From The Irish Review, May 1912. The following are mock extracts from newspaper editorials, private correspondence, manifestos and war correspondence detailing an effort by the ‘Provisional Government’ of Ulster to prevent by force of arms the establishment of an Irish Parliament in Dublin.
December 10th, 1913. Extract from Parliamentary Records:—
‘AN ACT FOR THE BETTER GOVERNMENT OF IRELAND—Le Roy Le Veult.’
(1)—From leading article in The Belfast Newsletter, Jan. 1st, 1914:—
‘The time for talking is at an end, and all loyalists must take immediate action. The people of England have, for the time being, lost their reason, and have allowed this so-called ‘Government’ of rats, cranks and Socialists to dragoon His Majesty the King into signing an Act which practically dethrones him in Ireland. Fortunately, however, Loyal Ulster is sane, calm and determined: her great leader has already summoned the Provisional Government which will preserve civil and religious liberty until the people of England resume their rights, sweep this unholy alliance of mountebanks from power, defeat their nefarious conspiracy against the integrity of the Empire, and take up once more the reins of Irish Government, which will be returned to them intact by the steadfast loyalty of Ulster.’
(2)—From The Court Circular, Jan. 2nd, 1914:—
‘His Majesty the King has been pleased to announce that he will proceed to Ireland towards the end of March, in order to open the Irish Parliament on April 1st. His Majesty will be accompanied by the Queen, the Prince of Wales, and other members of the Royal Family.’
(3)—From leading article in The Freeman’s Journal, Jan. 3rd, 1914:—
‘The utmost enthusiasm has been evoked throughout Ireland by the announcement that our Parliament is to be opened by the King in person. His Majesty will come not, as on former occasions, a foreigner and the head of a detested foreign state, but as the King of Ireland… No Irishman exists that is not proud of the King’s lineage, for the Royal blood of the race of Niall flows in the veins of the King of Ireland, coming down from the remote and shadowy past, from Milesius and his sons, through Niall of the Nine Hostages, through Feargus mac Erc, through Kenneth MacApline and the Royal Stewarts.’
(4)—From correspondence column of An Claidheamh Soluis, Jan. 4th, 1914:—
‘To the Editor.
‘A chara,
‘Some suitable occasion ought surely to be arranged for the King to claim his Irish throne as a son of the Gael. By a most happy coincidence it appears that Mr. Standish O’Grady and Prof. Macalister have discovered what they believe to be the Lia Fail in an excavation close by the Forradh. Let the King come to Tara for his proclamation: let the Lia Fail be re-erected for the lineal descendant of those ancient Irish kings who were crowned upon it. Every true Gael would rejoice to see the King claiming his Gaelic birthright as, at any rate, a part of his title to the Throne of Ireland.’
‘Mise, le meas mor ort,
EOCHAIDH MUIGHMHEADHON.’
(5)—Manifesto by the Provisional Government of Ulster, Jan. 31st, 1914:—
‘WHEREAS the Provisional Government of Ulster has observed with amazement that writs have been issued for certain rebel elections, in open defiance of the Order that no such elections were to be held in the districts wherein the Provisional Government preserves Civil and Religious Liberty—NOW THEREFORE this Indenture witnesseth that the Provisional Government has decided to take steps to prevent these elections from taking place.’
‘(Signed),
P. CARSON.’
(6)—From the Special Correspondent of The Times, Feb. 15th, 1914.
‘The first batch of election results conducted according to the principles of Proportional Representation will be eagerly read by Englishmen who are interested in electoral reform… So far back as 1688 the necessity for better representation of minorities was advocated in the columns of The Times; and, in more recent years, the successive improvements in methods of calculation which have been made by the experts of Lord Courtney’s society, have attracted still wider attention… All these latest ideas are embodied in the system which is now on its trial in Ireland, and, so far as we can judge up to the present, it appears to be highly successful… A disturbing element was the unfortunate course pursued by those adherents of the ‘Ulster Provisional Government,’ who, by refusing to vote, have to some extent vitiated the accuracy of whatever deductions may be drawn from the official figures.’
(7)—From leading article in The Northern Whig, Feb. 17th, 1914:—
‘We do not pretend to take much interest in the so-called ‘elections’ that have just concluded; all loyal Ulstermen followed the advice given by our great leader, and abstained from interfering in any way with the proceedings, once it was made clear that the whole affair was merely a Nationalist dodge. But we have observed an astounding letter in an English ‘Liberal’ paper, from an obscure Radical politician of the doctrinaire type, to which we must refer, in order to warn the inhabitants of Ulster against a most dangerous and insidious misrepresentation. It is actually being argued that the comparatively large number of Protestants who have been elected is a proof that we have nothing to fear from this rebel and disloyal assemblage. Never was there a more striking example of the utter ignorance of Englishmen about Irish affairs. If this English ‘Liberal’ knew Ireland as we know it, he would understand that this is only the latest and most ingenious trick of the priests to get control of Ulster. We refuse to walk into their trap. The word has gone round to ‘vote for Protestants’; if Ulstermen were fools enough to be deceived by such transparent Nationalist chicanery into accepting seats in the Dublin headquarters of the A.O.H., it would only be to find that the same secret power that had put them in would put them out at the next, and all subsequent elections. We warn the people of Ulster against this dastardly and jesuitical plot.’
(8)—From an editorial in The Leader, Feb. 20th, 1914:—
‘We hope our readers will not accuse us of having been bought by the directorate of the Great Sourface Railway, if we express our keen satisfaction with the result of the elections to the first Irish Parliament, so soon to be opened. We are, of course, a Catholic journal (though we have never hesitated to show our contempt for the ‘Tame Cawtholics’ of Dublin); but we have no quarrel with Protestants as such, even if we must confess to a bottle of gall in which we dip our editorial pen when we write of the anti-Irish bigots who form the Carsonite gang—who could look upon Carson’s countenance and not think of a ‘sourface?’ So we take pleasure in recording that the Bungs and the Saved have disenfranchised themselves; and we welcome the Protestant members of our Parliament with the more gusto because bigots are as scarce among them as Castle ‘Idolators’ are among its Catholic members.’
(9)—From The Irish Times, Feb. 28th, 1914:—
‘It is officially announced that on the occasion of His Majesty’s approaching visit to Dublin, the Rt. Hon. John Redmond, P.C., M.P.I., will be raised to the rank of Duke in the peerage of Ireland. From enquiries made by our special reporter, we understand that Mr. Redmond has not yet selected the title which he prefers, although it is rumoured that he will be known in the future as the Duke of Aughavannagh…
We heartily congratulate Mr. Redmond on the honour which he is about to receive at the hands of the King. And we do so all the more readily because in this journal we consistently opposed Mr. Redmond’s political aims. He has succeeded in spite of our best efforts, but we bear him no grudge. Dublin Unionists (to revive a party name which is already being forgotten) never took part in the fantastic proposals which have driven the Ulster extremists into a quite illegal ‘Provisional Government’ of their own; and by the active share which we took in the recent elections it will be seen that, though we still consider the risk to be great, we are going to try and make the new Irish constitution work… After all, we Irish are great lovers of rank and aristocracy, and we congratulate the future Duke on the fact that his hereditary title will go down after him to descendants worthy to bear it.’
(10)—Manifesto from the Ulster Provisional Government, Mar. 15th, 1914:—
‘TO THE LOYALISTS OF ULSTER.
‘Your Civil and Religious Liberties are at stake. A rebel crew has coerced the King, and is about to force His Majesty to take part in a disloyal meeting in Dublin on April 1st. The Ulster Provisional Government has decided unanimously to take steps to prevent the meeting being held.
‘GOD SAVE THE KING.
‘(Signed),
P. CARSON.’
(11)—From ‘Notes and Comments’ by ‘The Man in the Street’ (The Ulster Echo), Mar. 16th, 1914:—
‘I see the Nationalists pretend to be very much amused by what they call the ‘disloyal’ and ‘illegal’ action of the Ulster Provisional Government in preventing the demonstration in the Bank of Ireland. I admit that these gentry are experts in disloyalty, and ought to know it when they see it; but when will they learn that Ulster is grimly determined never to acknowledge the rule of Fenians and Moonlighters who have as black a record of crime as the Camorra or the Ku Klux Klan?
‘Of course I assume that the meeting will be stopped: for Ulster is not bluffing, and when she says a meeting is not to be held, held it will not be. It is not disloyal to the King to assist him in keeping the Crown out of the mire of politics. The maintenance of the Union is not a political question: it is a principle for which Ulstermen are prepared to undergo extermination, man by man, in the last ditch; and the honour of the Imperial Crown now demands that Ulster should rally to its protection.’
(12)—From the Special Correspondent of The Times, March 20th, 1914:—
‘The smaller of the two Irish Nations is aflame with Celtic excitement. I must honestly admit that I never fully realised the depth of the gulf that lies between the Ulster Nationality and the English, until I made the tour which I have just completed through the territories held by the ‘Provisional Government.’ Among all the Nationalities which compose our great Empire, I have never seen anything so un-English as the fanaticism of the men who still call themselves the ‘English Garrison’ in Ireland.
‘The frontier between the Ulster Nation and the Irish Nation is now approximately delimited. It is very complex. The joint Commission, which took evidence during nearly the whole of February, seem to have adopted the Duchy of Brunswick as their model; and those who compare the frontiers of the Duchy with the frontiers of Ulster will find that the boundaries have been apportioned upon very similar principles.’
(13)—From leading article in the Belfast Evening Telegraph, March 21st, 1914:—
‘The time for talking has passed and the time for immediate action has come. A splendid lead has been given to Ulster loyalists by the Head of our Provisional Government; and we can honestly congratulate the people of the city and district upon the way in which they have preserved Law and Order…’
‘What the next step is to be we do not know. We have every confidence in our great leader, and feel safe in his hands. It is an open secret that some plan is being devised, but no details are issued yet…’
‘This morning our representative interviewed Lord Londonderry, the President’s Chamberlain, and the Chairwoman at the Old City Hall, but failed to elicit any fresh information…’
‘We print to-day letters which we have received upon the situation from the Pope, the ex-Emperor of China, and Miss Christabel Pankhurst.’
(14)—From a leading article in The Irish Independent, March 22nd, 1914:—
‘To-morrow the King arrives in Dublin, and still we hear no word from Ulster of the insurgent ‘forces’ that were blustering a while ago about preventing the King from opening our Parliament. We may contentedly ignore this clique of Orange fanatics…’
‘To record pleasanter topics: the city is full to overflowing of visitors from every parish in Ireland; special trains are bringing in fresh crowds almost hourly, while the beaming satisfaction upon every face is sufficient evidence that a Free Ireland is going to give her King such a welcome as perhaps never Monarch had before. We are glad to be the first Nationalist paper in Ireland that has ever ended a leader with the old prayer, now at last robbed of all party implications—GOD SAVE THE KING.’
(15)—From a leaderette in The Belfast Newsletter, March 24th, 1914:—
‘We understand that a handful of Separatists, headed by the ‘Duke of Aughavannagh,’ interfered with the unanimity of the proceedings yesterday by forcing themselves upon the Royal presence with a sickening imitation of a Loyal Address. These men are not loyal, and should be beneath the notice of the King. Only for the action of Ulster some deluded Englishmen might suppose that Irishmen were no longer rebels and criminals. We know them better. And we know that Ulster will yet save the King from the unspeakable degradation of being compelled by Patrick Ford to attend a Molly Maguire demonstration in College Green next week.’
(16)—From the war correspondent of The Daily Mail, March 31st, 1914:—
‘At last the secret is out. Ulster has spoken. Who now dare accuse her of bluffing?
‘Late last night the summons was issued: instant was the response.
‘This is a copy of the placard that roused Ulster as one man:
‘TO THE RESCUE.
‘The Provisional Government of Ulster calls upon all Loyal Subjects of the King to Rescue His Majesty from the Rebel Gang who are trying to force him to attend their Fenian assemblage in Dublin.
‘The Rescue Party will leave Belfast to-night by Special Trains, and will be under my Personal Command.
‘GOD SAVE THE KING.
‘(Signed),
P. CARSON.’
(17)—From the war correspondent of The Daily Mail, April 1st, 1914:—
‘I write from the Press Saloon. It is attached to the first of a very fleet of Specials. Splendid, the Ulster Citizen Army. Rushing to the Rescue. Grim. Determined.
‘The Irish Parliament cannot open without the King. Ulster has sworn to prevent the meeting from taking place. Ulster is on its way to carry out the Oath. There is no ‘bluff’ here.
‘They have not told me their plans. But they are all grim, determined men, who know their own minds.
‘Dawn is just breaking. The train slows down; why? There is a great Viaduct over a river; the train stops in the middle of it. We are crossing the Boyne!
‘President Carson and a glittering staff (headed by Field-Marshal Lord Wallace of Myra and the Earl of Craigavon), appear in full uniform upon an improvised platform. The Chamberlain bears a huge Crowned Harp, gilded, resplendent. Solemnly the President takes, solemnly he raises it aloft, solemnly he hurls it into the Boyne. Turning to the serried ranks of faces at the windows, shouts: ‘We are all Loyalists here; we are going to prevent the King from taking part in a disloyal meeting. To the Rescue.’
‘Suddenly the air seems solid with a gigantic noise; the Drums are Out! The Guards’ Band is playing the National Anthem of Ulster; it is an ancient Celtic tune called ‘The Boyne Water.’
‘The staff re-enters the Reserved Smoking Carriage. We are off again. What is going to happen in Dublin? Who knows?
‘Splendid, the Ulster Army rescuing the King.’
A letter from Br. W. J. McKillop, W.M., L.O.L. 5534, to his wife, Mrs. Mary Jane McKillop, 191 Seaview St., Ballymacarrett. CARTLANN: The following has been edited from the original to a more standardised spelling, whilst retaining the speech of the local dialect.
‘DUBLIN CASTLE,
April 2nd, 1914.
‘Dear Mary,
‘I suppose you’ll have seen all about the goings on yesterday in the wee paper, but I write you this line for to tell you what I seen myself. Man, woman, but I wouldn’t have missed it for any money; it was the greatest scene ever was in the world.
‘Whenever we all got to the station we got our Orders, for damn the one of us knew what was to be done till that Minute. And it was as simple as simple. We just walked straight into the room they had laid off for the Parliament, and we sat ourselves down there the very way we were to do in the Ulster Hall that time wee Churchill was up. The police was looking all roads for any sort of Game except the old Game, for they never took a thought to us playing the same one twice.
‘So there we were. We had them sacks[1] with us, I don’t rightly remember the name of them, full of baps and lemonade and pigs’ feet, and I took my boots off because I had a sore toe with all the walking and drilling. Thon old bunion give out on me.
‘You’ll have seen by the papers the way they wrought for to try and get us out. Fire hoses and pepper and the dear knows what. But we just stuck where we were. I’m bound to say they should us quarely when they turned the key in the door and left us alone.
‘The next thing we heard was a tremendous cheering, and a thing I wouldn’t have believed, them Papists playing God Save the King as loud as ourselves on the 12th. Of course we didn’t know from Adam what was on. But we soon heard. Begum, the Dublin Boys were trying to get their own way of it, by putting the King up to open their Parliament in the City Hall, a wee miserable place that wouldn’t make an office for the Yard. But we didn’t know that at the first, and whenever we heard the cheering we let a roar out of ourselves that they heard at the docks. I believe that was when the fun began. For they tell me the King had never heard a word of us being here, and when he heard the gowls of us he started asking questions.
‘It wasn’t more than five minutes after, we heard more cheers outside, and who should walk in but the King himself? Just himself, and not a living soul with him. Before you could say knife, he spotted the President, and master Bob, and a few more. I suppose they were known to him through them being so loyal to him.
‘And then he went off with them into a wee room at the side. There’s nobody except themselves knows what happened that time, but I know this, that the King went in looking angry and he came out looking pleased. He never went to the Throne nor nothing, he just jumped up on a chair that was beside him, and he made us a wee speech. The most of what he said was this, ladies and gentlemen, says he, you have come here for to show your loyalty to me and I thank you for it, says he, but I tell you straight, says he, as I have just told Sir Edward Carson, that I want you to show your loyalty by doing something different, says he, to what you came here to do, says he. And then he fairly astonished us, by asking us for to go with him in a body, leave the hall to be redd up after the mess we had it in, march up to the Dublin City Hall, and, what do you think, escort the Parliament members back into the Parliament House that we were in, with himself at the head of all. Big Sam Johnson called out something about rebel Fenians; and, if you’ll believe it His Majesty told us that he was well pleased with the loyalty he had had from Papists, and, says he, when I’m satisfied, says he, why wouldn’t yous be? Well, that ended it, and if you could have seen us for the next three hours, all mixed throughother with every class of fellas from every parish in Ireland, you’d have wondered to yourself if we were the same men that had left Belfast the Night before.
‘And, Mary, it was the King that done it. There’s no other man could have moved us a hair from our agreed plans, let alone turned us the opposite roads. But he done it, and I do believe he’s right that he’s got the loyalty of them boys we used to call Fenians. I’m sure I hope so, for the Irish Parliament is in full steam this minute, and, Mary, do you know what I’m going to tell you, it was the Orangemen gave it the biggest set off of the whole of them. But it was the King done it. Hoping this finds you well as it leaves me,
‘Your loving husband,
WILLM JOHN McKILLOP.
‘I open this again to tell you another thing you would hardly believe. They have a statue of King William here set up, horse and all, before the front door of the Parliament and nobody’s done it any harm these hundreds of years, for all the Papists there are in Dublin. I doubt he wouldn’t have got as much peace in the Falls. Anyway, we gave the drums the quare rattle when we marched by him with the King before us and the half of Ireland following behind us.—W. J. McK.
[1] ‘? Haversacks—Ed.’