Hobson, Bulmer (1883-1969), Gaelic enthusiast and Republican activist. Born in Belfast, he was educated at Friends School, Lisburn. He joined the Gaelic League in 1901, and co-founded Fianna Éireann in 1903. As Vice-President of Sinn Féin in 1907, Hobson introduced the organization to the USA. He left Sinn Féin and started and edited Irish Freedom in 1910, and organized the Howth gun-running in 1914. Hobson informed Eoin MacNeill of the plans for the Easter Rising, which led to MacNeill's countermanding order. He later became a civil servant under the Free State [see Irish State]. Hobson's autobiography was Ireland: Yesterday and Tomorrow (1968).

The Concise Oxford Companion to Irish Literature. Copyright © 1996, 2000, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.