17.5: Political Parties and Organisations in Ireland in 1910
The Irish Parliamentary Party
The Irish Parliamentary Party declined in popularity after the Parnellite split but was reunifi ed under John Redmond in 1900. It had little power in the early 1900s but had steady support as there was no real alternative. Its constitutional nationalist aims were unchanged:
In this
topic, you will learn about:
Irish political parties and organisations in 1910
• to achieve Home Rule or self-government by having a parliament in Dublin to deal with internal affairs. Westminster could look after external affairs
• the King/Queen of England to be the King/Queen of Ireland.
Sinn Féin Sinn Féin, meaning ‘we ourselves’, is a nationalist political party founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffi th, a Catholic Dublin-born journalist. He wanted Ireland to win independence and establish its own parliament. It started off as a small party but later grew in size. Arthur Griffi th and Sinn Féin wanted:
• a dual monarchy, where the King/Queen of England would also be the King/Queen of Ireland
• to develop Irish industry by having tariffs put on goods transported across international borders
• to achieve these by using parliamentary abstention, meaning that Irish MPs would withdraw from the Westminster parliament they entered in the 1801 Act of Union to set up their own parliament in Dublin
• the Dublin parliament would deal with Ireland’s internal affairs.
The IRB
The Irish Republican Brotherhood had been founded in 1858 and was a secret radical nationalist organisation whose members believed in the use of physical force. In 1910 the IRB was a small organisation and was only starting to grow again in support since the 1880s. The IRB wanted:
• complete independence from Britain • to make Ireland a republic • to use physical force to achieve this.
