Long title | An Act for the Union of Great Britain and Ireland |
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Citation | 40 Geo. 3 c.38 |
Introduced by | John Toler |
Dates | |
Commencement | 1 January 1801 |
Status: Amended
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Revised text of statute as amended |
Treaty of Union | 1706 |
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Acts of Union | 1707 |
Personal Union of 1714 | 1714 |
Wales and Berwick Act | 1746 |
Irish Constitution | 1782 |
Acts of Union | 1800 |
Government of Ireland Act | 1920 |
Anglo-Irish Treaty | 1921 |
Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act | 1927 |
N. Ireland (Temporary Provisions) Act | 1972 |
European Communities Act | 1972 |
Local Government Act | 1972 |
Local Government (Scotland) Act | 1973 |
Northern Ireland Assembly | 1973 |
N. Ireland Constitution Act | 1973 |
Referendum Act | 1975 |
Scotland Act | 1978 |
Wales Act | 1978 |
Local Government (Wales) Act | 1994 |
Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act | 1994 |
Referendums (Scotland & Wales) Act | 1997 |
Good Friday Agreement | 1998 |
Northern Ireland Act | 1998 |
Government of Wales Act | 1998 |
Scotland Act | 1998 |
Government of Wales Act | 2006 |
Northern Ireland Act | 2009 |
European Union Act | 2011 |
Scotland Act | 2012 |
Edinburgh Agreement | 2012 |
Wales Act | 2014 |
European Union Referendum Act | 2015 |
Scotland Act | 2016 |
Wales Act | 2017 |
The Acts of Union 1800 (sometimes erroneously referred to as a single Act of Union 1801) were parallel acts of the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of Ireland which united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland (previously in personal union) to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The acts came into force on 1 January 1801, and the merged Parliament of the United Kingdom had its first meeting on 22 January 1801.
Both acts remain in force, with amendments, in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and have been repealed in the Republic of Ireland.
Two acts were passed in 1800 with the same long title, An Act for the Union of Great Britain and Ireland. The short title of the act of the British Parliament is Union with Ireland Act 1800, assigned by the Short Titles Act 1896. The short title of the act of the Irish Parliament is Act of Union (Ireland) 1800, assigned by a 1951 act of the Parliament of Northern Ireland, and hence not effective in the Republic of Ireland, where it was referred to by its long title when repealed in 1962.
Before these Acts, Ireland had been in personal union with England since 1541, when the Irish Parliament had passed the Crown of Ireland Act 1542, proclaiming King Henry VIII of England to be King of Ireland. Since the 12th century, the King of England had been technical overlord of the Lordship of Ireland, a papal possession. Both the Kingdoms of Ireland and England later came into personal union with that of Scotland upon the Union of the Crowns in 1603.