To What Extent Was the Act of Union the Most Important Turning Point in the Development of Irish Nationalism During the Period 1798-1858?

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The Act of Union of 1800 was indeed quite a substantial turning point in the development of Irish Nationalism during the period 1798-1858, however due to the collapse of constitutional nationalism in Ireland post 1847 (due to O’Connell’s death), other important factors regarding revolutionary nationalism can be seen to be far more pivotal turning points. The term ‘Irish Nationalism’ is ambiguous in the sense that there existed two hugely differing methods of nationalism at the time, constitutional and revolutionary, with the former arguably the less successful as seen by the failure of O’Connell’s repeal campaign of 1840-44. The Act of Union, despite increasing Irish sentiment towards nationalism, failed to do so successfully in regards to Ireland in the long term, so its description as a major turning point in the development of Irish Nationalism is questionable. It did lead to further constitutional nationalism in the form of O’Connell, which proved initially successful through membership numbers of the Catholic Association, yet the failure of his repeal campaign led to disillusionment throughout Ireland with constitutional nationalism, bringing into question this strand of nationalism. Furthermore it could be argued that the Act of Union, although potentially already a viable alternative for Irish nationalists, was still a bi-product of the 1798, which in itself proves the 1798 Rebellion to be a more significant turning point than the Act of Union as well as the Irish famine, both of which, closely linked to the fact that revolutionary nationalism was far more successful in the long term, proving these turning points to be far more significant, however The Great Famine was indeed the most significant turning point in the development of Irish Nationalism. The first major turning point involving constitutional nationalism was the Act of Union of 1800, which
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