n [ U ]
1. Home Rule ( in British and Irish history ) the government of Ireland by the Irish. There was a strong political movement for this from the 1870s to 1914, when a Home Rule Bill was passed by the British parliament, but because of World War I nothing was actually done about it. The IRA was formed and began to use violent methods in order to get a greater degree of independence than the Bill allowed. This led to a change in the situation when in 1920 Ireland was split into Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State (now the Republic of Ireland ). Many people in Northern Ireland are still today strongly opposed to the idea of being ruled by the government in Dublin. See also Parnell .
2. the government of any country or region by its own citizens. See also devolution .