CCEA A-level History · Partition of Ireland 1900–25
Mini-Lesson
Partition of Ireland 1900–25
This mini-lesson covers CCEA Unit A2 2, Option 4 — Partition of Ireland 1900–25: the crisis over the Third Home Rule Bill, political developments during and after the First World War, and the creation of Northern Ireland 1921–25.
Unit A2 2 is an interpretations unit, so as well as the narrative you will practise weighing how historians have explained partition.
Where this sits: Option 4 is one of four A2 2 options (the others are England 1558–1603, Ireland 1685–1714 and Ireland 1778–1803). You study one.
Answer the questions as you go and collect ⭐ stars. Press Start when you're ready.
The Home Rule crisis to September 1914
The Third Home Rule Bill crisis
The Third Home Rule Bill (1912) promised self-government for Ireland and provoked fierce Ulster unionist resistance.
On 28 September 1912, unionists signed the Ulster Solemn League and Covenant pledging to resist Home Rule; Edward Carson and James Craig led the campaign.
Both sides armed: the Ulster Volunteer Force (1913) and the Irish Volunteers (1913), with gun-running at Larne and Howth in 1914.
Home Rule reached the statute book in September 1914 but was suspended for the duration of the war.
Quick check
1912
?What was the Ulster Covenant of September 1912?
Political developments 1914–18
War, Rising and the rise of Sinn Féin
The Easter Rising (April 1916) was militarily defeated, but the execution of its leaders shifted nationalist opinion.
The threat of conscription in 1918 further alienated nationalist Ireland from Westminster.
At the 1918 general election, Sinn Féin won a landslide of Irish seats, eclipsing the old Irish Parliamentary Party.
Quick check
1916
?Why was the Easter Rising of 1916 politically significant, despite being defeated?
Political developments 1919–23
Revolution, partition and treaty
Sinn Féin set up the First Dáil (January 1919), and the War of Independence (1919–21) began.
The Government of Ireland Act (1920) partitioned Ireland, creating Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland.
The Anglo-Irish Treaty (6 December 1921) established the Irish Free State as a dominion, with Northern Ireland able to opt out.
Disagreement over the Treaty led to the Irish Civil War (1922–23).
Sort it
Which phase?
Tap a card, then tap the phase it belongs to.
📜 Home Rule crisis 1912–14
⚔️ War & revolution 1916–21
🗺️ Partition & aftermath 1920–25
Quick check
1920
?What did the Government of Ireland Act of 1920 do?
Northern Ireland 1921–25
The new Northern Ireland
The Northern Ireland Parliament opened in 1921, with James Craig as its first Prime Minister.
The Anglo-Irish Treaty provided for a Boundary Commission to review the border.
When the Commission's work collapsed in 1925, the existing six-county border was confirmed — cementing partition.
Order it
Put the events in order
Tap the events from earliest to latest.
Working with interpretations
How should partition be explained?
A2 2 rewards students who can weigh historians against one another. Partition has been explained in different ways — as the product of deep-rooted unionist and nationalist division, of British political calculation, and of wartime contingency. Modern scholarship is careful and evidence-based:
Alvin Jackson is a leading historian of Ulster unionism and of Home Rule.
Charles Townshend has written major studies of the Easter Rising and the War of Independence.
Michael Laffan is a historian of the rise of Sinn Féin and of partition.
Paul Bew has interpreted the era within a long study of Irish politics as 'the politics of enmity'.
Exam skill: explain why a historian argues as they do and judge how convincing it is against the evidence and other views — do not simply label 'nationalist' or 'unionist'.
Match it
Match each historian to their focus
Tap a historian on the left, then their focus on the right.
Historian
Focus of their work
Quick check
Judging interpretations
?In an interpretations answer on partition, what makes an argument strongest?
Quick check
1921
?What did the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921 establish?
Recap
The big ideas to know
1912–14: Third Home Rule Bill; Ulster Covenant (28 Sept 1912); UVF and Irish Volunteers; Home Rule suspended 1914.
1914–18: Easter Rising 1916 and executions; Conscription Crisis 1918; Sinn Féin landslide 1918.
1919–23: First Dáil 1919; War of Independence; Government of Ireland Act 1920; Anglo-Irish Treaty 1921; Civil War 1922–23.