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the IRISH REPUBLICAN ARMY. But in 1969 the questions that had been ignored for 50 years were suddenly revived. Should Ireland continue to be partitioned? Should British troops serve in Ireland? Was the British commitment to the North really firm? There were nearly 30 years of terrorist violence in Ulster, and a ceasefire reached in the late 1990s was meant to be the start of renewed, interdenominational, peaceful “dominion” government. Meanwhile, the republic had matured, its constitution and institutions were well established, its role in Europe advancing with membership in the EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY in 1972, and its official view of partition making it a vital partner in the accommodations reached in the late 1990s.

Ireton, Henry (1611–1651) soldier

Born in Nottinghamshire, to a PURITAN GENTRY family, Ireton went to Trinity College, OXFORD UNIVERSITY, and to the Middle Temple (see INNS OF COURT). The son-in-law of Oliver CROMWELL, he fought at EDGEHILL and Newbury, and he commanded cavalry at the Battle of NASEBY. He played a major role at the Putney Debates in 1647, defending the side of the landowners against the radicals. He signed the death warrant of CHARLES I, and he accompanied Cromwell during his campaign in IRELAND, remaining there as his deputy. He died during the siege of Limerick.

Irish Famine

The population of IRELAND grew rapidly in the early 19th century, passing 8 million in 1840. The agricultural laborer was heavily dependent on the potato, a highly efficient food source for the small plot which supported a typical family. In 1845 a deadly fungus destroyed three-quar- ters of the crop, causing great distress; but in 1846 there was a total crop failure, and most of the seed potatoes for the next year were eaten. In 1847 the area planted was reduced from 2 million acres to about 300,000, and so the harvest was far too small. Then in 1848 there was

another general failure. These disastrous years saw over 1 million die from starvation and disease, and a larger number emigrated. There were strenuous government efforts at relief, with public-works projects and soup kitchens which fed up to 3 million a day in 1847. But these efforts were insufficient. Lower birth rates and continued emigration meant a declining Irish population until the 1920s. The famine also produced a searing indictment of British rule.

Irish Free State

In order to quell the violence of the postwar years, the ANGLO-IRISH TREATY of 1921 reached an agreement between the British government and the leaders of the Irish resistance. The IRISH FREE STATE was constituted as a DOMINION of the Crown, with its own political institutions and virtual independence. This was not enough for the more radical republicans, and the anti-treaty forces fought against the new government. The fighting lasted for over a year, and the more conservative forces won. The new government, covering 26 counties of IRELAND, was inclined to conservative social policy, protectionist economics, and GAELIC revival. Nonetheless, much of the English-style institutional framework was retained. The return of Eamon DE VALERA to politics in the 1926 brought a keener edge to Irish constitutional issues. The Free State was effectively terminated by the adoption of a new republican constitution in 1937, which declared EIRE to be a “sovereign, independent democratic state.” The formal end of the Free State came with the Republic of Ireland Act of 1948.

Irish Home Rule

The main strand of constitutional opposition to British rule in IRELAND comes under the heading of home rule. In contrast to the radical designs

of YOUNG IRELAND or the FENIAN BROTHERHOOD,

the home-rule objective was always a form of autonomy under imperial rule, more or less a DOMINION solution. In 1870 the Protestant BAR- RISTER and politician Isaac BUTT founded the

Home Government Association, which became the Home Rule League in 1873. Increasing numbers of Irish MPs backed the effort, which gained support after the BALLOT ACT of 1872, and even more strength during the economic crisis of the later 1870s. In that setting, Charles Stewart PAR- NELL emerged as a more effective leader, uniting with the radical Land League and taking more assertive positions in PARLIAMENT. Parnell was implicated in many episodes of agrarian violence, but his strategy seemed successful when William GLADSTONE introduced a Home Rule bill in 1886. That measure failed, as did another in 1893. The third bill came after the crisis of the Parliament Act of 1911, but it was shelved in 1914. By the end of the war, two separate parliaments were foreshadowed in the Government of Ireland Act of 1920. The government of NORTHERN IRELAND was founded on this law, and the IRISH FREE STATE was the southern version, adopted in 1922 after several years of fighting.

Irish Land Acts

Landholding in IRELAND was a major source of unrest. The rights of landlords, tenant farmers, and agricultural laborers were always in competition, but in the economic and political climate of the later 19th century, the clashes became more serious. Irish tenants wanted “the three Fs”—fair rent, free sale, and fixity of tenure. They resisted arbitrary rent increases, lack of compensation for improvements they made when property was sold, and liability to sudden eviction. William GLADSTONE’s government in 1870 passed an act that limited the absolute rights of landowners, but its enforcement was problematic. Fuller guarantees came in the Land Act of 1881, but by then the focus had shifted to providing subsidies to tenants so that they could buy out their landlords. This began in 1883 and was greatly extended over the next two decades. Tenants were eager to gain this kind of ownership, landlords were often eager to sell during a time of falling land values, and politicians believed that such a large transfer of ownership would blunt the IRISH HOME RULE movement.

Joseph CHAMBERLAIN called it “killing home rule with kindness.”

Irish Rebellion (1798)

Under the influence of the French Revolution, the organized efforts of the UNITED IRISHMEN posed a threat to British rule, and the government responded with harsh repressive measures, especially after a failed French invasion attempt in 1796. In early 1798 there were disjointed rebel assaults in several provinces, the most serious being in Wexford, with others in ULSTER and County Mayo. By the end of the year, between 20,000 and 30,000 were dead and thousands more were arrested and interned or transported to AUSTRALIA. The British government therefore decided to form a constitutional union, the UNITED KINGDOM of 1801.

See also CORNWALLIS, CHARLES; TONE, WOLFE.

Irish Republic

The goal of the FENIAN BROTHERHOOD and their successors was achieved in the constitution of 1937 and declared in the Irish Republic Act of 1948. The effective sovereignty of the republic was made clear by its decision to remain neutral in WORLD WAR II. The Irish constitution claimed the authority to govern the whole island (articles 2 and 3), and this claim made relations between GREAT BRITAIN and IRELAND uneasy, particularly during the unrest in the North, 1969–97. However, relations were improving, as evident in the countries’ joint entry into the EUROPEAN ECO- NOMIC COMMUNITY (1972) and the improved contacts between LONDON and DUBLIN from the 1980s, culminating in the peace agreement for

NORTHERN IRELAND in 1998.

Irish Republican Army (IRA)

The IRA grew out of the Irish Volunteers, organized in 1913 to confront their northern counterparts in the IRISH HOME RULE crisis of 1911–14. After the EASTER REBELLION of 1916, triggered by dissident members of the Volunteers, the units

were reorganized. In 1919 the force became the agent of the provisional government, engaged in guerilla warfare which went on until 1921. The organization split over the ANGLO-IRISH TREATY, and those who did not agree with it began a savage civil war (1922–23). The IRA revived during the troubles in the North after 1969, though at first its ineffectiveness was mocked in graffiti which said “IRA = I ran away.” By the mid-1970s there was serious terrorist activity, in both NORTH-

ERN IRELAND and GREAT BRITAIN, aimed at forcing

the end of British rule. The most dangerous element called itself the Provisional IRA, and there were various splinter groups. By the 1990s the IRA had agreed to a cease-fire, and lengthy negotiations began to bring peaceful political activity, including the group’s political arm SINN FÉIN. The main outstanding question was “decommissioning” of IRA arms stockpiles, which was supposed to begin under international supervision in 2000.

Isaacs, Rufus See READING, RUFUS ISAACS,

MARQUIS OF.

Isle of Man

Located in the Irish Sea, midway between IRE- LAND and north WALES, and only 20 miles from SCOTLAND, the Isle of Man is only 10 miles wide and 30 miles long. Settled by Norse invaders in the ninth century, its institutions bear the marks of that history. Briefly in Scottish possession (1266), it was taken by the English (1333), made a lordship of the earls of Derby (1406), purchased by the British government in 1765, and given to the Crown. Tynwald is the legislature, the lower house the House of Keys. The Manx language, a Celtic tongue, was spoken until the 19th century.

See also COURTS OF LAW.

Jacobites

The supporters of the deposed and exiled JAMES VII AND II, derived from the Latin for his name, “Jacobus.” There was a series of uprisings on behalf of James and his heirs. The first was in SCOTLAND in 1689, ended by the Battle of KIL- LIECRANKIE. The next was the invasion of IRELAND under James himself (1689–91), which was halted by his defeat at the Battle of the BOYNE in 1690. In 1715, after the accession of GEORGE I, an uprising in Scotland and ENGLAND was put down. An invasion attempt in 1719 and a plot in 1722 were crushed easily. The final rebellion came in 1745, when “Bonnie Prince Charlie” (Charles Edward STUART) led a French and Scottish force on an ill-starred invasion of Northern England. Forced to retreat to the north of Scotland, he was beaten at the Battle of CULLODEN. The last of the Stuart line died in 1807.

Jamaica

Island in the WEST INDIES seized from Spain in 1655. It became a sugar colony employing large numbers of slaves. The island was also a center for pirates and legitimate traders. Significant economic problems ensued from the abolition of slavery (1833). An insurrection in 1865 was followed by savage punishments, and Governor Edward Eyre was sharply criticized but not charged with any wrongdoing. The island became independent in 1962.

James I (1394–1437) king of Scots, 1406–1437

Captured by the English as he was being sent to safety in France (1406), James I succeeded his

father Robert III, but he remained in captivity until 1424. When he did return to his realm, he introduced many new laws and new taxes. He also took vengeance on those nobles whom he thought had been disloyal. He in turn was murdered by conspirators, but he left a six-year-old son to succeed him.

James II (1430–1460) king of Scots, 1437–1460

In his early years the young King James II was beset with rival noble factions, but in 1449 he destroyed the power of the Livingston family and over the next decade he eliminated other dangerous noblemen. An avid soldier, he was besieging Roxburgh castle in 1460 when one of his cannons exploded and killed him.

James III (1451–1488) king of Scots, 1460–1488

During his minority (1460–69) James III married the daughter of the king of Denmark and was able to gain the lordships of ORKNEY and Shetland. He had been kidnapped by one noble family and was antagonized by others, leading to a series of conflicts in the 1480s. He was ultimately killed by a large force of angry nobles, led by his son and heir JAMES IV, at the Battle of Sauchieburn.

James IV (1473–1513) king of Scots, 1488–1513

An aggressive and intelligent ruler, James IV was able to rule with a strong hand and to extend the power of the Crown without seriously alien-

ating his more powerful subjects. While penitent for his crime of patricide, he earned a considerable amount of noble support for that very act. He traveled around his kingdom, bringing a much enhanced image of royal authority to many parts. He launched ill-advised invasions of ENGLAND, first in support of the pretender Perkin WARBECK in 1496 and then in the disastrous campaign which led to his death and the major defeat at the Battle of FLODDEN in 1513. In between he had married Margaret, the daughter of HENRY VII, and their infant son JAMES V succeeded him on the throne.

James V (1512–1542) king of Scots, 1513–1542

James V’s long minority was troubled by disputes between rival factions of nobles. The Scottish PARLIAMENT granted him full powers in 1524, but it took him several more years to assert his authority. He chose a French alliance over one with ENGLAND, and he married the daughter of the king of France in 1537. When she died six months later, he married the French princess, MARY OF GUISE. James worked to strengthen the Scottish kingship, creating the College of Justice in 1532, reclaiming disputed property from noblemen, and wringing revenues from the church. But despite a promising start, his reign came to a sudden end after the English defeated him at the Battle of Solway Moss in 1542. The king was not present, but he died shortly afterward of unknown causes. His two sons had died in 1541, making his infant daughter MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS the heir to the throne.

James VI and I (1566–1625)

king of Scots, 1567–1625, and king of England and Ireland, 1603–1625

The son of MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS and Henry, Lord DARNLEY, James was only 13 months old when his mother abdicated the throne of SCOT- LAND. As a result, he endured a long minority, marked by the predictable infighting among fac-

tions at Court, intensified now by the clash between Protestants and Catholics. He was a highly intelligent young man, tutored by George BUCHANAN, who tried to teach him that kings were servants of the people. The young sovereign rebelled at this lesson, and as soon as he assumed full power, he pursued a different ideal of kingship. In 1586 he made the Treaty of Berwick with ELIZABETH I, which provided him a pension and recognized his claim to succeed her, provided he made no trouble for her. This may explain his acceptance of his mother’s execution the following year and his neutrality during the invasion of the Spanish ARMADA in 1588. James played the religious factions in Scotland against one another, endorsing a PRESBYTERIAN church in 1592 while battling Catholic noblemen, and then promoting the restoration of BISHOPs to combat the more zealous Presbyterians like Andrew MELVILLE. He spelled out his autocratic theory of kingship in his book Trew Law of Free Monarchies (1598) and in the guide he wrote for his son Henry, Basilikon Doron (1599).

When James succeeded Elizabeth, he hoped to establish a union of the two governments, not merely a union of crowns. His plans ran aground on the resistance of the English PARLIAMENT, suspicious of this autocrat who seemed to misunderstand the political and legal traditions of ENGLAND. For the church, the new king summoned a conference at Hampton Court (1604), where it became clear that the English PURITANS, expecting an ally from Presbyterian Scotland, found instead a ruler whose slogan was “no bishop, no king”—that is, he insisted on the retention and strengthening of church hierarchy. He evoked serious religious antagonism from discontented Roman Catholics, the most violent being the ones who plotted to blow up the entire government (see GUNPOWDER PLOT).

James continued to try to balance his enemies. He married his daughter to the elector palatine, a Protestant prince; his son CHARLES I was meant to marry a Spanish princess, but ended up with a French one instead. If the royal policy was shrewd, its cleverness did not sit well

with the English Parliament. Likewise, the king’s demands for revenue and his refusal to accept Parliament’s interference in royal finance were points of friction. This reign was once seen as the origin of the future clash between king and Parliament, with the HOUSE OF COMMONS “winning the initiative” in government affairs. Now historians see James as a less antagonistic figure, an intelligent, well-meaning ruler who shared a mutual incomprehension with his new subjects in their very different form of government.

James VII and II (1633–1701) king of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1685–1688

Going into exile as a boy, witnessing the terrible fate of his father CHARLES I, and serving in early adulthood in Spanish and French armies, gave James, an heir to the throne, a decidedly authoritarian view of the demands of kingship. At the RESTORATION he was made lord high admiral, and he fought in the wars against the Dutch. He resigned this post in 1673 after the TEST ACT had imposed anti-Catholic oaths on all royal officials. It thus became known that he had converted to the old faith in the late 1660s. This brought a major complication into English politics: a potential Catholic heir to the throne meant a likely restoration of the Catholic faith, with all of the religious, social, political, and diplomatic consequences that would entail.

Meanwhile, James had married Anne Hyde (daughter of Lord CLARENDON) in 1660, and they had two daughters, MARY II and ANNE, both raised as Protestants. As his brother CHARLES II had no legitimate male offspring, James was the next in line of succession. Most ardent Protestants, and those who did not accept divine right (as in the new political group called WHIGS), wanted James excluded from the royal succession. Those with a TORY viewpoint, who believed that kingship, and the succession to it, were above the power of men to intervene, insisted that James should be king regardless of his religious faith. Three parliaments in quick succession argued over the

issue, but the EXCLUSION crisis (1679–81) ended when Charles declined to summon any more parliaments. When James did become king in 1685, he was met by a very pliant parliament, which voted him substantial revenues. However, in a few years he had alarmed many by his campaign to reconstruct the political system and restore Catholics to public life. Thus, in 1688 a group of Whig and Tory leaders urged Mary’s husband, WILLIAM III of Orange, to invade, bring-

ing about the GLORIOUS REVOLUTION.

James was forced into exile, but he found enough assistance from Louis XIV of France to invade IRELAND in 1689 in a campaign to regain his throne. With defeat there, he returned to France. For the next decade he continued to plan on a restoration, keeping in touch with disaffected English leaders and hoping to collect a large enough force to make another invasion. His son James, born in 1688, and known as the Old Pretender, was recognized by JACOBITES as James III on his father’s death, but he was unsuccessful in two attempts to invade and restore the STUART line (1708, 1715).

Jameson Raid (1895)

In December 1895 a force of almost 500 men invaded the TRANSVAAL, led by Dr. Leander Starr Jameson, an official of the British South Africa Company. They were part of a plan to overthrow the government of Paul Kruger, a plan approved by Cecil RHODES and probably also by the colonial secretary Joseph CHAMBERLAIN. The coup failed, Jameson was arrested, Rhodes resigned, and the worsening relations led to the BOER WAR. Jameson later became the premier of the CAPE COLONY (1904–08).

Jane Seymour See SEYMOUR, JANE.

Jarrow March (1936)

During the DEPRESSION there were numerous marches of unemployed workers, staged in