The Dublin election riot occurred during the hotly contested Irish General Election of 1713. It concerned the Dublin City constituency, which returned two members to the Irish Parliament. One of the Whig candidates was John Forster, a leading member of the party and a former

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

. An undertone of the election was the prospect of the

Hanoverian Succession The Act of Settlement is an Act of the Parliament of England that settled the succession to the English and Irish crowns to only Protestants, which passed in 1701. More specifically, anyone who became a Roman Catholic, or who married one, bec ...

which the Whigs supported. The

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

candidates enjoyed a great deal of popularity with the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Jacobites Jacobite means follower of Jacob or James. Jacobite may refer to: Religion * Jacobites, followers of Saint Jacob Baradaeus (died 578). Churches in the Jacobite tradition and sometimes called Jacobite include: ** Syriac Orthodox Church, sometime ...

in the city. Traditionally the voting took place at the

Blue Coat School A bluecoat school is a type of charity school in England, the first of which was founded in the 16th century. Most of them have closed; some remain open as schools, often on different sites, and some of the original buildings have been adapted ...

on the north side of the

River Liffey The River Liffey (Irish: ''An Life'', historically ''An Ruirthe(a)ch'') is a river in eastern Ireland that ultimately flows through the centre of Dublin to its mouth within Dublin Bay. Its major tributaries include the River Dodder, the River ...

, but this time it was held at the

Tholsel Tholsel was a name traditionally used for a local municipal and administrative building used to collect tolls and taxes and to administer trade and other documents in Irish towns and cities. It was at one stage one of the most important secular bu ...

in the centre of the city, considered a stronghold of the Whigs. On polling day they took over almost the entire building, shutting out the Tory supporters. This provoked a group of Tories to storm the building and begin smashing up the platform. A detachment of the

Irish Army The Irish Army, known simply as the Army ( ga, an tArm), is the land component of the Defence Forces of Ireland.The Defence Forces are made up of the Permanent Defence Forces – the standing branches – and the Reserve Defence Forces. The Ar ...

was called out to restore order. They were attacked, with planks of wood from the dismantled platform being hurled at them. The troops responded by opening fire, killing one man and wounding several others. A compromise was organized by the authorities in which the Whigs and Tories could vote in separate buildings. The Whigs then secured both seats in what was otherwise a national victory for the Tories. Many of the Tories who had cast their votes were proved to not be eligible to do so under the Penal Laws. Blame for the incident was eventually placed on James Cotter, a Catholic Jacobite from

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

. The role of an associate of a leading Tory Constantine Phipps, the

Lord Chancellor of Ireland The Lord High Chancellor of Ireland (commonly known as Lord Chancellor of Ireland) was the highest judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 to 1801, it was also the highest political office of ...

, was also highlighted.Simms p.281-83

References

Bibliography

* Dickson, David. ''Dublin: The Making of a Capital City''. Profile Books, 2014. * Simms, J.G. ''War and Politics in Ireland, 1649-1730''. Hambledon Press, 1986. 1713 in Ireland Political history of Ireland 18th century in Dublin (city) {{Ireland-stub