Northern Ireland Research Paper

After the first world war the leaders of europe came together to discuss the boundaries of europe. British rule decided to separate ireland into two sides. North Ireland was created when the british government of Ireland Act in 1920 divided Ireland into two areas; the Irish Free State and the Northern Ireland Roman Catholics, who made up around one-third of the population of Northern Ireland, were largely opposed to the separation. The British took over , but only after many revolts and riots against them from the people of ireland. In 1969 the IRA (Irish Republican Army) was formed. They were a Catholic Irish nationalist group that used guerrilla tactics like bombings and assassinations to oppose British rule and oppression in Ireland. Their main goal was to fight the british that took over their home. The IRA would Fight using guerilla and terrorist tactics including bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, punishment beatings, extortion, smuggling, and robberies. But over time the IRA became more of a dangerous militia then patriots defending their home.

Catholic Ireland tried to break away from England after the Reformation, but Elizabeth’s troops crushed the Irish uprising in the 1570’s and 1580’s.

Ireland has always had religious problems between, Pagans, Catholic, Protestant and Jewish people. Ireland has always been a place of interest in English eyes so Ireland was continually concord over and over by the English and the currency, traditions and religions changed with every English King, Queen or Irish Rebel. Between 1641 and 1691 Oliver Cromwell changed everything, Irish Catholics, Pagans and Jews were killed or shipped off to be slaves. The influence to immigrate was very strong, their options were to go to a new world of which they knew no one and had nothing, be killed for your religion, or be gathered up and shipped away as a slave. It was a hard decision they all were forced to

Witches and spells from Shakespeare’s novels may seem far-fetched in today’s society, but in ancient times, those matters were very serious; use of magic was a criminal offence and could even be punishable by death. Humans have believed in magic since the dawn of time. While it may not have existed, it was a simple way to explain the unexplainable in life, and in death. Magic has played an important role in history, culture and literature. Life today would be extremely different if magic had never been believed, and, while literature isn’t always of real world accounts, most ancient texts discovered tend to blame magic for the uncommon events in daily lives.

The first and second reason the Irish immigrated was mostly caused by conditions after 1717 that began to grow uneasy. The British encouraged the people of Northern Ireland who were called Scotch-Irish to create a Catholic Ireland. Irish could not live with religious freedom. They were often challenged by the British

The Irish escaped from British tyranny to seek a better life, they took jobs and were compared to Blacks, which then created a feud between the Irish and Blacks to compete for

In 1800 Ireland became a part of Britain after they failed to rebel against them. Ireland had already been a British colony, but because of them becoming a part of Britain their old government was taken down and they were forced to join the British parliament. Ireland was allowed to have 100 members to represent them in parliament. Catholics were not allowed although that was the main religious denomination in Ireland. Britain had persecuted catholics since the early 16th century when Henry VIII made the act of supremacy that made it so the pope was no longer was the head of the church in Britain http://www.britannica.com/topic/Act-of-Supremacy-England-1534. The British government implemented laws to destroy catholicism in Britain. One law

Clearly, a large portion of the turmoil experienced during this type could be put down to the changing government of the period. Though democratically elected and in more direct control of the Irish nation, the Home Rule government what the Irish called the Free State in its first years was not as responsive to the people as some desired (Ferriter, n.d.). An effective civil service providing for many needs was set up, but the ruling party and government experienced internal strife over significant differences of opinion throughout this decade (Ferriter, n.d.). The government was a democracy, but a very young democracy, and with all of the problems that this youth entails in a newly freed and democratically empowered nation and population.

Initially, conflicts between Protestants and Catholics led to British troops being sent to Northern Ireland. While their presence was initially welcomed, overtime the Catholic faction felt their civil rights being impinged. They believed the government had designed the voting districts to favor the Protestants, which altered the elections. To voice their displeasure, thousands of people gathered on

The Protestants wanted to remain a part of Britain but the Catholics wanted to become independent and separate form Ireland. This abhorrence between Catholics and Protestants resulted in

War, oppression, and massacres. All three took place in English-led Ireland during the Victorian Era, and all three were caused by a few differences in beliefs on how to worship the same God. Mainly due to the evangelization of St. Patrick, the Irish people were devoutly Catholic while their English rulers followed a Protestant Church called the Anglican Church of England. Since the Anglican Church was so dominant in England, the Irish Catholics received very poor treatment from the Protestants in England causing things like the Irish Potato Famine and the Bloody Sunday and Bloody Friday massacres. However, the Irish people were by no means silent under this oppression, leading to many rebellions. Due to the dominance of Protestantism in England

Then, they were invaded by Vikings. Finally, they faced oppression from Britain. Britain had control over Ireland for hundreds of years. Ireland gained their liberty in 1922. From the years of being invaded and ruled over, they developed the want of just being free and equal.

against the Protestants. In 1829 Catholics were not suitable for schools throughout Ireland they were only suitable for Protestants. The Catholic peasantry were still called on to pay tithes, and they continued to be harassed by the exactions of tithe-proctors and others, who if the money was not forthcoming, seized the poor peoples cows, furniture, beds, blankets, kettles, or anything they could lay their hands on (History Of Nations 12 Ireland-Scotland p.224).The Catholics were a minority in Ireland much like in the history of Quebec where the English conquered the French, the French were considered lower forms of humans they weren’t up to English standards. As the years past the Catholics started to get back at the Protestants forming the I.R.A. I.R.A. and Protestant killings continued into the early 1900s, Britain began launching multi party- talks with the goal of forging a new assembly for northern Ireland and new relations between the north and Irish republic. By 1999, Protestant and Catholic negotiators had

In the past century we have experienced a vast majority of violent acts towards minority groups such as blacks, Jews, homosexuals and others. According to BBC the Troubles of Northern Ireland represent one of the latest examples of religious, ethnic, geographic and political conflict. The Troubles started in the late 1960s and it is considered by many to have ended with the Belfast Good Friday Agreement of 1998. After more than 30 years of civil conflict, peace had finally been achieved. However, random violence acts have continued since then. How did the Belfast Good Friday Agreement end the Troubles in Northern Ireland and how is the country today?

This unfair treatment leads the people of Northern Ireland to form their very own civil rights movement, like that of which is going on in the United States. But instead of fighting the strain against the color of their skin, the people of Northern Ireland are fighting for their religion and the equal rights that should go along with it. Instead they are refused rights and blamed for any wrong doings due to their catholic religion, causing them to become livid at the people of the United Kingdom who live under the teachings of the protestant faith. With this anger the Irish begin to form marches and parades that most often quickly turn into riots. Because of these seemingly frequent riotous parades, the United Kingdom feels it must do something to protect the British people; therefore sending British troops to the Irish town by the name of Derry, (“2)How Did the “Troubles” Start in Northern Ireland?”). Here the British military is forced to create barricades to stand against the angry mob of catholic Irish.