"England has inflicted more grievous calamities upon Ireland than any country on the face of the earth besides has done upon any other. In the history of mankind there is nothing to be compared with the atrocity of the crimes which England has perpetrated on the Irish people."
In his Address to the inhabitants of the countries subject to the British Crown in 1848 Daniel O’Connell, one of the most famous nationalist leaders in Irish history, explicated the sufferings of the Irish people in order to charge Britain and its imperialism as the major cause of this suffering. O’Connell’s accusatory discourse noted above is representative of the feelings of many Irish toward the British throughout time. Britain’s history of imperial suppression can be traced from the time of Oliver Cromwell, continuing throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, culminating with the Potato Famine in 1845-47, and still persisting today. In other words, "For Catholics and nationalists, there are 700 years of oppression at the hands of the English, and for some, the unfinished business of the British presence in Ireland." The Irish nationalist bond, therefore, has intensified throughout history due to the shared resentment amongst the Irish directed at British colonialism.
The Republic of Ireland is a country that is historically equated with the word nationalism, as a result of its tradition of ethnic conflict and political strife. Evidence of this claim can be noted in the country’s history of colonial uprising and ethnic conflict in the twentieth century, evident by such events as the 1970’s Hunger Strikes or the multi-bombing incidents. However, before studying any modern day political events involving nationalism, Irish history must first be analyzed in order to determine the origins and cause of the nationalist ideology in Ireland This paper aims to show the importance of a nationalist movement as a multi-layered one, entrenched in history through collective Irish bitterness due to British colonialism, that has developed and changed in the Republic of Ireland.
According to Anthony Smith, "Many human beings have sensed the enduring power and hold of traditional ethnic ties, and have often regarded their own ethnie as immemorial. Names, homelands, and memories may linger on for centuries despite the conquest, colonization, or migration of the population they originally designated or delimited." This view is sympathetic to the primordialist school of thought, which perpetuates the idea that the resilient
Gaelic history and culture remained such a significant part of the Irish political conscious that it served as a motivational factor and subsequently, a rallying force, for Irish nationalism. In other words, Irish nationalism can be seen in a sense, as a reaction to the colonial attempt at cultural oppression. "In Ireland, nationalism developed from an initially religious based identity to a full-fledged cultural and ethnic based nationalism as a reaction to British colonialism. George Boyce states, "The Gaels possessed a strong sense of cultural identity, which, under the impact of colonization, was transformed into a sense of national identity, and by the end of the Tutor period into an embryonic ethnic nationalism." In order to analyze this nationalistic trend, which possesses political, cultural, and social ramifications, the complex history of Ireland needs to be examined in order to understand how such a strong, multi-layered nationalistic sentiment evolved. Ireland’s present is a culmination of its past, and in this sense its past can be seen as a determinant of its political future. Ethnicity and culture, including traditional aspects like language, literature, the concept of a homeland, and of course religion, were essentially the foundation for the development of nationalism in a post-French Revolutionary, colonial Ireland.
Traditionally, Ireland has been a victim of imperial suppression by the powers of British colonization for centuries. It is a country with a past embedded in political violence and ethnic conflict, much of which can be accredited to the colonization process that Britain unleashed onto a small Celtic country rich in its own culture and religion. Conflict with England can be traced all the way back to the fifteenth and sixteenth century, although nationalism in the modern context was not present yet, the foundations for it were in place. Furthermore, sporadic uprising occurred throughout the countryside. In 1649 Oliver Cromwell, an infamous harsh British military leader, landed on the coast of Ireland and proceeded to ravage the ‘emerald isle’ by land confiscation and redistribution. Furthermore, he managed to secure the fall of the Gaelic elite. The terror of Cromwell represented one of the first definitive signs of Irish cultural, political, and economic suppression.
In 1690, the Battle of the Boyne occurred, and proved to be one of the most notable pre-modernist historical events which secured the foundations for the development of nationalism in Ireland after the French Revolution of 1789. Essentially the war was evoked by the Protestant heir, William of Orange, who was competing with the Catholic heir, James Stuart, for the throne of England. James landed on the coast of Ireland in 1690 and a battle between the two ensued, Catholic versus Protestant. William emerged victorious. This Battle at the Boyne aligned each side of the conflict along religious lines. That is, either side was completely contingent upon religion, and the victory was not known as a Williamite achievement or as a triumph for the crown. Rather, this victory was seen ultimately as a Protestant one or as the first definitive victory for a people whose identity relies on their Protestant faith.
The Battle of the Boyne was responsible for strong primary identification with religion in pre-modern Ireland. Penal laws, which were primarily a response to the outcome of the war, took this dimension of religious affiliation and expanded on it to create a personal and collective identification based solely upon which church one belonged to. For example, one account of the penal laws states that:
In 1697 Parliament passed an act banishing all Roman Catholic bishops determination to be rid of the menace of popery forever. Matrimonial laws were enacted to ensure that if a man or woman should persist intermarrying with a Catholic, he or she would pay the forfeit of their property rights of inheritance.
It is said that fear can create paranoia, and the passing of the penal laws initially in 1695 and with further additions in 1697, proves that this theory possesses some validity. The Anglo-Irish Protestants were so fearful of the Catholic threat displayed at the Boyne, or of what ended up being the foundations of Irish nationalism present in the mid-seventeenth century, that paranoia flourished. The continuing threat of Irish Catholic ascendancy to a Protestant throne, or establishment of what can now be seen ultimately as the rudimentary beginnings of a nationalist mobilization, was real enough for the government to be pushed into action. Therefore, this paranoia was so powerful that it created the penal laws, which were suppressive laws passed intended not so much to distinguish the Catholic religion, but to politically control the Catholic majority. In other words, the penal laws stratified society according to religion. Other states have also used repressive laws as a vehicle of control, but the difference with Ireland is that unlike most of these other counties, where the suppressed are a minority, in Ireland the suppressed were the majority. Therefore, the British state intentionally used these laws as a means of political control over a majority of Irish Catholics who were mobilizing national sentiments and laying groundwork for an Irish national identity.
The penal laws, autocratic laws primarily resulting from the outcome of the Battle of the Boyne, created two distinct stereotypes for socio-economic, political, and cultural categorization, which were purely dictated by religion. This was the first real time in Ireland when the meaning of being Catholic or Protestant expanded to the realm of identity and consequently meant more than just being a member of a certain church. Moreover, these labels "Catholic" and "Protestant" possessed political, socio-economic and intellectual resonance as opposed to just qualifying one’s religion. Catholicism essentially defined ‘Irishness’ at this point in time. Therefore social stigmas defined by religion provided a whole characteristic lifestyle. These allowed for discrimination based solely upon the religion of a person. The Catholics augmented the label of Protestant and Catholic into one encompassing an socio-economic, political, and intellectual preconceived notion about each religion, regardless of whether or not it was true.
How can an imposing state, which is supposedly, truly representative of its colony attempt to suppress a major feature of the majority of its people? There is an inherent contradiction present among England’s "democratic pretentious" policy of complete unbiased representation for Ireland, and its decision to pass the penal laws. Therefore, Anglicans were also aware of and threatened by the emerging foundations, which would eventually contribute to a national identity, initially contingent upon religion. Furthermore, the British rationale was that by limiting the rights of the Catholic majority they would prohibit the Irish from mobilization and creating further threat to the Anglican aristocracy. The original intentions behind the implementation of the penal laws backfired, and actually brought the Irish Catholics closer together as they all experienced the same discrimination, rather than disestablishing any ties. The penal laws reinforced the religious basis of identity while also encouraging a national solidarity through shared experience of opposition and hardship. Therefore, due to the religiously based, prejudicial effect of the penal laws and the collective Catholic identity resonant in the majority, significant groundwork was laid for the development and growth of a nationalist force in Ireland. This force would initially develop as a religiously based phenomenon, but because the French Revolution had not occurred, a true nationalistic sentiment could not prosper in Ireland yet.
Many scholars consider the late eighteenth century to be the beginning of the modern era with many traditional monarchies being replaced by newly created nation-states. The traditional controlling pre-modern bourgeoisie, or aristocracy, was being overcome by the newly empowered masses, which were becoming highly politicized by the spread of the notion of democracy and the collective realization of a national sentiment. In other words, the French set a precedent in which the Irish felt obliged to follow as a group of people who had also been suppressed. As Hutchinson and Smith state:
Meanwhile in Western Europe power-that of the absolute kings-had developed a new political form, the modern centralized sovereign state; and this became the political form into which, during the French Revolution, the idea of nationalism was infused, filling it with a consciousness in which all citizens could share, and making possible the political and cultural integration of the masses into the nation.
The Irish rationale was clear: if the French Catholics and American colonists were both able to develop a national sentiment which was politically mobilizing, why couldn’t the Irish succeed also?
The late eighteenth century brought about the repeal of the penal laws and also the emergence of one of the first "nationalist" leaders, Wolf Tone, who believed that the only way to achieve political freedom would be to instill a desire for mass democratization in the people which would be drawn by religious lines. Tone believed that the French revolution "...released this sectarian gridlock on Irish politics, hitherto immobilized by the intransigent Protestant conviction that Catholics were inherently incapaces libertatis." Tone was responsible for taking the religiously based foundations for nationalism which had grown in Ireland and emphasizing the collective bond present among Irish Catholics in order to nurture the growing desire for colonial independence from the British motherland. Tone led several rebellions, the most significant being the rebellion of 1798, where over 30,000 people were killed in three months. The gory nature of these uprisings forced the Act of Union with Britain in 1801. The Act of Union was the declaration that officially incorporated Ireland into Great Britain and evoked a colonial identity of subordination to the British throne onto Ireland. The Union consolidated memories of the British imperial past and its potential effect on Ireland’s future. In the words of Boyce, "The early nineteenth century saw the emergence of the Irish Roman Catholics as a political entity, and the development of their political consciousness inspired by their real and keenly felt social and economic grievances."
Religious-rooted nationalism was growing and although Tone had paved the way for politicization, a new nationalist leader, Daniel O’Connell, was to emerge in the early nineteenth century. O’Connell would enhance and eventually solidify the nationalist movement. His years in power ultimately substantiated the identification of an Irish nation with that of a Catholic nation. O’Connell unsuccessfully lead a campaign for the repeal of the Act of Union and it proved to bring little prosperity and agitate more bitterness amongst the Irish people, for as the resentment of a colonized people perpetuates so does the nationalist bond, which brings them together. The most salient at this point was still Catholicism.
As bitterness towards the British government grew, so did a nationalist sentiment promoting political independence. Furthermore, no other event would come to serve as such a significant and historically continuous catalyst for bitterness than the Irish Potato Famine of 1845. The failure of the potato crop in 1845 was unquestionably the most profound historically resonant event in Irish history. Contrary to common belief, the failure of the potato in 1845 was not the first, nor would it be the last famine, but it was undoubtedly the most penetrating tragedy in an already misfortunate history. The Great Famine permeated every aspect of Irish history from the mid-nineteenth century onwards. It continued to shape the political, social, and economic, as well as emotional climate of not only that time in particular, but the rest of history. Furthermore, its effects can still be noticed in modern day Ireland.
By the mid nineteenth century, Irish society had become almost completely dependent upon the potato. The cottier class, comparable to the serfs of the medieval English feudal system, worked on the farms of British landlords paying their rent through labor and in turn getting paid with potatoes. Therefore, not only did the structure of society develop into one whose economic wealth was dependent upon the success of the potato crop, but every aspect of the lives of the people who were responsible for the success, which were the majority, were also dependent upon the potato. For example, after the Famine the cottier class declined by 40%. In other words, Irish society was stuck in an endless cycle with every aspect of its sustenance dependent upon one vegetable, the potato. Once the complete destruction of the crop ensued between 1846-1847, the fate of the Irish was sealed. Between 1845 and 1855 nearly a quarter of the population disappeared in one sense either through death or immigration. Furthermore, one million casualties resulted from the famine and almost another million emigrated to Australia, Britain, and mostly America. As Boyce notes, "The famine of 1846-1847 was important for the political as well as social history of Ireland, in that it reversed a trend of a disproportionate rise in the size of the of the agricultural laboring class, and set in motion a trend towards its swift and unchecked fall." The famine was responsible for almost the complete annihilation of the cottier class as a whole.
The Famine ended. But it never went away...It was there in silent memories, a shadow, unnamed but unforgetton, intact from one generation to the next, a sadness, a longing, an intimation of shame, a passion for respectability, a hunger for security, for the assurances of church and state that such a fate would never come again.
The Great Potato Famine also had profound political effects on the nationalist movement. For example, " The social and economic catastrophe was to have profound consequences for Irish nationalism in the later half of the nineteenth century." The country was in a complete state of illness, poverty, and general disarray, while Britain provided the absolute minimal amount of aid required without looking completely inhumane. Britain followed a sort of laissez-faire post-famine policy, which championed the idea of allowing the Irish to solve the problem themselves, without much or any interference from the British. The ultimate justification used by the British for this show of inhumane negligence after the famine is that they were fulfilling their imperial duties and forcing an archaic and barbarous people to modernize. Specifically, these "imperial duties" revolved around the claim of divine intervention. The idea of divine intervention, which has historically frequented the rational of British foreign policy, promotes the idea that God had actually interceded, and had purposely allowed such a catastrophe to occur, and in this case it was in order to civilized the Irish. Furthermore, it was not the British government’s place to interfere with an intentional divine "plan", which revolved around forcing the Irish to civilize the painful way. Essentially British post-famine relief was almost nonexistent, which angered the Irish even more. In fact, many modern historians consider the lack of post famine British aid a form of ethnocide.
A growth or shift in the Irish understanding of nationalism occurred at this time due to the ethnicity-based prejudice of imperial post-famine policy and the effects of this policy on the socio-economic climate of Ireland. For example, "Of the main victims of the of the potato blight, the cottier and small holder had by the 1880s largely disappeared, while landless laborer remained as part of a shrinking and subordinate minority." In other words, what had grown into a nationalistic majority throughout the nineteenth century, the cottier class, was now virtually eliminated. Therefore, the politically motivating force of nationalism inherited an entire different class or social structure. This new class of people, who almost became more salient by default after the elimination of so much of the population, was a more socio-economic, intellectual, and political elite. "This meant that an audience for popular politics had thus become more prosperous, more sophisticated, and more independent."
After a new and more comprehensive social structure emerged, the true famine situation could be analyzed. Due to the more sophisticated nature of the new social structure, the mass populous realized the economic and political negligence of the almost non-existent post-famine aid policy. Hence, the already existing anger about the famine was magnified by the realization of the ‘non-policy’ of the British government, which mobilized the public, fusing beliefs, and initializing a new layer of nationalism. That is, the Irish were starting to realize not only that imperial discrimination was based upon religion, but it was also based on ethnicity as a whole, and the fact that the British believed their ethnic group to be superior. Thus, a new kind of multi-faceted, or multi-layered nationalism was beginning to emerge that would eventually plant the seed for the extreme nationalist movement present in today’s society.
As tragic as the potato blight proved to be, it can be said that this historically impressionable event started the transition of Ireland’s national consciousness to a higher level of awareness, politicization, and strength. The Irish were starting to equate "Irishness" not only with religion, but also with a sense of ethnicity. Ethnicity in this case is inclusive of the traditional primordial factors of the definition, such as culture, language, the sense of a homeland, and religion, which has been the omni-present factor.
One product of the development of Irish national identity at this time is the emergence of the most notable and historically profound political leader in Irish history, Charles Stuart Parnell. Ironically, Parnell became the Protestant leader of the Catholic peasantry, resulting in the denotation of religion and the emergence of an ethnic nationalism. According to Boyce, "The nationalist movements of Daniel O’ Connell and Charles Stuart Parnell--and, in the twentieth century, Sinn Fein--stand as commanding peaks in an otherwise rough and broken political landscape." Parnell was an avid nationalist, whose movement peaked between 1879 and 1880, and who led a campaign for Home Rule. This Home Rule movement was modeled on the Grattan Parliament, not sovereign to the Crown, of the late eighteenth century in which the Irish were given their own right of legislation. Essentially this parliament not only consisted of Irish representatives, but the legislation was controlled by the Irish also. The parliament actually allowed them to set their own tariffs also.
"Parnell’s commitment to nationalism never went beyond a desire for the restoration of the Grattan Parliament, but then neither did Arthur Griffith’s, and Griffith was the founder of Sinn Fein." Unlike Griffith’s career, Parnell’s never had a chance to extend any farther than the desire for an Irish Parliament because of personal issues, which became public and subsequently undermined his status as a public figure. In the divorce proceedings of Captain and Mrs. O’Shea, Parnell was cited as a co-respondent and his long term love affair with the married Kitty O’Shea was discovered in 1891, which is traditionally referred to in every reference as "the fall of Parnell." In the eyes of the Roman Catholic Church the hero of Ireland was now an adulterer and, with the condemnation of the church Parnell lost all political credibility.
The age of Parnell, noteworthy for the inauguration of a new type of ethnocentric nationalism dependent upon Catholicism, was also responsible for an Irish cultural revival. The cultural aspect of an ethnic nationalism permeated when the Gaelic revival began in the late nineteenth century. As Boyce explains, "The driving force behind the Gaelic revival was nationalism, for it was nationalism that rescued the language from antiquarianaism to become a powerful political force." Language is one of the most essential and inherent components in identification a people and the colonial ideal of subservience to the mother country also pertained to the cultural nationalism.
Realizing the cultural significance and collective powers of language, Britain did its best to destroy the Irish language in pre-modern Ireland in an attempt to ensure control through cultural paralysis. Considering the lack of aid provided after the famine, the British were essentially directly responsible for the beginning of the decay of Irish, since many Irish speakers were killed as a result of the famine. The plan was a success for the most part and the Irish language was virtually eliminated. It remained in use in the West however, and eventually became the official language of Ireland when the Irish constitution passed in 1937. Many literary and language revival organizations, such as the Gaelic Athletic Association, were established in order to revitalized the romantic image of Irish identity. Many nineteenth century writers who used idyllic images such as Celtic mysticism, St. Patrick, and the Irish language glorified "Romantic Ireland".
The Gaelic League, established in 1893, not only enhanced the language, but also revived traditional Irish sports, music, and clothes. Hence, every aspect, which is traditionally equated with a nation’s culture, was being redirected to form of new channel for nationalism and nationalist rhetoric. In the words of Douglas Hyde, the first president of the Gaelic League, "…in Anglicizing ourselves wholesale we have thrown away with a light heart the best claim which we have upon the world’s recognition of us as a separate nationality. Ought we be content as an integral part of the United Kingdom because we have lost the notes of nationality, our very language and customs."
Therefore a new type of multi-facetted nationalism found a new mode of expression through the language of authors like James Joyce and W.B. Yeats. For example, Yeats has many politically nationalist works such as "To Ireland in the Coming Times", "September 1913", and "The Second Coming", where he uses the idea of a hero, Celtic mysticism, and apocalyptic visions, to condemn the British. Combining the effects of the political career of Parnell with that of the Irish revival one can understand how the emerging cultural and ethnic nationalism merged with a religiously based one.
Another essential component of primordial nationhood, especially for a colony, is the idea of a homeland. Ireland had been struggling for Home Rule since the days of Parnell. The homeland dimension of Irish nationalism culminated in 1916, with the Easter Rising and during the following years of 1919-1921. It must be noted here that the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), the beginnings of the modern day Irish Republican Army (IRA), was formed in the mid-nineteenth century by Arthur Griffith. Furthermore, in 1905 Sinn Fein, the political party for the modern IRA, was founded. The IRB, in cooperation with Sinn Fein had been fighting for separation from Britain with little success, since its inception. Both of these organizations were reactions against the long tradition of British colonial suppression that had become so bitter that the use of violence was glorified. In addition to the already present Fenian ideal of a military attack on the British, the cultural revival inspired nationalist feelings and ideas of an independent Ireland, therefore proving to be one of the main motivational factors for the leaders of the IRB. Consequently nationalist leaders in the inner circle of the IRB, such as Padraig Pearse, Michael Collins,and Eammon de Valera, planned an armed rebellion . By fall of 1914 the IRB had consolidated its forces and committed itself to a political rising against British troops centered in Dublin. The Easter Rising of 1916 became one of the most profound moments in Irish nationalism, a turning point. The ideology behind the revolution, the quest for separation from Britain had not changed, but the efficiency and organization behind the movement had. In other words, this uprising possessed the organization and ideological fusion that the others had lacked. One element which made the Easter Rising so climactic was the creation of the Proclamation of the Republic of Ireland, or ‘Poblacht na Heireann’ in Irish, by Padraig Pearse in April of 1916. Also, the Proclamation added credibility to the planned rising and mobilized public support for nationalism in Ireland, or Eire, in Irish.
An examination of the nationalist rhetoric reveals, the key part that nationalism has played in Ireland’s past. This declaration of rights was the first actual nationalist document that provided a type of Irish identity in written words. Definite similarities can be noticed between the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the Proclamation of the Irish Republic essentially because both documents reveal the determination of a colonial people to summarize and justify their demands to escape from, ironically, h same imperial power. The Declaration begins, "Whereas the Irish People is by right a free people: and whereas for seven hundred years the Irish People has never ceased to repudiate and has repeatedly protested in arms against foreign usurpation." Both documents are entrenched with similar anti-colonial and self-determinate rhetoric. For example, And whereas the Irish People is resolved to secure and maintain its complete independence in order to promote the common weal, to re-establish justice, to provide for future defense, to ensure peace at home and good will with all nations, and to constitute a national policy based upon the people’s will with equal right and equal opportunity for every citizen.
In other words, like the Declaration of Independence, the Irish Proclamation collectively declared Irish colonial resentment, verbalized the desire for independence, and called the people to the use of arms in order to obtain separation from British imperialism. The document justifies their claim for independence using the humanitarian dialogue of national self-determination by claiming the inherent right to "religious and civil liberties, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation."
The Proclamation begins with, "Irishmen and Irishwomen, in the name of God and of all of the dead generations from which she receives her old tradition of nationhood, Ireland, through us, summons her children to flag and strikes for her freedom." Just by analyzing the first few lines of the declaration the nationalist tone is noticeable, along with the sense of resentment due to ‘all of the dead generations.’ Furthermore, the people of Ireland are not even referred to as men and women, but "Irishmen" and "Irishwomen" which demonstrates quite an emphasis on the ethnicity of the people. Indeed, the authors intended to distinguish these ‘men’ and ‘women’ as their own people, with a distinct ethnicity and nationalism, one worthy of their own identity separate from that of Britain.
This document uses religious based rhetoric, but concentrates more on ethnic dialogue, which exemplifies the mulit-layered nationalism that had consolidated by that point in history. For example, the author claims that many actions are "in the name of God" and also declares the right for ‘religious and civil liberties’, which can be noted in the quote above. At the same time though, the document is very clear in mentioning the IRB, the Irish Volunteers, and the Irish Citizen Army, which are all nationalist, and eventually extremist, military organizations. Therefore the Proclamation not only established a comprehensive Irish nationality, but is very emphatic about establishing a Separate national identity, as opposed to a colonial one. Also,the Proclamation is calling not just for a free Ireland, but an "Irish" Ireland.
With the mobilization of the Proclamation and the sense of "national" will or obligation it implied, a large-scale uprising could be planned, which is exactly what happened. In April of 1916 the Irish militant troops ambushed British troops stationed at the General Post Office, or G.P.O., in Dublin. The vicious guerrilla attacks lasted for two days. The Irish were relatively strategically advanced, compared to the British, but they were still defeated. Although beaten, the Irish nationalist movement for independence did gain credibility through the incident. Many causalities resulted and the G.P.O. practically burnt down and subsequently needed to be rebuilt. Guerrilla attacks persisted after the Easter uprising and civil war ensued. The war began in 1919 and lasted until 1921 and consisted of violent military campaigns by the IRB, for independence in the form of civil war. "The coming of the civil war in the south of Ireland was not an inevitable process; the provisional government and the anti-treaty politicians made strenuous to reach some sort of agreement to preserve ‘national unity." The civil war ended in 1922. Michael Collins and Arthur Griffith signed an agreement with the British that partitioned the country. Furthermore six counties in the north, which were primarily Protestant, became Northern Ireland and were officially a part of the British empire and sovereign to the crown of England. The twenty-six counties of the south became independent of Britain and hence its own republic, the Republic of Ireland, with the right of self-government. Britain had given up. They could not handle the colonial uprising , ethnic conflict or violence anymore. "By 1921, after years of violence and terror, traditional Irish nationalist reverence for the physical force men was less safe than it had been since 1870."
Unfortunately, the violence did not stop after 1922. In fact some may say that it has increased. The partition of Ireland brought about internal discord and a radical form of nationalism, or almost fascist form, was beginning to emerge. The Irish Republican Army (IRA) was formed and lead by Eammon de Valera. The IRA was a radical ,completely anti-British group, which saw violence as the only way to obtain ‘the cause’. De Valera and the IRA wanted nothing to do with Britain, therefore they called for a united Ireland and demanded that Britain let go of the six northern counties, which were rightfully part of Ireland. Michael Collins, on the other hand, had already tried violence and his attitude had transformed after living through the treachery of those years. Collins did not believe that violence was the solution at all, and was willing to accept the partition, at least temporarily. At this point the IRB, or now IRA, split into the Provisional IRA of De Valera and the IRA of Collins. Collins’ forces were the army of the republic, while De Valera’s troops were the radical military sect of the IRA, the ancestors of the IRA currently publicized for its violence. Fighting between these two sects of the IRA occurred and eventually De Valera won, became prime minister, or taoiseach in Irish, and in 1937 drafted the first copy of Irish National Constitution.
"In this state there gradually emerged something that had never existed in Ireland at any time in her history: a single nation, in a nation state, sharing a common view of their history and untroubled by any irreconcilable political divisions." This quote was taken from 1922, directly after the partition. Little did Ireland know the nationalist surge that would proliferate and the violence that was yet to come with the twentieth century. Moreover, this violence can be seen as a resurgence of the multi-layered nationalism, consisting of religious and then ethnic ties, which was a result of British colonialism.
Ireland has remained a country entrenched in political conflict and ethnic strife. Stratification in modern day Irish society, like the development of nationalism, is not just along religious lines but ethnic and cultural lines also. In addition, the Irish of today have inherited a past and tradition more consumed with violence and resentment than any other previous generation, as evident by their intense past and fanatic present. The present IRA is responsible for the murders and injury of many innocent people, in the "name of the cause", which is of course complete renunciation so that no part of Ireland, even Northern, is sovereign to Britain. The fact that this conflict is still an issue today, going into the twenty-first century, proves the historical-rottenness of the issue and significance in a tradition that has been founded upon a religious, as well as ethnic nationalism.
Will nationalism transform again, adding another layer consisting of radical fanaticism, or has the IRA already taken nationalism to that extreme? Only time will tell, but the mutli-layered nature of traditional Irish nationalism does provide a potential prediction of the future. Some may argue that Ireland’s nationalist history cannot be used in comparison with modern day events. Although Ireland is no longer a colony, the resentment which initially aided in the formation of Irish nationalism, is still very present. Therefore, in my opinion, the chance of continuing ethnic conflict and nationalistic strife will remain a reality for Ireland because of the high level of nationalism combined with years of suppressed resentment towards Britain.
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Sinn Fein Home Page, Irish Declaration of Independence :
http://www.sinnfein.com/.