®

Teach
Yourself

Understand Irish
History
F.j.M. Madden
 Only got five minutes?
The history of Ireland is, perhaps, most easily read in terms of its
relationship with conquering forces and its neighbouring island
(neither mutually exclusive!). Each of these civilizations brought
positive innovations to the Ireland of their time, whether it was the
imposition of a political and legal structure (the Celts), the creation of
urban centres (the Vikings) or the establishment of the Irish parliament
(the Normans). However, while the Celts and Vikings seemed to be
completely assimilated, becoming more Irish than the Irish themselves,
there remained a greater resistance to Norman control; by the early
fifteenth century it had shrunk to an almost negligible area.

From the Tudor period onwards ( I485ff) the English monarchy

attempted to create both political and religious hegemony over
the neighbouring island. Increasing suspicion of the potential
independence of the Irish parliament resulted in the passage of
Poynings' Law in I494· Henry VIII's desire for control was expressed
through the innovative policy of surrender and regrant while the
Tudor, Stuart and Commonwealth response to various failed
rebellions during the next century was the introduction of plantations
in, among other places, Laois, Offaly, Munster and Ulster.

The context of Irish politics changed in the aftermath of the Glorious

Revolution of I689. The political and economic emasculation of
the majority Catholic population was guaranteed by the Penal
Laws; however, continued English concern at Ireland being utilized
as a soft underbelly by an invading continental power resulted in
the imposition of increased control in the form of the I 8o I Act of
Union. As a sop the majority population was awarded emancipation
in I829, scant reward for their newfound political impotence.
Thereafter the focus of Irish history - albeit punctuated briefly
by the horrors of the Great Famine (I 84 5ff) - changed to embrace
the nationalists' campaign for Home Rule and the unionists'
determination to prevent it. The unionists were determined to
deny control from a majority that they viewed as inferior. This
confrontation nearly came in the years before the Great War with
the establishment of nationalist and unionist private armies.

The I 9 I 6 Easter Rising changed everything. The London

government's heavy-handed and politically amateurish response
provided the context for Ireland's partition in I92 I. Thereafter the
history of both parts of the island moved in different directions,
albeit intersecting on occasion. Within the Irish Free State the
'freedom to achieve freedom' identified by Michael Collins within
the terms of the I92I Treaty was expanded to allow the eventual
declaration of a Republic in I949· Thereafter the Republic of
Ireland has struggled to create a period of prolonged economic
stability within a proportional system of representation that
has not always created political stability. Even during a time of
economic growth- as provided by the ultimately unsustainable
'Celtic Tiger' -the Irish experience was sullied by the scandals
emanating from the body politic and the Catholic Church.

While the establishment of the Northern Ireland state should have

provided the rna jority unionist population with the political security
they craved, the history of that state has been undermined by never-
ending fears of nationalist disloyalty. The response has been arguably
unwarranted political and economic repression, and nationalist
demands for parity of esteem, expressed by a combination of
popular pressure and, more destructively, political violence.

In recent history there has been the seemingly unending search for
a sustainable political solution to Northern Ireland's 'Troubles'.
From the prorogation of the Stormont Parliament in I972,
successive London Governments, with support from their Dublin
counterparts, have struggled to discover a resolution acceptable
to all sides. The current political dispensation emanating from the
I998 Good Friday Agreement would appear to provide the best
foundation thus far; however many challenges remain in a system
where the main coalition partners -Sinn Fein and the DUP -are
not the most natural of political bedfellows.
I
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