Restriction lift date: 2031-12-31
Conciliation or contrarianism? The All-for-Ireland League 1903-1918
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Date
2026-06-08
Authors
O'Donovan, John Gerard
Journal Title
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Volume Title
Publisher
University College Cork
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Abstract
The All-for-Ireland League (AFIL) was a contrarian nationalist political movement that formally existed in Ireland between 1910 and 1918. Its roots, however, ran much deeper into the wider Irish nationalist political discourse of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Founded by and chiefly associated with the charismatic if volatile persona of William O’Brien, the AFIL existed as a challenger to the dominant Irish Party. But its historical importance lies as a protean movement, linking with unionism on one side and a growing nascent separatist nationalism on the other. This characteristic was a symptom of the increasingly turbulent political discourse in Ireland and the United Kingdom in the early twentieth century, but also a tool to help the AFIL navigate these stormy petrels. Its failure to successfully navigate these waters is also important as it serves to demonstrate the contingencies in the making and unmaking of political settlements to the complex Irish Question. For these reasons, the existence of the AFIL is deserving of closer study. This thesis chiefly examines the origins of the movement, arguing that the emergence of such a body is evidence of a contrarian strain within Irish nationalism more closely linked to the Conservative Party movement in Britain than has been heretofore acknowledged. And, furthermore, that a protean Sinn Féin existed in Cork before the emergence of the more well-known Sinn Féin movements from 1907.
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Keywords
Irish nationalism , History , Politics , Cork
Citation
O'Donovan, J. G. 2026. Conciliation or contrarianism? The All-for-Ireland League 1903-1918. PhD Thesis, University College Cork.