The
revolutionary period
in
Irish history
was the period in the 1910s and early 1920s when
Irish nationalist
opinion shifted from the
Home Rule
-supporting
Irish Parliamentary Party
to the
republican
Sinn Fein
movement. There were several waves of
civil unrest
linked to
Ulster loyalism
,
trade unionism
, and
physical force republicanism
, leading to the
Irish War of Independence
, the
Partition of Ireland
, the creation of the
Irish Free State
, and the
Irish Civil War
.
Some modern historians define the revolutionary period as the period from the introduction of the
Third Home Rule Bill
to the end of the Civil War (1912/1913 to 1923),
[1]
[2]
or sometimes more narrowly as the period from the
Easter Rising
to the end of the War of Independence or the Civil War (1916 to 1921/1923).
[3]
[4]
The early years of the Free State, when it was governed by the pro-
Treaty
party
Cumann na nGaedheal
, have been described by at least one historian as a
counter-revolution
.
[5]
Overview
[
edit
]
Home Rule seemed certain in 1910 when the
Irish Parliamentary Party
(IPP) under
John Redmond
held the balance of power in the
British House of Commons
. The third Home Rule Bill was introduced in 1912.
Unionist
resistance was immediate, with the formation of the
Ulster Volunteers
(UVF). In turn, the
Irish Volunteers
were established in 1913 to oppose them and prevent the UVF introduction of self-government in
Ulster
.
[6]
The
Dublin lock-out
in the same year led to creation of the
Irish Citizen Army
.
In September 1914, two months after the
First World War
broke out, the UK Parliament passed the
Government of Ireland Act 1914
, known as the Home Rule Act, to establish self-government for Ireland, but the act was suspended for the duration of the war.
[6]
Irish nationalist leaders and the IPP under Redmond supported
Ireland's participation
in the British war effort, in the belief that it would ensure implementation of Home Rule after the war. A core of leaders within the Irish Volunteers' were against this decision, but the majority of the men left to form the
National Volunteers
, some of whom enlisted in
Irish regiments
of the
New British Army
, the
10th
and
16th (Irish) Divisions
, the counterparts of the unionist
36th (Ulster) Division
. Before the war ended, Britain made two concerted efforts to implement Home Rule, one in May 1916 and again with the
Irish Convention
during 1917?1918, but nationalists and unionists were unable to agree to terms for the temporary or permanent exclusion of Ulster from its provisions.
[
citation needed
]
The period 1916?1921 was marked by political violence and upheaval, ending in the
partition of Ireland
and independence for 26 of its 32 counties. A failed militant attempt by the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army was made to gain independence for Ireland with the 1916
Easter Rising
, an insurrection in Dublin. Although support for the insurgents was small, the execution of fifteen people by firing squad, the imprisonment or internment of hundreds more, and the imposition of martial law caused a profound shift in public opinion towards the
republican cause in Ireland
.
[7]
In addition, the unprecedented threat of Irishmen being conscripted to the
British Army
in 1918 (for service on the
Western Front
as a result of the
German spring offensive
) accelerated this change (see
Conscription Crisis of 1918
). In the
December 1918 elections
,
Sinn Fein
, the party of the rebels, won three-quarters of all seats in Ireland. Twenty-seven of these
MPs
assembled in Dublin on 21 January 1919 to form a 32-county
Irish Republic
parliament. The
First Dail
Eireann
unilaterally declared
sovereignty over the island of Ireland.
[8]
Unwilling to negotiate any understanding with Britain short of complete independence, the
Irish Republican Army
, the army of the newly declared Irish Republic, waged a guerilla war (the
Irish War of Independence
) from 1919 to 1921. In the course of the fighting and amid much acrimony, the Fourth
Government of Ireland Act 1920
implemented Home Rule while separating the island into what the
British government
's Act termed "
Northern Ireland
" and "
Southern Ireland
". In July 1921 the Irish and British governments agreed to a truce that halted the war. In December 1921 representatives of both governments signed the
Anglo-Irish Treaty
. The Irish delegation was led by
Arthur Griffith
and
Michael Collins
. This created the
Irish Free State
, a self-governing
Dominion
of the
Commonwealth of Nations
in the manner of Canada and Australia. Under the Treaty, Northern Ireland could opt out of the Free State and stay within the
United Kingdom
: it promptly did so. In 1922, both parliaments
ratified the Treaty
, formalising dominion status for the 26-county Irish Free State (which renamed itself
Ireland
and claimed sovereignty over the entire island in 1937, and
declared itself a republic
in 1949), while Northern Ireland, gaining Home Rule for itself, remained part of the United Kingdom.
Timeline
[
edit
]
Commemoration
[
edit
]
Separate unionist and nationalist
historical narratives
exist for the historic events in question; nationalist perspectives are further divided by the Civil War which ended the revolutionary period. The
Northern Ireland peace process
, with its promotion of dialogue and reconciliation, has modified this separation.
[19]
[20]
The
Bureau of Military History
established by the Irish government in 1947 collected
oral history
accounts from republican veterans of the period 1913 to 1921. Its records were sealed until the last veteran's death in 2003; they were published online in 2012.
[21]
In May 2010, the Institute for British Irish Studies in
University College Dublin
organised a conference on the theme
A Decade of Centenaries: Commemorating Our Shared History
.
[22]
Taoiseach
Brian Cowen
addressed the conference:
[23]
This coming decade of commemorations, if well prepared and carefully considered, should enable all of us on this island to complete the journey we have started towards lasting peace and reconciliation. Twelve years have passed since the [Good Friday] Agreement. In the next twelve years we will witness a series of commemorations which will give us pause to reflect on where we have come from, and where we are going. With the centenaries of the Ulster Covenant, the Battle of the Somme, the Easter Rising, the War of Independence, the Government of Ireland Act and the Treaty, the events which led to the political division of this island come up for re-examination. We will also reflect on the crucial roles played by the Labour movement in that defining decade.
He later said "We believe that mutual respect should be central to all commemorative events and that historical accuracy should be paramount."
[24]
The
Oireachtas
Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement
discussed commemoration on 13 October 2011, at which
Ian Adamson
said "The main problem that persists is one of two narratives. There is a Protestant, loyalist narrative and a republican narrative."
[25]
On 27 February 2012, the
Northern Ireland Assembly
passed a motion:
[26]
That this Assembly notes the number of centenaries of significant historic events affecting the UK and Ireland in the next 10 years; calls on
the Executive
to ensure that these are marked in an inclusive manner; and further calls on the
First Minister
and
deputy First Minister
, the
Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure
and the
Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment
to work together, with the British and Irish Governments, to develop a co-ordinated approach to the commemoration of these important events in our shared history.
An All-Party
Oireachtas
Consultation Group on Commemorations exists,
[27]
with an "Expert Advisory Group of eminent historians".
[28]
In April 2012, the National Commemorative Programme for the Decade of Centenaries, covering centenaries from 1912 to 1922, was announced in the
Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht
under minister
Jimmy Deenihan
.
[29]
In June, Deenihan stated that consideration will initially be focused up to 2016, centenary of the Easter Rising.
[30]
Hugo Swire
told the UK parliament in May 2012 that the
Northern Ireland Office
was consulting with the Northern Ireland Executive and the Irish government, saying "All these discussions underpin the need to promote tolerance and mutual understanding to ensure that these anniversaries are commemorated with tolerance, dignity and respect for all."
[31]
In a debate on the programme in the
Seanad
in June 2012,
Martin McAleese
said "It may be more accurate to regard not alone the decade from 1912 to 1922 but rather the 13-year period from 1911 to 1923, as representing the turbulent years that had such a dramatic impact on the course of our island's history. There are approximately 62 events in that period which constitute the package of centenary celebrations, from the arrival of
James Connolly
in Belfast in 1911 through to the ending of the Civil War in 1923."
[32]
A series of conferences,
Reflecting on a decade of War and Revolution in Ireland 1912?1923
was organised by Universities Ireland starting in June 2012.
[33]
Century Ireland
is a website launched in May 2013 to track events as their centenaries pass, using both period documents and modern commentary. It is produced by
Boston College
's 'Center for Irish Programs', and is funded by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and hosted by
RTE.ie
.
[34]
[35]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"History ? The Irish Revolution 1912 ? 1923 MA ? CKE49"
.
Course Description
. University College, Cork
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7 July
2014
.
;
Murphy, William.
"The Gaelic Athletic Association in Dublin during the Irish Revolution, 1913?1923"
.
DublinHeritage.ie
. Dublin City Public Libraries. Archived from
the original
on 12 April 2015
. Retrieved
7 July
2014
.
;
Farry, Michael (2012).
The Irish Revolution, 1912?23: Sligo
. Dublin: Four Courts Press.
ISBN
978-1-84682-302-2
. Archived from
the original
on 14 July 2014
. Retrieved
7 July
2014
.
;
Augusteijn, Joost (2002).
The Irish Revolution, 1913?1923
. Palgrave.
ISBN
9780333982259
. Retrieved
7 July
2014
.
;
Horne, John; Edward Madigan (2013).
Towards Commemoration: Ireland in War and Revolution 1912-1923
. Royal Irish Academy.
ISBN
9781908996176
. Retrieved
7 July
2014
.
- ^
"Atlas of the Irish Revolution is mammoth and magnificent"
.
The Irish Times
. 16 September 2017
. Retrieved
7 December
2018
.
- ^
Costello, Francis J. (2011).
The Irish Revolution and Its Aftermath, 1916?1923
. Irish Academic Press.
ISBN
9780716531371
. Retrieved
7 July
2014
.
;
O Broin, Leon (1989).
W.E. Wylie and the Irish Revolution 1916-1921
. Gill and Macmillan.
ISBN
9780717116379
. Retrieved
7 July
2014
.
;
Coleman, Marie (2013).
The Irish Revolution 1916-1923
. Routledge.
ISBN
9781317801474
. Retrieved
7 July
2014
.
- ^
"Ireland: Revolutionary Period, 1916?1924"
.
britishpathe.com
. British Pathe
. Retrieved
7 December
2018
.
- ^
Regan, John (1999).
The Irish Counter-Revolution, 1921?36: Treatyite Politics and Settlement in Independent Ireland
. Palgrave MacMillan.
ISBN
0312227272
.
- ^
a
b
"From brink of civil war"
.
The Irish Times
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2018
.
- ^
Marie Coleman (2013). "Chapter 2 "The Easter Rising"
".
The Republican Revolution, 1916?1923
. Routledge. pp. 26?28.
ISBN
978-1408279106
.
- ^
"Declaration of independence ? Reprinted from Minutes and Proceedings of the First Dail"
.
Documents on Irish Foreign Policy
. National Archives of Ireland. 21 January 1919
. Retrieved
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2018
.
- ^
"Parliament Act 1911: Introduction"
.
legislation.gov.uk
. UK National Archives
. Retrieved
7 December
2018
.
- ^
"The 1912 Ulster Covenant by Joseph E.A. Connell Jr"
.
historyireland.com
. History Ireland Magazine. 2012
. Retrieved
7 December
2018
.
- ^
"The Lockout of 1913"
.
The Irish Times
. 11 September 2013
. Retrieved
7 December
2018
.
- ^
"Government of Ireland Act 1914"
.
parliament.uk
. UK Parliament
. Retrieved
7 December
2018
.
- ^
"Ireland unfree shall never be at peace"
.
Century Ireland
. RTE. 2015
. Retrieved
7 December
2018
.
- ^
"Irish Convention comes to a close"
.
Century Ireland
. RTE. 2018
. Retrieved
7 December
2018
.
- ^
"Remembering 1918 in Ireland"
.
rte.ie
. RTE. 14 May 2018
. Retrieved
7 December
2018
.
- ^
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.
nationalarchives.ie
. National Archives. Archived from
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on 7 December 2018
. Retrieved
7 December
2018
.
- ^
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.
The Search for Peace
. BBC. 18 March 1999
. Retrieved
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2018
.
- ^
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.
historyireland.com
. History Ireland Magazine. 1997
. Retrieved
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2018
.
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Regan, John (November 2010).
"Irish public histories as an historiographical problem"
.
Irish Historical Studies
.
37
(146). Antrim W. & G. Baird Ltd: 88?115.
doi
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10.1017/S002112140000225X
.
S2CID
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.
- ^
Boland, Rosita (25 June 2012).
"Caution against 'glory' commemorations as centenary of crucial decade beckons"
.
The Irish Times
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2012
.
- ^
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. Dublin: Military Archives and National Archives. 2012. Archived from
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on 16 August 2012
. Retrieved
7 August
2012
.
- ^
"IBIS Annual Conference 2010"
. UCD: Institute for British Irish Studies. May 2010
. Retrieved
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2012
.
- ^
"
"A Decade of Commemorations Commemorating Our Shared History" Speech by An Taoiseach, Mr Brian Cowen TD Institute for British Irish Studies UCD, 20 May 2010 at 11.00am"
. Department of the Taoiseach. pp. Taoiseach's Speeches 2010
. Retrieved
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2012
.
- ^
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. Oireachtas. 23 June 2010. pp. Vol.713 No.2 p.6
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.
- ^
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.
Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement
. Oireachtas. 13 October 2011
. Retrieved
15 June
2012
.
- ^
"Private Members' Business: Decade of Centenaries"
.
Hansard
. Northern Ireland Assembly. 27 February 2012
. Retrieved
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.
- ^
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.
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.
- ^
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.
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.
- ^
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
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.
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.
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- ^
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.
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2013
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Coleman, Marie.
The Irish Revolution, 1916?1923
(2013)
- Cottrell, Peter.
The War for Ireland: 1913 ? 1923
(2009)
- Curran, Joseph Maroney.
The Birth of the Irish Free State, 1921?1923
(Univ of Alabama Press, 1980)
- Ferriter, Diarmaid.
A Nation and not a Rabble: The Irish Revolutions 1913?1923
(2015)
- Gillis, Liz (2014).
Women of the Irish Revolution
. Cork: Mercier Press.
ISBN
978-1-78117-205-6
.
- Hanley, Brian.
The IRA: A Documentary History 1916-2005
(Gill & Macmillan, 2010)
- Hart, Peter. "The geography of revolution in Ireland 1917-1923."
Past and Present
(1997): 142?176.
JSTOR
- Knirck, Jason K.
Imagining Ireland's independence: the debates over the Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921
(Rowman & Littlefield, 2006)
- Laffan, Michael.
The resurrection of Ireland: the Sinn Fein party, 1916?1923
(Cambridge University Press, 1999)
- Leeson, David M.
The Black and Tans: British Police and Auxiliaries in the Irish War of Independence, 1920?1921
(Oxford University Press, 2011)
- Townshend, Charles.
The Republic: The Fight for Irish Independence 1918?1923
(2014)
External links
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