Irish republicanism
Represented by Sinn Féin, republicans would gradually invest in political action, including the Northern Ireland peace process and the Good Friday Agreement of 1998.
This included the Plantations of Ireland, in which the lands held by Gaelic Irish clans and Hiberno-Norman dynasties were confiscated and given to Protestant settlers ("Planters") from England and Scotland.
[3] One of the main problems was that within the leadership of the Hispano-Irish diaspora, there were rivalries and factionalism between two primary contenders, Shane O'Neill and Hugh O'Donnell, over who should be the overall leader and thus have rights to an Irish throne if the project was a success.
[3] Beginning as a coup d'état with the aim of restoring lost lands in the north of Ireland and defending Catholic religious and property rights,[4] (which had been suppressed by the Puritan Parliament of England) it evolved into the Irish Confederate Wars.
Founded in 1791 and informed by the Enlightenment, popular sovereignty and the likes of John Locke and Thomas Paine, they initially propagated parliamentary reform and Catholic emancipation.
[5][6] Degradation in the legal achievement of these outcomes, coupled with the burgeoning perception of England as a foreign conqueror, inspired revolutionary sentiment and eventual action.
The key founders included Wolfe Tone, Thomas Russell, Henry Joy McCracken, James Napper Tandy, and Samuel Neilson.
These activities were perceived by some to be merely "the dying echoes of an old convulsion",[13] but others feared further large-scale uprisings, due to the United Irishmen continuing to attract large numbers of Catholics in rural areas of the country and arms raids being carried out on a nightly basis.
[18] Unlike those of 1798, preparations for the uprising were successfully concealed from the government and law enforcement, and though a premature explosion at an arms depot attracted the attention of police, they were unaware of the United Irishmen activities at the time and did not have any information regarding the planned rebellion.
Emmet escaped and hid for some time in the Wicklow Mountains and Harold's Cross, but was captured on 25 August and hanged on 20 September 1803, at which point the Society of United Irishmen was effectively finished.
[24] Though the Young Irelanders did not support the use of violence, the writers of The Nation maintained that the introduction of these peace resolutions was poorly timed, and that to declare outright that physical force would never be used was 'to deliver themselves bound hand and foot to the Whigs.
'[25] William Smith O'Brien, who had previously worked to achieve compromise between O'Connell and The Nation group, was also concerned, and claimed that he feared these resolutions were an attempt to exclude the Young Irelanders from the Association altogether.
After some protest, the Young Irelanders left Conciliation Hall and the Repeal Association forever, founding the Irish Confederation 13 January 1847 after negotiations for a reunion had failed.
[30] Members present at the first meeting were James Stephens, Thomas Clarke Luby, Peter Langan, Joseph Denieffe, Garrett O'Shaughnessy, and Charles Kickham.
The original oath of the society, drawn up by Luby under Stephens' direction, read: I, AB., do solemnly swear, in the presence of Almighty God, that I will do my utmost, at every risk, while life lasts, to make [other versions, according to Luby, establish in'] Ireland an independent Democratic Republic; that I will yield implicit obedience, in all things not contrary to the law of God [ 'laws of morality'] to the commands of my superior officers; and that I shall preserve inviolable secrecy regarding all the transactions [ 'affairs'] of this secret society that may be confided in me.
Irish republican and other independence movements were suppressed by the British authorities following the merging of Ireland with Britain into the United Kingdom after the Act of Union in 1801.
During the Anglo-Irish War, the British government formed a paramilitary police force consisting of former soldiers, known as the "Black and Tans", to reinforce the Royal Irish Constabulary's Auxiliary Division.
Éamon de Valera, who had served as President of the Irish Republic during the war, refused to accept the decision of the Dáil and led the opponents of the treaty out of the House.
Shortly afterwards, some dissidents, apparently without the authorisation of the anti-Treaty IRA Army Executive, occupied the Four Courts in Dublin and kidnapped JJ "Ginger" O'Connell, a pro-Treaty general.
The new government, responding to this provocation and to intensified British pressure following the assassination by an anti-treaty IRA unit in London of Henry Wilson, ordered the regular army to take the Four Courts, thereby beginning the Irish Civil War.
It is believed that Collins continued to fund and supply the IRA in Northern Ireland throughout the civil war, but, after his death, W. T. Cosgrave (the new President of the Executive Council, or prime minister) discontinued this support.
However, the harsh measures adopted by both sides, including assassinations, executions and other atrocities, left a bitter legacy in Irish politics for decades to follow.
De Valera, who had strongly supported the Republican anti-treaty side in the Civil War, reconsidered his views while in jail and came to accept the ideas of political activity under the terms of the Free State constitution.
The new Constitution removed all reference to the monarchy but foreign diplomats continued to present their credentials to the King in accordance with the Executive Authority (External Relations) Act 1936 which had not been repealed.
Student leaders such a Bernadette Devlin McAliskey and Nationalist politicians such as Austin Currie tried to use non-violent direct action to draw attention to the blatant discrimination.
By late August, the British government had to intervene and declare a state of emergency, sending a large number of troops into Northern Ireland to stop the intercommunal violence.
The Provos were led by Seán Mac Stíofáin and immediately began a large scale campaign against British state forces and economic targets in Northern Ireland.
[63] A 1983 article examined statements by Irish republicans on the issue of religion, and found that the attitudes contrasted with "the commonsense view" that Sinn Féin and the Provisional IRA supported Catholics and opposed Protestants.
[86] The article said that An Phoblacht "bends over backwards to be sympathetic to men who have expressed consistently anti-Catholic sentiments", including at times the Loyalist leader Ian Paisley, as they are seen as fellow Irish citizens whereas the British forces are seen as the principal enemy.
[69][92] "[M]aintain[ing] fidelity" and upholding sacrificial notions function as an "imperative" for republicans: commemoration, thus, is both ubiquitous and political as evidenced by Sinn Féin's literature and rationale during the peace process.
