The Last Gasp for the Union

The West Cork constituency really was at the very edge of Britain. It comprises those parts of Ireland that border the Atlantic Ocean. The next bit of land is in North America. Even today, it is a wild, rugged part of the world. I'd know, I was there this summer. It is where my grandad is from.

One hundred years ago, it was the scene of firsts and lasts. The sitting MP had died. This meant that West Cork held the dubious honour of being the first test of Irish public opinion since the Easter Rising of April 1916.

The initial reaction to the violence in Dublin had been one of annoyance at the actions of the rebels. Ireland was already guaranteed Home Rule once the slaughter in France was over. In the eyes of many, the declaration of a republic by the Irish Republican Brotherhood had harmed the cause of Irish nationalism, by associating it with violence and treason.

However, this initial dismissal had turned to shock and outrage, as the British government executed ringleaders, and imposed martial law across Ireland. The by-election in West Cork was a chance to gauge the lie of the land.

Seemingly, it was business as usual. The seat was taken by the Irish Parliamentary Party, the moderate nationalist party which advocated legislative autonomy for Ireland within the United Kingdom. They took it from a breakaway group, which also advocated a limited form of Home Rule. Both were campaigning for a settlement less powerful than Scotland and Wales enjoy today.

In this most Irish of seats, it seemed as if the settlement agreed before the outbreak of war in Europe, of Irish Home Rule once the slaughter was ended, was holding. The rebellion in Dublin seemed to have failed in its aim of persuading the Irish to abandon the Union between Britain and Ireland.

But it was false hope. The West Cork by-election of November 1916 actually marks the last time a candidate committed, in some form, to the Union between Ireland and Great Britain secured political representation outside of the future Northern Ireland.

Divisions within the republican party Sinn Fein meant they had not fielded a candidate. However, in every by-election held in Southern Ireland after this one, Sinn Fein swept all before them. When the general election of 1918 was held, they took every seat outside of the North, with the exception of the oddities of the Dublin University constituency.

West Cork proved a last gasp for moderate Irish nationalism, that would have kept Ireland and Britain united. From now on, the march to Irish independence was unstoppable.