Isaac Butt

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Isaac Butt (September 6, 1813 - May 5, 1879) was the founder and first leader of a number of parties and organisations, including the Irish Metropolitan Conservative Society in 1836, the Home Government Association in 1870 and in 1873 the Home Rule League. He also founded the Dublin University Magazine and for much of his life was a member of the Irish Conservative Party.

He was Member of Parliament for Youghal from 1852 to 1865, and for Limerick from 1871 to 1879. (At the 1852 general election he had also been elected for the English constituency of Harwich, but chose to sit for Youghal).

Wikisource has an original article from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica about:

Butt, Isaac

Butt was born in Glenfin, Co. Donegal in 1813, the son of a Protestant rector. He began his career as a Tory politician on Dublin Corporation. A brilliant barrister, he was known for his opposition to the nationalist Irish leader Daniel O'Connell's campaign for the repeal of the Act of Union^[1] . He also lectured at Trinity in political economy. His experiences during the Famine led him to move from being an Irish unionist and an Orangeman^[2] to becoming a believer in Federalism. This led to his involvement in Irish nationalist politics and the foundation of the Home Rule League. Butt was instrumental in fostering links between Constitutional and Revolutionary nationalism through his representation of members of the Fenians Society in court. Butt gained notoriety for both himself and the Home Rule League as well as Fenians executed in England (the Manchester Martyrs incident.)

In 1870 he founded the Irish Home Government Association. This was renamed the Home Rule League in November 1873. He did not want to separate from the United Kingdom totally. He noted that since the arrival of Henry II Ireland was an indissolubly linked to Great Britain. He said he wanted to forge a 'Siamese Union' between Ireland and Great Britain. He believed that Home Rule would promote friendship between Ireland and her neighbour to the east.

Butt's personal life was notorious. His chaotic finances led to a number of stays in a debtor's prison, while his sexual proclivities achieved legendary status, with members of his various parties describing his speeches being interrupted by heckling from women with whom he had fathered children.^[3] Butt achieved little in Westminster and many Fenians along with tenant farmers were very unhappy with his gentlemanly approach to pass bills. Many Nationalists believed obstruction would help achieve their goals in Westminster. Most home rule MPs disliked Butt's methods also. They joined along with the more Republican MPs to cause havoc in Westminster through obstruction. In Westminster MPs could stand up and talk for as long as they wished. In one cause they talked for 45 hours non-stop, stopping any important bills from being passed. Butt disapproved of this and was more and more disliked as days went by.

He resigned the leadership in 1879 and was replaced by William Shaw, who in turn was replaced by Charles Stewart Parnell in 1880.

He died on the 5 May 1879 in Clonskeagh in Dublin. His remains were brought by train to Stranorlar, Co. Donegal where he is buried in a corner of the Church of Ireland cemetery beneath a tree in which he used to sit and dream as a boy.

[edit] Footnotes

^ Michael Doran. Movements for political and Social Reform, 1870-1914(Irish Leaving Cert History Textbook). Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 2003. p 25-26
^ Alvin Jackson. Home Rule: An Irish History 1800-2000. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 2003. p 25-26
^ Alvin Jackson, Home Rule: An Irish History 1800-2000. p.36.