Celebrating momentous events that shaped the course of Irish history a century ago

A DECADE of commemoration will begin in the year ahead as ceremonies are held to mark the momentous events that changed the face of Ireland a century ago.

At the beginning of 1912 Ireland was an integral part of the United Kingdom.

By the end of 1922 the Irish Free State had been established in the 26 counties while the six counties of Northern Ireland remained part of the UK.

In the intervening decade political agitation, world war, armed rebellion, electoral upheaval and civil war convulsed the country.

Huge social and economic change also took place in the course of those 10 years.

Lenin famously remarked: “There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.”

In Ireland’s case there was a decade where it could be said a century happened.

The major events of that decade from the Home Rule Bill in April 1912 to the establishment of the Free State in 1922 are widely known and are still capable of providing political controversy.

For most of independent Ireland’s history, the 1916 Rising was given pride of place when it came to looking back at that crucial decade.

The First Dáil and the War of Independence were also remembered by nationalists, while the Civil War was widely regarded as an embarrassment.

On the unionist side the resistance to Home Rule, the Somme and the establishment of the Northern state featured prominently in an alternative narrative in which great pride was taken in the loyalty of the unionist population to the United Kingdom and the crown.

One of the byproducts of the Belfast Agreement has been a big effort by political leaders on both sides of the Border to persuade nationalists and unionists to respect the validity of each other’s traditions. The commemoration of those who died in the first World War, with president Mary McAleese and Queen Elizabeth performing the opening ceremony at the tower at Messines, was an important step along the road.

The acknowledgment of the sacrifice made by the Irishmen of both traditions who died in the war has begun to open up some of the deeper complexities of the 1912 to 1922 decade to proper recognition.

For instance the role of constitutional nationalism in the creation of an independent Ireland was still ignored by the Irish State until very recently.

The importance of the labour movement and the struggle for women’s rights in the making of modern Ireland were also generally overlooked in popular history. They too need to be acknowledged in the commemorative events in the years ahead.

The Government has established a committee to plan ahead for the decade of commemorations and Taoiseach Enda Kenny has made a commitment that the process will start with the acknowledgment of the First Home Rule Bill published on April 11th, 1912, which granted Ireland self-government within the United Kingdom.

That piece of legislation was overtaken by the outbreak of the war and the 1916 Rising but it marked a decisive step on the road to independence for the 26 counties.

One of the little known events that happened in Dublin in 1912 illustrates the colourful complexity of the past and the way so much of what happened has been submerged in a narrative focused on violent events.

In the summer of 1912 Irish nationalist leader John Redmond brought British prime minister Herbert Asquith to Dublin to show him the intensity of the passion for Home Rule.

The prime minister received a tumultuous reception on his arrival in the Irish capital.

Not until Tony Blair arrived in Dublin on a state visit after the Belfast Agreement of 1998 was a British prime minister so warmly received.

When he stood up to speak at a public meeting in the Theatre Royal the prime minister was cheered for five solid minutes and the audience sang For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow.

In his address Asquith dismissed all idea of civil war and said he would not be deterred from introducing Home Rule. Replying, Redmond said Home Rule would be accepted by Ireland in absolute good faith as a final settlement of the quarrel between the two countries.

The prime minister’s visit, though, suffered disruption from an unlikely source. A band of suffragettes, campaigning for the right of women to vote, travelled over from England ahead of him.

On the day before his speech they attempted to set fire to the Theatre Royal during a routine show. The fire was quickly extinguished before serous damage or loss of life occurred.

The women then decided to make a spectacular protest during a procession through the city centre by Asquith and Redmond. Alongside the carriage walked the chief marshal decked out resplendently in a Robert Emmet costume of green and gold.

The procession became more exotic when Asquith’s carriage was suddenly surrounded by a body of horsemen carrying flaming torches.

They were Dublin jarveys campaigning against the introduction of motor taxis to the city. The involvement of the jarveys drew great applause from the crowd that lined the streets but things were only hotting up.

Near the GPO, Mary Leigh, the leader of the suffragette unit, dashed from the pavement and jumped up on to the back of the carriage.

She brandished a brand new hatchet which she proceeded to fling at the prime minister’s head. Asquith was oblivious to the commotion and swayed out of the way as the hatchet shot past him.

It caught the unfortunate Redmond on the ear and cut him badly.

Leigh jumped off the carriage and was grabbed by the chief marshal but she showed her mettle by beating him in the face and pulling the epaulettes off his fancy jacket before escaping through the hostile crowd. She was arrested at her lodgings the following day.

It is clear that in Dublin in 1912 the national question was by no means the only issue for debate. The suffragette movement and ordinary concerns like those of the hackney drivers were of equal if not more importance for many people.

For instance the Labour Party, currently the second biggest party in the Dáil, was founded in Clonmel in June, 1912, by trade unionists determined to build a political movement in opposition to the dominant nationalist party in the anticipated Home Rule parliament.

Obviously major events such as the Rising and the Somme, and political events like the First Dáil and the establishment of Stormont will be commemorated in the decade ahead.

It is also fitting that more everyday events like the founding of the Labour Party, the struggle of the suffragettes, the 1913 lockout and the loss of life resulting from political violence should be remembered.

1912-1922: A decade of change

1. 1912, April, Third Home Rule Bill giving Ireland legislative independence published.

2. 1912, April, Ulster Volunteers established to resist Home Rule.

3. 1913, August, bitter Dublin lockout begins over trade union recognition.

4. 1913, November, Irish Volunteers founded as a nationalist response to the Ulster Volunteers.

5. 1914, August, outbreak of the first World War.

6. 1916, April, Easter Rising in Dublin and other parts of Ireland.

7. 1916, July, Battle of the Somme begins.

8. 1919, January, meeting of the First Dáil as newly elected Sinn Féin MPs boycott Westminster.

9. 1920, November, Government of Ireland Act partitions the country and establishes devolved administration in Northern Ireland.

10. 1921, December, Anglo Irish Treaty establishes the Free State.

11. 1922, June, first general election in independent State endorses the parties supporting the Treaty.

12. 1922, June, Civil War begins with the shelling of the Four Courts.

Tomorrow:Gerry Moriarty on how politicians, tourist chiefs and community leaders are preparing for a decade of sensitive centenaries ahead in Northern Ireland