Catholic Unionist is a term historically used for a Catholic in Ireland who supported the Union which formed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and subsequently used to describe Catholics who support the Union between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. The term Catholic unionist has become controversial since the start of the 1970-1998 Troubles, due to the strong association of Ulster Unionism with Protestantism. The most recent surveys suggest that, although a plurality of Catholics in Northern Ireland are technically unionists in that they support Northern Ireland remaining part of the United Kingdom, very few would self-identify as unionist or support an explicitly unionist political party. This has led to the nickname unicorns for self-identified Catholic unionists, by analogy with a non-existent creature. They can be contrasted with Protestant nationalists, who supported separation from Great Britain. Historical background Roman Catholic support for the Kingdom of Ireland (1542-1800) had the full backing of the Holy See from 1555, with the papal bull issued by Pope Paul IV during the reign of Queen Mary. Only one monarch after her, had been Catholic, James II (1685-89), who called the Parliament of 1689. The kingdom had mainstream support from Jacobites, in hopes that eventually a Catholic monarchy would reign. In general, the Holy See had better relations with Europe's monarchies, particularly Spain, Austria, France and Portugal, and was seen as a conservative force. The Irish Catholic Hierarchy, and notably Archbishop Troy, supported the passage of the Acts of Union 1800, expecting that Catholic MPs would be elected, but this was delayed by three decades. Notable Catholic Unionists 1800-1922 Historically, after the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829, a great number of Irish Catholics such as Thomas O'Hagan served in senior positions in the British Empire of the 19th century, and many of the Irish nobility and landed gentry had remained Catholic or had converted to Catholicism in the 19th century. Among these were: Lord Killanin Charles Russell Windham Wyndham-Quin, 4th Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl Geoffrey Taylour, 4th Marquess of Headfort The Viscounts Gormanston George Forbes, 7th Earl of Granard William Monsell, 1st Baron Emly Valentine Browne, 4th Earl of Kenmare William Howard, 8th Earl of Wicklow Elizabeth Burke-Plunkett, Countess of Fingall John Vesey, 4th Viscount de Vesci Irish Catholic unionists were a political minority group without their own representation in the House of Commons. They tended to support the Irish Loyal and