The Kilmainham Treaty

On Saturday June 10th, 1882, the London Illustrated News published an article regarding the events across the empire. In the beginning of the article the author praises the Earl of Granville for his peaceful negotiations in Cairo, Egypt while simultaneously criticizing Prime Minister Gladstone. At the time Gladstone had come under fire for negotiating with Charles Parnell, a somewhat violent Irish nationalist. During these negotiations Charles Parnell proposed what is known as the Kilmainham Treaty, an unofficial treaty stating that upon his release Parnell would end the violent outbursts that had been happening across the country. When the violence stopped a new act would be put in place that would favor the Irish people, nearly 100,000 farmers were able to take their landlords to court and appeal for fair rent. The British government would pay nearly $800,000 that was owed by Irish farmers to their British landlords. Not only did Charles Parnell orchestrate this entire deal from behind bars, he also forced the British government to acknowledge Ireland as a state, as treaties are made between two states, only strengthening his argument for Irish Nationalism. 

While this can be considered a great victory for Parnell the Irish people, the same cannot be said for Prime Minister Gladstone. The treaty did not benefit Gladstone as he had hoed it would, he thought that this deal would end the untick in violence that had been occurring since Charles Parnell’s unlawful arrest. The author of the article questions Gladstone’s authority and motives for agreeing to this deal, insinuating that Gladstone only agreed to such a deal because of his previous short comings with the Irish land acts and their failures. There are two things about the article that I find particularly interesting, the first being the fact that Prime Minister Gladstone denied the existence of the treaty, agreeing to the treaty was not a good look for Gladstone, but lying about its existence when it is a well known and publicized document is downright foolish. The second thing that strikes me as interesting in the tone in which the author employs throughout the article, the author truly voices their frustrations with Gladstone, making him appear to be incompetent. This is particularly interesting because this is exactly the type of rhetoric that led to Charles Parnell’s arrest. It is interesting, it appears that only the British were allowed to make comments criticizing their government and political leaders, but when the Irish criticize them it’s illegal.