Chapter 8: Ireland

patrick pearse quote

'bloodshed is a cleansing and sanctifying thing... there are many things more horrible than bloodshed, and slavery is one of them'

redmond and carson reaction to ww1

led irish and ulster volunteers

urged members to support the war effort and join british army

irish volunteers renamed national volunteers (aug 1914)

eoin macneill's irish volunteers

broke away from national volunteers on the issue of irish participation in the war

numbered 10,000 by 1916 and took the name 'irish volunteers'

irish self-rule remained priority

the easter rising, 1916

key figures: clarke, pearse, connolly and mcdermott

easter monday: along with 1000 rebels they seized the dublin general post office and posted a proclamation announcing the establishment of the Irish republic

office bombarded and rebels hunted down within a week

german support of easter rising

sir roger casement travelled from us to germany to obtain support for ireland

the royal navy intercepted a german ship carrying arms to the rebels (20 april)

casement arrested and hanged for treason (aug 1916)

easter rising casualties

450 died, 2600 injured

easter rising support

appeared to totally fail

only 1600 men and women had joined the rebels and there was no support outside dublin

condemned by catholic church, redmond and more moderate nationalists

british reaction to easter rising

7 individuals who had signed the proclamation + 8 others were tried and shot for treason

3000+ people suspected of supporting uprising were arrested

1800 sent to england and imprisoned without trial

rebels became martyrs; anti-british sentiment

sinn fein

meaning 'ourselves alone'

founded in 1905; had little influence before the war and its anti-war stance remained a minority until 1916

sinn fein support

a myth developed that the uprising was organised by sinn fein and so the movement gained momentum at the expense of the irish nationalists

sinn fein took on the image it was given and had become a revolutionary party dedicated to home rule

'heads of agreement'

negotiated between LG, redmond + carson

granted immediate home rule of the 26 southern irish counties, with ulster remaining in uk (until after war)

gave the impression this was only temporary whilst suggesting to carson it would be permanent

why was HoA rejected?

rejected by unionists members of war coalition

went 'too far' in appeasing irish nationalists

july 1917 sinn fein

eamon de valera elected as sinn fein mp for east clare

later elected president of sinn fein and head of the irish volunteers - brought military and political wings of sinn fein under his leadership

1917 sinn fein clubs

1200 throughout ireland with 250,000 members

how did conscription affect issue in ireland?

when extended to ireland in 1918 it brought more hostility and more support for sinn fein

irish nationalist party post-ER

stronger stand against britain

marched out of westminister in protest of conscription and joined sinn fein in a campaign against conscription

alliance collapsed and support swung towards SF

1918 election results

irish nationalists: 6

unionists: 26

sinn fein: 73

sinn fein reaction to 1918 election

refused to take up seats and set up 'dail eireann' (the assembly of ireland) which proclaimed the whole of ireland a republic

appointed delegates to attend ToV conference and elected de valera as president

irish volunteers became the irish republican army (ira) under the command of michael collins

unionist reaction to dail eireann

pro-unionist riots in belfast by protestant ulstermen

roman catholics driven out of their homes by rioters and property was attacked and damaged

impact of ToV conference

wilson: 'self-determination' made a guiding principle in sorting our european borders, allowing nationalities to rule themselves

irish hoped that this policy would mean irish independence was forced onto the british

british gov reaction to sinn fein

declared sinn fein illegal (aug 1919)

declared dail illegal (sep 1919)

what did LG describe the ira as?

members of a tiny 'murder gang', unrepresentative of the people

'black and tans'

recruited by LG to deal with IRA terror tactics

their brutal attacks led to them being hated by the irish nationalists and caused a cycle of terror and counter-terror

deaths between jan 1919-jul 1921

nearly 1000

dublin's bloody sunday

21 nov 1920: morning, ira dragged 11 english civilians (who they thought were working for british intelligence) out of their homes and shot them

afternoon: b+t fired on the gaelic football players and a crowd in croke park; 12 killed and 60 wounded

dec 1920

city of cork burned down by blacks and tans

who condemned britain for their reaction to irish home rule?

the dominions, the league of nations and usa

clear that neither side would win as british gov did not want to launch war and ira faced shortages

personal pleas from king george v and AoC to find peace

when was a truce agreed by british and irish?

11 july 1921

dec 1920 government of ireland act

belfast parliament for the 6 ulster counties (2/3 protestant population), similar parliament for southern ireland; rejected by sinn fein

northern ireland parliament went ahead anyway (opened summer 21') so removed this issue when sinn fein + british gov negotiations went ahead in sep 1921

1921 anglo-irish treaty proposals to sinn fein

southern ireland to become a self-governing dominion (internal self-government but not full control over foreign policy of defence + monarch still head of state)

britain still able to use irish ports + harbours as naval bases

6 ulster counties would continue as part of uk

how did LG persuade sinn fein?

suggested ulster would be so small and unviable that it would soon join the republic of ireland

would be their last chance for settlement as LG would be forced to resign and bonar law would take over negotiations (who heavily objected home rule)

when was the anglo-irish treaty signed?

6th dec 1921

settlement formally completed in dec 1922, partition confirmed

what did LG call the treaty?

'the greatest day in the history of the british empire'

opposition to anglo-irish treaty

powerful sinn fein majority (inc de valera) rejected the deal and it led to a violent civil war between 'pro' vs 'anti' treaty

armed resistance finally ended early 1923