Composition For Tithes (Ireland) Act 1823 - Reform and War

Reform and War

Attempts at reform came as early as 1828 when Thomas Greene, a Member of Parliament, introduced a bill that would have replaced the tithes with corn rents, a proposal that failed.Lord Althorp attempted the same measure in 1833, which also failed. His bill the following year also did not pass, despite severe emendation. Many reforms were lost among other bills in Parliament and never came to fruition.

During the period from 1831 to 1836, Irish peasants rebelled and refused to pay the tithes, sometimes violently persecuting those who did pay the tithes. The government found it hard to enforce the law, due to the popularity of the rebels' cause. The Irish believed the tithes were simply another form of English abuse, and the rebellion took on an apparent aura of nationalism, or at least the feeling of a religious war against the persecution of the faithful.