Independent Irish Party
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The Independent Irish Party (1852-1858) was an Irish political party founded in July 1852 by 40 Irish MPs who had been elected to the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
It had two central aims:
- The repeal of the Ecclesistical Titles Act, which banned Roman Catholic Bishops from re-assuming pre-reformation ecclesiastical bishropic titles in the United Kingdom, as well as the prohibition of the wearing of clerical outfits.
- The adoption and enforcement of the Three Fs, namely
- fair rent;
- fixity of tenure;
- free sale. (These would all have aided Irish tenant farms, all of whom lacked them.)
The Independent Irish Party initially achieved the balance of power in the House of Commons. It brought down Lord Derby's Tory ministry and enabled Lord Aberdeen of the Whigs to form a ministry. However two Irish MPs, John Sadlier and William Keogh then broke ranks by joining the ministry.
The party was damaged by weak leaders and by the lack of support its received from the Roman Catholic Church. Charles Gavin Duffy left in despair and went to Australia. Frederick Lucas proved an ineffective leader, while his successor, George Henry Moore, its new leader, having got elected in his Mayo Constituency through clerical help, was defeated by clerical opposition in 1857. The party split over an internal row over its oath, and faded into oblivion.