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Mini module on Ireland, Task 1
The Road to Independence
Sinn Féin
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inn Féin was founded in 1902 as a nationalist political party in Ireland. The name is in Irish and means “We Ourselves”.
In 1918 Sinn Féin’s demand for a united, republican Ireland was supported by the population. It won the general election and established its own parliament in Dublin. In January 1919 Sinn Féin declared Ireland to be independent of Britain.
The guerrilla war from 1919-1921 was led by the underground republican government. Sinn Féin split in 1922 caused by disagreement about the Anglo-Irish Treaty which divided Ireland into two parts. Sinn Féin continued as the political part of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and supported actively an Irish union.
In the 1960s, the party demanded British withdrawal from Northern Ireland and protested against the unfair treatment of the nationalists in the province.
At the beginning of this century, Sinn Féin took part in the peace talks on Northern Ireland.
In the 2007 elections Sinn Féin became the second largest party in Ireland and joined the government.
Relevant links: wimps.org.uk
IrishRebelSong-Sniper’sPromise
Easter Rising
This rising began on Easter Morning, April 1916 as a republican revolt against the British government in Ireland.
Barricades in the street outside the GPO.
About 2000 Irish Volunteers and members of the Irish Citizen Army seized the Dublin General Post Office (GPO) and other strategic points in Dublin.
In the GPO the rebels removed the British flag and replaced it with a green, white and orange tricolour – the Irish flag. For the first time this flag waved over Dublin.
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Outside GPO after non-stop artillery
attack.
he rebels fought bravely as British troops surrounded them. Dublin was in flames and over 3,000 people died. After five days of fighting, British troops had defeated the rebels. The leaders were given secret military trials and fifteen of them were executed.
These executions united the Irish people against the British and it was the beginning of the end of British control in Ireland.
Relevant links: EasterRising1916, EasterRisingPrisoners and EasterRising1916
The War of Independence
From 1919 to 1921 the Irish fought against the English in order to become an independent republic.
In 1918 most of the Irish people had voted for the Irish party, Sinn Fein. Instead of entering the British Parliament, Sinn Fein built up an independent Irish parliament. This parliament also had its own army, The Irish Volunteers – later known as the Irish Republican Army, IRA.
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Michael Collins
he War of Independence started because some members of the IRA killed some English police officers. This developed into a guerrilla war with Michael Collins as the leader of the IRA.
During the next two years this war spread across most of Ireland bringing a lot of violence and suffering not only to the soldiers, but also to the Irish people.
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The English special brigades, known as the “Black and Tans” were especially brutal towards the Irish
t is said that the reason why the English chose to surrender at last was that they realised that they could not win in this kind of guerrilla warfare. Therefore England offered Ireland a treaty where 26 counties of Ireland would be united in a Free State.
The North Eastern part of Ireland consisting of 6 counties would still be under British Rule. This lead to the partition of Ireland.
The Partition
The North Eastern part of Ireland was mostly populated by pro- British Protestants.
Therefore it was natural for the British government to make a treaty where this part of Ireland still would be English.
But this partition of the country was to become the reason for massive conflicts for many, many years.
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White area: the Free State
he Sinn Fein only accepted this partition unwillingly and found that it was necessary in order to get some peace. But they were still keen on fighting for a united, independent Ireland.
In Northern Ireland there was still a conflict between pro-British Protestants and pro-Irish Catholics. In Ireland there was still a conflict going on because not everybody was satisfied with this partition of their country.
The Civil War of Ireland
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Illustration 1:Soldiers marching in the Civil War 1922
s a result of the Irish War of Independence the Anglo-Irish Treaty was formed. The treaty provided for a self-governing Irish state in 26 of Ireland’s 32 counties, having its own army and police. Ireland would be a self-governing part of the British Empire with the British monarch as Head of State, in the same manner as Canada and Australia. The Treaty also stated that members of the new Irish Parliament had to take an Oath of Allegiance where they had to swear that they would be faithful to the British king.
This Treaty divided the Irish into two groups, the Irish Free State (pro-treaty) and the Irish Republican Army (Anti-Treaty), and caused the Civil War of Ireland to break out June 28, 1922. The war ended May 24, 1923.
The Result was a confirmation of the Irish Free State and defeat of the Anti-Treaty IRA forces.
Republic of Ireland Act 1948
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Illustration 2: Ireland – no longer under British rule
n 1948 a new bill was introduced to declare Ireland a Republic. The description of the state was to be the Republic of Ireland. It meant that the King of Ireland (the British Monarch) no longer was head of State, and upgraded the Irish President to a full head of State. The Act was enacted with all parties voting for it.
This also meant that Ireland had definitively left the Commonwealth. Ireland had not participated in the Commonwealth for some years prior to the Act. The London Declaration permitted republics to remain in the Commonwealth, but the Irish government did not reapply for membership.
