1. GLADSTONE, PARNELL AND HOME RULE

2. PARNELL AND THE IPP
Determined to turn the Home Rule group in the Commons into tightly knit party over which he could exercise authority
Created the National League in Ireland which became in effect the electoral arm of the Irish Parliamentary Party with over 1,000 branches
1885 the Roman Catholic Church officially came out in support of HR and Parnell agreed to go along with the church’s policies on education

3. PARNELL AND THE IPP Parliamentary candidates were chosen by Parnell
Required to sign a pledge they would vote only with the IPP
Parnell acknowledged as “the Chief”
His power was “irresponsible and more or less despotic”

4. PARNELL AS LEADER His ability recognized by all
Courted by both Whigs and Tories who both recognized that the IPP might well come to hold the balance of power

5. POWER-BROKER Election due in 1885
In June Parnell switched his support from the Whigs to the Tories
Tories dropped the Coercion Act and introduced the Ashbourne Act which allowed tenant farmers to borrow money to buy their own land
Refused to throw his lot in with Gladstone unless he committed himself openly to Home Rule

6. POWER BROKER Election results in 1885: IPP: 86 Liberals:335
Conservatives: 249
Real victor was Parnell since neither party could govern without his support and he had also captured all seats in Ireland outside Ulster

7. GLADSTONE’S CONVERSION
Gladstone came to realize that his religious reforms and his land reforms had not been enough to satisfy the demands of the Irish
Realised the moral necessity of HR
Said HR was based on the “first principles of religion”
Possible that his conversion to HR more due to opportunism than conviction, allowing him to reunite a disintegrating Liberal Party under his own leadership.

8. FIRST HOME RULE BILL
Gladstone became prime minister in Jan 1886 and immediately grasped the HR nettle.
Most liberal MPs supported his first HR Bill, not because they were enthusiastic for it but because they were loyal to Gladstone and could see no alternative to HR but continued coercion.

9. CRITICISMS OF THE BILL
Home Rule would lead to the break-up of the United Kingdom
Could the new Irish MPs in a potential Dublin Parliament be trusted to look after the welfare of Protestants, since many of these MPs had been involved in violent agitation in the past?
How could Irish nationality and unity be said to exist when all classes in Protestant Ulster opposed it so vehemently

10. FATE OF THE BILL Defeated in the commons by 313 votes to 343
Parliament was dissolved
Victory for Unionists in the election of summer 1886: 316 conservatives and 78 liberal unionists against 191 HR liberals and 85 IPP

11. FALL OF PARNELL
In spite of the election results Parnell was still determined to stick to the constitutional path to gain HR
He joined the fortunes of the IPP firmly to the fortunes of the Liberals
By 1887 the Kitty O’Shea scandal had broken and Gladstone was to cut all links with Parnell
Kitty marries Parnell after her divorce – he dies in her arms 4 months later.

12. FALL OF PARNELL He refused to resign as leader of the IPP
He attacked Gladstone personally and denounced the Liberal alliance
He thus appeared to overthrow the political strategy he had built up over the past 5 years
Irish Catholic clergy called on all Irish people to repudiate Parnell

13. FALL OF PARNELL
The IPP had to choose between Parnell or the Liberal alliance without which they would never obtain HR
37 supported him but 45 rejected him
He refused to accept his fate and toyed with a return to unconstitutional methods
Died in 1891 aged 45

14. SECOND HOME RULE BILL
1892, Gladstone aged 84 formed his fourth ministry and proposed a new HR Bill
1893 the bill passed through the Commons but was overwhelmingly defeated in the Lords
Gladstone retired 1894
It became clear that HR would never be a realistic possibility without major reform of the House of Lords
Commitment to HR remained an integral part of the Liberal party’s program