First World War

The centenary of the outbreak of the First World War has generated a new interest in Ireland on the Irish men who fought and died in that war. While more Irish men fought and died in the First World War than any other in Irish history, it had almost being written out of that history. The third Home Rule Bill for Ireland was passed by the Westminster Parliament in September 1914 but, because of the threat of civil war, its implementation was suspended until after the war. John Redmond (1856-1918), leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party in Westminster who had a big role in the passage of the Home Rule Bill, urged the Irish Volunteers to support Britain in the Great War, and a recruitment campaign was organized around the country. It is now believed that well over 200,000 Irish men fought in the war, most as regular soldiers, reservists, and new recruits in the British army, and others in the forces in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Some also served in the British navy and air force. Most believed that they were fighting for the rights of small nations.

At that time, joining the British army was a contentious issue for Irish nationalists but, for the majority, the reasons were economic and they did not see themselves as either pro-British or anti-Irish. The sentiments expressed so well by Irish Nobel laureate William Butler Yeats in ‘An Irish Airman Foresees his Death’ could not be far from their minds:

Those that I fight I do not hate,

Those that I guard I do not love;

My country is Kiltartan Cross,

My country men, Kiltartan’s poor...

According to the National War Memorial by Edwin Lutyers at Islandbridge in Dublin, 49,400 Irish men were killed in the war, with at least twice that number injured. However, that figure is now disputed, because it lists all killed in Irish regiments, some of whom were not Irish, while many who died in non-Irish regiments are not listed. However, it is accepted that the figure is between 40,000 and 50,000.

John Redmond’s support for Britain in the First World War led to a split in the Irish Volunteers, when a minority of about 12,000 led by Pádraig Pearse and Eoin MacNeill opposed participation, while the majority of approximately 160,000, which became the ‘National Volunteers’, remained loyal. With Britain’s big commitment in the First World War, a group of 1,400 members of the Irish Volunteers led by Pearse, together with two hundred from the Citizen Army under James Connolly, planned a rising for Easter 1916. Despite some confusion and a countermanding order, the insurgents seized the General Post Office (GPO) and other buildings in Dublin on Easter Monday April 24, 1916. The Rising, which caused shock and disbelief around the country, was crushed after six days, ending with an unconditional surrender, with an estimated 450 killed and 2,614 injured. Martial law was imposed and numerous suspects were arrested, including some that were not involved. Fifteen leaders of the Rising, including the seven signatories of the Proclamation, were executed at Kilmainham Jail from May 3 to 12, 1916.

The initial reaction to the Rising in Ireland was hostility, with public opinion strongly against the rebels, but that changed rapidly following execution of the leaders. For many, the executed leaders came to be seen as patriots and nationalist sentiment grew in strength which later strongly influenced political opinions. Many came to see the Rising as a gallant effort to achieve Irish independence; some saw it as a mad and reckless undertaking, and others, especially Ulster Unionists, deemed it to be an act of treachery in the middle of a world war. The 1916 Rising was a major turning point in Irish history, leading a few years later to independence for twenty-six counties, and partition with the six counties of Northern Ireland where a Home Rule assembly was established.

When survivors returned to the south of the country from the First World War, they found that the political situation had changed dramatically during their absence and that their deeds were forgotten by all except for their own families. There was a new and strong nationalist sentiment in the air determined to break the connection with Britain and establish an Irish Republic. The changed political environment created a general amnesia about those who fought in the Great War. Now, the centenaries of the start of the Great War and of other major events in Irish history over the next decade provide an ideal opportunity to embrace an inclusive approach in remembrance of the past and a new understanding of Irishness.

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