Arthur Griffith '” the monarchist founder of the Irish republican party

He was pro-Boer (during the Boer War), virulently anti-Semitic (supporting the so-called Limerick pogrom of 1904) and pathologically anti-British.

Although born in Dublin and a Roman Catholic, his family had roots in County Monaghan and he had Protestant antecedents.

His political philosophy was shaped in the first instance by Parnell, Thomas Davis and John Mitchel. Although the views of his idols were frequently contradictory, Griffith reconciled and synthesized them to his own satisfaction. To this eclectic mix, he subsequently added the nineteenth-century German economist Friedrich List and the Hungarian statesman Ferenc Deák.

Despite being a founder member of the Celtic Literary Society and being a Gaelic Leaguer, he was not a cultural or linguistic nationalist. He made little effort to learn the language. He believed a man or woman could speak Irish fluently and still be a traitor to Ireland.

As a young man he had also been a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood but had little faith in secret societies and the physical force tradition. However he was not averse to accepting IRB subsidies to finance his newspapers.

Sinn Fein was founded through the amalgamation of a ragbag of fringe nationalist groups in 1905. The party’s name was reputedly suggested by Máire de Buitléir, a relation of Sir Edward Carson. According to Dr Éamon Phoenix, de Buitléir, who spoke with a cut-glass English accent, was “very fond of her ‘cousin Ned’ but hated his horrid Dublin brogue”.

In 1904 Arthur Griffith had written a book entitled ‘The resurrection of Hungary: A parallel for Ireland’. By virtue of the Ausgleich (German: compromise) of 1867 the Hapsburg empire evolved into a Dual Monarchy. The Austrian emperor, Franz Josef, became the King of Hungary. Austria and Hungary became two separate political entities with separate parliaments but with a common monarch. Hungarian autonomy was somewhat curbed by the existence of common ministries of war and foreign policy and close economic links between Austria and Hungary but Hungary enjoyed significant fiscal autonomy and economic protectionism.

Griffith was an ardent advocate of protectionism, being greatly influenced by List. Griffith wished to redefine relations between England and Ireland on this model, with Edward VII simultaneously monarch of two distinct political entities. Griffith’s book generated a great deal of interest and sold over 20,000 copies within three months. This policy and non-attendance at Westminster (which he had been advocating since 1902) became the two central planks of Sinn Fein’s platform.

Interest did not translate into electoral success. Sinn Fein contested its first and only parliamentary by-election before 1916 in North Leitrim in February 1908. The party was defeated by almost three to one by the Irish Parliamentary Party candidate. The party won a few seats on Dublin Corporation but by 1914 was largely moribund because Redmond and the Irish Parliamentary Party were in the ascendant because of its seemingly pivotal position at Westminster.

Griffith was opposed to the Great War which he regarded as a British war and organised anti-recruitment campaigns. Like Roger Casement, he thought a German victory would facilitate Irish independence. Although on September 9, 1914 Griffith attended a meeting in the library of the Gaelic League which could be considered the genesis of the Easter rebellion, as an organisation Sinn Fein played no part in its planning. Individual members, such as W. T. Cosgrave, participated as members of the Irish Volunteers.

Dublin Castle erroneously attributed the rebellion to Sinn Fein, thereby conferring greater credibility on Sinn Fein than it had ever managed to achieve for itself. As the mood of nationalist Ireland slowly changed in favour of the insurgents, Sinn Fein became the beneficiary.

In 1917 Sinn Fein won four by-elections. Many of the 1916 insurgents joined Sinn Fein, seeking to utilise it as a vehicle to advance republicanism. This prompted a bitter clash between the original members of the party who continued to support Dual Monarchy and the influx of entryists, led by de Valera, who sought to achieve a republic. A seemingly inevitable rift at the party’s conference in October 1917 was averted by a disingenuous fudge whereby it was agreed to seek a republic first and then allow people to determine whether or not they wanted one. Griffith resigned the party leadership and presidency and de Valera became party president with Griffith as vice-president.

The death of Samuel Young, the 96-year-old MP for East Cavan, in March 1918 precipitated a long-expected by-election. According to the RIC County Inspector’s Report, Sinn Fein had been active in East Cavan in anticipation of Young’s death for almost a year. Within days of Young’s death Sinn Fein selected Griffith, who was then in Gloucester gaol, as its candidate.

Canvassing began in early May and the poll was held on June 20, 1918. The Irish Parliamentary Party fielded a strong candidate in J. F. O’Hanlon, the proprietor of the Anglo-Celt and the president of the AOH in County Cavan. The election was contested against the backdrop of the ‘German Plot’ and the possible extension of conscription to Ireland because of the early success of the German offensive of March 1918. There was perhaps rather more to the plot than Sinn Fein and many historians since have been willing to admit. The authorities had captured a member of Casement’s Irish Brigade in County Clare who had been despatched from Germany to ask for a second insurrection to divert troops from the Western Front but Sinn Fein insisted it was simply a ruse to justify repression.

Dishonestly claiming a vote for O’Hanlon would be a vote for conscription, Sinn Fein outpolled O’Hanlon by 3,795 votes to 2,581. Roman Catholic clergy played a prominent role in Sinn Fein election meetings. John Dillon, the new (and last) leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party, subsequently attributed the party’s defeat to the strong support Sinn Fein had received from Roman Catholic clerics and moral intimidation.