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→Amendment and repeal: Remaining provisions relating to oaths were superseded by the Promissory Oaths Act 1868, and consequently the Popery Act was repealed by the Promissory Oaths Act 1871,
→Amendment and repeal: Promissory Oaths Act 1868,<ref>[https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/31-32/72/contents/enacted 31 & 32 Vict c 72]</ref>
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From the late 18th century [[Roman Catholic relief bills]] eased the Penal Laws, by explicit or implicit repeal and replacement. The 1704 [[Oath of Allegiance (United Kingdom)|oath of allegiance]] was replaced in 1774.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433035265085&seq=633 13 & 14 Geo. 3. c. 35 {{bracket|Ir.}}]</ref> [[Luke Gardiner|Gardiner]]'s Act<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433035265077&seq=336 17 & 18 Geo. 3 c.49 {{bracket|Ir.}}]</ref> (the Irish re-enactment of the British [[Papists Act 1778]]) implicitly repealed many other provisions of the 1704 act. Some were replaced with less onerous restrictions; for example, the maximum lease for Catholic tenants was increased from 31 years to 999 years.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433035265077&seq=336 17 & 18 Geo. 3 c.49 {{bracket|Ir.}} s.1]</ref> The restrictions on inheritance and preference for a convert eldest son were abolished.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433035265077&seq=338 17 & 18 Geo. 3 c.49 {{bracket|Ir.}} ss.2, 5–7]</ref> The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1782 removed disabilities from Catholic clergy who subscribed to the 1774 oath of allegiance; it also repealed section 23 of the 1704 act.<ref>21 & 22 Geo. 3 c. 24 {{bracket|Ir.}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=U25BAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA92 s. 5], [https://books.google.com/books?id=U25BAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA94 s. 15]</ref> Most restrictions on intermarriage were removed by the [[Roman Catholic Relief Act 1792]].<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433035265010&seq=307 32 Geo. 3 c. 21 {{bracket|Ir.}} ss. 10–13]</ref> Many Penal Laws were repealed in general terms by the [[Roman Catholic Relief Act 1793]].<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433035265010&seq=717 33 Geo. 3 c. 21 {{bracket|Ir.}}]</ref> The [[Religious Disabilities Act 1846]] explicitly repealed provisions of sections 1, 3, and 4 of the 1704 act.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/statutesunitedk39britgoog/page/415 9 & 10 Vict. c. 59 s. 1]</ref>
From the late 18th century [[Roman Catholic relief bills]] eased the Penal Laws, by explicit or implicit repeal and replacement. The 1704 [[Oath of Allegiance (United Kingdom)|oath of allegiance]] was replaced in 1774.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433035265085&seq=633 13 & 14 Geo. 3. c. 35 {{bracket|Ir.}}]</ref> [[Luke Gardiner|Gardiner]]'s Act<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433035265077&seq=336 17 & 18 Geo. 3 c.49 {{bracket|Ir.}}]</ref> (the Irish re-enactment of the British [[Papists Act 1778]]) implicitly repealed many other provisions of the 1704 act. Some were replaced with less onerous restrictions; for example, the maximum lease for Catholic tenants was increased from 31 years to 999 years.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433035265077&seq=336 17 & 18 Geo. 3 c.49 {{bracket|Ir.}} s.1]</ref> The restrictions on inheritance and preference for a convert eldest son were abolished.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433035265077&seq=338 17 & 18 Geo. 3 c.49 {{bracket|Ir.}} ss.2, 5–7]</ref> The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1782 removed disabilities from Catholic clergy who subscribed to the 1774 oath of allegiance; it also repealed section 23 of the 1704 act.<ref>21 & 22 Geo. 3 c. 24 {{bracket|Ir.}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=U25BAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA92 s. 5], [https://books.google.com/books?id=U25BAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA94 s. 15]</ref> Most restrictions on intermarriage were removed by the [[Roman Catholic Relief Act 1792]].<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433035265010&seq=307 32 Geo. 3 c. 21 {{bracket|Ir.}} ss. 10–13]</ref> Many Penal Laws were repealed in general terms by the [[Roman Catholic Relief Act 1793]].<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433035265010&seq=717 33 Geo. 3 c. 21 {{bracket|Ir.}}]</ref> The [[Religious Disabilities Act 1846]] explicitly repealed provisions of sections 1, 3, and 4 of the 1704 act.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/statutesunitedk39britgoog/page/415 9 & 10 Vict. c. 59 s. 1]</ref>


Remaining provisions relating to oaths were superseded by the [[Promissory Oaths Act 1868]], and consequently the Popery Act was repealed by the [[Promissory Oaths Act 1871]], with the exception of section 25.<ref>[https://books.google.ie/books?id=4F5MAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA211 34 & 35 Vict. c. 48 Sch. 3 Pt. 2]</ref> Section 25 was made redundant by the [[coming into force]] in 1871 of the [[Irish Church Act 1869]], and was repealed by the [[Statute Law Revision (Ireland) Act 1878]].<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Sessional papers |volume=HC 1878 vii |number=(122) 275 |date=1 March 1878 |author1=Attorney-General for Ireland |first2=James |last2=Lowther |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qjlcAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA9-PA24 |page=24 |title=Statute Law Revision (Ireland) Bill }}</ref>
Remaining provisions relating to oaths were superseded by the [[Promissory Oaths Act 1868]],<ref>[https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/31-32/72/contents/enacted 31 & 32 Vict c 72]</ref> and consequently the Popery Act was repealed by the [[Promissory Oaths Act 1871]], with the exception of section 25.<ref>[https://books.google.ie/books?id=4F5MAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA211 34 & 35 Vict. c. 48 Sch. 3 Pt. 2]</ref> Section 25 was made redundant by the [[coming into force]] in 1871 of the [[Irish Church Act 1869]], and was repealed by the [[Statute Law Revision (Ireland) Act 1878]].<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Sessional papers |volume=HC 1878 vii |number=(122) 275 |date=1 March 1878 |author1=Attorney-General for Ireland |first2=James |last2=Lowther |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qjlcAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA9-PA24 |page=24 |title=Statute Law Revision (Ireland) Bill }}</ref>


==See also==
==See also==

Revision as of 23:08, 8 February 2023

This article is about the Irish Act of Parliament. For the English Act of Parliament, see Popery Act 1698.

Popery Act 1704[n 1]
Parliament of Ireland
Long titleAn Act to prevent the further Growth of Popery
Citation2 Ann c.6 [Ir.]
Dates
Royal assent4 March 1704[1]
Repealed13 August 1878
Other legislation
Amended byRoman Catholic Relief Act 1793
Repealed byPromissory Oaths Act 1871, Statute Law Revision (Ireland) Act 1878
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

An Act to prevent the further Growth of Popery (2 Anne, c.6; commonly known as the Popery Act or the Gavelkind Act)[2] was an Act of the Parliament of Ireland that was passed in 1704. One of a series of Penal Laws against Roman Catholics.

Traditional Irish law used gavelkind as the inheritance rule in which an estate would be divided equally among a dead man's sons. In contrast, English common law had come to use male primogeniture as the main inheritance principle, with the eldest son receiving the entire estate. The 1704 act enforced gavelkind for Catholics, cementing to a tradition of farm subdivision which persisted beyond the act's repeal and contributed to the Great Famine of the 1840s.

Enactment

Two separate bills "to prevent the further Growth of Popery" were introduced in the parliamentary session 1703–1704. One originated with the Irish Privy Council and was referred on 4 July 1703 to the Attorney-General for Ireland;[1] the other was introduced as heads of a bill in the Irish House of Commons on 28 September 1703 and sent to the Lord Lieutenant on 19 November.[3] Under Poynings' Law, both bills were transmitted to the English Privy Council for approval.[1] Formally, one bill was vetoed and the other was returned to Dublin with amendments; a lack of surviving documentation makes it impossible to determine which of the two had which fate.[1] The approved bill was engrossed on 20 January, presented in the Commons on 14 February, sent to the Irish House of Lords on 25 February, and given royal assent on 4 March.[1]

Sir Toby Butler, the former Solicitor General for Ireland, a Roman Catholic, made a celebrated speech at the bar of the Commons denouncing the act as being "against the laws of God and man... against the rules of reason and justice". Other eminent Catholic lawyers like Stephen Rice also denounced the measure but to no avail.

Provisions

  • Section 1 defined as praemunire the encouragement or act of apostasy from Protestantism to Catholicism. It also prohibited Catholics under 21 from going abroad without licence, to help enforce the Education Act 1695's prohibition on Catholic education overseas.
  • Section 2 empowered judges to summon children to court to prove they had not gone abroad without licence under section 1.
  • Section 3 empowered the Irish Chancery to take property from a Catholic parent to pay for their Protestant child's education. If the child was an eldest son, up to one-third of the parent's property could be transferred to him, the parent retained only a life interest.
  • Section 4 prohibited Catholics from being legal guardians of Protestant children
  • Section 5 extended the existing prohibition on Protestants marrying Catholics[4] to include marriages abroad.
  • Section 6 prohibited Catholics from buying land or leasing it for more than 31 years.
  • Section 7 gave a Catholic coming into possession of real property six months in which to enter into possession of it, failing which it descended to the nearest Protestant relative.
  • Section 8 was a proviso to section 7, whereby a nearer Catholic relative could pre-empt the Protestant relative by conforming to Protestantism within the six-month window
  • Section 9 was a proviso to section 7, whereby the Protestant wife of a dispossessed Catholic remained entitled to her one-third dower.
  • Section 10 mandated that inheritance from a Catholic would by gavelkind. If the deceased had no sons, the estate was likewise divided between his daughters, or the next closest kin.
  • Section 11 was a proviso to section 10 to allow provision for daughters from the estate before the residue was subdivided among the sons.
  • Section 12 was a proviso to section 10 to allow the eldest son to inherit the whole estate (by primogeniture) if he was a Protestant, or converted within three months of his father's death. Thus, the law had the effect of reducing the size and thus the influence of Roman Catholic landed estates, which was the act's ulterior motive.[2]
  • Section 13 mandated that inheritance from a Protestant would according to common law, that is primogeniture.
  • Section 14 provided that debts of Catholics be registered with the Court of Exchequer, to ensure they were paid out of the estate before the application of gavelkind
  • Section 15 required a putative Protestant to prove their religion by taking specified oaths of supremacy, abjuration and allegiance
  • Section 16 required that, by August 1704, any person with an existing civil or military office must subscribe at quarter sessions to the declarations specified by the English Security of the Succession, etc. Act 1702[5] which rejected transubstantiation, abjured the Papacy and the Jacobite succession, and gave allegiance to Queen Anne. They must also "receive the sacrament of the Lord's Supper according to the usage of the Church of Ireland". As well as excluding Roman Catholics from office, the final requirement excluded non-conformist Protestants, notably Presbyterians, and many had to step down from municipal corporations and other positions. For example, ten Aldermen and ten Burgesses had to resign from Londonderry Corporation.[6]
  • Section 17 required that, within three months of appointment, any person appointed to a civil or military office must take the same oath and sacrament as in section 16.
  • Section 18 provided that failure to comply with sections 16 or 17 would vacate the office and void acts done by the official, who would be fined £500 and subject to civil penalties.
  • Section 19 provided for rolls of those subscribing to the oaths under section 15 to 17 be kept at the Four Courts. The surviving rolls are a valuable primary source for historians of 18th-century Ireland.
  • Section 20 empowered the Four Courts to administer the prescribed oaths
  • Section 21 allowed someone disabled under section 18 to be rehabilitated by subsequent conformity.
  • Section 22 allowed Irish people in England to take the equivalent oath and sacrament under English law, and allowed those abroad elsewhere to do so when next in Ireland or England
  • Section 23 prohibited Catholics from moving to Galway or Limerick, and required those already living there to deposit bonds with the corporations as proof of their loyalty.
  • Section 24 required Catholics voting in elections for the Irish House of Commons to take oaths of allegiance and abjuration
  • Section 25 provided that any advowsons of the Church of Ireland owned by Catholics would vest in the Crown
  • Section 26 declared that "superstitious" gatherings at Saint Patrick's Purgatory or holy wells were punishable as unlawful assembly
  • Section 27 declared that, for an assembly under section 26, the punishment for attending was a fine of 10 shillings, or public whipping in default; the punishment for hawking was a fine of 20 shillings by distraint, or debtor's prison in default
  • Section 28 made an exception to section 23 for "seamen, fishermen, and day labourers" in houses worth under "forty shillings the year". A forty shilling freehold qualified for the parliamentary franchise in a county borough constituency.

Effect

Catholic land holdings were reduced from 25% of the land in 1688 to 14% of the land in 1704 and 5% of the land in 1776.

Amendment and repeal

The act was "explained and amended" by a 1706 act which specified certain time limits left ambiguous by the original act, and closed some loopholes used by Catholics to conform minimally to the Church of Ireland without effectively renouncing Catholicism.[7]

A 1719 act[8] indemnified officials who had not thitherto subscribed to the oath required by the Popery Act. The time period for subscribing to the oath was routinely extended, initially by an act at the start of each biennial parliamentary session.[9] Similar acts were passed by the British parliament, and after the union the UK parliament continued the practice.

From the late 18th century Roman Catholic relief bills eased the Penal Laws, by explicit or implicit repeal and replacement. The 1704 oath of allegiance was replaced in 1774.[10] Gardiner's Act[11] (the Irish re-enactment of the British Papists Act 1778) implicitly repealed many other provisions of the 1704 act. Some were replaced with less onerous restrictions; for example, the maximum lease for Catholic tenants was increased from 31 years to 999 years.[12] The restrictions on inheritance and preference for a convert eldest son were abolished.[13] The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1782 removed disabilities from Catholic clergy who subscribed to the 1774 oath of allegiance; it also repealed section 23 of the 1704 act.[14] Most restrictions on intermarriage were removed by the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1792.[15] Many Penal Laws were repealed in general terms by the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1793.[16] The Religious Disabilities Act 1846 explicitly repealed provisions of sections 1, 3, and 4 of the 1704 act.[17]

Remaining provisions relating to oaths were superseded by the Promissory Oaths Act 1868,[18] and consequently the Popery Act was repealed by the Promissory Oaths Act 1871, with the exception of section 25.[19] Section 25 was made redundant by the coming into force in 1871 of the Irish Church Act 1869, and was repealed by the Statute Law Revision (Ireland) Act 1878.[20]

See also

Note

  1. ^ Or Popery Act 1703. No short title was assigned to the act before its repeal. Where a parliamentary session ran across more than one calendar year, an act's informal name sometimes uses the year in which it was granted royal assent, sometimes the year in which the parliamentary session began — in this case, Popery Act 1704 and Popery Act 1703 respectively.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Bill Number 5355: To prevent the further growth of Popery". Irish Legislation Database. Queens University Belfast. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  2. ^ a b Andrew Lyall; Land Law in Ireland; ISBN 1-85800-199-4
  3. ^ "Bill 2065 : To prevent the further growth of Popery in this kingdom". Irish Legislation Database. Queens University Belfast. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  4. ^ 9 Will 3 c.3 [Ir.]
  5. ^ 1 Anne c. 16 [Eng.]
  6. ^ The Annals of Derry, Robert Simpson 1847, page 203
  7. ^ 4 Ann c.3 [Ir.]
  8. ^ 6 Geo. 1 c. 9 [Ir.]
  9. ^ "Bills with subject of 411 'Protestant dissent'" Irish Legislation Database; Irish acts 1 George II c.2, 3 George II c.6, 5 George II c.5, 7 George II c.4, 13 George II c.7, 15 George II c.4, 17 George II c.9, 19 George II c.8, 21 George II c.5, 23 George II c.7, 25 George II c.7, 29 George II c.2, 31 George II c.4, 33 George II c.3, 1 George III c.4, 3 George III c.3, 5 George III c.11, 7 George III c.16, 11 George III c.3, 11 & 12 George III c.29, 13 & 14 George III c.13, 15 & 16 George III c.5, 16 George III c.1, 17 & 18 George III c.5, 19 & 20 George III c.28, 21 & 22 George III c.7, 25 George III c.32
  10. ^ 13 & 14 Geo. 3. c. 35 [Ir.]
  11. ^ 17 & 18 Geo. 3 c.49 [Ir.]
  12. ^ 17 & 18 Geo. 3 c.49 [Ir.] s.1
  13. ^ 17 & 18 Geo. 3 c.49 [Ir.] ss.2, 5–7
  14. ^ 21 & 22 Geo. 3 c. 24 [Ir.] s. 5, s. 15
  15. ^ 32 Geo. 3 c. 21 [Ir.] ss. 10–13
  16. ^ 33 Geo. 3 c. 21 [Ir.]
  17. ^ 9 & 10 Vict. c. 59 s. 1
  18. ^ 31 & 32 Vict c 72
  19. ^ 34 & 35 Vict. c. 48 Sch. 3 Pt. 2
  20. ^ Attorney-General for Ireland; Lowther, James (1 March 1878). "Statute Law Revision (Ireland) Bill". Sessional papers. HC 1878 vii ((122) 275): 24.


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