In 1873, the Home Rule League was founded by Isaac Butt, a Protestant lawyer and member of Parliament, to campaign for Irish self-government. The League was the first organized political movement dedicated to achieving Home Rule, and it attracted support from both Catholic and Protestant nationalists. The Home Rule League was a precursor to the Irish Parliamentary Party and laid the groundwork for the Home Rule campaigns of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The founding of the Home Rule League is a milestone in the history of Irish constitutional nationalism, and it is celebrated in the poetry of the period as a sign of political maturity. The League's emphasis on peaceful constitutional agitation is often contrasted with the violence of earlier rebellions, suggesting a new direction for Irish nationalism. The poetry of the Home Rule movement reflects the hopes and frustrations of the campaign for self-government.