Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union
FoundedMay 1885 (May 1885)
Dissolved1891 (1891)
Succeeded byIrish Unionist Alliance
HeadquartersDublin
NewspaperNotes from Ireland
IdeologyBig tent
Anti-Home Rule
Irish Unionism

The Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union (ILPU) was a unionist political organisation in Ireland, established to oppose the Irish Home Rule movement.[1]

The Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union was formed in Dublin in May 1885 by a small number of southern businessmen, landowners and academics.[2] It sought to unite Liberals and Conservatives in the three southern provinces of Ireland on a common platform of maintenance of the union between Great Britain and Ireland. In doing so, it undermined the Conservative Loyal Irish Union, which shut down as a result of the ILPU's founding. From its inception, the ILPU's main opponent was the Irish Parliamentary Party. The ILPU published pamphlets, leaflets and a news sheet, Notes from Ireland, which were distributed widely in Ireland.[3][4] The organisation had some success in preventing rivalry between Liberals and Conservatives, and in a number of cases candidates came forward in the 1885 general election simply as ‘loyalists’. A total of 54 of the southern seats were contested by anti-home rule candidates.

The success of the organisation led its leaders to found the Irish Unionist Alliance in 1891, at which point the ILPU ceased to exist as a separate body.

1885 general election

Coloured purple are seats contested by the ILPU in the 1885 election. All were lost to the IPP. Constituencies coloured green were won by the IPP, and blue by the Conservatives.

Table shows results for candidates running under a purely "Loyalist" banner.

ConstituencyCandidateVotes %PositionWinning party
Mid CorkArthur St George Patton1062.12Irish Parliamentary Party
North DonegalAugustus Stewart95217.22Irish Parliamentary Party
Galway BoroughThomas George Palmer Hallett16410.92Irish Parliamentary Party
South KerryDaniel O'Connell1334.62Irish Parliamentary Party
East WaterfordCapt. William Gervaise de la Poer3148.72Irish Parliamentary Party
South WestmeathHerman Southwood Smith2005.22Irish Parliamentary Party

References

  1. ↑ The Real Dangers of Home Rule (Dublin: Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union, 1887)
  2. ↑ Alvin Jackson, The Oxford Handbook of Modern Irish History (Oxford University Press, 19 Mar 2014), 52.
  3. ↑ Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union: Leaflets (Dublin, 1886)
  4. ↑ James H. Murphy, The Oxford History of the Irish Book, Volume IV (Oxford University Press, 1 Sep 2011), 71.
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