Home Rule became a leading issue from the 1870s across the British Isles. Aspirations to limited legislative autonomy were notably strong in Ireland, where a Home Rule party progressively emerged and came to play a major role on the island and at Westminster. While the question of Irish Home Rule in particular came to dominate discussions, the quest for self-government did not limit itself to Ireland but soon spread to other parts of the United Kingdom. In Scotland and Wales, Home Rule movements also came to life with specificities of their own, leading to exchanges on the idea of “home rule all round”. On a broader scale, Home Rule spurred cross-imperial solidarities and raised the question of the future of the British Empire and the possibility of an “imperial federation”. Although it aroused keen interest and support across Britain and the Empire, it also provoked intense opposition known as loyalism or unionism. In doing so, Home Rule reshaped British politics along new lines.
This book attempts to delve into the connection between imagination and politics, and examines the many expectations and fears engendered by the Irish home rule debate. More specifically, it assesses the ways politicians, artists and writers in Ireland, Britain and its empire imagined how self-government would work in Ireland after the restitution of an Irish parliament. What did home rulers want? What were British supporters of Irish self-government willing to offer? What did home rule mean not only to those who advocated it but also to those who opposed it?
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