The Disfranchising Act was an Act of Parliament of the

Parliament of Ireland The Parliament of Ireland () was the legislature of the Lordship of Ireland, and later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1297 until the end of 1800. It was modelled on the Parliament of England and from 1537 comprised two chambers: the Irish Hou ...

debated in 1727 and enacted in 1728, one of a series of Penal Laws, and prohibited all

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

s from

voting Voting is the process of choosing officials or policies by casting a ballot, a document used by people to formally express their preferences. Republics and representative democracies are governments where the population chooses representative ...

in parliamentary elections. Its full title is "An Act for the further regulating the Election of Members of Parliament, and preventing the irregular Proceedings of Sheriffs and other Officers in electing and returning such Members" and its citation is . It received

royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in othe ...

on 6 May 1728. In the 18th century, elections were held at irregular intervals and at the beginning of a new reign. The Act followed the death of George I on 11 June 1727 but did not take effect until after the election of 1727, coming into force in 1728. The act was repealed by the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1793, allowing the franchise in Ireland to all men holding a property with a rental value of at least two pounds annually.

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Text of Act
Acts of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) 1727 in law 1727 in Ireland 1728 in Ireland Religion and politics Penal Laws in Ireland Repealed Irish legislation 1727 in Christianity Election legislation {{Ireland-law-stub

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