(East Wall History Group, Dublin)

How Irish Nationalism responded to the Great War’. This talk will outline the difficulties of the ‘Irish question’, the movement towards Home Rule and the rise of armed bodies in 1913/1914. How did these conflicting groups react to the outbreak of war and the possibility of conscription – and why did some Nationalist support the war effort while others opposed it? Some saw the Irish rebellion of 1916 as the ultimate treason , while others saw it as the first steps on the path to Irish Independence. The post war general election became a referendum on the ‘English question’ and the nationalist victory was to signal beginning of the end for British rule .