Why Was the "Irish question" So Troublesome for the British Governments in the Period 1868-1921?

This culminated in the Rebellion of 1798, lead by Wolfe Tone and the Society of United Irishmen, in which Hugh and Jimmy participated: “The road to Sligo. A spring morning. 1798. Going into battle” (445). But, as these characters soon discovered, the rebellion failed resulting in large executions and the passing of the Act of Union in 1800. This piece of legislation, effective from 1 January 1801, brought Ireland under the direct rule of the British Crown.

     Irish-American. To some, this term merely designates one of the many ethnic groups which can be found in the United States; but to those who are Irish-American, it represents a people who faced a disaster of mammoth proportions and who managed to survive at great cost. The Great Hunger of 1845 changed, or more often, destroyed the lives of millions of Irish, causing them to seek refuge from poverty and starvation in other, more prosperous countries. However, not all countries would accept these victims of the Potato Famine. After an immense burst of Irish immigration to Great Britain, the British Parliament began to

Another problem with the voting system was the lack of a private vote. Employers could influence the way their employees voted by threatening to punish them if they failed to vote for their preffered candidate. This problem was fixed in 1872, when William Gladstone's government passed the Ballot Act which guaranteed a secret system of voting. Although the immediate results of the reform act were not earth shattering, the country had taken, as Lord Derby said, "a leap in the dark." Strikes, union advances, and labor organization were powerful forces for change in the final years of the century. William Gladstone was elected as Prime Minister of England for the second time in 1880 and the most important legislative action that took place during his second ministry was the Reform Act of 1884. The reform act was rejected the first time it was presented to the House of Lords, but accepted the second time because it was accompanied by a redistribution act, which had the following implications. "(i) seventy-nine towns with populations smaller than 15,000 lost their right to elect an MP; (ii) thirty-six with populations between 15,000 and 50,000 lost one of their MPs and became single member constituencies; (iii) towns with populations between 50,000 and 165,000 were given two seats; (iv) larger towns and the country constituencies were divided into single member constituencies" (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PR1885.htm). The actual Reform Act of 1884

In 1700 there were only 300,000 people inhabiting the original thirteen colonies, but then the population doubled every twenty-five years and only seventy-five years later, the population rose to 2.5 million people. This population spike caused a major shift in power from Britain to the colonies because originally in 1700 there were twenty English officials for every one colonist, but by 1775 there was only three English official per colonist.

By 1714 the Whigs political party came to power in England and wold stay in power until 1727. IN 1720 the British House of Lords passed a law that stated the Irish House of Lords were subordinate the them. This law also stated that the Irish House of Lords could not mint their own money, make their own laws or have any judicial or legislative authority in their own country. During the 1700's the English restricted the export of wool and wool products from Ireland they also restricted Ireland's trading with the rest of mainland Europe all while increasing the import of English good to Ireland. This lead to the decline of agriculture and the increase in unemployment. Soon the Irish people were dependent on potatoes and pigs for survival but

What arguments does Gladstone make in favor of Home Rule for Ireland: William Gladstone was an alternating prime minister with Benjamin Disraeli in the 1860s and 1870s. The key difference between the two was that William was concerned with domestic affairs and Benjamin with foreign affairs.

Violence, terror, suffering and death. The conflict that has been burning in Northern Ireland seems to be an unstoppable battle and it has flooded over the land of Northern Ireland. The struggle for power and the persistence of greed have fueled the raging fires of the opposing groups. The conflict in Northern Ireland has been discussed continually over the past few decades. Ever since the beginning of the “Troubles,” organizations have been scavenging to find a plan that will cease the violence. Throughout my research for this project, the questions of what are the main sources of conflict in Northern Ireland and why have they continued today guided me to many fascinating pieces of evidence that

The turmoil of the second decade of the twentieth century gave way to a greater sense of peace and stability in the third, with a peace treaty signed between Ireland and Britain in December of 1921 and Home Rule finally established for most of the Irish isle (Ferriter, n.d.). At the same time, this new society did not lead to instant prosperity, and indeed poverty remained a major and growing problem in Ireland during this decade (Ferriter, n.d.). Economic and social problems that persisted during this decade certainly could have been pushes to increased immigration.

The campaign had ultimately led to the creation of the Act of Ireland of 1920. This created a twenty-six county Irish Free State and six counties in Northern Ireland (Filardo-Llamas, 2013; White, 1989). This act also allowed Northern Ireland to choose whether or not to stay with Britain or become part of the Free State. Northern Ireland ultimately decided to stay with the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland created its own parliament in Stormont in Belfast (Bosi, 2012; Filardo-Llamas, 2013). The Free State was mostly inhabited by Catholics while Northern Ireland was populated mostly by Protestants (White, 1989). But the road to have a Free State did come at a price. Over 7,500 people lost their lives or were wounded between 1917 and 1923. Many lost their homes, family and friends (Hart,

The troubles emerged as the result of several years of the escalating incidents between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. The troubles have been protracted and costly in every sense of the world. From the first civil rights marches in 1968 till the signing of The Good Friday Agreement in 1998, 3,500 people died and over 35,000 were injured in Northern Ireland as the direct result of the aggressive violence , rebellion, bombings, murders, and terror tactics. The Catholic and Protestant troubles and conflicts had a significantly impact on Ireland. This serious issue had impacted the lives of individuals and families that took place or witness the gruesome events that the troubles had causes, the political change and reform of

Hyde’s speech argues that the Irish had by that point indiscriminately adopted all that was English with little thought as to its value, that the Irish had “[ceased] to be Irish without becoming English.”2 He criticizes those Irish who claim to hate British dominance, yet speak only English, anglicize their Irish names, and remain ignorant of Gaelic literature. His central view is that the Gaelic language is the most important aspect of an Irish identity distinct to that of the British, and that only a return to Ireland’s native language can halt the process of Anglicization. However, he is careful not to make the claim that nothing English is of value, but emphasizes the necessity of not neglecting that which is essentially Irish.

off; the tithes still had to be paid but were now paid to the state

While the common people may have been the first to be happy to see William the ‘leaders’ soon followed. Thus we can see while the upper classes may have been behind all the organization of the revolution they were not the only one who were in full support of it, everyone wanted this uprising and felt that the king was tyrannical. As William rode on and his support became more and more obvious from all classes many from the upper classes decided to follow his small army of 12,000, helping it grow. (Trevelyan p. 54-60) James now totally aware of the situation began to have multiple fears plaguing him as he fled to London and his army resentful of him eventually began to join the side of William. As William takes control James, at the end of his mental

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

According to Felton, the Literary Revival “emerged out of ashes of a political failure: a scandal that toppled one of Ireland's most beloved politicians, Charles Stewart Parnell, in 1890” (2007:7-8). The scandal concerns Parnell's affair with Katherine, wife of Captain William O'Shea. The events deprived Parnell of his powerful status in Irish Parliament, however, many of his followers continued to work for Irish culture. Seeing the arts and the humanities as a crucial area through which the Irish identity and eventually independence can be gained, culture started to thrive. Douglas Hyde, the first President of Ireland and the first president of Gaelic League, is certainly one of the most prominent activists. Being the author of the collection of Irish folk stories, he contributed substantially to the attempts in reviving the Irish language and his works inspired many writers after him (Felton