The road to freedom - Michael Kenny

The Rising of 1916 and the War of Independence that followed in 1919-21 had a profound influence on the shaping of modern Ireland. In 1914 the Irish Parliamentary Party, dedicated to autonomy for Ireland within the British Empire, appeared unassailable. After the General Election of 1918, the party disappeared from the Irish political scene. In that same election Sinn Fein, dedicated to the establishement of an independent Republic, was returned as the virtually unopposed voice of Irish nationalism. This was followed by the setting up of an Irish parliament, Dail Eireann, and an even more comprehensive victory at the polls for Sinn Fein in 1921. The great swing in public opinion that brought about this change can only be explained in the context of 1916 and its aftermath. In The Road to Freedom the author sets out to explain the background to 1916 and to identify some of the principal organisations that influenced and shaped contemporary events. The text is complemented with illustrations of artefacts, documents and photographs from the collections of the National Museum of Ireland.