Ulster Volunteer Force
In September 1912, 470,000 people in Northern Ireland signed a Solemn League and Covenant to oppose the introduction of a Dublin based Home Rule devolved government. The overwhelming majority of these people were Protestant as well as being Unionist, ie, in favour of strong ties with the London based government in Westminster. Whereas Nationalists to the south desired a measure of independence, Protestant Unionists throughout the country were vehemently opposed, culminating in the foundation of the Ulster Volunteer Force in 1913.
An organisation devoted to resisting the implementation of Home Rule through violent measures, it grew rapidly, bringing its numbers to almost 80,000 by the end of the year. Arms and ammunitions were imported, and they made sure it was much easier to drill and train with real weapons than their counterparts in the south, the Irish Volunteer Force, a militant group devoted to protecting the implementation of Home Rule in Ireland. The Ulster Volunteers exploited a loophole in British law that allowed them to drill with weapons so long as it is in the expressed defence of the British Empire and the British crown. Furthermore, Protestant Unionists more often than not tended to be in powerful positions as magistrates in Ulster, hence allowing these local organisations to be granted licenses to drill and train.
The level of support for the Ulster Volunteers amongst the British armed forces in Ireland became apparant when General Sir Hubert Gough, Commander of the Third Cavalry Brigade based at Curragh Camp (traditional headquarters for the British military in Ireland) and many of his officers refused to march against the Volunteer Force to defend the implementation of Home Rule. This so-called Curragh Mutiny resulted in 130 officers resigning their commission - sending a shockwave back home to Westminster. It was obvious the British government couldn't rely on the army to force Home Rule into practise in Ulster, and so the official urge to accommodate the Ulster intransigents, rather than confront Civil War, was further strengthened.