 Nationalism: is a range of political, social, and economic systems characterised by

promoting the interests of a particular nation or ethnic group, particularly with the
aim of gaining and maintaining self-governance, or full sovereignty, over the
group's homeland. The political ideology therefore holds that a nation should
govern itself, free from unwanted outside interference, and is linked to the concept
of self-determination. Nationalism is further oriented towards developing and
maintaining a national identity based on shared characteristics such as culture,
language, race, religion, political goals or a belief in a common
ancestry. Nationalism therefore seeks to preserve the nation's culture. It often also
involves a sense of pride in the nation's achievements, and is closely linked to the
concept of patriotism.
 Unionism in Ireland is a political ideology that favours the continuation of some
form of political union between the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. Since
the partition of Ireland, unionism in Ireland has focused on maintaining and
preserving the place of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom. In this context,
a distinction may be made between the unionism in the province of Ulster and
unionism elsewhere in Ireland.
 Home rule: is the power of a constituent part (administrative division) of a state to
exercise such of the state's powers of governance within its own administrative
area that have been decentralized to it by the central government.
In the British Isles, it traditionally referred to self-government, devolution or
independence of its constituent nations—initially Ireland, and later Scotland, Wales,
and Northern Ireland. In the United States and other countries organised as
federations of states, the term usually refers to the process and mechanisms of
self-government as exercised by municipalities, counties, or other units of local
government at the level below that of a federal state. It can also refer to the similar
system under which Greenland and the Faroe Islands are associated with
Denmark.
 Sinn Fein: Sinn Féin is a left-wing Irish republican political party active in the
Republic of Ireland as well as in Northern Ireland.
The Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith. It took its current
form in 1970 after a split within the party (with the other side becoming the Workers'
Party of Ireland), and has historically been associated with the Provisional Irish
Republican Army (IRA).Gerry Adams has been party president since 1983.
Sinn Féin is a major party in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. It is
the largest nationalist party in the Northern Ireland Assembly, and the second-
largest overall; it had four ministerial posts in the most recent power-sharing
Northern Ireland Executive.
 Dáil Éireann is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish
legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the
upper house).[2] It currently consists of 158 members, representing 40
constituencies, and is directly elected at least once every five years under the
system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote
(STV). Its powers are similar to those of lower houses under many other bicameral
parliamentary systems and it is by far the dominant branch of the Oireachtas.
Subject to the limits imposed by the Constitution of Ireland, it has power to pass
any law it wishes, and to nominate and remove the Taoiseach (head of
government). Since 1922, it has met in Leinster House in Dublin.
 Patrick Henry Pearse was an Irish teacher, barrister, poet, writer, nationalist and
political activist who was one of the leaders of the Easter Rising in 1916. Following
his execution along with fifteen others, Pearse came to be seen by many as the
embodiment of the rebellion.
 Éamon de Valera was a prominent politician and statesman in 20th-century Ireland.
His political career spanned over half a century, from 1917 to 1973; he served
several terms as head of government and head of state. He also led the
introduction of the Constitution of Ireland.
De Valera was a commander in the 1916 Easter Rising, a political leader in the War
of Independence and of the anti-Treaty opposition in the ensuing Irish Civil
War (1922–1923). After leaving Sinn Féin in 1926 due to its policy of abstentionism,
he founded Fianna Fáil, and was head of government.
 Michael Collins (was a soldier and politician who was a leading figure in the
struggle for, and achievement of Irish independence in the early 20th century.
Collins was an Irish revolutionary leader, politician, Minister for Finance, Director of
Information, and Teachta Dála (TD) for Cork South in the First Dáil of 1919,
Adjutant General, Director of Intelligence, and Director of Organisation and Arms
Procurement for the IRA, President of the Irish Republican Brotherhoodfrom
November 1920 until his death, and member of the Irish delegation during
the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations. Subsequently, he was both Chairman of the
Provisional Government and Commander-in-chief of the National Army. Collins was
shot and killed in an ambush in August 1922 during the Irish Civil War.
 The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is any of several armed movements in Ireland in
the 20th and 21st centuries dedicated to Irish republicanism, the belief that all of
Ireland should be an independent republic. It was also characterised by the belief
that political violencewas necessary to achieve that goal.
The first known use of the term "Irish Republican Army" occurred in the Fenian
raids on many British landmarks, towns, and forts in the late 1700s and 1860s. The
original Irish Republican Army formed in 1917 from those Irish Volunteers who
refused to enlist in the British Armyduring World War I, members of the Irish Citizen
Army and others. During the Irish War of Independence it was the army of the Irish
Republic, declared by Dáil Éireann in 1919.
 The Ulster Volunteers was a unionist militia founded in 1912 to block domestic
self-government (or Home Rule) for Ireland, which was then part of the United
Kingdom. The Ulster Volunteers were based in the northern province of Ulster.
Many Ulster Protestants feared being governed by a Catholic-majority parliament
in Dublin and losing their local supremacy and strong links with Britain. In 1913, the
militias were organised into the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and vowed to resist
any attempts by the British Government to 'impose' Home Rule on Ulster. Later that
year, Irish nationalists formed a rival militia, the Irish Volunteers, to safeguard
Home Rule. In April 1914, the UVF smuggled 25,000 rifles into Ulster. The Home
Rule Crisis was halted by the outbreak of World War I in August 1914. Many UVF
members enlisted with the British Army's 36th (Ulster) Division and went to fight on
the Western Front.
After World War I, the British Government decided to set up two self-governing
regions in Ireland: Northern Ireland (made up of six Ulster counties with
Protestant/unionist majorities) and Southern Ireland. However, by 1920 the Irish
War of Independence was raging and the Irish Republican Army (IRA), the army of
the self-declared Irish Republic, was launching attacks on British forces in Ireland.
As a response to these attacks, the UVF was revived. However, this revival was
largely unsuccessful and the UVF was absorbed into the Ulster Special
Constabulary (USC), the reserve police force of the Northern Ireland Government.
 Cumann na mBan is an Irish republican women's paramilitary organisation formed
in Dublin on 2 April 1914, merging with and dissolving Inghinidhe na hÉireann, and
in 1916, it became an auxiliary of the Irish Volunteers. Although it was otherwise an
independent organisation, its executive was subordinate to that of the Volunteers.