Joseph Devlin
Encyclopedia
Joseph Devlin, also known as Joe Devlin, (13 February 1871 – 18 January 1934) was an Irish
journalist
and influential nationalist
politician
. He was a Member of Parliament
(MP) for the Irish Parliamentary Party
in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
, and later a Nationalist Party
MP in the Parliament of Northern Ireland
.
, he was the fifth child of Charles Devlin (d. 1906) who ran a hackney cab, and his wife Eliza King (d. 1902) who sold groceries from their home. Until he was twelve he attended the nearby St. Mary's Christian Brother
s School in Divis Street, where he was educated in a more ‘national’ and ‘catholic’ view of Irish history and culture than offered in the state system.
He showed an early gift for public speaking when he became chairman of a debating society founded in 1886 to commemorate the first nationalist election victory in West Belfast. From 1891-1893 he was journalist on the Irish News than on the Freeman's Journal
when he became associated with the Ancient Order of Hibernians
(AOH) which he helped to re-establish in 1890s becoming spokesman for the Catholic population and a lifelong opponent of its counterpart, the Orange Order
. He then worked at Samuel Young MP's brewery for whom he managed a Belfast pub, which sustained him until 1902.
in eastern Ulster
. When William O’Brien founded the United Irish League
(UIL) in County Mayo
in 1898, Devlin founded the UIL section in Belfast which became his political machine in Ulster. He was elected unopposed as Irish Parliamentary Party
(IPP) Member of Parliament for Kilkenny North
in the February 1902 by-election. His first political assignment came that year when the Party sent him to Irish Americas
on the first of several successful fund-raising missions.
It was there that he encountered the power of the Hibernian Orders and on his return set about claiming it for constitutional nationalism, when in 1904 he became lifelong Grandmaster
of the AOH in Ireland. Members of his Order, largely composed of earlier members of the Molly Maguires
, a militant secret society also known as the Mollies, also became members of the Irish Party, deeply infiltrating it. Already secretary of the London
based United Irish League of Great Britain
Devlin became General Secretary of O’Brien’s UIL, replacing John O'Donnell
, through the initiative of deputy IPP leader John Dillon
MP, with whom he held a close alliance and who had fallen under his influence. This "coup" gave them nation-wide control of the 1200 UIL branches, the organisational base of the IPP, depriving O’Brien of all authority.
Devlin had risen in the ranks of the League from being a local Nationalist organiser in Belfast to becoming the only newcomer to the parliamentary party who was accepted politically, as an equal by the established leaders. He was devoted to Dillon who had helped him greatly to his rise to prominence, and Dillon in turn relied greatly on him, not alone for both his control of the UIL and the AOH, but also because he was an outstanding representative of Ulster Nationalism.
For some years Devlin had been in bitter conflict with the bishop’s Catholic Association who wanted politics based on Catholic rights rather than on nationalism. Now in control of the three nationalist political organisations all sides succumbed to Devlin’s influence. The AOH continued the O’Connellite link between Catholicism and nationalism but under a lay controlled organisations. To the Irish party’s opponents the AOH was symptomatic with Catholic sectarianism, jobbery and patronage. Devlin represented the main urban and national business interests, which contrasted with his advocacy of social reforms when he took up labour issues especially working conditions in the linen mills
and textile trades.
In the 1906 general election
, Devlin was re-elected to Kilkenny North, and also to Belfast West
which he regained from the Unionists by 16 votes. Choosing to retain the Belfast seat, he served as its MP beyond 1918, when his popularity in Belfast and east Ulster survived the downfall of the IPP. Devlin became governor of the nationalist hinterland after his AOH political machinery rapidly saturated the country, acting through the UIL as the militant support organisation of the Irish Party. Devlin could assure John Redmond
leader of the IPP, that at Redmond's bid, his organisation could provide full attendance of suitable "supporters" at any meeting, demonstration or convention throughout Ireland, something Redmond and his party often availed of.
The AOH was vehemently opposed by one nationalist organisation, the Munster
based All-for-Ireland League
(AFIL), an independent party founded by William O’Brien who held Devlin’s AOH as being at the root of widespread religious intimidation and sectarianism. He and his followers were attacked at a UIL Convention in Dublin in February 1909 by 400 militant "Mollies" organised by Devlin to silence him and his followers at what became known as the "Baton Convention". This ultimately displaced the parliamentary constitutional movement with physical-force violence, culminating in the partition of Ireland
.
on the outbreak of World War I
in August 1914, Devlin sided with Redmond’s decision in supporting recruiting for Britain’s and the Allied war effort
and voluntary enlistment of National Volunteers
in Irish regiments of the New Service Army
. Redmond’s plan was that, post-war, an intended ‘Irish Brigade’ and the National Volunteers would provide the basis for an Irish army, capable of enforcing Home Rule on reluctant Ulster Unionists.
After the 1916 Easter Rising
Devlin compromised with Northern Nationalists on a temporary six-county exclusion to assist Lloyd George
’s abortive home rule negotiations, organising a convention which endorsed exclusion by a vote of 475 to 265. On the other hand during the Irish Convention
he sided with the bishops in blocking Redmond’s compromise with Southern Unionists
on Home Rule. In April 1918 Devlin was signatory to the anti- Conscription Crisis of 1918 pledge. At the end of the war he was elected Nationalist MP for Belfast Falls
in the 1918 general election
(in which he defeated Éamon de Valera
of Sinn Féin), one of the very few Irish Parliamentary Party MPs to retain their seats against the Sinn Féin landslide.
. Although, when he tried to bring up the Croke Park
killings that occurred on Bloody Sunday
at Westminster, he was shouted down and physically attacked by Conservative MP John Elsdale Molson; the Speaker had to suspend the sitting.
In the first election in 1921 for the Northern Ireland House of Commons after the Government of Ireland Act 1920
was enacted, so as not to allow the Ulster Unionist
s a “walk-over” he agreed a pact with de Valera that Nationalists would not stand against Sinn Féiners; both parties co-operated during the election and won 6 seats each, the Unionists 40. Devlin, who represented a more moderate nationalist view, was elected for both Antrim
and Belfast West
. He chose to sit for Belfast West although his seat in the seven member Antrim constituency was left vacant for the rest of the Parliament. He continued to sit at Westminster
as leader of the Nationalist Party
of Northern Ireland, as both small parties did not recognise the Stormont
parliament.
Devlin was re-elected in Belfast West in 1925 when he decided to lead his small party out of abstentionism and sat for the first time in the Parliament of Northern Ireland
as head of a powerless opposition, but so as to highlight Catholic grievances, especially in relation to education. He was returned for the four member constituency until Proportional Representation
by the Single Transferable Vote
was abolished for territorial constituencies and single member seats were introduced for the 1929 election.
From 1929 until his death, Joe Devlin was the Northern Ireland MP for Fermanagh and Tyrone
. He won amendment to the Northern Ireland Education Act of 1930 which improved the funding of Catholic schools. Otherwise they were years of demoralisation for northern Catholics, and the party abstained after 1932 due to the abolishment of proportional representation, when frustration finally drove him and his followers out of the Belfast parliament again, when his party abstained.
. His funeral at St. Peter’s Pro-Cathedral, Belfast, was attended by leading members of both governments. The AOH hall in Ardboe
, County Tyrone
, is named after him.
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and influential nationalist
Irish nationalism
Irish nationalism manifests itself in political and social movements and in sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and as a sense of pride in Ireland and in the Irish people...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
. He was a Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for the Irish Parliamentary Party
Irish Parliamentary Party
The Irish Parliamentary Party was formed in 1882 by Charles Stewart Parnell, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nationalist Members of Parliament elected to the House of Commons at...
in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
, and later a Nationalist Party
Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland)
The Nationalist Party† - was the continuation of the Irish Parliamentary Party, and was formed after partition, by the Northern Ireland-based members of the IPP....
MP in the Parliament of Northern Ireland
Parliament of Northern Ireland
The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which sat from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended...
.
Early years
Born at 10 Hamill Street, in the Lower Falls area of BelfastBelfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, he was the fifth child of Charles Devlin (d. 1906) who ran a hackney cab, and his wife Eliza King (d. 1902) who sold groceries from their home. Until he was twelve he attended the nearby St. Mary's Christian Brother
Congregation of Christian Brothers
The Congregation of Christian Brothers is a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, founded by Blessed Edmund Rice. The Christian Brothers, as they are commonly known, chiefly work for the evangelisation and education of youth, but are involved in many ministries, especially with...
s School in Divis Street, where he was educated in a more ‘national’ and ‘catholic’ view of Irish history and culture than offered in the state system.
He showed an early gift for public speaking when he became chairman of a debating society founded in 1886 to commemorate the first nationalist election victory in West Belfast. From 1891-1893 he was journalist on the Irish News than on the Freeman's Journal
Freeman's Journal
The Freeman's Journal was the oldest nationalist newspaper in Ireland. It was founded in 1763 by Charles Lucas and was identified with radical 18th century Protestant patriot politicians Henry Grattan and Henry Flood...
when he became associated with the Ancient Order of Hibernians
Ancient Order of Hibernians
The Ancient Order of Hibernians is an Irish Catholic fraternal organization. Members must be Catholic and either Irish born or of Irish descent. Its largest membership is now in the United States, where it was founded in New York City in 1836...
(AOH) which he helped to re-establish in 1890s becoming spokesman for the Catholic population and a lifelong opponent of its counterpart, the Orange Order
Orange Institution
The Orange Institution is a Protestant fraternal organisation based mainly in Northern Ireland and Scotland, though it has lodges throughout the Commonwealth and United States. The Institution was founded in 1796 near the village of Loughgall in County Armagh, Ireland...
. He then worked at Samuel Young MP's brewery for whom he managed a Belfast pub, which sustained him until 1902.
Skilled politician
During the 1890s he was active as organizer in the anti-Parnellite Irish National FederationIrish National Federation
The Irish National Federation was a nationalist political party in Ireland. It was founded in March 1891 by former members of the Irish National League who had left the Irish Parliamentary Party in protest when Charles Stewart Parnell refused to resign the party leadership as a result of his...
in eastern Ulster
Ulster
Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial...
. When William O’Brien founded the United Irish League
United Irish League
The United Irish League was a nationalist political party in Ireland, launched 23 January 1898 with the motto "The Land for the People" . Its objective to be achieved through agrarian agitation and land reform, compelling larger grazier farmers to surrender their lands for redistribution amongst...
(UIL) in County Mayo
County Mayo
County Mayo is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the village of Mayo, which is now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county is 130,552...
in 1898, Devlin founded the UIL section in Belfast which became his political machine in Ulster. He was elected unopposed as Irish Parliamentary Party
Irish Parliamentary Party
The Irish Parliamentary Party was formed in 1882 by Charles Stewart Parnell, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nationalist Members of Parliament elected to the House of Commons at...
(IPP) Member of Parliament for Kilkenny North
North Kilkenny (UK Parliament constituency)
North Kilkenny was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It returned one Member of Parliament from 1885 to 1922.-Boundaries and Boundary Changes:...
in the February 1902 by-election. His first political assignment came that year when the Party sent him to Irish Americas
Irish American
Irish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...
on the first of several successful fund-raising missions.
It was there that he encountered the power of the Hibernian Orders and on his return set about claiming it for constitutional nationalism, when in 1904 he became lifelong Grandmaster
Grand Master (order)
Grand Master is the typical title of the supreme head of various orders of knighthood, including various military orders, religious orders and civil orders such as the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Orange Order...
of the AOH in Ireland. Members of his Order, largely composed of earlier members of the Molly Maguires
Molly Maguires
The Molly Maguires were members of an Irish-American secret society, whose members consisted mainly of coal miners. Many historians believe the "Mollies" were present in the anthracite coal fields of Pennsylvania in the United States from approximately the time of the American Civil War until a...
, a militant secret society also known as the Mollies, also became members of the Irish Party, deeply infiltrating it. Already secretary of the London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
based United Irish League of Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
Devlin became General Secretary of O’Brien’s UIL, replacing John O'Donnell
John O'Donnell (politician)
John O’Donnell was an Irish journalist, Nationalist politician and Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom House of Commons from 1900 to 1910....
, through the initiative of deputy IPP leader John Dillon
John Dillon
John Dillon was an Irish land reform agitator from Dublin, an Irish Home Rule activist, a nationalist politician, a Member of Parliament for over 35 years, and the last leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party....
MP, with whom he held a close alliance and who had fallen under his influence. This "coup" gave them nation-wide control of the 1200 UIL branches, the organisational base of the IPP, depriving O’Brien of all authority.
Devlin had risen in the ranks of the League from being a local Nationalist organiser in Belfast to becoming the only newcomer to the parliamentary party who was accepted politically, as an equal by the established leaders. He was devoted to Dillon who had helped him greatly to his rise to prominence, and Dillon in turn relied greatly on him, not alone for both his control of the UIL and the AOH, but also because he was an outstanding representative of Ulster Nationalism.
Immense influence
He became a distinguished parliamentarian and had reached the top by the skilful use of two remarkable talents, his persuasive and very powerful oratory, and secondly, that he was a great organisation man, not merely as General Secretary of the United Irish League, but because he also dominated the Ancient Order of Hibernians. He was the only member of the younger generation to belong to the innermost circle of the IPP leadership and was widely seen as eventual heir-apparent.For some years Devlin had been in bitter conflict with the bishop’s Catholic Association who wanted politics based on Catholic rights rather than on nationalism. Now in control of the three nationalist political organisations all sides succumbed to Devlin’s influence. The AOH continued the O’Connellite link between Catholicism and nationalism but under a lay controlled organisations. To the Irish party’s opponents the AOH was symptomatic with Catholic sectarianism, jobbery and patronage. Devlin represented the main urban and national business interests, which contrasted with his advocacy of social reforms when he took up labour issues especially working conditions in the linen mills
Living Linen
The Living Linen Project was set up in 1995 as an oral archive of the knowledge of the Irish linen industry still available within a nucleus of people who were formerly working in the industry in Ulster....
and textile trades.
In the 1906 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1906
-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1906*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:***-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...
, Devlin was re-elected to Kilkenny North, and also to Belfast West
Belfast West (UK Parliament constituency)
Belfast West is a parliamentary constituency in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.-Boundaries:The seat was restored in 1922 when as part of the establishment of the devolved Stormont Parliament for Northern Ireland, the number of MPs in the Westminster Parliament was drastically cut...
which he regained from the Unionists by 16 votes. Choosing to retain the Belfast seat, he served as its MP beyond 1918, when his popularity in Belfast and east Ulster survived the downfall of the IPP. Devlin became governor of the nationalist hinterland after his AOH political machinery rapidly saturated the country, acting through the UIL as the militant support organisation of the Irish Party. Devlin could assure John Redmond
John Redmond
John Edward Redmond was an Irish nationalist politician, barrister, MP in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party from 1900 to 1918...
leader of the IPP, that at Redmond's bid, his organisation could provide full attendance of suitable "supporters" at any meeting, demonstration or convention throughout Ireland, something Redmond and his party often availed of.
The AOH was vehemently opposed by one nationalist organisation, the Munster
Munster
Munster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the south of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial purposes...
based All-for-Ireland League
All-for-Ireland League
The All-for-Ireland League , was an Irish, Munster-based political party . Founded by William O'Brien MP, it generated a new national movement to achieve agreement between the different parties concerned on the historically difficult aim of Home Rule for the whole of Ireland...
(AFIL), an independent party founded by William O’Brien who held Devlin’s AOH as being at the root of widespread religious intimidation and sectarianism. He and his followers were attacked at a UIL Convention in Dublin in February 1909 by 400 militant "Mollies" organised by Devlin to silence him and his followers at what became known as the "Baton Convention". This ultimately displaced the parliamentary constitutional movement with physical-force violence, culminating in the partition of Ireland
Partition of Ireland
The partition of Ireland was the division of the island of Ireland into two distinct territories, now Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland . Partition occurred when the British Parliament passed the Government of Ireland Act 1920...
.
Home Rule compromised
With the involvement of IrelandIreland and World War I
During World War I , Ireland was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, which entered the war in August 1914 as one of the Entente Powers, along with France and Russia, when it declared war to halt the military expansion of the Central Powers, consisting of the German Empire, the...
on the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
in August 1914, Devlin sided with Redmond’s decision in supporting recruiting for Britain’s and the Allied war effort
Allies of World War I
The Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The members of the Triple Entente were the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire; Italy entered the war on their side in 1915...
and voluntary enlistment of National Volunteers
National Volunteers
The National Volunteers was the name taken by the majority of the Irish Volunteers that sided with Irish Parliamentary Party leader John Redmond after the movement split over the question of the Volunteers' role in World War I.-Origins:...
in Irish regiments of the New Service Army
Kitchener's Army
The New Army, often referred to as Kitchener's Army or, disparagingly, Kitchener's Mob, was an all-volunteer army formed in the United Kingdom following the outbreak of hostilities in the First World War...
. Redmond’s plan was that, post-war, an intended ‘Irish Brigade’ and the National Volunteers would provide the basis for an Irish army, capable of enforcing Home Rule on reluctant Ulster Unionists.
After the 1916 Easter Rising
Easter Rising
The Easter Rising was an insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. The Rising was mounted by Irish republicans with the aims of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing the Irish Republic at a time when the British Empire was heavily engaged in the First World War...
Devlin compromised with Northern Nationalists on a temporary six-county exclusion to assist Lloyd George
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
’s abortive home rule negotiations, organising a convention which endorsed exclusion by a vote of 475 to 265. On the other hand during the Irish Convention
Irish Convention
The Irish Convention was an assembly which sat in Dublin, Ireland from July 1917 until March 1918 to address the Irish Question and other constitutional problems relating to an early enactment of self-government for Ireland, to debate its wider future, discuss and come to an understanding on...
he sided with the bishops in blocking Redmond’s compromise with Southern Unionists
Irish Unionist Party
The Irish Unionist Alliance was a Unionist party founded in Ireland in 1891 to oppose plans for Gladstonian and Parnellite Home Rule for Ireland. The party was led for much of its life by Colonel Edward James Saunderson and later by the William St John Brodrick, Earl of Midleton...
on Home Rule. In April 1918 Devlin was signatory to the anti- Conscription Crisis of 1918 pledge. At the end of the war he was elected Nationalist MP for Belfast Falls
Belfast Falls (UK Parliament constituency)
Falls a division of Belfast, was a UK parliamentary constituency in Ireland. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1922.-Boundaries and Boundary Changes:...
in the 1918 general election
Irish (UK) general election, 1918
The Irish general election of 1918 was that part of the 1918 United Kingdom general election that took place in Ireland. It is seen as a key moment in modern Irish history...
(in which he defeated Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera was one of the dominant political figures in twentieth century Ireland, serving as head of government of the Irish Free State and head of government and head of state of Ireland...
of Sinn Féin), one of the very few Irish Parliamentary Party MPs to retain their seats against the Sinn Féin landslide.
Minority leader
During 1919-1921 his leadership was reduced to six Nationalist MPs. His attempts to achieve a united nationalist front was undermined because of resentment by west Ulster nationalists of his acceptance of temporary partition as the price for a Home Rule settlement in 1916. He avoided any involvement in All-Ireland politics having accepted that the mandate had passed to Sinn FéinSinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
. Although, when he tried to bring up the Croke Park
Croke Park
Croke Park in Dublin is the principal stadium and headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association , Ireland's biggest sporting organisation...
killings that occurred on Bloody Sunday
Bloody Sunday (1920)
Bloody Sunday was a day of violence in Dublin on 21 November 1920, during the Irish War of Independence. In total, 31 people were killed – fourteen British, fourteen Irish civilians and three republican prisoners....
at Westminster, he was shouted down and physically attacked by Conservative MP John Elsdale Molson; the Speaker had to suspend the sitting.
In the first election in 1921 for the Northern Ireland House of Commons after the Government of Ireland Act 1920
Government of Ireland Act 1920
The Government of Ireland Act 1920 was the Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which partitioned Ireland. The Act's long title was "An Act to provide for the better government of Ireland"; it is also known as the Fourth Home Rule Bill or as the Fourth Home Rule Act.The Act was intended...
was enacted, so as not to allow the Ulster Unionist
Ulster Unionist Party
The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...
s a “walk-over” he agreed a pact with de Valera that Nationalists would not stand against Sinn Féiners; both parties co-operated during the election and won 6 seats each, the Unionists 40. Devlin, who represented a more moderate nationalist view, was elected for both Antrim
Antrim (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)
Antrim was a county constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland from 1921 - 1929. It returned seven MPs, using the single transferable vote method of proportional representation.-Boundaries:...
and Belfast West
Belfast West (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)
Belfast West was a borough constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland from 1921 - 1929. It returned four MPs, using the single transferable vote method of proportional representation.-Boundaries:...
. He chose to sit for Belfast West although his seat in the seven member Antrim constituency was left vacant for the rest of the Parliament. He continued to sit at Westminster
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...
as leader of the Nationalist Party
Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland)
The Nationalist Party† - was the continuation of the Irish Parliamentary Party, and was formed after partition, by the Northern Ireland-based members of the IPP....
of Northern Ireland, as both small parties did not recognise the Stormont
Stormont Castle
Stormont Castle is a baronial mansion on the Stormont Estate in east Belfast which is used as the main meeting place of the Northern Ireland Executive....
parliament.
Devlin was re-elected in Belfast West in 1925 when he decided to lead his small party out of abstentionism and sat for the first time in the Parliament of Northern Ireland
Parliament of Northern Ireland
The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which sat from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended...
as head of a powerless opposition, but so as to highlight Catholic grievances, especially in relation to education. He was returned for the four member constituency until Proportional Representation
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
by the Single Transferable Vote
Single transferable vote
The single transferable vote is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through preferential voting. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to his or her most preferred candidate, and then, after candidates have been either elected or eliminated, any surplus or...
was abolished for territorial constituencies and single member seats were introduced for the 1929 election.
From 1929 until his death, Joe Devlin was the Northern Ireland MP for Fermanagh and Tyrone
Fermanagh and Tyrone (UK Parliament constituency)
Fermanagh and Tyrone was a Parliamentary Constituency in Northern Ireland which was represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
. He won amendment to the Northern Ireland Education Act of 1930 which improved the funding of Catholic schools. Otherwise they were years of demoralisation for northern Catholics, and the party abstained after 1932 due to the abolishment of proportional representation, when frustration finally drove him and his followers out of the Belfast parliament again, when his party abstained.
Personal background
“Wee Joe” as he was popularly known, was held in high affection by his constituents for his charming and effervescent personality. He was a fluent and powerful orator. In later years he was comfortably off as director of the Distillery Company and chairman of the Irish News and enjoyed organising summer fêtes – “days of delight” - for Belfast children. His approach in life was ‘getting things done’. He lived most of his life in Belfast, though he spent some earlier years in London. He never married. An acknowledged spokesman and leader of Catholic nationalists in Ulster for decades, Devlin died in Belfast on 18 January 1934. He was buried at Milltown CemeteryMilltown Cemetery
Milltown Cemetery is a large cemetery in west Belfast, Northern Ireland.It lies within the townland of Ballymurphy, between Falls Road and the M1 motorway. Milltown Cemetery opened in 1869 and there are now approximately 200,000 of Belfast's citizens buried there. Most of those buried there are...
. His funeral at St. Peter’s Pro-Cathedral, Belfast, was attended by leading members of both governments. The AOH hall in Ardboe
Ardboe
Ardboe is a small village in the north east of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is near the western shore of Lough Neagh and lies within the Cookstown District Council area...
, County Tyrone
County Tyrone
Historically Tyrone stretched as far north as Lough Foyle, and comprised part of modern day County Londonderry east of the River Foyle. The majority of County Londonderry was carved out of Tyrone between 1610-1620 when that land went to the Guilds of London to set up profit making schemes based on...
, is named after him.
Sources
- Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922, edited by B.M. Walker (Royal Irish Academy 1978)
- Northern Ireland Parliamentary Election Results 1921-1972, by Sydney Elliott (Political Reference Publications 1973)
- British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1977)
- A Dictionary of Irish History since 1800, D. J. Hickey & J. E. Doherty , Gill & MacMillan (1980)
- Who's Who in The long Gestation, Patrick Maume (1999) p. 225, ISBN 0-7171-2744-3
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, A. C. Hepburn, Vol.15 pp. 983,984, Oxford University Press, (2004)
- The Evolution of Irish National Politics, Tom Garvin, Gill & MacMillan (1981) (2005), pp. 105–110 “The Rise of the Hibernians”, ISBN 0-7171-3967-0
- Dividing Ireland, World War 1 and Partition, Thomas Hennessey, Routledge Press (1998), ISBN 0-415-17420-1
- Home Rule, an Irish History 1800-2000, Alvin Jackson, Phoenix Press (2003), ISBN 0-7538-1767-5