ed to the unpopularity and opposition to the Government.Ireland was divided over the issue of land ownership: it was viewed as a grievance. Many of the landowners lived in England, and throughout history Ireland has had many landownership problems (inequality was an issue). Whilst the Catholics were tenant farmers, Anglo-Irish Protestants had owned most of the land. The fact that many of the landowners lived in Britain added to this grievance. The issue also raised a greater desire for Home Rule in Ireland. To try and end the problem of landownership, the Catholics were encouraged to buy their land from its Protestant owners. This pleased the Catholics as they had their own land, and it pleased the Protestants as they gained money from the sales. In order to do all of this, Wyndham (the chief of security in Ireland) introduced the Land Act of 1903. Via government funding the peasants were able to buy this land. The act offered them 68 years to pay off the loan with a low interest rate. This pleased everyone, as the peasants were able to afford the land, and the landowners were able to inflate the price of the land above its correct value. In 1916 the Easter Rising was a small unsuccessful protest by the extremist group Sinn Fein. The principle beneficiary (and the only real beneficiary) of the 1916 Easter Rising was Sinn Fein (meaning ‘ourselves alone’). Sinn Fein is a political movement founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith. Griffith, who opposed the use of force argued that the Irish MP’s should quit Westminster, set up their own assembly in Dublin and make British Government unworkable. Sinn Fein claimed Ireland was a free nation ‘temporarily enslaved by the British’. Sinn Fein’s aim was to break both the political and economical hold that Britain had over Ireland. The Easter Rising was a disaster – the group lacked armament, and most of all, support. Sinn Fein was involved in d...
