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CSO/RP/CA/1824/1

Memorandum by author identified as 'S N E' [Stephen N Elrington] providing an eyewitness account of a meeting of the Catholic Association at unknown location, chaired by [John] Browne; [Richard Lalor] Sheil proposed that a committee be established to present a petition to government on the ‘Administration of Ireland and on the state of the country’; Sheil criticised the ‘system of despotic Police [which] had been established all over the Country’, the new tithe act which increased the benefices of the clergy and he compared the plights of the Irish peasants and catholics to those of the slaves on colonial plantations and the South Americans and Creoles who struggled against Spanish rule; Sheil was also critical of government and the ‘Grenville party’ for appointing individuals like Henry Goulburn as Chief Secretary and William Plunkett as Attorney General to counter-balance the liberal [Richard] Wellesley, Lord Lieutenant and also stated that [William] Saurin ‘was displaced’ having been deserted by the leaders of the Orange party; Luke Plunkett’s claim that Sheil’s speech amounted to an attack on the King and the Lord Lieutenant, was ruled out of order; Mr Kelly thought it dangerous to disseminate amongst ‘the starving population of Ireland’ the notion that all the misfortunes of the country were as a result of the conduct of the administration and he pointed instead to the improvident habits of the landlords, exorbitant rents, agents, middlemen and overpopulation; Kelly also noted that when Serjeant [Henry] Joy was promoted to the position of Solicitor General, the liberal Mr Burke was made Chief Justice; Mr Kirwan supported Sheil and with regard to the appointment of Burke argued that the recent trial of ‘Handwich and others’ showed that juries had as great sway as judges; Sheil’s motion was passed and the committee named; includes note in a separate hand stating that while this was ‘a most vulgar and weak proceeding’ there was ‘nothing positively illegal’ in it.

3 Jan 1824

1824

CSO/RP/CA/1824/2

Memorandum by author identified as 'S N E' [Stephen N Elrington] providing an eyewitness account of an adjourned meeting of the Catholic Association; [Nicholas Purcell] O'Gorman adjourned the meeting 'to save the respectability of the Association' as a sufficient quorum of members did not attend; noted that having waited for some time [Frederick W] Conway 'jestingly proposed that someone would sing a song'.

10 Jan 1824

1824

CSO/RP/CA/1824/3

Memorandum by author identified as 'S N E' [Stephen N Elrington] providing an eyewitness account of an unruly meeting of the Catholic Association at unknown location, chaired by Lawrence Clinch; Mr Scanlan, supported by Mr Kelly, complained that an ‘irregular’ meeting had been held following the adjournment of the previous day’s meeting, adding that the association had been formed to discuss catholic emancipation alone and that it appeared that ‘any Members may now meet when they pleased’; Luke Plunkett, [Frederick W] Conway, Richard O’Gorman disagreed with Mr Kirwan stating that ‘Mr Scanlan would be much better employed elsewhere than in reading those gratuitous advices of which he had been so prodigal’; Conway proposed that all applicants for membership should in future be proposed by two members as it was ‘rumoured that certain Gentlemen were sent to that room to create confusion’ and he wished ‘to prevent the Guild of Merchants from coming in’; Plunkett stated that ‘Mr Addis, who attended on the former Saturday appeared a careless thoughtless young man’ but added that Mr Kelly was a ‘most respectable Protestant Gentleman’; Scanlan called for a division and Conway’s motion was passed; Plunkett attempted to make a speech but was frequently interrupted, he proposed that the association print an address from the General Board of Catholics of Ireland dated 1814 which showed that ten years previous catholics had wished to put down secret and illegal associations; Plunkett spoke of his interaction with a Ribbonman named Hughes but was cut short by a proposal to adjourn the meeting.

17 Jan 1824

1824

CSO/RP/CA/1824/4

Memorandum by author identified as 'S N E' [Stephen N Elrington] recounting the events surrounding an aborted meeting of the Catholic Association held at 4 [Capel Street, Dublin]; noted that [Daniel] O'Connell was due to attend meeting having returned from England; O'Connell, [John Lalor] Shiel and the secretary did not arrive; a notice was posted stating that subscriptions were now due.

17 Jan 1824

1824

CSO/RP/CA/1824/5

Memorandum by author identified as 'S N E' [Stephen N Elrington] providing an eyewitness account of a meeting of the Catholic Association at unknown location, chaired by [Christopher] Fitzsimon; [Stephen] Coppinger, ‘Catholic Secretary for County Cork’ was admitted a member; [Luke] Plunkett unsuccessfully proposed that the association adopt and print the address of the Catholic Board to the catholic people of Ireland dated 1814 ‘as a vindication of our conduct at that period’; Mr Kirwan drew attention to the unity of the Orangemen and observed that the association did not have an adequate membership from the landed and monied classes and suggested that the secretary write to the catholic nobility and the sons of peers inviting them to join the association; [Daniel] O’Connell however believed Kirwan’s plan to be too narrow and suggested that every catholic in Ireland could be asked to contribute ‘even a penny a month’ and both he and [Richard Lalor] Sheil believed that it would ‘show England that they have a deep interest’ in catholic emancipation; O’Connell proposed a committee be appointed to devise means of increasing membership adding that if the association were extensive then the spies who endeavoured to create secret societies to delude the people would be exposed; O’Connell proposed that an aggregate meeting of the association be scheduled noting that it was needed as petitions prepared by the association were merely petitions of individuals; O’Connell noted that Sir [Francis] Burdett, their firm fiend, was disgusted by the conduct of the ‘heartless friends’ of Mr Plunkett and that Lord Colchester [Charles Abbot, 1st Baron Colchester] had admitted to Mr C Butler that catholics had the right to be heard at the bar of the House of Commons; Sheil gave notice of a proposal to conduct house-to-house collections for the burial committee and O’Connell gave notice of a petition regarding the repeal of the tithe commutation bill.

24 Jan 1824

1824

CSO/RP/CA/1824/6

Memorandum by author identified as 'S N E' [Stephen N Elrington] providing an eyewitness account of an adjourned meeting of the Catholic Association with [Nicholas Purcell] O'Gorman acting as secretary; O’Gorman adjourned the meeting as only six members were present; ‘the writer’ of the report did not depart, remembering the late act of [Richard Lalor] Sheil who had convened a meeting after the acting secretary had adjourned; O’Connell and others arrived after some time and despite expressing considerable vexation O’Connell agreed that they would abide by the act of the secretary; it was announced that a ‘special meeting of the body’ would be held on the following Wednesday.

31 Jan 1824

1824

CSO/RP/CA/1824/7

Memorandum by author identified as 'S N E' [Stephen N Elrington] providing an eyewitness account of an extraordinary meeting of the Catholic Association at unknown location, chaired by [Stephen] Coppinger and with [Nicholas Purcell] O'Gorman acting as secretary; Mr Dillon was admitted as a new member. [Daniel] O’Connell discussed the report of the committee for increasing the membership of the association, noting that the ‘Orange press’ had predicted that legal action would be taken against them and specifying the legal options open to them; he outlined his new plan which was inspired by a letter from Lord Kenmare to Dr Moylan in 1784 but was ‘infinitely more comprehensive’ and would yield at least £50000 per annum; using census figures and estimates he outlined how this could be achieved if only one million people contributed a penny a month and noted that ‘many would cheerfully contribute more’ to what he termed an ‘Emancipation Rent’ or ‘Slave tax’; he stated that the money would be used for the following five objectives – preparing and conveying petitions from each county and parish and the employment of James Roche as a paid parliamentary agent in London; £15000 to be used to take shares in certain named newspapers in order to proportion elements of the London press thereby contending with the ‘illiberal and orange press’; £35000 to be used to provide a legal shield for the mass of catholics to allow them to obtain justice ‘from those who robbed’ and protect them from Orangemen who held government captive; £5000 to be spent on the education of the children of peasants, thereby counteracting the actions of the ‘hypocritical Kildare Place Society’ and the training of priests in Ireland rather than in France, as suggested to him by [John] England, [Catholic Bishop of Charleston]; £5000 to be provided for the erection of chapels and schools. [Richard Lalor] Sheil supported O’Connell’s motion and two committees to carry out these objectives were agreed upon; O’Connell proposed that they apply to the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin for a chapel to hold an aggregate meeting; noted that there were 14 or 15 members present and that O’Connell was required to find a number of priests to make up the quorum.

4 Feb 1824

1824

CSO/RP/CA/1824/8

Memorandum by author identified as 'S N E' [Stephen N Elrington] providing an eyewitness account of a meeting of the Catholic Association at unknown location, chaired by Mr Brown and with [Nicholas Purcell] O'Gorman acting as secretary; O’Gorman reported that [Daniel] Murray, catholic archbishop of Dublin had given permission to the association to hold an aggregate meeting at Townshend Street chapel, [Dublin] and noted that J D Lynch had written to Lord Killeen inviting him to act as chairman for that meeting; O’Gorman also mentioned a planned petition to Lord Grey on the administration of justice and noted that the burial committee had examined and fixed on sites ‘in and near Dublin’; Mr Clinch condemned Sherrif Perrin, the ‘economist of the Orange faction’ which had been declared illegal, for having proposed a toast to Lord O’Neile and the Orangemen at an official dinner in Dublin; [Frederick W] Conway noted that a petition relative to the general state of the country was not yet ready; noted that 15 to 16 members attended and that [Daniel] O’Connell’s absence was due to an engagement in the law courts and that it was ‘evident that as Mr O’Connell, and Mr Shiel were not present further discussions could not go on’.

7 Feb 1824

1824

CSO/RP/CA/1824/9

Memorandum by author identified as 'S N E' [Stephen N Elrington] providing an eyewitness account of a meeting of the Catholic Association at unknown location, chaired by Col M’Dermott [McDermott]; [Nicholas Purcell] O'Gorman noted that Lord Killeen had declined taking the chair at the forthcoming aggregate meeting on the grounds that he was ‘ignorant’ of the proceedings about to be adopted as he had been out of Ireland for a number of months; [Stephen] Coppinger praised Mathew Horrogan, catholic priest of White Church, Cork who had written to the association; [Daniel] O’Connell noted that the London press had attacked him as expected for his plan and refuting the claim that the ‘Morning Chronicle’ newspaper supported catholic emancipation especially since the death of Mr Perry and alludied to the editor as a ‘sour sectarian’; O’Connell noted that ‘The Defence Society of Catholics’ which had been established in Preston [England] were using the ‘penny a week system’ which was focused on tradesmen and the working classes rather than the higher orders of Catholics who appeared apathetic. O’Connell read the report of the committee regarding the raising of a general subscription, noting how the monthly subscription, to be known as the ‘catholic rent’, would be administered and outlined as follows how the £50000 raised would be used - £5000 for an agent and petitions to parliament, £15000 for law proceedings to obtain equal administration of justice, £5000 for educating catholics, £15000 for [getting the support of] the public press, £5000 for aiding Catholic priests to prepare for and proceed to North America and £5000 for other purposes. O’Connell mentioned the recent contributions of Sir John Newport and Lord Althorp [John Charles Spencer, 3rd earl Spencer] in parliament and identified rights denied to catholics in the administration of justice, in obtaining freedom of the corporation [of Dublin] and in appointments as barristers and in summing up stated that emancipation would not do everything ‘only give that which only they asked – capability – an Equal footing with Protestants’; Mr L Plunkett and Mr Kirwan were critical of O’Connell’s attack on the London press and Plunkett questioned what some of the outlined objectives had to do with catholic emancipation; [Richard Lalor] Sheil claimed that it was not the intention to ‘bribe’ the press; Mr Clinch withdrew a motion concerning the conduct of Sherriff Perrin; [Frederick W] Conway deferred submitting a report on the general state of the country until the following meeting.

14 Feb 1824

1824

CSO/RP/CA/1824/10

Memorandum by author identified as 'S N E' [Stephen N Elrington] providing an eyewitness account of a special adjournment meeting of the Catholic Association at unknown location, chaired by [Frederick W] Conway with [Nicholas Purcell] O'Gorman acting as secretary; O’Gorman announced that burial grounds for catholics were available but fund-raising was needed; O’Gorman then read the report of the committee concerning the establishment of the catholic rent which was greeted by a number of objections; Hugh O’Connor, Mr Kirwan and Mr Brown objected to language used in the report including ‘Haughty and erratic’ as applied to the English nation; [Nicholas] Mahon suggested that the report was ‘angrily worded’ and Mr Scanlan urged caution as the report might be used against them; O’Connor wished to know the subject matter to be discussed at the forthcoming aggregate meeting; Mr Kelly believed that the report need not be submitted to that meeting as ‘it was quite a different and distinct business’ while J D Mullen and [Stephen] Coppinger were anxious that the report be agreed before that meeting; at this stage [Daniel] O’Connell, who had been detained in the Four Courts on professional business, and [Richard Lalor] Sheil arrived at the meeting; O’Connell stated that he was ‘anxious’ that the report, which he claimed was written ‘more in sorrow than in anger', be immediately submitted and adopted and this was agreed to with only Mr Kelly voicing an objection; in answer to a comment from Kirwan regarding the use of the term ‘rent’, O’Connell stated that the term ‘catholic rent’ had been deliberately chosen; O’Connell was voted secretary and James Sugrue appointed assistant of the committee to administer the catholic rent; O’Connell announced that it was not intended to present a general petition to parliament and that Mr Brougham had mistakenly sought a hearing in the House of Commons for that purpose.

18 Feb 1824

1824