Irish Church Act 1869

The Irish Church Act 1869

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to put an end to the Establishment of the Church of Ireland, and to make provision in respect of the Temporalities thereof, and in respect of the Royal College of Maynooth
Citation	32 & 33 Vict. c. 42
Territorial extent	Ireland
Dates
Royal assent	26 July 1869
Commencement	1 January 1871
Other legislation
Relates to	Welsh Church Act 1914
Status: Current legislation
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended

The Irish Church Act 1869 (32 & 33 Vict. c. 42) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed during William Ewart Gladstone's administration.

The Act disestablished the (Anglican) Church of Ireland, a body that commanded the adherence of a small minority of the population of Ireland, disassociating it from the state and repealing the law that required tithes to be paid to it. It also ceased to send representatives to the House of Lords. Existing clergy of the church received a life annuity in lieu of the revenues to which they were no longer entitled: tithe, rentcharge, ministers' money, stipends and augmentations, and certain marriage and burial fees.

The passage of the Bill through Parliament caused acrimony between the House of Commons and the House of Lords, with Queen Victoria intervening personally to mediate. The Lords did extort from the Commons more compensation to alleviate the disestablished churchmen, but in the end the will of the Commons prevailed.

The Act came into force on 1 January 1871 when the now disestablished church in Ireland became known as the Church of Ireland.

See also

• Antidisestablishmentarianism
• Religion in the United Kingdom
• Welsh Church Act 1914

Sources

Primary

• Hansard 1869:
  • Commons vol 194–6: 2nd reading 18 Mar 19 Mar 22 Mar 23 Mar; Committee 15 Apr 16 Apr 19 Apr 22 Apr 23 Apr 26 Apr 29 Apr 3 May 4 May 6 May 7 May; Consideration 13 May; 3rd reading 31 May
  • Lords vol 196–7: 2nd reading 14 Jun 15 Jun 17 Jun 18 Jun; Committee 29 Jun 1 Jul 2 Jul 5 Jul 6 Jul; Report 9 Jul; 3rd reading Jul 12
  • Vol 198 Commons rejects Lords amendments Jul 16 Lords insists 22 Jul Commons accedes 23 Jul

External links

• A Brief History of Disestablishment, United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough