Grattan, Henry

Grattan, Henry (grăt`ən), 1746–1820, Irish statesman. A lawyer, he entered (1775) the Irish Parliament and soon became known as a brilliant orator. Aided by Britain's preoccupation with the American Revolution and its fear of the revolutionary potential of the Irish volunteer army (see Ireland), Grattan led the successful fight for abolition of the restrictions on Irish trade and the repeal of Poynings's Law (see under Poynings, Sir Edward). Having thus gained nominal legislative independence for the Irish Parliament, he worked to eliminate the system by which English patrons continued to control it, advocating Catholic Emancipation as the only means for making the Irish Parliament truly representative. The Catholic Relief Act (1793) gave Catholics the right to vote in Ireland, but hopes raised in 1795 that Catholics would be allowed to sit in Parliament were soon dashed, and Grattan retired (1797) in indignation at the government's policy. In 1800, on the last day of the debate on the parliamentary union with England, Grattan appeared in the Irish Parliament and made the greatest speech of his career in opposition to the Act of Union. He sat in the British Parliament from 1805, taking little part except to support Catholic Emancipation.

Bibliography

See G. O'Brien, Anglo-Irish Politics in the Age of Grattan and Pitt (1986).

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Grattan, Henry

(born July 3, 1746, Dublin, Ire.—died June 6, 1820, London, Eng.) Irish politician. He entered the Irish Parliament in 1775 and, as a brilliant orator, soon became the leading spokesperson of the Irish nationalist agitation. His movement gained momentum; he forced the British in 1779 to remove restraints on Irish trade and in 1782 to relinquish their right to legislate for Ireland. In 1800 he headed the unsuccessful opposition to the union of England and Ireland. In 1805 he was elected to the English House of Commons, where he fought for Catholic emancipation for his last 15 years.

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Grattan, Henry 

Born July 3, 1746, in Dublin; died June 4, 1820, in London. Irish political figure, leader of liberal opposition to the English government, lawyer, prominent orator.

In 1775, Grattan came forward in the Irish House of Commons as the spokesman of the Irish bourgeoisie who were dissatisfied with the British policy of colonization. He was one of the leaders of the Whig Club, which tried to limit the national movement with moderate-liberal demands. In 1800. Grattan unsuccessfully fought against the bill on Anglo-Irish union, which provided for the liquidation of the Irish Parliament. In 1805 he was elected to the English Parliament, where he joined with the Whig group.

L. I. GOL’MAN