On July 26, 1914, the Irish Volunteers, with the help of Erskine Childers, landed a shipment of 1,500 rifles and 45,000 rounds of ammunition at Howth, County Dublin. The weapons, which were smuggled from Germany, were intended to arm the Volunteers in preparation for a fight for Irish independence. The Howth gun-running was a major propaganda victory for the Volunteers and demonstrated the determination of Irish nationalists to resist British rule.

The Howth gun-running is a subject of nationalist poetry, with writers celebrating the Volunteers' defiance of the British authorities. The event's dramatic nature is reflected in the poetry of the period, which often romanticized the arms smuggling as a act of courage. The gun-running's legacy is a recurring theme in the poetry of the Easter Rising, which saw the arms as essential to the rebellion.