Making Sense of the Troubles: A History of the Northern Ireland Conflict

by David McKittrick

1916 saw the Easter Rising in Dublin, with a small number of republicans staging an armed rebellion against British rule. The rising itself was quickly put down, but the action of the British government of the day in executing many of its leaders rebounded: London was deemed to have overreacted and a huge swell of sympathy for the republicans ensued. By the time World War One ended in 1918, the Irish desire for Home Rule had been swept away and replaced by the demand for an independent Irish republic. The newly formed Irish Republican Army, known as the IRA, began a violent campaign against Britain which is today referred to in the south as the War of Independence. After lengthy negotiations, Westminster in 1920 passed the Government of Ireland Act in an attempt to satisfy the conflicting demands of the two traditions.