Church Street and the Rotunda
Archived: 9 October 2026
In 1913, the Third Home Rule Bill intensified conflict between constitutional nationalism and Ulster unionism, whose Volunteer Force prepared to resist self-government. Dublin’s Lockout pitted James Larkin’s ITGWU against employers led by William Martin Murphy, bringing exclusion, Bloody Sunday violence, hunger and disputes over relief for children. The collapse of Church Street tenements, killing seven, highlighted urban housing failures. Labour activists formed the Irish Citizen Army, while nationalists founded the Irish Volunteers at the Rotunda in response to unionist militarisation. Cultural debates involving Yeats and the Gaelic League reflected public identities, leaving Ireland divided, mobilised and distrustful of parliamentary solutions.