The Irish Conservative party, 1852-1868

grantor: University of TorontoThe thesis is a study of the Irish party between 1852 and 1868. Until recently, the history of the Irish Conservative party had been a neglected topic among Irish historians. The focus of Irish historiography has been on Nationalist political organisations and movements and this has meant that both the Irish Conservative party and the Irish Liberal party have received insufficient attention. Indeed K. T. Hoppen's discussion of both parties in his 'Elections, Society and Politics in the Nineteenth Century' was the first to be based on extensive primary research, and remains the most useful account yet published. The thesis is primarily a study of the 'high politics' of the Irish Conservative party. While the first chapter describes the social composition of the party, the focus is, in general, on the elite of the Irish Conservative party and on their relationship with the party leadership at Westminster. The complex ways in which the Conservative party inter-acted with the principal forces opposed to it in Irish society, in particular, the Roman Catholic Church, are examined. The ambivalent relationship which existed between it and the Independent Irish party from 1852 onwards is also analysed. Through a series of detailed analyses of Conservative party attitudes and policies on the Land (Chapter Two), National Education (Chapters Three and Four) and Church questions (Chapters Five and Six), the thesis examines whether an 'indigenous' Irish Conservatism existed, different both in tone and content from its English counterpart. The thesis argues that the Irish Conservative party's identification with the Irish landlord class meant that it was unable to survive the decline of its influence in the latter half of the Nineteenth century. This decline should not, however, blind us to the strength and resilience of the Irish Conservative party in the years covered by this thesis. As the authentic mouthpiece of powerful section of Irish society, the Irish Conservative party played a central but neglected role in mid-Nineteenth Century Irish history. The aim of this thesis has been to restore that role, too long neglected, to its proper significance.Ph.D