The Howth gun-running (/ˈhoʊθ/ HOHTH) was the smuggling of 1,500 Mauser rifles to Howth harbour for the Irish Volunteers, an Irish nationalist paramilitary force, on 26 July 1914. The unloading of guns from a private yacht during daylight hours attracted a crowd, which prompted police and military forces to intervene. A riot ensued and the attempt to seize the weapons was unsuccessful. As the King's Own Scottish Borderers returned to barracks, they were accosted by a mob at Bachelors Walk, who threw stones and exchanged insults with the soldiers. In an event later termed the Bachelor's Walk massacre, the soldiers shot into the crowd, resulting in the deaths of four civilians and the wounding of at least 38.
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Howth gun-running in the context of Home Rule Crisis
The Home Rule Crisis was a political and military crisis in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that followed the introduction of the Third Home Rule Bill in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom in 1912.
Unionists in Ulster determined to prevent any measure of home rule for Ireland and formed a paramilitary force, the Ulster Volunteers, which threatened to resist by force of arms the implementation of the Act and the authority of any Dublin Parliament. Irish nationalists responded by setting up the Irish Volunteers "to secure the rights and liberties common to all the people of Ireland". Both sides then began importing weapons and ammunition from Germany, in the Larne gun-running and Howth gun-running incidents. HM Government's ability to face down unionist defiance was thrown into question by the "Curragh incident", when dozens of British Army officers threatened to resign or face dismissal rather than deploy into Ulster (ostensibly to secure arms against Ulster loyalist seizure), forcing a climb-down by the government. The crisis was temporarily averted by the outbreak of World War I. The Home Rule Bill was enacted, but its implementation was suspended for the duration of the war.
View the full Wikipedia page for Home Rule Crisis