When “the Irish Question” came to 1880s Hackney: Tactical voting, “lively” meetings & “monster” demonstrations!

Breda Corish explains how the late nineteenth-century debate about self-government for Ireland played out not just in the corridors of Westminster but also on the streets of Hackney. At the forefront of the Liberal campaign for Home Rule was South Hackney’s Irish-born MP Charles Russell - political ally and legal defender of “the Uncrowned King of Ireland” Charles Stewart Parnell. The demands of Irish nationalists for land reform and legislative independence dominated late nineteenth-century British politics, with Conservative and Liberal governments deploying in Ireland their respective policies of “coercion” and “conciliation”. Following the 1885 General Election, the Irish Parliamentary Party led by Charles Stewart Parnell held the balance of power in Westminster and the new electoral constituency of South Hackney had a new Liberal MP (1885-1894): the Irish lawyer and Home Rule advocate Charles Russell (1832-1900), later Baron Russell of Killowen. Hackney’s strong Liberal presence and modest Irish electorate came together to deliver a vigorous campaign of support for Liberal Prime Minister William Gladstone’s (ultimately unsuccessful) efforts to legislate for Home Rule in Ireland. While still South Hackney’s MP, Russell was also a key player in a historic judicial inquiry where he successfully defended Parnell against false accusations made by The Times. Russell the lawyer was described as having “the same effect on a witness that a cobra produces on a rabbit”.