JUNIOR CYCLE HISTORY A Life in Time: Edward Carson (1854–1935)
The Red Hand of Ulster
Carson addressing an Orange Order demonstration in Belfast
Early life
Carson was born in Dublin on 9 February 1854, into a middle-class Protestant family, and studied law at Trinity College. His political career began in 1892, when he was appointed Solicitor-General for Ireland. He was elected a Unionist MP for Trinity College (1892– 1918). Carson was a brilliant orator and his public speeches attracted large crowds.
Carson and Home Rule
In February 1910, Carson agreed to become leader of the Irish Unionist Parliamentary Party and in June 1911 he led the Ulster Unionists. He believed the union between Britain and Ireland was in the best interests of his fellow countrymen; he was an Irish patriot, but not a nationalist. During the Home Rule Crisis, he spoke against the Third Home Rule Bill in the House of Commons and organised rallies in Ireland. He was the fi rst signatory of the Ulster Solemn League and Covenant. He was uneasy about the decision to establish an Ulster Volunteer Force and to run guns through Larne. However, he accepted the UVF as a means of applying additional pressure to the British government. By 1914, he had come to support Irish partition as a solution, accepting that Home Rule was inevitable.
Later career
When the Government of Ireland Act 1920 was introduced, Carson advised his party to work for the exemption of six Ulster counties from Home Rule as the best compromise (an idea he had previously rejected). This proposal passed and as a result the Parliament of Northern Ireland was established. Carson remained as Unionist leader until 1921 and retired in October 1929. He died in 1935 and is buried in St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast.
