The Events That Led To The Troubles In Ireland

During the 18th century, Ireland was oppressed by England to the point that the Irish would consider eating and selling their children for money and that the Irish were incapable of making their lives better. During that time there was also a significant religious disdain and prejudice of the Anglo-Irish (English Protestants) to the Irish Catholics.

The majority of my research was finding scholarly articles and books that pertained to my research questions and disciplines. Throughout all of the information and sources that I gathered, I selected five articles and one book. The book “Beyond Violence: Conflict Resolution Process” by Mari Fizduff was by far the most inspiring source in my collection of evidence. (Citation) It gave keen insight into the sources of the conflict but most importantly, it presented strategies and solutions to end the violence. With my foundation evidence set in my book, my other evidence allowed me to find more specific patterns of the sources of conflict from a sociological and theological stance. “For God, Ulster or Ireland: Religious Identity and Security in Northern Ireland” by John Bell provided examples of the religious affiliations and how each conserved its own identity. The article focused on the Catholic and Protestant communities and how each contributed to the conflicts. (Citation) My additional evidence provided great background information about certain aspects and patterns that significantly benefited my main research focus.

Post-colonial theory has still prevailed in Irish literary and cultural studies for some time. New perspectives are coming up in the spheres of history and economics. Lately, there has been a great need for the analysis of the entire history to come up with effective ways for persons to clearly understand the history of Ireland. The nineteenth century Ireland is still in a dilemma due to the controversies that explain the value of colonial and post-colonial Irish history and culture. There is always need to discuss colonial perspectives so as to better understand various aspects about this country. This essay will focus on the analysis of Terrence McDonough’s book and will analyze how the book was effective in giving an account of Ireland’s history.

What do you think of when you hear the name Ireland? Ireland is a relatively small island off the coast of Great Britain with a land area of 32,424 square miles (Delaney 2). There are several things that you may associate with this country such as St. Patrick’s Day, shamrocks, beer, and strife. The source of the bitterness behind this conflict began centuries ago, when Britain came over and forced Protestantism on the Irish Catholic inhabitants. For this reason there has always been an animosity between the Protestants and the Irish Catholics. The island is broken up into two distinct regions. The Republic of Ireland consists of twenty-six counties, which make up the southern

Unlike in the War of Independence the IRA did not have the backing of many Irish-Americans. Probably the major problem with finding backing amongst their former allies was the fact that they all almost universally welcomed the signing of the Treat. Even Irish strongholds like the city of Boston were pro-treaty, with one James Phelan telegramming the Lord Mayor of Dublin that he loved the treaty saying he expressed the “feeling(s) of all true friends of Ireland and England the world over” . Even the Catholic church in America refused to help the IRA. Former allies in Scotland were also of little help as most were loyal to Joseph Vize, who was a member of President Collins inner circle. With their assets in the United States frozen by Congress, the IRA had little chance of securing enough money to buy firearms. In addition to this the lack of support of the Irish in the United States meant that they would be unable to receive any substantial sum of money nor be able to secure weapons shipments. Additionally, unlike in the previous war they were unable to obtain arms and explosives from sympathizers in Scotland in large part thanks to Collin’s influence over this area. The IRA repeated a mistake they made during the earliest inkling of revolution, as in the Easter Rebellion they were reliant on outside forces acting on their

In 1969, the more traditionalist republican members split off into the Provisional IRA and Sinn Féin. The Provisional IRA operated mostly in Northern Ireland, using violence against the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the British Army, and British institutions and economic targets. They also killed members of the Irish Army and the Garda Síochána, which was against one of their standing orders.

During the time after the Jacobite Wars, Ireland began to grow a significant amount of enmity for the Westminster Parliament. The distaste for English presence grew rapidly among the Irish; Irish began to take part and support the colonies in the race for freedom among the British rule. Irish Protestants form militias of “Volunteers”, united Protestants and Catholics form the United Irishmen. During this time the irish cause mayhem and upheavals throughout the land in a yearn for separateness from British Rule.

Ireland began to have civil rights activists that they had been protesting against discrimination against Catholics and the Irish nationalists by the government of Northern Ireland. As for the civil rights movement called for people to vote to see whether the end of discrimination would come to an end. There also where an overwhelmingly protestant police force who were always known for being hard on the Catholics. However Irish people continued to emigrate during the 1950’s and 1960’s. As the 1970’s came around Irish economy grew by 4%. (“Global World Warrior”).

The Irish worked on land that was owned by British landowners. The Irish peasants produced large quantities of wheat for the factories in England. Even though the Irish were being evicted from their homes by the landholders, and even though they were starving, the British government was inconsiderate and careless of the problems and the situation that the Irish was in. The Irish were dying from famine and starvation. On page two, paragraph one of “Condition of Ireland, Illustrations of the New Poor Law,” it says, “The ruin is great and complete. The blow that effected the character of the last and best friend of the peasantry, and it has struck them to the heart. They are porstrate and helpless. The once frolicsome people –even the saucy beggars– have disappeared, and given place to wan and haggard objects, who are so resigned to their doom, they they no longer expect relief. One beholds only shrunken frames scarcely covered with flesh –crawling skeletons, who appear to have risen from the graves, and ready to return frightened to that abode.” Which explains the suffrage of the Irish people, the suffrage that the British didn’t care

The Irish Experience was an altogether different and far more violent struggle than the Revolutions in England or Scotland. Whereas James was deeply unpopular in both England and Scotland, he was very well liked in Ireland. While William was consolidating his power in England, James’s Lord Deputy, Richard Talbot, secured Ireland for him. James himself landed in Ireland from France on the twelfth of March. He promised religious freedom to the Irish, although he refrained from making Catholicism the main religion of the State. There was deep popular violence, between the native mainly Roman-Catholic Irish, and the almost entirely protestant English Protestants. Both sides sided en masse with respectively, James II and William of Orange. The decisive battle in this struggle was the Battle of the Boyne.

There are both political and religious reasons for the Troubles, which really started in the 1960s. The catholics arranged marches and protests to free Ulster from British rule. This was met with violence from militant protestants. This again led to the catholics answering with more violence. The protestants started boycotting the catholic members of the community. Catholics no longer got jobs, they couldn’t buy or rent houses and many other things. All in all, they were no longer deemed as worthy members of the community. The catholics answered this with violence, and started the IRA(Irish Republican Army). There were held long-term campaigns against the British government, and the protestant paramilitary groups. The tension was now so high it was called a

On one side of this divide were Unionists: heavily Protestant, loyal to their British heritage and determined to remain part of the United Kingdom. On the other side were Northern Ireland’s Catholics, a minority which for decades had endured political and economic marginalisation. Caught between them was the British government, desperate to achieve peace in Northern Ireland but unsure how to enable it. Outside the law, paramilitary groups like the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) used violence and terrorism to impose their political will. For three decades these groups struggled against each other for rule in Northern

1914 was a year when the balance could have been tipped one way or the

The island of Ireland is known for many things: St. Patrick’s Day, its green landscape, music, beer, and discord. The heart of this conflict began centuries ago, when Britain came over and forced Protestantism on the Irish Catholic inhabitants. There has always been hatred between the Irish Protestants and Catholics. The island is broken up into to distinct regions. The Republic of Ireland consists of 26 counties, which make up the southern region. This area is predominantly Roman Catholic. Northern Ireland is made up of the 6 northern counties, which are under British rule. This area is predominately Protestant. The conflict between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland is based

To really get to the heart of the conflict we must go back centuries. The contempt that the ethnically Irish (primarily Catholics) have towards Britain