Patriotic Union and subsequent Irish Unionist Alliance. As the electorate expanded after the Representation of the People Act 1884, the influence of the grander Catholics inevitably declined. From Home Rule to Free State Irish Catholic unionists petitioned against the Government of Ireland Bill 1893 on the grounds that it would create a "revolutionary spirit disastrous to the true interests" of Catholicism. Whilst sympathetic to Ulster's resistance during the Home Rule Crisis they were not averse to devolution, and some would have preferred a home-ruled united Ireland within the United Kingdom. For many Catholic officials and lawyers, loyalty to the British system depended on the prevailing political climate. It might be essential for their careers and then dropped; an example being George Gavan Duffy. John O'Connor KC started his political life as a Fenian activist and later became an MP and King's Counsel. Other such as General Bulfin and Antony MacDonnell chose to remain loyal. From the success of Sinn Féin at the 1918 election, Irish Catholic Unionists were constantly physically attacked and threatened by republicans for their loyalism, as the Irish poet Edward Dowden would note: "The free expression of opinion by Catholics is checked by a system of intimidation and terrorism". The most notable murder was in June 1922, when a local magistrate James Woulfe-Flanagan was shot dead in front of his family while leaving Mass at Newry Cathedral. The Holy See itself was cautious in 1916-22 and would not recognise the revolutionary Irish Republic of 1919–22, despite an emotive plea from Seán T. O'Kelly. Once agreement had been reached on the establishment of the Irish Free State, Monsignor Luzio was sent to interview the 26 Irish bishops, describing them on his return as "26 Popes". The British diplomat to the Vatican at the time was John Francis Charles, 7th Count de Salis-Soglio, who owned large landed estates in Limerick and Armagh. From the 1920s a number have served as cultural and political bridges between Dublin and London, such as Frank Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford (1905-2001). On the partition of Ireland in 1921-22 several former Catholic Unionists were appointed to the first Irish Free State Senate. Northern Ireland (post-1921) Andrew Bonaparte-Wyse (1870-1940) Permanent Secretary, Northern Ireland Ministry of Education. G. B. Newe (1907–82), Minister of State, Department of the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, 1971–72, appointed by Brian Faulkner. Richard Doherty, author, military historian and RUC reservist from