In Irish public memory, the story of nationalism during the First World War is often told through the lens of the Easter Rising and the revolutionary decade that followed. Less remembered are the thousands of Irish nationalists who, at the outbreak of war in 1914, believed that Ireland's future would be secured not through rebellion but through service in British uniform.

Their story is largely that of the 10th (Irish) Division and the 16th (Irish) Division, formations whose ranks were filled by supporters of constitutional nationalism and the Home Rule movement led by John Redmond. The 16th Division was raised largely from the National Volunteers, while many of the earliest nationalist recruits had already joined the 10th Division, the first of Kitchener's New Army formations to be raised in Ireland.

To understand why so many nationalists volunteered, it is necessary to return to the political tensions of pre-war Ireland. By 1914, Home Rule had been passed by Westminster but suspended amid mounting opposition from Ulster unionists. Armed organisations had emerged on both sides of the political divide, and the prospect of civil conflict appeared increasingly real.

When war broke out in August 1914, Redmond regarded it as both a crisis and an opportunity. Speaking at Woodenbridge, County Wicklow, in September that year, he urged members of the Irish Volunteers to support the Allied war effort. His argument was simple: if Irish nationalists demonstrated loyalty during Britain's hour of need, self-government for Ireland would surely follow.

The speech split the Volunteer movement. A minority rejected Redmond's position and retained the name Irish Volunteers. They would later provide many of the participants in the Easter Rising of 1916. The majority, however, followed Redmond, becoming known as the National Volunteers. From their ranks came many of the recruits who filled the battalions of the 10th and 16th Divisions, carrying their nationalist aspirations with them into the British Army.

The nationalist character of these formations sometimes sat uneasily with British military authorities. While Irish regiments had long existed within the army, many officials remained wary of overt nationalist sentiment. Requests for distinctive Irish symbols met resistance, and some senior officers viewed Redmond's recruits with suspicion. Yet the men themselves retained a strong sense of Irish identity, convinced that their wartime service would strengthen the case for Irish self-government.

The Redmond family led this call to arms by direct, personal example. John Redmond’s own son, William Archer Redmond, answered the call, securing a commission in the 6th Battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment and later serving with the Irish Guards. Alongside him was John’s 53-year-old brother, Major Willie Redmond, MP, who went straight to the front lines. Their presence in uniform was a powerful symbolic statement to the rank-and-file Volunteers that the political leadership was fully invested in this martial gamble.

The 10th (Irish) Division was the first of the Irish divisions to see action and ultimately the most widely travelled. Formed in August 1914 under Lieutenant General Sir Bryan Mahon, it fought at Gallipoli, Salonika and later in Palestine. It was among the first of Kitchener's volunteer divisions to take the field and became known for its endurance in some of the war's most difficult theatres.

Its defining ordeal came during the Gallipoli campaign of 1915. Elements of the division landed at Suvla Bay and fought in the bloody battles around Sari Bair and Chunuk Bair as part of the Allied attempt to break the deadlock on the peninsula. As they boarded the transport ships to head toward the Mediterranean, eyewitnesses noted that the nationalist volunteers defiantly sang traditional ballads like “Dear Old Ireland”. They wanted it known they were bleeding for Ireland's future, not the British Empire. The operation ultimately failed, but the division earned a reputation for determination under extraordinarily difficult conditions. After Gallipoli, the survivors were redeployed to Salonika before later taking part in the Palestine campaign, including the successful advance through Gaza and towards Jerusalem.

The 16th (Irish) Division, meanwhile, was deployed to the Western Front under Major General William Hickie, an Irish-born officer who became one of the most respected commanders of the war. Hickie shared many of the political sympathies of his men and understood the distinct character of the division. Under his leadership, the 16th earned a formidable reputation during some of the war's hardest fighting, including the Somme offensive, Ginchy, Messines and Passchendaele.

The division's reputation was built not only by officers and politicians but by ordinary soldiers. Among them was Private Daniel ("Danny") Flynn, who was awarded the Military Medal for gallantry during the fighting around Messines in June 1917. Like many decorated men of the division, Flynn had begun his journey in the nationalist movement before volunteering for service. His courage reflected the broader record of a division that won thousands of awards for bravery during the war.

Recognition also took a uniquely Irish form. When acts of bravery went unrecognised by the British honours system, Hickie arranged for the presentation of special 16th Division Certificates for Gallantry. Signed by the general himself, these distinctive certificates became treasured possessions among veterans because they represented recognition from an Irish commander who knew the sacrifices his men were making.

Among the most revered figures in the division was Father Willie Doyle, the Dublin Jesuit whose wartime ministry became legendary among the troops. Serving as chaplain, Doyle repeatedly exposed himself to artillery, machine-gun fire and gas attacks while ministering to the wounded and dying. He received the Military Cross for his courage and was mentioned in dispatches. His reputation extended across religious and political divisions, earning the respect of officers and enlisted men alike.

Doyle was killed on 16 August 1917 during the Third Battle of Ypres, commonly remembered as Passchendaele, while attempting to reach wounded soldiers under fire. His body was never recovered. Hickie immediately recommended him for the Victoria Cross, but the War Office flatly denied it—sparking fury among troops who believed he was blocked due to a "triple disqualification" of being Irish, Catholic, and a Jesuit. More than a century later, his legacy continues to resonate, and the Catholic Church has formally opened his cause for canonisation.

The military achievements of the Irish divisions were soon overshadowed by political developments at home. The Easter Rising transformed public opinion in ways that few had anticipated. The executions that followed, coupled with the conscription crisis of 1918, accelerated the growth of republican sentiment and weakened support for constitutional nationalism.

By the time the war ended in November 1918, the political settlement Redmond had envisaged had effectively collapsed. The Irish Parliamentary Party was swept aside at the general election, while Sinn Féin emerged as the dominant political force. For many returning veterans, the Ireland to which they came home was profoundly different from the Ireland they had left. Tragically, Major Willie Redmond would not see this shift; he was mortally wounded at the Battle of Messines in June 1917, his death mourning a cross-community ideal that was fast evaporating.

Some veterans struggled to find their place in this new political landscape. While many resumed civilian lives, others became involved in the revolutionary conflicts that followed. Their military training and battlefield experience proved valuable during the War of Independence.

Among the most notable was Emmet Dalton, a veteran of the 16th (Irish) Division who won the Military Cross for gallantry at Ginchy during the Battle of the Somme. Returning to Ireland after the war, he joined the republican movement and became a close associate of Michael Collins, playing a significant role in military planning and organisation during the War of Independence. His journey from the trenches of France to the leadership circles of Irish republicanism reflected the experience of a generation whose political loyalties were often more complex than later narratives allowed.

That complexity is one of the defining features of the story of Ireland's Great War divisions. Service in the British Army did not necessarily imply support for unionism or opposition to Irish self-government. Many volunteers enlisted because they sincerely believed they were advancing Ireland's national interests as they understood them in 1914.

For decades after independence, these experiences sat uneasily within the dominant narrative of the Irish state. The revolutionary generation rightly occupied a central place in public memory, but the stories of those who had served at Gallipoli, Salonika, the Somme, Messines and Passchendaele often received less attention.

In recent years, however, historians, descendants and commemorative groups have helped restore these men to Ireland's historical landscape. Their experiences reveal a more complicated story than older interpretations allowed.

The men of the 10th and 16th Divisions occupied a unique place in Irish history. They were nationalists who fought in British uniform, believers in Home Rule whose political world disappeared before they returned home. Their legacy sits at the intersection of constitutional nationalism, world war and revolution.

Remembering them does not diminish any other Irish tradition. Rather, it enriches our understanding of a generation caught between empire and nationhood. For many of these men, service in khaki was not a rejection of Irish nationalism. It was an expression of it.

Tim Flynn, who writes as T.S. Flynn, is an Australian-based Interim CFO, historical novelist and independent researcher. Raised within the Lancashire Irish diaspora, his writing is shaped by a lifelong interest in Irish history, identity and migration. Drawing on family connections to both the Irish nationalist tradition and the wider Irish diaspora, he explores the intersections of war, politics, memory and nationhood.

His work focuses particularly on the overlooked stories of ordinary Irish men and women whose lives were shaped by the great upheavals of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including the First World War, the Irish Revolution and the global Irish diaspora. Through both fiction and historical essays, he seeks to illuminate the complex realities that often lie between established historical narratives.

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