Revolutionary Ireland & empire loyalty in Irish-Australia 1916-1921

World War One presented unparalleled challenges in relation to Australia’s membership of Britain’s Empire. The demand for troops, for unprecedented funds and wartime legislation, the issues resulting from doomed military campaigns, and from events elsewhere in the Empire, all had consequences involving imperial loyalty. In 1916, events in Ireland impacted on all Irish-Australians, shifting their position in society. In the heightened atmosphere of the conscription plebiscites of 1916 and 1917, the question of introducing compulsory military service illuminated tensions and deep divisions across Australia.