Dublin Castle and the First Home Rule Crisis

Stephen Ball states on the opening page of the Introduction to this work that its purpose is to attempt a solution to a long-standing puzzle, namely why ‘the leader of the Liberal Party embraced the idea of Irish Home Rule without securing the support of his party for this radical departure’. He seeks its solution in ‘the advice and information that Gladstone received about Ireland at this critical time’, in particular from Sir George Fottrell, a Catholic lawyer, crown official and committed nationalist; Sir Robert Hamilton, permanent head of the civil service in Ireland; and Edward Jenkinson, Assistant Under-Secretary for Police and Crime during the Spencer Viceroyalty (1882–5). Possessing ‘“a more worm’s-eye view” of Irish affairs and ... therefore best informed about the fragile nature of the social and political fabric of Ireland during 1884–86’, these officials succeeded in persuading Gladstone, who had very limited personal experience of Ireland, that a Home Rule settlement with Parnell was necessary to forestall ‘the growth of Irish separatism’

Art history · George (robot · Home rule · Irish · Nationalism · Political science · Politics · Settlement (finance · History · Irish and British Studies · Law