The

1868 United Kingdom general election The 1868 United Kingdom general election was the first after passage of the Reform Act 1867, which enfranchised many male householders, thus greatly increasing the number of men who could vote in elections in the United Kingdom. It was the first ...

in Ireland resulted in the Liberals under Gladstone strengthening their control over Ireland, particularly the south. It was the first election following the

Representation of the People (Ireland) Act 1868 The Representation of the People (Ireland) Act 1868 (31 & 32 Vict c 49) was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. The Act did not alter the overall distribution of parliamentary seats in Ireland. It was originally proposed to merge twelve ...

. A key focus of the Liberal campaign was on their proposal to

disestablish The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular sta ...

the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...

. The Church of Ireland's official role, as the Protestant national church of a Catholic majority country, had long proved controversial. The

Tithe War The Tithe War ( ga, Cogadh na nDeachúna) was a campaign of mainly nonviolent civil disobedience, punctuated by sporadic violent episodes, in Ireland between 1830 and 1836 in reaction to the enforcement of tithes on the Roman Catholic majority f ...

of the 1830s had largely resulted in the abolition of tithes, which had been levied on Ireland's population (both Protestants and Catholics) to fund the Church of Ireland. Disestablishment was popular both in Ireland, and also amongst non-conformists and the Irish diaspora in Britain, particularly in the

Celtic Fringe The Celtic nations are a cultural area and collection of geographical regions in Northwestern Europe where the Celtic languages and cultural traits have survived. The term ''nation'' is used in its original sense to mean a people who sha ...

. This policy would be enacted following the election by the

Irish Church Act 1869 The Irish Church Act 1869 (32 & 33 Vict. c. 42) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which separated the Church of Ireland from the Church of England and disestablished the former, a body that commanded the adherence of a small min ...

. The election marked the high-water point of the Liberals in Ireland, and within 17 years they would have no seats at all in Ireland.

Results

Not included in the results is the Dublin University constituency, which returned two Conservatives to parliament.

References

1874 Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes The Bronx. * January 2 – Ignacio María González becomes head of state of the Dominican Republic for the first time. * January 3 – Third Carlist War &ndas ...

#Ireland November 1868 events December 1868 events 1868 elections in Ireland {{UK-election-stub

Results

See also

References