Political activity of the Irish in Britain, 1919-1925

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to survey the political activity of the Irish in Britain in the years 1919-1925. With the victory of Sinn Fein at the General Election in December 1918 and the subsequent establishment of Dail Eireann, the old Home Rule movement lost its influence although many of those most active in it struggled to find a replacement policy to enable the movement to survive. Similarly, in response to the Sinn Fein movement. Republican organisations in Britain, both political and military, were re-shaped. The experiences of the Irish in Britain vary depending on the local conditions of the areas where they settled. Thus in this study four areas, Liverpool, Tyneside, south Wales, and Glasgow, are chosen as the basis for a comparative study. After surveying the local background of each area in chapter 1, chapters 2, 3, and 4 will examine different currents of Irish political activity in Britain from 1919-1921, as moderate Nationalist organisations strove to sustain themselves, but generally failed to do so, and Republican organisations responded to the changing political and military situation in Ireland. Chapters 5, 6 and 7 then consider the situation of both moderate Nationalist and Republican organisations following the Anglo-Irish Treaty, and during the period of the Civil War and its immediate aftermath, the years 1922-1925.