John Redmond's Last Years

Ireland's struggle over Home Rule forms the backdrop to Stephen Lucius Gwynn's account of John Redmond's final years. Drawing on papers entrusted to him by Redmond's son, Gwynn examines the Irish parliamentary leader's policy during the First World War and the political pressures surrounding it. The opening places Redmond within his Wexford family, his Catholic upbringing and a tradition of parliamentary service, linking his later choices to an established belief in constitutional politics.

The book brings together political biography, correspondence and accounts of public speeches. In the wartime passages, Redmond appeals to Irish Volunteers and argues that service abroad can help secure Ireland's future, while critics challenge the relationship between recruitment and Home Rule. Chapters also address rival volunteer forces, the 1916 rising and the Irish Convention. Readers interested in Irish political history can follow these arguments through a sympathetic colleague's account, whose preface openly accepts responsibility for its interpretations.