Source G is an image from a school textbook showing how brutal the Catholics were being towards the protestants In the 17th century. They stripped hundreds of Protestants naked and making them walk the mountains without any food, which ultimately killed them. The Catholics treated them as savages and like animals. This would be shown to protestant students and this in turn would cause them to have anti-catholic views, this relates to Source D and E because in that school B.Devlin was encouraged to dislike the protestants and this source is a form of propaganda just like Source E . This picture was set in 1641, this was the same year when Charles policies caused insurrection in Ulster and a civil war began in England. This image portrays the Irish Catholics as heartless and inhumane. There are many limitations with this source, firstly it from a protestant textbook so it will be biased and it will most likely be exaggerated. This source is a picture so it doesn’t actually tell the full story and how the attacks occurred. This source does not give sufficient evidence as to why the troubles broke out in 1969 because it was centuries ago but does give long-term reasons and shows that the Catholics and Protestants had a hatred of each for a long time.
Source E is a cartoon representing the views of the Protestants. It shows the Catholic priest tying and bounding with rope an Irish woman. He’s controlling her and taking away her freedom. I think this source has a much deeper meaning (symbolism) as a lot of Irish Protestant’s people felt victimised against by the Catholics as they being the majority had laws favouring them. They lived in better areas, had better jobs etc. I think the priest is representing the Catholic Church which had a lot of power and influence over people at that time. It’s a primary source and its from a Protestant viewpoint. This source has its limitations as it doesn't tell you how the Catholic people felt about their own church and it doesn't tell you who produced the cartoon so that puts the validity of it into question. It was produced in the nineteenth century so it’s a long term cause for the troubles. It contains very little sufficient evidence as not only is it bias it’s exaggerated because it’s a cartoon. This source doesn't show much information but it does show that there has been resentment over a long period of time between Catholics and Protestants, which eventually led to the troubles in 1969.-THIS IS POORLY WORDERED
Source D is an extract from the book 'The Price of My Soul'. It is about a Roman Catholic student (B.Devlin) who attended school in the Catholic region of Dungannon. She describes her school days, she attended a Catholic school called “St Patrick’s Academy”, you can tell by this it’s a patriotic school as “St Patrick” is an Irish saint. She tells us how the vice principal at her school Mother Benigmus, felt about Protestants and the British. She says she didn't hate the Protestants but didn't see them as true Irish people. The same viewpoint was held by the majority of Roman Catholics as the English settlers who came to Ireland, had different religious beliefs to the Irish. Mother Benigmus said that the Protestants are different and are educated differently to the Catholics. The school that B.Devlin was a catholic school so they were separated from Protestants. The children that attended the school suffered from Indoctration as they were taught that they were superior to Protestants. This source was published in 1969 which is the year when the troubles began and it’s also a secondary source. This source is unreliable because it’s the opinion of a catholic teacher and therefore making it almost certainly bias. The source has its limitations because it doesn’t say that B.Devlin became the leading member of the civil rights movement during the 1969 and at only the tender age of 21 became the youngest female to enter the House of Commons when she won the mid-Ulster election. Furthermore it doesn’t tell you exactly what happened in to make her family (Mother Benigmus) dislike the British forces and Protestants. It doesn’t go into much detail about what is going on but I still feel that it has sufficient evidence because it shows how a Catholic person felt about the British and the Protestants. If a protestant overheard a Catholic saying that they weren’t true Irish people, this could stir up trouble.
Source F is a map of Derry in 1966, it shows that there were 20,102 Catholics to 10,274 Protestants and this shows that the Catholics were the majority. It shows that approximately 9000 Protestants voted compared to 15,000 Catholics. Source F a map showing Gerrymandering in three areas (North Ward, South Ward and Waterside Ward) in the city of Derry during 1966. This source shows that that the Boundary commissioner drew up the boundaries to maximise the affect Protestant vote, it’s a form of corruption. This angered the Catholics population and they felt they were second class citizens. This was one of the various reasons why the Catholics insisted better civil rights by going on lots of marches. This source has its limitations because it doesn’t show in which places Catholics were discriminated against, like which kind of jobs they were given compared to the protestants and which kind of area’s they had to live in. It also only shows three area’s in Derry it doesn’t show any other parts of Ireland. The poor felt discriminated against in Northern Ireland because if you didn’t own a house you couldn’t vote and if you had more than one you could vote for each house you owned. It is reliable because it’s an official government document produced by the Boundary Commission This source is extremely useful as it is just three years before the troubles broke out so it is a direct short-term cause and its concrete evidence of Gerrymandering in the city of Derry.
Source H is an image of several RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary) officers beating a civil rights marcher on the 5th of October 1968. This source is useful for showing how the Catholics civil right marchers were ill-treated by the RUC officers. This happened only a few months before the troubles began and is a form of Catholic propaganda. This source has its limitations because it doesn’t show what the marcher was doing, whether he was causing trouble or if he was in possession of a weapon. It also doesn’t show why they were marching and where. The situation in Northern Ireland would have been quite hostile and there would have been tension between the Catholics and Protestants because it this only happened a few months before the troubles began and incidents like this could have said to triggered the cause. I would say this source is very sufficient because the troubles began only a few months later from when this took place perhaps one of the reasons why the troubles began in the first place was because the Protestants and the RUC weren’t very tolerant towards the Catholics and this would have angered them.
The sources contain sufficient evidence as why the troubles broke out between Catholics and Protestants. The sources don’t go into much detail, they don’t tell you background information or the past history between Catholics and Protestants. It doesn’t mention Home Rule, IRA or the Sinn Fein. Sinn Fein is an Irish political party which were formed in 1905. They wanted to unite Ireland and they pressed the British Government to grant Ireland Home Rule and they were eventually successful when the law was passed in 1914. They had many Catholic supporters as they supported their beliefs were shared by the Irish Catholics who also wanted to unite Ireland. Sinn Fein campaign on a variety of issues such as women’s right, education, discrimination, housing and many more things. Currently it is the second largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly.
By Frihah-10Bronte/DSC
