The Irish Question

16th century English clothing

16th century Irish Clothing

Women in the west of Ireland, 1940s

16th -17th c. ‘plantations’ in North America

Scottish Lowland Calvinists

Persecution of Reformist Protestants in Britain

Reformist Protestants in America

Project for Calvinist Plantation in Ulster

Advertisement for the Plantations of Ulster

Art thou rich?Hurry and you shall do God and your Prince excellent service.

Art thou a tradesman, a Smith, a Weaver, a Mason, or a Carpenter?

You will be in demand and get rich quickly.

Art thou a gentleman that likes to hunt?

There are plenty of foxes, wolves and stags and lots of open space. There will be plenty of fishing.

Art thou a Minister of God's word?

Hurry, hurry, there are thousands of untaught ignorant people waiting for you. You will be made an Archangel in the next world.

The Great Ulster Plantation: from 1610

‘Undertaker’ Planters

• Were granted 12km2 of land if they promised to bring 48 British Protestant men and 20 British Protestant families to Ulster

• Were given bigger plots of land if they succeeded in eliminating all native Irish from the territory

• Were allowed lower rents if they only employed British workers

Serviters

• British military who were given land as a reward for service to the monarch

• Were allowed to employ Irish workers, but had to pay higher rents

The Guilds

• Trade companies, who were sold land in Ulster as a commercial venture – with low rents and high income.

• Mostly based around the ancient Irish city of Derry, which was re-named ‘London-Derry’

Charles Stewart Parnell’s call to ostracise Captain Boycott

• When a man takes a farm from which another has been evicted, you must shun him on the roadside when you meet him – you must shun him in the streets of the town – you must shun him in the shop – you must shun him on the fair green and in the market place, and even in the place of worship, by leaving him alone, by putting him in moral Coventry, by isolating him from the rest of the country, as if he were the leper of old – you must show him your detestation of the crime he committed.

Political divide in Northern Ireland

Unionist demonstrastions, Belfast

Partition of Ireland 1921

Sectarian discrimination in Northern Ireland

• Elections: only granted to those owning property (mostly Protestant Unionists) – this meant that many towns and cities with Catholic majorities were always Protestant controlled; - such as Derry, Armagh, and Eniskillen.

• Police: 88% of the police force in N. Ireland were Protestant Unionists by the 1960s.

• Employment: Less than 10% of skilled jobs on average were given to Catholic Republicans

• Housing allocation: Public Authority housing (a bit like HLMs) were generally assigned to Catholics only in certain electoral districts, to ensure that Catholic property owners always remained in the minority as voters.

Orange Marches - Belfast

Catholic Civil Rights demonstration, 1960s