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Jack White and James McMullan boldly declared their support for and against Home Rule by their actions.
The situation with Rose Young is more complex. Her interest was in the Celtic Revival, a movement which sought to reclaim the Irish language and culture. These literary and romantic interests made no political claims; therefore she cannot be placed neatly into either side of the argument. Rose was not alone in this respect. Her friends Ada NcNeill and Margaret Dobbs who also assisted with the Glens Feis were from Unionists backgrounds too.
Jack White
Jack White was born at his ancestral home at Whitehall, Broughshane in County Antrim in 1897. He was educated at an English public school and went on to Sandhurst Military College. He joined the British Army and served and was decorated in the Boer War. He resigned his commission in 1907. Despite being Protestant he was pro Home Rule. Interested in the Labour movement he believed the workers should be united whatever their religions. He organised one of the first Protestant Home Rule meetings in Ballymoney in October 1913. Roger Casement was one of the speakers. He helped create the Irish Citizen Army, a smaller forerunner of the Irish Volunteers. He was against sectarianism and hoped for a truly united Ireland with religious freedom.
Rose Young
Rose Young was the daughter of John Young. She was very interested in the Celtic Revival. She learnt and taught the Irish language and took part in the events organised by the Gaelic League. She helped run the Glens Feis, with others from Ballymena. The Feis celebrated the history, customs, mythology and language of Ireland. It must have been a curious existence for Rose, living within the staunch Unionist Young family, all the while embracing the revival of Irish culture and its links with the Home Rule movement.
James McMullan
James McMullan was 25 in 1911. On the 1911 census he is listed as living in Ahoghill, a village about 4 miles from Ballymena. He is living with an older woman and is listed as being a boarder and her adopted son. An agricultural labourer who could read and write he became embroiled in the Home Rule debate in 1912 by writing to the Ballymena Observer. He was opposed to Home Rule. He complained that the Ancient Order of Hibernians forced Catholics to become members, beating those who refused.