English domination of England began with the Anglo-Norman invasion and lasted for around 800 years until its end. Then, finally, Ireland gained its independence from England. How this came about…
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Intro
Don’t worry, we’re not going to talk about a period of 800 years here, but rather focus (‘only’) on the last 150 years of British rule in Ireland. In doing so, we’ll take a closer look at events on the Emerald Isle in the 19th and 20th centuries.
This period began with the lost rebellion of 1798 and ended with the proclamation of the Republic of Ireland in 1949, in between a lengthy and often violent process of Irish emancipation from British influence.
But let’s start the story at the beginning, in 1798…
The rebellion of 1798 and the Act of Union
Frustrated by the restrictive Penal Laws, which denied many privileges and rights to the Catholic Irish, appalled by the poverty of their fellow Irish compared to the ruling English or English-loyal nobility and emboldened by the French Revolution and the American War of Independence a few years earlier, the Irish called for rebellion against English rule.
The conflict had been going on for a long time and escalated massively in 1798, when large-scale rebellions took place over several months and in several places. They were all bloodily put down by the British. London reacted sharply to the rebellion:
The Act of Union, which came into force on 1 January 1801, dissolved the Irish Parliament and made Ireland an integral part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
The Union was intended to stabilise Ireland economically and curb political unrest by integrating it more closely into the British Empire.
However, the measure actually increased the discontent of the Catholic majority, as the British political system was dominated by Protestant interests. Although the Catholic Emancipation Act 1829 led to a degree of political equality, the social and economic disadvantage of the Catholic population remained.
The Great Famine (1845-1852)
In the middle of the 19th century, the mainly rural Irish population lived primarily on potatoes as a staple food. Grain did not thrive in many regions of Ireland and where it did grow, namely in the English-dominated areas of the East, it was grown by the Lords for export, which was particularly lucrative, and shipped out of the country.
Then the unthinkable happened: the potatoes spoilt in the field for several harvests in a row. A potato blight, presumably brought in with imported fertiliser from South America, struck the island.
The famine hit a country that was already suffering from social inequality and export-orientated agriculture. While millions of Irish starved, large quantities of food continued to be exported to England. Most of the English lords did little for their small tenants.
The disastrous handling of the famine, in which over a million people died and two million emigrated, was the final proof to the Irish of the indifference and cruelty of the British in Ireland. This led to an even deeper alienation from British rule and strengthened the nationalist movements that campaigned for an independent Irish government
The rise of Irish nationalism and the Home Rule movement
The political and social grievances led to the emergence of the Home Rule movement (Irish self-government), which called for an autonomous government for Ireland from the middle of the 19th century.
Leading figures such as Charles Stewart Parnell and the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) fought for this idea and were able to achieve considerable success in Westminster. However, opposition from Protestant Unionists, particularly in the industrialised province of Ulster, led to several Home Rule Bills failing or being delayed.
The conflicts between nationalists and unionists created a tense atmosphere that escalated throughout the first half of the 20th century. Unionist opposition to Home Rule became a key obstacle to a peaceful resolution of the Irish question.
The Easter Uprising of 1916
The Easter Rising of 1916 was a turning point in Irish history. A small group of republican activists occupied key buildings in Dublin during the First World War and proclaimed the independent Irish Republic.
Although the Rising was crushed after a few days, the harsh reprisals by the British government – including the execution of 16 leaders of the Rising – sparked a wave of sympathy for the republicans.
The events of the Easter Rising led to a radicalised nationalism that increasingly focused on complete separation from Britain. Sinn Féin, a nationalist party, became the leading force in the independence movement.
The Irish War of Independence (1919-1921)
After the First World War, Sinn Féin won a landslide victory in Ireland in the 1918 elections and proclaimed Dáil Éireann, an independent Irish parliament, in 1919. This marked the beginning of the Irish War of Independence, in which the Irish Republican Army (IRA) led by Michael Collins waged a guerrilla war against British troops.
The British responded as usual – massively. The war was characterised by attacks, reprisals and great suffering among the civilian population. After two years of violence, both sides agreed on the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1921, which created the Irish Free State as a dominion with extensive autonomy, but still formally bound to the British Crown.
The Irish Civil War (1922-1923)
The Anglo-Irish Treaty divided Irish society. The pro-treaty faction under Michael Collins saw the treaty as the first step towards independence, while the anti-treaty faction under Éamon de Valera saw it as a betrayal of the idea of a full republic.
The resulting civil war was brutal. The pro-Treaty forces, supported by the new government, eventually prevailed, but the conflicts left deep wounds in Irish society. The civil war claimed many victims and Michael Collins was killed during an ambush, making him a martyr to the Irish cause.
The path to full independence
In the years following the Civil War, the Irish Free State worked to further develop its independence. Éamon de Valera, who later became Prime Minister, played a key role in this.
In 1937, Ireland adopted a new constitution that de facto abolished the British monarchy and declared the country an Éire. This constitution was a symbol of Irish sovereignty and established the office of the Irish President as the new head of state.
During the Second World War, Ireland remained neutral, which was seen as an expression of independence from Britain. Although Ireland did not officially enter the war, it provided indirect support to the Allies, for example through overflight rights and the transmission of navigation and weather data, which were crucial for the invasion of Normandy.
The proclamation of the Republic of Ireland (1949)
Full Irish independence was achieved in 1949 with the Republic of Ireland Act, which declared Ireland a republic and sealed its withdrawal from the Commonwealth. This measure signalled the final end of British control over Ireland, although Northern Ireland remained part of the United Kingdom.
The Republic of Ireland endeavoured to establish itself internationally as a sovereign state. However, relations with Great Britain remained strained due to the unresolved partition and discrimination against the Catholic minority in Northern Ireland. Nevertheless, the proclamation of the Republic was celebrated by the majority of the Irish population as the final conclusion of a long and often painful emancipation process.
This time, for the first time in 800 years, the British did not react. Worn down by the long years of the Second World War, they were no longer willing to fight another war against the unruly Irish and allowed Ireland to move towards independence.
Conclusion
The division of the island and the resulting conflicts in Northern Ireland were to burden relations between Ireland and Great Britain well into the 20th century and remained an open wound in the history of the island.
The Northern Ireland conflict of the 1960s and 1970s, known in Ireland as ‘The Troubles’, bore witness to this. However, the independence of the Republic of Ireland was a huge milestone in the restoration of Irish self-determination and national identity.
To this day, the peace between the two population groups in Northern Ireland, the English and Scottish Protestant Unionists and the Catholic Irish Republicans, is a delicate one. The arduous Brexit negotiations, whose final major hurdle was the resolution of the border and customs issue on the Northern Irish border, also bore witness to this.
Despite all the sensitivities, English is still one of the two official languages in the Republic of Ireland, alongside Gaelic Irish. Irish and English customs and traditions of daily life are very similar and even though the Republic of Ireland is a member of the EU, it maintains constructive economic and political relations with Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
The neighbour just needs to keep a little distance and then the relationship is not so bad. In big politics, it’s sometimes just like in everyday life… 🙂
More interesting articles for you
Ireland’s history from the Stone Age to the Modern Age – an overview
The Norman Invasion of Ireland
Londonderry / Derry – things to see and do
The City of Belfast – things to see and do
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