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SOME QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT THE HISTORY OD IRELAND (history.doc)

SOME QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT THE History od Ireland

 

1) Why is Ireland divided?

2) How did the "Troubles" in Northern Ireland start?

3) Chronological list of dates from Irish History

 


 

 

Subject: 1) Why is Ireland divided?

 

Ireland (all or part of it, at various times) was a colony of

the English (originally the Anglo-Normans) from the 12th

Century.  From the late middle ages it was a kingdom, under the

same monarch as England, but a separate country.  In law and in

practice, the Irish government was usually subordinate to the

English government.

 

Henry VIII rejected Rome and put the Church in England under his

personal control.  This church was to became more protestant,

particularly under Elizabeth I.  Ireland's population remained

mainly Roman Catholic.        The conflict between Catholicism and

Protestantism played a large part in 17th century several wars

in England and Ireland:  civil wars, colonial wars, and at least

one war (c.  1690) that was part of a wider European conflict.

Following some of these disruptions, the winners forcibly

transferred ownership of large amounts of land to new landlords,

and sometimes new tenants: those who had supported the winning

side or those who they felt would support them in the future.

 

The majority of the Irish population were on the losing side.  A

new elite was built of Anglo-Irish (people of English

background, and also anglicised Irish) members of the Church of

Ireland (Anglican/Episcopalian).  This "Protestant Ascendancy"

lasted well into the 19th century, with traces still in evidence

today.

 

English Protestants were not the only ones to settle in

Ireland.  Presbyterians (historically known as Dissenters) from

Scotland colonised north-eastern Ireland in large numbers.

Other nonconformist Christians (especially Friends, better known

as Quakers) started arriving in the 16th century, and their

numbers grew in the 17th.  During this period they and the

Protestant Ascendancy were not close allies:  there were

significant differences in background, social class and style of

Protestantism.

 

Both the Catholic majority and the Presbyterians were the

victims of discriminatory laws favouring the Church of Ireland

(that is, the Anglican church established by the state).

Generally, though, the discrimination against Catholics (who were

regarded as treacherous and potential allies of France and Spain)

was worse than that against the nonconformists.

 

 

 

In 1801, Ireland was technically made one with England, Scotland

and Wales by the Act of Union which created the United Kingdom of

Great Britain and Ireland.  In some ways, this was a Good Thing

for Ireland, as it led to electoral reform, land reform, and the

disestablishment of the Church of Ireland and its right to tax

the whole population.  But the colonial relationship remained,

and as freedoms grew without real equality with England and

the English, so did Irish nationalism develop and flourish.

(Nationalism became a force throughout Europe in the mid

nineteenth century, leading for example to the creation of Italy

and Germany as nation states for the first time.)

 

But there was a complicating factor.  In the late 18th and early

19th century, the Ascendancy and the Presbyterians had begun to

become allies on political and nationalist issues.  As Irish

nationalism developed (mainly among Catholics), so, in response,

did unionism (the desire to preserve the United Kingdom) develop

and strengthen among both kinds of Protestant.  Several times

the unionists threatened insurrection against their own

government in order to stay under that government.

 

In 1912, a third Irish Home Rule Bill was introduced to the

British House of Commons, where it would pass its third and

final reading in January, 1913.  This was blocked by the House

of Lords, but they could only delay bills since the Parliament

Act in 1911.  Unionists in Ulster reacted with alarm; an Ulster

Volunteer Force was formed in 1913.  This force landed 25,000

guns from Germany at Larne in April 1914, with the declared

intention of using them if Home Rule were imposed on the

northern counties.  Their slogan was "Home Rule is Rome Rule",

referring to the fears they had of a Catholic dominated Ireland.

In the event, Home Rule was put in the statute books but was

never implemented because of the Great War which started in

August, 1914.

 

Two nationalist militias, the Irish Citizen's Army and

the Irish Volunteers were formed, dedicated to Home Rule.

They were far less efficiently organised than the UVF and they

quickly split in 1914.        However a small part of the force, led

by Republicans staged an armed rebellion (the Easter Rising) in

April 1916, briefly taking over a small part of central Dublin.

Their attempt at gun running had failed with the capture and

scuttling of the Aud, carrying thousands of German weapons.

The general uprising the Republicans hoped they would inspire

throughout the country never happened.        The rebellion was

crushed; its leaders were judged guilty of treason and shot.

Many hundreds were interned in Britain.

 

Before the war, a majority of people had supported Home Rule

which would grant Ireland autonomy in domestic affairs.  After the

war, Sinn Féin (previously a minor party with tenuous connections

to the actual Rising) got overwhelming support for their platform,

complete independence (but not in the north-eastern counties, where

Unionists were in the clear majority).

 

The failed rising was an inspiration to many join the newly

created Irish Republican Army (IRA) and fight. The conflict

escalated into a brutal war of attrition between the IRA and

the British.

 

But the unionists still held the north, and they would in turn

rebel if Britain cast them loose.  Partition was made official

by the Government of Ireland Act of 1920.  This was based on the

old Home Rule Bill and formed the basis for the negotiations

that were inevitable once the two sides had reached stalemate

in the south.

 

The Treaty of 1921 that ended the war with the British was a

messy compromise.  The Irish negotiators, who included Michael

Collins, but not Éammon De Valera, accepted it under the threat

of "war within three days" from the British Prime Minister,

Lloyd George.  There was also a vague promise that a Boundary

Commission would adjust the borders, possibly gaining Fermanagh

and Tyrone for the new Free State.

 

Opponents of the treaty were outraged not so much by partition

as by the Oath of Allegiance (to the King) that members of the

Dáil would have to swear.  The negotiators in London had managed

to water it down considerably, but any oath was unacceptable

in principle to hard-line Republicans.  The Dáil, reflecting the

feeling in the country, voted (reluctantly) to accept the treaty.

The new Irish Free State had a dominion status similar to that

enjoyed by Canada.

 

The IRA split on the treaty issue and there was civil war.

This became more brutal than the war of independence before it,

with massacres and atrocities committed by both sides.

 

(The South altered its constitution in 1937 severing most of its

links with the UK. It declared itself a Republic in 1947.)

 

The Boundary Commission that was set up as part of the Treaty to

realign of the border between Northern Ireland and the Free State

did not meet until 1924.  Both nationalists and unionists were

reluctant to participate in it (the unionist delegate had to be

nominated by the British government, and the Irish representative

understood participation meant the end of his political career).

The Commission's terms of reference were vague and included a

proviso that boundaries be drawn "in accordance with the wishes

of the inhabitants, so far as may be compatible with economic

and geographic conditions".

 

The Chairman of the Commission, Feetham, was not inclined to

make any big changes.  In any case, (Southern and Northern)

nationalist feelings about the border were muddled and

ambivalent.  The Unionist position, "not an inch", had the

advantage of being clear and simple.  The Free State drew up

a minimum negotiating position that would gain Fermanagh,

most of Tyrone and parts of Down and Armagh for the South.

Even this minimum position could not be held, and so the

Commission was quietly abandoned in favour of the status quo

(the border created by the Government of Ireland Act) in 1925.

This left substantial unionist minorities in Donegal and

Monaghan and nationalist majorities in Fermanagh and Tyrone

all on the wrong side of the border.  The Irish Free State was

overwhelmingly Catholic and nationalist, and unionists formed

a clear (but not as overwhelming) majority in Northern Ireland.

 


 

 

Subject: 2) How did the "Troubles" in Northern Ireland start?

 

The northern unionists effectively created a single-party state.

Proportional representation was eliminated for local council

elections in 1922 and for the Northern Ireland Parliament in

Stormont in 1929.  One vote per person did not hold in local

elections until 1969.  Gerrymandering was used to secure unionist

seats in nationalist areas throughout the thirties.  Nationalists

and catholics were viewed as potential traitors and alienated by

the government policies, which favoured protestants and unionists.

In turn the nationalists never fully accepted the legitimacy

of the new constitutional arrangements.  Some republicans in

the North continued a violent campaign against the London and

Belfast governments.

 

By the 1960s, northern republicans had mostly given up violence

and turned either to politics or to retirement.  But a new civil

rights movement arose in the North, to protest and correct the

discrimination against Catholics.  The Prime Minister of

Northern Ireland, Captain Terence O'Neill (a moderate Unionist)

pushed through reforms in electoral law and public housing.  He

met with increasing opposition from hard-line Unionists including

William Craig and Brian Faulkner, important members of his

cabinet.  After a general election (in which he retained a

narrow majority) he was forced out of office in April 1969,

following a bombing which was blamed on the IRA but later turned

out to be the work of loyalists.

 

Civil rights turned into civil disorder.  The Belfast government

could not cope when fighting broke out in the streets of Belfast.

At times, the riots verged on pogroms, such as when loyalists

invaded the nationalist Falls Road.  Thousands of families

were forced to leave their homes.  The London government sent

British troops into Northern Ireland to keep the factions apart

in August 1969.

 

1970 was a turning point in Northern Ireland.  The British Army,

having been welcomed initially by Catholics turned that welcome

into suspicion and hatred by conducting mass house searches in

nationalist areas.  The IRA split in two, the Officials and

the Provisionals (who were better organised and more willing

to use violence).  Ian Paisley was elected to Westminster on a

fundamentalist ticket, opposing the "soft" approach by official

Unionists like O'Neill. The Socialist Democratic and Labour Party

(SDLP) was formed out of the civil rights movement.

In 1971, Brian Faulkner became Prime Minister after his

predecessor, Chichester-Clark, resigned.  Faulkner made the

colossal blunder of staging Operation Internment in an attempt to

quell the IRA. The Army sealed off whole areas during the night

raided homes, taking hundreds men for detention without trial.

Many of the internees were subjected to brutal treatment.

The injustice was compounded by incompetence: many if not most

of the internees were innocent, and many senior IRA men escaped

the net.  The IRA drew valuable sympathy and support from

internment.

 

The last Sunday in January 1972 was Bloody Sunday.  British

paratroopers shot dead thirteen unarmed men, six of them under

eighteen.  A fourteenth died later of injuries sustained on the

same day.  Thirteen others, including a widow, were wounded.

All of them had been participating in an illegal but largely

peaceful march against internment.  The a public inquiry

that followed, conducted by by the British Chief Justice,

Lord Widgery, was a whitewash, clearing the soldiers of blame

and lending credence to their claims that the men they shot

were armed.

 

Bloody Sunday is a potent propaganda weapon used by the IRA and

Sinn Féin.  It was not the first atrocity, nor did it claim the

most lives (more than fifty civilians were killed by IRA bombs

in 1972 alone).  On that day and in the cover up that followed,

the state used the same methods as terrorist organisations like

the IRA. Stormont, as the Northern Irish government and parliament were

known, was suspended (later to be abolished) and direct rule from

London was introduced by the British Prime Minister, Ted Heath.

 

Attempts during the seventies to devolve government back to

Northern Ireland with power sharing failed because of Unionist

and Nationalist opposition.  However, direct rule from London

meant that the Northern Ireland Secretary could push through

the types of reforms that cost men like O'Neill and Faulkner

their careers.

 

The level of violence has been much than it was in the early

1970s and Northern Ireland is actually a safer place

than the news sometimes made it seem.  The civil rights that people

marched for in the streets in the 60s are protected by bodies

such as the Housing Executive and Fair Employment Commission.

But Northern Ireland still has not achieved "normal" political

and social stability.  The RUC still has a credibility problem

in nationalist eyes.

 

In 1997 a peace process got started, based in part on compromises

on marching routes by the Orange Order and a renewed IRA

ceasefire.  For the firt time in many years there is some hope

that political reforms may make Northern Ireland a better

place to live in for all its inhabitants.  Most importantly,

there is hope that the terrorists may find they no longer have

support for shootings, bombings and other activities.


 

Subject: 3) Chronological list of dates from Irish History

 

c.3000BC        Megalithic tombs first constructed.

 

c.700BC        Celts arrive from parts of Gaul and Britain.

                Ireland divided into provinces.

                (This according to a contributor is reconstructed folk history

                and not based on the archaeology.)

 

c.AD350        Christianity reaches Ireland.

 

  1.         Kingdom of Dalriada extends from Northeastern Ireland to Scotland.  

                Christianity brought to Scotland by St. Columcille and others.

 

432                Trad. date for the arrival of St. Patrick in         Ireland.

 

700-800                Irish monasticism reaches its zenith.

 

795                Full-scale Viking invasion.

 

1014                Brian Ború defeats Vikings at Clontarf but is murdered.

 

1169                     Dermot MacMurrough, exiled king of Leinster, invites help from 'Strongbow'.

 

1172                     Pope decrees that Henry II of England is feudal lord of Ireland.

 

1366                Statutes of Kilkenny belatedly forbid intermarriage of English and Irish.  

                Gaelic culture unsuccessfully suppressed.

 

1534-40                Unsuccessful Kildare rebellion

 

1541                     Henry VIII proclaimed king (rather than feudal lord) of Ireland

 

1558-1603        Reign of Elizabeth I.  System of counties adopted.

 

1595-1603        Nine years war, a failed uprising led by Hugh

O'Neill.

 

1607                Flight of the Earls; leading Ulster families go into exile.

 

1610                Policy of plantation by colonisation begins in Ulster.

 

1641                Charles I's policies cause insurrection in Ulster and Civil War in England.

 

1649                Cromwell invades Ireland.

 

1653                Under the Act of Settlement Cromwell's opponents stripped of land.

 

1689-90                Deposed James II flees to Ireland; defeated at the Battle of the Boyne.

 

1704                Penal Code enacted; Catholics barred from voting, education and the military.

 

1775                American War of Independence foments Irish unrest.

 

 

1782                Grattan's Parliament persuades British to declare Irish independence,

                but in name only.

 

1795                Foundation of the Orange Order.

 

1798                Wolfe Tone's uprising crushed.

 

1801                Ireland becomes part of United Kingdom under the Act of Union.

 

1829                Catholic Emancipation Act passed after Daniel O'Connell elected as MP.

 

1845-49                The Great Famine.

 

1879-82                The Land War; Parnell encourages boycott of repressive landlords.

 

1914                Implementation of Home Rule postponed because of outbreak of World War I.

 

1916                Easter Rising.  After the leaders are executed public opinion backs independence.

 

1920-21                War between Britain and Ireland; Irish Free State and Northern Ireland created.

 

1922                Civil war breaks out.

 

1932                De Valera elected.

 

1939-45                "The Emergency"; Free State remains neutral

 

1958                "Programme for economic expansion" published;        

establishes a five year plan of public investment with a target of 2% economic growth per annum.

 

1969                Rioting between Catholics and Protestants. British troops called in.

 

1971                Provisional IRA begins campaign to oust British troops from Ireland.

                Faulkner becomes N.I. Prime Minister; introduces internment without trial

 

1972                    Bloody Sunday' in Derry.

                N.I. Government and parliament suspended; direct rule from London.

 

1973                UK and Republic of Ireland join European Economic Community.

 

1974                Power sharing Executive collapses in face of Unionist general strike called to protest

                Sunningdale agreement on "Council of Ireland".

 

1980-81                H-Block hunger strikes in NI.  Republican prisoners starve themselves to death for political

                status.  Inept handling by government results in increased support for republicans.

 

1983                The first abortion referendum.  An amendment to the Constitution

                (article 40) says that the State "acknowledges the right to life of the unborn".

 

1984                Southern nationalist parties and SDLP publish New Ireland Forum report.

 

 

1985                Anglo-Irish Agreement signed at Hillsborough.

                Intergovernmental Conference established.

 

 

1986                The first divorce referendum.  An attempt to amend the Constitution to allow the

                dissolution of marriages fails to get majority support.

 

 

1988                The Single European Act is approved by referendum                 

                (effected by a chance to article 29 of the Constitution).

 

1992                The Treaty on European Union (also known as the Maastricht Treaty)

                passes the referendum hurdle

                (voters approved another change to article 29 of the Constitution).

 

                The "X" abortion case and referendum.

 

 

1994                Peace Declaration and IRA ceasefire.

 

1995                Second divorce referendum.  Provisions allowing for civil divorce are added to

                article 41 of the Constitution.

 

1996                End of IRA ceasefire; elections for Peace Forum;

                Sinn Féin is excluded from peace talks because of continuing IRA violence; SF decides not to

                attend the Forum

 

1997                Renewal of IRA ceasefire.  Sinn Féin joins establish peace talks.

 

 

 

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