Carson's Home Rule opposition began in Enniskillen
Julian's View • Published 8 Dec 2011 09:30
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The year 2012 will be a historic one for the people of the Province of Ulster. One hundred years before, the Ulster Covenant was signed. This Covenant had two basic parts, the Covenant itself, which was signed by men, and the Declaration, which was signed by women. In total, the Covenant was signed by 237,368 men, and the Declaration by 234,046 women, with the most passionate signatories signing in their own blood. Although many of them Unionists, Policemen were not allowed to sign.
Earlier that year on the 11th of April 1912, the Prime Minister Asquith, introduced the Third Home Rule Bill which foresaw granting Ireland self-government. In most of Ireland the Bill was welcomed favourably, but not in Ulster. In Ulster, Protestants had a numerical majority, they saw Home Rule as a catastrophe, and they made it extremely clear to those in the House Of Commons who supported Home Rule, along with the Irish Nationalists, that they would not bully the Ulster people, the Ulster Protestants would fight as they had done in countless battles before, and their cry would be the familiar "No Surrender".
The previous year, members of the Unionist Party and The Orange Order formed the Ulster Volunteer Force. In a short space of time this "UVF" had around 100,000 members, all of them fully prepared to defend Ulster by physical force. For the members of the UVF it was quite simple, Home Rule meant the ascendency of catholicism in Ireland, and in the words of one Unionist, Home Rule would be nothing short of Rome Rule. By 1912 the UVF was a large, well trained army prepared to do war if necessary. Nationalists did not sit idle either; they formed the Irish Volunteers, who would help Britain impose the Home Rule Act whenever it passed. The threat of full scale civil war at this time was very real.
Sir Edward Carson won popular support among Unionists. He had always opposed Home Rule and organised rallies to this effect. Interestingly he began his countrywide campaign in Enniskillen on September 18th 1912. This was an extraordinary day in the history of Enniskillen. A troop of horse specially trained by William Copeland Trimble met Lord Carson and the Earl of Erne at Castlecoole. Trimble himself then led them through Enniskillen to the Townhall. Enniskillen was heavily decorated; hardly a window did not have a Union Jack or a "GOD SAVE THE KING" placard hanging from it. The main street was decorated with Union Jack bunting, with the Red Hand of Ulster also on display. The streets could just about cope with the amount of people who had crammed into the town, especially in the Diamond were children would have to sit on their fathers shoulders to be able to see. Just outside the Townhall, Trimble, the Earl of Erne and Lord Carson halted amid the cheering crowds; one could barely hear the Town Clerk W.A. Ritchie read out his address of welcome. As the parade resumed its way to Portora Hill, Lord Carson waved and smiled at the crowds.
Upon reaching Portora Hill, Carson stood and watched while 40,000 Orangemen and Unionists marched past him. This was undoubtedly the largest parade in Fermanagh's history, and there is no doubt that it was a clear show of strength for the Unionist cause. Carson then addressed the crowd with the words "to stand by one another in defending for ourselves and our children our cherished position of equal citizenship in the United Kingdom and in using all means which may be found necessary to defeat the present conspiracy to set up a Home Rule parliament in Dublin". Carson preached Unionism in a way that men understood. His addresses were short and simple, but crucially, they were to the point. He was able to excite the crowd to the point of ecstatic with a few short words. The message from Enniskillen was clear "We will not have Home Rule".
Carson went on to encourage men and women to sign the Ulster Covenant. His day in Enniskillen had been a success. As for the Ulster Covenant itself, it was drafted by Thomas Sinclair, a Belfast merchant and leader of the Ulster Liberal Unionism that had broken with the Liberal party on the Home Rule issue. It was noted to the Ulster people that Saturday, 28th of December was to become known as Ulster Day. This was a day when all Unionists could dedicate themselves towards signing the Covenant.
The Covenant campaign which had started in Enniskillen culminated in an eve-of-Covenant rally in Belfast's Ulster Hall, where Col. R H Wallace, Provincial Grand Secretary of the Ulster area of the Orange Order, presented Carson with an ancient-looking yellow silk banner. This banner had been carried by King William's troops at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. This imagery evoked deep emotion in Carson who said: "May this flag ever float over a people that can boast of civil and religious liberty!" Sir James Craig then handed Carson a silver key symbolising Ulster as the key to the political situation, and a silver pen with which to sign the Covenant.
Home Rule did not come into force. Some thought that it might happen in 1914, but by 1914 Britain had other problems. Ireland quickly fell off the top of the to-do list when it emerged that war in Europe was likely to begin. The Great War or The First World War as its better known, saw the expected hostilities between the Nationalists and Ulster Volunteers disappear, with both sides agreeing to support Britain for the freedom of all small nations. 200 of the Fermanagh UVF enlisted in the British Army at Finner camp in September 1914, even many Irish Nationalists saw it as their duty to join the British Army because of the threat of invasion to these small nations. Carson's UVF later merged with the Royal Irish Fusiliers, Royal Irish Rifles and the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and became known as the 36th Ulster Division. On the 1st of July 1916 the Ulster Division was part of an advance on the German lines. As brave Ulstermen left their trenches they were mowed down by heavy machine gun fire, yet they still advanced and became the only division to achieve some success on the day. The 1st of July 1916 became the bloodiest day in the history of the British Army, and it didn't end there. The Battle of the Somme lasted until November 1916; the war itself lasted until November 1918.
The gallantry shown by the 36th Ulster Division during the Great War was a testament to the Ulster People. Their sacrifice for the freedom of the people of Britain, Ireland and the free world would never be forgotten.
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