The Registration Act (2 Ann c.7;

long title In certain jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom and other Westminster-influenced jurisdictions (such as Canada or Australia), as well as the United States and the Philippines, primary legislation has both a short title and a long title. The ...

An Act for registering the Popish Clergy) was an Act of the

Parliament of Ireland The Parliament of Ireland ( ga, Parlaimint na hÉireann) was the legislature of the Lordship of Ireland, and later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1297 until 1800. It was modelled on the Parliament of England and from 1537 comprised two cham ...

passed in 1704, which required all "

Popish The words Popery (adjective Popish) and Papism (adjective Papist, also used to refer to an individual) are mainly historical pejorative words in the English language for Roman Catholicism, once frequently used by Protestants and Eastern Orthodo ...

" (

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

)

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

s to register at their local

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...

s' court, to pay two 50-pound bonds to ensure good behavior, and to stay in the

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

where they registered. The act was one of a series of Penal Laws passed after the

Williamite War The Williamite War in Ireland (1688–1691; ga, Cogadh an Dá Rí, "war of the two kings"), was a conflict between Jacobite supporters of deposed monarch James II and Williamite supporters of his successor, William III. It is also called th ...

to protect the victorious

Protestant Ascendancy The ''Protestant Ascendancy'', known simply as the ''Ascendancy'', was the political, economic, and social domination of Ireland between the 17th century and the early 20th century by a minority of landowners, Protestant clergy, and members of th ...

from a church seen as loyal to the defeated

Jacobites Jacobite means follower of Jacob or James. Jacobite may refer to: Religion * Jacobites, followers of Saint Jacob Baradaeus (died 578). Churches in the Jacobite tradition and sometimes called Jacobite include: ** Syriac Orthodox Church, sometime ...

and to foreign powers. Its second section stated that if an Irish Catholic priest was to convert to the established

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the secon ...

, he would receive a 20-pound stipend, levied on the residents of the area where he had last practised. Unregistered clergy were to depart Ireland before the 20 July 1704 and any remaining after 24 June 1705 would be deported. Any that returned would be punished as under the Banishment Act 1697 (as

high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

). These were sought by freelance "

priest hunter A priest hunter was a person who, acting on behalf of the English and later British government, spied on or captured Catholic priests during Penal Times. Priest hunters were effectively bounty hunters. Some were volunteers, experienced soldiers o ...

s".

Amendment and repeal

A 1704 act (4 Anne c.2) amended the Registration Act, Banishment Act and Popery Act, to close a loophole whereby they had not applied to priests ordained after the original act first

came into force In law, coming into force or entry into force (also called commencement) is the process by which legislation, regulations, treaties and other legal instruments come to have legal force and effect. The term is closely related to the date of this t ...

. The 1704 act, originally set to expire after the 1708–09 session of Parliament, was made permanent in that session. The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1782 provided that these acts' provisions could not apply to a priest who had registered and taken an oath of allegiance.

Daniel O'Connell Daniel O'Connell (I) ( ga, Dónall Ó Conaill; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilizat ...

drafted a comprehensive

Catholic Emancipation Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, and later the combined United Kingdom in the late 18th century and early 19th century, that involved reducing and removing many of the restricti ...

bill in the 1820s which would have repealed all these acts; in the event the

Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 The Catholic Relief Act 1829, also known as the Catholic Emancipation Act 1829, was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1829. It was the culmination of the process of Catholic emancipation throughout the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

was more limited and the acts were not formally repealed until the

Statute Law Revision (Ireland) Act 1878 The Statute Law Revision (Ireland) Act 1878 (41 & 42 Vict c 57) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was intended, in particular, to facilitate the preparation of a revised edition of the Irish statutes.The Statute Law Revisio ...

References

Sources

* * *
2 Ann c.7 pp.31–32
– "An Act for registering the Popish clergy" (1703) *
4 Ann c.2 pp.71–72
– "An Act to explain and amend an act, , An Act for the popish clergy" (1705) *
8 Ann c.3 pp.190–216
– "An Act for explaining and amending an act , An Act to prevent the further growth of popery" (1709)

Citations

Acts of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) 1704 in law 1704 in Ireland Penal Laws in Ireland {{Ireland-law-stub