A brief history of Ireland (Part III)

Ever start something and then somewhere down the line think, "Dude - this is taking wayyyyy more time and effort than I feel like putting in right now," but it's too late because you've already started? That's how I'm feeling about these historical posts.

OK, let's see if we can wrap this is up rather quickly so we can get back to the good stuff.

Following the Easter Rising, thousands of people were arrested for their involvement. In some cases they were deported to England and imprisoned there, but 15 individuals thought to be responsible for organising the Rising were executed in the first two weeks of May. Eamon de Valera was one of the insurgents scheduled to be executed, but avoided the firing squad because he was actually born in America (and England didn't want to get into any trouble for executing an American citizen).

After the Rising, deportations and executions, average Irish citizens were more open to the idea of using force to defeat the English on home soil. This led to the nomination of Sinn Fein (which would become the political wing of the Irish Republican Army). In 1919, the IRA declared war on the English; the conflict lasted two years before a ceasefire was called in 1921.  In December of that year the Anglo-Irish Treaty was established, which created the Irish Free State (now known at the Republic of Ireland). While the majority of Ireland was now free of English control, six counties in the north remained under control of the crown. (You may have noticed that in these recent posts I have used "England" and "English" rather than Britain/British - this is because Scotland is considered a part of Britain, and as they had their own hardships with the English, I think it's important to differentiate between the English and the rest of the lands under their control.) Michael Collins was one of the driving force behind the independence movement, whilst Eamon de Valera was another. Collins was killed in 1922 - some blame de Valera for this and feel it was a conspiracy - and de Valera became the head of the Irish government (and later, the president...which is pretty much the sweetest catering manager job in the world, no joke).

Again, this is an incredibly over-simplified version of events, but you get the point.

So, now we have the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland. From here, Ireland's history is far from peaceful. You've probably heard about the so-called Troubles between Irish Catholics and Protestants, but the conflict is much deeper than that. The issue is really about Republicans v. Loyalists. The Catholic majority resides largely in the Republic; given how unfairly they were treated under the English, they are strongly associated with the struggle for independence. The Church of England is Protestant; ergo, Protestants are associated with supporting the English monarchy (which, to some people, also means that they are oppressors). Though there are Protestants throughout the country, they form a majority north. Sadly, after the separation of the Republic, Catholics in the north continued to be subject to rules and laws set up to favour their Protestant neighbours. For more information about the Troubles, please here.  

There's your background! As I talk about the places I visited on this portion of the tour I'll get more into recent events.