The Irish Volunteers (), also known as the Irish Volunteer Force or the Irish Volunteer Army,Gerry White and Brendan O'Shea. Irish Volunteer Soldier 1913-23. Osprey Publishing, 2013. p.10. Quote: "Those wishing to enlist then had to sign the following enrolment form: I, the undersigned, desire to be enrolled for service in Ireland as a member of the Irish Volunteer Force...".Doerries, Reinhard. Prelude to the Easter Rising: Sir Roger Casement in Imperial Germany. Routledge, 2014. p.20. Quote: "The message came from Count George Noble Plunkett 'as the delegate sent by the President and Supreme Council of the Irish Volunteer Army'".The Irish Volunteer Force/Irish Republican Army (IRA) . BBC History. was a paramilitary organisation established in 1913 by nationalists and republicans in Ireland.Coleman, Marie. The Irish Revolution, 1916-1923. Routledge, 2013. pp. viii, ix, xix, 9McCaffrey, Lawrence John. The Irish Question: Two Centuries of Conflict. University Press of Kentucky, 1995. p.129Bureau of Military History. Witness Statement 741: Michael J Kehoe, Member Irish Brigade, Germany, 1916 . pp. 18, 23, 40, 47, 57, 62 It was ostensibly formed in response to the formation of its Irish unionist/loyalist counterpart the Ulster Volunteers in 1912, and its declared primary aim was "to secure and maintain the rights and liberties common to the whole people of Ireland". Its ranks included members of the Conradh na Gaeilge (Gaelic League), Ancient Order of Hibernians, Sinn Féin and the Irish Republican Brotherhood.William O'Brien and Desmond Ryan (eds.), Devoy's Post Bag, vol. 2, pp. 439-41 (letter from Patrick Pearse to John Devoy, 12 May 1914). Reproduced in National Library of Ireland, The 1916 Rising: Personalities and Perspectives , online exhibition, accessed 12 September 2015. Increasing rapidly to a strength of nearly 200,000 by mid-1914, it split in September of that year over John Redmond's support for the British war effort during World War I, with the smaller group opposed to Redmond's decision retaining the name Irish Volunteers.
Formation
Background
The Irish Home Rule movement dominated political debate in the British Isles since Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone introduced the first Home Rule Bill in 1886, intended to grant a measure of self-government and national autonomy to Ireland, but which was rejected by the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The second Home Rule Bill, seven years later having passed the House of Commons, was vetoed by the House of Lords. It would be the third Home Rule Bill, introduced in 1912, which would lead to the crisis in Ireland between the Irish Catholics, most of whom were nationalists, and Unionists in Ulster.
On 28 September 1912 at Belfast City Hall just over 450,000 Unionists signed the Ulster Covenant to resist the granting of Home Rule. This was followed in January 1913 with the formation of the Ulster Volunteers composed of adult male Unionists to oppose the passage and implementation of the bill by force of arms if necessary. Nationalist politician Eoin MacNeill claimed that the establishment of the Ulster Volunteers was instigated, approved, and financed by members of Conservative Party; MacNeill further claimed that the Liberal Party was not "terribly distressed by that proceeding."
Initiative The initiative for a series of meetings leading up to the public inauguration of the Irish Volunteers came from the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB).Easter 1916: The Irish Rebellion, Charles Townshend, 2005, page 41, The IRA, Tim Pat Coogan, 1970, page 33, The Irish Volunteers 1913–1915, F. X. Martin 1963, page 24, The Easter Rising, Michael Foy & Brian Barton, 2004, page 7, Myths from Easter 1916, Eoin Neeson, 2007, page 79, Victory of Sinn Féin, P.S. O'Hegarty, page 9-10, The Path to Freedom, Michael Collins, 1922, page 54, Irish Nationalism, Sean Cronin, 1981, page 105, A History of Ireland Under the Union, P. S. O'Hegarty, page 669, 1916: Easter Rising, Pat Coogan, page 50, Revolutionary Woman, Kathleen Clarke, 1991, page 44, The Bold Fenian Men, Robert Kee, 1976, page 203, The IRB: The Irish Republican Brotherhood from the League to Sinn Féin, Owen McGee, 2005, 353–354 Bulmer Hobson, co-founder of the republican boy scouts, Fianna Éireann, and member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, believed the IRB should use the formation of the Ulster Volunteers as an "excuse to try to persuade the public to form an Irish volunteer force".The IRB: The Irish Republican Brotherhood from The Land League to Sinn Féin, Owen McGee, Four Courts Press, 2005, pg.353-4 The IRB could not move in the direction of a volunteer force themselves, as any such action by known proponents of physical force would be suppressed, despite the precedent established by the Ulster Volunteers. They therefore confined themselves to encouraging the view that nationalists also ought to organise a volunteer force for the defence of Ireland. A small committee then began to meet regularly in Dublin from July 1913, who watched the growth of this opinion.P. S. O'Hegarty, A History of Ireland Under the Union, Methuen & Co. Ltd, London (1952), Pg.669-70 They refrained however from any action until the precedent of Ulster should have first been established while waiting for the lead to come from a "constitutional" quarter.
The IRB began the preparations for the open organisation of the Irish Volunteers in January 1913. James Stritch, an IRB member, had the Irish National Foresters build a hall at the back of 41 Parnell Square in Dublin, which was the headquarters of the Wolfe Tone Clubs. Anticipating the formation of the Volunteers they began to learn foot-drill and military movements. The drilling was conducted by Stritch together with members of Fianna Éireann. They began by drilling a small number of IRB associated with the Dublin Gaelic Athletic Association, led by Harry Boland.
Michael Collins along with several other IRB members claim that the formation of the Irish Volunteers was not merely a "knee-jerk reaction" to the Ulster Volunteers, which is often supposed, but was in fact the "old Irish Republican Brotherhood in fuller force."The IRB: The Irish Republican Brotherhood from The Land League to Sinn Féin, Owen McGee, Four Courts Press, 2005, pg.354
"The North Began" The IRB knew they would need a highly regarded figure as a public front that would conceal the reality of their control.Michael Foy and Brian Barton, The Easter Rising Sutton Publishing Ltd. 1999, p. 5"Coogan, Tim Pat, The IRA, 1984 ed, page 33 The IRB found in Eoin MacNeill, Professor of Early and Medieval History at University College Dublin, the ideal candidate. McNeill's academic credentials and reputation for integrity and political moderation had widespread appeal.Foy, Michael & Brian Barton, The Easter Rising, 2004, pages 7–8
The O'Rahilly, assistant editor and circulation manager of the Gaelic League newspaper An Claidheamh Soluis, encouraged MacNeill to write an article for the first issue of a new series of articles for the paper.Kee, Robert, The Bold Fenian Men, 1976, page 203 The O'Rahilly suggested to MacNeill that it should be on some wider subject than mere Gaelic pursuits. It was this suggestion which gave rise to the article entitled The North Began, giving the Irish Volunteers its public origins. On 1 November, MacNeill's article suggesting the formation of an Irish volunteer force was published. MacNeill wrote,There is nothing to prevent the other twenty-eight counties from calling into existence citizen forces to hold Ireland "for the Empire". It was precisely with this object that the Volunteers of 1782 were enrolled, and they became the instrument of establishing Irish self-government.The Irish Volunteers 1913–1915, F. X. Martin (cited) 1963, page 71
After the article was published, Hobson asked The O'Rahilly to see MacNeill, to suggest to him that a conference should be called to make arrangements for publicly starting the new movement. The article "threw down the gauntlet to nationalists to follow the lead given by Ulster unionists."Ferriter, Diarmaid, The Transformation of Ireland: 1900–2000, London: Profile, 2004, p. 122, MacNeill was unaware of the detailed planning which was going on in the background, but was aware of Hobson's political leanings. He knew the purpose as to why he was chosen, but he was determined not to be a puppet.Michael Foy and Brian Barton, The Easter Rising Sutton Publishing Ltd. 1999, p. 7
Launch With MacNeill willing to take part, O'Rahilly and Hobson sent out invitations for the first meeting at Wynn's Hotel in Abbey Street, Dublin, on 11 November.The Irish Volunteers 1913–1915, F. X. Martin (cited) 1963, page 25 Hobson himself did not attend this meeting, believing his standing as an "extreme nationalist" might prove problematical. The IRB, however, was well represented by, among others, Seán Mac Diarmada and Éamonn Ceannt, who would prove to be substantially more extreme than Hobson.Aengus Ó Snodaigh, "The Irish Volunteers founded" , An Phoblacht/Republican News, 26 November 1998 Several others meetings were soon to follow, as prominent nationalists planned the formation of the Volunteers, under the leadership of MacNeill. Meanwhile, labour leaders in Dublin began calling for the establishment of a citizens' defence force in the aftermath of the lock out of 19 August 1913. Thus formed the Irish Citizen Army, led by James Larkin and James Connolly, which, though it had similar aims, at this point had no connection with the Irish Volunteers (were later allies in the Easter Rising.)
The Volunteer organisation was publicly launched on 25 November, with their first public meeting and enrolment rally at the Rotunda in Dublin.White, Gerry and O'Shea, Brendan: Irish Volunteer Soldiers 1913–23, p.8, lines 17–21, Osprey Publishing Oxford (2003), The IRB organised this meeting to which all parties were invited,Coogan, Tim Pat, The IRA, 1970, page 33 and brought 5000 enlistment blanks for distribution and handed out in books of one hundred each to each of the stewards. Every one of the stewards and officials wore on their lapel a small silken bow the centre of which was white, while on one side was green and on the other side orange and had long been recognised as the colours which the Irish Republican Brotherhood had adopted as the Irish national banner. The hall was filled to its 4,000 person capacity, with a further 3,000 spilling onto the grounds outside. Speakers at the rally included MacNeill, Patrick Pearse, and Michael Davitt, son of the Land League founder of the same name. Over the course of the following months the movement spread throughout the country, with thousands more joining every week.
Organisation and leadership The original members of the Provisional Committee were:
Portfolio Name Organisation Political PartyHonorary Secretaries Eoin Mac Néill Gaelic League Laurence Kettle Ancient Order of Hibernians Irish Parliamentary PartyHonorary Treasurers The O'Rahilly Gaelic League Sinn Féin John Gore Ancient Order of Hibernians Irish Parliamentary Party
Members: Piaras Béaslaí (Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB)), Roger Casement (GL), Éamonn Ceannt (IRB, GL, SF), John Fitzgibbon (GL, SF), Liam Gogan, Bulmer Hobson (IRB, Fianna Éireann (FÉ)), Michael J. Judge (AOH), Tom Kettle (IPP, AOH), James Lenehan (AOH), Michael Lonergan (IRB, Fianna Éireann (FÉ)), Peter (Peadar) Macken (IRB, Labour leader, SF, GL), Seán Mac Diarmada (IRB, Irish Freedom), Thomas MacDonagh (GL), Liam Mellows (IRB), Maurice Moore (IPP, GL, Connaught Rangers), Séamus O'Connor (IRB), Colm O'Loughlin (IRB, St. Enda's School (SES)), Peter O'Reilly (Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH)), Robert Page (IRB, Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA)), Patrick Pearse (GL, SES), Joseph Plunkett (GL, Irish Review), John Walsh (AOH), Peter White (Celtic Literary Society); Fianna Éireann representatives: Con Colbert (IRB), Eamon Martin (IRB), Patrick O'Riain (IRB).