{{Short description|Parnell commission made in 1880}} {{EngvarB|date=October 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}} The '''Parnell Commission''', officially the '''Commissioners under the Special Commission Act 1888''',{{#tag:ref| Equivalently '''Commissioners appointed under the Act 51st and 52nd Victoria, chap. 35'''.<ref> Lords resolution 21 March 1890 [https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1890/mar/21/ireland-special-commission-1888-report#S3V0342P0_18900321_HOL_3 ''Hansard'' vol 342 col 1357] </ref> Shorter titles include '''Special Commission, 1888'''<ref> e.g. C.5891 [https://archive.org/details/op1252750-1001/mode/1uptitle page] "Report of the Special Commission, 1888" </ref> or '''Special Commission (1888)'''.<ref> e.g. headings in ''Hansard'' [https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1890/mar/03/ireland-special-commission-1888-report vol 341 col 1656], [https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1890/mar/21/ireland-special-commission-1888-report vol 342 col 1357] </ref> Fuller titles include '''Special Commission to inquire into the charges and allegations made against certain Members of Parliament and other Persons by the Defendants in the recent trial of an action entitled O'Donnell v. Walter and another'''<ref> From the long title of the Special Commission Act 1888 </ref> and '''Special Commission to inquire into the Charges and allegations made against certain Members of Parliament and other persons'''<ref> Commons resolution 11 March 1890 [https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1890/mar/11/special-commission-1888-report#S3V0342P0_18900311_HOC_113 ''Hansard'' vol 342 col 510], House of Commons Journal [https://assets.parliament.uk/Journals/HCJ_volume_145.pdf#page=88 v. 145 p. 86] </ref> |group="nb"}} was a judicial commission of inquiry from 1888 to 1890 into allegations made in articles in ''The Times'' in 1887, and a resulting libel trial in 1888, that members of the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) had condoned or were complicit in criminal acts associated with the Land War or the Irish Republican Brotherhood. The most serious allegation was a putative letter by IPP leader Charles Stewart Parnell condoning the 1882 Phoenix Park Murders; in his 1889 testimony to the commission, Richard Pigott admitted to having forged the letter. The commission was largely seen as vindication for Parnell, although its report substantiated some of the lesser allegations against IPP members.
==Background== On 6 May 1882 two leading members of the British Government in Ireland, Chief Secretary for Ireland Lord Frederick Cavendish and the Permanent Under-Secretary for Ireland T.H. Burke were stabbed to death in Phoenix Park, Dublin by the Irish National Invincibles (see Phoenix Park Murders).
In March 1887, ''The Times'' published a series of articles, "Parnellism and Crime", in which Home Rule League leaders were accused of being involved in murder and outrage during the land war. ''The Times'' produced a number of facsimile letters, allegedly bearing Parnell's signature and in one of the letters Parnell had excused and condoned the murder of T. H. Burke in the Phoenix Park.
In particular the newspaper had paid £1,780 for a letter supposedly written by Parnell to Patrick Egan, a Fenian activist, that included: "Though I regret the accident of Lord F Cavendish's death I cannot refuse to admit that Burke got no more than his deserts" and was signed "Yours very truly, Charles S. Parnell". On the day it was published (18 April 1887), Parnell described the letter in the House of Commons as "a villainous and barefaced forgery."<ref>Roberts 1999 p. 446</ref>
Also on 18 April the bill for the Perpetual Crimes Act had its second reading and debate in the Commons. It appeared to nationalists that it was more than coincidental that the ''Times'' article on the letter was published on the same day and was obviously intended to sway the debate.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1887/apr/18/adjourned-debate-seventh-night |title= "Criminal Law Amendment (Ireland) Bill.— [Bill 217.]: Adjourned Debate. [Seventh Night.]" |access-date=2 May 2009 |archive-date=21 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090621235213/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1887/apr/18/adjourned-debate-seventh-night |work=Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) |date=18 April 1887 |url-status=live |volume=313 |no-pp=y |pages=cols 1129–1237 }}</ref>
Frank Hugh O'Donnell, who had been accused of Fenianism in the ''Times'' articles, took a libel case against the newspaper's editor John Walter, without consulting Parnell. The case was dismissed on 5 July 1888, but the additional allegations raised during the ''O'Donnell v. Walter'' trial precipitated the creation of a special commission established by statute.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last1=O'Day |first1=Alan |title=O'Donnell, Frank Hugh |encyclopedia=Dictionary of Irish Biography |date=1 October 2009 |doi=10.3318/dib.006690.v1 |doi-access=free |publisher=Royal Irish Academy }}</ref>
==The commission== {{anchor|Special Commission Act 1888}}<!--Special Commission Act 1888 erdirects here--> {{Infobox UK legislation | short_title = Special Commission Act 1888 | type = Act | parliament = Parliament of the United Kingdom | long_title = An Act to constitute a Special Commission to inquire into the charges and allegations made against certain Members of Parliament and other Persons by the Defendants in the recent trial of an action entitled O'Donnell v. Walter and another. | year = 1888 | citation = 51 & 52 Vict. c. 35 | introduced_commons = W. H. Smith | introduced_lords = Marquess of Salisbury | royal_assent = 13 August 1888 | commencement = 13 August 1888 | repeal_date = 21 December 1908 | repealing_legislation = Statute Law Revision Act 1908 | related_legislation = | status = Repealed | original_text = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/51-52/35/enacted }}
After considerable argument, the government eventually set up a special commission to investigate the charges made against Parnell and the Home Rule party. The commission sat for 128 days between September 1888 and November 1889. In February 1889, one of the witnesses, Richard Pigott, admitted to having forged the letters; he then fled to Madrid, where he shot himself. Parnell's name was fully cleared. He brought a libel action against ''The Times'' which resulted in Parnell being awarded a large sum of money. His principal lawyer was Charles Russell, who later become Lord Chief Justice. Russell also wrote an influential book about the case.
In an out-of-court settlement Parnell accepted £5,000 in damages. While this was less than the £100,000 he sought, the legal costs for ''The Times'' brought its overall costs to £200,000.<ref>Roberts 1999 p. 454.</ref> When Parnell re-entered parliament after he was vindicated, he received a standing ovation from his fellow MPs.
The commission did not limit itself to the forgeries, but also examined at length the surrounding circumstances, and in particular the violent aspects of the Land War and the Plan of Campaign. Testimony included an extensive submission by Land League founder Michael Davitt for which he was paid by The Irish Party.<ref>{{cite book|first=Laurence |last=Marley|title=Michael Davitt |page= 97|publisher=Four Courts Press|year= 2007|isbn=978-1-84682-265-0}}</ref> In July 1889, the Irish Nationalist MPs and their lawyers withdrew, satisfied with the main result.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1889/07/17/106356330.pdf |title=The Parnell Commission |newspaper=The New York Times |date=17 July 1889 |access-date=23 September 2021 |archive-date=23 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210923034322/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1889/07/17/106356330.pdf |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |page=4}}</ref> When it eventually published its evidence it satisfied for the most part the pro- and anti-nationalist camps in Ireland: * Nationalists were pleased that Parnell had been heroically vindicated, in particular against ''The Times'' which had become a supporter of the high Tory prime minister Lord Salisbury. * Unionists conceded that Parnell was innocent, but pointed to a surrounding mass of sworn evidence that suggested that some of his MPs had condoned or advocated violence in such a way that murders were inevitable. They also made much of the fact that Pigott had formerly been a Nationalist supporter and was clearly deranged.
==Historiography== A balanced and up-to-date overview of the "Parnellism and Crime" affair is given by T. W. Moody (1968), who was able to take advantage of the important modern contributions of Henry Harrison in the 1940s and 1950s and of Leon Ó Broin in the 1960s. The commission has a chapter in Myles Dungan's 2009 ''Conspiracy: Irish Political Trials''<ref>{{cite book |first=Myles |last=Dungan |chapter=Pigott v Russell: the Parnell Commission |title=Conspiracy: Irish Political Trials |location=Dublin |publisher=Royal Irish Academy |date=2009 |isbn=978-1-904890-58-4 |doi=10.2307/j.ctv138wqr6.10 |jstor=j.ctv138wqr6.10 |pages=217–263 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/conspiracyirishp0000dung/page/217/ |via=Open Library |chapter-url-access=registration }}</ref> The events are discussed in Jane Stanford's 2011 biography of John O'Connor Power.<ref>{{cite book |last=Stanford |first=Jane |title=That Irishman: The Life and Times of John O'Connor Power |publisher=History Press Ireland |date=May 2011 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/thatirishmanlife0000stan/page/166/mode/1up |chapter=Part Four, "Taking a Stand |pages=166–171 |isbn=978-1-84588-698-1 |via=Open Library |chapter-url-access=registration }}</ref> Andrew Robert's 1999 biography of Salisbury mainly lists the government's concerns, in chapter 27 covering the period from March 1887 to July 1891.
==Notes== {{reflist|group="nb"}}
==Sources== ;Primary: * {{cite book |title=Parnellism and Crime, reprinted from the Times |publisher=George Edward Wright |location=London |date=1887 |edition=3rd |url=https://archive.org/details/parnellismcrime00lond }} * {{cite book |title=O'Donnell v. Walter, reprinted from the Times |publisher=George Edward Wright |location=London |date=1888 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112046996937&seq=7 }}
Statutes: * [https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/51-52/35/enacted Special Commission Act 1888 {{bracket|51 & 52 Vict.}} c. 35] Report: * {{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/op1252750-1001 |author=Special Commission to inquire into Charges and Allegations against certain M.P.s in Proceedings in Action of O'Donnell v. Walter |title=Report |series=Command papers |volume=C.5891 |date=1890 |publisher=HMSO |access-date=21 November 2016}} ** {{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/verbatimcopyofpa00grea/page/n5/mode/2up |title=A verbatim copy of the Parnell Commission report : with complete index and notes |location=London |publisher=Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union |date=1890 }} Proceedings: *{{cite book |title=Special Commission Act, 1888: Reprint of the Shorthand Notes of the Speeches, Proceedings and Evidence Taken Before the Commissioners Appointed Under the Above-Named Act |publisher=HMSO |date=1890 |oclc=84661542 }} — 12 volumes ([https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.31951002090908r&seq=5 vol. 11] online at HathiTrust) ** {{cite book |title=Special Commission Act, 1888: Report of the Proceedings Before the Commissioners Appointed by the Act: reprinted from ''The Times'' |oclc=1542788099 |publisher=George Edward Wright |location=London |date=1890 |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100736827 }} — 4 volumes ** {{cite book |title=Special Commission Act, 1888: Mr. Charles Stewart Parnell, M.P., and others: Report of Proceedings: uncorrected proof |oclc=1155589967 |publisher=Lewis & Lewis |location=London |date=1888–1889 |url=https://search.worldcat.org/title/1155589967 }} — 8 volumes Parliamentary Debates (Hansard): * Commons 3–11 March 1890 "Special Commission (1888) Report" vol. 341 cols [https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1890/mar/03/ireland-special-commission-1888-report 1656–1759], [https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1890/mar/04/business-of-the-house-special-commission 1779–1782], [https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1890/mar/04/special-commission-1888-report 1782–1876]; vol. 342 cols [https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1890/mar/05/special-commission-1888-report 3–56], [https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1890/mar/06/adjourned-debate 138–232], [https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1890/mar/07/the-special-commission-1888-report 261], [https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1890/mar/07/adjourned-debate 261–324], [https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1890/mar/10/special-commission-1888-report 347–360], [https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1890/mar/10/business-of-the-house-exemption-from 361], [https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1890/mar/10/adjourned-debate 361–460], [https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1890/mar/11/special-commission-1888-report 510–615]. * Lords 21 March 1890 "Ireland—Special Commission (1888) Report" vol. 342 cols [https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1890/mar/21/ireland-special-commission-1888-report 1357–1497]
;Secondary: * {{cite book |first=Henry |last=Harrison |author-link=Henry Harrison (Irish politician) |title=Parnell, Joseph Chamberlain, and "The Times": A Documentary Record: Tempora Mutantur |location=Belfast; Dublin |publisher=Irish News;Brown & Nolan |date=1953 }} * {{cite book |title=Letters And Leaders Of My Day |volume=I |author-link=Tim Healy (politician) |first=Tim |last=Healy |publisher=Thornton Butterworth |location=London |pages=266–307 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.13651/page/n278 }} * {{cite conference |first=T. W. |last=Moody |title=''The Times'' versus Parnell and Co., 1887–90 |book-title=Historical Studies |pages=147–182 |conference=7th Irish Conference of Historians, Trinity College Dublin, 1965 |volume=VI |location=London |publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul |date=1968 |url=https://archive.org/details/historicalstudie0000unse_u7s4/page/147/ |via=Open Library |url-access=registration }} * {{cite book |author-link=Leon Ó Broin |first=Leon |last=Ó Broin |title=Comhcheilg sa Chaisleán |trans-title=Conspiracy in the Castle |location=Dublin |publisher=Sáirséal agus Dill |date=1963 |lang=ga }} — later expanded and published in English as ** {{cite book |first=Leon |last=Ó Broin |title=The Prime Informer: A Suppressed Scandal |location=London |publisher=Sidgwick & Jackson |date=1971 |isbn=028348490X |oclc=1484087715 }} * {{cite book |author-link=Andrew Roberts (historian) |first=Andrew |last=Roberts |title=Salisbury Victorian Titan |publisher=Phoenix Press |location=London |date=1999 |isbn=0-7538-1091-3 }}
==Citations== {{reflist}}
==External links== *''Hansard'' index to mentions of bills and acts ** [https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/bills/members-of-parliament-charges-and-allegations-bill Members of Parliament (Charges and Allegations) Bill] — name of bill as introduced ** [https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/bills/special-commission-bill Special Commission Bill] — name of bill as passed ** [https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/acts/special-commission-act-1888 Special Commission Act 1888]
Category:History of Ireland (1801–1923) Category:Public inquiries in Ireland Category:Political scandals in Ireland