The Patriot Parliament is the name given to the Irish Parliament called by James II during the 1689 to 1691 war in Ireland. The first parliament called in Dublin since that of 1666 in the reign of Charles II, it held only one session, from 7 May 1689 to 20 July 1689.
The House of Commons was 70 members short as there were no elections in Counties Fermanagh and Donegal. The members were overwhelmingly drawn from the Catholic Old English, and from among Catholic gentry and aldermen. [1] Sir Richard Nagle was elected Speaker of the Irish House of Commons while the Irish House of Lords was led by Baron Fitton; the Lords contained five Protestant peers and four Church of Ireland bishops, including Anthony Dopping, Bishop of Meath, who acted as leader of the opposition. [2]
Fitton spent much of his adult life in prison for criminal libel; allegedly selected by James because he was a Protestant, he promptly converted to Catholicism. [3] The upper house which assembled included five Protestant peers, Granard, Longford, Barrymore, Howth and Rosse, who was Tyrconnell's son-in-law, plus four Church of Ireland bishops; Anthony Dopping, Bishop of Meath, acted as leader of the opposition. [2]
The members of the House of Lords in 1689 were as follows: [4]
The House was 70 members short, since no elections were held in the northern provinces of Fermanagh and Donegal. Six members were Protestant, the remaining 224 Catholic, a minority being Gaelic or 'Old Irish', while the majority were from the Old English Catholic elite. [8] The Speaker or leader was Sir Richard Nagle, a wealthy Catholic lawyer and close ally of Tyrconnell. [9]