Y316: Britain and Ireland 1791-1921 | OCR A-Level History A (H505)

Y316: Britain and Ireland 1791-1921

149 questions
12 subtopics
Thematic study and historical interpretations, one of twenty-one
Y301 to Y321

Britain and Ireland 1791–1921 is unit Y316 of OCR History A, one of the twenty-one options in unit group 3, the thematic study and historical interpretations; a student sits one of them.

Its four key topics and three depth studies are opposition to the Union, support for the Union, the Union and reform, the Irish economy and the link to Irish Nationalism, Irish Rebellions and British Responses 1791–1803, O’Connell and British Governments 1823–1841, the Crisis over Home Rule 1908–1914. 140 recall questions across 12 subtopics.

Sample questions from Y316: Britain and Ireland 1791-1921

Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.

Opposition to the Union: revolutionary, cultural and constitutional nationalism

What was boycotting and where did the term come from?

Show the answer
It was the tactic of complete social and commercial ostracism of anyone who took an evicted tenant's farm, named after Captain Boycott, a land agent in County Mayo ostracised in 1880.
Support for the Union: the decline of the Ascendancy and the rise of Unionism

Explain what the Ulster Unionist Council was.

Show the answer
Established in 1905, it brought together constituency associations, Orange lodges and unionist clubs into a single disciplined body that could direct Ulster's resistance.
The Union and reform: creation of the Act of Union, Home Rule and Partition

What was distinctive about policing in Ireland?

Show the answer
From 1836 Ireland had a single centrally controlled, armed and barracked constabulary answerable to Dublin Castle, unlike the local unarmed forces of Britain.
The Irish economy and the link to Irish Nationalism: Agrarian under-development

How did Peel and Russell's governments respond to the Famine?

Show the answer
Peel imported maize and repealed the Corn Laws, while Russell relied on public works, then soup kitchens, and from 1847 threw the cost of relief onto Irish poor rates in line with prevailing economic doctrine.
Depth study: Irish Rebellions and British Responses 1791–1803 — Grattan’s Parliament to Bantry Bay

Explain what the Catholic Committee was and name the man who acted as its secretary.

Show the answer
It was the body of Catholic merchants and gentry campaigning for relief, revived under John Keogh, with Wolfe Tone as its paid secretary from 1792.
Depth study: Irish Rebellions and British Responses 1791–1803 — the 1798 rising, the Act of Union and Emmet

Why did emancipation not accompany the Union?

Show the answer
George III insisted that consenting to it would breach his coronation oath, and Pitt resigned in 1801 rather than press the issue, leaving Catholics feeling deceived.
Depth study: O’Connell and British Governments 1823–1841 — the Tithe War, the Whig alliance and assessments of O’Connell

Explain what the Lichfield House compact was.

Show the answer
It was the understanding of 1835 by which O'Connell's Irish members joined the Whigs and radicals to turn out Peel, O'Connell suspending agitation for Repeal in return for Irish reform and a share of patronage.
Depth study: The Crisis over Home Rule 1908–1914 — Home Rule Bill of 1912

Why were the Irish Volunteers founded?

Show the answer
They were established in November 1913 under Eoin MacNeill so that nationalists too would have an armed force, on the argument that Ulster's unpunished militarisation could not be answered by words alone.

The 12 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
Opposition to the Union: revolutionary, cultural and constitutional nationalism	Recall questions on Wolfe Tone and the United Irishmen, Young Ireland, the Fenians, the Land League, Sinn Féin, the Easter Rising and IRA, the cultural revival, the Catholic Church, Butt, Parnell and the Irish Parliamentary Party.	29
Support for the Union: the decline of the Ascendancy and the rise of Unionism	Recall questions on the Protestant Ascendancy and what undermined it, the ballot and franchise, the organisation of Unionism in 1885 and 1886, Randolph Churchill, the Ulster Unionist Council and unionist arguments and tactics.	8
Support for the Union: Conservatives, churches, Ulster and unionist leaders	Recall questions on unionist tactics after 1911, constructive unionism, Salisbury and Bonar Law, the Liberal Unionists, the Church of Ireland and Presbyterians, the Orange Order, Ulster’s economy, Carson and Craig and southern unionists.	12
The Union and reform: creation of the Act of Union, Home Rule and Partition	Recall questions on the creation of the Act of Union, reform within the Union from 1829 including Catholic Emancipation 1829, home Rule and Partition.	20
The Irish economy and the link to Irish Nationalism: Agrarian under-development	Recall questions on agrarian under-development and population pressures.	11
The Irish economy and the link to Irish Nationalism: the Land War, Ulster industry and the economic case	Recall questions on the Land War, land agitation and nationalism, land purchase, Belfast’s industries and why they grew in the north-east, the economic divide and the nationalist economic case against the Union and its critics.	9
Depth study: Irish Rebellions and British Responses 1791–1803 — Grattan’s Parliament to Bantry Bay	Recall questions on Grattan’s Parliament, the Relief Act of 1793, the Catholic Committee, the French Revolution in Ireland, the Defenders, the Orange Order, the Fitzwilliam episode and the French expedition to Bantry Bay.	8
Depth study: Irish Rebellions and British Responses 1791–1803 — the 1798 rising, the Act of Union and Emmet	Recall questions on the dragooning of Ulster, the rising of 1798 and the French landing, its political or sectarian nature, the passing of the Act of Union, emancipation, Emmet’s rising and the legacy of the rebellions.	12
Depth study: O’Connell and British Governments 1823–1841 — strategies of the Roman Catholic Association	Recall questions on the strategies of the Roman Catholic Association and government response, O Connell s leadership to 1829.	10
Depth study: O’Connell and British Governments 1823–1841 — the Tithe War, the Whig alliance and assessments of O’Connell	Recall questions on the Tithe War, the appropriation clause, the Lichfield House compact, Thomas Drummond, reforms from the Whig alliance, the return to Repeal and historians’ assessments and criticisms of O’Connell.	10
Depth study: The Crisis over Home Rule 1908–1914 — Home Rule Bill of 1912	Recall questions on the Home Rule Bill of 1912 and subsequent negotiations over exclusion, the reasons for and tactics of the Ulster Unionists.	11
Depth study: The Crisis over Home Rule 1908–1914 — the outcome in 1914 and interpretations	Recall questions on the Buckingham Palace Conference, the suspension of Home Rule, Redmond at Woodenbridge, criticism of the Liberals, Dangerfield, reinterpretations of unionist resistance and Bonar Law, and the risk of civil war.	9

Y316: Britain and Ireland 1791-1921 is 149 of the 6,240 questions in the guide.Get the guide, £8

How the guide is worked

Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.

Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.

Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.