A Letter to Sir Hercules Langrishe, Bart., M.P. on the Subject of The Roman Catholics of Ireland and The Propriety of Admitting Them to the Elective Franchise, Consistently with the Principles of the Constitution as Established at the Revolution 1792

In 1782, during the second Rockingham administration, Henry Grattan had secured for the Irish Parliament complete legislative independence from the jurisdiction of the English Parliament. The general discontent throughout Ireland over the failure to obtain a genuine control over her own internal affairs received strong encouragement in 1789 by the French Revolution. From 1782 to 1791 there had been almost no interest among the ruling Protestants of Ireland to allow any political rights to Catholics, and Catholics themselves had shown little interest in obtaining such rights. But with the model of the French Revolution before them, many Catholics began to demand the rights of political franchise, and they supported the United Irishmen as the means to that end. Edmund Burke was anxious that a policy of reconciliation be adopted, which would grant Ireland substantial rights under the British constitution, including a generous extension of political rights to Catholics.