The Conscription Pledge
Archived: 9 October 2026
In 1918, Britain’s attempt to impose conscription on Ireland, amid the failure of the Irish Convention, united constitutional nationalists, Sinn Féin, labour, Catholic clergy and local communities. Pledges, a national strike and women’s activism helped make enforcement politically hazardous, while arrests under the alleged German Plot enhanced Sinn Féin’s standing. Simultaneously, influenza caused 10,651 recorded deaths, straining households and institutions. After the Armistice, an expanded electorate voted in December. Sinn Féin won 73 of 105 seats, displacing the Irish Parliamentary Party, although unionism remained strong in the north-east. The year reshaped nationalist politics and foreshadowed Ireland’s subsequent revolutionary political conflict.
