History of Northern Ireland and Belfast Blog

 

History of Northern Ireland and Belfast Blog

Before I continue with the more recent history of Northern Ireland (from the 17^th century to the present), let me add this glossary of terms to help you better understand the two sides of the issue (who is who) and what terms and organizations belong to which side.

The Unionists are the majority in Northern Ireland and can be best defined as  (1) Protestants (a mix of Presbyterians and Anglicans), (2) ancestors trace back to Scottish and English settlers who arrived in Ulster in the 17^th century, (3) identify themselves as British, and (4) wish to remain within the United Kingdom with Britain.  Within this faction are the Loyalists – Unionist members who favor violence to keep the Protestant majority and defend the United Kingdom.  Groups that are associated with the Unionists include Ulster Defence Association (UDA), Ulster Volunteer Force (UVA), Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

The Nationalists, which account for about 45% of the population of Northern Ireland, are defined as (1) Roman Catholics, (2) descendants from the original Gaelic people of Ireland, (3) identifying as Irish, and (4) wanting to see unification of Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland.  Within this faction are the Republicans who favor violence as a means to achieve the unification of Ireland.  Organizations associated with the Nationalists include the Irish Republican Party (IRA), Sinn Fein (their political arm), and the Irish National Liberation Party (INLA).

As I alluded to in my History of Ireland blog, much of the more modern history of Ireland has. centered around the struggle between the two major players – the Protestants and the Catholics.  While the difference between the two factions really begins to rear its ugly head with the Norman conquest of Ireland, it wasn’t until the late 1800s that nationalism begins to grow on both sides and rebellions and civil wars begin to happen. 

Fast forward to the 17^th century and the War of Three Kingdoms.  On 12 July 1690, William, Prince of Orange (Protestant) defeated King James (Catholic), which the Protestants took as a sign they could view the Catholic as second-class citizens.  During the 16^th and 17^th centuries a series of Penal Laws were passed by the British in an attempt to curtail religious, legal, and political rights of anyone (mainly Catholics and a few Presbyterians) who did not conform to the state church, the Anglican Church of Ireland.  This basically legalized the Protestant domination over the Catholics. 

Even after the repeal of these laws in the late 1700s, conflict continued.  In 1798, the Irish Rebellion was fought between the Society of United Irishmen (made up of Presbyterians, Catholics, and liberal Anglicans) against British rule.  But the rebellion was unsuccessful and many of the Irish rebels were sent to penal colonies in Australia. 

Then came the Acts of Union 1800 in which Ireland officially became part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.  Although the Catholic emancipation was achieved in 1829, they were unable to repeal the Acts of Union even though they represented a majority of the population (75%).

This was then followed by the Potato Famine in the mid-1800s which did little to quell the conflict between Catholics and Great Britain.  The Catholics felt that England had the resources (food especially) to help the Irish, but instead they sold those resources on the international market and as a result over 1.5 million Irish died.  This further cemented the bad blood between the Catholics and the United Kingdom.

As I previously talked about in my Introduction to Ireland Blog, the 1870s saw a rise in the Home Rule movement as a backlash to the Act of Union 1800, and the divide became ever greater.  The Protestants (unionists) were afraid of becoming a minority under a Catholic dominated Irish Parliament, so they threw their support into remaining in the United Kingdom.

Home Rule was finally enacted in 1910-14, but it also gave rise to the Ulster Covenant, which gave northern Protestants the power to resist home rule by force.  Paramilitary forces were being organized by both sides, but the intervention of WWI caused the Home Rule Act to be suspended until after the war.  In 1916, feeling that Home Rule was stagnating, Irish republican leaders led the ill-fated Easter Rising.  While it was unsuccessful and many leaders were executed, it gave rise to the nationalist movement among many Catholics.

In 1918, the Sinn Fein won 73 of the 105 seats in the British Parliament, but instead of going there, they set up their own parliament in Ireland and declared Ireland to be an Irish Republic.  For the next 2 years conflict, known as the Irish War of Independence, was fought between the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the British Forces.  The conflict ended with the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty.  This agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and representatives of the Irish Republic established the Irish Free State as a self-governing dominion of the British Empire (much like Canada was at that time), but it also gave Northern Ireland the right to opt out of the Irish Free State.  This they did in 1922.

While Northern Ireland remained in the United Kingdom, they were allowed to establish their own parliamentary government.  Needless to say, the unionists (Protestants) were happy, but the nationalists (Catholics) saw this partition as illegal and an arbitrary division of Ireland against the will of the majority of Ireland’s population.  In a nut shell, the top dogs in Northern Ireland (the Protestants) basically dominated the low dogs (Catholics), although the Protestants only had a slight majority (52% vs 48%).  As a result, the Catholics had the worst jobs, lowest pay, and worst schools.  Even though the two sides lived in close proximity, they had no mutual social or economic ties.  This resulted in communal strife between the two.  While there were many skirmishes and acts of violence, it was the 1969 Battle of Bogside, a large communal riot/protest that extended from Belfast to Derry (a town about 76 miles from Belfast), that brought things to a head and is considered the beginning of “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland and Belfast.  We will learn more about the role Derry played in the Troubles with its “Free Derry” proclamation and the 1972 Bloody Massacre, one of the most significant events of the “Troubles” when we visit Derry later in this trip.

As a result of the 1969 riot, the British government sent in troops to Belfast try and regain control in the area as negotiations between the two warring sides had broken down.  In an attempt to control the violence, the British built a wall, dividing Belfast into two sections – one Protestant and one Catholic.  Unfortunately, this only escalated the violence, and over the next 33 years over 3,000 people were killed, including 1,617 in Belfast. 

Violence continued until the signing of the Good Friday Agreement (or the Belfast Agreement – they could not even agree upon a name) in 1998, after negotiations between Britain and Ireland that was chaired by President Clinton and his representative, George Mitchell.  As a result of this agreement, the Republic of Ireland gave up all constitutional rights to Northern Ireland, the United Kingdom yielded their direct rule of Northern Ireland, a power-sharing Northern Ireland Assembly was established, and new agreements were approved between Ireland and Northern Ireland, especially over the control of their mutual border, and between Ireland and the United Kingdom.  This agreement also came with an apology by Prime Minister Tony Blair for the British non-response to the Irish Potato Famine.  This brought an end to “The Troubles,” but violence still occurs, but on a much smaller scale.  Even in death there is still segregation – the dead are separated by a 7 foot deep wall to keep the opposing groups from tainting the other’s dead!

However, the wall still remains in Belfast and even today the wall gates are locked at night and no one can cross from one part of Belfast to the other.  But today the wall is called the Peace Wall and there are murals painted on both sides.  The murals are divided between signs of harmony and signs of revenge or oppression.  Today the schools and neighborhoods remain segregated. 

As we begin our tour of Belfast, we will be learning about this troublesome era from both sides.  In addition to visiting the usual tourist sites, we will also have a taxi ride in the famous Belfast Black Cabs where our driver will talk about “The Troubles” from his/her point of view.  And we will also have a chance to talk with three survivors from that era – a Catholic, a Protestant, and a former British Soldier who all fought for their respective sides and were spent time in prison for their actions.  I will post more on those to events after our visit with them.  I also think that we will hear more about Brexit and its impact on Northern Ireland.  So as we now leave Dublin and begin our drive to Belfast, we will sit back and enjoy Ireland’s beautiful scenery and learn some more about its history and legends.