WICKLOW COUNTY
WICKLOW COUNT Y
– John Finlay
Wicklow through the War of Independence An insight into Wicklow town and environs as seen through the eyes of the local newspapers of the time, namely the Wicklow People and the Wicklow NewsLetter, with additional information from the records of Wicklow Urban Council and Wicklow Harbour Board.
1919 The aftermath of Sinn Féin’s election victory There were three candidates for the East Wicklow constituency in the General Election of 1918: D. J. Cogan (Home Rule Party), Alexander Parker Keane (Unionist) and Seán T. Etchingham (Sinn Féin). Polling day was 14 December, and on that day the Wicklow People carried a large front-page advertisement for Etchingham with the slogan, ‘VOTE FOR ETCHINGHAM AND FREEDOM.’ When the election results were announced, after Christmas, Sinn Féin had won sweeping victories throughout the country. In the Wicklow constituencies, Seán Etchingham had been returned for Wicklow East while Robert Barton had won the seat in Wicklow West. As 1919 dawned, the results of the General Election were on everyone’s lips with the drastic changes that must ensue. The editorial in the Wicklow News-Letter of 4 January began: ‘There are few amongst us who will be disposed to shed copious tears over the passing of the old year’, and it continued with a long discourse on the Great War but made no mention whatsoever of Ireland’s problems. On the other hand, the Wicklow People published the same day read thus: The result of the General Election is basically that the coalition with Mr. Lloyd George at its head, has been returned in England. In Ireland, as was expected, Sinn Féin has been victorious. The Irish Party (Home Rule) has practically disappeared, 73 Sinn Féin … and only 6 members of the Irish Party have been returned. This means
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