The Patriot Parliament is the name given to the session of the Irish Parliament called by King James II of Ireland during the War of the Two Kings in 1689. The parliament met in one session, from 7 May 1689 to 20 July 1689, and was the only session of the Irish Parliament under King James II.
Contents
The Irish House of Lords had Lord Fitton as Lord Chancellor of Ireland on the woolsack. The Irish House of Commons elected Sir Richard Nagle as its Speaker.
The previous session of the Irish parliament had been in 1666.
Name
The name "Patriot Parliament" was first used in 1893 by Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, an Irish nationalist historian, in his edition of essays by his old friend Thomas Davis. In 1843 Davis himself had described the parliament as a "patriot Senate" in his essay "The Irish Parliament of James II".
Legislation
The Act of Recognition was the first act of Parliament. It recognised James's right to the Imperial Crown of Ireland. It compared the usurpation by the Prince of Orange to the murder of James' father King Charles I, emphasized indefeasible hereditary rights, and asserted that the monarchy was founded on the Divine right of kings, not the result of any supposed contract between a king and his subjects.
The Declaratory Act affirmed that the Kingdom of Ireland had always been "distinct" from that of England, and that no Act of the English Parliament was binding on Ireland unless ratified by the Irish Parliament. However, Poynings' Law remained as statute law.
Parliament also passed legislation or resolutions for additional purposes:
Firth wrote that King James was opposed to the last two measures, but was "overborne by Tyrconnell and the Irish nationalists".
Repeals
All legislation by the Patriot Parliament was declared void by the Parliament of England in the "Crown and Parliament Recognition Act 1689". This act was also passed by the next Irish Parliament in 1692.
Composition
The Parliament was overwhelmingly Old English and Roman Catholic, however, Church of Ireland Bishops retained their place as the Lords Spiritual in the House of Lords. A number of members served in James' Irish Army in the ensuing Williamite War in Ireland, with several of them losing their lives during the fighting.
Lords
The members of the House of Lords were:
Commons
The MPs in the House of Commons were:
Later interpretation
That the Parliament had declared Ireland's autonomy was of interest to 19th century Irish nationalists, in particular the Young Irelander Thomas Davis who wrote a history of the parliament as an inspiration to his fellow countrymen.