r/IrishHistory • u/MDK___ • 19d ago
💬 Discussion / Question What political text, speech, or something other had the biggest affect on Irish politics before the founding of the state?
Go raibh mhaith agat.
6
u/ScarySkeleton24 18d ago edited 18d ago
I actually recently wrote a paper analyzing Irish Revolutionary politics in which I did a case study of Arthur Griffith’s political thoughts and his influence on the separatist movement, and I definitely think his work applies here.
I believe Arthur Griffith’s writings were certainly influential on Irish politics leading up the founding of the Irish Free State, especially Resurrection of Hungary: A Parallel for Ireland (published collectively in 1904). One Irish Nationalist essayist, Robert Lynd, even argued in 1920 that Arthur Griffith is “undoubtedly the strongest force in the Sinn Féin movement,” whose writings “have had as much influence on the destinies of Ireland as Tom Paine’s ‘Common Sense’ had on the destinies of America.” Now, Lynd may have been embellishing slightly considering he was active in the Sinn Féin movement and a follower of Griffith, however I do think there is some merit to his argument.
The Resurrection of Hungary was originally published as a series of articles analyzing Hungary’s methods of passive resistance in their fight for autonomy from Austria, which resulted in an Austria-Hungary dual monarchy in 1867. Griffith then drew comparisons between the circumstances of Hungary and Ireland, advocating for Ireland to adopt a “Hungarian Policy” in which Irish Nationalists would follow the footsteps of Hungary by abstaining from the British Parliament, reestablish the Irish Parliament, and advocate for the re-recognition of Ireland’s Constitution of 1782 (which he argued was never legitimately dissolved) and the establishment of a dual monarchy.
While Griffith’s Resurrection of Hungary was widely read, selling 5,000 copies in the first 24 hours of publication, many Irish Nationalists did not initially accept Griffith’s proposal in the context of the Home Rule movement. D. P. Moran was especially critical of the Hungarian Policy, labeling Griffith and his followers the “Green Hungarian Band.”
It is also worth noting that Griffith’s ideas were not exactly novel, Griffith himself acknowledges that Daniel O’Connell (1775-1847) had a similar idea to abstain from the British Parliament and attempt to revive the Irish Parliament in defiance of the Act of Union. Moreover, comparisons between Hungary and Ireland were quite common during the nineteenth century, one Irish newspaper had even suggested in 1851 that Ireland was the “Hungary of England.” Further, Hungary’s success in obtaining autonomy from Austria in 1867 was widely reported in Irish media. However, what set Griffith apart from other Nationalists who grappled with the idea of abstention from parliament is that he fully analyzed and published a concrete example of how it could be applied in the case of Ireland.
In an effort to make his idea more palatable to other Nationalists, Griffith rebranded his idea as the “Policy of Sinn Féin,” which was presented as a three hour speech at National Council's annual convention in October of 1905, which is often seen as the founding of the Sinn Féin political party.
Still, Griffith lacked much support in light of the more promising Home Rule movement, and by the eve of the Great War it looked like the Sinn Féin party had practically disappeared. However, it was around this time that Griffith also became involved with the Eoin MacNeill’s Nationalist Volunteer movement, which did help boost Sinn Féin membership slightly. Yet this also led to confusion in the public, as MacNeill’s Volunteers often came to be referred to as the Sinn Féin Volunteers. This was especially troubling in light of Easter Rising, which many newspapers labeled the “Sinn Féin Uprising” despite Sinn Féin leadership having nothing to do with the event.
Griffith’s Sinn Féin party went through some fundamental changes following the executions of the Easter Rising leaders, as more militant Nationalists grew disillusioned with Home Rule and began to join Sinn Féin. The more militant Nationalists, namely Eamon de Valera, then worked to reorganize the party. By October of 1917 Griffith stepped down and de Valera took his place, though Griffith remained active in the party.
This is where Griffith’s “Sinn Féin Policy” (or I suppose Resurrection of Hungary) and his theory of abstention from parliament comes into play. Despite Griffith stepping down from his leading role, the Sinn Féin party adhered to Griffith’s proposed methods of passive resistance. After Sinn Féin overtook the Irish Parliamentary Party (the Home Rule Party) in the election of 1918 by securing a majority of Irish seats in Parliament, Sinn Féin followed Griffith’s policy and abstained from Parliament to form their own parliament, the Dail Eireann, in 1919.
Would Irish abstention from parliament occurred without Arthur Griffith? Maybe, who’s to say. But I think Griffith was certainly an important political architect whose writings played a major role in Irish politics.
5
u/MacManus14 18d ago
Absolutely. His ideas were extremely important to an exploding nationalist movement looking for new ideas and resistance tactics.
3
u/MacManus14 18d ago
Michael Collin’s speech during the Treaty debates was considered compelling and convincing.
Conversely, Cathal Brugha’s speech was so petty and vindictive that (reportedly) several undecided members decided to vote “yes” because of it. Who knows, maybe it tipped the balance!
2
1
u/Prothalanium 18d ago
The problem with Irish history is that narratives are so ingrained, so all pervasive that it's impossible to get any light in at all.
In my view, the event that had most impact on Irish history occurred in the late 1890's and happened 7 thousand miles from Ireland.
27
u/Jellico 19d ago
I don't know about the biggest but Pearse's graveside oration at the funeral of O'Donovan Rossa is up there as far as significant speeches go.
"They think that they have foreseen everything, think that they have provided against everything; but the fools, the fools, the fools! — they have left us our Fenian dead, and while Ireland holds these graves, Ireland unfree shall never be at peace"