The established Church of Ireland was Anglican, yet most people in Ireland were Roman Catholic; Presbyterians formed a major community, especially in Ulster. This mismatch between the state church and the religious composition of the country had long been a grievance, intensified by memories of tithes and by the Church’s privileged legal position. In 1868 it became the dominant question in Westminster politics.
The most consequential national issue was Catholic emancipation. Irish Catholics had obtained important civil rights in the late eighteenth century, including the parliamentary franchise for qualifying men, but remained excluded from Parliament and many major offices. The Union of 1801 had not removed those disabilities. Since Irish representation had been transferred to Westminster, the question of political equality was now debated there, though its pressure and consequences were felt intensely in Ireland.
