The National League of the North ( NLN ) was an Irish nationalist organisation active in Northern Ireland .
52-589: The group was founded in May 1928 on the basis of a radical programme for the "National Unification of Ireland". It was in part an attempt to bring together the supporters of Joe Devlin and Cahir Healy , who were the leading figures in the Nationalist Party . At the 1933 Northern Ireland general election , in addition to supporting most Nationalist Party candidates, the group stood Gerry Lennon in South Armagh . He
104-769: A civil war as it was a war of independence from the British Crown . British military strategy during the American Revolution relied on mobilising loyalist soldiers throughout the Thirteen Colonies . Throughout the war, the British military formed over 100 loyalist line regiments whose strength totaled 19,000 of which 9,700 served most at one time. Including militia and marine forces more than 50,000 served. The Patriots used tactics such as property confiscation to suppress loyalism and drive active loyalists away. After
156-568: A close alliance and who had fallen under his influence. This "coup" gave them nationwide control of the 1200 UIL branches, the organisational base of the IPP, depriving O'Brien of all authority. Devlin had risen in the ranks of the League from being a local Nationalist organiser in Belfast to becoming the only newcomer to the parliamentary party who was accepted politically, as an equal by the established leaders. He
208-513: A compliment. Born at 10 Hamill Street in the Lower Falls area of Belfast , he was the fifth child of Charles Devlin (c.1839-1906), who was a self-employed ' jarvey ', and his wife Elizabeth King (c.1841-1902), who sold groceries from their home; both were Catholics . Until he was twelve, he attended the nearby St. Mary's Christian Brothers' School in Divis Street, where he was educated in
260-523: A convention which endorsed exclusion by a vote of 475 to 265. On the other hand, during the Irish Convention he sided with the bishops in blocking Redmond's compromise with Southern Unionists on Home Rule. In April 1918 Devlin was signatory to the anti- Conscription Crisis of 1918 pledge. At the end of the war he was elected Nationalist MP for Belfast Falls in the 1918 general election (in which he defeated Éamon de Valera of Sinn Féin ), one of
312-464: A large section of Scottish society Scottish loyalism has become more visible through prominent demonstrations of the beliefs of its members since the establishment of a Scottish Parliament . Scottish loyalism is visible through participation at Orange parades with supporters from Rangers , Heart of Midlothian F.C. and Airdrie United . Loyalists in Scotland mostly live in small working-class enclaves in
364-521: A more 'national' view of Irish history and culture than offered by the diocesan schools or the state system. While working briefly as a clerk and in a pub, he showed an early gift for public speaking when he became chairman of a debating society founded in 1886 to commemorate the first Irish nationalist election victory in West Belfast. From 1891–1893 he was a journalist on the Irish News , then on
416-477: A rigorous toryism to some vague sense that royal government was hardly so evil as its enemies claimed. In Canada this diversity was preserved. The Loyalist communities were rarely unanimous – or placid – in their politics". The term loyalist was first used in Irish politics in the 1790s to refer to Protestant Irishmen (often of English or Scottish ancestry) who opposed Catholic Emancipation and Irish independence from
468-570: The Freeman's Journal . He became associated with the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH), which he helped to establish in the 1890s. He became a lifelong opponent of its loyalist counterpart, the Orange Order . Devlin then worked at Samuel Young MP's brewery company, for which he was assistant manager of Kelly's Cellars , a Belfast pub, until 1902. During the 1890s he was active as organiser in
520-697: The Bahamas and Britain, often with financial help from the Crown. They were joined by 30,000 or more "Late Loyalists" who settled in Ontario in the early 1790s at the invitation of the British administration and given land and low taxes in exchange for swearing allegiance to the King, for a total of 70,000+ new settlers. There were in fact four waves of emigration: in the years 1774 through 1776 when for example 1300 Tories were evacuated with
572-517: The Industrial Revolution when a significant number of Ulster Protestants migrated to Scotland from Ireland. In Scotland, a loyalist is someone on the fringes of Scottish unionism who is often strongly supportive of loyalism and unionism, although mainly concentrating on the Irish union issue rather than on Scottish politics . Scottish loyalism is typified by militant opposition to Scottish republicanism, Scottish independence . Coming from
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#1732844526337624-729: The Irish Republican Army started their Sabotage Campaign , which hardened British attitudes against the cause of Irish unification, and the project was dropped with the start of World War II . After the disbanding of the IUA, there was no rank-and-file nationalist group in Northern Ireland until the launch of the Irish Anti-Partition League in 1945. Joseph Devlin Joseph Devlin (13 February 1871 – 18 January 1934)
676-844: The Northern Ireland Assembly in 1998, 2003 and 2007, but lost them in 2011. Loyalism in the post-partition Republic of Ireland has declined since independence. Large numbers of southern Irish loyalists and non-loyalists volunteered for service in the British Armed Forces in World War I and World War II, many of them losing their lives or settling in the United Kingdom after the wars. Partition saw mass movements of southern loyalists to Northern Ireland or to Great Britain, although small loyalist or neo-unionist groups are still active. The Scottish loyalist movement originated during
728-647: The Stormont parliament. His Belfast Falls seat was abolished in 1922 , when Devlin unsuccessfully fought Liverpool Exchange ; he returned to Westminster in 1929 . Devlin was re-elected by a large majority in Belfast West in 1925 when he decided to lead his small party out of abstentionism and sat for the first time in the Parliament of Northern Ireland as head of a powerless opposition. Devlin sought to highlight Catholic grievances, especially in relation to education. He
780-567: The Ulster Defence Association (UDA), Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), Red Hand Commando (RHC) and the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF). Although Irish loyalist paramilitaries have claimed to speak on behalf of their communities and unionists in general, their electoral support is minimal and exclusively based in the urban working class. The Progressive Unionist Party , a pro- Belfast Agreement loyalist party, won seats in
832-681: The " Baton Convention ". With the involvement of Ireland on the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Devlin sided with Redmond's decision in supporting recruiting for Britain's and the Allied war effort and voluntary enlistment of National Volunteers in Irish regiments of the New Service Army . Redmond's plan was that, post-war, an intended 'Irish Brigade' and the National Volunteers would provide
884-835: The AOH in Ireland. Members of his Order, largely composed of earlier members of the Molly Maguires , a militant secret society also known as the Mollies , also became members of the Irish Party, deeply infiltrating it. Already secretary of the London-based United Irish League of Great Britain Devlin became General Secretary of O’Brien's UIL, replacing John O'Donnell , through the initiative of deputy IPP leader John Dillon MP, with whom he held
936-593: The British Empire. Prominent Irish loyalists included John Foster , John Fitzgibbon and John Beresford . In the subsequent Irish Rebellion of 1798 , the term ultra loyalist was used to describe those who were opposed to the United Irishmen , who were in support of an independent Irish Republic . In 1795, Ulster loyalists founded the Orange Order and organised the Yeoman Militia, which helped to put down
988-550: The British House of Commons on the day the Government of Ireland Act 1920 was passed, Devlin made clear the feelings of many Nationalists concerning partition and the setting up of a Northern Ireland Parliament: "I know beforehand what is going to be done with us, and therefore it is well that we should make our preparations for that long fight which, I suppose, we will have to wage in order to be allowed even to live." Referring to
1040-450: The British fleet that left Boston for Halifax; the large wave of 50,000 in the years 1783; some few thousands who had stayed in the new Republic but left disenchanted with the results of the revolution for Upper Canada between 1784 and 1790; and the large number 'Late Loyalists,' 30,000, who came in the early 1790s for land, many of them neutrals during the War, to Upper Canada; they soon outnumbered
1092-618: The Government of Ireland Act, he accused the government of "...not inserting a single clause...to safeguard the interests of our people. This is not a scattered minority...it is the story of weeping women, hungry children, hunted men, homeless in England, houseless in Ireland. If this is what we get when they have not their Parliament, what may we expect when they have that weapon, with wealth and power strongly entrenched? What will we get when they are armed with Britain's rifles, when they are clothed with
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#17328445263371144-652: The Party sent him to Irish Americas on the first of several successful fund-raising missions. In his first four month tour of the USA, he addressed 160 meetings, raised £3000 and established 184 branches of the United Irish League of America. It was there that he encountered the power of the Hibernian Orders and on his return set about claiming it for constitutional nationalism, when in 1904 he became lifelong Grandmaster of
1196-463: The actions of the 36th (Ulster) Division during World War I and the activities of the Orange Order. An Ulster loyalist is most commonly a unionist who strongly favours the political union between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, although some may also support an independent Northern Ireland . In recent times, the term has been used to refer to several loyalist paramilitary groups, such as
1248-698: The anti-Parnellite Irish National Federation in eastern Ulster . When William O'Brien founded the United Irish League (UIL) in County Mayo in 1898, Devlin founded the UIL section in Belfast which became his political machine in Ulster. He was elected unopposed as Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) Member of Parliament for Kilkenny North in the February 1902 by-election . His first political assignment came that year when
1300-667: The authority of government, when they have cast round them the Imperial garb, what mercy, what pity, much less justice or liberty, will be conceded to us then? That is what I have to say about the Ulster Parliament." In order not to prevent an Ulster Unionists "walk-over" win in the first election for the Northern Ireland House of Commons (1921), Devlin agreed to a pact with de Valera - Nationalists would not stand for election against Sinn Féiners; both parties co-operated during
1352-482: The basis for an Irish army, capable of enforcing Home Rule on reluctant Ulster Unionists. Devlin saw loyalty to the Empire as part of the deal for home rule. At a recruitment rally he said "We told the British people that if they gave Ireland that autonomy that inspired the loyalty of her colonies [...] Ireland would give the treasure of her blood and her allegiance to that Empire which, when it gives freedom constitutes itself
1404-496: The downfall of the IPP. Devlin became governor of the nationalist hinterland after his AOH political machinery rapidly saturated the country, acting through the UIL as the militant support organisation of the Irish Party. Devlin could assure John Redmond leader of the IPP, that at Redmond's bid, his organisation could provide full attendance of suitable "supporters" at any meeting, demonstration or convention throughout Ireland, something Redmond and his party often availed of. The AOH
1456-616: The early 19th century, nearly every English and Welsh county formed a Loyalist Association of Workers in an effort to counter a perceived threat from radical societies . The first such association was founded in Westminster on 20 November 1792. Generally, the term loyalist in Northern Ireland is typified by a militant opposition to Irish republicanism , and also often to Roman Catholicism. It stresses Ulster Protestant identity and community with its own folk heroes and events, such as
1508-539: The election and won 6 seats each, the Unionists 40. Devlin, who represented a more moderate nationalist view, was elected for both Antrim and Belfast West . He chose to sit for Belfast West although his seat in the seven member Antrim constituency was left vacant for the rest of the Parliament. He continued to sit at Westminster as leader of the Nationalist Party of Northern Ireland, as both small parties did not recognise
1560-453: The founders of modern English-speaking Canada, and many of their descendants of these King's Loyal Americans still identify themselves with the nominal hereditary title "UEL" ( United Empire Loyalist ) today. To one degree or another, from ideological reasons or less so mixed with prospects of a better life, "All the Loyalists had taken a stand for the Crown and the British Empire"...whether "from
1612-487: The main urban and national business interests, which contrasted with his advocacy of social reforms when he took up labour issues especially working conditions in the linen mills and textile trades. In the 1906 British general election , Devlin was re-elected to Kilkenny North, and also to Belfast West which he regained from the Unionists by 16 votes. Choosing to retain the Belfast seat, he served as its MP beyond 1918, when his popularity in Belfast and east Ulster survived
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1664-551: The mandate had passed to Sinn Féin . Although, when he tried to bring up the Croke Park killings that occurred on Bloody Sunday at Westminster, he was shouted down and physically attacked by Conservative MP John Elsdale Molson ; the Speaker had to suspend the sitting . In February 1920, Devlin was certain that a Parliament would be set up for six Counties within Ulster : "This will mean
1716-410: The mightiest factor in the progress of human liberty". The Republican James Connolly wrote of the 'Wee Bottlewasher' as 'a recruiting sergeant luring to their deaths the men who trusted him and voted him into power.' After the 1916 Easter Rising , Devlin compromised with Northern Nationalists on a temporary six-county exclusion to assist Lloyd George 's abortive home rule negotiations, organising
1768-789: The most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Crown , notably with the loyalists opponents of the American Revolution , and United Empire Loyalists who moved to other colonies in British North America after the revolution. In North America, the term loyalist characterised colonists who rejected the American Revolution in favour of remaining loyal to the king. American loyalists included royal officials, Anglican clergymen, wealthy merchants with ties to London, demobilised British soldiers, and recent arrivals (especially from Scotland), as well as many ordinary colonists who were conservative by nature and/or felt that
1820-517: The original truly committed anti-Republicans, 10,000, who had earlier arrived: some Loyalists about 10 per cent maybe from New Brunswick returned to the States as did an unknown number from Nova Scotia. This migration also included indigenous loyalists such as Mohawk leader Joseph Brant , the " Black Loyalists " – former slaves who had joined the British cause in exchange for their freedom, and Anabaptist loyalists ( Mennonites ). These Loyalists were
1872-703: The party abstained after 1932 due to the abolishment of proportional representation, when frustration finally drove him and his followers out of the Belfast parliament again, when his party abstained. After his death, James Craig , the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and leader of the Ulster Unionist Party , said, "He and I were in opposite political camps for over thirty years, and fought for our respective parties, necessarily at times with keen enmity, but throughout I have never entertained anything but admiration for his personal character.". "Wee Joe", as he
1924-573: The past thirty years and who are undergoing the tortures of the damned will, I fear, think I am taking this opportunity of slipping out of a difficult position." From 1929 until his death, Joe Devlin was the Northern Ireland MP for Belfast Central . He won amendment to the Northern Ireland Education Act of 1930 which improved the funding of Catholic schools. Otherwise they were years of demoralisation for northern Catholics, and
1976-402: The protection of Britain was needed. Colonists with loyalist views accounted for an estimated 15 per cent to 20 per cent of the white colonial population of the day, compared with those described as " Patriots ", who accounted for about 40–50 per cent of the population and the rest neutrals. This high level of political polarisation leads historians to argue that the American Revolution was as much
2028-458: The rebellion. Some loyalists, such as Richard Musgrave , considered the rebellion a Catholic plot to drive Protestant colonists out of Ireland. The Sydney and Parramatta Loyalist Associations, with approximately 50 members each, were formed in 1804 to counter radical societies in those counties, and subsequently helped to put down the Castle Hill convict rebellion later that year. During
2080-417: The three nationalist political organisations all sides succumbed to Devlin's influence. The AOH continued the O'Connellite link between Catholicism and nationalism but under a lay controlled organisations. To the Irish party's opponents the AOH was synonymous with Catholic sectarianism, jobbery and patronage. Rivals such as Jim Larkin called it the "Ancient Order of Catholic Orangemen". Devlin represented
2132-553: The very few Irish Parliamentary Party MPs to retain their seats against the Sinn Féin landslide. During 1919–1921, his leadership was reduced to six Nationalist MPs. His attempts to achieve a united nationalist front was undermined because of resentment by west Ulster nationalists of his acceptance of temporary partition as the price for a Home Rule settlement in 1916. He avoided any involvement in All-Ireland politics having accepted that
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2184-548: The war, approximately 80–90 per cent of the Loyalists stayed in the new United States, and adapted to the new conditions and changes of a republic. Of the 62,000 who left by 1784, almost 50,000 sought refuge elsewhere in the British North American colonies of Quebec (partitioned into the Canadas in 1791), New Brunswick , Nova Scotia , and St. John's Island ; whereas the remaining loyalist migrants went to Jamaica ,
2236-436: The worst form of partition and, of course, permanent partition... we Catholics and Nationalists could not, under any circumstances, consent to be placed under the domination of a parliament so skilfully established as to make it impossible for us to be ever other than a permanent minority, with all the sufferings and tyranny of the present day continued, only in a worse form." (see The Troubles in Ulster (1920–1922) ) Speaking in
2288-490: Was a great organisation man, not merely as General Secretary of the United Irish League, but because he also dominated the Ancient Order of Hibernians . He was the only member of the younger generation to belong to the innermost circle of the IPP leadership and was widely seen as eventual heir-apparent. For some years Devlin had been in bitter conflict with the bishops' Catholic Association who wanted politics based on Catholic rights rather than on nationalism. Now in control of
2340-544: Was an Irish journalist and influential nationalist politician. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Irish Parliamentary Party in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom (1902-1922 and 1929-1934). Later Devlin was an MP and leader of the Nationalist Party in the Parliament of Northern Ireland . He was referred to as "the duodecimo Demosthenes " by the Irish politician Tim Healy which Devlin took as
2392-522: Was buried at Milltown Cemetery . His funeral at St. Peter's , Belfast, was attended by leading members of both Irish governments. The AOH hall in Ardboe , County Tyrone , is named after him. He never married. Loyalist Loyalism , in the United Kingdom , its overseas territories and its former colonies , refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America,
2444-428: Was devoted to Dillon who had helped him greatly to his rise to prominence, and Dillon in turn relied greatly on him, not alone for both his control of the UIL and the AOH, but also because he was an outstanding representative of Ulster Nationalism. He became a distinguished parliamentarian and had reached the top by the skilful use of two remarkable talents, his persuasive and very powerful oratory, and secondly, that he
2496-768: Was popularly known, was held in high affection by his constituents for his charming and effervescent personality. He was a fluent and powerful orator. In later years he was comfortably off as director of the Distillery Company and chairman of the Irish News , and enjoyed organising summer fêtes – "days of delight" – for Belfast children. His approach in life was 'getting things done'. He lived most of his life in Belfast, though he spent some earlier years in London. An acknowledged spokesman and leader of Catholic nationalists in Ulster for decades, Devlin died in Belfast on 18 January 1934. He
2548-445: Was returned for the four member constituency until Proportional Representation by the Single Transferable Vote was abolished for territorial constituencies and single member seats were introduced for the 1929 election. In 1927, Devlin was urged by Alfie Byrne to stand in the Irish general election (for a seat in the Dublin parliament) but he refused saying "If I do that, the poor people of Belfast, who have stood by me loyally for
2600-469: Was suggesting that the group should be allowed to fade away. In October, Maxwell proposed reinvigorating the League by holding an Ard Fheis , but Healy opposed this, and the group was instead allowed to become moribund. In 1938, the IUA was superseded when Éamon de Valera founded an Anti-Partition League . The group organised a speaker tour of Britain with speakers from Fianna Fáil and the Nationalist Party, including Healy and Anthony Mulvey . However,
2652-411: Was unsuccessful, but did beat the official Nationalist. The League had become inactive by the mid-1930s. In 1936, Paddy Maxwell founded the Irish Union Association ( IUA ), aiming to revive the NLN platform. Although it gained the support of most Nationalist Party Members of Parliament , T. J. Campbell and Richard Byrne did not join. The group failed to make an impact, and by early 1937, Healy
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#17328445263372704-439: Was vehemently opposed by one nationalist organisation, the Munster based All-for-Ireland League (AFIL), an independent party founded by William O'Brien who held Devlin's AOH as being at the root of widespread religious intimidation and sectarianism. He and his followers were attacked at a UIL Convention in Dublin in February 1909 by 400 militant "Mollies" organised by Devlin to silence him and his followers at what became known as
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