Fighting for Unionist Home Rule

Abstract

In the late nineteenth century, Dublin was being choked by a ring of independent suburbs. Unable to expand either its territory or the number of ratepayers, and prevented from finding space for new housing, the city could neither improve its finances nor tackle its chronic slum problem. A prolonged campaign by the nationalist city to annex the unionist townships met with fierce resistance. The energy invested by both sides in this dispute reveals much about the complex relationship between civil society and urban government, and about that relationship’s role in expressing popular identities. Irish independence in 1922 transformed the dynamics of this struggle, producing some unexpected results. Understanding Dublin’s competing councils informs the debate on the role of civil society in the urban environment, and contributes to wider discussions of national identity, the failure of the Union of 1800, and the emergence of Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State.