Due to the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the next general election would not be held until 1918, by which time events both in Ireland and Britain and outside would conspire to see the rise of a new nationalist party, Sinn Féin, and the subsequent demise of the IPP.

The outbreak of the war led to its delay and eventual abandonment in response to the rise of Sinn Féin.

The Irish Parliamentary Party under John Redmond continued the run of success it had enjoyed since the 1880s, winning most seats in Leinster, Munster and Connacht.

1917 saw the first electoral victory for a new nationalist party, Sinn Féin, which won its first seat in the Roscommon North by-election of February 1917.

Sinn Féin would use its success in the next election to form its own extra-legal parliament, Dáil Éireann in Dublin.