Act of Union

Union, Act of (1800), the parliamentary measure that abolished the Irish Parliament by providing for Irish representation at Westminster only, effective from 1 January 1801. The idea of a political Union had been debated for more than a century, but was ultimately passed in the aftermath of the Rebellion of 1798. The passage of the Act through Parliament in Dublin was secured by an unprecedented use of government patronage. Once established, opposition to the Union was focused by Daniel O'Connell's abortive Repeal Association, and later by the Home Rule movement of the Irish Parliamentary Party. The political initiative later passed to Sinn Féin and militant Republicanism when faced with intransigent Unionism in Ulster [see Northern Ireland].