The Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union (ILPU) was a unionist political organisation in Ireland, established to oppose the Irish Home Rule movement.[1]
Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union | |
|---|---|
| Founded | May 1885 |
| Dissolved | 1891 |
| Succeeded by | Irish Unionist Alliance |
| Headquarters | Dublin |
| Newspaper | Notes from Ireland |
| Ideology | Big tent Anti-Home Rule Irish Unionism |
The Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union was formed in Dublin in May 1885 by a small number of southern businessmen, landowners and academics.[2] It sought to unite Liberals and Conservatives in the three southern provinces of Ireland on a common platform of maintenance of the union between Great Britain and Ireland. In doing so, it undermined the Conservative Loyal Irish Union, which shut down as a result of the ILPU's founding. From its inception, the ILPU's main opponent was the Irish Parliamentary Party. The ILPU published pamphlets, leaflets and a news sheet, Notes from Ireland, which were distributed widely in Ireland.[3][4] The organisation had some success in preventing rivalry between Liberals and Conservatives, and in a number of cases candidates came forward in the 1885 general election simply as ‘loyalists’. A total of 54 of the southern seats were contested by anti-home rule candidates.
The success of the organisation led its leaders to found the Irish Unionist Alliance in 1891, at which point the ILPU ceased to exist as a separate body.
1885 general election
edit
Table shows results for candidates running under a purely "Loyalist" banner.
| Constituency | Candidate | Votes | % | Position | Winning party |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mid Cork | Arthur St George Patton | 106 | 2.1 | 2 | Irish Parliamentary Party |
| North Donegal | Augustus Stewart | 952 | 17.2 | 2 | Irish Parliamentary Party |
| Galway Borough | Thomas George Palmer Hallett | 164 | 10.9 | 2 | Irish Parliamentary Party |
| South Kerry | Daniel O'Connell | 133 | 4.6 | 2 | Irish Parliamentary Party |
| East Waterford | Capt. William Gervaise de la Poer | 314 | 8.7 | 2 | Irish Parliamentary Party |
| South Westmeath | Herman Southwood Smith | 200 | 5.2 | 2 | Irish Parliamentary Party |
References
edit- ^ The Real Dangers of Home Rule (Dublin: Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union, 1887)
- ^ Alvin Jackson, The Oxford Handbook of Modern Irish History (Oxford University Press, 19 Mar 2014), 52.
- ^ Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union: Leaflets (Dublin, 1886)
- ^ James H. Murphy, The Oxford History of the Irish Book, Volume IV (Oxford University Press, 1 Sep 2011), 71.