Free The Irish Revolution, 1916-1923 by Marie Coleman Page A

clear that a major shift was taking place in Irish nationalist politics. The electorate was losing patience with the IPP's failure to deliver home rule. Many of the local leaders of the Irish Party had defected to Sinn Féin (Fitzpatrick, 1977: 138). Public anger at the harsh British reaction to the Rising was expressed in support for Sinn Féin's candidates in the four by-elections held that year. The shadow of 1916 hung over all of these contests; Plunkett's son had been executed, de Valera had been lucky to escape with his life and he, along with McGuinness and Cosgrave, had been imprisoned for taking part in the insurrection. The Longford contest took place at the time of the first anniversary of the executions, and during all of the campaigns recently released prisoners, including Michael Collins, and relatives of executed or imprisoned rebels, played an important role in canvassing for Sinn Féin. The significance of the by-elections in rejuvenating Sinn Féin is clear from the fact that by the end of 1917 three of the four counties where the party enjoyed its strongest membership proportionally had been the location for these contests – Clare, Longford and Roscommon (Laffan, 1999: 187).
    However, the Rising alone does not explain the extent of Sinn Féin's electoral success in 1917; the progress of the war was equally important. When conscription was introduced to Great Britain in 1916, Ireland was exempted, but as casualty figures continued to rise the threat of its extension loomed. During the by-elections, and especially in the Longford contest, Sinn Féin was successful in convincing voters that it was the only party that could defend Ireland from compulsory military service. While the IPP had been instrumental in preventing the extension of conscription to Ireland, it was tainted by its support for voluntary recruitment; Sinn Féin effectively blurred the distinction between both issues, creating the misleading impression that the IPP supported conscription. This issue had particular resonance in rural constituencies, such as Longford, Roscommon and Clare, where Irish farmers were benefiting from the war-time economy and fearful of the prospect that their sons would be forced to join the army. A third factor that determined the outcome of the 1917 by-elections was the spectre of partition. After 1914it was clear that at least part of Ulster would be excluded in some form from home rule when it came into effect. This reality was strengthened during the abortive 1916 home rule negotiations.
    The cumulative effect of the by-election victories was to forge Sinn Féin into a cohesive political party. At the start of 1917 it was still a loose coalition of advanced nationalists and many republicans were still wary of Griffith's earlier support for a dual monarchy in Britain and Ireland, along the lines of Austria and Hungary. Opinion had also been strongly divided on whether or not imprisoned 1916 rebels should contest elections under the party's banner. The close result in contests like Longford indicated that the IPP was not dead yet, and a defeat might have been interpreted as a repudiation of the Rising. However, the four successive victories vindicated the strategy of contesting elections and by the time Sinn Féin held its first ard fheis in October 1917, at which de Valera was elected president and the pledge to achieve an ‘independent Irish Republic’ was adopted, it was well placed to challenge the IPP for the political leadership of nationalist Ireland.
    ard fheis: Annual national convention of Sinn Féin.
    The defeat of Sinn Féin by the IPP in three successive by-elections early in 1918 suggested that the previous year's trend was being reversed in part. However, this was merely illusory. Two of these contests (Armagh South in February and Tyrone East in April) took place in Ulster constituencies, where the home rule movement benefited from a stronger grass roots organisation because of the strength of