Catholic Emancipation deserves its place among the great moments in the long constitutional development of the United Kingdom, but each year it passes with remarkably little notice. Perhaps more fuss will be made when the bicentenary arrives in 2029, but last year when Sir Edward Leigh MP asked Labour ministers what they were cooking up for that anniversary, the Government admitted it had ‘no specific plans’ to mark the occasion.
This is a missed opportunity. Far from being a mere bit of legal tinkering to sort out a troublesome minority, the Roman Catholic Relief Act that received royal assent on this day in 1829 reshaped the relationship between the state and believers not just in the United Kingdom but across what is now the modern Commonwealth. To the extent that civil and religious liberties are today enjoyed by people from Vancouver to Karachi, it is in some sense thanks to this achievement and the man arguably most responsible for it: Daniel O’Connell.
