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Description

The Fight Over Irish Self-Governance After World War I

Rare map of Ireland, illustrating the "Anti-Home Rule" regions, which would become Northern Ireland.

We date the map to the period immediately prior to the 1918 General Election (December 1918), as it includes a portrait of John Dillon, M.P.  Dillon was the last leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party, which was swept out of power by the 1918 General Election.  Following the election, Dillon retired from politics.

The map is embellished with portraits of important leaders of the time, including:

  • William O'Brien, M.P. -- Founder of the All-for-Ireland League
  • Lord Londonderry Prominent Unionist Leader
  • Sir Horace Plunkett - Chairman of the Irish Convention
  • George Russell - Poet and Leading Exponent of Co-operation
  • John Dillon, M.P., Leader of the Irish Nationalist Party
  • Sir Edward Carson, M.P.  The Irish Unionist Leader

The 1918 Irish General Election and The Partition of Ireland

The Irish general election of 1918 saw the overwhelming defeat of the moderate nationalist Irish Parliamentary Party and  landslide victory for the radical Sinn Féin party.  Sinn Féin had vowed o establish an independent Irish Republic. In Ulster, however, the Unionist Party was the most successful party.

The election was held in the aftermath of World War I, the Easter Rising and the Conscription Crisis. It was the first general election to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918. It was thus the first election in which women over the age of 30, and all men over the age of 21, could vote. Previously, all women and most working-class men had been excluded from voting.

In the aftermath of the elections, Sinn Féin's elected members refused to attend the British Parliament in Westminster (London), and instead formed a parliament in Dublin, the First Dáil Éireann ("Assembly of Ireland"), which declared Irish independence as a republic. The Irish War of Independence was conducted under this revolutionary government which sought international recognition, and set about the process of state-building, which ultimately led to the partition of Ireland.

The partition of Ireland was the process by which the Government of Great Britain and Ireland divided the island of Ireland into two separate polities. It took place on May 3, 1921 under the Government of Ireland Act 1920. The smaller of the two, Northern Ireland, was duly created with a devolved administration and forms part of the United Kingdom.  The larger Southern Ireland was intended as a home rule jurisdiction.  However, this plan failed to gain acceptance and instead became independent.  It is now the Republic of Ireland.

The Act of 1920 was intended to create two self-governing territories within Ireland, with both remaining within the United Kingdom. It also contained provisions for co-operation between the two territories and for the eventual reunification of Ireland. However, in 1922, following the War of Independence (1919–1921) and the Anglo-Irish Treaty, the southern and western part became the Irish Free State, while Northern Ireland exercised its option to remain in the United Kingdom.