The Irish Act of Union, 1800

This book brings together thirteen of the leading historians of the period to investigate the political, social and cultural significance of the Irish Act of Union. Marking the bicentenary of the passage of the act, the contributors combine to provide an authoritative account of the state of the historical debate. Divided in four sections, the book investigates the origins of the act, its actual passage into legislation, the political debate which surrounded the act in Ireland and beyond, and the central role played by religious considerations in its final shaping. This book provides the results of recent research into the passing of the Union, and supplies the reader with an indispensable starting-point for understanding the significance of the 1801 union of Ireland with Britain.

The historiography of the Act of Union, James Kelly; the injured Lady and her British problem, Michael Brown; "A union for empire" - the Anglo-Irish Union as an imperial project, Thomas Bartlett; political Anglicanism in Ireland 1691-1801 - from the language of liberty to the language of union, Joseph Richardson; Ulster Presbyterianism and the passing of the Act of Union, Ian McBride; "Like a phoenix from its ashes" - united Irish propaganda and the Act of Union, Manuela Ceretta; Dublin Castle and the Act of Union, James Quinn; the failure of opposition, James Kelly; the Irish House of Commons 1799-1800 - a study in low politics, Patrick M. Geoghegan; Dublin after the Union - the age of the ultra Protestants, 1801-22, Jacqueline Hill; completing the union? the Irish novel and the moment of union, Claire Connolly.