1783 Irish general election

{{Short description|Election to the 4th Irish Parliament of George III}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}} {{Use Hiberno-English|date=February 2018}} {{Infobox election | country = Kingdom of Ireland | flag_year = 1542 | type = parliamentary | previous_election = 1776 Irish general election | previous_year = 1776 | next_election = 1790 Irish general election | next_year = 1790 | seats_for_election = All 300 seats in the [[House of Commons of Ireland|House of Commons]] | majority_seats = 151 | previous_mps = [[List of Irish MPs 1776–1783|Members elected]] | elected_mps = [[List of Irish MPs 1783–90|Members elected]]

| election_date =

| image2 = Cropped portrait of Henry Grattan.jpg | colour2 = | leader2 = [[Henry Grattan]] | leader_since2 = | party2 = Irish Patriot Party | leaders_seat2 = [[Charlemont (Parliament of Ireland constituency)|Charlemont]] | seats2 = | seat_change2 = | popular_vote2 = | percentage2 = | title = [[Speaker of the Irish House of Commons|Speaker]] | before_election = [[Edmund Sexton Pery, 1st Viscount Pery|Edmund Sexton Pery]] | before_party = Irish Patriot Party | after_election = [[Edmund Sexton Pery, 1st Viscount Pery|Edmund Sexton Pery]] | after_party = Irish Patriot Party }}

The '''1783 Irish general election''' was held in the [[Kingdom of Ireland]] in 1783, the first after the passing of the series of constitutional legal changes known as the [[Constitution of 1782]], which lifted the substantial legal restrictions on the Irish parliament. The election was fought in a highly charged political atmosphere, with a major emphasis on the issues of parliamentary reform and free trade.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Coyle |first=Eugene A. |title=County Dublin Elections (1790) |jstor=30100983|journal=Dublin Historical Record |year=1991 |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=13–24 }}</ref>

Following the election, [[Edmund Pery, 1st Viscount Pery|Sexton Pery]] was re-elected [[Speaker of the Irish House of Commons|Speaker]]. [[Henry Grattan]], the leader of the Patriot Party, had rejected an office in government in 1782, choosing instead to continue his role in opposition. Instead, the [[Dublin Castle administration]] was undertaken by a group that was referred to by [[Edmund Burke]] as the Junta; dominated by individuals such as [[John FitzGibbon, 1st Earl of Clare|John FitzGibbon]], the new Attorney General and later Lord Chancellor. [[John Foster, 1st Baron Oriel|John Foster]] was appointed as the Junta's [[Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland|Chancellor of the Exchequer]], succeeding [[William Gerard Hamilton]], who had treated the position as a sinecure posting.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=b68UBQAAQBAJ&dq=grattan+junta+1783&pg=PA75 Ireland: A History from the Twelfth Century to the Present Day p.75]</ref> The new administration prioritised links with [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]], which from December 1783 was governed by [[Pitt the Younger]].

==Background== {{Main|Constitution of 1782|Irish Volunteers (18th century)}} [[File:The Dublin Volunteers on College Green.jpg|thumb|''[[The Dublin Volunteers on College Green]]'' by [[Francis Wheatley (painter)|Francis Wheatley]], depicting the Dublin Volunteers on [[College Green, Dublin|College Green]] on 4 November 1779]]

The preceding several years had seen great social upheaval in Ireland. The 1770s had seen Britain at war with France and Spain as part of the [[American Revolutionary War]], and British forces stationed in Ireland had been dispatched to fight in the [[Thirteen Colonies]]. Claiming that Irish defences against potential invasion had been weakened by a negligent Dublin Castle Administration, the Irish gentry began forming Volunteer companies to defend defending Ireland.<ref name="Bartlett">{{Cite book |title=Ireland: a History |author=Thomas Bartlett |publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2010 |isbn=978-1-107-42234-6 |page=179-}}</ref> In fact only 4,000 soldiers had been dispatched to the American colonies, leaving as many as 9,000 behind in Ireland.<ref name="Bartlett"/>

These Volunteer Companies were independent of both the Irish Parliament and Dublin Castle, and became characterised by their patriotic and liberal political leanings. The companies were as concerned about British interference in Irish politics as they were about resisting potential foreign invasions, and pushed for free trade between Ireland and Great Britain. At the time the Navigation Acts had meant that Irish exports faced tariffs when entering Britain, although British exports met no tariffs in Ireland. Facing pressure both from the Volunteer movement and the Irish Parliament, whilst simultaneously engaged in a war with France, Spain, and the American Colonies, the British government relented and enacted a [[Constitution of 1782|series of legal changes]] granting greater legislative autonomy to the Irish parliament.

==Dates== At this period elections did not take place at the same time in every constituency. The returning officer in each county or [[parliamentary borough]] fixed the precise date (see [[hustings]] for details of the conduct of the elections).

==See also== *[[List of parliaments of Ireland]] *[[List of Irish MPs 1783–90|MPs elected in the Irish general election, 1783]]

==References== {{Reflist}}

[[Category:1783 in Ireland]] [[Category:1783 elections]] [[Category:18th-century elections in Ireland]] [[Category:Elections in the Kingdom of Ireland|1783]]