The Ulster Defence Union was a unionist organization formed in 1893 to oppose the

Irish Home Rule movement The Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for Devolution, self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was the dominant political movement of Irish nationalism from 1870 to ...

, following a rally at the

Ulster Hall The Ulster Hall is a concert hall and grade A listed building in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Situated at 34 Bedford Street in Belfast city centre, the hall hosts concerts, European classical music, classical Concert#Recital, recitals, craft fai ...

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

. Its principal aim was to resist the

Second Home Rule Bill The Government of Ireland Bill 1893 (known generally as the Second Home Rule Bill) was the second attempt made by Liberal Party leader William Ewart Gladstone, as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, to enact a system of home rule for Ireland. ...

of 1893. The UDU was launched by the publication of a manifesto on 17 March 1893, the signatories of which included Colonel Edward Saunderson, MP. Shortly after its creation, it adopted the motto ''Quis Separabit?'' (Who shall Separate?) The structure of the new Union was set out in a "Plan of Organisation" which was signed by Daniel Dixon,

Lord Mayor of Belfast The Lord Mayor of Belfast is the leader and chairperson of Belfast City Council, elected annually from and by the city's 60 councillors. The Lord Mayor also serves as the representative of the city of Belfast, welcoming guests from across the U ...

and President of the Provisional Committee.''Ulster folklife'', vol. 47 (Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, 2001), page 76 On 1 September 1893, the Second Home Rule Bill was passed by the House of Commons by 347 votes to 304, but when it came to the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

it was heavily defeated, by 419 votes to only 41. By October 1893, the UDU had a Central Assembly described as comprising six hundred gentlemen, which first met on 24 October 1893, from among whom an executive committee of forty was elected. This committee also included, ''

ex officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, or council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by r ...

'', the Ulster Unionist members of both

houses of parliament The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...

. In October 1893, at an Ulster Defence Union meeting in Belfast, Saunderson said, celebrating the scale of opposition in the Lords: "Home Rule is dead. It was dissected in the House of Commons, buried in the House of Lords, and even the Irish people would not trouble to give it a wake."John Fitzsimons Harbinson, ''The Ulster Unionist Party, 1882-1973: Its Development and Organisation'' (1973), p. 20 Eventually, in 1905, the organization took part in the formation of the

Ulster Unionist Council The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded as the Ulster Unionist Council in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist oppositi ...

, which was a precursor of the

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a Unionism in Ireland, unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded as the Ulster Unionist Council in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it l ...

Notes

{{reflist 1893 establishments in Ireland Ulster unionist organisations