Ireland

One example of this is a policy called plantation. This policy was to cause serious long-term consequences. Plantation involved giving loyal Protestant supporters land that had been forcibly taken from the Catholics. This practice was made easier in 1609 when the earl of Tyrone’s rebellion was defeated and 90 leading Ulster land owners fled their land enabling King James I to ‘plant’ his followers in their land. This caused great resentment among the Catholic population of Ulster.

After 1500 the English took control for the first time by way of force due to the Irish being loyal to Catholicism and the English were strong protestants. The soldiers drove farmers off their land. The protestants were strongest in Northern Ireland, Ulster. The Irish made a rebellion but this was crushed at the battle of Boyne, many laws were passed to keep the Catholics quiet. Even up to 1914 the Irish were unwilling to accept English domination.

These rebellions had little support for the ordinary Irish people and it had a bad effect on the Irish parliament whom had to sit later in the Bri... ... middle of paper ... ...of the biggest factors which separate the two communities. Religion is one of several reasons why the two groups see themselves as being different from each other and are suspicious of each other. King Henry broke with Rome in 1530s when the Pope had refused to grant him a divorce from his first wife, hence he declared him self to be ‘Supreme Head’ on Earth of the whole Church of Ireland. He also took charge of the Church in England and Ireland. Since then, more Protestant ideas were introduced and the Catholic service of the Mass was banned in Ireland.

The settlers did not mix with the native Catholic population. Irish Catholic rebelled against the Protestant settlers. Oliver Cromwell arrived in Ireland to re-establish English rule. By 1651 the population had been halved as a result of conflict, hunger and disease. Cromwell introduced many anti-Irish laws.

Ireland had forgotten about its aspirations for Home Rule and was now looking for a more drastic form of Independence. The war had its origins in the formation of unilaterally created independent Irish parliament, called Dáil Éireann, formed by the majority of MPs elected in Irish constituencies in the Irish (UK) general election, 1918. This parliament, known as the First Dáil, and its ministry, called the Aireacht declared Irish independence. The Dáil knew that ‘England’s difficulty (was) Ireland’s opportunity’ and ceized the day. After the failed rebelion of 1916 public sympathies slowly but surely swung to the millitant IRA (and Sinn Fein).

The stripping of political and human rights by the Protestants and the economic burden, left on the Catholics fuelled the anger of the Native Irish. It can be argued that the Northern Ireland War was the result of Catholic hostility towards their Protestant arrivals. Throughout the history of Ireland, the Irish have been forced to defend their territory, but at times they did it in ways that was most violent. Hostility of the Catholics occurred in the massacre of the Protestant settlers during the early 1600s, which resulted in many Protestant deaths. During the war, the IRA (Irish Republican Army) also did not help their case when they began acts of terrorism on the Protestant population.

After Partition, Catholics found that they were in the minority in the Protestant controlled North. From 1922 Catholics were on the receiving end of discrimination against them, increasing numbers of civil rights marches. By 1960s tension is on both sides, violence escalated, leading to the British Troops being sent in. The reason in why the British got involved is due to a long-term history as well as short term. Ireland has always been a catholic country, but Henry 8th, Elizabeth 1 and James 1, sent Protestant settlers to Ireland, Plantation.

Shortly after the formation of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland hostilities pushed these two countries to the brink of civil war. This was prevented by the start of World War I. English persecution of the Irish people is one cause of the tensions in Northern Ireland. Before 1793 Irish Catholics were persecuted by British law. Catholics were not allowed to buy and sell land, get proper education, marry Protestants or vote. This fueled problems in Ireland.

Generally the people in Ulster remained strong to the English crown, these are called Unionists and wanted to stay part of the United Kingdom. The original Irish, almost all Catholics were called Nationalists and wanted to become independent with their own government. From the point when James II the Catholic king was defeated by William of Orange who was a Protestant in ... ... middle of paper ... ... did. The Catholics welcomed the forces into Northern Ireland as they knew they now had a force which would not only protect the Protestants. British Troops had not been asked for earlier, as the former Prime Minister O'Neill had expected the situation to resolve itself, Chichester-Clark saw the worst of the protests and found very little option but to call the British troops in to N. Ireland, at first the British troops were reluctant because they feared violence would reach Britain, but in the end they had little choice but to act.

Catholics could feel like they were alienated from the start - and the fact that King Henry just declared himself king of Ireland could strengthen some Nationalist argu... ... middle of paper ... ...appened, I think that if there wasn't a little bit of hatred between them in the first place these stories would not have come about. I think the more important causes of the troubles in Northern Ireland were early, like when Henry VIII created Protestantism. When he tried to force this on the Irish. When King James I took land away from Irish Catholics and gave it away to British Protestants. Factors such as these triggered a separation that has lasted centuries.