IFI Irish Film Archive

Crowds Protest Against Compulsory Military Service

Year1918 Duration2m 01s

The Conscription Crisis of 1918 stemmed from a move by the British government to impose conscription (military draft) in Ireland in April 1918, during the First World War. In this newsreel we see vigorous opposition from crowds of people. These protests were primarily led by trade unions, Irish nationalist parties and Roman Catholic bishops and priests. A conscription law was passed but was never put into effect, no one in Ireland was drafted into the British Army. The proposal and backlash galvanised support for political parties which advocated Irish separatism and influenced events in the lead-up to the Irish War of Independence.

April 1919 and martial law is in effect in Ireland. These scenes from Limerick show some of the military precautions that were put in place, soldiers stopping pedestrians to check identification papers and streets barricaded by British Army tanks ( HMT Scotch and Soda). The Limerick Soviet was a self-declared soviet that existed from April 15th to 27th1919 in County Limerick. At the beginning of the Irish War of Independence, a general strike was organised by the Limerick Trades and Labour Council, as a protest against the British Army’s declaration of a “Special Military Area” under the Defence of the Realm Act, which covered most of Limerick city and a part of the county. The soviet ran the city for the period, printed its own money and organised the supply of food.

6m 20s

Dublin Rebellion

In this newsreel British Troops march through the streets of Dublin and stand guard over the ruins of buildings in Dublin’s main thoroughfare, Sackville Street (two years after these events the street would be renamed O’Connell Street after the nationalist leader Daniel O’Connell). The city of Dublin is in ruins and smoke continues to billow from the GPO, the Four Courts and the Metropole Hotel. Civilians stand on piles of rubble and observe the destruction far more closely than they would be allowed to today… This footage was first screened in public on May 6th 1916, just one week after the events of the Easter Rising (April 24th -29th ). The Easter Rising was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week, April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish Republicans to end British rule in Ireland and to establish an independent Irish Republic while the United Kingdom was heavily engaged in the First World War. It was the most significant uprising in Ireland since the rebellion of 1798, and the first armed action of the Irish revolutionary period (which would ultimately lead to the creation of the Irish Free State).

26s

Waterford Elections

The Waterford by-elections, March 22nd 1918: An enthusiastic crowd of people gather and cheer in excitement outside as Sinn Féin candidate Dr. Vincent White, exits a building alongside Captain William Redmond (son of John Redmond). Captain William Redmond, from the Irish Nationalist Party defeated Sinn Féin candidate Dr. Vincent White in the by-election but campaigns began shortly afterwards when the General Election was called. The government decided to introduce conscription into Ireland which was hugely unpopular. The Irish Parliamentary Party which had called for men to join up, were opposed to the Bill and on April 17th1918 a cross-party nationalist party meeting at the Mansion House condemned the Bill. The threat of conscription boosted support for Sinn Féin.

22s

Coal Strike – Ireland

This newsreel shows the impact the mining crisis in England (March 1921) had in Ireland. The camera pans across the docks showing boats being held up and coal wharfs empty in the ports. In the aftermath of the First World War,the Triple Alliance (a group made up of (Railwaymen, Transport Workers, and Coal Miners) were regarded by many trade unionists as a defence against the threat of wage reductions occasioned by the onset of economic depression. A complicating factor was that both the coal industry and railways had been controlled by the state during the war and were not immediately returned to private hands. The Coalition-Liberal Government of David Lloyd George was unwilling to impose wage reductions, as this would provoke strike action against the government, with political implications. Reductions for miners were postponed until the industry was de-controlled on March 31st 1921. Miners who refused to accept the reductions were locked out of employment.

1m 25s

All Ireland Strike

May 1922, the top of O’Connell Street, and speakers are seen standing on a wagonette speaking defiantly to the crowd passing by. In April 1922, in protest to the IRA’s rejecting the vote of the Dáil, the unions of Ireland, which had declared general strikes against the British in 1918 and 1920, the speakers called a strike against ‘militarism’ and the threat of Civil War. It was generally understood that this was particularly targeted against the anti-Treatyites. During this time, the value of agricultural exports had fallen by 50% globally, and people were facing an international economic recession. The General strike of 1922 was for the most part encouraged by the pro-Treaty government, the press, the Catholic Church and society in general.

35s

President of Éire

Large crowds gather on the streets of Dublin as Ireland’s first President, Dr. Douglas Hyde, is installed. This newsreel from 1938 depicts the military procession that leads Douglas Hyde past the Grand Central Cinema and the GPO on O’Connell Street, Dublin to the Phoenix Park where he is to be installed as President of Ireland. When he arrives at Áras an Uachtaráin he is greeted by Eamon de Valera, Prime Minister, and Seán T O’Kelly, Tánaiste who would succeed Hyde as President in 1945. Áras an Uachtaráin was built in 1751 in Phoenix Park, Dublin. It had been acquired for use by the Viceroys who oversaw British rule in Ireland until 1922 but became the President of Ireland’s official home in 1938. This film is part of The Irish Independence Film Collection – The Early Irish Free State that explores facets of Irish society after the War of Independence and up to the birth of the Irish Republic.