Citation

Urquhart D. J. Fam. Hist. 2013; 38(3): 301-320.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, National Council On Family Relations, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0363199013484714

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This article examines the reasons for and impact of Ireland's exclusion from the Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857. From the eighteenth century, Irish citizens brought private divorce bills to the Irish parliament and to Westminster. The Act of Union in 1800 restricted Irish bills for divorce to Westminster but with the creation of a London divorce court as a result of the 1857 act, the parliamentary basis of divorce was restricted to Ireland and other areas of the empire, such as Canada and India. However, Canada and India's divorce laws were reformed in 1867 and 1869, respectively, and thereafter Ireland's Westminster basis of divorce was unique.

Language: en