A Brief History of Ireland WIo3vHmWjI8

Where is Ireland??

What does Ireland look like?

The Catholic Church As Christianity developed, all Christians were united under the authority of the Pope. Over time some Christians began to disagree with decisions made by the leaders of the Catholic Church, so they decided to divide themselves from it. The current leader of the Catholic Church: Pope Francis

Catholic Vs. Protestant On October 31, 1517, a man named Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg with hammer strokes which echoed throughout all of Europe. Eventually other Christians began to agree with Martin Luther, so they decided to follow his new ideas. The Protestant church was born.

The Protestant Church The division between Catholics and Protestants is the largest and most important division in Christianity. The Protestant church became closely associated with England during the reign of King Henry VIII. He established the Church of England as a protestant church so that he could get a divorce.

It’s King Henry’s Fault! Not only did King Henry VIII establish his own church, in 1536 he also decided to bring Ireland under British rule. Consequently, Ireland remained under complete British rule until 1921.

Religious Conflict During that time a mostly protestant ruling country (England) was in charge of a mostly catholic population (Ireland). Conflict! English lords took control of much of Ireland’s land. Tensions ran high, leading to instability.

Rebellion Begins The power of the Protestant lords in Ireland grew steadily. In 1798 an Irish rebellion took place. The protestant lords had come to see themselves as Irish, and they wanted more control over their own government.

The English government suppressed the rebellion in a series of bloody battles and passed the Acts of Union, which gave England stricter control over Irish affairs. Many freedoms the Irish had enjoyed before were lost.

Continued Conflict From the time of England’s subjugation of Ireland until the 1980’s the struggle for Irish independence from the British simmered. Tensions have boiled over repeatedly throughout history: The Potato Famine The Easter Rising of 1916 The Irish Civil War ( ) Civil unrest created by the Irish Republican Army

The Potato Famine During the Potato Famine of , over one million Irish people died from the famine and another million emigrated to countries like the U.S. and Australia. The Irish population was cut in half; the population’s numbers have only recently recovered.

British Reaction to the Famine The British government continued to export crops for profit instead of directing it to the starving, Irish people. The government also blamed the Irish for the famine. The widespread British belief was that the Irish were lazy, so they forced the Irish to join work projects to construct road and railways.

The Easter Rising Irish nationalists, primarily in Dublin, rose up against the British in a violent, one day uprising that was suppressed quickly by the British forces. The leaders of the rising were then executed by the Brits, causing an uproar among the population that effectively brought people who were on the fence about the home-rule issue out of their indecision. Ireland was ablaze with anti- British rhetoric, and finally in 1917 they were granted home- rule.

Civil War The Home Rule decision of 1917 did not end the conflict. The Catholic and Protestant sides could not come to a compromise. An Irish Civil War raged from The war ended when Ireland was divided in two: Ulster – the protestant north, and Catholic Southern Ireland.

The IRA Since the division of Ireland at the end of the Civil War, the Irish Republican Army has continued the struggle to reunite Ireland. The IRA is still active, but their activities have lessened in recent years.

Literary Influence As you might expect, much of Ireland’s literature has been influenced by the conflicts between the Irish longing for home rule and the British government’s determination to maintain control of Ireland.