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The Party’s success was due to the gradual growth of political consciousness in Ireland (literacy levels had reached over 80 per cent by 1891), to the charismatic qualities of its leader, Charles Stewart Parnell (1878-90), and to the gradual extension of the franchise; by 1884 most heads of households among labourers and small farmers had the vote. Both its appeal and the expectations of its mainly Catholic supporters were also raised by the ‘conversion’ of Gladstone to Irish home rule in 1885 - he was leader of the Liberal Party, one of Britain’s two major parties. In 1886, he introduced the first Home Rule Bill to Westminster; it would have restored self-government to Ireland, creating a local assembly with two chambers sitting in Dublin, having jurisdiction over all 32 Irish counties. However, some members of the Liberal Party opposed and this helped ensure its defeat in the Commons. In 1892, restored again as prime minister, Gladstone introduced a second Home Rule Bill the following year. It was similar in content to the first, but on this occasion the measure was massively rejected by the conservative-dominated House of Lords.

Gladstone retired from politics in 1894. Parnell’s career had been prematurely ended by the Kitty O’Shea affair in 1890 and he died in 1891. The IPP then split but was eventually reunited under the leadership of John Redmond – a Catholic barrister and nationalist MP - in 1900. The party’s hopes rose again when in 1905 the Liberals once more formed a government – the last ever in their history. As a result of two general elections in 1910 the Irish MPs held the ‘balance of power’ at Westminster. In 1912 Asquith the then prime minister, dependent on Irish support, introduced the third Home Rule Bill. Self-government for Ireland at last seemed certain. Though it was opposed by the Ulster unionist movement, it seemed unlikely that this body could prevent it. It had the backing of the vast bulk of the population in Ireland and of a healthy majority of MPs in the Commons. Meanwhile, the powers of the House of Lords had been reduced in 1911; as a result, peers could delay legislation for up to two years, but they had lost the right to veto it altogether.

The political situation was transformed, however, by the outbreak of war in Europe. Both unionist and nationalist leaders agreed to support Britain’s war effort, and to postpone a settlement of the Irish question until after hostilities had ceased. The Home Rule bill became law on 28th September 1914 but its operation was suspended during the conflict which was expected to be over by 1915. Acting like an Irish Kitchener, Redmond urged his followers to enlist in the British Army. He justified his appeal by arguing that Britain was fighting ‘in defence of right, of freedom and of religion’. By this he meant the rights of gallant and catholic little Belgium, a small nation that had been invaded by Germany. Tactically there were strong arguments in favour of his response. To support England was a means of proving that Ireland could be trusted with self-government, and of disproving the unionist allegation that if given home rule it would inevitably stab England in the back in her hour of danger. In addition, there was even a possibility that Ulster unionists might be reconciled to Irish unity, once nationalists had provided such tangible evidence of their steadfast loyalty to the empire.