Ireland's Independence

The Uncrowned King

Parnell

Elected to Parliament for Meath in April 1875, Parnell distinguished himself in the House of Commons. He embraced the policy of obstructing English legislation to draw attention to Ireland’s needs, and his handsome presence and commanding personality gave him a powerful appeal. By 1877 Charles Stewart Parnell was the most conspicuous figure in Irish politics. However, his career in politics was ended by a sex scandal in 1989. Captain William O'Shea, a fellow Irish politician, named Parnell in a divorce suit as Katherine O'Shea's lover. At this time the Home Rule Party split.

Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin in Irish means “We Ourselves” or “Ourselves Alone.” In 1902 Arthur Griffith leader of Cumann na nGaedheal (“Party of the Irish”) formally adopted the Sinn Féin policy.

Sinn Féin

This policy included passive resistance to the British, withholding of taxes, and the establishment of an Irish ruling council and independent local courts.

By 1905 the name Sinn Féin had been transferred from the policy to its adherents.

Easter Rising

The Easter Rising

Also called Easter Rebellion was an Irish republican insurrection against British government in Ireland, which began on Easter Monday, April 24, 1916, in Dublin. The insurrection was planned by members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood.

World War I & The Easter Rising

When World War I broke out the home rule issue was tabled by British Parliament. Though the British government threatened to institute a draft in Ireland, it was an empty threat.

World War I

Many of the Irish did join the war effort. Even Republicans were urged by John Redmond, leader of the Irish Nationalist Party, to join the war effort against Germany . In all, about 210,000 Irishmen served in the British army during World War I.

The Birth of the IRA

The IRA

the Irish Republican Army (IRA) was organized to resist British administration and to secure recognition for the government of the Irish republic. The IRA launched widespread ambushes and attacks on police barracks, while British forces retaliated with ruthless reprisals. A large proportion of the Irish police resigned and were replaced by British recruits, who became known as Black and Tans for their temporary uniforms of dark tunics and khaki trousers.

The Truce

The Players

A truce in July 1921 ended the Anglo-Irish War and initiated exchanges between Lloyd George and de Valera, which were protracted because neither side would admit the other’s legality. But negotiations in London, which began in October, culminated in the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed on Dec. 6, 1921, on behalf of the United Kingdom by Lloyd George and leading members of his cabinet and on behalf of Ireland by Arthur Griffith, Michael Collins, and other members of the republican cabinet.

Treaty of December 6, 1921

The Partition

Collins signed the treaty in the belief that it was the best that could be obtained for Ireland at the time and in the full awareness that he might be signing his own death warrant. It gave Ireland dominion status, but its provision for an oath of allegiance to the British crown was unacceptable to de Valera and other republican leaders. Collins’s persuasiveness helped win acceptance for the treaty by a small majority in the Dáil, and a provisional government was formed under his chairmanship, but effective administration was obstructed by the mutinous activities of the anti-treaty republicans.

The IRA Splits

Civil War

The terms of the 1921 treaty proved unacceptable to a substantial number of IRA members. The organization consequently split into two factions, one (under Collins’s leadership) supporting the treaty and the other (under Eamon de Valera) opposing it. The former group became the core of the official Irish Free State Army, and the latter group, known as “Irregulars,” began to organize armed resistance against the new independent government.

Dream of a United Ireland

Capitulation

The ensuing Irish civil war (1922–23) ended with the capitulation of the Irregulars; however, they neither surrendered their arms nor disbanded. While de Valera led a portion of the Irregulars into parliamentary politics with the creation of Fianna Fáil in the Irish Free State, some members remained in the background as a constant reminder to successive governments that the aspiration for a united republican Ireland—achieved by force if necessary—was still alive.

1939 Bombings

IRA Terror

Recruiting and illegal drilling by the IRA continued, as did intermittent acts of violence. The organization was declared illegal in 1931 and again in 1936. After a series of IRA bombings in England in 1939, Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, the Irish parliament) took stringent measures against the IRA, including provision for internment without trial.