Some
Key Background Events - 1858 to 1918
Note:
This page is designed to give only the briefest of background to the 1919 to
1923 period in Ireland with a little more detail for the years 1917 and 1918
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1858/1 |
Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) Founded |
Curran J M (1980), pg3 |
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1867/1 |
Fenian (IRB) Insurrection |
Curran J M (1980), pg4 |
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1872/1 |
Tory leader Salisbury says “On Tory principles,
… Ireland must be kept, like India, at all hazards: by persuasion, if
possible; if not, by force”. |
Fanning (2013), pg 11 |
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1873/1 |
IRB Re-organised and revitalised – they decide
on an ‘entryist’ policy into Irish/Ireland
Movement. |
Curran J M (1980), pg5 |
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1886/1 |
Unionist Liberals join with Tories to defeat
Gladstone/Parnell Home Rule Bill in the British House of Commons. The Tories win the subsequent election. The
Liberals were in office for almost twenty of the thirty years before 1886 and
they were out of office for all but three of the next twenty years. Tory leader Salisbury says (in May 1886) “self-government
… works admirably well when it is confided to people who are of Teutonic
race, but it does not work so well when people of other races are called upon
to join in it”. |
Curran J M (1980), pg1; Fanning (2013), pgs 8-11 |
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1890/1 |
Fall of Parnell and split in Irish Parliamentary
Party |
Curran J M (1980), pg1 |
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1892/1 |
Gladstone’s second Home Rule bill is defeated in
the British House of Lords. |
Fanning (2013), pg 12 |
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1893/1 |
Gaelic League founded |
Curran J M (1980), pg2 |
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1900/1 |
Irish Parliamentary Party reunites under John
Redmond |
Fanning (2013), pg19 |
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1907/1 |
Llyod George, President of the Board of Trade in
the UK cabinet, visits Belfast. In a
speech, he says that Ireland’s schism from the Empire was unthinkable and
that the “supremacy of the Imperial Parliament must be maintained”. |
Fanning (2013), pg 36 |
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1908/1 |
Sinn Féin founded by Arthur Griffith |
Curran J M (1980), pg2 |
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1909/1 |
ITGWU founded by Jim Larkin |
Curran J M (1980), pg2 |
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1910/1 |
In January, there was a general election in
UK. In Britain, Liberals win 274 while
the unionists (Conservative and Liberal Unionists parties combined) win 252
with 40 seats for the Labour Party. Asquith
is elected prime minister. In Ireland, Irish Parliamentary Party wins 81
seats and the Unionists 21 seats. Irish
Parliamentary Party holds balance of power. |
Fanning (2013), pg 30 |
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1910/2 |
On February 21st, Edward Carson elected leader
of the Irish Unionist MPs in Westminster. |
Fanning (2013), pg 45 |
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1910/3 |
On May 6th, Edward VII of England dies and is
succeeded by George V. |
Fanning (2013), pg 43 |
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1910/4 |
In December, second general election within a
year in UK. Liberals win 272 seats
while the unionists (Conservative, Liberal Unionists and Irish Unionist
parties combined) win 272 seats with 42 seats for the Labour Party. Irish
Nationalists wins 84 seats. Results very similar to previous January. Irish
Parliamentary Party again holds balance of power. Asquith is re-elected prime
minister. |
Fanning (2013), pg 47 |
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1911/1 |
Population of Ireland is 4,390,319. In the six counties which was to become Northern
Ireland, there 1,250,531 people. Of these, 820,370 Protestants and 430,161 were
Catholics. (That is, Catholics are 34%
of the population of the six counties that were to become NI.) In addition, there are Catholic majorities
in Fermanagh and Tyrone -136,678 Catholics and 108,603 Protestants. |
Curran J M (1980), pg296 |
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1911/2 |
On February 21st, the Parliament Bill to remove
the House of Lords veto on legislation, is introduced at Westminster. Bill
enacted on August 18th –
thereafter House of Lords only had the power to suspend the operation of
bills passed by the House of Commons by two years thus paving the way for the
passing of a Home Rule for Ireland Bill. |
Fanning (2013), pgs
48-50 |
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1911/3 |
Writing to Balfour (Leader of the Conservatives)
on March 7th, Salisbury says the “great object is to get the
present [Liberal] Government out of power.
When we fight them on the Veto [of the House of Lords] we are fighting
them on the point which unites them most.
When we fight them on Home Rule, we are fighting them on the point
which divides them most”. |
Fanning (2013), pg 46 |
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1911/4 |
Speaking to 50,000 Orangemen at Craigavon on September
23rd, Carson says “We must be prepared … the morning Home Rule passes,
ourselves to become responsible for the Government of the Protestant Province
of Ulster”. Two days later, 400 delegates to the Ulster
Unionist Council appointed a Commission of Five under Craig to frame a
Constitution for a Provincial Government for Ulster which would “come into
operation on the day of the passage of any Home Rule Bill”. |
Fanning (2013), pgs
50-51 |
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1911/5 |
On November 8th, Arthur Balfour
resigns as leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party – he is succeeded by
Andrew Bonar Law. Fanning says “Under Bonar Law’s leadership rules
would be broken, conventions abandoned, revolution encouraged … moderation
would hold no appeal for him, and under him the Conservative and Unionist
Party would embrace a policy of revolution without parallel in modern British
history”. |
Fanning (2013), pgs
51-52 |
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1912/1 |
On April 11th, Asquith (Liberal PM) introduces
Home Rule Bill in Westminster. |
Curran J M (1980), pg4; Fanning (2013), pg 68 |
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1912/1 |
Speaking at Blenheim Palace, on July 29th, Bonar
Law says that he regarded the British government as “a Revolutionary
Committee which had seized upon despotic power by fraud … They may .. carry
their Home Rule Bill through the House of Commons but what then? I said the other day in the House of
Commons and I repeat here that there are things stronger than Parliamentary
majorities. I can imagine no length of resistance to which Ulster can go in
which I should not be prepared to support them and in which, in my belief,
they would not be supported by the overwhelming majority of the British
people.”. (Fanning says July 29th 2012 but Boyce
says July 29th 1913.) |
Fanning (2013), pg 71; Boyce (1972), pg
30 |
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1912/2 |
Between September 19th and 28th
1912, the Ulster Covenant, which pledges resistance “all means which may be found
necessary to defeat the present conspiracy to set up a Home Rule Parliament
in Ireland” is signed by nearly half a million people, mostly in Ulster but
also in other cities throughout Britain and Ireland. The Covenant is supported by Bonar Law. |
Curran J M (1980), pg6; Townshend (2014), pg xviii; Fanning (2013), pg 71 |
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1913/1 |
Ulster Volunteer Force founded on the 1st
February. It would grow to over
100,000 men. |
Fanning (2013), pg 74 |
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1913/2 |
There is a lock-out of workers in Dublin. After many violent clashes, the unions are defeated. The Irish Citizens Army is founded by Jim Larkin
and James Connolly to protect strikers on November 19th. |
Curran J M (1980), pg6; Fanning (2013), pg 95 |
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1913/3 |
Irish Volunteers founded by Eoin MacNeill with a
meeting of a steering committee on the 11th November 11th
– first public meeting on November 25th.
O’Neill gets a lot of support from the IRB. Eventually
the Irish Volunteers is supported by Irish Parliamentary Party. |
Curran J M (1980), pg6; Fanning (2013), pg 95 |
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1913/4 |
British
proclamation prohibits the importation of arms and ammunition into
Ireland. Fanning
notes that, despite the UVF drilling and arming for over a year, this proclamation
was issued only days after the founding of the Irish Volunteers. |
Fanning (2013), pgs
95-96 |
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1914/1 |
The
Curragh Mutiny – In
March 1914, when told by their commanding officer in the Curragh BA military
camp that they would be moving against the UVF in Ulster, a large number of British
army officers declare that they would resign their commissions rather than
confront the UVF. Fanning notes that “the political significance
of the episode [is] that an elite corps of British army officers had revolted
against the Irish policy of the democratically elected [UK] government”. According to Fanning, the political cost of
the British government’s surrender to their army mutineers was that it had to
abandon its Irish policy and “issue no order which the army, and the king,
deemed politically unacceptable”. |
Townshend (2014), pg
xviii; Fanning (2013), pgs 112 &117 |
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1914/2 |
Curran says that, by September 1914, there were 200,000
men in Irish Volunteers and half that number in the Ulster Volunteer Force. [Fanning says there were 160,000 Irish
Volunteers by the end of July.] In April, the UVF bring 25,000 rifles and 3
million rounds of ammunition into Larne, Donaghdee
and Bangor. In July, Erskine Childers and Darrel Figgis
bring 1,500 rifles and ammunition into Howth for the Irish Volunteers. In
contrast to what happens after the UVF gun-running, the British army opened
fire on unarmed civilians on Bachelor’s Walk in Dublin killing four and
wounding thirty. Fanning quotes Michael Laffan as follows: “The
[British] army, apparently reluctant to move against organised Ulster
gun-runners, was prepared to kill hostile but unarmed Dublin civilians”. |
Curran J M (1980), pg 7;
Fanning (2013), pg 116 & 122 & 128-129;
Townshend (2014), pgs xviii & 95 |
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1914/3 |
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife are assassinated on June 28th 1914 in Sarajevo by Serb
nationalist, Gavrilo Princip. This
killing was to lead to the outbreak of World War One. |
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1914/4 |
Split in Irish Volunteers after war starts with about
150,000 joining Redmond’s National Volunteers and in support of British war
effort. About 13,000 left in Irish Volunteers. |
Curran J M (1980), pg8 |
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1914/5 |
On September 18th, Home Rule enacted in
Westminster but suspended for the duration of the war. The
Liberal PM, Asquith, also gives the following reassurance to unionists “the
employment of force, any kind of force, for … the coercion of Ulster, is an
absolutely unthinkable thing … a thing that we would never countenance or
consent to”. On September 20th, in a speech at Woodenbridge in Co. Wicklow, Redmond urged his followers
to join the British army. 100,000 or
more Irishmen were to serve in the British Army during WWI “wherever the
firing line extends”. |
Curran J M (1980), pg8; Townshend (2014), pg 4; Fanning (2013), pgs 134
& 136 |
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1914/6 |
In September, IRB and Connolly decide for
rebellion. |
Curran J M (1980), pg9 |
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1914/7 |
Writing of “the Irish”, Walter Long says that
are far as they are concerned “one thing and one thing alone succeeds,
namely, a strong unflinching attitude towards those who are openly
disloyal. It is the only form of
government which the Irish understand.
They are very quick and when they see that disloyalty not only goes
unpunished but sometimes rewarded the naturally do not hesitate to indulge in
their own tastes. It is not because they really want to do mischief so much
as, like naughty children, they think it amusing to give way to their
inclinations.” |
Hart (2007), pgs
120-121 |
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1915/1 |
Coalition government formed in Westminster of
Liberals and Conservatives with Asquith still as prime minister but with many
hard line unionists (Bonar Law, Chamberlain, Long, Balfour and even Carson)
in the British cabinet (Note: There is a very good piece in Fanning on how Ireland never again
became central to British politics after start of WW1. – See Fanning (2013) pgs 138-139.) |
Fanning (2013), pg 136 |
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1915/2 |
IRB Military Council founded and headed by
Pearse. |
Curran J M (1980), pg9 |
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1916/1 |
Easter
Rising in Dublin
(Monday 24th to Saturday 29th April) - 800 turn out with about another 800
joining during the week. Various estimates of fatalities. Curran says about 60 rebels killed, 132
Crown Forces (116 soldiers and 16 police) and more than 300 civilians killed. Also, nearly 2,000 wounded. Fanning says 450 killed (including over 100
British soldiers) and 3,000 wounded. O’Halpin and Ó Corráin
say 504 killed made up of 276 civilians; 84 Irish military; 17 police and 127
British military. (Latter figures most
accurate.) |
Curran J M (1980), pg 11;
Fanning (2013), pg 140; O’Halpin
and Ó Corráin (2020), pg
543 |
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1916/2 |
15 rebel leaders shot and Roger Casement hung -
97 death sentences commuted. (O’Halpin
and Ó Corráin include the 16 executed in their
fatality numbers.) |
Curran J M (1980), pg12 |
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1916/3 |
After the Easter Rebellion, 3500 rebel suspects
arrested, 1500 let go almost immediately, 1800 interned in England. (However most
~1300 let go quickly.) |
Curran J M (1980), pg11 |
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1916/4 |
In December, Lloyd George made Prime Minister by
ousting his Liberal Party colleague Asquith.
War cabinet instituted and made up of one Liberal (Llyod George), one
Labour (Henderson) and three Conservatives/Unionists (Law, Curzon and
Milner). |
Curran J M (1980), pg13; Morgan (1979), pg 14 |
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1916/4 |
By December, all remaining Irish internees are
released but 150 convicted prisoners still held. |
Curran J M (1980), pg14 |
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1917 |
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Feb-1917/1 |
Count Plunkett wins seat for Sinn Féin in
Roscommon. |
O'Farrell P (1997) P (1997), pg
xiv; Fanning (2013), pg 160 |
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Mar-1917/1 |
John Redmond dies and succeeded as leader of
Irish Party by John Dillon. |
Curran J M (1980), pg15 |
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Mar-1917/2 |
Irish Volunteer meeting in Dublin leads to
formation of National Executive. |
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Apr or May-1917/1 |
Joseph McGuiness wins seat for Sinn Féin in
South Longford while in prison. |
O'Farrell P (1997) P (1997), pg
xiv; Fanning (2013), pg 160 |
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Apr-1917/1 |
On April 6th, America declares war on
Germany. |
Fanning (2013), pg 159 |
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Apr-1917/2 |
On April 10th, US President Woodrow
Wilson sends a confidential message to his Secretary of State, Robert Lansing,
that he should instruct the American Ambassador in London to inform British
PM Llyod George that “the failure so far to find a satisfactory method of
self-government for Ireland” alone stood in the way of “absolutely cordial”
Anglo-American co-operation. |
Fanning (2013), pg 159 |
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May-1917/3 |
Irish Convention called by Llyod George.
However, Sinn Féin & Labour Party boycott it. It is attended by Irish Party, Unionists
and Bishops – Starts in Dublin on July 25th and ends on April 5th
1918. Fanning notes that the Convention was “not so
much an attempt to solve the Irish problem as to shelve it” and quotes F. S.
L. Lyons as saying that it was a “gigantic irrelevancy”. |
Curran J M (1980), pg15; Fanning (2013), pgs 161-162; Boyce (1972), pg
35 |
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Jun-1917/1 |
Remaining prisoners from 1916 Rebellion are released
including de Valera. |
Curran J M (1980), pg14 |
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Jul-1917/1 |
On July 10th, de Valera wins seat for Sinn Féin
in East Clare. An Irish Volunteer (Daniel Scanlon) is shot dead
during victory celebrations. An RIC man (Constable Lyons) is found
guilty but no action is taken against him. |
O'Farrell P (1997), pg
xiv and pg 93 |
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Aug-1917/1 |
WT Cosgrave wins seat in Kilkenny for Sinn Féin. |
Curran J M (1980), pg17 |
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Sep-25-17/1 |
Thomas Ashe, leader of the successful Ashbourne
ambush during the 916 Rising and President of IRB, dies due to force-feeding
in Mountjoy Prison during a hunger strike. A massive funeral procession organised for him. After a volley of shots was fired over his
grave, Michael Collins stepped forward to give the oration. It was short. “Nothing
additional remains to be said. That volley which we have just heard is the
only speech which it is proper to make above the grave of a dead Fenian". |
O'Farrell P (1997), pg
4; Townshend (2014), pg 5; Molyneux & Kelly
(2020), pg 14 |
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Oct-25 to 26-17/1 |
Sinn Féin Ard Fheis held in the Mansion House in
Dublin - 1,700 delegates – de Valera elected President; Griffith and Michael O’Flanagan as Vice-Presidents. Darrell Figgis and Austen
Stack as joint Secretaries. Cathal Brugha, Eoin MacNeill and Michael Collins on Standing
Committee. The Ard Fheis agreed that Sinn Féin’s objective
was to create a republic but, once that had been achieved, the people were
free to decide on the form of government which they wanted. (This was a compromise between the hard
line republicans and the more moderates like Griffith. The republicans believed that it necessary
to achieve sovereignty - i.e. for them a Republic – before the Irish people
could express themselves freely.) |
Curran J M (1980), pg18; Deasy
(1973), pg 16; Townshend (2014), pg 24; Molyneux & Kelly (2020), pg
15; Ferriter
(2021), pg 17; Kissane (2005), pg
43 |
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Oct-27-17/1 |
Irish Volunteer Convention held in the GAA
grounds on Jones Road in Dublin - over
1,100 Volunteers attended. De Valera is elected President. A 22 member
national executive is elected and a seven member resident executive. Cathal Brugha is
made chair of the resident committee. Michael
Collins made Director of Organisation and Richard Mulcahy made Director of
Training. See Mar-1918/1. |
Curran J M (1980), pg18 O'Donnoghue F (1986), pg 15;
Townshend (2014), pg 6; Molyneux & Kelly
(2020), pg 15 |
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1918 |
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Feb-16-18/1 |
Henry Wilson made Chief of the Imperial General Staff
(CIGS) of the British army. |
Jeffrey
(2006), pg 236 |
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Mar-25-18/1 |
British cabinet decides to impose conscription
on Ireland. However, the Chief Secretary for Ireland, Duke, says that
implementing conscription would “consolidate into one mass of antagonism all
the Nationalist elements in Ireland, politicians, priests, men and women”. (For Walter
Long’s response – see Apr-1918/1.) |
Townshend (2014), pgs
7 & 10; Fanning (2013), pgs 170-171 |
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Mar-1918/1 |
The National Executive of the Irish Volunteers recommends
the setting up of a GHQ. Mulcahy elected Chief of Staff (was O/C of the
Dublin Brigade). Austen Stack became
V/C; Collins becomes Director of Organisation and Adj
Gen. Dick McKee is made Director of
Training (and O/C Dublin Brigade) and Sean McMahon is QMG. Eamon Duggan is made Director of
Intelligence and Rory O’Connor is made Director of Engineering. |
Hopkinson (2002), pg
16; Molyneux & Kelly (2020), pg 18 |
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Mar-1918/2 |
Sinn Féin set up a press bureau under Robert
Brennan. |
Mitchell
(1995), pg 100 |
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Apr-08-18/1 |
At a British cabinet meeting, Walter Long tells
his cabinet colleagues that the Irish “race has one marked characteristic”,
they were “particularly liable to be influenced by their immediate
environment”. He continued that in
suitable surroundings it was possible to rouse them to imperial enthusiasm
but they were just as easily “filled with hatred and anger by a few crafty
sedition mongers and young priestly fanatics”. |
Townshend (2014), pg
18 |
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Apr-16-18/1 |
Conscription Bill is passed by British House of
Commons. This heightens the conscription crisis. John Dillion leads the Irish Parliamentary Party
out of Westminster. Fanning notes
“Never again were the elected representatives of nationalist Ireland to sit
at Westminster”. Chief Secretary for Ireland Duke resigns. He is replaced by Edward Shortt (a Liberal MP). GOC of the British Army in Ireland (McMahon) had
reported to the British cabinet that that he was “satisfied, from reliable
information received …. that on conscription becoming law, armed insurrection
is intended”. |
O'Donnoghue (1986), pg21; Townshend (2014), pg 10; Fanning (2013), pgs
174-175; O’Halpin (1987), pg
157 |
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Apr-1918/1 |
Writing to Llyod George to congratulate him on
getting the Conscription Bill passed, Walter Long says “The Irish will talk,
shout, perhaps get up a fight or two, but they know they are beaten and if we
sit tight, make no concessions, you will soon have 200 to 300,000 fine
fighting Irish men in the ranks”. |
Hart (2007), pg 119 |
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May-06-18/1 |
Field Marshall John French is appointed Lord
Lieutenant (Viceroy) for Ireland. In his own head, French thought of himself as a
military governor. He planned to establish air strips in each of the four
provinces. With the range of military
aircraft available, this would allow one “to play about with either bombs or
machine guns” which “ought to put the fear of God into these playful young
Sinn Feinners”. The traditional relationship between Chief
Secretary and Viceroy was to be reversed with the Viceroy now firmly in
charge. |
O'Donnoghue (1986), pg 22;
Townshend (2014), pg 11; Fanning (2013), pg 174 & 181; O’Halpin
(1987), pg 158; Molyneux & Kelly (2020), pgs 28-32 |
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May-Mid-18/1 |
British cabinet decide to withdraw threat of
conscription in Ireland in the face of a united nationalist opposition (but
said that it was expected that there would be 50,000 volunteers by the end of
September). See Oct-07 to 09-18/1. |
Townshend (2014), pg
15 |
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May-17 to 18-18/1 |
Sinn Féin leaders arrested (including de Valera,
Plunkett, Griffith and MacNeil) on charges of conspiracy with Germany – known
as the "German Plot". Even though Sinn Féin knew about their
imminent arrests, quite a few decided to let themselves be arrested to gain
political capital. |
Curran J M (1980), pg19; Townshend (2014), pg 16; Fanning (2013), pgs
181-187; O’Halpin (1987), pgs
161-162; Molyneux & Kelly (2020), pgs 33-34;
McMahon (2008), pg 24 |
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Jun-1918/1 |
Walter Long persuades French to replace Sam
Power (a Catholic) with Edward Saunderson as his private secretary. According to O’Halpin,
“This was a significant appointment: Saunderson distrusted all Catholics on
principle. As private secretary he was
able to steer French away from political conciliation, and he brought him
into close contacts with leading Ulster unionists. Saunderson also kept Long privately
informed of the affairs of the [Castle] administration”. When recommending Saunderson, Long said that “he
is one of the few Protestants who has the full confidence of Roman Catholics
of all classes”. Hart comments “If this comment was sincere,
it reveals a near-complete ignorance of the Irish political scene in 1918.” |
O’Halpin
(1987), pg 164; Hart (2007), pg
115h |
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Jun-20-18/1 |
Arthur Griffith wins a by-election for Sinn
Féin. |
Molyneux & Kelly
(2020), pg 35 |
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Jun-1918/2 |
Dick McKee reorganises the Dublin Brigade of the
Irish Volunteers. Frank Henderson
replaces him as O/C 2nd Battalion.
The other battalion O/Cs are Tom Byrne – 1st; Joseph
O’Connor – 3rd and Edward Kelly – 4th. |
Molyneux & Kelly (2020),
pg 36 |
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Jul-1918/1 |
On the retirement of Edward O’Farrell as Under
Secretary in Dublin Castle, James McMahon is appointed as his
replacement. McMahon is a
Catholic. According to French “we must try as far as we
can to get in touch with the Catholic Hierarchy” – McMahon was seen as close
to the Bishops. However, French was to grow to distrust McMahon
– See Dec-11-19/1. |
O’Halpin
(1987), pg 165 |
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Jul-04-18/1 |
Sinn Féin, Irish Volunteers, Cumann
na mBan and the Gaelic
League are proclaimed by Dublin Castle as dangerous organisations under the
Crimes Act. The intention was not to make them illegal
organisations but to try to prevent “the criminal activities of Sinn Fein
without interfering with its political programme so far as that was
considered innocuous to any degree”. |
O’Halpin
(1987), pg 168 |
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Jul-08-18/1 |
Pat O’Sullivan and Dan Harrington from Kilnamatyra, Co. Cork disarm two RIC men at Béal
na nGleanna. |
O’Farrell (1997), pg 85 |
|
Jul-26-18/1 |
Writing to the new Chief Secretary for Ireland
(Edward Shortt), Walter Long says “the Irish more
than any other people understand and appreciate firmness and consistency, the
two qualities that they lack more than any other”. |
O’Halpin (1987), pg 167 |
|
Aug-15-18/1 |
First edition of An tOglaċ, journal of the Irish Volunteers
appears. It is edited by Piaras Béaslaí. It states that the Volunteers are “the Army
of the Irish Republic … an instrument framed by Irishmen to further Ireland’s
determination to be free”. |
Townshend
(2014), pg 75; Molyneux & Kelly (2020), pg 47 |
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Sep-22-18/1 |
A protest by women against the continued
detention of the ‘German Plot’ prisoners at Foster Place in Dublin is baton
charged by the DMP. A Cumman na mBan member, Josie (or
Josephine) McGowan, is so badly beaten by the DMP that she dies a week later. |
Molyneux & Kelly (2020), pg
41; O’Halpin
and Ó Corráin (2020), pg
105 |
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Oct-07 to 09-18/1 |
As only 8,000 of the expected 50,000 had joined
the British Army, the issue of imposing conscription re-emerged. On October 7th, Shortt
writes saying that conscription would be no easier to impose at this point
than in the Spring unless Home Rule was granted. On October 8th, French writes that
“every day that has passed since I became Viceroy … has proved more clearly the
unfitness of Ireland for any form of Home Rule, now or in the immediate
future”. On October 9th, Long advises doing
nothing on either conscription or Home Rule and this advice is taken by the
British cabinet. (Long agrees with
French that resistance to conscription could easily be put down by force but
said that the British parliament would not put up with “repressive measures after
one or two priests and a few women have been shot down by the soldiers”.) |
O’Halpin (1987), pg 170 |
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Nov-11-18/1 |
1st
World War ends |
Curran J M (1980), pg19 |
|
Nov-11-18/2 |
As they prepared to fight an election together,
Llyod George writes to Bonar Law saying that his proposed joint platform on
Ireland was “the right to bring a settlement into effect based on the
exclusion of Ulster’s six northeastern counties”. It is not clear whether he considered this
exclusion temporary or permanent but a Council of Ireland was included in the
manifesto. |
Matthews
(2004), pg 15 |
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Nov-22-18/1 |
The manifesto issued by Coalition parties in
Britain (The Conservatives under Bonar Law and the Coalition Liberals – or
Liberal Imperialists - under Llyod George) contains the following: “So long
as the Irish question remains unsettled there can be no political peace
either in the United Kingdom or in the Empire, and we regard it as one of the
first obligations of British statesmanship to explore all political paths
towards the settlement of this grave and difficult question, on the basis of
self-government”. |
Boyce (1972), pg 25 |
|
Dec-05-18/1 |
The CIGS of the Britsh
Army, Henry Wilson, sends a memo to the British cabinet in which he estimated
that the “military commitments remaining after peace has been signed” would
require between 350,000 and 500,000 soldiers to serve in various parts of the
British Empire. There were 3.8 million
men in the British army in November 1918.
This was to reduce to 890,000 in November 1919 and to 430,000 by
November 1920. Wilson wanted to maintain conscription but
during the election campaign (see Dec-14-18/1) Llyod George had promised to
speed up demobilisation. See Jan-03-19/1. |
Jeffery (2006), pgs
229-231 |
|
Dec-09-18/1 |
Irish Volunteer Captain Richard Coleman dies in Usk prison in Wales from Spanish Flu. He had been arrested as part of the German
Plot. More than 15,000 attended his
funeral. |
Molyneux & Kelly (2020), pg
45; O’Halpin
and Ó Corráin (2020), pg
106 |
|
Dec-14-18/1 |
Polling
day of General Election in Britain and Ireland (except for University constituencies). In Britain, the coalition of the ‘Coupon’ Liberals
(i.e. Liberal Imperialists) and Conservatives wins 478 out of the 707 seats
(made up of 335 Conservative and 133 Coalition Liberal seats). In addition, there was 23 non-Coalition
Conservatives. In Ireland, Sinn Féin wins 73 out of 105 seats -
the remaining seats are 23 Northern Unionists; 6 Irish Party and 3 Southern
Unionists. Sinn Féin received 48% of votes cast - however there were unopposed
in 26 constituencies. (Also, it
received 68% of vote outside the six counties of north-east Ulster which were
to become Northern Ireland.) |
Curran J M (1980), pgs
20-21; Figgis 1927, pg 225; Walker (1992), pgs 4-9; Ozseker (2019), pgs 91-92; Townshend (2014), pg
61; Fanning (2013), pg 190; Kissane (2005), pg 30 |