Editing Kingdom of Ireland (section)

==Parliament==
{{main|Parliament of Ireland}}
The kingdom's [[legislature]] was [[Bicameralism|bicameral]] with a [[Irish House of Lords|House of Lords]] and a [[Irish House of Commons|House of Commons]]. By the terms of [[Poynings' Law (on certification of acts)|Poynings' Law]] (1494) and other acts, the parliament's powers were greatly circumscribed. The legislature was content to "rubber stamp" acts or "suggestions" from the English parliament.

Roman Catholics and dissenters, mostly [[Presbyterians]], Baptists, and Methodists, were excluded from membership of the Irish parliament from 1693. Furthermore, their rights were restricted by a series of laws called the [[Penal Laws against Irish Catholics|Penal Laws]]. They were denied voting rights from 1728 until 1793.  The Grattan Parliament succeeded in achieving the repeal of [[Poynings' Law (on certification of acts)|Poynings' Law]] in 1782. This allowed progressive legislation and gradual liberalisation was effected. Catholics and Dissenters were given the right to vote in 1793, but Catholics were still excluded from the Irish Parliament and senior public offices in the kingdom. As in Great Britain and the rest of [[Europe]], voting and membership of parliament was restricted to property owners. In the 1720s, the parliament was housed in a new [[Irish Houses of Parliament|building]] at [[College Green, Dublin]].