National Volunteers facts for kids

The National Volunteers were a large group of Irish people. They were part of the Irish Volunteers, a movement formed to protect Home Rule for Ireland. When World War I started, the Irish Volunteers split. Most members followed John Redmond, the leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party. They became known as the National Volunteers. They supported Britain in the war, hoping it would help Ireland gain Home Rule.

How the National Volunteers Started

Ireland faced a big political problem between 1912 and 1914. This was about Home Rule, which meant Ireland would have its own parliament but still be part of the British Empire. John Redmond and his Irish Parliamentary Party worked hard to get this law passed. It was approved in 1914.

However, many people in Ulster, northern Ireland, did not want Home Rule. They were called Unionists. They signed a paper called the "Ulster Covenant" to show they would fight against it. In 1913, they formed their own armed group, the Ulster Volunteers (UVF). They said they would use force to stop Home Rule.

In response, Irish Nationalists formed their own group. This was the Irish Volunteers, created in Dublin on November 25, 1913. Their goal was to make sure Home Rule happened. For a while in 1914, it looked like a civil war might break out between these two armed groups.

John Redmond did not help create the Irish Volunteers. But he saw how powerful they became. He worried that such a large group, acting on its own, could challenge his leadership. So, he wanted to control the organisation.

The leaders of the Irish Volunteers, like Eoin MacNeill and Sir Roger Casement, wanted Redmond's support. But they did not want to give him full control. In June 1914, they finally agreed. Redmond could choose half of the leaders for the Volunteer committee. This meant his supporters would be the majority. Some members, like Patrick Pearse, were very against this. But they agreed to avoid a split in the group. With Redmond's party supporting them, the Volunteers grew much bigger.

The Great War Causes a Split

World War I began in August 1914. The Home Rule law was officially passed, but its start was put off. On September 20, Redmond gave a speech in Woodenbridge, County Wicklow. He asked members of the Volunteers to join the British Army. He promised Ireland's support to the Allied side.

Redmond had two main reasons for this. First, he believed that helping Britain in the war would help Ireland get Home Rule for the whole country later. The Ulster Volunteers had already offered to join the British Army. Redmond hoped the Irish Volunteers would join them. Second, he hoped that if the Volunteers got weapons and training from the British, they would become the start of an Irish Army after Home Rule. He thought they could protect Home Rule and stop any attempts to divide Ireland.

But many strong Nationalists were angry about Redmond's support for the war. Most of the original Volunteer leaders grouped together to remove Redmond's chosen leaders. However, most of the Volunteers supported Redmond. They became known as the National Volunteers.

Joining the War Effort

The majority of the Volunteers stayed loyal to Redmond. About 142,000 members joined the National Volunteers. This left the Irish Volunteers with only about 9,700 members. Many other Irish leaders also supported Redmond's choice. They helped recruit people for the British and Allied war effort. Some Irish politicians even joined the army themselves.

Many Irishmen joined the British Army as volunteers. They formed parts of the 10th (Irish) and 16th (Irish) Divisions. Out of about 150,000 National Volunteers, around 24,000 joined these divisions. Another 7,500 joined reserve groups in Ireland.

So, the National Volunteers were a smaller part of the 206,000 Irishmen who fought for the British Army. This meant they did not become the Irish Army Redmond had hoped for. Recruitment among the National Volunteers was slow after an initial burst of excitement. Many members were farmers' sons, and they did not want to join the army. Some felt that fighting for the British Empire was disloyal to Ireland.

Redmond also faced disappointment about the Irish Army Corps. Instead, a new 16th (Irish) Division was created. Most of its officers were English, which was not popular in Ireland. This was partly because there were not enough trained Irish officers. Also, Redmond's idea that the Irish units would return armed and ready to enforce Home Rule made the British government suspicious.

The National Volunteers After 1914

The war became less popular in Ireland, and so did John Redmond and his party. This was because Irish divisions suffered many losses. Also, putting off Home Rule hurt both Redmond's party and the National Volunteers.

Most of the National Volunteers (over 120,000) did not join the British Army. Redmond wanted them to be an official home defence force for Ireland during the war. But the British War Office did not want to arm and train the Irish Nationalist movement. They saw the National Volunteers as not very effective. They did not want to give valuable officers and equipment to a group that might use it to force Home Rule on their own terms.

The National Volunteers became weaker as the war went on. Their numbers dropped to about 100,000 by February 1916. Their companies often stopped training. Many feared that if they trained too openly, conscription (being forced to join the army) might be brought to Ireland. By early 1916, British reports said the National Volunteers were "practically dead."

The National Volunteers also lacked strong leaders. Many of their most dedicated members had joined the war. A police report said they were "a strong force on paper, but without officers and untrained, it is little better than a large mob." They held a big meeting of over 20,000 men in Dublin in 1915. But their leader, Maurice Moore, saw no military future for them. He said they could not be trained or armed.

In contrast, the smaller but more active Irish Volunteers grew stronger during the war. Their numbers increased from 9,700 in 1914 to 12,215 by February 1916. They trained regularly and kept most of their weapons. By March 1916, police reported that the Irish Volunteers were the most important Nationalist group because they were so active. In April 1916, a part of the Irish Volunteers started the Easter Rising. This was an armed rebellion in Dublin to end British rule in Ireland. During the Rising, one National Volunteer unit in County Galway offered to help the police stop the rebellion.

The British Army quickly stopped the rebellion. After this, and especially after the Conscription Crisis of 1918 (when Britain planned to force Irishmen to join the army), the National Volunteers were overshadowed. The Irish Volunteers grew to over 100,000 members by the end of 1918. John Redmond's party was also replaced by the Sinn Féin party in the 1918 elections.

After the war ended in November 1918, about 100,000 Irishmen were released from the British Army. This included the National Volunteers who had joined.

The idea of an independent Irish Republic had now become more popular than Redmond's plan for Home Rule. This led to the Irish Declaration of Independence and the start of the Irish War of Independence in 1919. The original Home Rule law was never put into action. Instead, a new law in 1920 divided Ireland into two parts in 1921.

Great War Memorials

Volunteers who died in the Great War are remembered at:

• Irish National War Memorial Gardens Dublin.
• Island of Ireland Peace Park Messines, Belgium.
• Menin Gate Memorial Ypres, Belgium.