union. Some saw this as offering compensation for the loss of status through loss of seats that this would bring (many of the seats represented rotten boroughs and were seen as the "property" of families and of financial benefit). Most outside the Irish parliament, and most historians subsequently, saw it as blatent bribery to achieve something that could not be achieved by normal means.

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland - The Deal

Under the terms of the merger, the Irish Parliament was abolished, and Ireland was to be represented in the united parliament, meeting in the Palace of Westminster. Part of the trade-off for Irish Catholics was to be the granting of Catholic Emancipation, which had been fiercely resisted by the all-Anglican Irish Parliament. However, this was blocked by King George III who argued that emancipating Roman Catholics would breach his Coronation Oath.

Whilst the Irish Free State became independent in 1922, after the Anglo-Irish War, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland continued in name until 1927 when it was renamed as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in accordance with the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927.

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland - The new United Kingdom

The Act of Union was initially seen favourably in Ireland, given that the old Irish parliament was seen as hostile to the majority Catholic population, some of whose members had only been given the vote as late as 1794 and who were legally debarred from election to the body. The Roman Catholic hierarchy endorsed the Union. However King George III's decision to block Catholic Emancipation fatally undermined the appeal of the Union. Leaders like Henry Grattan who sat in the new parliament, having been leading members of the old one, were bitterly critical.

The eventual achievement of Catholic Emancipation in 1829, following a campaign by Daniel O'Connell, who had won election to Westminster and who could not for religious beliefs take the Oath of Supremacy, removed the main negative that had undermined the appeal of the old parliament, the exclusion of Catholics. From 1829 on a demand grew again for a native Irish parliament separate from Westminster. However, his campaign to repeal the Act of Union ultimately failed.

Later leaders, such as Charles Stewart Parnell, campaigned for a version of Irish self-government called Home Rule within the United Kingdom, which was nearly achieved in the 1880s under the (British) ministry of William Ewart Gladstone. However, the measure was defeated in Parliament, and following the ascension of the Conservatives to the majority, the issue was buried as long as that party was in power. The constant delaying of Home Rule created the frustration that eventually led to political violence and independence.

In 1919, Sinn Féin MPs elected to Westminster formed a unilaterally independent Irish parliament in Dublin, Dáil Éireann with an executive under the President of Dáil Éireann, Éamon de Valera. A War of Independence was fought between 1919 and 1921. Finally on 6 December 1922, twenty-six of Ireland's counties seceded from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and formed the independent Irish Free State. Six counties, called Northern Ireland, remained in the United Kingdom, which was renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1927.

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland - Legacy

Dispite having complete political independence from each other since 1922, the union left the two countries intertwinded with each other in many respects. Due to ongoing disputes, people in Northern Ireland now have de facto dual nationality. They can apply for and travel under either Irish or British passports.

Ireland used the Irish Pound from 1928 until 1997 when it was replaced by the Euro. Until it joined the ERM in 1979, the Irish pound was directly linked to the Pound Sterling. Decimalisation of both currencies occurred simultaneously on Decimal Day in 1971. Coins of equivalent value had the same dimensions and size until the introduction of the British Twenty Pence coin in 1982.

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland - List of monarchs

Though the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland came to an end in 1922, the monarch continued to use the title of King or Queen of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until 1927. Then, under the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927, new titles were introduced for the British monarch so that he would reign as 'King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland', in Britain, and 'King of Ireland', in Ireland.

• George III (1801—1820)
• George IV (1820—1830)
• William IV (1830—1837)
• Victoria (1837—1901)
• Edward VII (1901—1910)
• George V (1910—1922/1927)

See also

• History of Ireland (1801-1922)
• History of the United Kingdom

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki