The myth surrounding the passing of the Irish Act of Union and the creation of Irish nationalism, 1775--1851

This dissertation examines the origins and significance of the nationalist myth surrounding the passing of the Irish Act of Union in 1800. The promise of the Act of Union was that after a long and bloody history of colonization and conflict, Ireland would gain equality with Great Britain within the framework of the United Kingdom. But given that the large majority of the people of Ireland were Catholic, there simply could not be equality without religious pluralism. In the space between the promise of the Act of Union and the reality of ongoing inequality, the Union myth, alleging that the Union was the product of unimaginable conspiracy, unrivalled corruption and unconscionable bloodshed was born.;As a nationalist political narrative, the Union myth can be traced through a series of texts that drew selectively on all the strains of Irish liberal opposition, Patriotic, republican and Catholic. Taken together, these texts were crucial to preserving and popularizing the evidence of the plot against the integrity and welfare of the Irish nation as well as providing a coherent counter-narrative to British incorporation and imperial triumph.;Daniel O'Connell (1775-1847), the architect of Catholic democratic politics after the Union, relied on the Union myth to justify his first two practical innovations, constant appeals to public opinion and the entry of the Catholic clergy into popular politics. O'Connell and his supporters legitimized the overt challenge these new forms of political organization posed to the British Constitution by claiming Irish Patriotic precedent, emphasizing English duplicity and stressing Irish moral superiority. These were all the values central to the Union myth.;After the catastrophe of the Irish Potato Famine in the 1840s, Irish nationalists turned their attention from the political ideal of Repeal of the Union to the more practical question of land tenancy. Its devastation, however, also confirmed nationalist suspicions that at best the Union had virtually nothing to offer to them and at worst it was a threat to their survival.;A detailed examination of the Irish Union myth not only provides insight into how Daniel O'Connell became the architect of Irish Catholic democratic politics in the nineteenth century but also powerfully illustrates how political realities are expanded and limited by the language people use to explain them. The narrative does not "cause" the reality, but, as in the case of the Union myth, it guides what is possible politically and dictates how those who experience it will understand the reality created.