The irish identity

Essay[pic 1]

        To many, the Irish identity only consists in its folklore, meaning leprechauns and cauldrons of gold at the end of a rainbow. Some have heard about St Patrick's day and it pretty much sums up what is known about Ireland. To right the wrongs and do justice to the cultural wealth of the Irish people, we need to go back to the 16th century when Ireland and England's history begins. Back then Ireland was a united nation, descendent of the Celtic culture and at peace with its neighbors. So what happened within five centuries to divide this nation ? Indeed nowadays there are two Irelands : one is independent and known as the Republic of Ireland, the other is part of the United Kingdom and known as Northern Ireland, yet they still share a culture. So how did History shape the Irish identity ? The (forced) coexistence with England combine with a strong catholic faith led to the Irish diaspora and the affirmation of the Irish identity.

        The English domination over Ireland began in 1541 when the Irish Parliament recognized the English king Henry VIII as the king of Ireland. From 1541 to 1921, Ireland was under an English yoke and this time has been punctuated by many rebellions in order to regain independence. However the partition of 1921 which led to the independence of what is now known as the Republic of Ireland only marked the beginning of the « troubles ».

The English domination began in 1541 and the 100th anniversary marked the first rebellion in a serie of many. During the 18th century, under the reign of George III, the king of all rebellions, the Irish population rose against the English yoke and it resulted in worsening their situation. In 1798, Westminster passed the “Penal Laws” which prevented Catholics from occupying public offices and crushed their rights. The Act of Union of 1801 was to right the wrongs but Englishmen being very pragmatic, they realised that it was in favor of the English landowners to keep the Irish population under their steering. However, Daniel O'Connell, one of Ireland's greatest figures, would not hear of it and thus fought for Ireland's independence during the first half of the 19th century. He became known as the Liberator as he managed to get elected in Westminster in 1828. Thanks to his fierce pugnacity, he succeeded in passing emancipation for Catholics. On the other hand, he failed on uniting his country and breaking away from Westminster. He might have not succeeded in his three missions but he embodied the Irish fight against the British, reason why the main lane of Dublin is today called O'Connell Avenue. The Penal Laws also targeted the Gaelic culture, preventing Irishmen to practice it, as in Scotland.

The ban on the Gaelic culture actually had a significant impact : the north of Ireland, Ulster, got quite acquainted with the English culture when the rest of Ireland, Eire, was still fighting in order to obtain its independence. This fight was still topical in the 20th century : one of the most famous riot is the Easter Rising in 1916, right in the middle of World War One. The Irish rebels intended to catch the English army off guard as the soldiers were at the front in France. Nevertheless, the rebellion was crushed and peace had never seemed so unatteinable. Internationaly condemned on its war in Ireland, the British government sought to inforce Home Rule, which had been shelved until the « Ulster Question » could be solved. In 1921, Ireland was finally granted independence, yet Ulster would have nothing to do with it and rejected it with a referendum. This rejection marked the partition of Ireland : Ulster became known as Northern Ireland and was still part of the UK when Eire became the Republic of Ireland and independent. However, both parties would not have it and a civil war broke out. It officially ended in 1922 but the times called the Troubles are in fact the prolongation of the civil war. At the end of the 20th century, it is quite hard to decide on the Irish identity as there are two Irelands. For centuries, Irish people defined their identity in a fight against the English and I believe that this fight shaped the national identity.

        Since the 16th century, Ireland has been a catholic country in which religion is of crucial matter. Its neighbor and tyran, in other word England, has been a protestant country since Henry VIII established the Church of England. During the times of religious war which opposed Catholics and Protestants, Irish people greatly suffered, as they were persecuted because of their faith. Later on, religion was still used as a cover up by terrorist groups during the « troubles ».

Because of the Penal Laws voted in 1798, Irish peasants hardly had any rights. They had no land nor rights. All of the lands had been bought by rich Englishmen who, most of the time, enslaved the Irish population. They lived in poor conditions and worked for a paltry salary. This discrimination against Catholics was essentially Protestants striking back after decades of oppression in European Catholic countries such as in France. Still, this situation was far better than what they would experienced later, a time known today as the Great Famine. As in most of Europe at this time, the potato was the staple food for peasants. Thus when the Potato Blight struck, they had nothing left to eat. As peasants were exploited by their landowners, the little they earned could not enable them to buy some food and many died of starvation. The British government hardly did a thing to help the Irish population and was quite vicious in its actions. As the hatred between Catholics and Protestants was still a burning one, British soldiers offered food only if Irish Catholics publically disowned their faith. They were also made fun of in British newspapers such as in the Times, which published many racist editorials in the time of the Great Famine. MPs extoled a « laissez-faire » policy, they had little care for the Irish condition which worsen the whole situation. As it often happened in History, religion was used as a cover-up for political actions.

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