The Munster Catholic Association

1 portrait by Joseph Patrick Haverty

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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The Munster Catholic Association

by Joseph Patrick Haverty, printed by Engelmann, Graf, Coindet & Co, published by Molteno & Graves
lithograph, published July 1829
13 3/8 in. x 13 3/8 in. (339 mm x 341 mm) paper size
Acquired, 1956
Reference Collection
NPG D36230

Artistsback to top

Sittersback to top

  • Stephen Coppinger (before 1815-1858), Member of the Catholic Association. Sitter associated with 1 portrait.
  • S. Furlong (active 1829). Sitter associated with 1 portrait.
  • John Lawlor (active 1829). Sitter associated with 1 portrait.
  • F.J. L'Estrange (active 1829), Reverend. Sitter associated with 1 portrait.
  • Richard Lalor Sheil (1791-1851), Irish writer, orator and politician; MP for Tipperary and Dungarvan. Sitter associated with 19 portraits.
  • Michael Staunton (1788-1870), Lord Mayor of Dublin. Sitter associated with 1 portrait.
  • Sir Thomas Wyse (1791-1862), Irish politician and diplomat. Sitter associated with 8 portraits.

Placesback to top

Events of 1829back to top

Current affairs

Metropolitan police force of over three thousand paid, uniformed, professional policemen founded by Home Secretary Sir Robert Peel.
Roman Catholic Relief Act grants emancipation; Catholics admitted to vote, sit in parliament and hold almost all public offices.

Art and science

Success of George Stephenson's Rocket steam engine at Rainhill Trials.
First London bus service licensed; the new 'box-on-wheels' contributes greatly to the expansion of the suburbs.
Apsley House completed for the Duke of Wellington by Benjamin Wyatt.
First Oxford and Cambridge boat race.

International

Andrew Jackson is elected President of the United States.

Comments back to top

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National Portrait Gallery

23 October 2015, 11:50

Thank you for your enquiry. The engraving commemorates an event in Munster, organised by the Catholic Association of Ireland. This was set up by Daniel O'Donnell as an Irish Roman Catholic political organisation, campaigning for Catholic emancipation within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1825 it reduced its membership fee to a penny, making it one of the first mass-membership political movements in Europe. Known as the 'Catholic Rent', membership was promoted by the central figure in the engraving, Sir Patrick Wyse. He wrote a book about the movement, which can be read online at Historical Sketch of the Late Catholic Association of Ireland, Volume 2 By Sir Thomas Wyse https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=jF8_AQAAMAAJ&pg=PR157&lpg=PR157&dq=munster+catholic+association&source=bl&ots=ZlVtWpBUv3&sig=zjq5zXoynNj3WPo2a4Q0aSQPz7o&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAmoVChMI5L6JmtnTyAIVA78UCh0Mwwdi#v=onepage&q=staunton&f=false

There is more information available at http://multitext.ucc.ie/d/Catholic_Rent_1829


In February that year, the result of the Daniel O'Connell and the Catholic Association's campaigning, the Roman Catholic Relief Act of 1829 passed into law, finally allowing Roman Catholics to take their seats in Parliament.

As you are a descendant, can you give me your ancestor's dates of birth and death? It would allow me to improve our record, and fill out the details. If you can pinpoint the exact event shown, I would be even more interested. The sitters are shown, with facsimiles of their signatures below, so it must have been an important moment in July 1829, celebrating the newly appointed MPs.

Laurie Urane

28 September 2015, 04:20

Michael Staunton was my Great, great grandfather . I would be interested to know where the portrait came from or where it was made. There is a portrait of him and his wife in Mansion House Dublin. These portraits have a bit of history , as they ended up in Australia. Presumably my great grandfather bought them to Australia. My aunt Carmen Sweetman sent them back to Dublin in the 1940s