| A | B |
|---|
| Absentee | A description of landlords who owned land in Ireland but who lived in England for most of the year. |
| Alliance | An agreement between countries or political parties to support one another. |
| Anglo-Irish | These were the families whose ancestors had been rewarded with grants of land in Ireland. |
| Aristocracy | Powerful land-owning and wealthy families whose land and titles were inherited. |
| Ascendancy | A name for the Protestant ruling class in the 18th century. |
| Auxiliaries | A reserve force made up of ex-army officers, set up in 1920, to fight the IRA. |
| Bill of Parliament | A name given to a proposed new law before it had been passed by both Houses of Parliament. |
| Black & Tans | A force set up in 1920 to fight the IRA. They were issued with outfits made up from police and army uniforms. |
| Border | The boundary or limit of a country. |
| Boycott | To refuse to work for or deal with someone, or some country. |
| British Empire | Name given to the group of countries ruled by Britain. |
| By-election | An election held in a constituency to replace a Member of Parliament who has died or resigned. |
| Civil War | A war between opposing groups in the same country. |
| Coffin ships | A name given to ships on which many emigrants died because of poor conditions. |
| Conscription | A law which meant that men had to join the army. |
| Conservative Party | A political party which strongly supported the Union at the time of the Home Rule Crisis. |
| Constituency | An area which a Member of Parliament represents. |
| Constitutional | Acting within the law, or constitution. A constitutional party does not believe in using froce to achieve its aims. |
| Covenant | A solemn declaration, calling on God as a witness. |
| Dail Eireann | Name given to the lower house of the Irish Parliament, set up in Dublin by Sinn Fein in 1919. |
| Democrary | A form of government that is based on the equal rights of its citizens. |
| Democratic | Believing in democracy. |
| Elect | To choose or select for office by voting. |
| Election | The act of choosing a new government by voting for Members of Parliament. |
| Emigrant | Someone who leaves his or her own country to live in another country. |
| Emigrate | To leave your own country to live in another country. |
| Empire | A number of countries or territories ruled by another powerful country. |
| Eviction | Putting a tenant and his family out of their home because they could not pay the rent. |
| Extremist | Someone who believes something so strongly he will use violence to get it. |
| Famine | Extreme scarcity of food when the main food supply fails. |
| Fenians | A revolutionary republican group whose members swore a secret oath. |
| Flying-columns | IRA units carrying out a kind o guerrilla warfare. They moved about the countryside making surprise attacks. |
| Franchise | The right to vote in elections. |
| Gaelic Athletic Association | Organisation set up in 1884 to encourage Irish sports like Gaelic football and hurling. |
| Gaelic League | Organisation set up in 1893 to encourage Irish language and culture. |
| Gaelic Revival | Name given to the period in the late 19th century when there was a movement to encourage Irish culture. The GAA and Gaelic League were the major organisations in the Gaelic Revival. |
| General election | An election where every person entitled to, votes for whom he or she wants to represent their constituency in Parliament. |
| Government of Ireland Act | An Act passed in 1920 to give Home Rule to Ireland. |
| Guerrilla warfare | A type of warfare where each side makes surprise attacks on the other side. The IRA flying columns were guerrilla fighters. |
| Gun-running | Smuggling guns, bought in Germany into Ireland to arm both the UVF and the IVF in 1914. |
| Home Rule | The idea of a country having some independence in running its own affairs. |
| Independence | Freedom from government by another country. |
| Insurgent | Someone who takes part in a rebellion. |
| Insurrection | A rebellion |
| Irish Citizen's Army | A small military force set up by the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union to defend strikes in October 1913. |
| Irish Parliamentary Party | A political party which wanted Home Rule for Ireland. |
| Irish Republican Army | The IRA; the military wing of Sinn Fein. |
| Irish Republican Brotherhood | A revolutionary group which wanted complete independence for Ireland. |
| Irish Volunteer Force | A force set up in response to the Ulster Volunteer Force, to fight for Home Rule, if necessary. |
| Land Acts | Acts which granted rights to tenant farmers, including freedom of sale, fixing of tenure and fair rents. |
| Land League | An organisation set up by Michael Davitt in 1879 to fight for lower rents and the right of Irish tenants to own land. |
| Landlord | A landowner who rents out part of his land or property to tenants in return for payment. |
| Lease | An agreement between a landlord and a tenant which sets out the rights and responsibilities of each person, such as how long the tenant can stay on the land and what rent he has to pay the landlord. |
| Liberal Party | British political party which introduced each of the three Home Rule Bills. |
| Militant | Being inclined to take action in support of beliefs, instead of just talking about them. |
| Monarchy | A country which has a king or queen as its head of state. |
| Nation | People united by common descent, language, culture and sport. |
| Nationalism | The name given to the desire to set up a separate state free from British rule. |
| Nationalist | Someone who wanted Home Rule or independence for Ireland from Britain. |
| Orange Order | A society set up to commemorate the victory of William or Orange at the Battle of the Boyne. |
| Parliament | An assembly of elected representatives who make laws for the country. |
| Partition | The division of a country. |
| Petition | A document handed to someone in authority, asking for some wish to be granted. |
| Potato blight | A disease, caused by a fungus, which attacks and destroys potato crops. |
| Prime Minister | The leader of the goverment of the United Kingdom. |
| Propaganda | Information giving only one point of view. |
| Public Works | Government scheme to provide people with jobs to enable them to buy food during the famine. |
| Quakers | A religious group who helped famine victims. |
| Rebel | Someone who resists or resents authority, or who takes part in a rebellion or rising. |
| Rebellion | An act of organised and often violent opposition to the government or ruling country. |
| Relief | Help given to famine victims by the government, charities and individuals.. |
| Rent | Money paid to a landlord by a tenant. |
| Reprisal | An attack in revenge for another attack. |
| Republic | A country with a president as Head of State instead of a king or queen. |
| Republican | A name given to someone who wants to set up a republic, and is against a monarchy. |
| Rising | Another name for a rebellion. |
| Royal Irish Constabulary | The name of the police force in Ireland before partition. |
| Sinn Fein | A political group founded by Arthur Griffith in 1905. |
| Socialist | Someone who believes insharing wealth. |
| Solemn League and Covenant | A solemn declaration calling on God as a witness. The Solumn League and Covenant of 1912 set out Unionist objections to Home Rule. |
| Soup Kitchens | Places set up during the famine where soup was given out to poor people. |
| Sub-division | The land a farmer owned was divided up amongst his sons. |
| Suffrage | Another name for the franchise, or the right to vote at elections. |
| Suffragettes | Those who campaigned for the right tovote using militant, means. |
| Tenant | A person who rents a house or land from a landlord. |
| Treaty | A formal agreement between the opposing sides after a war. |
| Truce | A temporary ending of violence during a war or battle. |
| Ulster Division | A unit in the British Army created at the beginning of the First World War. It was made up mostly of Ulster Volunteer Force members. |
| Ulster Volunteer Force | A force set up in 1913 to fight against Home Rule if necessary. |
| Union | The Act of Union of 1800 brought full union between all of Ireland and Great Britain. |
| Unionism | The ideas or policies of those who wish to maintain the Union. |
| Unionist | A person or political party who supports the union with Britain and was against Home Rule. |
| United Irishmen | A group of Protestants and Roman Catholics who wanted equality for all Irish people. They rebelled against the British government in 1798. |
| Veto | The power of being able to stop something happening, just because you are against it. |
| Volunteer | Someone who joins the army or an organisation of their own free will. |
| Workhouse | Places where destitute people were housed and fed in return for work. |
| World War | A war that involves countries from many parts of the world. The first World War began in August 1914. |
| Young Ireland | A group who attempted a rebellion against Britain in 1848. |
