history · 20 March 1914 · 110 years ago
The Curragh mutiny took place when the commanding officer and 56 officers of the British 3rd Cavalry Brigade, stationed at the Curragh near Dublin, Ireland, opted for dismissal from the British Army rather than being forced to coerce the Ulster Protestants into accepting Irish Home Rule. The incident might partially explain why the government was not prepared to force Ulster to accept home rule. The secretary for war, J. E. B. Seely (later 1st Baron Mottistone, 1868-1947), and the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Sir John French, indicated that the officers should not be required to serve against the north; the Cabinet disagreed and Seely and French resigned their offices.
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