Daragh Curran | University College Dublin (original) (raw)
Conference Presentations by Daragh Curran
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<p>The strength of the Orange Order in early nineteenth-century Ulster, if at first a boon,... more <p>The strength of the Orange Order in early nineteenth-century Ulster, if at first a boon, was later a cause of concern for successive British governments. From local magistrates at petty sessions through to William Saurin, the Attorney General, Orangeism permeated the administration of law and order in the northern province. A radical shake up of the justice system, including the establishment of a new constabulary force, was undertaken during the 1820s and 1830s. This chapter explores the reactions of the Orange Order to the new police and in the process augments the extant literature on the 'conditional loyalty' of Ulster loyalism. Purges of Orangemen from the magistracy during the 1830s, the disbandment of the yeomanry in 1833, and the enforcement by the constabulary (in some instances at least) of the prohibition on assemblies and arches, fuelled Orange rage and prompted violent resistance to the forces of law and order. This essay posits that Ulster Orangemen could not countenance the possibility that the laws upheld and administered by Dublin Castle could apply to loyal citizens such as themselves. As a result, their disobedience towards the police in the years immediately following Emancipation ran contrary to the rules of the Orange Institution to uphold the law.</p>
<p>The strength of the Orange Order in early nineteenth-century Ulster, if at first a boon,... more <p>The strength of the Orange Order in early nineteenth-century Ulster, if at first a boon, was later a cause of concern for successive British governments. From local magistrates at petty sessions through to William Saurin, the Attorney General, Orangeism permeated the administration of law and order in the northern province. A radical shake up of the justice system, including the establishment of a new constabulary force, was undertaken during the 1820s and 1830s. This chapter explores the reactions of the Orange Order to the new police and in the process augments the extant literature on the 'conditional loyalty' of Ulster loyalism. Purges of Orangemen from the magistracy during the 1830s, the disbandment of the yeomanry in 1833, and the enforcement by the constabulary (in some instances at least) of the prohibition on assemblies and arches, fuelled Orange rage and prompted violent resistance to the forces of law and order. This essay posits that Ulster Orangemen could not countenance the possibility that the laws upheld and administered by Dublin Castle could apply to loyal citizens such as themselves. As a result, their disobedience towards the police in the years immediately following Emancipation ran contrary to the rules of the Orange Institution to uphold the law.</p>
This thesis deals with the transition that was taking place in Protestant society in the immediat... more This thesis deals with the transition that was taking place in Protestant society in the immediate pre-famine period in County Tyrone. It explores how this community, at all social levels, reacted to the changes that were occurring and which were considered detrimental to its position of dominance in society. These changes had the potential to dramatically affect the traditional paternalistic relationship that bound the lower classes to their social betters and this study examines how this relationship survived through economic recession, changes in law and order, increasing concessions being granted to Catholics, lessening government support for the Protestant Church, and the suppression of the dominant Protestant association of the time- the Orange Order. The Order played an integral part in the lives of many Protestants and was an organization that transcended the class divide. Because of this, it becomes the pivot around which this work revolves as the Order, with its wide-stret...
... I would like to pay special thanks to my classmates, in particular Liam O&amp;amp;amp... more ... I would like to pay special thanks to my classmates, in particular Liam O&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#x27;Rourke, Seamus Coll, Darragh Gannon, Mel Farrell, Edward Tynan, and Breen Murphy. Most importantly I would like to express my gratitude to my family for their support ...
Donegal Annual, Journal of County Donegal Historical Society, no.66 (2014)
Breifne, Journal of Cumann Seanchais Bhreifne, Apr 2014
Maura Cronin and William Sheehan (eds), Riotous Assemblies (Mercier Press, Cork, 2011) , 2011
Belfast Telegraph, Oct 15, 2014
The political mobilisation of the recently emancipated catholic majority during the first half of... more The political mobilisation of the recently emancipated catholic majority during the first half of the nineteenth century has attracted much attention. Frequently, the focus is the career of Daniel O'Connell. The growing confidence of the Catholic Church and the possible economic damage caused by the Union of 1800 have also been investigated. Less research has been devoted to Irish protestant communities, other than to chart the efforts of religious evangelicals. The neglect is now redressed by Daragh Curran. He concentrates on Ulster, where protestants of various denominations formed a majority of the population, especially in the eastern counties. Curran stresses the shock and divisions left by the uprising of 1798 and its violent suppression. To these were added dismay among many northern protestants as the British government conceded more civic rights to the catholics, thereby undermining the already precarious ascendancy over power and property enjoyed by the protestant minority. Tensions were further aggravated by economic recession after the Napoleonic wars, which depressed the previously buoyant linen industry. These difficulties were particularly acute in the western districts of Ulster, where catholics were proportionately more numerous than in the east. Curran traces differing regimes among the landowners. Some, resident on their estates, established model farms and schools, and patronised farming societies. Rather more were absent from the province and delegated management to agents, whose sympathy for tenants was usually meagre. As in the eighteenth century, absentees, middlemen and agents were demonised. The scene set, Curran's main purpose is to investigate tenant protest and assertiveness. Freemasonry was one outlet. However, its regalia and rituals required spending beyond the means of many smaller farmers and traders. Furthermore, catholics sometimes mingled with protestants in the Lodges: a form of socialising to which the latter were usually averse. Other initiatives included loyalist Brunswick Clubs and, by the 1830s, Conservative Clubs. Increasingly popular was the Orange Order. It replicated many features of Masonry, but at lower cost. These groups, particularly when they paraded through their districts, allowed the edgy protestants to proclaim their strength. Yet the manifestations, impressive in numbers and bravado, failed to deflect the government from further disquieting reforms. The power of the local gentry who had dominated the magistracy was reduced, and a professionalised police force, less susceptible to cronyism, replaced the groups of vigilantes which had evolved during the troubled 1790s and survived into the 1830s. Curran emphasises how the Reform Act of 1832 dramatically reduced the size of the electorate in Ulster, which fell from 67,182 to 11,199. The effect seems to have been an increased ferocity in the contested seats. Candidates adopted differing stances on the urgent questions of the day, notably the possible repeal of the Union. Rivalries within the dominant land-owning families, based on personality as well as ideology, continued, and were fought