CCEA A-level History · Ireland Under the Union 1800–1900
Mini-Lesson
Ireland Under the Union 1800–1900
This mini-lesson covers CCEA Unit A2 1, Option 2 — Ireland Under the Union 1800–1900: support for and opposition to the Union, constitutional, revolutionary and cultural nationalism, the British government response, and the significance of social and economic issues.
Where this sits: A2 1 is a synoptic 'change over time' unit. Option 2 is one of five options; students who choose it must not also take Unit AS 2 Option 3 (Ireland 1823–67).
Answer the questions as you go and collect ⭐ stars. Press Start when you're ready.
The Union
The Act of Union
The Act of Union (passed 1800, in force from 1 January 1801) abolished the Irish Parliament and joined Ireland to Great Britain in the United Kingdom. Support came above all from Protestants and unionists who saw the Union as a guarantee of security and prosperity; opposition would grow across the century among Catholics and nationalists who wanted self-government.
Quick check
The Union
?What did the Act of Union, in force from 1801, do?
Constitutional nationalism
O'Connell: Emancipation and Repeal
Daniel O'Connell built the mass Catholic Association; his victory at the Clare by-election (1828) helped force Catholic Emancipation in 1829, allowing Catholics to sit in Parliament.
He then led the campaign to Repeal the Union, holding huge 'monster meetings'. When the government banned the Clontarf meeting in 1843, the movement lost momentum.
Quick check
1829
?Which achievement, won largely through Daniel O'Connell's campaign, came in 1829?
Revolutionary nationalism
Physical-force nationalism
Young Ireland mounted a small, failed rising in 1848.
The Fenians (the Irish Republican Brotherhood, founded 1858) pursued an armed republic and staged an unsuccessful rising in 1867.
Though they failed militarily, these movements kept alive a tradition of revolutionary nationalism and helped shape later politics.
Sort it
Which strand of nationalism?
Tap a card, then tap the strand it belongs to.
🗳️ Constitutional
⚔️ Revolutionary
📖 Cultural
Quick check
The Fenians
?What did the Fenians (the Irish Republican Brotherhood) aim to achieve?
Social & economic issues
The Great Famine
The Great Famine (1845–52) was the century's defining catastrophe: potato blight brought mass death and emigration and transformed Irish society and politics. Sir Robert Peel's government responded partly by repealing the Corn Laws (1846), but relief under his successor was widely seen as inadequate. The Famine deepened grievance against the Union and drove the land question to the fore.
Order it
Put the events in order
Tap the events from earliest to latest.
Home Rule & the land question
Parnell and Home Rule
Isaac Butt founded the Home Government Association (1870) and the Home Rule League (1873).
Charles Stewart Parnell forged a disciplined Irish Parliamentary Party and, with Michael Davitt's Land League (1879), led the Land War.
William Ewart Gladstone passed Land Acts (1870, 1881) and introduced the First Home Rule Bill (1886) — defeated — and the Second (1893), passed by the Commons but rejected by the Lords.
Parnell's career collapsed after a divorce scandal in 1890; he died in 1891.
Quick check
Home Rule
?Which British Prime Minister introduced Home Rule Bills for Ireland in 1886 and 1893?
Cultural nationalism & unionism
Culture and the unionist response
Cultural nationalism grew through the Gaelic Athletic Association (1884) and the Gaelic League (1893), led by Douglas Hyde, which revived Irish games and the Irish language.
Ulster unionism organised in response: Edward Saunderson led the Irish Unionist MPs from 1886, determined to defend the Union — a division that would shape Ireland's future.
Match it
Match each figure to their role
Tap a person on the left, then their role on the right.
Person
Role
Quick check
Change over the century
?Taking 1800–1900 as a whole, which best describes the change in Irish nationalism?
Recap
The big ideas to know
The Union: from 1801; Protestant/unionist support; growing nationalist opposition.
Constitutional: O'Connell — Emancipation 1829, Repeal (Clontarf banned 1843); Parnell and Home Rule.
Revolutionary: Young Ireland 1848; Fenians (IRB 1858), 1867 rising.
Cultural: GAA 1884; Gaelic League 1893 (Hyde).
British response & society: the Famine 1845–52; Peel and the Corn Laws; Gladstone's Land Acts and Home Rule Bills 1886 & 1893; Ulster unionism under Saunderson.