Ireland

by Vincent McDonnell

  When it seemed as if Parnell might achieve his dream of Home Rule, disaster struck. A Captain William O’Shea filed for divorce from his wife, Catherine, who was also known as Kitty. In the petition, he claimed that Parnell and Kitty were in love, and this was why he was divorcing her. This time the accusation against Parnell was true, and it caused a great scandal. The majority of the members of the IPP and the Irish people turned against Parnell. The party split, thus weakening its influence in the English parliament. It was a terrible blow for Parnell, and he never recovered from it. He died a broken man on 6 October 1891 at the young age of forty-five.

  Two years later, in 1893, Gladstone became British Prime Minister once more with the support of the Irish MPs. A year later, in 1894, he introduced a Second Home Rule Bill. It passed through the British parliament, but was defeated in the House of Lords. With its defeat, hope of Home Rule ended for the time being.

  It seemed as if Ireland was entering another bleak period. But this was far from the truth. A new sense of what it meant to be Irish was gathering force. In 1884, a group of men, led by Michael Cusack, founded the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), to promote Irish games and pastimes. It was a hugely successful organisation, and within a few years thousands were playing hurling and Gaelic football, and tens of thousands were watching the games.

  Two other men, a Protestant, Douglas Hyde and a Catholic, Eoin MacNeill founded the Gaelic League in 1893. This organisation’s principal aim was to foster the Irish language, which had suffered greatly through emigration and the National School System, which, you remember, punished pupils for speaking Irish. The league also supported Irish music, dancing, poetry and other literary pursuits.

  A number of famous Irish writers also emerged at this time. Most, but not all of them, were Protestants, and descended from English and Scottish settlers. They were known as Anglo-Irish, and they wished to revive the ancient Irish stories and legends. They also put forward the idea that the Irish people should be proud of their Gaelic heritage. Ireland was an ancient nation with its own language, culture and traditions. Its people might not be free, but they could still be proud.

  These new groups, the Gaelic League and the GAA, did help to make the Irish people proud of their country and their heritage. Meanwhile, the IRB, founded at the time of the Fenians, had quite a different aim. This was to gain freedom for Ireland by force of arms. Its members were waiting only for an opportunity to rebel but right then no such opportunity presented itself. They could only watch and wait and plan.

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  Seeds of Freedom

  The possibility of Home Rule alarmed the Protestants in Ireland, especially those in Ulster, who regarded themselves as Unionists and wished to remain part of Britain. At the beginning of the 1900s these Unionists began to organise opposition to Home Rule. At first, this opposition was political, but later the threat of armed resistance to Home Rule emerged.

  The defeat of Gladstone’s second bill, however, appeared to have ended hope of Home Rule. Now, others emerged in Ireland who had more ambitious aims than Home Rule. One of those was Arthur Griffith, who was born in Dublin on 31 March 1872, and worked as a printer. He was a member of the Gaelic League and the IRB. In 1899 he helped found a newspaper, the United Irishman. Like many other patriots, he wanted Ireland to be an independent Gaelic nation, proud of its ancient heritage, language and traditions.

  Griffith was disillusioned with the IPP. He believed that all they could hope to achieve, if they achieved anything, was Home Rule. This, Griffith felt, would simply make Ireland a puppet of the British Empire. He decided that what Ireland needed was a new party to represent the people and which would not be a British puppet.

  In 1905 he founded a party which was to become one of the most important ever founded in Ireland. He named it Sinn Féin, which translates as ‘we ourselves’. Griffith claimed that the Act of Union was illegal, and therefore Irish MPs should not sit in Westminster in London, but in Dublin. Ireland, he said, should become an independent nation and cut its links with Britain. Irish people who were disillusioned with the IPP supported Sinn Féin, and the organisation slowly grew.

  Following the death of Parnell, the IPP had split. Later, the two factions reunited under the leadership of John Redmond. But as the Conservatives were now in power in Britain, and were supported by the Ulster Unionists, the IPP had little influence in the British parliament. It wasn’t until 1912, when the Liberals were again in power, and dependant on the IPP for support, that another Home Rule Bill was introduced. By now, the House of Lords no longer had the power to veto a bill and it was passed. However, the Ulster Unionists were still determined to resist Home Rule, or keep Ulster an independent state united with Britain.

  Under the leadership of a Dublin-born, Protestant lawyer, William Carson, they threatened to fight rather than accept Home Rule. Huge meetings were held across Ulster, and 200,000 people signed a petition pledging their opposition to Home Rule. The Orange Order also gained new prominence, and began to stir up sectarian hatred. In 1913, the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) was founded and had 100,000 members. Its aim was to resist Home Rule by any means, including armed resistance. This was no idle threat as guns and ammunition for the UVF were landed at Larne, County Antrim, in April 1914. Though this was illegal, the authorities did nothing to stop it. They didn’t see the UVF as a threat to the British Empire, but as an organisation that favoured keeping the Empire intact.

  In response to the UVF, Eoin MacNeill founded a volunteer force in Dublin in November 1913. Named the National Volunteers, its aim was to defend Home Rule when it was eventually introduced. About 150,000 joined, but they had very few arms. While they were attempting to land arms at Howth, County Dublin, in July 1914, the authorities tried to prevent them. The Volunteers succeeded in landing the arms, though the British soldiers killed three people and injured others in an attempt to prevent it. This showed the Volunteers, and indeed those who supported freedom for Ireland, that the British favoured Protestant Unionists over Catholic Nationalists.

  At this time, conditions for workers and their families in Dublin and other cities were appalling. While those who lived in rural Ireland had benefited from the various land bills, the ordinary people who lived in the cities had not benefited. Most of these lived in little more than hovels, or in buildings called tenements. These were tall, old structures without running water or sanitation, and virtually on the point of falling down. A whole family, husband, wife, children, and sometimes grandparents, lived in one room. As many as twelve or even more might share a room. They were always hungry and disease was rife. Such were the terrible conditions that a great many children died at birth, or shortly afterwards.

  A man named James Larkin decided to try and improve conditions for the poor. He was born in Liverpool in 1876 and later came to Ireland to organise workers into trade unions. In 1913, urged on by Larkin, workers in Dublin went on strike for more pay and better working conditions. The employers locked out the strikers, and the police, who supported the employers, regularly attacked them when they held their meetings or protests.

  To protect the workers from attack, James Connolly, a Scotsman, founded the Irish Citizen Army. Connolly was born in Edinburgh to Irish immigrant parents in 1868 and, like Larkin, wished to improve the lot of the workers. His Irish Citizen Army clashed frequently with the police, and with men hired as replacement workers by the employers. The striking workers held out for five months but, unable to survive without their meagre wages, were forced to give in and return to work.

  As yet, the Home Rule Bill had not been implemented. The British feared that if they did implement it, the UVF would oppose it by force. This would draw the British army into conflict with the UVF. Already, British soldiers stationed at the Curragh, County Kildare, had refused to take action against the Ulster Unionists. They claimed that it would be just the same as if they took action against people in London or Birmingham. This incident, which is known as the Curragh Mutiny, clearly sho
wed that the army could not be relied on to fight the UVF. Although the refusal of the soldiers was an act of treason, no action was taken against the mutineers. Again this showed that the British authorities favoured the Ulster Unionists despite the fact that they were the ones threatening war against the Empire.

  However, before the British government could decide what to do about Home Rule, an event in Europe plunged the whole world into a war, now known as the First World War. The event which brought about this war took place on 28 June 1914. On that day the Archduke Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, was assassinated in Sarajevo. The assassin, nineteen-year-old Gavrilo Princip, belonged to an organisation called The Black Hand. This organisation was opposed to the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, which had taken over Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia, and was ill-treating the people who lived there.

  As a result of the assassination, the Austrian-Hungarian Empire declared war on Serbia and the allies of both sides were drawn into the conflict. Britain supported Serbia while Germany supported the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. Old hatreds quickly surfaced in Europe and a terrible war broke out.

  The British government decided to put the question of Home Rule aside until after the war. John Redmond, the leader of the IPP, and a supporter of the National Volunteers, suggested that they should fight for Britain. Eoin MacNeill and others were opposed to this. They felt that Irishmen should not fight for Britain while Ireland was not free.

  This led to a split in the National Volunteers. Those who supported Redmond went off to fight for Britain, while the remainder stayed in Ireland. Many of those who went off to fight did so because they had no work. In the army, they would be paid, and their families in Ireland would also be paid what was known as ‘separation money’. This meant that the men’s wives and children would not go hungry.

  Many of the National Volunteers who stayed in Ireland were angry that Britain had not granted Home Rule. Others didn’t want Home Rule, but an Irish Republic, similar to that proposed by Wolfe Tone. They knew that Britain would not willingly agree to this. If they wanted to achieve it, there would have to be a rebellion.

  Among those in favour of rebellion were seven men whose names are now revered like that of Wolfe Tone and Robert Emmet. They are Patrick Pearse, Thomas Clarke, Thomas MacDonagh, Joseph Plunkett, Seán McDermott, Eamonn Ceannt and James Connolly. While Britain was fighting a war, these men believed that it was an ideal opportunity for rebellion. They also hoped to get help from Germany, Britain’s sworn enemy.

  In 1915 these men formed a military council, whose aim was to organise a rebellion. They did not inform their leader, Eoin MacNeill, of the council, or of its aims. They were also aware that, with their numbers reduced by those who had gone to fight for Britain, the chances of a rebellion succeeding were poor. But they were willing to make what they described as a ‘blood sacrifice’ for their country.

  They planned the rebellion for Easter 1916, aware that they were almost certainly going to their deaths. What they could not have imagined was that this rebellion, the Easter Rising, would, at last, sow the seeds of Irish freedom.

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  The Easter Rising

  You must think by now that the history of Ireland is all about rebellions. And you would be right to some extent, for there were a great many rebellions indeed. But none had such a major impact on the country as the 1916 Easter Rising.

  The date set for the rising was Easter Sunday, 23 April 1916. It was kept a closely guarded secret and even Eoin MacNeill, the leader of the Irish Volunteers, did not know of it. The fact that the date was kept secret caused great confusion.

  The plan was that the Volunteers, aided by the Irish Citizen Army, would take over strategic positions in Dublin city. These were the Four Courts, Jacob’s Biscuit Factory, Boland’s Mill, South Dublin Union Workhouse and Liberty Hall. The headquarters would be at the General Post Office (GPO) in Sackville Street, now O’Connell Street.

  The Volunteers, who numbered around 15,000, badly needed guns. Roger Casement, the man who had obtained the guns landed at Howth, was in Germany trying to get more. Casement, who was born in Sandycove, near Dublin, in 1864, was a former British diplomat. He had been knighted by Queen Victoria, but despite this was an Irish patriot.

  Germany, which was at war with Britain, gave Casement 20,000 rifles and ammunition. These were sent to Ireland in a ship, the Aud, while Casement returned in a German submarine. British spies had learned of the shipment and Casement’s involvement. Soldiers and police were lying in wait at Banna Strand, County Kerry, where both Casement and the shipment were to land.

  On Good Friday morning, Casement landed at Banna, and was immediately arrested. The Aud was intercepted by the Royal Navy as it approached the Irish coast. The German crew refused to surrender the vessel and scuttled it. It sank with its cargo of rifles, depriving the Volunteers of badly needed arms. This was a major setback but not the only one.

  The need for secrecy created a second problem. Instead of informing the Volunteers that there was to be a Rising, the leaders merely ordered them to meet for manoeuvres on Easter Sunday. This was something that happened regularly so the Volunteers didn’t know that they would be taking part in a Rising. A third problem occurred when Eoin MacNeill learned of the Rising. He immediately issued an order forbidding it to take place. This caused great confusion among the volunteers, which wasn’t helped by the fact that communications were poor at the time. There were few telephones in Ireland back then and, of course, there was no Internet or mobile phones. So it was impossible to ensure that every volunteer got MacNeill’s order and this only added to the confusion.

  The British authorities had also learned of the Rising and planned to arrest the leaders. But when Casement was captured and the Aud scuttled, they assumed that the Rising would not go ahead. When MacNeill issued his order forbidding it, the British authorities were further reassured, and did not go ahead with the arrests. The rebels, however, were determined to proceed with the Rising. They issued new orders that the manoeuvres planned for Easter Sunday would now take place on Easter Monday.

  On that morning, the Volunteers and their leaders gathered at Liberty Hall, which was the headquarters of James Connolly’s trade union movement. From here, led by Connolly, Patrick Pearse, Joseph Plunkett and Thomas Clarke, around 1,000 men marched to the GPO. Other groups of volunteers went off to their designated positions. The Irish Citizen’s Army marched to Stephen’s Green.

  When the Volunteers reached the GPO they took over the building. A curious crowd gathered outside and the leaders stood on the steps of the GPO while Pearse read out a document, known as the Proclamation. It declared that Ireland was now a Republic and that they pledged their lives to fight to defend it. At this, the crowd began to jeer and laugh, thinking it all highly amusing. They were unaware that the leaders on the steps were about to lay down their lives for what they believed in.

  The Volunteers inside the GPO were preparing to fight. They broke out the glass in the windows and set up firing positions. In the event that they might have to retreat from the building, they broke through the walls at the rear so that they could withdraw into the houses in Moore Street. Provisions of food and water were brought into the building from the nearby Metropole Hotel. On the roof of the GPO, the Tricolour, the flag of the new republic, and a green flag with a harp emblem were raised. Both fluttered in the breeze, a visual declaration that an Irish Republic now existed, at least in the minds of the volunteers. In 1922, the Tricolour of green, white and orange was officially adopted as the Irish flag.

  Rather than instilling the crowd with patriotic fervour, the flags flying above the GPO made them laugh all the more. They continued to heckle and taunt the Volunteers. As news of the Rising spread among the citizens of Dublin, their mood turned to anger. Many of these were the poorest of the poor, who lived in tenements in appalling conditions, and had never had a regular income. But all that had changed in 1914 with the outbreak of war. Husbands
, fathers and sons from these poor families had joined the British army, and now their families were receiving the ‘separation money’ from the British government.

  These poor people, mostly women, feared that the Rising would endanger the payment of this money. One can’t blame them, for if they did not get that money, they and their children would go hungry. Many would certainly starve. Rather than support the Volunteers, these people bitterly opposed them. They saw them, not as patriots, but as blackguards. Many hurried to the GPO to taunt the Volunteers, while others continued to mock and laugh, still enjoying the joke.

  But the situation turned deadly serious when a troop of mounted lancers charged down Sackville Street. The Volunteers in the GPO opened fire. Horses and men fell in the street under a hail of bullets. The crowd withdrew in panic, aware that this was no longer something to be taken lightly.

  Meanwhile, throughout Dublin, other Volunteers seized strategic buildings. Even Dublin Castle, the headquarters of British rule in Ireland, was attacked. But the Volunteers did not press home the attack, thinking that it would be impossible to take the building. In fact, the castle was poorly defended, and could have been taken, which would have been a great boost for the Volunteers.

  The British authorities, certain that the Rising had been called off, were taken by surprise. Because it was a bank holiday, many army officers and officials had gone to the races at Fairyhouse. There were insufficient soldiers in Dublin to deal with the rebels, so reinforcements and artillery were sent for. The British planned to encircle the Volunteers and close in on them once the reinforcements and the artillery arrived. This meant that during the first few days there was little fighting in the city. Instead, there was widespread looting as law and order broke down.

  On that first Monday night, looters started fires in the houses near the GPO. Crackling flames lit up the night sky. Windows shattered in the extreme heat. Roofs fell in with resounding crashes, sending flames higher still. Mobs rampaged through the streets carrying away looted goods from shops and houses. For those in the GPO, the situation seemed unreal. They had seized the building, declared an Irish Republic and were ready to fight to defend it. But it seemed as if the British army did not wish to fight them, even though they were few in number and poorly armed.