Dublin 1914
In 1801 the separate kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland joined in an act of Union. However, the matrimony between Ireland and Britain was characterized by Irish dissent. Well throughout the nineteenth century, Ireland experienced three separate revolts in which it failed to win its independence. In the 1870s, a new autonomy movement emerged under Charles Stewart Parnell. Parnell’s Irish Parliamentary Party advocated for Home Rule in which Ireland would gain greater political autonomy while still maintaining its position within the union. Parnell supported the British Prime Minister William E. Gladstone in 1886 and 1893 to pass the First Home Rule Bill. Unfortunately for Dublin, the liberal government failed to secure a successful home rule bill because Gladstone did not take include the Irish MPs or Tory opposition in the drafting of the bill.
The debates came to head again with the introduction of the Third Home Rule Bill in April of 1912. The bill called for the establishment of a bicameral Irish Parliament in Dublin. In return, the number of Irish MPs (members of parliament) would decrease from 103 to 42 giving more seats to Britain. The Home Rule Bill however, came under fierce opposition by the Protestant majority of Ulster. The Unionist opposition feared their voices would be squelched if the Home Rule Bill passed. The Unionists viewed Home Rule in Ireland would lead to their political and economic disenfranchisement.
This website is a survey of how each side viewed Home Rule through images and primary documents. While Home Rule did not materialize in 1914 and was eclipsed by the outbreak of World War I, it set the stage for the Easter Rising in 1916. Furthermore, the failure of Home Rule defined the modern Irish state.