Sean Milroy, general director of elections, wrote daily letters to prominent republicans throughout the whole country to come to Waterford and lend a hand.68
For the Irish Parliamentary Party the stakes were even higher. It appeared to be in decline following a series of election defeats. On a practical level, a victory would halt the progress of Sinn Féin; it might even reverse it and herald a restoration of the Party’s fortunes. The contest was also charged with a deep emotional symbolism – the memory of John Redmond cast a shadow over his supporters in Waterford. He was viewed by them as a martyr for the Home Rule cause just as Patrick Pearse had come to represent martyrdom for the republican one. They were seeking to vindicate and protect Redmond’s political legacy and to use his memory as an inspiration for party renewal and revival against the Sinn Féin onslaught.
For supporters of Home Rule, even more fundamental than these practical and symbolic considerations was their revulsion at the direction politics was taking. The restoration of constitutionalism was of paramount urgency in the face of what was regarded as the dangerous revolutionism of Sinn Féin. The mayor, David McDonald, asserted that the country could get what it required ‘by constitutional means … Was it worth spilling untold quantities of Irish blood? … For eighteen months these marauders have gambled with the destinies of Ireland … Waterford can finish the humbug that has been going on for the past eighteen months’.69
Given the importance of the election for both parties, it was a very hard-fought contest. Arthur Griffith was to comment to Whittle: ‘Do you know this has been the roughest election in Irish history, not excepting the famous Galway election?’70 Notwithstanding Sinn Féin’s election successes in 1917, the Waterford contest presented a real and serious challenge, as it had to contend with the formidable Redmondite political machine in the city. John Redmond had first been elected in a by-election in 1891, defeating Michael Davitt, of Land League fame.71 He retained his seat in all six subsequent general elections, in four of which he was returned unopposed.72
Central to his victories was the support he enjoyed from the Pig Buyers’ Association, located in Ballybricken, in the heart of the city. Of this body Egan observed that ‘in every movement, social, political and commercial, the men of Ballybricken, owing to their high position and influence as traders in the city, play an important part’.73 On the basis of their support, Redmond built a powerful constituency organisation74 which ‘permeated and suffocated local politics’.75 The Irish Parliamentary Party became the near monopoly leader of local nationalism and had the ‘copyright’ of the national movement and its machine.76 William Redmond could count on this organisation and machine in March 1918.
A spectre of violence, actual and threatened, hung over the election campaign. When Griffith’s newspaper, Nationality, complained that ‘constitutionalism was upheld by “constitutional” stones and bludgeons’, it was telling the essential truth.77 Much of the violence and disorder which characterised the contest was instigated by Redmond’s supporters, who outnumbered and were more organised than Sinn Féin’s.78 The former could rely on the pig buyers, former soldiers and wives of serving soldiers. The women interrupted Sinn Féin meetings with singing and heckling. De Valera was attacked and his party’s candidate spent a week in hospital after an assault.79 Sinn Féin responded by bringing in Volunteer units from outside Waterford to protect its election workers.80
Clearly, the March by-election was one fought with intensity and ferocity and all participants appreciated this fact. The Hearnes, father and son, played a central role in it. On 8 March, Richard Hearne, in his capacity as president of the city branch of the United Ireland League, was on the platform at a meeting in the City Hall to express sympathy to the Redmond family on its bereavement.81 He attended the opening meeting of Captain William Redmond’s campaign on 12 March.82 Three days later he presided at a meeting in Ferrybank, regarded as a Sinn Féin stronghold, introducing Redmond to the crowd.83 On St Patrick’s Day he played a prominent part in Redmond’s last election rally at Ballybricken, again introducing him to the gathering.84
On 12 March, at the opening meeting of Redmond’s campaign, John Hearne delivered what was probably his first speech in his native city; it might, in fact, have been his first ever speech delivered at an election meeting. In this address, he articulated the views and concerns informing the attitudes and aspirations of Home Rule supporters. He began by acknowledging the emotions and symbolism of the occasion, declaring that it was fitting that it was in Redmond’s adopted city that ‘the first staggering blow should be struck for Redmondism and reason, when John Redmond himself, the living embodiment of political sound sense, is no more’. He announced the intention of his supporters not to cede political ground to any other party: ‘We are to be here this time, next time and all the time.’ In fact, they were resolved to ‘smash Sinn Féin’ and he asserted that ‘Waterford was safe for political sanity.’
He then sought to motivate his audience by appealing to their sense of history: ‘Daniel O’Connell told Isaac Butt that it was not the Clare election that won [Catholic] emancipation; he said that it was the Waterford election [1826] that turned the tide finally for religious freedom. It was the Waterford election of 1891 which gave us John Redmond for our member, and gave him to Ireland as the “Chief”.’ Hearne was very clear in his assertion that the election was essentially about the political legacy of Redmond: ‘Let it be the Waterford election of 1918 that will vindicate the greatness of his chieftaincy.’ In a rhetorical flourish, he summarised the significance of the occasion and what was at stake: ‘We are going to lift up the old flag and unfurl it upon our City Hall, upon our Cathedral and upon the castles and towers of our dear ancient city, and we are going to proclaim Waterford the greatest, the most powerful and the most impregnable stronghold of the principles of John Redmond and constitutional home rule.’85William Redmond won the by-election, by 1,242 votes to White’s 745.86
In the early hours of Sunday 24 March, John Hearne delivered another political speech, this one at a meeting celebrating victory. It was a trenchant and uncompromising address, motivated and shaped by the bitterness of the campaign. He began with an emotional proclamation that the city had been true to John Redmond and his son. He quickly launched into a vitriolic attack on Sinn Féin: ‘The life blood of the late Mr John E. Redmond and the late Major William Redmond [his brother]87 went forth for the same imperishable ideals of nationality. One was shot dead by the enemies of civilisation abroad, the other’s heart broken by the enemies of civilisation at home.’ He referred to Sinn Féin supporters, who had been drafted in for the election, leaving the city after their defeat: ‘Was it any wonder that they [Redmond’s supporters] opened their windows and let in the pure splendour of God’s sunlight, because they knew that the pestilence had gone from the city.’
He continued in a menacing tone: ‘They knew that if they did not go in time, the people of Waterford would see that they would go in eternity.’ Jeeringly, he announced that ‘Mr Darrell Figgis88 had fled from Waterford as he fled from British soldiers in Easter Week and Mr A. Griffith had gone to Clontarf to meditate on Brian Boru.’ He reserved particular bile for those who had voted for White, especially former Redmond supporters: ‘There were men in the city who should hang their heads in shame. There were men even in Ballybricken who might hang their heads in shame – men who stood by John Redmond in sunshine and deserted him in the dark days.’ Hearne then turned his attention to the British government, denouncing its treatment of Redmond, accusing it of doing all it could to ensure that his position was made ‘unbearable’ in the country: ‘They knew that he was the only man powerful enough and with brain enough to restore to Ireland what they had filched from it, their national self-government.’ He linked the behaviour of the government and Sinn Féin together to discredit both: ‘Sinn Féin was the strongest ally the government had in keeping their country in subjection. The government gloried in Sinn Féin, because they knew that as long as the country was in a state of insufferable anarchy, they could say that Ireland was unfit for home rule.’
However, Waterford, he declared, had transformed the situation by showing the world that the country was fit to rule itself. In an assertion inspired by the moment of victory, he proclaimed: ‘It was quite impossible to exaggerate the importance of that tremendous moment in the history of their country. For the past two years there had been an avalanche of abuse launched at the head of John Redmond … Waterford