Irish Volunteers

The Irish Volunteers were one end of the result of the splitting of the Irish Volunteer Force, the other being the National Volunteers. The Irish volunteers were an organisation who strongly opposed John Redmonds plea for Irishmen to go and fight for Britain in World War I. Although only a tiny minority of the Volunteer force overall, the Irish volunteers were paramount in the Easter Rising of 1916 and many of the rebels involved in that campaign played an important role in the Irish war of Independance.