Bulmer Hobson
Bulmer Hobson (
1882 -
1969) was a leading member of the
Irish Volunteers and the
Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) before the
Easter Rising in
1916. Hobson was a
socialist and
journalist with close connections to
James Connolly.
Hobson, a Protestant from
County Tyrone, was one of the founding members of the Volunteers, and served as their secretary before the Rising. He was a protegé of veteran
Fenian Tom Clarke, with whom he had a close, almost father-son relationship until
1914. As a member of the Volunteers provisional council, Hobson was instrumental in allowing Parliamentary leader
John Redmond to gain undue influence in the Volunteers organisation. Though he was against this in theory, he gave in, believing that defying Redmond (who was highly popular throughout Ireland) would lead to the demise of the Volunteers. Clarke, steadfastly opposed to this action, never forgave him or spoke to him again. Hobson resigned as a member of the Supreme Council of the IRB, and was fired from his job as
Dublin correspondent for the newspaper the
Gaelic American, leaving him in financial straits.
Though he remained a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood he was not informed of the plans for the Rising at
Easter, 1916. He remained opposed to such an action, believing it was contrary to the stated purpose of the Volunteers (to whom he had as much loyalty as the decidedly more radical IRB), particularly as it stood no real chance of success. He nevertheless was able to figure out what was being planned, and he subsequently alerted Volunteers chief-of-staff
Eoin MacNeill about what the IRB up to. MacNeill issued a countermanding order, which meant that most Volunteers did not take part. Hobson was kidnapped by the organisers of the rising to stop him from spreading news of MacNeill's order, and was held in a safehouse in
Phibsborough until the Rising was well underway.
Though he had been one of the most active members of the IRB for years, being largely responsible for the re-emergence of the organisation, and was instrumental in the founding of the Volunteers, Hobson did not involve himself in politics after the Rising, or the subsequent
Anglo-Irish War.
However, Hobson later emerged as a key advisor to
Seán MacBride, leader of
Clann na Poblachta,
Minister of External Affairs in the
First Inter-Party Government in Ireland.
* {{cite book
last = Kee | first = Robert | authorlink = | coauthors = | editor = | others = | title = The green flag: a history of Irish nationalism | origdate = | origyear = | origmonth = | url = | format = | accessdate = | accessyear = | accessmonth = | edition = | date = | year = 2000 | month = | publisher = Penguin | location = London | language = | id = ISBN 0140291652 | doi = | pages = 877p | chapter = | chapterurl = | quote =
* {{cite book | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | editor = F.X. Martin (ed.) | others = | title = Leaders and men of the Easter Rising: Dublin, 1916 | origdate = | origyear = | origmonth = | url = | format = | accessdate = | accessyear = | accessmonth = | edition = | date = | year = 1967 | month = | publisher = Methuen | location = London | language = | id = | doi = | pages = xii, 276p | chapter = | chapterurl = | quote =
* {{cite book | last = Townshend | first = Charles | authorlink = | coauthors = | editor = | others = | title = Easter 1916: the Irish rebellion | origdate = | origyear = | origmonth = | url = | format = | accessdate = | accessyear = | accessmonth = | edition = | date = | year = 2005 | month = | publisher = Allen Lane | location = London | language = | id = ISBN 0713996900 | doi = | pages = xxi, 442p | chapter = | chapterurl = | quote =
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