Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union

The Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union (IPLU) was a Unionist political organisation in Ireland, established to oppose the Irish Home Rule movement.[1]

The Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union was formed in Dublin in May 1885 by a small number of southern businessmen, landowners and academics.[2] It sought to unite Liberals and Conservatives in the three southern provinces on a common platform of maintenance of the union. In doing so, it undermined the Conservative Loyal Irish Union, which shutdown as a result of the IPLU's founding. From its inception, the IPLU's main opponent was the Irish Parliamentary Party. The ILPU published pamphlets, leaflets and a news sheet, Notes from Ireland, that were distributed widely in Ireland.[3][4] The organisation had some success in preventing rivalry between Liberals and Conservatives, and in a number of cases candidates came forward in the 1885 general election simply as ‘loyalists’. A total of 54 of the southern seats were contested by anti-home rule candidates.

The success of the organisation led its leaders to found the Irish Unionist Alliance in 1891, at which point the IPLU ceased to exist as a separate body.

References

  1. ↑ The Real Dangers of Home Rule (Dublin: Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union, 1887)
  2. ↑ Alvin Jackson, The Oxford Handbook of Modern Irish History (Oxford University Press, 19 Mar 2014), 52.
  3. ↑ Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union: Leaflets (Dublin, 1886)
  4. ↑ James H. Murphy, The Oxford History of the Irish Book, Volume IV (Oxford University Press, 1 Sep 2011), 71.