Posted by Murrisk on May 12, 2001 at 06:30:25:
In Reply to: Re: St. Mary's Sports Ground posted by Ahem on May 12, 2001 at 03:20:35:
This was not an Orange parade. The original notes with the photos read "I.V.Sports" or Irish Volunteers' sports day. These photos were taken 24 days before Britain declared war on Germany, and two months before the split in the Irish Volunteers occured. The harmony in these photos was never seen again.
The Irish Volunteers were formed in November 1913 to counter the Ulster Volunteers. Their leader was Prof. Eoin MacNeill and they were in alliance with the Irish parliamentary party at Westminster.Their membership peaked at 191,000 in July/August/September 1914, the time these photos were taken.
In September 1914, John Redmond, in a speech to the Volunteers in Wicklow, urged the Volunteers to support Britain in the war. This speech split the movement. About 13,500 followed MacNeill. The remainder sided with Redmond and many joined the British army and a great many died in World War I.