In Time of Civil War

Abstract

The Easter Rising was a military failure but a political success. The executions rallied the country behind the rebels, and Sinn Féin, mistakenly identified as the architect of the Rising, reaped the electoral harvest. In October 1917 Griffith stepped down from the leadership in favour of Eamon De Valera, one of the surviving rebel leaders. In the December 1918 elections Sinn Féin won a sweeping victory, the deputies declined their Westminster seats, and convened their own Parliament in Dublin. In January the Dáil declared that Ireland had seceded from the Union, and the Anglo-Irish War began.