Background of British rule in Ireland Following the
Norman invasion of Ireland in the 12th century, Ireland, or parts of it, experienced alternating degrees of rule from England. While some of the native
Gaelic population attempted to resist this occupation, a single, unified political goal did not exist amongst the independent lordships that existed throughout the island. The
Tudor conquest of Ireland took place in the 16th century. This included the
Plantations of Ireland, in which the lands held by Gaelic
Irish clans and
Hiberno-Norman dynasties were confiscated and given to Protestant settlers ("Planters") from England and
Scotland. The
Plantation of Ulster began in 1609, and the
province was heavily
colonised with English and Scottish settlers. Campaigns against English presence on the island had occurred prior to the emergence of the Irish republican ideology. In the 1590s and early 1600s, resistance was led by
Hugh O'Neill (see the
Nine Years' War). The Irish chieftains were ultimately defeated, leading to their exile (the '
Flight of the Earls') and the aforementioned Plantation of Ulster in 1609. A decade later, the
Irish Rebellion of 1641 began. This consisted of a coalition between the Irish Gaels and the
Old English (descendants of the Anglo-Norman settlers who settled during the Norman Invasion) rebelling against the English rulers. While some ideas from the 1627 proposals were carried on, the attempt to rally both Gaels and Old English to the banner, mean't trying to find common ground and one of these concessions was support for the
Stuart monarchy under
Charles I of England whom the Old English were strongly attached to. The motto of the Confederation would thus become ('Irishmen United for God, King and Country'), with any idea of a republic ditched. (which had been suppressed by the
Puritan Parliament of England) it evolved into the
Irish Confederate Wars. In the summer of 1642, the Catholic upper classes formed the
Catholic Confederation, which essentially became the government of Ireland for a brief period until 1649, when the forces of the English Parliament carried out the
Cromwellian conquest of Ireland and the old Catholic landowners were permanently dispossessed of their lands. The most explicit Irish separatist viewpoint from the period, found in , written in Lisbon in 1645 by Fr.
Conor O'Mahony, a Jesuit priest from Munster, argued instead for a Gaelic monarchy to be set up in an explicitly Catholic Ireland, with no mention of a republic. Degradation in the legal achievement of these outcomes, coupled with the burgeoning perception of England as a foreign conqueror, inspired revolutionary sentiment and eventual action. particularly
Presbyterians from the province of
Ulster. The founding members of the United Irishmen were mainly Southern Irish Protestant aristocrats. The key founders included
Wolfe Tone,
Thomas Russell,
Henry Joy McCracken,
James Napper Tandy, and
Samuel Neilson. By 1797, the Society of United Irishmen had around 100,000 members. Crossing the religious divide in Ireland, it had a mixed membership of Catholics, Presbyterians, and even
Anglicans from the
Protestant Ascendancy. It also attracted support and membership from Catholic
agrarian resistance groups, such as the
Defenders organisation, who were eventually incorporated into the Society. The Society sought to unite the denominations of the island under the simple distinction of Irish. marked the end of
the rising The
Irish Rebellion of 1798 began on 23 May, with the first clashes taking place in
County Kildare on 24 May, before spreading throughout
Leinster, as well as
County Antrim and other areas of the country. French soldiers landed in
Killala on 22 August and participated in the fighting on the rebels' side. Even though they had considerable success against British forces in
County Wexford, rebel forces were eventually defeated. Key figures in the organisation were arrested and executed.
Acts of Union Though the Rebellion of 1798 was eventually put down, small republican
guerrilla campaigns against the British Army continued for a short time afterward in the
Wicklow Mountains under the leadership of
Michael Dwyer and
Joseph Holt, involving attacks on small parties of
yeomen. These activities were perceived by some to be merely "the dying echoes of an old convulsion", but others feared further large-scale uprisings, due to the United Irishmen continuing to attract large numbers of Catholics in rural areas of the country and arms raids being carried out on a nightly basis. This perceived threat of further rebellion resulted in the Parliamentary Union between the Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. After some uncertainty, the
Irish Parliament voted to abolish itself in the Acts of Union 1800, forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, by a vote of 158 to 115. A number of tactics were used to achieve this end.
Lord Castlereagh and
Charles Cornwallis were known to use bribery extensively. In all, a total of sixteen Irish borough-owners were granted British
peerages. A further twenty-eight new
Irish peerages were created, while twenty existing Irish peerages increased in rank. Furthermore, the government of Great Britain sought to replace Irish politicians in the Irish parliament with pro-Union politicians, and rewards were granted to those that vacated their seats, with the result being that in the eighteen months prior to the decision in 1800, one-fifth of the
Irish House of Commons changed its representation due to these activities and other factors such as death. Like those who had led the 1798 rebellion, Emmet was a member of the United Irishmen, as was his brother
Thomas Addis Emmet, who had been imprisoned for membership in the organisation. 's trial Emmet and his followers had planned to seize
Dublin Castle by force, manufacturing weaponry and explosives at a number of locations in Dublin. Unlike those of 1798, preparations for the uprising were successfully concealed from the government and law enforcement, and though a premature explosion at an arms depot attracted the attention of police, they were unaware of the United Irishmen activities at the time and did not have any information regarding the planned rebellion. Emmet had hoped to avoid the complications of the previous rebellion and chose not to organise the county outside of Dublin to a large extent. It was expected that the areas surrounding Dublin were sufficiently prepared for an uprising should one be announced, and Thomas Russell had been sent to northern areas of the country to prepare republicans there. A proclamation of independence, addressed from 'The Provisional Government' to 'The People of Ireland' was produced by Emmet, echoing the republican sentiments expressed during the previous rebellion: However, failed communications and arrangements produced a considerably smaller force than had been anticipated. Nonetheless, the rebellion began in Dublin on the evening of 23 July. Emmet's forces were unable to take Dublin Castle, and the rising broke down into rioting, which ensued sporadically throughout the night. Emmet escaped and hid for some time in the Wicklow Mountains and
Harold's Cross, but was captured on 25 August and hanged on 20 September 1803, at which point the Society of United Irishmen was effectively finished.
Young Ireland and the Irish Confederation The
Young Ireland movement began in the late 1830s. The term 'Young Ireland' was originally a derogatory one, coined by the press in Britain to describe members of the
Repeal Association (a group campaigning for the repeal of
the Acts of Union 1800 which joined the Kingdom of Ireland and the Kingdom of Great Britain) who were involved with the
Irish nationalist newspaper
The Nation. Encouraging the repeal of the Acts of Union, members of the Young Ireland movement advocated the removal of British authority from Ireland and the re-establishment of the Irish Parliament in Dublin. The group had cultural aims also, and encouraged the study of Irish history and the revival of the
Irish language. Influential Young Irelanders included
Charles Gavan Duffy,
Thomas Davis and
John Blake Dillon, the three founders of
The Nation. Though the Young Irelanders did not support the use of violence, the writers of
The Nation maintained that the introduction of these peace resolutions was poorly timed, and that to declare outright that physical force would never be used was 'to deliver themselves bound hand and foot to the
Whigs.'
William Smith O'Brien, who had previously worked to achieve compromise between O'Connell and
The Nation group, was also concerned, and claimed that he feared these resolutions were an attempt to exclude the Young Irelanders from the Association altogether.
John O'Connell, Daniel O'Connell's son, was present at the proceedings and interrupted Meagher's speech, claiming that Meagher could no longer be part of the same association as O'Connell and his supporters. After some protest, the Young Irelanders left Conciliation Hall and the Repeal Association forever, founding the Irish Confederation 13 January 1847 after negotiations for a reunion had failed. The Young Ireland movement culminated in a failed uprising (see
Young Irelander Rebellion of 1848), which, influenced by the
French Revolution of 1848 and further provoked by government inaction during the
Great Famine and the suspension of
habeas corpus, which allowed the government to imprison Young Irelanders and other political opponents without trial, was hastily planned and quickly suppressed. Following the abortive uprising, several rebel leaders were arrested and convicted of sedition. Originally sentenced to death, Smith O'Brien and other members of the Irish Confederation were
transported to
Van Diemen's Land.
Fenian movement The
Fenian movement consisted of the
Fenian Brotherhood and the
Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), fraternal organisations founded in the United States and Ireland respectively with the aim of establishing an independent republic in Ireland. The IRB was founded on
Saint Patrick's Day 1858 in Dublin. Members present at the first meeting were
James Stephens,
Thomas Clarke Luby, Peter Langan, Joseph Denieffe, Garrett O'Shaughnessy, and
Charles Kickham. Stephens had previously spent time exiled in Paris, along with
John O'Mahony, having taken part in the uprising of 1848 and fleeing to avoid capture. O'Mahony left France for America in the mid-1850s and founded the
Emmet Monument Association with
Michael Doheny. Stephens returned to Ireland in 1856. The original oath of the society, drawn up by Luby under Stephens' direction, read: I, AB., do solemnly swear, in the presence of Almighty God, that I will do my utmost, at every risk, while life lasts, to make [other versions, according to Luby, establish in'] Ireland an independent Democratic Republic; that I will yield implicit obedience, in all things not contrary to the law of God [ 'laws of morality'] to the commands of my superior officers; and that I shall preserve inviolable secrecy regarding all the transactions [ 'affairs'] of this secret society that may be confided in me. So help me God! Amen. The Fenian Brotherhood was the IRB's counterpart organisation, formed in the same year in the United States by O'Mahony and Doheny. The Fenian Brotherhood's main purpose was to supply weapons and funds for its Irish counterpart and raise support for the Irish republican movement in the United States. The term "Fenian" was coined by O'Mahony, who named the American wing of the movement after the
Fianna – a class of warriors that existed in
Gaelic Ireland. The term became popular and is still in use, especially in Northern Ireland and Scotland, where it has expanded to refer to all Irish nationalists and republicans, as well as being a pejorative term for Irish Catholics. Public support for the Fenian movement in Ireland grew in November 1861 with the funeral of
Terence MacManus, a member of the Irish Confederation, which Stephens and the Fenians had organised – having "recognized the potential of street parades for mobilizing supporters and influencing onlookers". The popularity endowed by the procession and oration established the tradition of
republican funerals, a ritual instrumental as evidenced by the
oration at Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa's funeral. Popular perception elsewhere deemed the movement as terrorisitic – a persistent perception of republicanism thereafter. Nevertheless, the likes of
Rossa would raise the public profile of the movement by their evocation of martyrdom and highlighting of prisoner maltreatment. Support from America proved both lucrative and troublesome as transatlantic members waged a dynamite campaign in Britain. A total of twenty-five major explosions beset Irish nationalism's perception and dictated Britain's approach towards Ireland and the "
Irish question". In 1865 the Fenian Brotherhood in America had split into two factions. One was led by O'Mahony with Stephens' support. The other, which was more powerful, was led by
William R. Roberts. The Fenians had always planned an armed rebellion, but there was now disagreement as to how and where this rebellion might be carried out. Roberts' faction preferred focusing all military efforts on
British Canada (Roberts and his supporters theorised that victory for the American Fenians in nearby Canada would propel the Irish republican movement as a whole to success). The other, headed by O'Mahony, proposed that a rising in Ireland be planned for 1866. In spite of this, the O'Mahony wing of the movement itself tried and failed to capture
Campobello Island in
New Brunswick in April 1866. These attacks (and those that followed) in Canada are collectively known as the "
Fenian raids".
Nineteenth century onward 's IRA
flying column during the
Irish War of Independence. Irish republican and other independence movements were suppressed by the British authorities following the merging of Ireland with Britain into the United Kingdom after the
Act of Union in 1801. Nationalist rebellions against British rule in 1803, by Robert Emmet, 1848 (by the Young Irelanders) and 1865 and 1867 (by the Fenians) were followed by harsh reprisals by British forces. The National Council, was formed in 1903, by
Maud Gonne and
Arthur Griffith, on the occasion of the visit of
King Edward VII to Dublin. Its purpose was to lobby
Dublin Corporation to refrain from presenting an address to the king. The motion to present an address was duly defeated, but the National Council remained in existence as a pressure group with the aim of increasing nationalist representation on local councils. The first annual convention of the National Council on 28 November 1905 was notable for two things: the decision, by a majority vote (with Griffith dissenting), to open branches and organise on a national basis; and the presentation by Griffith of his 'Hungarian' policy, which was now called the
Sinn Féin policy. This meeting is usually taken as the date of the foundation of the Sinn Féin party. In 1916 the
Easter Rising, organised by the
Irish Republican Brotherhood, was launched in Dublin and the
Irish Republic was proclaimed, albeit without significant popular support. The Rising was suppressed after six days, and most of its leaders were executed by the British authorities. This was a turning point in Irish history, leading to the War of Independence and the end of British rule in most of Ireland. From 1919 to 1921 the
Irish Republican Army (IRA) was organised as a guerrilla army, led by
Richard Mulcahy and with
Michael Collins as Director of Intelligence and fought against the British. During the
Anglo-Irish War, the British government formed a paramilitary police force consisting of former soldiers, known as the "
Black and Tans", to reinforce the
Royal Irish Constabulary's
Auxiliary Division. Republicans were the primary adversary of these forces, whose warfare included pillaging and extrajudicial executions. Both sides used similar tactics:
hair cutting, arson attacks, taking of hostages and executions. Republicans also established
sovereign courts, a considerable symbol of the movement's public support. In August 1920 Irish Republican prisoners went on a
hunger strike demanding release from prison, and reinstatement of their status as political prisoners (
1920 Cork hunger strike). Three men died during this time including the Sinn Féin
Lord Mayor of Cork Terence MacSwiney. Among the most infamous of the Black and Tans actions were the
Bloody Sunday massacre in November 1920 and the
burning of half the city of
Cork in December that same year. These actions, together with the popularity of the republican ideals in Ireland and repression of republican political expressions by the British government, led to widespread support across Ireland for the Irish rebels. In 1921, the British government led by
David Lloyd George negotiated the
Anglo-Irish Treaty with
republican leaders led by
Arthur Griffith who had been delegated as
plenipotentiaries on behalf of the
Second Dáil, thus ending the conflict.
Irish Free State and Republic of Ireland Though many across the country were unhappy with the Anglo-Irish Treaty (since, during the war, the IRA had fought for independence for all Ireland and for a republic, not a partitioned
dominion under the
British crown), some republicans were satisfied that the Treaty was the best that could be achieved at the time. However, a substantial number opposed it.
Dáil Éireann, the Irish parliament, voted by 64 votes to 57 to ratify it, the majority believing that the treaty created a new base from which to move forward.
Éamon de Valera, who had served as
President of the Irish Republic during the war, refused to accept the decision of the Dáil and led the opponents of the treaty out of the House. The pro-Treaty republicans organised themselves into the
Cumann na nGaedheal party, while the anti-Treaty republicans retained the Sinn Féin name. The IRA itself split between pro-Treaty and anti-Treaty elements, with the former forming the nucleus of the new
Irish National Army. Michael Collins became Commander-in-Chief of the National Army. Shortly afterwards, some dissidents, apparently without the authorisation of the anti-Treaty IRA Army Executive, occupied the
Four Courts in Dublin and kidnapped
JJ "Ginger" O'Connell, a pro-Treaty general. The new
government, responding to this provocation and to intensified British pressure following the assassination by an anti-treaty IRA unit in London of
Henry Wilson,
ordered the regular army to take the Four Courts, thereby beginning the
Irish Civil War. It is believed that Collins continued to fund and supply the IRA in
Northern Ireland throughout the civil war, but, after his death,
W. T. Cosgrave (the new
President of the Executive Council, or prime minister) discontinued this support. By May 1923, the war ended in the order by
Frank Aiken, telling IRA members to dump arms. However, the harsh measures adopted by both sides, including
assassinations, executions and other atrocities, left a bitter legacy in Irish politics for decades to follow. In October 1923 mass hunger strikes were undertaken by Irish republican prisoners protesting the continuation of their internment without trial by the newly formed Irish Free State - three men died during the
1923 Irish Hunger Strikes. De Valera, who had strongly supported the Republican anti-treaty side in the Civil War, reconsidered his views while in jail and came to accept the ideas of political activity under the terms of the Free State constitution. Rather than abstaining from Free State politics entirely, he now sought to republicanise it from within. However, he and his supporters – which included most Sinn Féin
TDs failed to convince a majority of the anti-treaty Sinn Féin of these views and the movement split again. In 1926, he formed a new party called
Fianna Fáil ("Soldiers of Destiny"), taking most of Sinn Féin's TDs with him. In 1931, following the enactment of the
Statute of Westminster, the country became a sovereign state along with the other Dominions and the United Kingdom. The following year, De Valera was appointed President of the Executive Council of the Free State and began a slow process of turning the country from a
constitutional monarchy to a constitutional republic, thus fulfilling Collins's prediction of "the freedom to achieve freedom". By then, the IRA was engaged in confrontations with the
Blueshirts, a quasi-fascist group led by a former War of Independence and pro-Treaty leader,
Eoin O'Duffy. O'Duffy looked to
Fascist Italy as an example for Ireland to follow. Several hundred supporters of O'Duffy briefly went to Spain to volunteer on the
Nationalist side in the
Spanish Civil War, and a smaller number of ex-IRA members, communists and others participated on the
Republican side. In 1937, the
Constitution of Ireland was drafted by the de Valera government and
approved via referendum by the majority of the population of the Free State. The constitution changed the name of the state to in the Irish language (
Ireland in English) and asserted its national territory as the whole of Ireland. The new state was headed by a
President of Ireland elected by universal suffrage. The new Constitution removed all reference to the monarchy but foreign diplomats continued to present their credentials to the King in accordance with the
Executive Authority (External Relations) Act 1936 which had not been repealed. The new state had the objective characteristics of a republic and was referred to as such by de Valera himself, but, it remained within the
British Commonwealth and was regarded by the British as a Dominion, like Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Furthermore, the claim to the whole of the island did not reflect practical reality and inflamed anti-Dublin sentiment among northern Protestants. In 1948, Fianna Fáil went out of office for the first time in sixteen years.
John A. Costello, leader of the coalition government, announced his intention to declare Ireland a republic. The
Republic of Ireland Act 1948, which "described" the state as the Republic of Ireland (without changing its name or constitutional status), led the British government to pass the
Ireland Act 1949, which declared that Northern Ireland would continue as part of the United Kingdom unless the Parliament of Northern Ireland consented to leave; and Ireland ceased to be a member of the Commonwealth. As a result of thisand also because continuing struggle against the Dublin government was futilethe republican movement decided to focus on Northern Ireland from then on. The decision was announced by the IRA in its Easter statement of 1949. ==Republicanism in Northern Ireland==