Irish Volunteers

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"Irish Volunteers" usually refers to an early twentieth century nationalist organisation in Ireland. This article is about the 18th century militia of the same name.

The Irish Volunteers were a militia in late 18th century Ireland. The Volunteers were founded in Belfast in 1778 to defend Ireland from the threat of foreign invasion when regular British soldiers were withdrawn from Ireland to fight across the globe during the American War of Independence.^[1] However, the Volunteers were never commanded by government officials and although they were initially loyal to the Crown, they soon became infiltrated by political radicals.^{[citation needed]} By 1779, the Volunteers, commanded by Lord Charlemont, had over 100,000 members.

The Volunteers had to pay for their own uniforms and arms, and they were therefore described by Henry Grattan as the "armed property of the nation". However they were also marked by liberal political views. For instance although only Anglican Protestants were allowed to bear arms under the Penal Laws, the Volunteers admitted Presbyterians and a limited number of Roman Catholics.^[2] In addition, their officers were elected by the rank and file. In 1779, the Volunteers demonstrated in Dublin for Free Trade between Ireland and England. Previously, under the Navigation Acts, Irish goods had been subject to tariffs upon entering England, whereas English goods could pass freely into Ireland. The Volunteers paraded fully armed with the slogan, "Free trade or a Speedy Revolution". This demand of the Volunteers was quickly granted by the British government.

In 1782, after agitation by the Volunteers and by a Parliamentary grouping under Henry Grattan, greater autonomy and powers were granted to the Irish Parliament. Radicals named these concessions, "the constitution of 1782".

The Volunteers became less influential after the end of the war in America in 1783. However, after 1789, some Volunteer units showed their sympathy with the French Revolution by holding parades on July 14 to commemorate the fall of the Bastille. The Volunteers were outlawed in 1793, after Revolutionary France declared war on George III as king of Britain and Ireland. Some Volunteers later joined the far more radical United Irishmen movement, which advocated an independent Irish Republic and an end to sectarian laws, and which launched the 1798 rebellion. However, other Volunteers of the ruling class, or Protestant Ascendancy, turned to loyalism and many served in the regular British army.

Legacy

The Volunteers of the 18th century set a precedent for using the threat of armed force to influence political reform. While their political legacy was ambiguous, combining future elements of both Irish nationalism and Irish unionism, among early 20th century Irish nationalists, the Volunteers were represented as a proto-nationalist organisation.^[3] Denis McCullough and Bulmer Hobson of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) established the Dungannon Clubs in 1905..."to celebrate those icons of the constitutionalist movement, the Irish Volunteers of 1782" ^[4]

In 1913, inspired in part by the movement of 1782, Eoin MacNeill and the Irish Republican Brotherhood formed a new Irish Volunteers militia, with the intention of ensuring the passing of the Third Home Rule Bill in the face of opposition from the unionist militia, the Ulster Volunteers. MacNeill stated of the original Volunteers, "the example of the former Volunteers (of 1782) is not that they did not fight but that they did not maintain their organisation till their objects had been secured" ^[5].

Elements of the Irish Volunteers, who agreed with John Redmond's call to support Britain in the First World War, split to form the Irish National Volunteers. Another faction kept the name Irish Volunteers and went on to launch the Easter Rising of 1916, aimed at severing the connection between Britain and Ireland.

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