The Battle of the Boyne was the decisive battle in the struggle between Ex-king James II of England and his successor, William III, for control of Ireland.
Penal Laws were introduced to prevent Protestants ‘Inter marrying’ with Catholics. These laws also made it impossible for Catholics to buy land and work for the Government.
When the British Government decided that it was too dangerous for Ireland to continue to have it’s own parliament, by an Act of Union in 1800, Ireland was united with Britain. Ireland was to be ruled from the British Parliament.
After the Act of Union King George III refused to allow Catholics the right to become MPs. In 1823 a Catholic lawyer called Daniel O’Connell formed the Catholic Association to help tenants and to fight for the right to become MPs. In 1828 he stood against a British government minister in an election in County Clare. He won enough votes, but was refused permission to enter the British Parliament as an MP. This angered Catholics in Ireland so much that the Lord Lieutenant feared there would be trouble.
The Duke of Wellington (who was Prime Minister) and the Home Secretary Robert Peel wanted to avoid rebellion. They persuaded King George IV and parliament to pass the Catholic Emancipation Act in 1829, which would allow Catholics to enter Parliament as MPs. Daniel O’Connell wanted an end to the Act of Union.
Towards the end of the 1870’s Irish farmers had two severe blows. One was the competition from North America which began to send cheap corn to Europe so farmers had to lower prices to compete. This led to the farmers being unable to pay the rent to their Tenants.
The Land League was set up to campaign for lower rents and protection against evictions. This was popular among Catholics and Protestants because it forced politicians to take notice of the suffering of the tenant farmers.
By the end of the 19th Century many Protestant landlords were selling off their land. The British Government lent tenants the money to buy some of the land for themselves. By 1916 almost 64 per cent of the population owned land.
Ireland Nationalists known as Fenians wanted Ireland to be a united country, free from foreign control, and they were willing to back a revolution.
Home rule, enforced by Protestants and Catholics, gave the right for Irish to make laws for controlling all matters to do with the internal affairs of Ireland, while leaving to the Imperial Parliament the power of dealing with all the questions affecting the imperial crown and government.
Unionists thought that Home for the whole of Ireland would result in a united independent Ireland. The Unionist leaders prepared to make Ulster independent of both Ireland and Great Britain. The Liberal Government suggested that the British army would be used to force the Unionists to accept Home Rule. Unionists were still loyal to the King of England and this loyalty was put to the test when England went to war with Germany and Austria. To win Unionist support it was agreed to dely Home Rule until the war was over. 5500 Ulstermen died in the battle of Somme. Unionists were willing to fight to stay British so it would disable the British Government forcing Ulster to join an all-Ireland Republic after the First World War.
At the end of the War of Independence, where Nationalists killed those who fought on the side of the British, Nationalist leaders, Michael Collins and Arthur Griffith, were offered a peace treaty by the British Government. This treaty would allow Ireland to have the same constitutional status in the community of Great Britain. Although they were a free state the treaty stated that in time of war of ‘strained relations with a foreign power’ the British Government could call up on their defences for help. Many had problems with this because they felt that it still brought them into the British Empire and acknowledges that Britain was the direct monarch of Ireland and the governing authority.
