UK legislation restricting the franchise in Irish county constituencies
United Kingdom legislation
The Parliamentary Elections (Ireland) Act 1829, also known as the Irish Franchise Act 1829, was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1829. It restricted the franchise to elect knights of the shire (Members of Parliament) in county constituencies in Ireland by raising the property threshold from the ownership or rent of a forty-shilling freehold to the British standard of a ten-pound freehold. It ruled that:... no Person shall be admitted to vote at any Election of any Knight of the Shire to serve in the Parliament of the United Kingdom for any County in "Ireland" (save as hereinafter is provided), unless such Person shall have an Estate of Freehold, in Lands, Tenements, or Hereditaments in such County, of the clear Yearly Value of Ten Pounds at the least ...The legislation received the royal assent on the same day as the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 permitted Catholics to sit in parliament.
The impact of the fivefold increase in the property threshold has been estimated as a drop in the Irish electorate from 215,000 to 40,000. The Representation of the People (Ireland) Act 1832, increased the Irish electorate to around 60,500.
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