18.5: The Rise of Sinn Féin and the First Dáil In this
topic, you will learn about:
The rise of Sinn Féin The 1918 General Election The fi rst Dáil
The rise of Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin’s popularity rose after the Easter Rising for a number of reasons:
• Sinn Féin was given the recognition and credit for the Easter Rising in newspapers at the time. Many younger people became drawn to the party and felt that the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) was outdated.
• People were angered by the executions of the leaders of the Easter Rising. Many became convinced that Home Rule would not be enough, and so support for the IPP declined.
• Sinn Féin changed its aims in 1917. The new aim was to achieve ‘the international recognition of Ireland as an independent Irish Republic’.
• Sinn Féin began to win by-elections in 1917 and 1918, fi lling seats that were empty due to retirements and deaths during World War I. Elections had not been held since the outbreak of war. One example was in East Clare in 1917, when Éamon de Valera won the by-election to replace the IPP MP Willie Redmond (brother of John Redmond), who had been killed in World War I.
• Éamon de Valera took over from Arthur Griffi th as Sinn Féin leader in 1917. De Valera was the only surviving commander from the Easter Rising and benefi ted from people’s growing admiration for the rebels. De Valera also became the new President of the Irish Volunteers.
• In 1918, the British government planned to introduce conscription to Ireland. This became known as the Conscription Crisis. Conscription is when it is made compulsory for men aged 18 and over to join the military for a period of time. All Irish parties at the time were opposed to conscription, but Sinn Féin organised its opposition very well. When the British government dropped its plans, Sinn Féin received most of the credit for it.
• The German Plot was when members of Sinn Féin were arrested by the British government for allegedly plotting with Germany. There was no evidence to support this, which again increased Sinn Féin’s popularity.
An anti-conscription poster 258 Éamon de Valera A Sinn Féin by-election poster
