WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT...
1. 20TH CENTURY IRELAND
Governing Ireland
Nationalists: Vast majority supported Irish Parliamentary Party (Home Rule Party).
Led by John Redmond, 84 of 105 seats in 1910
Home Rule meant a parliament in Dublin to deal with internal affairs
Peaceful means.
Had support of the Liberal Party.
IRB
Secret revolutionary organisation
Responsible for 1867 Fenian Rising
Complete independent Republic
Supported by Irish in USA
Sinn Féin
Arthur Griffith 1905
Dual monarch
Abstentionist
Tariffs to develop industry
Small until after 1916
Unionists
Wanted to stay in UK. No HR. 3 reasons
Carson and Craig
Supported by Conservatives (Empire would fall apart)
Labour Movement Poor state of workers in Ireland
James Larkin from Liverpool set up ITGWU
William Martin Murphy and Employers Federation = Lockout
Police, government and Catholic Church supported employers.
After 5 months workers defeated
ITGWU did not die
The Home Rule Bill
1910 the Liberal government needed the support of the Home Rule Party (84 seats)
1911 Liberals passed The Parliament Act. House of Lords could only delay bills for 2 years.
1912 Third Home Rule Bill became law.
1914 WW1 broke out.
1916 the Irish didn’t want HR
Unionist Opposition Took different forms
The Curragh Mutiny
Nationalist Reaction
Eoin MacNeill wrote ‘The North Began’
IVF
IRB involvement
Howth gun running (900 rifles) Asgard
WW1 stopped Civil War
3. REACTION TO WORLD WAR 1
Unionists joined 36th Ulster Division to show support for the union
Redmond at Woodenbridge split IVF
Those who supported Redmond became the National Volunteers and joined the British army
Those who supported MacNeill kept IVF name (IRB mainly)
250,000 Irishmen fought in WW1. 30,000 to 40,000 died
IRB ‘England’s difficulty is Ireland’s opportunity’
Military Council (Thomas Clarke, Patrick Pearse, Sean McDermott, Thomas Mac Donough, Joseph Plunkett and Eamon
Ceannt)
James Connolly and the Irish Citizen’s Army persuaded to join.
Roger Casement. 20,000 rifles from Germany on the Aud.
MacNeill would not take part unless they were attacked first. The Castle document was forged. MacNeill was deceived
and agreed to allow the IVF take part at Easter
Plans go wrong
Aud captured and scuttled. Casement arrested and hanged.
MacNeill found out the Castle Document was a forgery and called off manoeuvres on Easter Sunday
The Rising goes ahead
Military Council decided to go ahead on Easter Monday.
Rising confined to Dublin and bound for military failure
Pearse and the Proclamation
1500 rebels took key buildings in the city (GPO, Boland’s Mills, Jacob’s Factory, The Four Courts)
Failure to take Dublin Castle a big mistake.
British reinforcements from the Curragh and England.
The Helga shelled the GPO
Saturday, unconditional surrender
The Results of the Rising
The Conscription Crisis
Compulsory military service further boosted Sinn Fein’s popularity
The 1918 General Election
73 seats for Sinn Fein
Called their MPs Teachtaí Dála and refused to take seats.
1919 Dáil Éireann set up.
1919 Mansion House
27 TDs only, jail or on the run
First meeting issued:
At a later meeting DeValera (rescued) elected president
Collins was Minister for Finance; Markieviec (labour), Griffith (home affairs and vice-president)
The Dail:
The War of Independence
Same day of First Dail, Soloheadbeg happened (Breen, Treacy and others). 2 RIC dead, gelignite.
Early stages, RIC main target of guerrilla campaign.
Collins Director of Intelligence. The Squad. £10,000 reward.
Flying Columns (Tom Barry, Liam Lynch, Ernie O Malley) victories at Kilmichael and Crossbarry.
The British Response
Black and tans
Auxiliaries
Could not cope with guerrilla warfare and carried out reprisals (Cork, Balbriggan, burnings, beatings and
murder)
The Government of Ireland Act 1920
Major incidents of the War of Independence:
Peace
People wanted peace. IRA out of ammo and short of men.
Bad publicity for British gov.
Costing a lot of money
DeValera and Lloyd George agreed a ceasefire.
Divisions
Pro-Treaty (Regulars or Free State Army) V Anti Treaty (Irregulars or Republicans)
Both sides grabbed barracks as the British left
Irregulars took 4 Courts
Collins won election well. When 4 Courts Irregulars took a Regular general, Collins attacked them. He won easily
with British artillary.
The Munster Republic
Limerick to Waterford
Collins used ships
Death of Collins and Griffith
August 1922
Griffith had brain haemorrhage
Beal na mBlath
WT Cosgrave and Kevin O Higgins took over
Guerilla Warfare
Did not work well because:
· Free State had support of most people
· They knew the land as well
Great brutality on both sides
April 1923 Liam Lynch killed. Frank
Aiken and DeV called a ceasefire
Results
· Death and destruction
· Lost leaders
· Bitterness
· Political Parties
· Establish law and order
· Rebuild the economy
· Manage relations with Britain
Law and Order
· Irish Free State member of Commonwealth
· Oireachtas: Dail Seanad
· Oath of Allegiance
· Governor General
· Garda (unarmed)
· Courts
· Public Safety Act (wide powers of arrest)
· The Army Mutiny (dissatisfaction with redundancy and progress to republic) Richard Mulcahy (defence) resigned and leaders arrested. Important to control army
The Economy
· Concentration on agriculture (loans to farmers, better breeding)
· The Shannon Scheme (ESB)
Relations with Britain
· The Boundary Commission
· 1931 Statute of Westminster (allowed members to change any laws made for them by the British parliament)
Reasons Decline of Cumann na nGaedhael
· Blamed for the failure of the Boundary Commission
· Great Depression
· Cut in pay for teachers and garda
· Popularity of Fianna Fail
8. FIANNA FAIL IN POWER
Dismantling the Treaty
· Used the Statute of Westminster to abolish the Oath
· Got rid of the Governor General
· Removed the king as head of state
· New Constitution
The New Constitution (Bunreacht na hEireann)
· Taoiseach replaced President of Executive Council
· Douglas Hyde
· Articles 2 and 3
· Special position of Catholic Church
· Eire not Free State
The IRA and the Blueshirts
DeV released the IRA prisoners who disrupted C na G meetings.
ACA elected Eoin O Duffy as leader. Blueshirts. Facists. DeV banned them after planned march on Glasnevin.
Joined with C na G to form Fine Gael. O Duffy was first leader. Unpopular so went to Spanish Civil War.
The Economic War
DeV refused to pay the Land Annuities. British tariffs on Irish cattle. Irish tariffs. Ireland hardest hit.
Anglo- Irish agreement 1938:
The Economy
Sean Lemass (Industry and Commerce) put Protectionism in place. Helped infant industry but poor quality goods at
high prices. Irish Sugar and Aer Lingus set up.
The Emergency
Neutral because:
Emergency Powers Act:
The IRA a danger to neutrality. Some executed, some died on hunger strike and some interned. German spies. ‘Operation Green’. North Strand 34 dead. Britain and US did not like our neutrality. Dev rejected their criticisms.
What Lemass (Minister for Supplies) did:
9. 1948 – 1959
Defeat for DeValera because:
1948 to 1951 The First Inter-Party government.
Fine Gael, Labour and Clan na Poblachta.
Taoiseach was John A Costello. Sean MacBride (external affairs), Noel Browne (Health).
Achievments:
1951- 1954 DeValera in power.
Better social welfare but still high unemployment and emigration
1954 – 1957 The Second Inter-Party government
1957-1959
DeV again interned IRA
1959 Dev became President for the next 14 years
Lemass took over as Taoiseach
9. SEAN LEMASS AND THE 1960s
Lemass appointed younger ministers like Lynch, Haughey and Donough O Malley
TK Whittaker drew up the First Programme for Economic Expansion, which:
Lemass met Terence O Neill.
New schools were built.
Free Secondary education introduced
First shopping centres built
Finglas, Ballymun, Ballyfermot etc.were built.
RTE set up
‘Swinging Sixties’
JFK arrived.
10. YEARS OF UNCERTAINTY 1966–1985.
Jack Lynch as Taoiseach 1966 – 1973
1970 The Arms crisis. Blaney and Haughey and Blaney sacked. Boland resigned in sympathy. Haughey later
acquitted. The campaign to join the EEC. We signed up on the 1st January 1973.
The Coalition government 1973 – 1977
Fine Gael and Labour led by Liam Cosgrave.
Oil crisis led to inflation and unemployment. Taxes increased.
Sunningdale signed by Heath and Cosgrave but the new power-sharing agreement was broken by Unionist opposition
1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings.
1977 – 1981 Fianna Fail returns
‘Give-away election’
1979 Lynch resigned and Haughey took over.
1981 Coalition under Garret Fitzgerald (FG and Lab)
1982 Haughey and FF in power for 10 months
1982 –1987 FG under Fitzgerald
Still inflation, debt, high taxes, emigration and unemployment.
Fitzgerald and Thatcher signed the Anglo-Irish agreement in 1985. It stated that the Republic would have a say in
running Northern Ireland..
Governing Ireland
- Irish MPs and lords in Westminster
- Lord Lieutenant represented King
- Chief Secretary represented British government
Nationalists: Vast majority supported Irish Parliamentary Party (Home Rule Party).
Led by John Redmond, 84 of 105 seats in 1910
Home Rule meant a parliament in Dublin to deal with internal affairs
Peaceful means.
Had support of the Liberal Party.
IRB
Secret revolutionary organisation
Responsible for 1867 Fenian Rising
Complete independent Republic
Supported by Irish in USA
Sinn Féin
Arthur Griffith 1905
Dual monarch
Abstentionist
Tariffs to develop industry
Small until after 1916
Unionists
Wanted to stay in UK. No HR. 3 reasons
- Felt British
- Home rule = Rome rule
- Fear of losing trade links
Carson and Craig
Supported by Conservatives (Empire would fall apart)
Labour Movement Poor state of workers in Ireland
James Larkin from Liverpool set up ITGWU
William Martin Murphy and Employers Federation = Lockout
Police, government and Catholic Church supported employers.
After 5 months workers defeated
ITGWU did not die
- THE HOME RULE CRISIS
The Home Rule Bill
1910 the Liberal government needed the support of the Home Rule Party (84 seats)
1911 Liberals passed The Parliament Act. House of Lords could only delay bills for 2 years.
1912 Third Home Rule Bill became law.
1914 WW1 broke out.
1916 the Irish didn’t want HR
Unionist Opposition Took different forms
- Demonstrations and speeches by Carson and Craig
- Solemn League and Covenant
- UVF
- Larne (35000 rifles)
The Curragh Mutiny
Nationalist Reaction
Eoin MacNeill wrote ‘The North Began’
IVF
IRB involvement
Howth gun running (900 rifles) Asgard
WW1 stopped Civil War
3. REACTION TO WORLD WAR 1
Unionists joined 36th Ulster Division to show support for the union
Redmond at Woodenbridge split IVF
Those who supported Redmond became the National Volunteers and joined the British army
Those who supported MacNeill kept IVF name (IRB mainly)
250,000 Irishmen fought in WW1. 30,000 to 40,000 died
- THE 1916
RISING
IRB ‘England’s difficulty is Ireland’s opportunity’
Military Council (Thomas Clarke, Patrick Pearse, Sean McDermott, Thomas Mac Donough, Joseph Plunkett and Eamon
Ceannt)
James Connolly and the Irish Citizen’s Army persuaded to join.
Roger Casement. 20,000 rifles from Germany on the Aud.
MacNeill would not take part unless they were attacked first. The Castle document was forged. MacNeill was deceived
and agreed to allow the IVF take part at Easter
Plans go wrong
Aud captured and scuttled. Casement arrested and hanged.
MacNeill found out the Castle Document was a forgery and called off manoeuvres on Easter Sunday
The Rising goes ahead
Military Council decided to go ahead on Easter Monday.
Rising confined to Dublin and bound for military failure
Pearse and the Proclamation
1500 rebels took key buildings in the city (GPO, Boland’s Mills, Jacob’s Factory, The Four Courts)
Failure to take Dublin Castle a big mistake.
British reinforcements from the Curragh and England.
The Helga shelled the GPO
Saturday, unconditional surrender
The Results of the Rising
- 500 killed, more injured, much damage
- Dubliners angry with rebels
- Martial law (2000 interned)
- 90 sentenced to death. 15 executed in Kilmainham Jail. Irish minds were changed. Home Rule finished.
- Sinn Féin got blamed and became popular. It changed its aim to an Irish Republic. DeValera became its
leader.
The Conscription Crisis
Compulsory military service further boosted Sinn Fein’s popularity
The 1918 General Election
73 seats for Sinn Fein
Called their MPs Teachtaí Dála and refused to take seats.
1919 Dáil Éireann set up.
- THE INDEPENDENCE STRUGGLE
1919 Mansion House
27 TDs only, jail or on the run
First meeting issued:
- Declaration of Independence
- A message to the Free Nations of the World
- A programme to improve living and working conditions
At a later meeting DeValera (rescued) elected president
Collins was Minister for Finance; Markieviec (labour), Griffith (home affairs and vice-president)
The Dail:
- Got control of Local govt.
- Set up their own courts
- Got loans
The War of Independence
Same day of First Dail, Soloheadbeg happened (Breen, Treacy and others). 2 RIC dead, gelignite.
Early stages, RIC main target of guerrilla campaign.
Collins Director of Intelligence. The Squad. £10,000 reward.
Flying Columns (Tom Barry, Liam Lynch, Ernie O Malley) victories at Kilmichael and Crossbarry.
The British Response
Black and tans
Auxiliaries
Could not cope with guerrilla warfare and carried out reprisals (Cork, Balbriggan, burnings, beatings and
murder)
The Government of Ireland Act 1920
Major incidents of the War of Independence:
- Tomás MacCurtain's murder
- Terence MacSwiney’s 74 day hunger strike
- Bloody Sunday 21st of Nov 1920. 11 agents killed. 12 in Croke park (Michael Hogan).
- Burning of Customs House (80 of Dublin brigade gone)
Peace
People wanted peace. IRA out of ammo and short of men.
Bad publicity for British gov.
Costing a lot of money
DeValera and Lloyd George agreed a ceasefire.
- THE IRISH CIVIL WAR
Divisions
Pro-Treaty (Regulars or Free State Army) V Anti Treaty (Irregulars or Republicans)
Both sides grabbed barracks as the British left
Irregulars took 4 Courts
Collins won election well. When 4 Courts Irregulars took a Regular general, Collins attacked them. He won easily
with British artillary.
The Munster Republic
Limerick to Waterford
Collins used ships
Death of Collins and Griffith
August 1922
Griffith had brain haemorrhage
Beal na mBlath
WT Cosgrave and Kevin O Higgins took over
Guerilla Warfare
Did not work well because:
· Free State had support of most people
· They knew the land as well
Great brutality on both sides
April 1923 Liam Lynch killed. Frank
Aiken and DeV called a ceasefire
Results
· Death and destruction
· Lost leaders
· Bitterness
· Political Parties
- CUMANN NA nGAEDHEAL IN POWER 1923-1932
· Establish law and order
· Rebuild the economy
· Manage relations with Britain
Law and Order
· Irish Free State member of Commonwealth
· Oireachtas: Dail Seanad
· Oath of Allegiance
· Governor General
· Garda (unarmed)
· Courts
· Public Safety Act (wide powers of arrest)
· The Army Mutiny (dissatisfaction with redundancy and progress to republic) Richard Mulcahy (defence) resigned and leaders arrested. Important to control army
The Economy
· Concentration on agriculture (loans to farmers, better breeding)
· The Shannon Scheme (ESB)
Relations with Britain
· The Boundary Commission
· 1931 Statute of Westminster (allowed members to change any laws made for them by the British parliament)
Reasons Decline of Cumann na nGaedhael
· Blamed for the failure of the Boundary Commission
· Great Depression
· Cut in pay for teachers and garda
· Popularity of Fianna Fail
8. FIANNA FAIL IN POWER
Dismantling the Treaty
· Used the Statute of Westminster to abolish the Oath
· Got rid of the Governor General
· Removed the king as head of state
· New Constitution
The New Constitution (Bunreacht na hEireann)
· Taoiseach replaced President of Executive Council
· Douglas Hyde
· Articles 2 and 3
· Special position of Catholic Church
· Eire not Free State
The IRA and the Blueshirts
DeV released the IRA prisoners who disrupted C na G meetings.
ACA elected Eoin O Duffy as leader. Blueshirts. Facists. DeV banned them after planned march on Glasnevin.
Joined with C na G to form Fine Gael. O Duffy was first leader. Unpopular so went to Spanish Civil War.
The Economic War
DeV refused to pay the Land Annuities. British tariffs on Irish cattle. Irish tariffs. Ireland hardest hit.
Anglo- Irish agreement 1938:
- £10 million compensation
- Free Trade
- 3 ports returned (Cobh, Lough Swilly, Berehaven)
The Economy
Sean Lemass (Industry and Commerce) put Protectionism in place. Helped infant industry but poor quality goods at
high prices. Irish Sugar and Aer Lingus set up.
The Emergency
Neutral because:
- to show independence
- too weak
Emergency Powers Act:
- Censorship
- Army built up. LDF 250,000 men.
The IRA a danger to neutrality. Some executed, some died on hunger strike and some interned. German spies. ‘Operation Green’. North Strand 34 dead. Britain and US did not like our neutrality. Dev rejected their criticisms.
What Lemass (Minister for Supplies) did:
- Irish Shipping
- Rationing
- Turf replaced coal
- The glimmer man
9. 1948 – 1959
Defeat for DeValera because:
- People wanted a change
- Unemployment and emigration
1948 to 1951 The First Inter-Party government.
Fine Gael, Labour and Clan na Poblachta.
Taoiseach was John A Costello. Sean MacBride (external affairs), Noel Browne (Health).
Achievments:
- 1949 Republic
- Marshall Aid built houses and hospitals
- Rural electricification
- Fight against TB
- IDA set up to attract foreign industry to Ireland
- The Mother and Child scheme
1951- 1954 DeValera in power.
Better social welfare but still high unemployment and emigration
1954 – 1957 The Second Inter-Party government
- Joined UN
- Took action against IRA for border attacks (Clan na Poblachta pulled out of the government as a result)
1957-1959
DeV again interned IRA
1959 Dev became President for the next 14 years
Lemass took over as Taoiseach
9. SEAN LEMASS AND THE 1960s
Lemass appointed younger ministers like Lynch, Haughey and Donough O Malley
TK Whittaker drew up the First Programme for Economic Expansion, which:
- Got rid of Protectionism.
- Encouraged exports.
- Grants and tax concessions to attract foreign industry
Lemass met Terence O Neill.
New schools were built.
Free Secondary education introduced
First shopping centres built
Finglas, Ballymun, Ballyfermot etc.were built.
RTE set up
‘Swinging Sixties’
JFK arrived.
10. YEARS OF UNCERTAINTY 1966–1985.
Jack Lynch as Taoiseach 1966 – 1973
1970 The Arms crisis. Blaney and Haughey and Blaney sacked. Boland resigned in sympathy. Haughey later
acquitted. The campaign to join the EEC. We signed up on the 1st January 1973.
The Coalition government 1973 – 1977
Fine Gael and Labour led by Liam Cosgrave.
Oil crisis led to inflation and unemployment. Taxes increased.
Sunningdale signed by Heath and Cosgrave but the new power-sharing agreement was broken by Unionist opposition
1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings.
1977 – 1981 Fianna Fail returns
‘Give-away election’
1979 Lynch resigned and Haughey took over.
1981 Coalition under Garret Fitzgerald (FG and Lab)
1982 Haughey and FF in power for 10 months
1982 –1987 FG under Fitzgerald
Still inflation, debt, high taxes, emigration and unemployment.
Fitzgerald and Thatcher signed the Anglo-Irish agreement in 1985. It stated that the Republic would have a say in
running Northern Ireland..