Agitation
The campaign for Catholic emancipation in Ireland, 1828-29, was led by Daniel O'Connell (1775-1847), organizer of the Catholic Association, but many others were active as well, both for and against.
As Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1822 to 1828, the Marquess Wellesley (brother of the Duke of Wellington) played a critical role in setting the stage for the Catholic Emancipation Bill. His policy was one of reconciliation that sought to have the civil rights of Catholics restored while preserving those rights and considerations important to Protestants. He used force in securing law and order when riots threatened the peace, and he discouraged the public agitation of both the Protestant Orange Society and the Catholic Society of Ribbonman.
Bishop John Milner was an English Catholic cleric and writer highly active in promoting Catholic emancipation, prior to his death in 1826. He was a leader in anti-Enlightenment thought and had a significant influence in England as well as Ireland, and was involved in shaping the Catholic response to earlier efforts in Parliament to enact Catholic emancipation measures..
Meanwhile Ulster Protestants mobilized, after a delayed start, to stop emancipation. By late 1828 Protestants of all classes began to organize after the arrival of O'Connellite Jack Lawless who planned a series of pro-emancipation meetings and activities across Ulster. His move galvanized the protestants to form clubs, distribute pamphlets and set up petition drives. However the Protestant protests were not well funded or coordinated and lacked critical support from the British government. After Catholic relief had been granted, the protestant opposition divided along class lines. The aristocracy and gentry became quiescent while the middle and working classes showed dominance over Ulster's Catholics through Orange parades.
Read more about this topic: Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829
Famous quotes containing the word agitation:
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—Edward Hoagland (b. 1932)
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—Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914?)
“It is human agitation, with all the vulgarity of needs small and great, with its flagrant disgust for the police who repress it, it is the agitation of all men ... that alone determines revolutionary mental forms, in opposition to bourgeois mental forms.”
—Georges Bataille (1897–1962)