By 1918 there had been a serious fall in the number of volunteers for the armed services. The government therefore decided to introduce conscription in Ireland: Irish men could therefore be forced to join the armed forces. After the events of 1916 and the treatment of the rebels this caused a large uproar in Ireland. A huge anti-conscription campaign had begun which the IPP, the Catholic Church, trade unions and republicans supported. This was another example of how public opinion had hardened on the aftermath of the Easter Rising.
Having swept away much of the Irish Party in the general election, the victorious Sinn Fein MPS refused to go to the London Parliament. Instead the set up their own parliament in Dublin called the Dail Eireann. They met together for the first time in Dublin in January 1919 and the parliament was called the Dail Eireann.
On the same day as Dail Eireann met for the first time in January 1919, two policemen were shot dead in Soloheadbeg, County Tipperary. This was the start of a war of independence fought by an organisation called the Irish republican army. In order to gain completely independent Ireland, some republicans renewed the military conflict with the British forces that had started in Easter week 1916. The IRA claimed to be the army of the new independent Ireland set up by Dail Eireann. Between 1919 and 1921 the IRA fought a bitter guerrilla war against the British army and the police. Led by Michael Collins, the IRA concentrated on a secret arson and ambushes of the British forces.
Republicans waged the war of independence in the tradition of the 1916 rebellion. The Ira fought a guerrilla campaign against the crown forces in urban and rural areas throughout Ireland. In response to this the British called for volunteers for a new paramilitary force called the black and tans. The black and tans as they were known were mainly ex soldiers who were soon going to gain a reputation of brutality. An unofficial reprisal lead to the escalation of conflict and by 1921 British public opinion was turning against the government’s conduct of the war. Meanwhile the government of Ireland act created the state of Northern Ireland. The act was simply in the south while the unionists began to tighten their control in the north. By the middle of 1921 the IRA leadership realised that they could no longer sustain the military campaign. Both sides were moving towards a truce and one was eventually made.
While the IRA was fighting the war of independence, the British government had set up a committee to try to solve the Ulster problem. This committee recommended dividing Ireland into two parts. Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State. The government of Ireland act was passed in 1920. It separated six of the nine counties of Ulster from the rest of Ireland, and set up two parliaments: one in Dublin and one in Belfast.
There were many consequences of the 1916 Easter Rising and we can still see these consequences today. These rebels were highly respected in Ireland and much of what happened onward was for them.
BY: Chris Mc Curry 12.A
