Another fiction regarding the Union may perhaps be worth notice.  It has sometimes been suggested that it was carried by a venal oligarchy in opposition to the will of the great mass of the population, of the Roman Catholic population in particular.  This is precisely the reverse of the truth.  The oligarchy controlled the Parliament, and it therefore followed that the uniformly corrupt traditions of the Irish Parliament had to be observed in carrying the Union as in carrying every other Government Bill throughout the century.  But, so far from the Act of Union being carried by landowners and Protestants against the will of the Catholics, it was, as a matter of fact, carried with the ardent and unanimous assent and support of the Catholic hierarchy, and against the embittered opposition of the old ascendancy leaders, who feared the loss of their influence of power.

The evidence on this point is documentary and precise.  Indeed, no one thought of doubting or challenging it at the time; Grattan contented himself with denouncing the Catholic Bishops as “a band of prostituted men.”  Dr. Troy, Archbishop of Dublin, was, as his correspondence shows, a warm, consistent and active supporter of the Union.  Dr. Dillon, Archbishop of Tuam, wrote in September, 1799, that he had had an opportunity during his recent visitation “of acquiring the strongest conviction that this measure alone can restore harmony and happiness to our unhappy country.”  His neighbour, Dr. Bodkin, Bishop Galway, wrote that the Union was the only measure to save “poor infatuated Ireland” from “ruin and destruction.”  Dr. Moylan, Bishop of Cork, was equally emphatic.  “I am perfectly satisfied,” he says, “that it is impossible to extinguish the feuds and animosities which disgrace this Kingdom, nor give it the advantages of its natural local situation, without a Union with Great Britain.  God grant that it may soon take place!”

As for the feeling of the rank and file of the electors—­under a very widely extended franchise—­two examples will suffice.  In two cases—­in the County of Kerry and the borough of Newry—­both open constituencies—­by-elections occurred during the passing of the Union legislation.  In both instances the Roman Catholic vote predominated, and in both the feeling was so strong in favour of the Union that no opponent dared to face the poll.  In after years Mr. Maurice Fitzgerald, the Knight of Kerry, recounted his experiences.  “Having accepted office,” he says, “as a supporter of the Union, I went to two elections pending the measure and was returned without opposition in a county where the Roman Catholic interest greatly preponderated, and a declaration almost unanimous in favour of the Union proceeded from the County of Kerry.  One of my most strenuous supporters in bringing forward that declaration was Mr. Maurice O’Connell, uncle of Mr. Daniel O’Connell, and my most active partisan was Mr. John O’Connell, brother of Mr. Daniel O’Connell.”