Irish Reform Association facts for kids

The Irish Reform Association (1904–1905) was a group in Ireland that tried to bring in a small amount of self-government. It was made up of Irish unionist landowners who were mostly Protestant. They wanted to give Ireland more control over its own affairs, but not full Home Rule, which was what many Irish people wanted.

However, the idea didn't work out. Unionists in Ulster (Northern Ireland) thought it went too far, while Irish Nationalists felt it didn't go far enough. This led to big problems for the people involved.

Why the Irish Reform Association Started

For many years, since the 1870s, there had been a "Land War" in Ireland. This was a big fight between tenant farmers and their landlords. Farmers were often charged very high rents and could be easily evicted, especially during tough economic times.

The British government tried to help by passing several Irish Land Acts. These laws aimed to make things better, but they only partly solved the problems. Around 1900, a group called the United Irish League made the farmers' protests even stronger. This put a lot of pressure on the landlords.

Because of this pressure, some important and forward-thinking landlords decided to talk things over. They wanted to solve the old "Irish land question." They called a Land Conference, which was supported by the Chief Secretary for Ireland, George Wyndham.

How the Association Was Formed

The Land Conference was very successful. It led to a new law called the Land Purchase (Ireland) Act 1903. This law was a big win for William O'Brien MP, who was a leader for the tenant farmers at the conference.

In November 1903, O'Brien left the Irish Parliamentary Party. He felt his ideas for peaceful talks weren't getting anywhere. His decision encouraged the landlord group from the Land Conference to hold a meeting in Dublin in early 1904. About 300 important Irish landowners attended. They decided to form the Irish Reform Association.

The group was led by the Earl of Dunraven, who had been a key figure in the successful Land Conference. Many members were moderate unionists from the south of Ireland.

The Association quickly announced its goals. They wanted to promote "peace, goodwill, and reform." They hoped to unite "all moderate and progressive people" in Ireland, no matter their religion or social class. Their main goal was to give Ireland "a large measure of self-government" without breaking up the union with Britain.

John Redmond MP, a Nationalist leader, was very excited. He said the Association's announcement was "of the utmost importance" and "simply a declaration for Home Rule." He believed that with these landowners on their side, Home Rule could happen soon. O'Brien also welcomed it, seeing it as a sign of new cooperation between different groups in Ireland.

However, not everyone agreed. John Dillon MP and Michael Davitt, other Nationalist leaders, thought the Association would actually stop the Nationalist cause from moving forward. The strong Ulster Unionists were also against it. Sir Edward Carson MP even said it was "worse than Home Rule" or even repealing the union entirely.

What Devolution Meant

Sir Anthony MacDonnell, a Catholic from Mayo, was the head of the Civil Service in Dublin Castle. He had been appointed by Wyndham and wanted to help Ireland. At Dunraven's request, MacDonnell helped the Reform Association. He started to write a plan for how Ireland could get more self-government.

On August 31, 1904, the Reform Association released a first report. It asked for more local government powers for Ireland. Then, on September 26, they published a detailed plan. This plan suggested that an elected Irish authority would control Irish money and propose laws just for Ireland.

The Lord-Lieutenant, the Earl of Dudley, approved MacDonnell's plan. This gave O'Brien great hope. He believed Ireland was entering a new time where talking and working together could replace protests and political tricks to achieve national goals.

The Devolution Crisis

After the plan was published, a huge controversy began. Wyndham publicly said he knew nothing about the plan and denied supporting Home Rule in any way. However, MacDonnell let it be known that he had told Wyndham about it. Wyndham later claimed he had lost MacDonnell's letter.

This whole situation became known as the "Devolution Crisis of 1904–5." It was a complicated event with a lot of political drama. The reports themselves became less important than the scandal. It seemed that the Unionist government in Dublin Castle, led by Wyndham and Dudley, had become too sympathetic to Irish ideas. Dudley openly said he wanted Ireland to be governed according to Irish wishes.

Even though Wyndham denied it, he probably quietly encouraged the discussions about devolution in August. He might even have involved Tim Healy MP to get more people to support the reforms.

Both the main Conservative Party and the Ulster Unionists saw the Association as a trick to bring in Home Rule. They felt betrayed. The Irish Nationalist Party, however, was left out of these important talks.

John Dillon MP, the deputy leader of the Irish Party, believed the party had to stick strictly to Home Rule to keep its support. Other Nationalists like Michael Davitt agreed. They strongly opposed what Dillon called "Dunraven and his crowd." They fiercely rejected any move towards national unity that included all classes and religions. Joe Devlin MP told his voters that they were "not going to seek the co-operation of a few aristocratic nobodies."

The End of the Association

In March 1905, Wyndham was forced out of office. Unionist Members of Parliament (MPs) had hounded him for breaking faith with Unionism. He retired in May 1905, his political career ruined by angry loyalists and Nationalists, including Dillon. This event also helped cause a split in the Home Rule movement that lasted for many years.

Wyndham's replacement, Walter Long MP, made the administration stricter. MacDonnell was given a less important role. This was a big disappointment for O'Brien and Dunraven, who had hoped to continue their efforts for cooperation.

During the "devolution crisis," Ulster Unionists were so angry that MacDonnell, a Catholic, was involved in the plan to run Ireland through elected councils. This outrage led them to set up the Ulster Unionist Council. This council later became very important in organizing Unionist opposition to the Government of Ireland Act 1914.

O'Brien still believed that the only way to achieve self-government for all of Ireland was to work with Dunraven's reform group. In September 1905, when his newspaper The Irish People started again, it published the Irish Reform Association's manifesto. It called for a new conference to deal with issues in the west of Ireland, help evicted tenants, pass a Labourers' Bill, and improve the finances of the Wyndham Act.

O'Brien asked the Irish Party to talk with them. Dillon, however, said this would mean the party would be controlled by Dunraven and Healy. After the failure of the Irish Council Bill, which O'Brien saw as a step towards "Home Rule by instalments," the Association slowly disappeared from the political scene. It would later reappear in a different form in 1909 as O’Brien’s All-for-Ireland League.

The Dunraven group had their own love for Ireland and believed Home Rule was bound to happen. But they were different from most people in their social class. They never fully understood the strong popular movements of Irish nationalism and Ulster Unionism.

See also

• Irish Council Bill, a similar idea developed by MacDonnell in 1907