The 1800s




		*1800* The last session of the Irish Parliament was opened. Viscount Castlereagh filled it with pro-Union members and the Act of Union was carried on 7^th June. *1801* The Union of Great Britain and Ireland with a single Parliament was now in existence. *1803* Thomas Russell, chief co-conspirator of a rising in Dublin was arrested and executed in Downpatrick on 21^st October. *1811* The Kildare Place Society was founded to promote non-denominational free schools. *1813* The first Twelfth of July sectarian riots took place in Belfast. *1814* Belfast Academy was founded (it became Belfast Royal Academy in 1831). *1816* Famine and a typhus epidemic followed the failure of the potato crop. *1817* The typhus epidemic killed at least 50,000 people in Ireland. *1818* The Ulster Presbyterian Synod split after the election of the Rev. Henry Montgomery. *1822* Robert Stewart (Lord Castlereagh), the main instigator of the Act of Union, committed suicide. *1824* Henry Cooke became Moderator of the Synod of Ulster. *1825* The UK House of Lords rejected a Bill granting Catholic emancipation. *1826* The collapse of the weaving industry caused mass unemployment in the cities. *1829* Catholic emancipation was granted by a Relief Act which allowed Catholics to enter Parliament and hold civil and military offices. The property qualification for voting was raised from two to ten pounds in an attempt to exclude Catholic voters. John O’Donovan was appointed to the Ordnance Survey of Ireland. His notes and letters became a major historical source. *1831* The National Education Board was founded. *1832* The Irish Reform Act increased the number of Irish seats in the House of Commons from 100 to 105 and widened the franchise to include more Catholics. The Government suspended tithes in the face of rural agitation. A cholera epidemic caused many deaths. *1834* Henry Cooke addressed a mass rally of Presbyterians at Hillsborough. He forged an alliance with the Church of Ireland against the Catholics. *1835* The Association of Non-Subscribing Presbyterians was formed. *1836* The Royal Irish Constabulary was established to replace local constabularies. The Orange Order dissolved itself. The Synod of Ulster made subscription to the Westminster Confession of Faith obligatory. The Ulster Bank was founded. *1837* Queen Victoria ascended to the throne. *1838* The English Poor Law was extended to Ireland. It established the notorious workhouse system. Tithes were abolished and replaced by a less onerous fixed rent. Work started on St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Cathedral in Armagh. *1839* The ‘Big Wind’ caused destruction all over Ireland. The first railway in Ulster began operating. Francis Beatty took the first daguerreotype photograph in Ireland – of the Long Bridge, Belfast. *1840* The Ulster Synod and the Secessionist Synod merged to form the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. 1841 The first accurate census of Ireland recorded a population of 8,175,124. *1845* Potato blight crossed the Atlantic to England and on to Ireland. Half of the annual potato harvest was ruined and the Great Famine began. The Government provided for the establishment of Queen’s Colleges in Cork, Galway and Belfast. The Geological Survey of Ireland began. *1846* Potato blight almost totally destroyed the year’s crop and the famine worsened. Despite the famine, large quantities of grain were exported to pay the rents of absentee landlords. Almost a third of a million destitute people in Ireland were employed in public works. *1847* The famine worsened after an exceptionally bad winter. A typhus epidemic killed tens of thousands in Ireland. The Poor Relief Act allowed magistrates to extend help to the needy (excluding tenants holding more than a quarter of an acre). The potato crop was healthy but so few were planted that the famine continued unabated. *1848* The famine continued. There were outbreaks of cholera and the potato harvest failed. The number of evictions rose and famine victims on outdoor relief peaked at almost 840,000 people. *1849* The potato crop failed again and there were further outbreaks of cholera. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert visited Ireland. Non-denominational Queen’s Colleges in Belfast, Cork and Galway began enrolling students. *1850* The Great Famine ended. The Irish Tenant League was established. The Queen’s Colleges were chartered. The National Synod of Catholic Bishops declared its opposition to Catholics attending. *1851* Census figures showed that the population was 6,575,000 – a drop of 1,600,000 in ten years. A free medical care system was provided through plans to establish dispensaries throughout Ireland. *1853* Income tax was introduced for the first time. *1855* The first pillar post boxes in Ireland were erected in Dublin, Belfast and Ballymena. *1857* Rioting in Belfast followed the Twelfth of July celebrations – Loyalist marches were blamed for provoking the violence. *1860* The UK Parliament agreed to fund a scheme to replace farm labourers’ cabins with proper stone dwellings. *1861* The census showed that the population of Ireland was 5,800,000, a decrease of over 11% since 1851. *1862* Rainy weather and a poor harvest caused hardship in the countryside. The Poor Relief Act allowed help for tenant farmers who had been excluded under the 1847 Act. The Harland and Wolff shipyard was founded in Belfast. *1864* In Belfast, the burning of an effigy of O’Connell by Orangemen sparked off sectarian riots which resulted in at least a dozen deaths. *1868* The Irish National Teachers Association of Ireland was formed with Vere Foster as its first President. The death took place of Henry Cooke (born in 1788), Presbyterian cleric. *1869* The Irish Church Act disestablished the Church of Ireland. *1870* The Belfast Telegraph was published for the first time. *1871* The census revealed that Ireland had a population of 5,400,000. *1872* There were sectarian riots in Belfast. Trams began running in Belfast. *1874* William Pirrie was taken into partnership by the Harland and Wolff shipyard. The Irish Football Union was founded. *1875* England beat Ireland in the inaugural rugby international between the two countries. *1878* A Board was established for secondary schools under the Intermediate Education Act. *1879* The Irish Rugby Union was founded. *1881* The census showed that Ireland’s population had dropped to less than 5,200,000. The Royal Belfast Golf Club was established, the first in Ireland. *1882* The Tuke Committee was formed to give financial aid to emigrants and helped thousands leave for America. *1883* The first electric tram in Ireland ran from Portrush to the Giant’s Causeway. *1884* The Irish electorate increased by 350% when Gladstone extended the vote to all householders. *1885* Gladstone publicly gave his support to Home Rule. The Orange Order called on its lodges to demonstrate. *1886* Gladstone’s Liberals were returned to power. He introduced the First Home Rule Bill in the House of Commons but it was defeated by 30 votes on its second reading and Parliament was dissolved. The Conservatives won the subsequent General Election which was fought mainly on the Home Rule issue. The Irish Unionist Party was founded to oppose Home Rule. Lord Randolph Churchill made the ‘Ulster will fight; Ulster will be right’ speech at the Ulster Hall, Belfast. There was widespread sectarian rioting in Ulster – 31 people were killed in Belfast during July and August. *1889* Eighty people died in one of Ireland’s worst ever train crashes at Armagh. *1891* The census showed that the population of Ireland was 4,705,000. *1892* The Belfast Labour Party, the first Socialist party in Ireland, was founded. Free primary schooling and compulsory education up to the age of 14 was introduced through the Irish Education Act. *1893* Gladstone’s Second Home Rule Bill was defeated in the House of Lords. Opposition to Home Rule by Northern Protestants resulted in mass demonstrations in Belfast. *1894* Gladstone retired from politics. The first meeting of the Irish Trade Union Congress took place. *1896* Ireland’s first motor vehicle laws were introduced. A hoard of prehistoric gold objects was discovered by Tom Nicholl while ploughing in Limavady. *1898* The Local Government (Ireland) Act established popularly elected local authorities and gave qualified women a vote for the first time.


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