Chief Secretary for Ireland in the last months of the Balfour government in 1905, a Unionist leader with many friends and supporters in southern Ireland, and a politician who held ministerial office in the wartime coalition governments, Long had great influence in establishing attitudes toward Ireland. John Kendle shows that whatever hopes Irish Unionists cherished of combatting the home rule movement depended in great part on the support of individuals such as Long. Covering the fifteen years during which Long was closely caught up in Irish affairs, Walter Long, Ireland, and the Union, 1905 1920 provides an analysis of Long's attitudes and actions, and underlines his contribution to the resolution of the political and constitutional dilemma confronting the United Kingdom. Kendle concludes that Long, by advocating a federal solution to Anglo-Irish problems, was a principal architect of the partition of the United Kingdom and the post-1922 constitutional map of the British Isles.

This book examines the rapidly evolving relationship between the British Labour Party and the emerging Irish nationalist forces, from which was formed the first government of the Irish Free State as both metamorphosed from opposition towards becoming the governments of their respective states.

Between 1912 and 1925, Ireland convulsed with political and revolutionary upheaval in pursuit of self-government. Canadians of Irish descent, both Catholic and Protestant, diligently followed these conflicts, and many became actively involved in the dramatic events overseas. Irish Canadian Conflict and the Struggle for Irish Independence tells the unique story of how Irish Canadians identified with their ancestral homeland during this revolutionary era. Drawing on ethnic weekly newspapers and fraternal society records, Robert McLaughlin finds new interpretations of how Orange Canadian unionists and Irish Canadian nationalists viewed their heritage, their membership in the British Empire, and even Canadian citizenship itself. McLaughlin also provides strong evidence that neither time nor distance diminished Irish Canadians' attachment to their familial homeland or their identification with their respective ethnic communities in Ireland. Irish Canadian Conflict and the Struggle for Irish Independence reconsiders existing contextual frameworks and confronts the challenging questions inherent in understanding this period.

It has been argued that Walter Long was the most powerful single voice on Irish affairs in the British government for the critical period from 1916 to 1920. As the leader most committed to a federalist approach to constitutional reform in Ireland, he was a central figure in maintaining a firm stance on Ireland as an integral part of the union and in determining the eventual shape of the union after the First World War.

An analysis of the political organisation of Irish republicanism after the Easter Rising of 1916, studying the triumphant but short-lived Sinn Féin party which vanquished its enemies, co-operated uneasily with its military allies, and 'democratised' the anti-British campaign. Its successors have dominated the politics of independent Ireland.

Ireland and Partition: Contexts and Consequences brings together multiple perspectives on this key and timely theme in Irish history, from the international dimension to its impact on social and economic questions, alongside fresh perspectives on the changing political positions adopted by Irish nationalists, Ulster Unionists, and British Conservatives. It examines the gestation of partition through to its implementation in 1921 as well as the many consequences that followed. The chapters, written by experts based in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Great Britain and the United States, include new scholars alongside contributions from authorities in their fields. Together, they consider partition from a variety of often overlooked angles, from its local impact on the ground through to its place in the post-1918 international order and diplomatic relations, its implications for political violence and security policy, and its consequences for sport and economics, through to its capacity to divide both nationalism and unionism from within. This book places the current questions about the future of partition, resulting from ‘Brexit’ and the centenary of partition 2021, in a fuller perspective. It is relevant to those with an interest in Irish History and Irish Studies, as well as British History, European History and Peace Studies.

Defenders of the Union is a concise and readable overview of the history and contentious politics of Unionism and the affect it has had on Anglo-Irish relations over the last two hundred years. It is an essential guide to this confusing topic and covers key areas such as: * definition of unionism * establishment of the union * Unionist literature * loyalists since 1972.