1 Uniting the kingdoms

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the result of the merging of separate states over a long period of time. By the late eighteenth century, the political and legal systems of England and Wales were completely integrated and elected representatives for both countries sat in the House of Commons at Westminster (Dickinson, 2007). Although Scotland and England shared the same monarch from 1603, the Kingdom of Scotland remained a distinct political entity with its own representative institution, the Parliament of Scotland, until 1707. That year, Scotland entered into a political union with England and Wales, creating a new state, the Kingdom of Great Britain. Thereafter, 45 Scottish representatives joined the ranks of English and Welsh MPs at the House of Commons. Scotland retained significant autonomy, however, with its own legal and educational systems and a distinct Presbyterian established church. This Kingdom of Great Britain existed until 1801, when Ireland entered into political union with England, Scotland and Wales.

Figure 1 provides some insight into the nature of this development. It shows a political cartoon published in 1799, when negotiations for a union between the Kingdom of Ireland and the Kingdom of Great Britain were underway. It depicts a group of men gathered together in what seems to be a marriage ceremony. In the centre right of the image you can see the ‘couple’, ‘Paddy’ (an Irishman) and ‘Mr Bull’ (an Englishman dressed in the clothing of an agricultural worker), both holding hats in their hands. To the left, a Scottish man, wearing a tartan sash, officiates the ceremony holding a book in which the words ‘A History of Scotland’ are visible. Meanwhile, an Englishman joins Paddy’s and Mr Bull’s hands, saying, ‘whom I put together – let no man put asunder’. Another character is visible to the far left of the image, holding ‘wet blankets’ on which, just about visible, the words ‘Tax on income’ are written.

Figure 1 Isaac Cruikshank, An Irish Union!, 1799, colour etching. The caption at the bottom of the cartoon reads: ‘If there be no great love in the beginning – yet heaven may decrease it upon better acquaintance vide Shakespeare’. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division PC 1 – 9344 (A size)

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The engraving shows an effete English gentleman joining the hands of ‘Paddy’ and ‘John Bull’ as if in marriage. A Scottish gentleman is reading from a history of Ireland and claims that, like Scotland, ‘Paddy’ ‘will be much happier’ from this union. Behind the Scot stands a man ready with ‘wet blankets’. ‘Paddy’ says: ‘Now is it Blarneying that you are at?’ While his English counterpart is also not sure ‘what it is about!’ and believes the ‘Cousin Paddy don’t seem quite clear’ either .

Figure 1 Isaac Cruikshank, An Irish Union!, 1799, colour etching. The caption at the bottom of the cartoon reads: ‘If there be no great ...