Just Finished Reading: Bitter Freedom – Ireland in a Revolutionary World 1918-1923 by Maurice Walsh (FP: 2015) [432pp]

It was a promise and one that the Irish were determined to have paid in full. When the Government of Ireland Act was passed (also known as the Home Rule Act) in 1914 it was the first time that power had been devolved to any part of the UK and not a colonial territory. Unfortunately for the Irish, eager to have a substantial say in their own government the First World War intervened and the Act was put on hold for the duration. But the clock was ticking and, in 1918, the alarm went off – and alarm it was. When the British government dragged their feet, worried over the implications in the rest of the Empire and Dominions, the Irish protested and agitated for exactly what had been promised them – to no avail. The Irish were told to wait, as they had been waiting for centuries, until the ‘time was right’. But patience was at an end. Pamphlets, newspaper articles and even strikes were no longer enough. Civil disobedience, passive resistance and talks of outright rebellion circulated but still the British demurred. Part of the issue was the Irish predicted inability, through inexperience more than anything else, to govern themselves. The detractors had a point and the proto-Irish government privately conceded the point. In response a ‘shadow’ government was announced to the world and was, at least at first, viewed by most as little more than a joke. It wasn’t long through before people stopped laughing. Slowly the Irish politicians became more professional and more of the Irish State apparatus fell under their remit. The British courts were increasingly ignored with cases decided by local Irish magistrates, taxes were collected and used for Irish needs rather than to aid the British administration of Ireland. Slowly power shifted with or without British say so or their co-operation. In danger of being made irrelevant the British government struck back.

With an increased police presence and a growing use of British armed force the Irish were presented with a choice. They could submit and wait or they could fight. They chose to fight. Fully aware that they could not defeat the combined forces of the British Empire they decided to make Ireland ungovernable. The British, for their part, decided to use ‘any means necessary’ to enforce their rule. As can be imagined the result was chaos, suffering and death. As the fighting progressed, deepened and spread neither side could ‘lose face’ and retire from the combat. Attack begat reprisal, burning of villages begat attacks on isolated police stations, arrests and executions begat assassinations. It got bad, really bad. As the months and years dragged on and the dead piled up on both sides finally calmed heads prevailed. Both sides realised that they couldn’t go on like this. It was time to compromise – Ireland would have Home Rule but would still be part of the Empire and would still owe allegiance to the British monarch. Although this was a bitter pill it could be swallowed and sold to the long suffering population as a victory and as a major step on the path to full independence in the future. Despite arguments in the Irish ranks the deal was done and Ireland was finally free. But not, it seemed, free of conflict. A strong faction within the Irish administration wanted full independence now and not at some indeterminate point in the future and they were prepared to fight for it – even if they had to fight their own people to do so. After the briefest of pauses and after most British troops had left the country the Irish Civil War erupted on the streets of Dublin with the sound of artillery fire not heard there since 1916.

It was interesting to see events that I’m reasonably familiar with embedded within the context of both global and imperial events of the era. After all the events of 1918-1923 took place during the Russian revolution and subsequent Civil War which resulted in a Bolshevik scare that drifted across Europe and even into the United States. This was also a time of unrest in India (the Amritsar Massacre took place in 1919) and agitation in both Canada and Australia for greater autonomy and it was the age of ‘Self-determinism’ and Wilson’s 14 points. Without setting the Irish situation within this framework some of the acts on both sides can seem almost inexplicable. Context is, as they say, everything and context is something we get in spades in this excellent work of history. Being of southern Irish descent I do find digging into that troubled countries history endlessly fascinating. Although my father didn’t talk much about his family’s history there – he left the country when he was 10 – I did come across some names, organisations (such as the hated ‘Black & Tans’) and events that he had mentioned over the years. That in itself was thought-provoking enough for me. Others without such a personal connection to the area will, I think, find it equally interesting to see what the Irish people had to go through to gain the things that many at that time and especially today take for granted – the ability to run their own affairs without reference to an alien authority. Definitely recommended for a whole host of reasons. Much more to come.