My impression is that it was the backlash (against the brutality of the British punishment of the Rising) that shifted national sentiment in Ireland, and moved it toward determination for independence, rather than settling for Home Rule. Between the famine, the land-takings, and the executions of the leaders, etc., the British painted an ugly picture of themselves. I would certainly have felt getting shut of them would be a high priority, were I an Irishman in those days.