In November 1913, the Irish Volunteers were formed in Dublin as a nationalist militia to defend Irish interests and to counter the Ulster Volunteer Force. The Volunteers, which were led by Eoin MacNeill and other nationalists, quickly grew into a mass organization, with over 100,000 members. The Irish Volunteers were the direct predecessor of the Irish Republican Army and played a central role in the Easter Rising of 1916.

The formation of the Irish Volunteers is a subject of nationalist poetry, with writers celebrating the organization as a defender of Irish rights. The Volunteers' commitment to armed resistance is reflected in the poetry of the period, which often expressed a martial spirit. The Volunteers' legacy is a central theme in the poetry of the Easter Rising, which saw the organization as the embodiment of Irish resistance.