The History of Conflict in Ireland.
The History of this Conflict An American audience may find it difficult to comprehend the sense of history which is in the Irish conflict. It goes back to the 1920s when the island was partitioned, and Catholics in Northern Ireland believed that they were on the wrong side of that border, and believed that they had been done out of their political heritage. But Protestants have a sense of history which goes back to at least the seventeenth century, where from the time of the plantation of Ulster at the beginning of the 1600s, they have had to look to their own resources to ensure that they remained in control in the north of Ireland because they'd lost control in the rest of Ireland. So what you have are two sides with a very strong sense of history, a history in which they believed themselves to be victims, Catholics believed themselves to be victims, Protestants believed themselves to be victims, so they had two clashing senses of history. And as long as they had that selective sense of history, then they could do anything in the present and use history as to justify what they did in the present. And that is why history is such a potent force in the Irish conflict. You must remember that Ireland had been Britain's oldest colonial problem, oldest unsolved colonial problem. She was dismantling empire here, there and everywhere; the one question she could never settle
How Did the Catholics Grow To hate the Protestants?
Northern Ireland Coursework How Did the Catholics Grow To hate the Protestants? The present crisis in Northern Ireland has causes going back to the 1530's. This is when England turned Protestant whilst under the control of Henry VIII, because Ireland was all Catholic there was some worry that European powers would use it as a base to attack England, so Elizabeth seized Irish Catholic land and set up plantations of Protestants. The Catholics weren't at all happy about this so there was an Irish rebellion until the arrival of Oliver Cromwell the new English leader. Cromwell regained power and he taught Catholics a lesson by slaughtering the Catholic inhabitants of two towns, Drogheda and Wexford, then he took the Catholics land. When Catholic King James II became king in 1685, the Protestants began to fear that their land would be given back to Catholics, so in 1688 the Roman Catholic King James II was overthrown and William Of Orange, a Dutch-speaking Protestant who was married to James' daughter Mary became king at the request of Parliament. But James II sought refuge with his old ally, Louis XIV of France, who saw an opportunity to strike at William through Ireland. He provided French officers and arms for James, who returned to Ireland with the French officers. William also went to Ireland and the two armies met at the river Boyne, where they battled, this battle
Conflict in Ireland
Modern World Study: Conflict in Ireland Ireland is to the west of Britain and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, Irish Sea and the Celtic Sea. Today Ireland is divided into two parts, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. In 1921 the partition treaty was signed and was originally supposed to be temporary, it was an attempt to bring peace to Ireland. Currently there are mainly Unionists (Protestants) living in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland there are mainly Nationalists (Catholics) living in Northern Ireland. The unionists want to be governed by England's parliament however; the Nationalists in Northern Ireland do not. The Nationalists in the Republic are Independent and want a untied Ireland. Easter Rising, 1916 The Easter Rising took place in April 1916;it was one of many rebellions held by Nationalists in an attempt to get independence for Ireland. However, this rebellion was much more intense and violent that those before. Several events led up to the Easter Rising, all of which had an influence on what happened. Firstly groups formed such as the Irish Republican Brotherhood (I.R.B), groups like these formed as a result of centuries of oppression by the British landlords and increasing capitalism. Pearse joined the I.R.B in 1913, he was prepared to die in a 'blood sacrifice' to win independence for Ireland. Pearse was also among those in
Ireland - What are the main differences between the beliefs of the Republicans/Nationalists and the Loyalists/Unionists?
Question 1 - What are the main differences between the beliefs of the Republicans/Nationalists and the Loyalists/Unionists? There are a number of differences between Nationalists and Unionists and their beliefs. The Nationalists are predominantly Catholic and they do not want Ireland to be part of Britain. They see the British as an occupying army and most believe that the British have no right to be in Ireland, they think it's unfair that the British came into Ireland in the 1600s and have stayed there. They feel angry about how the British have persecuted the Catholics in the past, and they believe that they still don't get treated as well as the Unionists. They campaign for equal rights in different areas, especially housing and jobs. Nationalists see Ireland as one place and generally want one united state, though not all Nationalists want exactly the same thing. Unionists, on the other hand, are mostly protestant and want to keep Northern Ireland as part of Britain. Many see themselves as British instead of Irish and believe they belong to Britain. However, ancestors of theirs have been in Ireland since the 1600s, so they see themselves as originating from there and believe it is their homeland. They also see that the union with Britain is good for them from an economic point of view. They are outnumbered in Ireland though, and fear domination by the Catholics so need
Did Partition solve the problems in Ireland
Northern Ireland History Project 2002 By Iwan Fletcher Question 1: Did Partition solve the problems in Ireland Partition came about 1n 1920 in Ireland it was called the government of Ireland act. This was an act passed by Lloyd George which intended to set up two home rule parliaments one ruled from Dublin and the other to be 6 of the nine counties of Ulster where unionist opposition to home rule was the greatest. The 6 counties included in this new state where Down, Antrim, Derry, Tyrone, Fermanagh and Armagh. Only the first three states out of these 6 had a protestant/unionist majority but even so the state was set up with boundaries especially selected as to permanently guarantee a protestant/unionist dominance over the Catholics/Nationalists. Both of the new state's powers would be limited, they would link together in a council of Ireland and only when both states agreed would partition be broken. The Dublin parliament died as soon as it was created with only Sinn Feign contesting in the elections. The Northern Ireland parliament was opened in May 1921. Soon after this a truce was called and negotiations went underway between Sinn Feign and the British government, the Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed which gave Southern Ireland like Canada Dominion status under the crown. The Irish Free State was born. Northern Ireland remained a province of Great Britain. Let Erin
Ireland coursework-Part AIreland has had a lot of trouble over the years for many reasons causing major publicity internationally
Vicky Shreeve Ireland coursework- Part A Ireland has had a lot of trouble over the years for many reasons causing major publicity internationally. The problems have led to the current situation in Northern Ireland. In this coursework I will be examining what has led to these troubles and what is going on in the present day. Today Ireland is split in half; the South, Eire, is an independent country with its own government, the North, Ulster, is part of the United Kingdom and is ruled by the British government in London. Northern Ireland has suffered much political violence since 1968. The problems are between the Protestants or Unionists who want N.Ireland to remain part of the UK, and the Catholics or Nationalists who want an independent united Ireland. The Catholics are outnumbered in N.Ireland so were discriminated against and so had a general dislike for protestants, to get their views heard they set up the IRA. This is a terrorist organisation that uses violence to protest for what they want; they have killed hundreds of soldiers, police and civilians. Protestants have also set up terror gangs and carried out many killings. In 1994 a ceasefire was agreed on both sides but in 1996 there were IRA bombings in London and Manchester. Despite this in 1998 more talks were held and agreements were made to stop using terrorism to express their views and start using politics by
The Development of the IRA with special regard to the fate of Bobby Sands
The Development of the IRA with special regard to the fate of Bobby Sands Facharbeit von Matthias Wolf, Jgst. 12 Landfermann-Gymnasium, Duisburg Grundkurs Englisch 2 Schuljahr: 2000/2001 The Development of the IRA with special regard to the fate of Bobby Sands Contents: I. Introduction ...................................................................... .......... 3 II. From the beginnings of armed resistance in Ireland to the "Troubles" ...................................................................... . 3 III. The Irish Republican Army since 1969 ................................... 5 IV. Bobby Sands ...................................................................... ......... 6 V. The Hunger Strike ..................................................................... 9 VI. Chances for Peace in Ireland ................................................... 12 VII. Used Literature ...................................................................... ... 15 I. Introduction You cannot write about Ireland without mentioning the Irish troubles. This conflict, whose roots go back many centuries, escalated from 1969 onwards and the Irish Republican Army (IRA) became an important protagonist in these troubles. In this paper I want to
Why has it taken so long for the different groups in the peace process to agree to a new power sharing government in Northern Ireland?
Tom Hockenhull 11SB GCSE History Coursework 1999-2000 Modern World Study: Conflict in Ireland Why has it taken so long for the different groups in the peace process to agree to a new power sharing government in Northern Ireland? Introduction Conflict in Ireland goes back centuries, to when Britain first started colonising the island. Each attempt to restore order has ended with at least one section of the population rejecting the solution. The latest proposals, part of the Good Friday Agreement, have brought the rival factions together at least on one common basis-there must be peace. But on whose terms? Each group has its own agenda for peace and power sharing, and none are willing to negotiate far enough to consider creating a power sharing government and sticking to it. This assignment will attempt to reveal why the parties involved have been reluctant to agree to any form of power sharing in the past and have carried on fighting instead. This question cannot be answered by looking at all the different issues together. Instead I will look at the individual political groups and armies separately. I have identified these as: Nationalists/Republicans; Unionists/Loyalists; British Government; and the Irish Republican Government. Nationalists/Republicans It has taken the Nationalists so long for numerous reasons. * Power sharing was
What are the main differences between Republicans / Nationalists and Unionists / Loyalists?
What are the main differences between Republicans/Nationalists and Unionists/Loyalists? For many years there has been serious conflict and bloodshed in Ireland. The cause of over 3000 deaths is just one question: Should the North stay part of the United Kingdom, or should it become part of the Republic? This has caused a divide in people's opinions about the future of Ireland. One side, who wish Northern Ireland to stay part of Britain, are called unionists. Those who disagree, who want a united independent Ireland, are called Nationalists. Unionists generally want Northern Ireland to remain under British control. They do not want to unite with the Republic for two main reasons relating to finance and religion. Many people believe that in order to retain good trade links with the United Kingdom and Europe, they must keep a harmonious relationship with them, and remain part of it. More significantly, most Unionists are members of the Protestant community. Within Northern Ireland they are the majority, however within the whole of Ireland they would be a minority, facing scrutiny and discrimination from the Catholic community. They believe that events would imitate those of over 300 years ago when British settlers were persecuted in Ireland, and so they too waged war upon the Catholics. Therefore, they wish Britain to remain in control in order to protect them from
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland has been having problems now for a long time. The tension has increased more and more throughout the years and during this essay; I'm going to focus on the main events in the last century. I will concentrate on the events of the Easter rising of 1916, the deployment of British troops in 1969, and Bloody Sunday 1972. It is important to look into the history of Ireland to understand what lead to these events occurring. In 1711 the English monarchy claimed rights over Ireland. At this time England was a Catholic country so Ireland became Catholic. However 400 years later in the reign of Henry the V111 the protestant religion became the main religion of England as he wished to be divorced. The majority of the Kings and Queens who succeeded Henry were Protestant. This meant that the rulers of Ireland were mainly Protestant. However Ireland itself remained a Catholic Country. In 1603 James the first came to the throne. It was obvious to see the religious tension as in the case of the gunpowder plot in November 1603. Guy Fawkes was a Catholic and him and his friends were trying to kill the king. In 1641 the British civil war had begun. The people in Ireland were rebelling. When the war was finally over, Oliver Cromwell was sent to Ireland and he massacred thousands of them, not just for rebelling, but for been Catholic. 1689, the date of the
