A brief history of Ireland (Part I)

After leaving Dublin, we meandered north by way of four fascinating stops - Drogheda, birthplace of Pierce Brosnan and home to the head of St Oliver Plunkett; the ancient temple Newgrange (which pre-dates the Great Pyramid and Stonehenge); Slane Castle, one of the best concert venues in the world; and the Hill of Slane, where it is rumoured that Saint Patrick lit the Easter fire in 433 A.D. Not a bad morning by any stretch of the imagination. As with the previous three days in Dublin, we were blessed with truly exceptional weather.

Not so long ago - in the time of The Troubles - the Republic and Northern Ireland were separated by guarded borders, and my tour leader told us of how the military and police used technology to listen in on the conversations of those approaching the borders in their cars. He said that whenever they would travel from Dublin to Belfast to visit friends in university there, they would stop talking completely as they approached the border. It wasn't that they were planning anything sinister, it was just to make their own lives easier when it came time to be questioned by the border guards. So, how did things get to that point, and what happened afterwards which allowed for the official border stops to be removed? I'm glad you asked! Irish history is something which has interested me for a long time - much more so than the history of any other country, to be honest. Here is Part I of my attempt at a crash course in Irish history:

Saint Patrick - the Patron Saint of Ireland - brought Christianity to the Emerald Isle in the 5th century.

Hundreds of years later, whilst under English rule, Catholics in Ireland find themselves singled out and punished for their faith. By subjecting Irish Catholics to different laws than their Protestant countrymen, England attempts to leave the Catholics no choice but to convert. (This practice was also in effect in Scotland.)

In the 17th century, the "Laws in Ireland for the Suppression of Popery" - usually referred to as the Penal Laws - came into effect. For a list of these statues (compiled by the University of Minnesota Law School) please click here.

So, over a period of several hundred years, the English establish a system in Ireland which elevates the Protestant minority above the Catholic majority, the latter of which has been robbed of their rights to religion, education, political assembly/influence, language, land, identity and culture. This will be important to remember later on. 

Fast forward to 1845. Even if you claim to know nothing about Ireland, you probably know something of The Great Hunger, also referred to as The Great Famine, or the potato famine, in which the potato crops in Ireland were infected by a fungal disease and subsequently failed. Between 1845 and 1852, it is estimated that Ireland lost 20-25% of its population - roughly 1 million people are said to have died of starvation/disease while approximately the same number of people emigrated to Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, etc.

Many people wrongly assume that the Irish only cultivated potatoes, and that is why the famine was so destructive. For many of the poor, potatoes were the only crop they could grow on the lands they were relegated to as their rights and property were stripped away by the English; without any other means of supporting themselves or their families, they were at the mercy of their crops. That's not to say that there were no other crops in Ireland, however. So, where did all of the other food go?

To England.

Below are the lyrics to the song "Famine" by Sinead O'Connor, which provides greater insight into this period of Irish history, and its long-lasting consequences:

OK, I want to talk about Ireland
Specifically, I want to talk about the "famine"
About the fact that there never really was one
There was no "famine"
See Irish people were only allowed to eat potatoes
All of the other food
Meat, fish, vegetables
Were shipped out of the country under armed guard
To England, while the Irish people starved
And then in the middle of all this
They gave us money not to teach our children Irish
And so we lost our history
And this is what I think is still hurting me
See we're like a child that's been battered
Has to drive itself out of its head because it's frightened
Still feels all the painful feelings
But they lose contact with the memory
And this leads to massive self-destruction
alcoholism, drug addiction
All desperate attempts at running
And in its worst form
Becomes actual killing
And if there ever is gonna be healing
There has to be remembering
And then grieving
So that there then can be forgiving
There has to be knowledge and understanding
All the lonely people
where do they all come from
An American army regulation
Says you mustn't kill more than 10% of a nation
'Cos to do so causes permanent "psychological damage"
It's not permanent, but they didn't know that
Anyway, during the supposed "famine"
We lost a lot more than 10% of our nation
Through deaths on land or on ships of emigration
But what finally broke us was not starvation
but its use in the controlling of our education
Schools go on about "Black 47"
On and on about "The terrible famine"
But what they don't say is in truth
There really never was one
(Excuse me)
All the lonely people
(I'm sorry, excuse me)
Where do they all come from
(that I can tell you in one word)
All the lonely people
where do they all belong
So let's take a look, shall we
The highest statistics of child abuse in the EEC
And we say we're a Christian country
But we've lost contact with our history
See we used to worship God as a mother
We're sufferin from post traumatic stress disorder
Look at all our old men in the pubs
Look at all our young people on drugs
We used to worship God as a mother
Now look at what we're doing to each other
We've even made killers of ourselves
The most child-like, trusting people in the Universe
And this is what's wrong with us
Our history books, the parent figures lied to us
I see the Irish
As a race like a child
That got itself bashed in the face
And if there ever is gonna be healing
There has to be remembering
And then grieving
So that there then can be forgiving
There has to be knowledge and understanding
All the lonely people
Where do they all come from
All the lonely people
Where do they all come from

Understandably, the incredible suffering of the Irish during this period further escalated the intense desire of the poor majority to drive the English from Ireland's shores. Sadly - as I'll discuss in my next few posts - this was not to be an easy feat.