{{short description|Catholic in Ireland who supported the Union}} {{Use Hiberno-English|date=October 2013}} {{more citations needed|date=May 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}} '''Catholic Unionist''' is a term historically used for a Catholic in Ireland who supported the Union which formed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and subsequently used to describe Catholics who support the Union between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
The term ''Catholic unionist'' has become controversial since the start of the 1970-1998 Troubles, due to the strong association of Ulster Unionism with Protestantism. The most recent surveys suggest that the majority of Catholics support Irish Unity, with fewer than one in five expressing support for remaining part of the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Leahy |first1=Pat |title=Support for Irish unification growing in Northern Ireland, poll finds |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2025/02/07/support-for-irish-unification-grows-but-unity-vote-would-be-soundly-defeated-in-north-poll-shows/ |website=The Irish Times |access-date=24 March 2025 |quote=The pro-unity number has increased from 27 per cent in the first year of the survey in 2022, and is mainly accounted for by a sharp rise in the proportion of Northern Catholics saying they would vote for a united Ireland – up from 55 per cent in 2022 to 63 per cent in 2024. However, almost a fifth – 18 per cent – of Northern Catholics say they would vote against unity.}}</ref> They can be contrasted with Protestant nationalists, who supported separation from Great Britain.
==Historical background== Catholic support for the Kingdom of Ireland (1542–1800) had the full backing of the Holy See from 1555, with the papal bull {{lang|la|Ilius per quem}} issued by Pope Paul IV during the reign of Queen Mary.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.heraldica.org/topics/national/ireland_docs.htm|title=Documents on Ireland {{!}} The papal bull of 1555 conferring the title of king of Ireland on Philip II of Spain|access-date=12 March 2019|archive-date=27 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127153738/https://www.heraldica.org/topics/national/ireland_docs.htm#bull1555|url-status=dead}} {{lang|la|Ilius Per Quem}} text]; accessed online, March 2019</ref> Only one monarch after her was a Catholic, James II (1685–89), who called the Parliament of 1689. The kingdom had mainstream support from Jacobites, in hopes that eventually a Catholic monarchy would reign. In general, the Holy See had better relations with Europe's monarchies, particularly Spain, Austria, France and Portugal, and was seen as a conservative force. The Irish Catholic Hierarchy, and notably Archbishop Troy, supported the passage of the Acts of Union 1800, expecting that Catholic MPs would be elected, but this was delayed by three decades.
==Notable Catholic Unionists 1800–1922== Historically, after the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829, a great number of Irish Catholics such as Thomas O'Hagan served in senior positions in the British Empire of the 19th century, and many of the Irish nobility and landed gentry had remained Catholic or had converted to Catholicism in the 19th century.
Among these were:<ref>Most are in Gorman, ''Converts to Rome''; 4th edition, London 1899</ref> *Lord Killanin *Charles Russell *John Bingham, 5th Baron Clanmorris *Windham Wyndham-Quin, 4th Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl *Geoffrey Taylour, 4th Marquess of Headfort *The Viscounts Gormanston *George Forbes, 7th Earl of Granard *William Monsell, 1st Baron Emly *Valentine Browne, 4th Earl of Kenmare *William Howard, 8th Earl of Wicklow *Sir John Pope Hennessy *Elizabeth Burke-Plunkett, Countess of Fingall *John Vesey, 4th Viscount de Vesci
Irish Catholic unionists were a political minority group without their own representation in the House of Commons. They tended to support the Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union and subsequent Irish Unionist Alliance. As the electorate expanded after the Representation of the People Act 1884, the influence of the grander Catholics inevitably declined.
==From Home Rule to Free State== Irish Catholic unionists petitioned against the Government of Ireland Bill 1893 on the grounds that it would create a "revolutionary spirit disastrous to the true interests" of Catholicism.<ref>John Biggs-Davison and George Chowdharay-Best ''The Cross of St Patrick The Catholic Unionist Tradition in Ireland'' (1984) p.195</ref> Whilst sympathetic to Ulster's resistance during the Home Rule crisis they were not averse to devolution, and some would have preferred a home-ruled united Ireland within the United Kingdom.
For many Catholic officials and lawyers, loyalty to the British system depended on the prevailing political climate. It might be essential for their careers and then dropped; an example being George Gavan Duffy. John O'Connor KC started his political life as a Fenian activist and later became an MP and King's Counsel. Others such as General Bulfin and Antony MacDonnell chose to remain loyal.
From the success of Sinn Féin at the 1918 general election, Irish Catholic Unionists were constantly physically attacked and threatened by republicans for their loyalism, as the Irish poet Edward Dowden would note: "The free expression of opinion by Catholics is checked by a system of intimidation and terrorism".<ref>John Biggs-Davison and George Chowdharay-Best ''The Cross of St Patrick The Catholic Unionist Tradition in Ireland'' (1984) p258</ref> The most notable murder was in June 1922, when a local magistrate James Woulfe-Flanagan was shot dead in front of his family while leaving Mass at Newry Cathedral.<ref>See: http://www.bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150219022436/http://www.bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie/ |date=19 February 2015 }} Witness Statement WS 890 of Captain Edward Fullerton, pages 24-25.</ref>
The Holy See itself was cautious in 1916-22 and would not recognise the revolutionary Irish Republic of 1919–22, despite an emotive plea from Seán T. O'Kelly.<ref>https://www.difp.ie/volume-1/1920/memorandum-by-sean-t-oceallaigh-to-pope-benedict-xv/35/#section-documentpage {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210212200607/https://www.difp.ie/volume-1/1920/memorandum-by-sean-t-oceallaigh-to-pope-benedict-xv/35/#section-documentpage |date=12 February 2021 }} Memorandum by Sean T. O'Ceallaigh to Pope Benedict XV, ROME, 18 May 1920</ref> Once agreement had been reached on the establishment of the Irish Free State, Monsignor Luzio was sent to interview the 26 Irish bishops, describing them on his return as "26 Popes". The British diplomat to the Vatican at the time was John Francis Charles, 7th Count de Salis-Soglio, who owned large landed estates in Limerick and Armagh.
From the 1920s a number have served as cultural and political bridges between Dublin and London, such as Frank Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford (1905–2001).
On the partition of Ireland in 1921-22 several former Catholic Unionists were appointed to the first Irish Free State Senate.
==Northern Ireland (post-1921)== *Andrew Bonaparte-Wyse (1870–1940), Permanent Secretary, Northern Ireland Ministry of Education. *G. B. Newe (1907–82), Minister of State, Department of the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, 1971–72, appointed by Brian Faulkner. *Richard Doherty, author, military historian and RUC reservist from County Londonderry. *Sir John Gorman, UUP MLA for North Down from 1998 to 2003. *Sir Denis Henry, was born in County Londonderry in 1864. A son of prosperous Catholic businessman, he was elected MP for South Londonderry in 1916 and later served as Solicitor-General for Ireland and then as the first Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland. *Tina McKenzie, former chairperson, council candidate and European Parliament candidate for the pro-union political party NI21 and businesswoman. She is the daughter of Harry Fitzsimons, a former member of the Provisional IRA.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Clarke |first=Liam |date=6 November 2013 |title=NI21's Tina McKenzie: My politics are very different to my IRA terrorist dad's |url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/ni21s-tina-mckenzie-my-politics-are-very-different-to-my-ira-terrorist-dads-29730111.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140111155140/http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/ni21s-tina-mckenzie-my-politics-are-very-different-to-my-ira-terrorist-dads-29730111.html |archive-date=11 January 2014 |access-date=11 January 2014}}</ref> *Conor Burns, Conservative MP for Bournemouth West since 2010, Minister of State for Trade Policy 2019–2020, Minister of State, Northern Ireland 2021–2022.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/may/04/conor-burns-the-eurosceptic-stalwart-who-befriended-thatcher |title=Conor Burns: the Eurosceptic stalwart who befriended Thatcher |last=Quinn |first=Ben |date=4 May 2020 |website=theguardian.com |access-date=5 July 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/people/conor-burns |title=The Rt Hon Conor Burns MP |website=gov.uk |access-date=5 July 2022}}</ref>
Many prominent members of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland have been Catholics, including the majority of its past leaders (such as John Cushnahan, Oliver Napier and Seán Neeson), some of its Deputy Leaders (such as Seamus Close and Eileen Bell), former MP (of the Northern Ireland Parliament) Thomas Columba Gormley, as well as three of its seven current Assembly members. The Alliance Party is not, as such, a Unionist party,<ref>{{cite web |title=Designation |url=https://education.niassembly.gov.uk/post-16/snapshots-devolution/belfastgood-friday-agreement/designation |website=Northern Ireland Assembly |access-date=2 April 2025 |quote=The Alliance Party... do not designate as unionists or nationalists.}}</ref> as its support for the Union is based purely on that being the wishes of the majority of the people of Northern Ireland.
==Republic of Ireland== *Stan Gebler Davies (1943–94) – a journalist for the ''Irish Independent'', who stood as a Unionist for the Dáil in 1987.<ref>[http://www.bookrags.com/highbeam/obituary-stan-gebler-davies-19940624-hb Obituary: Stan Gebler Davies] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525065123/http://www.bookrags.com/highbeam/obituary-stan-gebler-davies-19940624-hb/ |date=25 May 2011 }} ''The Independent'' 24 June 1994</ref> *Edward Haughey (1944–2014), OBE. Educated by the Irish Christian Brothers in Dundalk; self-made pharmaceutical tycoon. Nominated to Seanad Éireann by Albert Reynolds and Bertie Ahern, serving from 1993 to 2002, taking the Fianna Fáil whip. In 2004, he became a life peer in the House of Lords for the Ulster Unionist Party, as Baron Ballyedmond, of Mourne in the County of Down. *Conor Cruise O'Brien (1917–2008), Labour Party TD (1969–77) and Senator (1977–79) who was later elected to the Northern Ireland Forum in 1996 for the UK Unionist Party; however, he later resigned from the UKUP after his book ''Memoir: My Life and Themes'' called on Unionists to consider the benefits of a united Ireland to thwart Sinn Féin. *Cllr. Maria Gatland née Maguire, a Dublin born former member of the IRA and gun runner, who has become a local councillor for the Conservative and Unionist Party in Croydon, England.
==Voting trends== Catholic supporters of the Ulster Unionist Party - the dominant political force in Northern Ireland until the 1970s - tended to support the reformist Prime Minister Terence O'Neill against the emerging hardline Protestant Unionist Party (later the DUP). The UUP later took a more hardline turn itself, and Catholic support for Unionist parties sharply declined.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}} Catholic supporters of the Union today may vote for the moderate Social Democratic and Labour Party (notwithstanding the SDLP's support for a united Ireland), or for the non-partisan Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, or for none of the major parties.
A 2011 survey by the Northern Ireland Life and Times survey found that 52% of Northern Irish Catholics respondents favoured Northern Ireland remaining part of the United Kingdom over a united Ireland.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2011/jun/17/life-and-times-survey-united-ireland|title=The Kingdom will remain United – in Ireland, at least|author=Henry McDonald|work=The Guardian|accessdate=23 July 2015|archive-date=23 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150723125247/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2011/jun/17/life-and-times-survey-united-ireland|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Moriarty |first=Gerry |date=20 June 2011 |title=Over half Catholics surveyed want North to stay in UK |newspaper=The Irish Times |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/over-half-catholics-surveyed-want-north-to-stay-in-uk-1.601126 |url-status=live |access-date=17 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111102005238/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0620/1224299225080.html |archive-date=2 November 2011}}</ref>
Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey's 2014 poll results suggest that half of Northern Irish Catholics favour Northern Ireland remaining as part of the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ark.ac.uk/nilt/2014/Political_Attitudes/NIRELND2.html|title=NI Life and Times Survey "Do you think the long-term policy for Northern Ireland should be for it..."|work=ark.ac.uk|accessdate=17 January 2016|archive-date=8 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208083023/http://www.ark.ac.uk/nilt/2014/Political_Attitudes/NIRELND2.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The NILT results also suggest that 6% of Catholics would vote for the nominally unionist Alliance Party, but that only 1% would support any of the mainstream or 'hardline' Unionist parties. Similarly, the poll results suggested that 7% of Protestants would vote for the Alliance Party, while 1% of Protestants would vote for the moderate nationalist SDLP.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ark.ac.uk/nilt/2014/Political_Attitudes/POLPART2.html|title=NI Life and Times Survey - 2014: NIPARTY "Which Northern Ireland political party would you support?"|work=ark.ac.uk|accessdate=17 January 2016|archive-date=21 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160321025320/http://www.ark.ac.uk/nilt/2014/Political_Attitudes/POLPART2.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
Polling published by The Irish Times in February 2025 suggested that a majority of Catholics in Northern Ireland supported Irish unity, up from 55% in 2022 to 63% in 2024.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Leahy |first1=Pat |title=Support for Irish unification growing in Northern Ireland, poll finds |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2025/02/07/support-for-irish-unification-grows-but-unity-vote-would-be-soundly-defeated-in-north-poll-shows/ |website=The Irish Times |access-date=24 March 2025}}</ref>
Catholic unionists in Northern Ireland may support the union with Britain for cultural reasons (such as identifying more with British culture), but also for economic reasons.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/the-catholic-unionists-1.1461624|website=The Irish Times|date= 13 July 2013|title=The Catholic Unionists}}</ref> Brexit, which a majority of Catholics voted against, caused a decline in support for the union. Economic plans in the wake of Brexit have been dubbed a "disaster for unionism" although a substantial number of Irish Catholics were still supporting the union.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Cookley| first1=John |title= Do Northern Ireland unionists need to be worried?|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/brexit-northern-ireland-protocol-unionists-b1798025.html|website=The Independent|date=5 February 2021}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==See also== * List of Irish Victoria Cross recipients * Protestant Irish nationalists * Unionism in Ireland * West Brit * Holy See–Ireland relations
Category:Politics of Northern Ireland * Category:Unionism in Ireland