Anglophone Worlds in Context

Commentary on the Irish Declaration of Independence of 1919

The text could be consider informative since its main purpose is to declare the independence of

Ireland and inform the sovereign state, the British Empire, and particularly the Irish people of such

independence. The text could also be seen as an administrative text or rather a legal one, since it is

an official document that creates or seeks to create a change in the official government. Such

change was already on its way since the general election held in 1918, which the Sinn Féin won.

However, instead of attending the House of Commons “they established the first Dáil Eireann

(parliament of the Republic)” (Litton, 1995:11).

This document was published on 1919 by the Dail Eireann or Provisional Government of

the Republic of Ireland and it is often regarded as the natural continuation of the Proclamation of

the Republic of Ireland, 1916 (Mitchell & Ó Snodaigh, 1985) which lead to the Easter Rising. 1919

was a troubled year for Ireland. World War I had been raging all over Europe, and Irishmen were

dying there, like the men of the 36th Ulster which “in one day, [the 36th ] suffered 5104 casualties,

over 2000 of whom died” (Cronin, 2001:187). Three years earlier the Proclamation of the

Provisional Government of the Irish Republic had been read and signed during the Easter Rising

and this “would become the cornerstone of much nationalism and republican belief for the

remainder of the twentieth century” (Cronin, 2001:194). However, not until the war in Europe was

over Asquith realize how much the situation in Ireland had changed. Sinn Féin,one of the

republican parties in southern Ireland, easily won the elections and those “members who were still

at liberty convened as a national assembly, Dáil Eireann, on 21 January 1919.” (Fiztpatrick,

1989:203). It was on this date that the Declaration of Independence was issued.

This Declaration clearly has two main destinataries. On one side it is an international
Declaration, with the intention of stating the independence of the Irish people both to the British

Empire, which had a plan to “implement an amended form of Home Rule when the war ended”

(Fiztpatrick,1989:203) and to Irish America, which later on would give support and finance the IRB

or IRA as it would come to be known. On the other side it was a way of reminding all Irishmen that

the Dáil Eireann was fighting for the liberty of everyone. Within this second meaning it is not far

fetched to assume that the Declaration was also directed towards the Ulster unionist whom had been

opposing Home Rule for a while now.

The text starts with a series of arguments in order to prove the unlawfulness of the British

occupation and to justify Irish freedom by proving that Irish people never wanted British rule, for

instance “for seven hundred years the Irish people has never ceased to repudiate and has repeatedly

protested in arms against foreign usurpation”. It is clear that the text is referring to the numerous

uprisings, being the Easter Rising the latest of them all. The Easter Rising, ironically, was the less

supported uprising by the public, but it served the republicans to bring public opinion over to this

side, thanks to the fact that “Asquith's government over-reacted beyond even the dreams of the

conspirators” (Fiztpatrick,1989:199). Then the Dáil Eireann goes on about the Easter Rising,

making reference to what was, according to Cronin (2001:193) “one of the key events of the rising”,

the reading of the Proclamation mentioned above. Further below the text states the major Fenian

victory at the 1918 Elections on December, which secured them the majority of the seats to form

Parliament, although what the Republican party did was to form an all-Irish institution, the Dáil

Eireann.

The Declaration the proceeds to ratify the Republic of Ireland as a valid institution, in the

name of “the ancient Irish people”, and the “Irish nation”, however overlooking the fact that one

Irish region, Ulster, was against independence. Political and legal emancipation was the next step,

and thus it was declared that “the elected Representatives of the Irish people alone have the power
to make laws” and that “the Irish Parliament is the only Parliament to which that people will give its

allegiance”.

The unlawfulness of “foreign government in Ireland” was also declared as was the fact that

garrisoned British forces in Ireland were to be considered an invasion force. However, there was no

declaration of war against the British Empire, as Fiztpatrick (1989:207) reminds us “Contrary to

historical fiction, there was no 'declaration of war' in January 1919 when two constables were killed

[…] in Tipperary”.

The closing sentences of the Declaration of Independence have an overall religious tone,

which would also become one of the major issues between republicans and unionists, and which

would fuel the war of terror that was prolongued even after the Independence of most of Ireland,

Ulster refused to leave the Empire, was recognized by both the British Empire and the rest of the

free nations.

Bibliography

Oakland, John, British Civilization: An Introduction, Roudledge, seventh edition 2011

Mitchell, Arthur and Ó Snodaigh eds, Pádraig, Irish Political Documents, 1916-1949, Irish

Academic Press Ltd, 1985

Litton, Helen, The Irish Civil War, An Illustrated History, Wolfhound Press Ltd, 1995 Cronin,

Mike, A History of Ireland, Palgrave McMillan, 2001

Fitzpatrick, David, “Ireland since 1870”, The Oxford History of Ireland, Oxford University

Press, 1989, Foster, R.F. ed.

Online Resources

http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/D/DT/D.F.O.191901210008.html