An Act to prevent the further Growth of Poperty (commonly known as the Popery Act or the Gavelkind Act.) was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of Ireland passed in 1703 and amended in 1709, one of a series of penal laws against Roman Catholics.
The aim was to ensure that, when a Roman Catholic died, his estate was divided equally among his sons, unless the eldest son converted to the Protestant faith, in which case he could inherit all the land. The law was intended to reduce the size, and therefore influence, of Catholic landed estates.
Its citation is 2 Ann c.6.
Catholic land holdings:
- 1688: 25% of land
- 1704: 14% of land
- 1776: 5% of land
Famous quotes containing the words popery and/or act:
“Defoe says that there were a hundred thousand country fellows in his time ready to fight to the death against popery, without knowing whether popery was a man or a horse.”
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830)
“Adolescents may be, almost simultaneously, overconfident and riddled with fear. They are afraid of their overpowering feelings, of losing control, of helplessness, of failure. Sometimes they act bold, to counteract their imperious yearnings to remain children. They are impulsive, impetuous, moody, disagreeable, overdemanding, underappreciative. If you don’t understand them, remember, they don’t understand themselves most of the time.”
—Stella Chess (20th century)