Newly Elected MP O'Connell, Refuses to Take the Oath of Supremacy

Newly elected MP Daniel O’Connell presents himself at the Bar of the House of Commons, but is asked to withdraw after refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy.

This event took place on April 22, 1829, shortly after Catholic Emancipation was passed by Parliament — specifically the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829. O’Connell had been elected for County Clare in 1828, but as a Catholic, he was legally barred from taking his seat due to the required oaths.

Although the Emancipation Act allowed Catholics to sit in Parliament, it had not yet fully come into effect when O’Connell presented himself. He refused to take the Oath of Supremacy, which denied the spiritual authority of the Pope — a direct violation of his faith — and was therefore ordered to withdraw.

This confrontation dramatically illustrated the tension between existing laws and the reforms being introduced. Once the new oath provisions came into effect, O’Connell returned and became the first Catholic MP to sit in the House of Commons in modern history.