In 1893, Gladstone had been returned to power and resiliently introduced a second Home Rule bill that was passed in the House of Commons but was blocked by the more conservative House of Lords. This promising outcome spurred on politician John Redmond to re-unite the Irish Party in 1900 and to pick up the late Parnell's legacy of Home Rule for Ireland. The election of 1905 brought with it a landslide to the Liberal Party, which had previously supported the Irish Party and its cause. Unfortunately for Redmond and his men, however, the Liberals" huge majority resulted in the undermining of the Irish Party's balance of power in the House. With that, the impetus for Home Rule diminished.
However, in 1909, the Liberals were returned to power with a minority government. Both the Conservatives and Liberals held 272 seats a piece resulting in Redmond's Home Rulers once again holding the balance of power with their 73 seats. This result re-opened the door for the implementation of a third Home Rule bill for Ireland. In 1913, the bill was again introduced and passed but, fatefully, was never brought into effect because of the onset of WWI.
The turn of the 20th century is often described as the Irish Renaissance. It was during these fruitful years that much of Ireland's almost forgotten cultural history was revived and some of their greatest modern writers composed their works. These include internationally acclaimed artists such as William Yeats, James Joyce and Bernard Shaw who were, significantly, all influential in both the cultural and political development of modern Ireland. Arthur Griffith, the founder of the Sinn Fein Party, used literature as propaganda to further his nationalist cause. The renaissance was a time in Ireland's history where art and culture were closely tied to politics, with the various elements influencing each other greatly.
A discontented minority of nationalists, who were upset by the anglicising of Irish sporting culture, came together to form the Gaelic Athletics Association in 1884.