Sinn Fein was a small militant group that was little know before the First World, but this all changed after the Easter Rebellion. The Catholic population were resentful of the treatment by the British after the Rising considering it was committed by the minority of a minority group. A 'historical myth' grew and Sinn Fein were named as the leaders of the uprising. Sinn Fein's popularity was furthered by policies introduced by the British later in 1916. Sinn Fein sensationalised their struggle, and a year the party had been reshaped into a revolutionary party ready to establish an Irish Republic. With the huge rise in prestige, Sinn Fein became largely popular all over Ireland and by 1918 they achieved an overwhelming electoral victory, with 73 seats in Parliament.
Young Ireland believed that violent agitation was the only tactics capable of gaining independence, and had no intention of changing tactics. Political apathy was at an all time high, and Young Ireland had a tendency to focus on their push for independence even when the famine was at its worst and they doomed themselves.
The Fenians also believed that violence would grant Home Rule. Their basic violence tactics, which went wrong on more than one occasion killed many innocent people. There were also members of the Fenian movement in parliament who used a tactic called Obstruction where they would link every point made, if possible, to Ireland. At the time this was the most radical form of legal action, but it was more a hindrance to the workings of parliament than an advance in their cause.
Daniel O'Connell had used the tactic of brinkmanship whilst fighting for Catholic Emancipation. By making veiled threats of violence at the government and claiming injustice and peace to Catholics, O'Connell was able to force Wellington's hand when he stood for election in Clare. O'Connell then used the same tactic when campaigning for Repeal but Peel's government was strong, capable and was able to risk calling O'Connell's bluff. This showed that although O'Connell had perfected a tactic, he had not realised that new tactics were required to further his cause.
Parnell identified himself with the more militant side of the Home Rule party, and he soon became a master of obstruction. Parnell was not limited to the one tactic alone and when he became leader of the IPP, he found himself in a unique position. Without his support, neither of the dominating parties in parliament could gain enough of a majority without his seats. Parnell was able to choose by which party offered the most to Ireland, and managed to get have two Home Rule bills drawn up.
Redmond was competent at forging alliances whilst keeping his main objective in sight, shown when he allied himself with the Liberal party when he was in the same 'king maker' position that Parnell had found himself in. Thanks to the work of Parnell Home Rule was no longer seen as an unachievable target and political work was capable of gaining Redmond's aim.
De Valera made sure that Sinn Fein tactics did not change too much during their rise to power, agitation against the British and the IPP. These tactics allowed Sinn Fein to gaining 73 seats, but instead of taking their places in Westminster they met in Dublin as The Dail and thanks to their huge victory in the 1918 election they could claim to represent the will of the Irish people. Sinn Fein other main tactic was the former Irish Volunteers, remade into the IRA. The IRA began trying to reduce Britain's power in Ireland through violence resulting in the Anglo-Irish War. By using a wider spectrum of extremities, Sinn Fein managed to achieve more than most thought possible.
O'Connell's attempts to gain Catholic Emancipation with the Catholic Association was successful, however this was short lived as the franchise was raised from a 40 shilling freehold to a £10 household suffrage. O'Connell accepted this and began trying to gain Irish Reforms. Those he achieved were often double sided such as the Coercion Act. This was one of the toughest pieces of law-and-order to affect Ireland but was supported by Catholic Bishops because it reduced crime and violence.
The two Irish Nationalist groups, Young Ireland and the Fenians, both had the sole purpose of forcing Irish independence. Young Ireland never had any intention of working with the British government so they did not gain any concessions, and the Fenians had much the same stance. For both groups, the main reason they did not receive any concessions is because they were violent groups and the British Government would not work with 'terrorists'.
Parnell accepted that the only way to gain Home Rule was by legal means, but he was not always successful in Parliament, as shown in the passing of The Coercion Act of 1881. Parnell was willing to work with the government for reform in his earlier years and achieved the passing of the Second Land Act. When the IPP gained the majority of seats in Southern Ireland Gladstone accepted that Home Rule needed to be granted.
Redmond finally got Home Rule through both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, thanks to the Parliamentary Act of 1911 however due to World War One, the bill was never enacted and in reality Redmond achieved very little. Although Redmond got Home Rule through Parliament, he never actually gained any important concessions.
Sinn Fein managed to achieve Dominion Status for Ireland in 1921. This came about after Sinn Fein’s huge rise in popularity, and the IRA’s ‘campaign of murder and harassment’ against the British. In late 1920 and negotiation towards the Anglo Irish Treaty of 1921 began. The Irish were offered Dominion Status but only half of Sinn Fein accepted this, causing the party to split and civil war to break out. This gave Ireland the greatest independence that any other leaders had, but not the Republic they were looking for.
O'Connell achievement of Emancipation granted virtually full civil and political rights for Catholics, which had a positive effect on Catholics. The Coercion Act 1833 shows how some concessions were negative, as it decreased violent crime in Ireland significantly, but there was an increase in unfair arrest and imprisonment. These Irish people as they felt controlled by the British, and common Irish Catholic's felt that little had been done in their favour, even after Emancipation. The progress that O'Connell made improved life for the Irish and set the path for others to try gain more.
Young Ireland but made very little impact on the lives of the Irish people. Their aims and methods were often failures, and they neither positively nor negatively affected the Irish.
The Fenians were well known compared to Young Ireland, so even though they used the same tactics the Fenians had more impact. Fenian attacks caused much public resentment towards the Irish people in general because the British public opinion against the Fenians spread to the Irish people.
In his attempts to gain Home Rule Parnell achieved fairly few concessions from the British. After Parnell stirred up agitation for Land reform, an acceptable Land Act was enacted in 1882. He also made Home Rule a realistic aim for Ireland and this gave the people of Ireland hope, and the IPP something to work towards. During Parnell's leadership the Coercion Act of 1881 was introduced which had the same consequences as it did in 1833, with many Irish people suffering against unjust arrest and imprisonment.
Redmond was the leader who actually managed to achieve Home Rule. This caused the formation of the Ulster Volunteer Force, who wanted to maintain the Union between Ireland and Britain. The Irish Volunteers were founded in response, and the tension between the two groups was close to civil war, only diverted by the emergence of the WW1. The tension between these two militant factions and WW1 meant that the people had suffered from the animosity between the UVF and the IV's and Home Rule was never achieved.
The declaration of the Anglo-Irish War in 1919 had a huge negative impact on the Irish people due to the Guerrilla tactics used by the IRA. Black-and-Tan's tried to curb IRA violence, but their tactics were harsh and often brutal to innocent Irishmen and women. When Collins managed to receive Dominion Status in 1921, it caused Sinn Fein to split and civil war and violence to take place all over Ireland. This violence has carried on in some areas into the 21th century and minor violence still takes place, due to the partition caused by the Anglo Irish Treaty.
O'Connell achieved many things including Catholic Emancipation, peaceful dealings with the British and bringing the 'Irish Question' into politics. At the time these were impressive achievements, but after gaining Emancipation he pushed for Repeal, and the collapse of the Repeal Campaign was his first major political failure. Followed by his lack of action during the Famine, O'Connell dwindled out of politics and made his achievements seem meagre compared to what they actually where. Due to his failures with the Repeal Campaign, it can be said that O'Connell never achieved his ultimate aim.
Both Young Ireland and the Fenians were treated as terrorist groups, and neither came close to achieving their aims of an independent Ireland. The groups managed to keep the idea of Irish Nationalism and the need for a Republic alive for more effective leaders, such as Parnell.
Parnell was a strong politician and can be credited with bringing Home Rule to the eyes of the British public for the first time, however he was unable to achieve Home Rule in his short life of politics. He was able to unite the Irish MPs and form the IPP, which was vital for Redmond to be able to achieve anything.
Redmond united the IPP and thanks to the Parliamentary Act of 1911 managed to get the Third Home Rule Bill through the House of Commons in 1912. The Lords delayed the Bill for two years, however the creation and tension between the UVF and the IVs meant that when the Act came to be enacted it was postponed along with the outbreak of the First World War. By the end of WW1 the Home Rule Bill was never realised, so although Redmond actually got Home Rule through Parliament, his ultimate aim was never actually achieved in reality.
Sinn Fein was the final group to lead Ireland in their struggle for independence and set out with the aim of an Irish Republic, ever since the Easter Monday Proclamation. When the Irish delegation commenced in 1921 to agree on terms for the Anglo-Irish Treaty Collins returned to Ireland with Dominion Status. The party split over the Treaty, with Collins leading the Pro-treaty republicans and de Valera leading the anti-treaty republicans and civil war began in Ireland. Although Dominion Status was more than any other Irish leader had envisaged, it was not the ultimate aim of Sinn Fein and ultimately led to years of violence in a divided country.
Between 1801 and 1921 each Irish leader tried to advance their causes, but there are varying degrees of success and effectiveness. Young Ireland were a highly ineffective group which gained little support and had less success, and their final act against the government has been described by F.S.L Lyon as having “...all the classical symptoms of romantic idealism totally out of touch with the world or reality.”, a suitable statement considering their beliefs, tactics and achievements.
The Fenians were a similar group, who were crippled by the ineffectiveness of their tactics, such as their status as a secret organisation and violence. Although more effective than Young Ireland in the amount of support they had, the Fenians could achieve nothing due to their terrorists status.
Redmond played an important role as an Irish leader, and was supported and successful in his dealings with the British. His political effectiveness is shown in the passing of the Third Home Rule Bill, and his popularity is shown by his ability to support World War One. Redmond eventually grew ineffective and faded out of power with the emergence of Sinn Fein in 1916.
Parnell was often referred to as 'The Uncrowned King of Ireland' due to his vast success' in parliament, and can be credited with finally opening up the Irish question to a government who would listen, as well as his achievements for Land Reform. He had huge support and by legally fighting for Home Rule, he improved the views of the Irish in parliament.
O'Connell effectively stood against the government at a time where most Catholic politicians would have been unable to. His campaign for Catholic Emancipation was a huge success showing just how effective a politician O'Connell was, and was continued with concessions being granted afterwards. J.C. Beckett said that “No other single person has left such an unmistakeable mark on the history of Ireland”, however I feel this statement is crediting O'Connell with too much. Although he achieved Emancipation O'Connell lost his effectiveness towards the end of his Repeal campaign and other leaders have caused consequences still felt in Ireland almost a century later.
Sinn Fein were a highly effective group at advancing their causes, both politically and violently. Their use of violence succeeded where others failed, showing just how effective Sinn Fein was in comparison to other groups, and by gaining mass support they were able to fight their battles on the political front also. The Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 gave the Irish Dominion status which was the closest to independence that the British would offer. Lord Longford wrote “The British supremacy over Ireland first claimed in 1172 was virtually ended” in regards to the 1921 Treaty, which I believe is due to Sinn Fein's effectiveness when working against the British.
Word Count: 2941 (including title)