In April 1912, Prime Minister H.H. Asquith introduced the Third Home Rule Bill, proposing limited self-government for Ireland. The bill sparked a fierce backlash in Ulster, where unionists, led by Edward Carson, organized mass resistance and formed the Ulster Volunteer Force. The crisis over Home Rule brought Ireland to the brink of civil war, a conflict only averted by the outbreak of World War I.

The Home Rule crisis dominated Irish poetry of the period, with poets taking sides in the bitter debate over Ireland's future. Unionist poets celebrated Ulster's British identity, while nationalist poets like Padraic Pearse saw the crisis as an opportunity for a final break with Britain. The poetry of this period reflects the deep political and cultural fissures that would define Irish life for generations.