Handout Lecture 38
Handout Lecture 38
Handout Lecture 38
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38. THE WAR AT HOME: THE IRISH QUESTION SINCE 1800
THE GAELIC REVIVAL
1894 – the Irish Agricultural Organization Society
- Cooperativism
1903 – the Gaelic League which organize different attempt to keep the Irish
language spoken in Ireland, introduce it as the language of communication and
expression of national identity; also to support Irish language literature, poetry,
reintroduce Irish sports.
1903 – Arthur Griffith and Sinn Fein- a nationalist organization (translated as “We
are selves”) which would become the most important political party organizer
of the resistance to the British rule in the years to come.
THE IRISH REVOLUTION
1916 – the Easter Rising
o The Irish Republican Brotherhood
o Irish Volunteers
o Irish Citizen Army
o Organized uprising against the English. They occupied several
government buildings in Dublin and hoped that their call for revolution
that would give Ireland Independence would be answered.
Proclamation of the republic
Defeat, arrests and executions
Aftermath
1918 – Sinn Fein wins 73 of the Irish seats in the UK Parliament
January 1919 – Ireland’s independence proclaimed
THE WAR with Britain:
Irish Republican Army (IRA) – Michael Collins. Military arm of Sinn Fein
British Auxiliaries, the notorious “Black and Tans” who fought the Irish and at the
same time persecuted the local population leading further to the rising
oppositions towards the British rule in Ireland
THE IRISH INDEPENDENCE
1920 - the Government of Ireland Bill: one parliament for Northern
Ireland(majority were protestant there and in favour of Ireland remaining in the
UK) and one for the 26 counties
1921 – the Anglo-Irish Treaty by the representatives of the new Irish
government and the British.
o The Irish Free State created but without the counties in Northern
Ireland which were excluded by the government of Ireland Bill. Many
nationalists did not accept it because it led to the division of the country.
1921-1923 – the Civil War in Ireland
o Death of Michael Collins
o Victory of pro-Treaty forces in 1923
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38. THE WAR AT HOME: THE IRISH QUESTION SINCE 1800
1932-1946 – Eamon De Valera – head of the government
Elimination of British influence still insisting on unification if Ireland
1937 – Eire / Ireland established and left the British Commonwealth of Nations
A terrorist campaign by the IRA in Great Britain
1939 – 1945 Eire remains neutral in WW II
1949 – Eire becomes the Republic of Ireland
THE CONFLICT IN NORTHERN IRELAND
1955 – the IRA begins a campaign of terrorism in Northern Ireland (NI) aimed at
British institutions there
1968 – a civil rights movement in NI aimed at the improvement of the situation
of the Irish Catholics in NI who were second-category citizens deprived of social
welfare, not given the same rights to public services such as housing. Movement
was built as Protestants and Catholics who participated in such events as
Protest Marches.
1972 – British troops sent to NI to keep order there
January 1972 – Bloody Sunday when peaceful march by the civil rights
movement in Londonderry was interrupted by British soldiers who started
shooting at the demonstrators and then some of them shot back at them. Death
of more than a dozen people. Put practical end to the movement. Convinced
many Irish nationalists that the only way to make NI part of the Republic of
Ireland was through armed struggle.
1971-72 – internment and direct rule
1970s-1990s:
o IRA terrorist campaign in UK and Ireland
o Protestant terrorism
THE PEACE PROCESS IN NI
1985 – the Anglo-Irish Agreement in which the 2 sides promised each other that
any settlement in NI would be taken only with the agreement of both
governments and the people of NI
1994-1996 – The IRA’s cease-fire which could lead to a faster resolution of the
conflict in NI is interrupted by:
February 1996 – the IRA bomb in the Docklands in London
The Republic of Ireland – an economic boom (the were called a tiger of Europe in
economic development)
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38. THE WAR AT HOME: THE IRISH QUESTION SINCE 1800
The Good Friday Agreement, 1998 – not only repeated the guarantees of the
Anglo-Irish agreement but also made provisions for a future joint government
of NI.
o Northern Ireland Assembly(local legislative body) and Northern Ireland
Executive will represent the interests of both sides will work as:
o Joint institutions
o Decommissioning of weapons
August 1998 – the Real IRA bomb attack in Omagh that in a way answered this
agreement with attacks
The Orange Order marches (July) celebrating the battle of the Boyne. The
marches would raise through the Catholic districts angering the Catholics
because in this way the Protestants would remind them of their domination.
2002 – NI Assembly suspended – DIRECT RULE