Independence Declaration of Ireland

Irish Declaration of Independence

DEBORAH GONZALEZ SERRANO

CENTRO ASOCIADO: Gregorio Marañón.

Asignatura: Mundos Anglófonos en Perspectiva Histórico Cultural.

P E C : Nº1

DATE: 14 de Noviembre 2012

This Document is a Historical Narrative type, it was established by the Dáil Éireann (Irish Assembly) the 21 of January of 1919, at its first meeting in the Mansion house (the official residence of the lord Mayor) in Dublin, its main objective was to declare the condition of complete freedom for the Irish People, to repudiate the military occupation of English troops and also to state the independence of the Republic of Ireland. It was written both in English and in Irish Gaelic, it was also adopted in French.

This document can be considered as the achievement of the hard struggle carried out by the Irish people while trying to obtain the complete independence from Britain possession.

The Irish People have been suffering for years the occupation of English government by force and fraud; British forces have been keeping a military occupation of the country against the will of the Irish people. Irish people have always dreamed of being independent, re-establish its rights as an autonomous country and having a national polity based in their own resolution with equal rights and opportunities for all citizens, as well as establish justice and provide defense and insure peace for all.

Let´s take a closer look to the facts that has led Ireland become an independent society.

Previous to this moment, back in 1916, Irish rebels participated in what was called the Easter Rising or Easter Rebellion, their aim was to end the British control and to establish the Irish Republic, the rising lasted 7 days and its leaders were executed.

This Rising was organized by the IRB (Irish Republican Brotherhood), and it took place in Dublin, having as group leaders Padraig Pearse and James Connolly, the Sinn Fein party (political party of left ideology who promoted the total unification of Ireland by unifying the Island into one single country) as well as the IRB, was created to support the Irish Home Rule in 1912. British government granted the Home Rule for Ireland after the return of Irish Nationalist candidates in elections, it got stronger in 1914.

Continuous attempts follow the fact of reaching freedom for Irish people and for obtaining an independent society, free of the British chains. Nevertheless, despite the intention of the action, the Rising was a failure, even though, it remained of great importance for its significance, many IRB members were killed, others captured.

Eamon de Valera was an American citizen who survived; he was declared president of Ireland in October 1917, In 1918, some volunteers under his command started attacking British military post, later on, Britain introduced the Conscription legislation and extended to Ireland in April 1918, 2000 Irish Volunteers were kept in prison, and the aversion towards Britain increased, At the end of 1918 at the British general election of 14 December, Sinn Fein won 73 out of 105 Irish seats, which was not accepted in London, consequently, the Dáil Eireann was convoked by its members on 21 January 1919 in Dublin, which marked the beginning of civil war.

Besides the Sinn Fein and the IRB, the IRA (Irish Republican Army) was also part of the Irish force, they joined in 1919 led by Michael Collins, using different strategies, mainly attacking isolated military barracks and police, this forced the British troops to abandon the countryside and allowed Irish Army to take control of them.

In 1919, two separates forms of Irish Home Rule where proposed, and therefore two separate parliaments, the Northern Ireland and the Southern Ireland, enacted by Britain in 1920 by the Government of Ireland Act, in order to solve the conflict between Britain and Ireland, the Dáil Eireann didn´t know the existence of this Act, the scheme of violence resulting became very different, while in the South-West the confrontation persisted between IRA and British forces, and in the North-East, the dispute between Catholics-Nationalist and Protestans-Unionist kept on.

The first Dáil took place in January 1919 by members of the Sinn Féin and some survivors of the Rising, at that moment the Irish Republic was established, but the British Government refuse to accept its legitimacy, this led to
The Irish War of Independence when a small group of combatants mounted by the IRA, started fighting against the British Governments and its forces in Ireland, in January 1919, following the declaration of Independence of the Irish Republic.
A truce was agreed by both sides in July 1921, which later in December 1921 led to The Anglo Irish Treaty. The objective of this treaty was to end British rule in most of Ireland, finally, after a period, the Irish Free State was established in 1922 and had an international scope, but not all of the counties obtained this status, six of them, at Northern Ireland remained part of the United Kingdom, with its own parliament. For many months after political and sectarian violence between Republican and loyalists and between Irish Catholics and Protestants continued.
IRA officers repudiated the treaty and the authority of the Provisional Government that was supposed to administer it, they sustained that the Dáil did not have the right to dis-establish the Irish Republic; as a consequence, a group of IRA men occupied several public buildings in Dublin wanting to bring down the treaty and restart the war with the British. Michael Collins, one of the leaders and his troops attacked the anti-treaty militants in Dublin, causing fighting to break out around the country.
As a consequence, the Irish Civil War started, (June 1922 - May 1923), a conflict that stated the condition of an Irish Free State as a single entity independent from the United Kingdom. The two different opposing groups of National Irish where: the forces of the Provisional Government, (they established the Free State in December 1922) and supported the Anglo Irish Treaty, and the Republican opposition, for whom the Treaty represented a betrayal of the Irish Republic. The war was won by the Free State forces. Some of the leaders died, including Michael Collins and Rory O´Connor. The civil War took away more lives than the War of Independence carried out against Britain, and that preceded it, Irish society was left divided and resented.
Lots of killing and violence followed this period, between spring 1921 and May 1922, in July 1921 Britain killed sixteen Catholics and burned 216 homes in reprisal for the IRA actions, this events where known as Belfast Bloody Sunday.

Three years ago I visited the south of Ireland, a small town called Cahersiveen, known for being the birthplace of Daniel O´Connell, the Liberator of Ireland, there, I realized how difficult and terrible this struggle for independence must have been, you can still see and visit the historical places, small castle and buildings where British soldiers kept Irish people imprisoned in terrible conditions while they occupied the country. In the pictures exposed of those years, you can appreciate their faces that like mirrors reflected sadness and hunger, hope for freedom, and how disgusting was to support British force in their own land.

Lets don´t forget that, besides this situation, Ireland have always been a country where obtaining supplies such as foods was a very difficult task mainly because poor weather conditions.

As a consequence of years of struggling for independence, Irish people enjoy today of a free state, they are able to take their own decisions and act as an independent Republic towards the rest of the world.

Ireland is a country rich in traditions and receives many visitors all over the year, its landscapes, mountain, nature; its beer tradition and history make this country a destiny chosen for many tourists. No one remains indifferent after been there, at least, is what happened to me.