ABSTRACT
In 1813, Peel as Chief Secretary for Ireland came to the decision that it was necessary to introduce legislation which would strengthen the hand of the Irish government in dealing with what seemed to him a grave increase in the incidence of 'disturbances'. Very few people who knew Ireland well seriously thought that political combinations constituted any real danger to peace and everyone must have taken it for &anted that police action would have little or no effect upon religious animosities. The principal function of the army in Ireland was not to fight a foreign enemy but to perform police duties. As a result the forces had to be split up into expensively and dangerously small detachments. In circumstances such as these Peel had to face the problem of what was going to be done in Ireland when the army was reduced.
