In the years immediately prior to the 1918 General Election and following the 1916 Easter Rising the political landscape in Ireland was changing. The initial success of the Home Rule Bill in 1914 followed by the outbreak of the First World War, which suspended its enactment, conspired to undermine the dominance of the Irish Parliamentary Party and contributed to the increase in popular support for the Sinn Féin party. Opposition to Home Rule, particularly in the North, increased popular support for the Ulster Unionist Party there.
“Pledge Ourselves and Our People”, is published by The Irish Archives Resource and funded by the Heritage Council. It is designed to highlight archival resources that document the 1918 General Election in Ireland and the changes that the election made in the Irish political landscape. It documents the political situation in Ireland prior to the election, the candidates, the campaign and the immediate aftermath of the election.
The Irish Archives Resource (IAR) is an online portal to archive collections across Ireland, north and south and is funded by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht; the Department for Communities, Northern Ireland and the Heritage Council. The goal of the IAR is to introduce people to the wealth of archival resources available in Ireland. This resource pack is part of a series of educational packs organised by topic that has been produced to highlight these resources.