The foundation of the United Ireland Party/Fine Gael party in September 1933 marked a decisive moment in the assimilation of many politicians from a home rule background into the post-independence body politic. The Blueshirt crisis which followed was not the only political trauma of the 1930s and 1940s. The Free State's Catholic society was much troubled by the Spanish Civil War (1936–9). The period also saw the introduction of a new constitution, the outbreak of the Second World War (when de Valera would declare neutrality rather than repeat Redmond's 1914 call), a renewed campaign against partition, the ascension of the inter-party government in 1948 and the declaration of a republic. Such constitutional changes might on the surface have seemed anathema to those from Irish Party backgrounds. The fact that this was not always the case tells us much about Irish politics in the period and the place occupied by those with home rule heritage in the evolving landscape.

In an era of Fianna Fáil ascendancy, the majority of ex-home rulers engaged in politics were consigned to opposition. Slowly, but surely, former home rule families and individuals of various hues had found their way into Treatyite politics; this included the AOH, which started to develop into an auxiliary organisation for Fine Gael in border counties, but continued to decline elsewhere. For those who still held fast to the memory of the IPP, assimilation into Treatyite politics had therefore brought no apparent succour. Years had passed since the collapse of the Irish Party and many politicians from home rule backgrounds were by the 1930s and 1940s second-generation ex-home rulers. Such figures, well ensconced in the contemporary political scene, displayed distinctive home rule identities or policies less frequently.

This chapter examines the debates around instability and conflict in Europe and constitutional changes at home, highlighting where individuals and bodies once loyal to the IPP fitted into the contemporary discourse.