Essay on The History of Conflict in Ireland

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.

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

Due to the undeniable disorder associated with the Jacobite Wars, Ireland resulted in a large demographic shift. Protestant English landholders had been accumulating Irish land due to the financial needs associated with the war having

In 1968, the Northern Ireland parliament had been dominated by unionists for over fifty years. Its attempts to solve social and political ills, such as institutional discrimination against Catholics, were too slow for nationalists and republicans and too quick for many unionists. This gave rise to growing tension and violence between the two communities (www.bbc.co.uk). It included an armed insurgency against the state some forms of the Catholic or nationalist population, which mainly were the Irish Republican Army (IRA), though it also included other republican factions, with the idea focused on creating a united independent Ireland (Dorney, 2015). The Ira were in constant battle with forces of the state.

Unionists feel that if Roman Catholics won The War of the Two Kings and persevered their land to its original state, Ireland would not have a deep-seated relationship with Great Britain. Unionist’s however, are very grateful for these relations and believe it has established them as a great and united country. Historians Moody and Martin state, “The sense of national unity manifested itself in the removal of a number of religious, social and economic disabilities which in the past had been imposed on the Irish Catholics, though it should be quickly added that generosity was checked by caution. Only extreme liberals were prepared to allow Catholics a share in political power” (204). Since Protestants have always recognized and rejoiced the British having a positive role in Ireland, the unity that resulted from the war was viewed as a triumph to Protestants then and Unionists now. After the victory of William of Orange the penal laws were set into place. These laws motived about 5,500 Catholics elite to convert to Protestantism. As the penal laws were solidified into the Irish law system, for the next century Ireland was controlled by Protestant elite, known as the protestant Ascendancy. However, this elite group did not want the majority of Catholics to convert, so the Ascendancy would maintain their high power position. This governmental position lead to protestants powerful political role in Ireland today. Although Nationalism has had many Protestant leaders, Unionists were inevitably always led by Protestant leaders and politicians. The War of the Two Kings set precedence for contemporary Irelands political structure to be centered around religious innuendoes.

      To truly understand how this great tragedy happened, First you need to understand the government and economy of Ireland at the time. Ireland, Located west of the current United Kingdom, was under the rule of Great Britain and treated as a colony during this time. They

People believed that “Home Rule would be disastrous to the material well-being of Ulster” (10 “Ulster’s Solemn League and Covenant”) and that “All that [was] Protestant—nay, all that [was] loyal –all who [had] land or money to lose…would be at the mercy of [the Irish nationalists]” (1 Salisbury). Northern Ireland, or Ulster, was the site of Protestant English immigrants, while the Catholic Irish dominated Southern Ireland. British members of Parliament feared for the wealth and welfare of the Protestants, or rather the English landowners with money and land, if Ireland were to be separated from England. Their “dread of Catholicism”, as well as a fear of another rebellion such as the “French Revolution”, caused them to fight against Irish Home Rule, and rather put all their efforts into protecting the Protestant Irish (7 The Nation). England’s superiority complex also caused the British to fight against Home Rule because they believed that the Irish “ought to be…grateful” (4 Carson) because it had been the British who did “five-sixths of the work, wealth, and enterprise” of their kingdoms (3 Moonshine). England claimed that they had done all the prospering for Ireland, and that the Irish had no right to be fighting against them

The Irish Republican Army started in Northern Ireland to protect and fight for the rights of the catholic citizens there. Ireland was conquered in 1607 by England, this brought protestant immigrants from England and Scotland. The Protestants quickly came to be the majority of the population. In the 1920s the island was partitioned and Catholics in the north felt that they had been removed from their political heritage. The Protestants felt like they were losing out on resources and wanted to keep control of the north. Neither side was satisfied and problems continued.

John Whyte covered this topic using the Organizational Process method. When Britain decided to return Ireland to a state of Home Rule, the Ulster unionist backlash was huge. Faced with a crisis, Ireland’s officials were slow to act. Britain stepped in to try to hastily resolve the conflict. British parliament proceeded to view the conflict along pre-established nationality lines of Catholic nationalists and Protestant unionists. Parliament ignored the fact that many Protestant unionists were not organized or firm on their position against Home Rule. Britain did not understand that Protestant unionists were able to be coerced or appeased without partition. Britain also chose to partition because it was one of the first solutions presented, one that they were quick to use in foreign affairs. They failed to realize that countries like India and Palestine were thrown into decades of turmoil because Britain or Britain’s allies chose to partition the countries. Partition was also one of the resource efficient ways of calming down the Irish. After entering WWI, British attention was not fully focused on the North Ireland conflict. After hastily pushing Home Rule through, the final rejection

Ultimately, since the end of the Second World War, Bloody Sunday was unparalleled in Europe. The scale of the events on that faithful day both shaped and informed the evolution of the conflict in Ireland over the following three decades. Expectedly, the obvious over reactions of both the Provisional and Original IRA, among others, triggered an equally savage Loyalist reaction, which further solidified the atrocities which characterised the ‘Long War’. Much debate and vitriol still surrounds the competing accounts of what happen on that pivotal day. However, notwithstanding the realities and the facile excuses put forward by the British in the aftermath of Bloody Sunday, few in the Catholic community in the North could see how the actions of

The Irish and the British have had a long and complicated relationship for hundreds of years. After World War I, the British Empire started to dissolve, resulting in independent nations around the globe. However, Ireland still remained under British rule, which frustrated the Irish for a variety of reasons, the main one being religious differences (Catholic vs. Protestant) between the Irish and the British. The Anglo-Irish war started in 1919 was a result of the growing frustration and the Irish nationalist movement that emerged from said frustration. The Irish nationalist movement was started by a group of revolutionaries known as the IRA (Irish Republican Army) who believed that the only way Ireland could achieve independence was through

In 1916, during WW II, there was a rebellion in Dublin. The rebels were defeated and the 16 leaders were executed and many were jailed, even some who were not involved.This lead to the Sinn Fein gaining more popularity and the IRA (Irish Republican Army) also gaining a lot of popularity. The IRA fought the British army whenever they could. But the Protestants believed that they were subjects of Britain, and therefore most likely didn't like the IRA or the Sinn Fein. Later, there were many fights between the two groups. Later in 1997, there was a ceasefire that went into effect and in 1998 a peace accord was

It seems that all, throughout history, Protestants and Catholics are always butting heads. Tensions were particularly high between Ireland and Britain with Ireland being Catholic and Britain Protestant. This religious discrepancy had a real effect on the Irish people, interfering with their Catholic tradition. The Irish people had longed for independence from the British for a long time; but, Britain really managed to agitate the Irish when they sent settlers from Britain and Scotland to settle in Northern Ireland. This agitation eventually grew into the Northern Ireland War, as the Protestants began to take control. If the Protestants had just settled into Northern Ireland and went about their life, there may have never been a war. The

Ireland is a small country that was an English conquest until Ireland decided that they wanted to

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.