Victoria of the United Kingdom

Ireland

The young Queen Victoria fell in love with Ireland, choosing to holiday in Killarney in Kerry, in the process, launching the location as one of the nineteenth century's prime tourist locations. Her love of the island was matched by an initial Irish warmth for the young queen. In 1845, Ireland was hit by a potato blight that over four years cost the lives of over one million Irish people and saw the emigration of another million. In response to what came to be called the Irish Potato Famine (An Gorta Mor) the queen personally donated £5000 and was involved in various famine charities. Nevertheless the fact that the policies of the ministry of Lord John Russell were widely blamed for exacerbating the severity of the famine affected the Queen's popularity. To extreme republicans Victoria came to be called the "Famine Queen", with mythical stories of her donating as little as £5 to famine relief becoming accepted in republican lore.

Related Topics:
Killarney - Kerry - 1845 - Irish Potato Famine

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Victoria's first official visit to Ireland, in 1849, was specifically arranged by Lord Clarendon, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, the head of the British administration, to try both to draw attention off the famine and also to alert British politicians through the Queen's presence to the seriousness of the crisis in Ireland. Notwithstanding the negative impact of the famine on the Queen's popularity, she still remained sufficiently popular for nationalists at party meetings to finish by singing God Save the Queen. However by the 1870s and 1880s the monarchy's appeal in Ireland had diminished substantially, partly as a result of Victoria's decision to refuse to visit Ireland in protest at the decision of Dublin Corporation to refuse to congratulate her son, the Prince of Wales, on his marriage to Princess Alexandra of Denmark, or to congratulate the royal couple on the birth of their oldest son, Prince Albert Victor.

Related Topics:
1849 - Lord Clarendon - Lord Lieutenant of Ireland - Dublin Corporation - Prince of Wales - Alexandra of Denmark - Albert Victor

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Victoria refused repeated pressure from a number of prime ministers, lords lieutenant and even members of the Royal Family, to establish a royal residence in Ireland. Writing in his memoirs, Ireland: Dupe or Heroine? in 1930, Lord Midleton, the former head of the Irish unionist party, described this decision as having proved disastrous to the monarchy and British rule in Ireland.

Related Topics:
1930 - Lord Midleton

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Victoria paid her last visit to Ireland in 1900, when she came to appeal to Irishmen to join the British Army and fight in the Boer War. Nationalist opposition to her visit was spearheaded by Arthur Griffith, who established an organisation called Cumann na nGaedheal to unite the opposition. Five years later Griffith used the contacts established in his campaign against the queen's visit to form a new political movement, Sinn Fein.

Related Topics:
1900 - Boer War - Arthur Griffith - Cumann na nGaedheal - Sinn Fein

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~