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Irish Home Rule movement

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Cartoon: British Liberal Party politicians are forced to endure the stink ofSir Henry Campbell-Bannerman's "cigar" of Irish Home Rule. Former Prime MinisterLord Rosebery(left) and future Prime MinisterH. H. Asquith(right) both regarded Home Rule as an electoral liability for the Liberals.

TheHome Rule movementwas a movement that campaigned forself-government(or "home rule" ) for Ireland within theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.It was the dominant political movement ofIrish nationalismfrom 1870 to the end ofWorld War I.

Isaac Buttfounded theHome Government Associationin 1870. This was succeeded in 1873 by theHome Rule League,and in 1882 by theIrish Parliamentary Party.These organisations campaigned for home rule in theBritish House of Commons.Under the leadership ofCharles Stewart Parnell,the movement came close to success when theLiberalgovernment ofWilliam Ewart Gladstoneintroduced theFirst Home Rule Billin 1886, but the bill was defeated in the House of Commons after a split in the Liberal Party. After Parnell's death, Gladstone introduced theSecond Home Rule Billin 1893; it passed the Commons but was defeated in theHouse of Lords.After theremoval of the Lords' veto in 1911,theThird Home Rule Billwas introduced in 1912, leading to theHome Rule Crisis.Shortly after the outbreak of World War I it was enacted, but implementationwas suspendeduntil the conclusion of the war.

Following theEaster Risingof 1916, particularly thearrests and executions that followed it,public support shifted from the Home Rule movement to the more radicalSinn Féinparty. In the1918 General Electionthe Irish Parliamentary Party suffered a crushing defeat with only a handful of MPs surviving, effectively dealing a death blow to the Home Rule movement. The elected Sinn Féin MPs were not content merely with home rule within the framework of the United Kingdom; they instead set up a revolutionary legislature,Dáil Éireann,and declared Ireland an independent republic. Britain passed a Fourth Home Rule Bill, theGovernment of Ireland Act 1920,aimed at creating separate parliaments forNorthern IrelandandSouthern Ireland.The former was established in 1921, and the territory continues to this day as part of the United Kingdom, but the latter never functioned. Following theAnglo-Irish Treatythat ended theAnglo-Irish War,twenty-six of Ireland's thirty-twocountiesbecame, in December 1922, theIrish Free State,adominionwithin theBritish Empirewhich later evolved into the presentRepublic of Ireland.

Historical background[edit]

Under theAct of Union 1800,the separate Kingdoms ofIrelandandGreat Britainwere merged on 1 January 1801 to form theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.[1]Throughout the 19th century, Irish opposition to the Union was strong, occasionally erupting in violent insurrection. In the 1830s and 1840s, attempts had been made under the leadership ofDaniel O'Connelland hisRepeal Associationto repeal the Act of Union and restore theKingdom of Ireland,without breaking the monarchical connection withGreat Britain(i.e.,personal union). The movement collapsed when O'Connell called off a meeting atClontarf, Dublin,which had been banned by the authorities.[2]

Until the 1870s, most Irish voters elected members of the main British political parties, theLiberalsand theConservatives,as theirMembers of Parliament(MPs). The Conservatives, for example, won a majority in the1859 general election in Ireland.Conservatives and (after 1886)Liberal Unionistsfiercely resisted any dilution of the Act of Union, and in 1891 formed theIrish Unionist Allianceto oppose home rule.

Different concepts[edit]

Anti-Home Rule cartoon, 1891: it claims that Home Rule will bring economic benefits tomiddle class"patriots", but ruin to thepeasantry.

The term "Home Rule" (Irish:Rialtas Dúchais[3]), first used in the 1860s, meant an Irish legislature with responsibility for domestic affairs. It was variously interpreted, from the 1870s was seen to be part of a federal system for the United Kingdom: a domestic Parliament for Ireland while the Imperial Parliament atWestminsterwould continue to have responsibility for Imperial affairs. The Republican concept as represented by theFeniansand theIrish Republican Brotherhood,strove to achieve total separation from Great Britain, if necessary by physical force, and complete autonomy for Ireland. For a while they were prepared to co-operate withHome Rulersunder the"New Departure".In 1875John O'Connor Powertold a New York audience that "[Ireland] has elected a body of representatives whose mission is simply – I almost said solely – but certainly whose mission is particularly to offer unrelenting hostility to every British Ministry while one link of the imperial chain remains to fetter the constitutional freedom of the Irish nation."[4]Charles Stewart Parnellsought through the "constitutional movement", as an interim measure a parliament inDublinwith limited legislative powers. ForUnionists,Home Rule meant a Dublin parliament dominated by theCatholic Churchto the detriment of Ireland's economic progress, a threat to their cultural identity as both British and Irish and possible discrimination against them as a religious minority.[5][6][7]In England theLiberal PartyunderWilliam Ewart Gladstonewas fully committed to introducing Home Rule whereas theConservativestried to alleviate any need for it through "constructive unionism". This was chiefly embodied by the passing acts of parliament and enacting ministerial decisions viewed as addressing Ireland's problems and political demands during Conservative periods of government such asBalfour's decision asChief Secretary for Irelandto create theCongested Districts Board,his earlier push for the1885 Purchase of Land Actand the1887 Land Law (Ireland) Actwhich expanded the Liberal's1881 loan programmefor small farmers to purchase lands (the programme overall was in response to thePlan of Campaignby Irish MPs), or the later Conservative government's implementation of theLocal Government (Ireland) Act of 1898.

Charles Stewart Parnelladdressing a meeting

Struggle for home rule[edit]

Former Conservative barristerIsaac Buttwas instrumental in fostering links between Constitutional and Revolutionary nationalism through his representation of members of theFenianSociety in court. In May 1870, he established a new moderate nationalist movement, theIrish Home Government Association.In November 1873, under the chairmanship ofWilliam Shaw,it reconstituted itself as theHome Rule League.The League's goal was limited self-government for Ireland as part of the United Kingdom. In the1874 general election,League-affiliated candidates won 53 seats in Parliament.

Butt died in 1879. In 1880, a radical young Protestant landowner,Charles Stewart Parnellbecame chairman, and in the1880 general election,the League won 63 seats. In 1882, Parnell turned the Home Rule League into theIrish Parliamentary Party(IPP), a formally organized party which became a major political force. The IPP came to dominate Irish politics, to the exclusion of the previous Liberal, Conservative, and Unionist parties that had existed there. In the1885 general election,the IPP won 85 out of the 103 Irish seats; another Home Rule MP was elected forLiverpool Scotland.

Adversary Lords[edit]

Gladstoneat a debate on the Irish Home Rule Bill, 8 April 1886

Two attempts were made byLiberalsunder British Prime MinisterWilliam Ewart Gladstoneto enact home rule bills. Gladstone, impressed by Parnell, had become personally committed to granting Irish home rule in 1885. With his famous three-hourIrish Home Rule speechGladstone beseeched parliament to pass theIrish Government Bill 1886,and grant home rule to Ireland in honour rather than being compelled to do so one day in humiliation. His bill was defeated in the Commons by 30 votes.

The Bill resulted inserious riots in Belfastduring the summer and autumn of 1886 in which many were killed, and caused theLiberal UnionistAssociation to split from the main Liberal party. They allied with theLord Salisbury's Conservatives until 1914 on the issue of Home Rule.

The defeat of the bill caused Gladstone to temporarily lose power. Having returned to power after the1892 general electionGladstone, undaunted, made a second attempt to introduce Irish Home Rule following Parnell's death with theIrish Government Bill 1893which he controversially drafted in secret and thereby flawed. Eventually it was steered throughthe CommonsbyWilliam O'Brien,with a majority of 30 votes, only to be defeated in theConservative's pro-unionistmajority controlledHouse of Lords.

On this defeat the new Liberal leaderLord Roseberyadopted the policy of promising Salisbury that the majority vote of English MPs would have a veto on any future Irish Home Rule Bills. The Nationalist movement divided in the 1890s. The Liberals lost the 1895 General Election and their Conservative opponents remained in power until 1905.

Home Rule bills[edit]

Queensland Figaro and Punchcover, 16 March 1889, depictingIrish Australiansoffering enthusiastic support toParnell's struggle for Home Rule.
The Home Rule Club,Kilkenny,founded in 1894

The four Irish Home Rulebillsintroduced in theHouse of Commons of the United Kingdomduring the late 19th and early 20th centuries, were intended to grant self-government and national autonomy to the whole of Ireland within theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Irelandand reverse parts of theActs of Union 1800.Of the two that passed theParliament of the United Kingdomthe Third Bill, enacted as theGovernment of Ireland Act 1914and then suspended, while the Fourth Bill, enacted as theGovernment of Ireland Act 1920established two separate Home Rule territories in Ireland, of which the one was implemented by theParliament of Northern Ireland,but the secondParliament of Southern Irelandwas not implemented in the rest of Ireland. The bills were:

In 1920 the unionist peerLord Monteagle of Brandonproposed his own Dominion of Ireland Bill in the House of Lords, at the same time as the Government bill was passing through the house.[8]This bill would have given a united Ireland extensive home rule over all domestic matters as a dominion within the empire, with foreign affairs and defence remaining the responsibility of the Westminster government. Lord Monteagle's bill was defeated at second reading.[8]

Home Rule in sight[edit]

1900s cartoon claiming thatJohn Redmondwas controlling Prime MinisterHenry Campbell-Bannerman

Following the 1895 general election, the Conservatives were in power for ten years. The significantLocal Government (Ireland) Act 1898(following the English Act of 1888) introduced for the first time the enfranchisement of local electors, bringing about a system of localised home rule in many areas. In the1906 general electionthe Liberals were returned with an overall majority, but Irish Home Rule was not on their agenda until after the second1910 general electionwhen the nationalistIrish Parliamentary Partyunder its leaderJohn Redmondheld the balance of power in the House of Commons. Prime MinisterH. H. Asquithcame to an understanding with Redmond, that if he supported his move to break the power of the Lords, Asquith would then in return introduce a new Home Rule Bill. TheParliament Act 1911forced the Lords to agree to a curtailment of their powers. Now their unlimited veto was replaced with a delaying one lasting only two years.

A sticker produced by Ulster loyalists to protest against Irish Home Rule[a]

TheThird Home Rule Billintroduced in 1912 was as in 1886 and 1893 ferociously opposed byUlster unionists,for whom Home Rule was synonymous withRome Ruleas well as being indicative of economic decline and a threat to their cultural and industrial identity.[10]Edward CarsonandJames Craig,leaders of the unionists, were instrumental in organising theUlster Covenantagainst the "coercion of Ulster", at which time Carson reviewed Orange and Unionist volunteers in various parts of Ulster. These were united into a single body known as theUlster Volunteersat the start of 1912.[11]This was followed in the south by the formation of theIrish Volunteersto restrain Ulster. Both Nationalists and Republicans, except for theAll-for-Ireland Party,brushed unionist concerns aside with "no concessions for Ulster", treating their threat as a bluff. The Act receivedRoyal Assentand was placed on the statute books on 18 September 1914, but under theSuspensory Actwas deferred for no longer than the duration ofWorld War Iwhich had broken out in August. The widely held assumption at the time was that the war would be short lived.

Changed realities[edit]

Main article:Home Rule Crisis

With the participation ofIreland in the First World War,the southern Irish Volunteers split into the largerNational Volunteersand followed Redmond's call to support theAllied war effortto ensure the future implementation of Home Rule by voluntarily enlisting inIrish regimentsof the10th (Irish) Divisionor the16th (Irish) Divisionof Kitchener'sNew Service Army.The men of the Ulster Volunteers joined the36th (Ulster) Division.Between 1914 and 1918 Irish regiments suffered severe losses.

A core element of the remaining Irish Volunteers who opposed the nationalist constitutional movement towards independence and the Irish support for the war effort, staged theEaster Risingof 1916 in Dublin. Initially widely condemned in both Britain and Ireland, theBritish government's mishandling of the aftermath of the Rising, including the rushed executions of its leaders byGeneral Maxwell,led to a rise in popularity for anIrish republicanmovement namedSinn Féin,a small separatist party taken over by the survivors of the Easter Rising. Britain made two futile attempts to implement Home Rule, both of which failed because of Ulster unionists' protesting against its proposed implementation for the whole island of Ireland; first after the Rising and then at the end of theIrish Conventionof 1917–1918. With the collapse of the allied front during theGerman spring offensiveandOperation Michael,the British Army had a serious manpower shortage, and the Cabinet agreed on 5 April to enact Home Rule immediately, linked in with a "dual policy" of extendingconscription to Ireland.This signalled the end of a political era,[12]which resulted in a swing of public opinion towards Sinn Féin andphysical force separatism.Interest in Home Rule began to fade as a result.

Home Rule enacted[edit]

After the end of the war in November 1918 Sinn Féin secured a majority of 73 Irish seats in thegeneral election,with 25 of these seats taken uncontested. The IPP was decimated, falling to only six seats; it disbanded soon afterward.

In January 1919 twenty-seven Sinn Féin MPs assembled in Dublin and proclaimed themselves unilaterally as anindependent parliamentof anIrish Republic.This was ignored by Britain. TheIrish War of Independence(1919–1921) ensued.

Britain went ahead with its commitment to implement Home Rule by passing a new Fourth Home Rule Bill, theGovernment of Ireland Act 1920,largely shaped by theWalter LongCommittee which followed findings contained in the report of the Irish Convention. Long, a firm unionist, felt free to shape Home Rule in Unionism's favour, and formaliseddividing Ireland(andUlster) intoNorthern IrelandandSouthern Ireland.The latter never functioned, but was replaced under theAnglo-Irish Treatyby theIrish Free Statewhich later became theRepublic of Ireland.[13]

The Home RuleParliament of Northern Irelandcame into being in June 1921. At its inauguration, inBelfast City Hall,King George Vmade a famous appeal drafted by Prime MinisterLloyd Georgefor Anglo-Irish and north–south reconciliation. The Anglo-Irish Treaty had provided for Northern Ireland's Parliament to opt out of the new Free State, which was a foregone conclusion. TheIrish Civil War(1922–1923) followed.

The Parliament of Northern Ireland continued in operation until 30 March 1972, when it was suspended in favour of direct rule by theNorthern Ireland OfficeduringThe Troubles.It was subsequently abolished under theNorthern Ireland Constitution Act 1973.Various versions of theNorthern Ireland Assemblyre-established home rule in 1973–74, 1982–86, intermittently from 1998 to 2002, and from 2007 onward. The Assembly attempts to balance the interests of the unionist and republican factions through a "power sharing"agreement.

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^Sticker found glued on the inside of the cover ofA History of the Siege of Londonderry...as digitised by Internet Archive[9]

References[edit]

  1. ^"Act of Union | United Kingdom [1801]".Encyclopedia Britannica.Archivedfrom the original on 21 July 2017.Retrieved17 July2017.
  2. ^Dorney, John (8 October 2011)."Today in Irish History, The Repeal Meeting at Clontarf is Banned, 8 October 1843".The Irish Story.Archivedfrom the original on 11 May 2018.Retrieved31 March2018.
  3. ^"Asgard: From Gun-Running to Recent Conservation | Decorative Arts & History".Archivedfrom the original on 26 December 2017.Retrieved26 December2017.
  4. ^"The Condition of Ireland, Social, Political and Industrial", John O'Connor Power, lecture, as reported inThe Irish Canadian,20 October 1875.
  5. ^The Ulster Crisis: Resistance to Home Rule,A. T. Q. Stewart
  6. ^The Green Flag,volume 2, Robert Kee, Penguin Books, London
  7. ^Carson; a biographyby Geoffrey Lewis
  8. ^abHansard(House of Lords, 1 July 1920, vol 40 cc 1113–1162)"Dominion of Ireland Bill. [H.L.]".Parliamentary Debates (Hansard).1 July 1920.Archivedfrom the original on 2 July 2009.Retrieved6 February2011.
  9. ^Graham, Rev. John (1829).A History of the Siege of Londonderry and Defence of Enniskillen in 1688–9(2nd ed.). Dublin: William Curry.
  10. ^Bardon, Jonathan(1992).A History of Ulster.Blackstaff Press. pp. 402, 405.ISBN0856404985.
  11. ^Stewart, A.T.Q.,The Ulster Crisis, Resistance to Home Rule, 1912–14,p. 70, Faber and Faber (1967)ISBN0-571-08066-9
  12. ^Jackson, Alvin: Ch. 9, pp. 212–213
  13. ^"The Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 | History Today".historytoday.Archivedfrom the original on 12 May 2018.Retrieved17 July2017.

Further reading[edit]

  • Government of Ireland Act 1914, available from the House of Lords Record Office
  • Thomas Brassey, 2nd Earl Brassey(1904). "The Irish Question: Extract from Address at Pokesdown, Bournemouth, November 8th, 1898.".Problems of Empire:49–51.WikidataQ107151188.{{cite journal}}:CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  • Hennessey, Thomas:Dividing Ireland,World War 1 and Partition, (1998),ISBN0-415-17420-1
  • Irish Government Bill 1893, available from theHouse of Lords Record Office
  • Jackson, Alvin:Home Rule, an Irish History 1800–2000,Phoenix Press (2003),ISBN0-7538-1767-5
  • Kee, Robert:The Green Flag: A History of Irish Nationalism,(2000 edition, first published 1972),ISBN0-14-029165-2
  • Lewis, Geoffrey:Carson, the Man who divided Ireland(2005),ISBN1-85285-454-5
  • Loughlin, JamesGladstone, Home Rule and the Ulster Question, 1882–1893,Dublin: (1986)
  • MacDonagh, Michael:The Home Rule Movement,Talbot Press, Dublin (1920)
  • Arthur Patchett Martin(1889). "Australia and Irish Home Rule".Australia and the Empire:115–134.WikidataQ107340700.
  • O'Connor Power, John,The Anglo-Irish Quarrel: A Plea for Peace,a reprint of recent articles in theManchester Guardian,revised by the author (London, 1886)
  • O'Donnell, F. Hugh, 'A History of the Irish Parliamentary Party', 2 vols (London, 1910)
  • Rodner, W. S.: "Leaguers, Covenanters, Moderates: British Support for Ulster, 1913–14" pages 68–85 fromÉire-Ireland,Volume 17, Issue #3, 1982.
  • Smith, Jeremy: "Bluff, Bluster and Brinkmanship: Andrew Bonar Law and the Third Home Rule Bill" pages 161–174 fromHistorical Journal,Volume 36, Issue #1, (1993)
  • Stanford, Jane, "That Irishman: The Life and Times of John O'Connor Power", History Press Ireland, 2011,ISBN978-1-84588-698-1
  • Turner, Edward Raymond (1917). "Opposition to Home Rule". American Political Science Review. 11 (3): 448–460.

External links[edit]

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