Sinn Feinism

Easter insurrection of 1916 in Dublin was only rendered possible by the negligence or the incompetence of the Chief Secretary; but, in giving evidence before the Commission appointed to inquire into it, Mr. Birrell said: "The spirit of what to-day is called Sinn Feinism is mainly composed of the old hatred and distrust of the British connection ... always there as the background of Irish politics and character"; and, after recalling that Cardinal Newman had observed the same state of feeling in Dublin more than half a century before, Mr. Birrell added quite truly that "this dislike, hatred, disloyalty (so unintelligible to many Englishmen) is hard to define but easy to discern, though incapable of exact measurement from year to year."

Ulster's Stand For Union Ronald John McNeill 1897

Augustine, Chief Secretary for Ireland, on the character of Sinn Feinism, 4; at Ilfracombe, 54; on the Home Rule Bill, 96; the right to fight, 138; member of a sub-committee on Ulster, 175; conduct in the Irish rebellion, 243; character of his administration, 245

Ulster's Stand For Union Ronald John McNeill 1897