sentences:  Ten thousand members would be enrolled, but of the gentry there were very few, the middle class stood apart and the Catholic clergy were unfriendly.In view of the poverty of the people, subscriptions would be purely voluntary, the founders of the new movement would bear the cost themselves if necessary.In the 1847 United Kingdom general election, three Irish Confederation candidates stood - Richard O'Gorman in Limerick City, William Smith O'Brien in Limerick County and Thomas Chisholm Anstey in Youghal.