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132-507: The ideas that led to Sinn Féin were first propounded by the United Irishman newspaper and its editor, Arthur Griffith . An article by Griffith in that paper in March 1900 called for the creation of an association to bring together the disparate Irish nationalist groups of the time, and as a result Cumann na nGaedheal was formed at the end of 1900. Griffith first put forward his proposal for

264-599: A wireless telegraph station and sent out a radio broadcast in Morse code , announcing that an Irish Republic had been declared. This was the first radio broadcast in Ireland. Elsewhere, some of the headquarters battalion under Michael Mallin occupied St Stephen's Green , where they dug trenches and barricaded the surrounding roads. The 1st battalion, under Edward 'Ned' Daly , occupied the Four Courts and surrounding buildings, while

396-677: A "Provisional Army Council". The split in the republican movement was completed at the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis on 10–11 January at the Intercontinental Hotel in Ballsbridge , Dublin, when the proposal to drop abstention was put before the members. The policy of abandoning abstentionism had to be passed by a two-thirds majority to change the party's constitution. Again, there were allegations of malpractice and that pro- Goulding supporters cast votes they were not entitled to. In addition,

528-511: A 'discredited rump' and "regarded as a faction" by what was now the main body of the movement. Despite the dropping of the word 'provisional' at a convention of the IRA Army Council in September 1970, and becoming the dominant group, they are still known, "to the mild irritation of senior members" as Provisionals, Provos or Provies. Sinn Féin was given a concrete presence in the community when

660-560: A Catholic state, and opposed parliamentary democracy, advocating its replacement with a form of government akin to Portugal 's Estado Novo , but rejected fascism as they considered a fascist state to be too secular and centralized. The re-organisation yielded fruit during the Border Campaign which was launched on 12 December 1956. In the Irish general election of 1957 Sinn Féin fielded 19 abstentionist candidates and won four seats and 6.5% of

792-617: A coded message from the Supreme Council of the IRB informing him of their decision to start a rebellion at Easter 1916: "We have decided to begin action on Easter Sunday. We must have your arms and munitions in Limerick between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. We expect German help immediately after beginning action. We might have to begin earlier." Head of the Irish Citizen Army, James Connolly,

924-602: A company under Seán Heuston occupied the Mendicity Institution , across the River Liffey from the Four Courts. The 2nd battalion, under Thomas MacDonagh, occupied Jacob's biscuit factory. The 3rd battalion, under Éamon de Valera , occupied Boland's Mill and surrounding buildings (uniquely, without the presence of Cumann na mBan women whom de Valera expressly excluded). The 4th battalion, under Éamonn Ceannt, occupied

1056-671: A degree of intimidation of opponents. Piaras Béaslaí gave an account from the 1917 South Longford by-election where a Sinn Féin activist put a gun against the head of a returning officer and forced him to announce the election of Joseph McGuinness , the Sinn Féin candidate, even though the IPP candidate had more votes. Potential candidates who were thought of as serious challengers to Sinn Féin candidates were warned against seeking election in some Ulster constituencies and in Munster . In County Cork all

1188-467: A few Mauser C96 semi-automatic pistols, and grenades. The number of Volunteers who mobilised was much smaller than expected. This was due to MacNeill's countermanding order, and the fact that the new orders had been sent so soon beforehand. However, several hundred Volunteers joined the Rising after it began. Shortly before midday, the rebels began to seize important sites in central Dublin. The rebels' plan

1320-426: A motion in support of the (pro-Goulding) IRA Army Council, led by Tomás Mac Giolla . This motion would only have required a simple majority. As the (pro Goulding) IRA Army Council had already resolved to drop abstentionism, this was seen by the minority group (led by MacStiofain and Ó Brádaigh) as an attempt to subvert the party's constitution. They refused to vote and withdrew from the meeting. Anticipating this move by

1452-621: A purely military strategy accused the leadership of rigging both the Army Convention, held in December at Knockvicar House in Boyle, County Roscommon , and the vote on abandoning the policy of abstentionism and defence of nationalist areas. Traditional republicans and opponents of abstentionism formed the "Provisional" Army Council in December 1969, after the split. Seán Mac Stiofáin, Dáithí Ó Conaill and Seamus Twomey and others established themselves as

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1584-603: A rebellion of any kind; Hobson would be detained by Volunteers until the Rising occurred. The SS Libau (disguised as the Aud ) and the U-19 reached the coast of Kerry on Good Friday, 21 April. This was earlier than the Volunteers expected and so none were there to meet the vessels. The Royal Navy had known about the arms shipment and intercepted the SS Libau , prompting the captain to scuttle

1716-524: A vote of 223 to 218. De Valera resigned and formed a new party, Fianna Fáil , on a platform of republicanising the Free State from within. He took the great majority of Sinn Féin support with him, along with most of Sinn Féin's financial support from America. The remains of Sinn Féin fielded only 15 candidates and won only six seats in the June 1927 election , support sinking to a level not seen since before 1916. In

1848-596: Is quoted as saying that the United Irishman was "the only newspaper of pretensions in Ireland". In 1906 the United Irishman collapsed under a libel suit and was refounded as Sinn Féin , which ran until 1914 when it was suppressed by the British government . This Ireland newspaper–related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Easter Rising Uprising suppressed The Easter Rising ( Irish : Éirí Amach na Cásca ), also known as

1980-470: The 1917 South Longford by-election , where Joseph McGuinness , imprisoned in Lewes jail for his part in the Rising, was elected on the slogan "Put him in to get him out". Over the summer of 1917, surviving members of the Rising were freed from prison by Lloyd George , wary of public opinion as he attempted to get America to join the war. Éamon de Valera overcame his reluctance to enter electoral politics, when he

2112-640: The All-for-Ireland League MPs stood down voluntarily in favour of Sinn Féin candidates. In Ulster, unionists won 23 seats, Sinn Féin 10 and the Irish Parliamentary Party won five (where they were not opposed by Sinn Féin). In the thirty-two counties of Ireland , twenty-four (24) returned only Sinn Féin candidates. In the nine counties of Ulster, unionists polled a majority in four. Because twenty-five seats were uncontested under dubious circumstances, it has been difficult to determine what

2244-462: The August 1927 by-election following the death of Constance Markievicz , Sinn Féin's Cathal Ó Murchadha gained just 2.5% of the vote. Shortly afterward, vice-president and de facto leader MacSwiney announced that the party simply did not have the funds to contest the second general election called that year , declaring "no true Irish citizen can vote for any of the other parties". John J. O'Kelly

2376-509: The Communist Party of Ireland such as Roy Johnston . In his analysis, the primary obstacle to Irish unity was the continuing division between the Protestant and Catholic working classes. This they attributed to the 'divide and rule' policies of capitalism, whose interests a divided working class served. Military activity was seen as counterproductive since its effect was to further entrench

2508-684: The Easter Rebellion , was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the aim of establishing an independent Irish Republic while the United Kingdom was fighting the First World War . It was the most significant uprising in Ireland since the rebellion of 1798 and the first armed conflict of

2640-502: The Grand Canal as these troops advanced towards Dublin. More than 1,000 Sherwood Foresters were repeatedly caught in a crossfire trying to cross the canal at Mount Street Bridge. Seventeen Volunteers were able to severely disrupt the British advance, killing or wounding 240 men. Despite there being alternative routes across the canal nearby, General Lowe ordered repeated frontal assaults on

2772-710: The Home Rule League ) and social ( disestablishment of the Church of Ireland ; the Land League ). The Irish Home Rule movement sought to achieve self-government for Ireland, within the United Kingdom. In 1886, the Irish Parliamentary Party under Charles Stewart Parnell succeeded in having the First Home Rule Bill introduced in the British parliament, but it was defeated. The Second Home Rule Bill of 1893

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2904-684: The Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) who rose to prominence via the organisation, having had restarted recruitment in 1909. These members feared that Home Rule's enactment would result in a broad, seemingly perpetual, contentment with the British Empire. Another militant group, the Irish Citizen Army , was formed by trade unionists as a result of the Dublin Lock-out of that year. The issue of Home Rule, appeared to some, as

3036-564: The Irish Volunteers , led by schoolmaster and Irish language activist Patrick Pearse , joined by the smaller Irish Citizen Army of James Connolly and 200 women of Cumann na mBan seized strategically important buildings in Dublin and proclaimed the Irish Republic . The British Army brought in thousands of reinforcements as well as artillery and a gunboat . There was street fighting on

3168-468: The Irish revolutionary period . Sixteen of the Rising's leaders were executed starting in May 1916. The nature of the executions, and subsequent political developments, ultimately contributed to an increase in popular support for Irish independence. Organised by a seven-man Military Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood , the Rising began on Easter Monday , 24 April 1916 and lasted for six days. Members of

3300-594: The Mansion House, Dublin in April 1917, where his supporters and those of Griffith failed to reach consensus. When a split seemed imminent, O'Flanagan mediated an agreement between Griffith and Plunkett, and a group known as the Mansion House Committee was formed, tasked with organising forthcoming by-elections and sending an envoy to the Paris peace conference . Plunkett joined the Sinn Féin party. Sinn Féin contested

3432-485: The North Circular Road . The British summoned 18-pounder field artillery from Athlone and shelled the rebel positions, destroying the barricades. After a fierce firefight, the rebels withdrew. That afternoon Pearse walked out into O'Connell Street with a small escort and stood in front of Nelson's Pillar. As a large crowd gathered, he read out a ' manifesto to the citizens of Dublin ,' calling on them to support

3564-458: The North Roscommon by-election , in a campaign led by Fr. Michael O'Flanagan , a Sinn Féin organiser, on a policy of appealing for Irish independence at the post-war peace conference. Polling took place in heavy snow on 3 February 1917. Plunkett took the seat by a large majority, and surprised his audience by announcing he intended to abstain from Westminster. Plunkett summoned a convention in

3696-715: The Oath of Allegiance to the Constitution of the Irish Free State, which members of the new Dáil would be required to take, and which included a statement of fidelity to the British King, which many republicans found unacceptable. Supporters of the treaty argued that it gave "freedom to achieve freedom". In the June 1922 election in the area which would become the Irish Free State , the pro-treaty Sinn Féin candidates secured 38% of

3828-480: The South Dublin Union and the distillery on Marrowbone Lane . From each of these garrisons, small units of rebels established outposts in the surrounding area. The rebels also attempted to cut transport and communication links. As well as erecting roadblocks, they took control of various bridges and cut telephone and telegraph wires. Westland Row and Harcourt Street railway stations were occupied, though

3960-621: The Ulster Volunteers (UVF) in January 1913. The UVF's opposition included arming themselves, in the event that they had to resist by force. Seeking to defend Home Rule, the Irish Volunteers was formed in November 1913. Although sporting broadly open membership and without avowed support for separatism, the executive branch of the Irish Volunteers – excluding leadership – was dominated by

4092-594: The abstention of Irish members of parliament from the Westminster parliament at the 1902 Cumann na nGaedheal convention. A second organisation, the National Council, was formed in 1903 by Maud Gonne and others, including 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

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4224-419: The "occasional sniping", noted one Volunteer. However, where the rebels dominated the routes by which the British tried to funnel reinforcements into the city, there was fierce fighting. At 5:25 PM a dozen Volunteers, including Eamon Martin , Garry Holohan, Robert Beggs, Sean Cody, Dinny O'Callaghan, Charles Shelley, and Peadar Breslin, attempted to occupy Broadstone railway station on Church Street. The attack

4356-477: The "three Macs", Tony Magan , Paddy McLogan , and Tomás Óg Mac Curtain . The "three Macs" believed that a political organisation was necessary to help rebuild the IRA. IRA members were instructed to join Sinn Féin en masse, and despite the IRA's small numbers following WW2, they were successfully able to fully take over the organisation. This takeover of Sinn Féin was made possible due to the weak state of Sinn Féin itself;

4488-482: The 1985 local elections it won fifty-nine seats on seventeen of the twenty-six Northern Ireland councils, including seven on Belfast City Council. United Irishman The United Irishman was an Irish nationalist newspaper co-founded by Arthur Griffith and William Rooney . It was first published on 4 March 1899 and ran from 1899 to 1906. Contributors included Oliver St. John Gogarty , Pádraig Pearse , Maud Gonne and Roger Casement . The writer James Joyce

4620-557: The Admiralty. It is unclear how extensive Room 40's decryptions preceding the Rising were. On the eve of the Rising, John Dillon wrote to Redmond of Dublin being "full of most extraordinary rumours. And I have no doubt in my mind that the Clan men – are planning some devilish business – what it is I cannot make out. It may not come off – But you must not be surprised if something very unpleasant and mischievous happens this week". The information

4752-483: The Anti-Treaty faction (standing as "Republican" and led by de Valera) secured 29% of the vote and 44 seats, but applied an abstentionist policy to the new Dáil Éireann . The seeds of another split were sown when leader Éamon de Valera came to believe that abstentionism was not a workable tactic. In March 1926 the party held its Ard Fheis and de Valera proposed that elected members be allowed to take their seats in

4884-511: The British Government of Ireland Act 1920 ) opted out, as the Treaty allowed. The reasons for the split were various, although partition was not one of them – the IRA did not split in the new Northern Ireland and pro- and anti-Treaty republicans there looked to pro-Treaty Michael Collins for leadership (and weapons). The principal reason for the split is usually described as the question of

5016-526: The British Army. The minority that objected – retaining the name – did so in accordance with separatist principles, official policy thus becoming "the abolition of the system of governing Ireland through Dublin Castle and the British military power and the establishment of a National Government in its place"; the Volunteers believed that "England's difficulty" was "Ireland's opportunity". The Supreme Council of

5148-695: The British authorities would take it at face value. On 9 April, the German Navy dispatched the SS Libau for County Kerry , disguised as the Norwegian ship Aud . It was loaded with 20,000 rifles, one million rounds of ammunition, and explosives. Casement also left for Ireland aboard the German submarine U-19 . He was disappointed with the level of support offered by the Germans and he intended to stop or at least postpone

5280-416: The British government attempted to suppress the Volunteers or introduce conscription in Ireland , and if such a rising had some chance of success. Hobson and IRB President Denis McCullough held similar views as did much of the executive branches of both organisations. The Military Council kept its plans secret, so as to prevent the British authorities from learning of the plans, and to thwart those within

5412-526: The British government, Sinn Féin was not involved in the Easter Rising . The leaders of the Rising were looking for more than the Sinn Féin proposal of a separation stronger than Home Rule under a dual monarchy . Any group that disagreed with mainstream constitutional politics was branded 'Sinn Féin' by British commentators. In January 1917, George Noble Plunkett , father of the executed 1916 leader Joseph Plunkett , stood for election as an independent in

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5544-477: The British would shell the ' second city ' of the British Empire. The principal rebel positions at the GPO, the Four Courts, Jacob's Factory and Boland's Mill saw little action. The British surrounded and bombarded them rather than assault them directly. One Volunteer in the GPO recalled, "we did practically no shooting as there was no target". Entertainment ensued within the factory, "everybody merry & cheerful", bar

5676-486: The Dáil if and when the controversial oath of allegiance was removed. Mary MacSwiney and Michael O'Flanagan led the abstentionist section opposing the motion. The conference instructed a joint committee of representatives from the two sections to arrange a basis for co-operation. That day it issued a statement declaring "the division within our ranks is a division of Republicans." The next day De Valera's motion narrowly failed by

5808-542: The Gaelic League, and occupy their premises. Although the British authorities said the "Castle Document" was fake, MacNeill ordered the Volunteers to prepare to resist. Unbeknownst to MacNeill, the document had been forged by the Military Council to persuade moderates of the need for their planned uprising. It was an edited version of a real document outlining British plans in the event of conscription. That same day,

5940-543: The German government and military. Casement – later accompanied by Plunkett – persuaded the Germans to announce their support for Irish independence in November 1914. Casement envisioned the recruitment of Irish prisoners of war, to be known as the Irish Brigade , aided by a German expeditionary force who would secure the line of the River Shannon , before advancing on the capital. Neither intention came to fruition, but

6072-543: The German military did agree to ship arms and ammunition to the Volunteers, gunrunning having become difficult and dangerous on account of the war. In late 1915 and early 1916 Devoy had trusted couriers deliver approximately $ 100,000 from the American-based Irish Republican organization Clan na Gael to the IRB. In January 1916 the Supreme Council of the IRB decided that he rising would begin on Easter Sunday, 23 April 1916. On 5 February 1916 Devoy received

6204-516: The IRA declared a ceasefire in 1975. 'Incident centres' were set up to communicate potential confrontations to the British authorities. They were manned by Sinn Féin, which had been legalised the year before by Secretary of State , Merlyn Rees . The party had launched its platform, Éire Nua (a New Ireland) at the 1971 Ard Fheis . In the words of Brian Feeney, "Ó Brádaigh would use Sinn Féin ard fheiseanna to announce republican policy, which was, in effect, IRA policy, namely that Britain should leave

6336-432: The IRB met on 5 September 1914, just over a month after the British government had declared war on Germany . At this meeting, they elected to stage an uprising before the war ended and to secure help from Germany. Responsibility for the planning of the rising was given to Tom Clarke and Seán Mac Diarmada . Patrick Pearse , Michael Joseph O’Rahilly , Joseph Plunkett and Bulmer Hobson would assume general control of

6468-471: The Military Council informed senior Volunteer officers that the rising would begin on Easter Sunday. However, it chose not to inform the rank-and-file , or moderates such as MacNeill, until the last minute. The following day, MacNeill got wind that a rising was about to be launched and threatened to do everything he could to prevent it, short of informing the British. He and Hobson confronted Pearse, but refrained from decisive action as to avoiding instigating

6600-491: The Mount Street position. The British eventually took the position, which had not been reinforced by the nearby rebel garrison at Boland's Mills, on Thursday, but the fighting there inflicted up to two-thirds of their casualties for the entire week for a cost of just four dead Volunteers. It had taken nearly nine hours for the British to advance 300 yd (270 m). On Wednesday Linenhall Barracks on Constitution Hill

6732-437: The National Council and the Sinn Féin League, led many Irish people to identify with the idea of an independent Gaelic Ireland. The Third Home Rule Bill was introduced by British Liberal Prime Minister H. H. Asquith in 1912. Irish Unionists , who were overwhelmingly Protestants, opposed it, as they did not want to be ruled by a Catholic-dominated Irish government. Led by Sir Edward Carson and James Craig , they formed

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6864-440: The National Council annual convention, the League and the National Council merged on terms favourable to Griffith. The resulting party was named Sinn Féin, and its foundation was backdated to the National Council convention of November 1905. In the 1908 North Leitrim by-election , Sinn Féin secured 27% of the vote. Thereafter, both support and membership fell. Attendance was poor at the 1910 Ard Fheis (party conference), and there

6996-407: The Nationalist Party, and in Galway and Waterford no party had a majority. Following the conclusion of the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations between representatives of the British Government and the republican government in December 1921 and the narrow approval of the Treaty by Dáil Éireann , a state called the Irish Free State was established. Northern Ireland (a six-county region set up under

7128-449: The North or the 'war' would continue". After the ending of the truce another issue arose—that of political status for prisoners. Rees released the last of the internees but introduced the Diplock courts , and ended Special Category Status for all prisoners convicted after 1 March 1976. This led first to the blanket protest and then to the dirty protest . Around the same time, Gerry Adams began writing for Republican News , under

7260-419: The North the "Republican Clubs". With an intensification in the conflict the British government made a number of military decisions that had serious political consequences. The Falls Road Curfew would boost the "Provos" in Belfast, coupled with internment in August 1971 followed by Bloody Sunday in Derry in January 1972. These events produced an influx into the Provisionals on the military side, making them

7392-420: The Rising had begun. They seized weapons and planted explosives, but the blast was not loud enough to be heard across the city. The 23-year-old son of the fort's commander was fatally shot when he ran to raise the alarm. A contingent under Seán Connolly occupied Dublin City Hall and adjacent buildings. They attempted to seize neighbouring Dublin Castle, the heart of British rule in Ireland. As they approached

7524-468: The Rising would go ahead the following day, Easter Monday, and that the Irish Volunteers and Irish Citizen Army would go into action as the 'Army of the Irish Republic'. They elected Pearse as president of the Irish Republic, and also as Commander-in-Chief of the army; Connolly became Commandant of the Dublin Brigade. That weekend was largely spent preparing rations and manufacturing ammunition and bombs. Messengers were then sent to all units informing them of

7656-463: The Rising, which greatly reduced the extent of the rebel actions. With much greater numbers and heavier weapons, the British Army suppressed the Rising. Pearse agreed to an unconditional surrender on Saturday 29 April, although sporadic fighting continued briefly. After the surrender, the country remained under martial law . About 3,500 people were taken prisoner by the British and 1,800 of them were sent to internment camps or prisons in Britain. Most of

7788-404: The Rising. The rebels had failed to take either of Dublin's two main railway stations or either of its ports, at Dublin Port and Kingstown . As a result, during the following week, the British were able to bring in thousands of reinforcements from Britain and from their garrisons at the Curragh and Belfast . By the end of the week, British strength stood at over 16,000 men. Their firepower

7920-413: The Sunday morning newspapers. The order resulted in a delay to the rising by a day, and some confusion over strategy for those who took part. British Naval Intelligence had been aware of the arms shipment, Casement's return, and the Easter date for the rising through radio messages between Germany and its embassy in the United States that were intercepted by the Royal Navy and deciphered in Room 40 of

8052-408: The Volunteers by March 1915. In May 1915, Clarke and Mac Diarmada established a Military Council within the IRB, consisting of Pearse, Plunkett and Éamonn Ceannt – and soon themselves – to devise plans for a rising. The Military Council functioned independently and in opposition to those who considered a possible uprising inopportune. Volunteer Chief-of-Staff Eoin MacNeill supported a rising only if

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8184-409: The actual support for the party was in the country. Various accounts range from 45% to 80%. Academic analysts at the Northern Ireland demographic institute (ARK) estimate a figure of 53%. Another estimate suggests Sinn Féin had the support of approximately 65% of the electorate (unionists accounting for approximately 20–25% and other nationalists for the remainder). Lastly, emigration was difficult during

8316-423: The approaches to Dublin Castle and isolating the rebel headquarters, which they believed was in Liberty Hall. The British commander, Lowe, worked slowly, unsure of the size of the force he was up against, and with only 1,269 troops in the city when he arrived from the Curragh Camp in the early hours of Tuesday 25 April. City Hall was taken from the rebel unit that had attacked Dublin Castle on Tuesday morning. In

8448-434: The barracks were never seized. The only substantial combat of the first day of the Rising took place at the South Dublin Union where a piquet from the Royal Irish Regiment encountered an outpost of Éamonn Ceannt's force at the northwestern corner of the South Dublin Union. The British troops, after taking some casualties, managed to regroup and launch several assaults on the position before they forced their way inside and

8580-404: The basis of an "imminent civil war". Although the Third Home Rule Bill was eventually enacted, the outbreak of the First World War resulted in its implementation being postponed for the war's duration. It was widely believed at the time that the war would not last more than a few months. The Irish Volunteers split. The vast majority – thereafter known as the National Volunteers – enlisted in

8712-432: The building and hoisted two republican flags. Pearse stood outside and read the Proclamation of the Irish Republic . Copies of the Proclamation were also pasted on walls and handed out to bystanders by Volunteers and newsboys. The GPO would be the rebels' headquarters for most of the Rising. Volunteers from the GPO also occupied other buildings on the street, including buildings overlooking O'Connell Bridge . They took over

8844-448: The by-line "Brownie", calling for Sinn Féin to become more involved politically and to develop more left-wing policies . Over the next few years, Adams and those aligned with him would extend their influence throughout the republican movement and slowly marginalise Ó Brádaigh, part of a general trend of power in both Sinn Féin and the IRA shifting north. In particular, Ó'Brádaigh's part in the 1975 IRA ceasefire had damaged his reputation in

8976-462: The castle gates. Unbeknownst to the rebels, the Castle was lightly guarded and could have been taken with ease. The rebels instead laid siege to the Castle from City Hall. Fierce fighting erupted there after British reinforcements arrived. The rebels on the roof exchanged fire with soldiers on the street. Seán Connolly was shot dead by a sniper, becoming the first rebel casualty. By the following morning, British forces had re-captured City Hall and taken

9108-410: The creation of a dual monarchy , and proposed that Irish MPs should follow the same course. These were published later that year in a booklet entitled The Resurrection of Hungary . Also in 1904, a friend of Griffith, Mary Ellen Butler (a cousin of Unionist leader Edward Carson ), remarked in a conversation that his ideas were "the policy of Sinn Féin , in fact" and Griffith enthusiastically adopted

9240-433: The crossfire during firefights between the British and the rebels. The shelling and resulting fires left parts of central Dublin in ruins. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , abolishing the Irish Parliament and giving Ireland representation in the British Parliament . From early on, many Irish nationalists opposed

9372-419: The division was the product of discussions throughout the 1960s over the merits of political involvement as opposed to a purely military strategy. The political strategy of the leadership was to seek to unite the Protestant and Catholic working classes in class struggle against capitalism: it saw the sectarian troubles as fomented to divide and rule the working class. The split, when it finally did come, arose over

9504-593: The dominant force and finally eclipsing the Officials everywhere while bringing hundreds into Ó Brádaigh's Sinn Féin. People began to flock to join the "Provos", as they were called, and in an effort to reassert its authority, the Goulding section began to call itself "Official IRA" and "Official Sinn Féin", but to no avail. Within two years the Provisionals had secured control, with the 'Officials' both North and South considered

9636-613: The early hours of Tuesday, 120 British soldiers, with machine guns, occupied two buildings overlooking St Stephen's Green: the Shelbourne Hotel and United Services Club. At dawn they opened fire on the Citizen Army occupying the green. The rebels returned fire but were forced to retreat to the Royal College of Surgeons building. They remained there for the rest of the week, exchanging fire with British forces. Fighting erupted along

9768-549: The ensuing Conscription Crisis decisively swung support behind Sinn Féin. The British Government responded by arresting and interning the leading members of Sinn Féin and hundreds of others not involved in the organisation, accused of complicity in a fictitious German Plot . Sinn Féin won 73 of Ireland's 105 seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom at the December 1918 general election , twenty-five of them uncontested. The IPP,

9900-531: The eyes of Ulster republicans. The prisoners' protest climaxed with the 1981 hunger strike , during which striker Bobby Sands was elected Member of Parliament for Fermanagh and South Tyrone with the help of the Sinn Féin publicity machine. After his death on hunger strike, his seat was held, with an increased vote, by his election agent, Owen Carron , and two IRA volunteers were also elected to Dáil Éireann. These successes helped convince republicans that they should contest more elections. Danny Morrison expressed

10032-629: The first preference vote and 58 seats, against 21% and 35 seats for anti-treaty candidates. Within days of the election, the Civil War erupted between the supporters of the Treaty and its opponents. De Valera and his supporters sided with the anti-Treaty IRA against the National Army . The pro-Treaty parties, including the Labour Party and Farmers' Party , sat as the Third Dáil . On 6 December 1922, when

10164-476: The gate a lone and unarmed police sentry, James O'Brien, attempted to stop them and was shot dead by Connolly. According to some accounts, he was the first casualty of the Rising. The rebels overpowered the soldiers in the guardroom but failed to press further. The British Army's chief intelligence officer, Major Ivon Price, fired on the rebels while the Under-Secretary for Ireland, Sir Matthew Nathan, helped shut

10296-828: The international recognition of Ireland as an independent Irish republic. Having achieved that status the Irish people may by referendum freely choose their own form of Government. This kept the party's options open on the question of the constitutional form of an independent Ireland, although in practice it became increasingly republican in nature. The Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) under John Redmond —and later under John Dillon —won three by-elections in early 1918. Sinn Féin came back with victories for Patrick McCartan in Tullamore in April, and Arthur Griffith in East Cavan in June (when Fr. O'Flanagan

10428-425: The largest party in Ireland for forty years, had not fought a general election since 1910; in many parts of Ireland its organisation had decayed and was no longer capable of mounting an electoral challenge. Many other seats were uncontested owing to Sinn Féin's mass support, with other parties deciding that there was no point in challenging Sinn Féin given that it was certain to win. Contemporary documents also suggest

10560-512: The latter only briefly. The railway line was cut at Fairview and the line was damaged by bombs at Amiens Street , Broadstone , Kingsbridge and Lansdowne Road . Around midday, a small team of Volunteers and Fianna Éireann members swiftly captured the Magazine Fort in the Phoenix Park and disarmed the guards. The goal was to seize weapons and blow up the ammunition store to signal that

10692-419: The leaders of the Rising were executed following courts martial . The Rising brought physical force republicanism back to the forefront of Irish politics, which for nearly fifty years had been dominated by constitutional nationalism. Opposition to the British reaction to the Rising contributed to changes in public opinion and the move toward independence, as shown in the December 1918 election in Ireland which

10824-592: The leaders. It was decided to postpone action until after Easter Monday, and in the meantime, Nathan telegraphed the Chief Secretary , Augustine Birrell , in London seeking his approval. By the time Birrell cabled his reply authorising the action, at noon on Monday 24 April 1916, the Rising had already begun. On the morning of Easter Sunday, 23 April, the Military Council met at Liberty Hall to discuss what to do in light of MacNeill's countermanding order. They decided that

10956-457: The leadership during the 1960s. The leadership faction of the party was referred to as Sinn Féin (Gardiner Place) – the offices of Sinn Féin for many years – and the other as Sinn Féin (Kevin Street), the location of the opposing offices. Both Goulding's IRA faction and Mac Stíofáin's group called themselves the IRA. At the end of 1970 then, the terms 'Official IRA' and 'Regular IRA' were introduced by

11088-484: The leadership had also refused delegate status (voting rights) to a number of Sinn Féin cumainn (branches), particularly in the north and in County Kerry , where they knew them to be opposed. The motion was debated all of the second day, and when it was put to a vote at 5.30 p.m. the result was 153:104 in favour of the motion but failing to achieve the necessary two-thirds majority. The leadership then attempted to propose

11220-423: The leadership, they had already booked a hall in 44 Parnell Square , where they established a "caretaker executive" of Sinn Féin. The Caretaker Executive declared itself opposed to the ending of abstentionism, the drift towards "extreme forms of socialism", the failure of the leadership to defend the nationalist people of Belfast during the 1969 Northern Ireland riots , and the expulsion of traditional republicans by

11352-541: The mood at the 1981 Ard Fheis when he said: Under Adams's leadership, electoral politics became increasingly important. In 1983 Alex Maskey was elected to Belfast City Council , the first Sinn Féin member to sit on that body. Sinn Féin polled over 100,000 votes in the Westminster elections that year, with Adams winning the West Belfast seat previously held by the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). In

11484-490: The new orders. On the morning of Monday 24 April, about 1,200 members of the Irish Volunteers and Irish Citizen Army mustered at several locations in central Dublin. Among them were members of the all-female Cumann na mBan . Some wore Irish Volunteer and Citizen Army uniforms, while others wore civilian clothes with a yellow Irish Volunteer armband, military hats, and bandoliers . They were armed mostly with rifles (especially 1871 Mausers ), but also with shotguns, revolvers,

11616-505: The new state came into being, pro-Treaty Sinn Féin TDs formed the Executive Council of the Irish Free State . Early in 1923, pro-Treaty Sinn Féin TDs led by W. T. Cosgrave formed a new party, Cumann na nGaedheal . The Civil War ended in May 1923, when the anti-Treaty IRA stood down and "dumped arms". In the 1923 general election , Cumann na nGaedheal won 41% of the popular vote and 63 seats;

11748-501: The next year, manifested in rumours of the Rising. Public displays likewise existed in the espousal of anti-recruitment. The number of Volunteers also increased: between December 1914 and February 1916 the rank and file rose from 9,700 to 12,215. Although the likes of the civil servants were discouraged from joining the Volunteers, the organisation was permitted by law. Shortly after the outbreak of World War I, Roger Casement and John Devoy went to Germany and began negotiations with

11880-478: The northern edge of the city centre on Tuesday afternoon. In the northeast, British troops left Amiens Street railway station in an armoured train, to secure and repair a section of damaged tracks. They were attacked by rebels who had taken up position at Annesley Bridge . After a two-hour battle, the British were forced to retreat and several soldiers were captured. At Phibsborough , in the northwest, rebels had occupied buildings and erected barricades at junctions on

12012-669: The old Fenian leader Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa in New York City in August 1915 was an opportunity to mount a spectacular demonstration. His body was sent to Ireland for burial in Glasnevin Cemetery , with the Volunteers in charge of arrangements. Huge crowds lined the route and gathered at the graveside. Pearse (wearing the uniform of the Irish Volunteers) made a dramatic funeral oration, a rallying call to republicans, which ended with

12144-483: The organisation who might try to stop the rising. The secrecy of the plans was such that the Military Council largely superseded the IRB's Supreme Council with even McCullough being unaware of some of the plans, whereas the likes of MacNeill were only informed as the Rising rapidly approached. Although most Volunteers were oblivious to any plans their training increased in the preceding year. The public nature of their training heightened tensions with authorities, which, come

12276-526: The party had become a shell of its former self in the decades since the Fianna Fáil split. Paddy McLogan was named Sinn Féin president in 1950, with fellow IRA member Tomás Ó Dubhghaill named vice-president, signalling the IRA's complete control of the party's apparatus. The party began to advocate a corporatist social policy inspired by the Papal Encyclicals of Pope Pius XI , with the aim of creating

12408-461: The party. The party did not have a leader of the stature of Cosgrave or de Valera. Numbers attending the Ard Fheis had dropped to the mid-40s and debates were mainly dominated with issues such as whether members should accept IRA war pensions from the government. Mary MacSwiney left in 1934 when members decided to accept the pensions. Cathal Ó Murchadha led the party from 1935 to 1937. Margaret Buckley

12540-610: The playing down of the role of the IRA and its inability to adequately defend the nationalist population in Northern Ireland in the violent beginning to the Troubles . One section of the Army Council wanted to go down a purely political ( Marxist ) road, and abandon armed struggle. Some writers allege that "IRA" had been dabbed on walls over the north and was used to disparage the IRA, by writing beside it, "I Ran Away". Those in favour of

12672-431: The policy. Many were concerned about the downplaying of the role of the IRA. Opponents of the move would galvanise around Seán Mac Stíofáin , Seamus Twomey and Ruairí Ó Brádaigh . There were parallel splits in the republican movement in the period 1969 to 1970; one in December 1969 in the IRA, and the other in Sinn Féin in January 1970. The stated reason for the split in the IRA was "partition parliaments", however,

12804-494: The popular vote. The introduction of internment and the establishment of military tribunals hindered the IRA campaign and it was called off in 1962. In the 1961 General Election the party won no seats and its vote dropped to 3.2%. Tomás Mac Giolla was elected president in 1962. His presidency marked a significant shift towards the left. The Wolfe Tone Directories were set up to encourage debate about policy. The directory attracted many left wing thinkers and people associated with

12936-648: 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 the meantime, a third organisation, the Dungannon Clubs , named after the Dungannon Convention of 1782 , had been formed in Belfast by Bulmer Hobson , and it also considered itself to be part of 'the Sinn Féin movement'. By 1907, there

13068-444: The press to differentiate Goulding's 'Officials' from Mac Stíofáin's 'Provisionals'. During 1971, the rival Sinn Féins played out their conflict in the press, with the Officials referring to their rivals as the "Provisional Alliance", while the Provisionals referred to the Officials (IRA and Sinn Féin) as the "NLF" (National Liberation Front). To add to the confusion both groups continued to call their respective political organisations in

13200-543: The rebels prisoner. The rebels did not attempt to take some other key locations, notably Trinity College , in the heart of the city centre and defended by only a handful of armed unionist students. Failure to capture the telephone exchange in Crown Alley left communications in the hands of the Government with GPO staff quickly repairing telephone wires that had been cut by the rebels. The failure to occupy strategic locations

13332-418: The rebels threw back. Exhausted and almost out of ammunition, Heuston's men became the first rebel position to surrender. Heuston had been ordered to hold his position for a few hours, to delay the British, but had held on for three days. Reinforcements were sent to Dublin from Britain and disembarked at Kingstown on the morning of Wednesday 26 April. Heavy fighting occurred at the rebel-held positions around

13464-420: The rising. During this time, the Volunteers amassed ammunition from various sources, including the adolescent Michael McCabe. On Wednesday 19 April, Alderman Tom Kelly , a Sinn Féin member of Dublin Corporation , read out at a meeting of the corporation a document purportedly leaked from Dublin Castle , detailing plans by the British authorities to shortly arrest leaders of the Irish Volunteers, Sinn Féin and

13596-508: The routes into the city centre, where the rebels slowed the British advance and inflicted many casualties. Elsewhere in Dublin, the fighting mainly consisted of sniping and long-range gun battles. The main rebel positions were gradually surrounded and bombarded with artillery. There were isolated actions in other parts of Ireland; Volunteer leader Eoin MacNeill had issued a countermand in a bid to halt

13728-533: The sectarian divisions. If the working classes could be united in class struggle to overthrow their common rulers, it was believed that a 32-county socialist republic would be the inevitable outcome. The party became involved in the Dublin Housing Action Committee , protests against ground-rent landlordism, and in the co-operative movement. In one case Joe Clarke , a veteran of the Easter Rising,

13860-432: The ship. Furthermore, Casement was captured shortly after he landed at Banna Strand . When MacNeill learned that the arms shipment had been lost, he reverted to his original position. With the support of other leaders of like mind, notably Bulmer Hobson and The O'Rahilly , he issued a countermand to all Volunteers, cancelling all actions for Sunday. This countermanding order was relayed to Volunteer officers and printed in

13992-541: The small rebel force in the tin huts at the eastern end of the Union surrendered. However, the Union complex as a whole remained in rebel hands. A nurse in uniform, Margaret Keogh, was shot dead by British soldiers at the Union. She is believed to have been the first civilian killed in the Rising. Three unarmed Dublin Metropolitan Police were shot dead on the first day of the Rising and their Commissioner pulled them off

14124-506: The streets to hinder British Army movement. A joint force of about 400 Volunteers and the Citizen Army gathered at Liberty Hall under the command of Commandant James Connolly. This was the headquarters battalion, and it also included Commander-in-Chief Patrick Pearse, as well as Tom Clarke, Seán Mac Diarmada and Joseph Plunkett . They marched to the General Post Office (GPO) on O'Connell Street , Dublin's main thoroughfare, occupied

14256-467: The streets. Partly as a result of the police withdrawal, a wave of looting broke out in the city centre, especially in the area of O'Connell Street (still officially called "Sackville Street" at the time). Lord Wimborne, the Lord Lieutenant, declared martial law on Tuesday evening and handed over civil power to Brigadier-General William Lowe . British forces initially put their efforts into securing

14388-472: The term. The phrase Sinn Féin ('ourselves' or 'we ourselves') had been in use since the 1880s as an expression of separatist thinking, and was used as a slogan by the Gaelic League in the 1890s. 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

14520-494: The title of President of the Irish Republic. In the 1920 city council elections, Sinn Féin gained control of ten of the twelve city councils in Ireland. Only Belfast and Derry remained under unionist and IPP (respectively) control. In the local elections of the same year , Sinn Féin won control of 25 of the 33 county councils. (Tipperary had two county councils, so there were 33.) Antrim , Down , Londonderry and Armagh were controlled by Unionists, Fermanagh and Tyrone by

14652-623: The union and the continued lack of adequate political representation, along with the British government's handling of Ireland and Irish people, particularly the Great Famine . The union was closely preceded by and formed partly in response to an Irish uprising – whose centenary would prove an influence on the Easter Rising. Three more rebellions ensued: one in 1803 , another in 1848 and one in 1867 . All were failures. Opposition took other forms: constitutional (the Repeal Association ;

14784-659: The war, which meant that tens of thousands of young people were in Ireland who would not have been there under normal circumstances. On 21 January 1919, twenty-seven Sinn Féin MPs assembled in Dublin's Mansion House and proclaimed themselves the parliament of Ireland, the First Dáil . They elected the Ministry of Dáil Éireann as the executive government of the Irish Republic, headed by the President of Dáil Éireann . From August 1921, de Valera used

14916-401: The words " Ireland unfree shall never be at peace ". In early April, Pearse issued orders to the Irish Volunteers for three days of "parades and manoeuvres" beginning on Easter Sunday. He had the authority to do this, as the Volunteers' Director of Organisation. The idea was that IRB members within the organisation would know these were orders to begin the rising, while men such as MacNeill and

15048-512: Was also a dominant feature of debate. Although Sinn Féin had taken seats at council level since the 1950s, many people in the party were becoming in favour of abandoning the policy, while a significant number were still opposed to taking seats in "partitionist parliaments." Matters were not helped by a report from the Garland Commission, a committee led by Seán Garland to investigate and caucus opinion about abstentionism, which favoured ending

15180-474: Was attributed to lack of manpower. In at least two incidents, at Jacob's and Stephen's Green, the Volunteers and Citizen Army shot dead civilians trying to attack them or dismantle their barricades. Elsewhere, they hit civilians with their rifle butts to drive them off. The British military were caught totally unprepared by the Rising and their response of the first day was generally un-coordinated. Two squadrons of British cavalry were sent to investigate what

15312-462: Was burnt down under the orders of Commandant Edward Daly to prevent its reoccupation by the British. The rebel position at the South Dublin Union (site of the present-day St. James's Hospital ) and Marrowbone Lane, further west along the canal, also inflicted heavy losses on British troops. The South Dublin Union was a large complex of buildings and there was vicious fighting around and inside

15444-463: Was difficulty finding members willing to take seats on the executive. While some local councillors were elected running under the party banner in the 1911 local elections, by 1915 the party was, in the words of one of Griffith's colleagues, "on the rocks", and so insolvent financially that it could not pay the rent on its headquarters in Harcourt Street in Dublin. Although it was blamed for it by

15576-553: Was duly defeated, but the National Council remained in existence as a pressure group to increase nationalist representation on local councils. Griffith elaborated his policy in a series of articles in the United Irishman in 1904, which outlined how the policy of withdrawing from the imperial parliament and passive resistance had been successfully followed in Hungary , leading to the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 and

15708-542: Was ejected from a function commemorating the Rising, as he had interrupted (now President of Ireland ) de Valera's speech with criticisms over Fianna Fáil's poor provision of housing. Sinn Féin, which ran under the label "Republican Clubs" in the North, became involved with the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association , although it never controlled it as some unionists believed. However abstentionism

15840-578: Was elected in East Clare on 10 July 1917. A fourth by-election was won by W. T. Cosgrave in Kilkenny City . The Mansion House Committee organised an Ard Fheis in October 1917, where again the party nearly split between its monarchist and republican wings. De Valera was elected president, with Griffith and O'Flanagan as vice-presidents. A compromise motion was passed, which read: Sinn Féin aims at securing

15972-486: Was elected president in place of de Valera and remained in this position until 1931 when Brian O'Higgins took over the leadership. The party did not contest the 1932 general election , which saw Fianna Fáil enter government for the first time. During the 1930s Sinn Féin did not contest any elections. Its relationship with the Irish Republican Army (IRA) soured and during the 1930s the IRA severed its links with

16104-487: Was happening. They took fire and casualties from rebel forces at the GPO and at the Four Courts. As one troop passed Nelson's Pillar , the rebels opened fire from the GPO, killing three cavalrymen and two horses and fatally wounding a fourth man. The cavalrymen retreated and were withdrawn to barracks. On Mount Street, a group of Volunteer Training Corps men stumbled upon the rebel position and four were killed before they reached Beggars Bush Barracks . Although ransacked,

16236-504: Was passed by the House of Commons but rejected by the House of Lords . After the death of Parnell, younger and more radical nationalists became disillusioned with parliamentary politics and turned toward more extreme forms of separatism. The Gaelic Athletic Association , the Gaelic League , and the cultural revival under W. B. Yeats and Augusta, Lady Gregory , together with the new political thinking of Arthur Griffith expressed in his newspaper Sinn Féin and organisations such as

16368-606: Was passed to the Under-Secretary for Ireland , Sir Matthew Nathan , on 17 April, but without revealing its source; Nathan was doubtful about its accuracy. When news reached Dublin of the capture of the SS Libau and the arrest of Casement, Nathan conferred with the Lord Lieutenant , Lord Wimborne . Nathan proposed to raid Liberty Hall , headquarters of the Citizen Army, and Volunteer properties at Father Matthew Park and at Kimmage , but Wimborne insisted on wholesale arrests of

16500-662: Was president from 1937 to 1950. The party suffered with the introduction of internment during the Emergency . An attempt in the 1940s to access funds which had been put in the care of the High Court led to the Sinn Féin Funds case in 1948, which the party lost and in which the judge ruled that it was not the direct successor of the Sinn Féin of 1917. In 1947 the IRA held its first Army Convention since World War II . The leadership became dominated by three figures, known jokingly as

16632-681: Was pressure on the three organisations to unite—especially from the US, where John Devoy offered funding, but only to a unified party. The pressure increased when C. J. Dolan , the Irish Parliamentary Party MP for Leitrim North , announced his intention to resign his seat and contest it on a Sinn Féin platform. In April 1907, Cumann na nGaedheal and the Dungannon Clubs merged as the 'Sinn Féin League'. Negotiations continued until August when, at

16764-675: Was provided by field artillery which they positioned on the Northside of the city at Phibsborough and at Trinity College, and by the patrol vessel Helga , which sailed up the Liffey, having been summoned from the port at Kingstown. On Wednesday, 26 April, the guns at Trinity College and Helga shelled Liberty Hall, and the Trinity College guns then began firing at rebel positions, first at Boland's Mill and then in O'Connell Street. Some rebel commanders, particularly James Connolly, did not believe that

16896-834: Was suspended by the Catholic Church for making his "Suppressed Speech"). When the British prime minister David Lloyd George called the Irish Convention in July 1917, in an attempt to reach agreement on introducing all-Ireland Home Rule, Sinn Féin declined its allocated five seats on the grounds that the Convention did not allow debate on the full independence of Ireland. After the First World War German spring offensive in March 1918, when Britain threatened to impose conscription on Ireland to bring its decimated divisions up to strength,

17028-770: Was to hold Dublin city centre. This was a large, oval-shaped area bounded by two canals: the Grand to the south and the Royal to the north, with the River Liffey running through the middle. On the southern and western edges of this district were five British Army barracks. Most of the rebels' positions had been chosen to defend against counter-attacks from these barracks. The rebels took the positions with ease. Civilians were evacuated and policemen were ejected or taken prisoner. Windows and doors were barricaded, food and supplies were secured, and first aid posts were set up. Barricades were erected on

17160-480: Was unaware of the IRB's plans, and threatened to start a rebellion on his own if other parties failed to act. The IRB leaders met with Connolly in Dolphin's Barn in January 1916 and convinced him to join forces with them. They agreed that they would launch a rising together at Easter and made Connolly the sixth member of the Military Council. Thomas MacDonagh would later become the seventh and final member. The death of

17292-471: Was unsuccessful and Martin was injured. On Wednesday morning, hundreds of British troops encircled the Mendicity Institution, which was occupied by 26 Volunteers under Seán Heuston. British troops advanced on the building, supported by snipers and machine-gun fire, but the Volunteers put up stiff resistance. Eventually, the troops got close enough to hurl grenades into the building, some of which

17424-436: Was won by the Sinn Féin party, which convened the First Dáil and declared independence . Of the 485 people killed, 260 were civilians, 143 were British military and police personnel, and 82 were Irish rebels, including 16 rebels executed for their roles in the Rising. More than 2,600 people were wounded. Many of the civilians were killed or wounded by British artillery fire or were mistaken for rebels. Others were caught in

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