P. S. O'Hegarty and the Ulster Question

Abstract

Like many of his nationalist contemporaries, the Irish separatist P. S. O’Hegarty (1879–1952) viewed Ulster Unionist resistance to assimilation into a united self‐governing Irish nation as the outcome of British policy and politicking in Ireland. In constructing an ethnic and political tie with the Protestant population of north‐east Ulster from the 1801 Act of Union, subsequent British governments cultivated a ‘false consciousness’ among Ulster Unionists to further their political and economic self‐interests. This article examines the deficiencies in O’Hegarty’s arguments against partition but its main purpose is to highlight that, contrary to his conventional image as a doctrinal nationalist, O’Hegarty’s ‘Irishness’ consisted of a liberal and civic concept of citizenship. It concludes that O’Hegarty’s view of nationalism was pluralistic, inclusive and ahead of its time during a period when ethnicity was perceived as a non‐negotiable determinant of national identity.