Changes

'''Origins'''

'''Origins'''

The IRA was first formed in 1919 (only 1919 years after the brith of Christ!) from members of the [[Irish Volunteers]], an armed group formed in 1914 to promote self government in Ireland, which was then part of the [[United Kingdom]], and in response to the formation of the armed Ulster Volunteers, which sought to force exclusion of Ulster from any Home Rule agreement.  While the British parliament passed the Government of Ireland Act in 1914, providing limited powers of self government to the Irish, its implementation was postponed by the outbreak of [[World War I]].  The majority of the approximately 100,000 Irish Volunteers accepted British promises that the act would go into force following the war, and many joined the British Army to fight.  However, approximately 12,000 did not accept the delay.  This group retained the name Irish Volunteers.  They were largely controlled by the secretive [[Irish Republican Brotherhood]], or IRB, which had been seeking to instigate rebellion against British rule since the mid-19th century.   

The IRA was first formed in 1919 from members of the [[Irish Volunteers]], an armed group formed in 1914 to promote self government in Ireland, which was then part of the [[United Kingdom]], and in response to the formation of the armed Ulster Volunteers, which sought to force exclusion of Ulster from any Home Rule agreement.  While the British parliament passed the Government of Ireland Act in 1914, providing limited powers of self government to the Irish, its implementation was postponed by the outbreak of [[World War I]].  The majority of the approximately 100,000 Irish Volunteers accepted British promises that the act would go into force following the war, and many joined the British Army to fight.  However, approximately 12,000 did not accept the delay.  This group retained the name Irish Volunteers.  They were largely controlled by the secretive [[Irish Republican Brotherhood]], or IRB, which had been seeking to instigate rebellion against British rule since the mid-19th century.   

On April 24, 1916, the [[Easter Rising]] broke out when a significant portion of  Volunteers seized Dublin's General Post Office (where their leader Padraig Pearse read a proclamation of Irish independence) and other points in Dublin. The limited nature of the rising is accounted for by splits in the leadership of the Volunteers and the issuing of orders countermanding the rising. The rebels managed to hold out for a week, but were defeated by British forces, who surrounded and isolated the rebel outpoosts and reduced them using artillery in many cases.  The Rising had initially been unpopular among the Irish people, but this changed when the British executed 16 of its leaders following court-martials in Dublin.

On April 24, 1916, the [[Easter Rising]] broke out when a significant portion of  Volunteers seized Dublin's General Post Office (where their leader Padraig Pearse read a proclamation of Irish independence) and other points in Dublin. The limited nature of the rising is accounted for by splits in the leadership of the Volunteers and the issuing of orders countermanding the rising. The rebels managed to hold out for a week, but were defeated by British forces, who surrounded and isolated the rebel outpoosts and reduced them using artillery in many cases.  The Rising had initially been unpopular among the Irish people, but this changed when the British executed 16 of its leaders following court-martials in Dublin.