Kidnapped: Bulmer Hobson, the IRB and the 1916 Easter Rising

This article examines how the 1916 Easter Rising led to the final breach between nationalist leader Bulmer Hobson (1883-1969) and his erstwhile colleagues in the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB). Hobson has the dubious distinction of having been kidnapped and held against his will by his IRB comra...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Canadian journal of Irish studies 2009-04, Vol.35 (1), p.53-60
Main Author: HAY, Marnie
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Criminal arrests
Easter
Institutional review boards
Irish nationalism
Irish rebellion
Nationalism
Quakers
Rebellion
Volunteer military
Volunteerism
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Summary:This article examines how the 1916 Easter Rising led to the final breach between nationalist leader Bulmer Hobson (1883-1969) and his erstwhile colleagues in the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB). Hobson has the dubious distinction of having been kidnapped and held against his will by his IRB comrades from the afternoon of Good Friday, 21 April 1916 to the evening of Easter Monday, 24 April 1916. Despite his IRB membership, Hobson was one of the moderates within the Irish Volunteer leadership. He refused to support an insurrection that had little or no chance of military success. Instead he favoured a policy of guerrilla warfare. Hobson's disapproval of the 1916 rising, coupled with his evasion of arrest in its aftermath, damned him to the sidelines of the nationalist movement and later its historiography. This article illuminates one of the more intriguing side-shows of the Easter Rising. Cet article examine la façon dont l'Insurrection de Pâques de 1916 a mené à la séparation définitive entre le chef nationaliste Bulmer Robson (1883-1969) et ses collègues de la Fraternité républicaine irlandaise (l'IRB). Le conseil militaire de l'IRB admit qu'Hobson, en sa qualité d'intendant général des Volontaires irlandais et président du Dublin Board des centres IRB, fut le seul homme capable, par son influence et sa connaissance de l'organisation, de faire échouer leurs plans secrets visant à mener une insurrection. Malgré son appartenance à l'IRB, Hobson fut l'un des plus modérés au sein de la direction des Volontaires. La désapprobation de l'Insurrection de Pâques de 1916 par Hobson, ainsi que son évasion suite à son arrestation aux lendemain de cet évènement, l'ont condamné à rester en marge du mouvement nationaliste et de son historiographie. Cet article met en exergue l'un des événements secondaires les plus intrigants de l'Insurrection de Pâques.
ISSN:0703-1459