ABSTRACT
Forty years after disestablishment a period of change and bitter strife in Irish politics began with the introduction of the third home rule bill in 1912. From the time home rule became a major political issue the Church of Ireland had expressed its opinion in no uncertain terms. A fortnight before Gladstone introduced his first home rule bill in the house of commons, a special meeting of the general synod was held to consider it. The nationalists, political and cultural, who were members of the Church of Ireland were energetic and outspoken, but they formed a very small minority. When the final phase of the home rule struggle began in 1912 it was abundantly clear that the Church of Ireland as a body wanted no change in the constitutional relationship between Great Britain and Ireland. In the summer of 1914 the outbreak of the great European war for a time turned men's minds from domestic issues.
