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Sinn Fein, Agrarian Radicalism and the War of Independence, 1919–1921

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The Revolution in Ireland, 1879–1923

Part of the book series: Problems in Focus Series ((PFS))

Abstract

In the Irish general election of December 1918 some 73 Sinn Fein candidates were elected as against 26 Unionists and 6 members of the old parliamentary party: revolutionary nationalism appeared to have annihilated the more cautious exponents of constitutionalism. In January 1919, following the classical principles as enunciated by Arthur Griffith, the Sinn Fein members refused to go to Westminster. Instead, they met in Dublin and proclaimed themselves Dail Eireann — the parliament of the Irish Republic — reaffirmed the Easter Rising declaration of 1916, adopted a provisional constitution and appointed delegates to attend the peace conference of the Allied powers in Paris.

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Notes and References

  1. Co. Cork Eagle, 4 January 1919.

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  2. Weekly Freeman’s Journal, 7 June 1919.

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  3. Ibid.

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  4. Connaught Telegraph, 9 June 1919.

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  5. Robert Kee, The Green Flag (1972) is the best treatment of this point.

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  6. For recent and classical nationalist statements of this case see New Ireland Forum Report (Dublin) published in May 1984.

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  7. Cf. Patrick Jalland, The Liberals and Ireland (Brighton, 1980).

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  8. Weekly Freeman’s Journal, 20 September 1919.

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  9. Connaught Telegraph, 19 November 1919.

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  14. Irish People, 10 August 1901.

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  15. There is now an extensive literature: see T. W. Moody, Davitt and Irish Revolution (Oxford, 1982);

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  20. There are also sensitive discussions in R. V. Comerford, The Fenians in Context (Dublin, 1985) pp. 223–50

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  22. Report giving by counties and provinces, the area, the Poor Law valuation and purchase-money of lands, and lands in respect of which proceedings have been instituted and are pending for sale under the Irish Land Purchase Act (Cd4412) PP HC 1908, (X) 1462.

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  23. M. Winstanley, Ireland and the Land Question (London and New York, 1984) p. 41.

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  24. Paul Bew, Conflict and Conciliation in Irish Nationalism 1890–1910 (Oxford, 1987) ch. 5.

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  26. See the epilogue to Bew, Conflict and Conciliation.

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  29. Ibid.

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  32. The Weekly Freeman’s Journal, 31 January 1920, argues that the Congested Districts Board was more concerned with its own grazing activities than land redistribution.

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  37. See SPO Dublin Castle, Pand C, Police Reports, Carton no. 5, 1917–21. This return of ‘Agrarian Outrages’ gives a total of 822 (32 of them involving firing at the person) for the period 1 January 1920 to 1 June 1920. This compares with 175 (8 of them involving firing at the person) for the same period in 1919. This in turn compares with a total of 519 as in the 1917–18 period. The great bulk of the agrarian incidents take place in the province of Connaught. There are also reports on agrarian outrages from May 1920 to November 1921 as well as daily and weekly summaries of outrages from April 1920 to December 1921 to be found in the PRO (Kew), CO 904 (139–150). As George Boyce has pointed out, some of the IRA’s activity had a decidedly sectarian tinge, Nationalism in Ireland (1982) p. 325. One police report catches the misery of isolated Protestant farmers: ‘The loyal people and the law-abiding people who are considerable in number are completely terrorised. They openly say what is the good of being loyal to the British government which lets us down every time. A fine old man said to me yesterday: my three sons were killed in the War, my daughter died of disease, while nursing and now I am being robbed of my land, and yet I am loyal. God knows why.’ SPO (Dublin Castle) Crimes Branch Special. Brigadier-General G. Prescott Decie to the assistant under secretary, 1 June 1920.

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  39. Leader, 1 March 1919.

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  42. Weekly Freeman’s Journal, 14 June 1919.

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  43. Leader, 6 September 1919.

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  45. Ibid.

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  48. Irish Times, 26 April 1920.

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  49. Ibid., 29 April 1920.

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  50. Connaught Telegraph, 1 May 1920.

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  51. Ibid., 22 May 1920.

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  52. Ibid, 1 May 1920.

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  53. Irish Times, 1 May 1920.

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  54. Ibid., 3 May 1920.

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  55. Connaught Telegraph, 8 May 1920.

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  56. Ibid., 22 May 1920.

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  57. Co. Cork Eagle, 15 May 1920.

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  58. Ibid.

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  59. Co. Cork Eagle, 22 May 1920.

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  60. Irish Times, 23 May 1920.

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  61. Ibid.

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  62. Ibid.

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  63. Ibid.

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  66. Dail Eireann, vol. 100, col. 1883, 11 August 1946. See also, even more vividly, George Gilmour, Labour and the Republican Movement (Dublin, 1966) p. 13.

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  67. An Phoblacht, 15 November 1930. O’Donnell’s comments here are much more pertinent than in the vaguer observations in his Monkeys in the Superstructure: Reminiscences of Peadar O’Donnell, with an introduction by Michael D. Higgins (Galway, 1986) p. 17.

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  68. Ibid.

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  69. Weekly Freeman’s Journal, 7 January 1922.

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  70. Jeffrey Prager, Building Democracy in Ireland: Political order and cultural integration in a newly independent nation (Cambridge, 1986) p. 62,

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  71. Cf. also the valuable review of the conservative evolution of the IRA newspaper An t-Oglach’s positions to be found in R. Munck, Ireland: Nation, State and Class Struggle (Boulder, Colo, and London, 1985) pp. 122–3.

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  72. Erhard Rumpf and A. C. Hepburn, Nationalism and Socialism in Twentieth Century Ireland (Liverpool, 1977) pp. 21, 53, 55.

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  73. D. Fitzpatrick, ‘The geography of Irish Nationalism 1910–21’, Past and Present, LXXVII (1978) 78.

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  74. Rumpf and Hepburn, Nationalism and Socialism, p. 55.

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  76. B. Clifford (ed,), Reprints from the Cork Free Press (Belfast and Cork, 1984).

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  77. T. Garvin, The Politics of Irish Separatism: The Ideologies and Politics of Irish Nationalist Revolutionaries 1891–1923 (forthcoming).

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  78. See Bew, Land and National Question and Conflict and Conciliation.

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Authors
  1. Paul Bew
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D. G. Boyce

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© 1988 Paul Bew

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Bew, P. (1988). Sinn Fein, Agrarian Radicalism and the War of Independence, 1919–1921. In: Boyce, D.G. (eds) The Revolution in Ireland, 1879–1923. Problems in Focus Series. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-18985-4_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-18985-4_11

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-333-40389-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-349-18985-4

  • eBook Packages: Palgrave History CollectionHistory (R0)

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