Irish House of Commons

Irish House of Commons
Type
Type	Lower house
History
Established	1297
Disbanded	1 January 1801
Succeeded by	House of Commons of the United Kingdom
Leadership
Speaker of the House	John Foster (1785–1800)
Seats	300[a]
Elections
Voting system	First past the post with limited suffrage
Meeting place
The House of Commons in session (by Francis Wheatley, 1780)
Footnotes
^ In 1800.

The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until the end of 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive franchise, similar to the unreformed House of Commons in contemporary Great Britain. Catholics were disqualified from sitting in the Irish parliament from 1691, even though they comprised the vast majority of the Irish population.

The Irish executive, known as the Dublin Castle administration, under the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, was not answerable to the House of Commons but to the British government. However, the Chief Secretary for Ireland was usually a member of the Irish parliament. In the Commons, business was presided over by the Speaker.

From 1 January 1801, it ceased to exist and was succeeded by the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.