In the years preceding the First World War, Britain faced its gravest political crisis since the days of Cromwell and Charles I. The Liberal government was determined to grant home rule to Ireland against the wishes of 100,000 armed Ulster Protestants.

The Home Rule Bill, passed by the British parliament in 1912, aimed at giving Ireland some control over her own affairs. However, this was postponed when the First World War broke out, and by the time the war had ended the political landscape in Ireland had changed irrevocably. The respected historians who have contributed to this book examine the reaction to the Home Rule Bill across many shades of political opinion, and give a fascinating analysis of what might have been if external events had not overtaken local ones.

Uncovers the transnational movement by Ireland's unionists as they worked to maintain the Union during the Home Rule era. The book explores the political, social, religious, and Scotch-Irish ethnic connections between Irish unionists and the United States as unionists appealed to Americans for support and reacted to Irish nationalism.

Irish Liberty, British Democracy charts the years of political crisis arising from the 1912 Irish Home Rule Bill, revealing the controversy to have been not only a defining moment in Irish history, but a significant episode, too, in the consolidation of democracy in Great Britain. It reveals the power over the governing Liberal Party wielded by Irish nationalist leader, John Redmond, his decisive role in securing a historic stride for British democracy, and the forcefulness with which he stood up to ostensible friends and foes.

"This was a struggle in which the Tories, rather than see Ireland achieve self-governing status similar to Canada, Australia and South Africa, eschewed constitutional precedents, de-stabilised the British state, encouraged civil disobedience and fomented Ireland's drift into civil war." "The purpose of this book is to explain how and why these extraordinary actions occurred. What were they trying to achieve and how did they justify their actions? Why were they willing to pursue such extreme methods?"--Jacket.

This book presents new research on a crucial period in Irish history, looking at how individuals and institutions responded to an unprecedented crisis in church and state. It provides perspectives on the roles of English intervention, Confederate politics and the Catholic and Protestant churches, alongside challenging takes on Ormond and Cromwell.