A report on Partition of Ireland

Political map of Ireland
Result in Ireland of the December 1910 United Kingdom general election showing a large majority for the Irish Parliamentary Party.
Ulster Volunteers marching in Belfast, 1914
Result of the 1918 general election in Ireland showing the dramatic swing in support for Sinn Féin
Catholic-owned businesses destroyed by loyalists in Lisburn, August 1920
Crowds in Belfast for the state opening of the Northern Ireland Parliament on 22 June 1921
Members of the Irish negotiation committee returning to Ireland in December 1921
North East Boundary Bureau recommendations May 1923
James Craig (centre) with members of the first government of Northern Ireland
The Boundary Commission's proposed changes to the border
A republican anti-partition march in London, 1980s

The process by which the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland divided Ireland into two self-governing polities: Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland.

- Partition of Ireland
Political map of Ireland

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Overall

Irish World War I propaganda recruitment poster, c. 1915,
by Hely's Limited, Dublin.

Ireland and World War I

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Part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, which entered the war in August 1914 as one of the Entente Powers, along with France and Russia.

Part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, which entered the war in August 1914 as one of the Entente Powers, along with France and Russia.

Irish World War I propaganda recruitment poster, c. 1915,
by Hely's Limited, Dublin.
John Dillon addresses an anti-conscription rally, 1918.
The Derry Guildhall stained-glass window which commemorates the Three Irish Divisions, left the 36th, right the 10th and 16th.

During the War of Independence, the British government partitioned Ireland.

Changes in distribution of Irish Protestants, 1861–2011

Ulster Protestants

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Ethnoreligious group in the Irish province of Ulster, where they make up about 43% of the population.

Ethnoreligious group in the Irish province of Ulster, where they make up about 43% of the population.

Changes in distribution of Irish Protestants, 1861–2011
Percentage of Protestants in each electoral division in Ulster, based on census figures from 2001 (UK) and 2006 (ROI).
0-10% dark green, 10-30% mid-green,
30-50% light green, 50-70% light orange,
70-90% mid-orange, 90-100% dark orange.

Today, the vast majority of Ulster Protestants live in Northern Ireland, which was created in 1921 to have an Ulster Protestant majority.

County Londonderry

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One of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulster.

One of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulster.

A cannon sits atop the historic Derry Walls, which look over Derry City.
Map of County Londonderry, 1837
Downhill Strand.
Benone Strand, Northern Ireland
Downhill Tunnels near Castlerock railway station.
The oak leaf which represents the county's nickname.

Before the partition of Ireland, it was one of the counties of the Kingdom of Ireland from 1613 onward and then of the United Kingdom after the Acts of Union 1800.

The lieutenancy areas of the UK, with NI shaded orange

Counties of Northern Ireland

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Divided into six counties, namely: Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone.

Divided into six counties, namely: Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone.

The lieutenancy areas of the UK, with NI shaded orange

The total number of counties in the island of Ireland is 32, with Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland often respectively called "the Six Counties" and "the Twenty-Six Counties", especially by Irish nationalists opposed to the partition of Ireland.

Belfast's Harland & Wolff shipyards in 1911

The Troubles (1920–1922)

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The Troubles (1920–1922) refers to the period of communal violence that affected what would become Northern Ireland from 1920 until 1922.

The Troubles (1920–1922) refers to the period of communal violence that affected what would become Northern Ireland from 1920 until 1922.

Belfast's Harland & Wolff shipyards in 1911
September 1920 Casualty Lists at Belfast Telegraph Office
Catholic-owned businesses destroyed by loyalists in Lisburn
A notice from the Belfast Boycott Committee
The Lord Lieutenant inspecting troops in Belfast at the opening of the Northern Ireland Parliament, June 1921

The British government planned to solve this by partitioning Ireland along roughly political and religious lines, creating two self-governing territories—Northern Ireland (with Belfast as its capital) and Southern Ireland (with Dublin as its capital)—which would both remain part of the United Kingdom.

General Fergusson c.1926

Curragh incident

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The Curragh incident of 20 March 1914, sometimes known as the Curragh mutiny, occurred in the Curragh, County Kildare, Ireland.

The Curragh incident of 20 March 1914, sometimes known as the Curragh mutiny, occurred in the Curragh, County Kildare, Ireland.

General Fergusson c.1926
Field Marshal John French
General Gough c.1900
Sir Arthur Paget, GOC Irish Command in March 1914
General Henry Wilson

The Home Rule Bill was passed but postponed, and the growing fear of civil war in Ireland led to the British government considering some form of partition of Ireland instead, which eventually took place.

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Ulster Special Constabulary

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Quasi-military reserve special constable police force in what would later become Northern Ireland.

Quasi-military reserve special constable police force in what would later become Northern Ireland.

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1920 Special Constabulary uniform, in the Ulster Museum
B-Specials uniform, in the Free Derry Museum
.455 Webley
Sten gun
Sterling SMG
An Orange Order banner dedicated to the USC, London, June 2007

It was set up in October 1920, shortly before the partition of Ireland.

The Irish harp, along with the coat of arms of the provinces of Ireland, played a prominent role in IPP literature.

Irish Parliamentary Party

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Formed in 1874 by Isaac Butt, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nationalist Members of Parliament (MPs) elected to the House of Commons at Westminster within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland up until 1918.

Formed in 1874 by Isaac Butt, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nationalist Members of Parliament (MPs) elected to the House of Commons at Westminster within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland up until 1918.

The Irish harp, along with the coat of arms of the provinces of Ireland, played a prominent role in IPP literature.
Charles Stewart Parnell, the founder of the IPP
Graph of Irish UK MPs 1885–1918 in numbers

The government remained committed to introducing Home Rule in Ireland, and in 1921 implemented the Fourth Home Rule Act, which partitioned Ireland into Northern Ireland and a non-functioning Southern Ireland prior to the Anglo-Irish Treaty.

The Orange Order flag, incorporating the colour orange, the purple star of the Williamites and the Saint George's Cross

Orange Order

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International Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants, particularly those of Ulster Scots heritage.

International Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants, particularly those of Ulster Scots heritage.

The Orange Order flag, incorporating the colour orange, the purple star of the Williamites and the Saint George's Cross
The Orange Order flag, incorporating the colour orange, the purple star of the Williamites and the Saint George's Cross
William III ("William of Orange") King of England, Scotland and Ireland, Stadtholder of the Netherlands
Dolly's Brae, site of the "Battle of Dolly's Brae" (1849) between Orangemen and Catholic Ribbonmen
An Orange banner showing the signing of the Ulster Covenant
Orangeman James Craig, the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.
Drumcree Church near Portadown.
Orange Order poster depicting historical and religious symbols.
An Orange Hall in Ballinrees bedecked with Union Flags.
An anti-Orange Order sign in Rasharkin.
Orangemen parading in Bangor on 12 July 2010.
Rasharkin Orange hall daubed with republican graffiti.
Clifton Street Orange Hall in Belfast designed by William Batt and completed in 1889, which has a protective cage. The equestrian statue on the roof by Harry Hems is the only one of King William III of Ireland, Scotland and England on any Orange hall in Ireland.
Thiepval Memorial Lodge parade in remembrance of the Battle of the Somme.
Orangemen carrying a banner of killed UVF member and Orangeman Brian Robinson in 2003.
Stoneyford Orange Hall in County Antrim.
An Orangewoman marching in an Orange Order parade in Glasgow.
An Orange Hall in Monaghan
Orange parade in Glasgow (1 June 2003)
An Orange Order parade in Hyde Park, London, June 2007
An Orange parade in Toronto (1860s).
A picture of the Orange Order headquarters in New York City during the 1871 riot.
Flag of the Grand Orange Lodge of Australia.
Former Orange hall in Auckland, New Zealand, now a church.
Flag of the Grand Orange Lodge of New Zealand.

Before the partition of Ireland, the Order's headquarters were in Dublin, which at one stage had more than 300 private lodges.

Edward Carson signing the Ulster Covenant, 1912.

Home Rule Crisis

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Political and military crisis in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that followed the introduction of the Third Home Rule Bill in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom in 1912.

Political and military crisis in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that followed the introduction of the Third Home Rule Bill in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom in 1912.

Edward Carson signing the Ulster Covenant, 1912.
Unionist march in Belfast, 9 April 1912

Unionists continued to demand that Ulster be excluded, the solution of partition appealing to Craig; Carson, however, as a Dublin man, did not want partition, which would leave 250,000 Southern Unionists at the mercy of a huge nationalist majority.