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A Potted Irish History(until the end of the 18th century)
for students of W. B. Yeats.


Early Celtic Ireland

ORIGINS
The Celts were an Indo-European group who are thought to have originated in the second millennium BC. The first Celt arrivals in Ireland are thought to have taken place in the Iron Age.

POLITICS
Politically, in early Celtic Ireland, the country was organised into small kingdoms (tuatha), each of which was independent under its elected king. Groups of kingdoms combined with a king who became an overlord. Not until the 10th century AD was there a king of all Ireland.

The division of the country into five groups of tuatha occurred at the beginning of the Christian era: these were Ulster; Meath; Leinster; Munster and Connaught.

Ulster was a dominant group of tuatha early on but by the 5th century AD Meath had become predominant, its leader claiming to be an overking of more than one group.

By the 11th century Munster was sufficiently strong, and its leader/king Brian Boru, to secure a real kingship over all Ireland.

ECONOMY
The economy of Celtic Ireland was principally agricultural. There were no urban centres.

Dwellings were built by the post-and-wattle method, some in ring forts.

From the 8th century there was a large development of rural industry. A large amount of metalwork reveals the adaptation by Irish craftsmen of many techniques originating in Britain or on the Continent.



Early Christianity

DEVELOPMENT
Records give a first date for the coming of Christianity to Ireland as AD 431 when a mission was sent by Pope Celestine to the Irish.

St Patrick is the most famous of the missionaries sent to Ireland and is accredited by contemporary biographers as converting all the Irish to Christianity. He concentrated on the north and the west and had remarkable success. He did not himself claim to have converted all Irish to Christianity.

Christian communities seem to have been organised around saints.

In the 6th and 7th centuries a complex system of monks and monasteries were established in Ireland.

(Note: the Christian religion, proir to the Reformation in the 16th century when Protestantism was established, is known as Catholicism (later Roman Catholicism). It is worth keeping this distinction in mind as the conflict between Ireland as a Catholic country and England (after the Reformation) as a Protestant country is crucial.)

LEARNING AND ART
The saints were succeeded by scholars whose work in sacred and classical studies developed an Irish Christian mythology which in turn helped the Irish language survive. They brought Latin to Ireland and developed a fine tradition of illuminated manuscripts the most famous of which is The Book of Kells.



The Norse Invasions

The first Norsemen were recorded in Ireland in 795. Thereafter they made frequent plundering raids. At times they held ports, including Dublin and threatened domination. Eventually, however, the Vikings became traders in Ireland and their commercial towns became a new element in the life of the country.

In the 11th and 12th centuries church dioceses were set up in relation to the old tuatha kingdoms. At this time the province of Ulster dominated the kingdoms with its royal family, the Ui Neill. The Irish church hierarchy was also set up here, in Armagh.



The First Centuries of English Rule: (1166-1600)

Before the arrival of Henry II in Ireland, Anglo-Norman adventurers had conquered parts of Ireland including the kingdom of Leinster. To avoid the development of a rival Norman state, Henry took action. Most Irish kings agreed to recognise Henry's supremacy although Henry had to recognise the development of a new Norman `lordship' in Ulster. Henry's power, however, was always limited.

King John visited Ireland in 1210 and established there a civil government independent of the feudal lords. An Irish exchequer was set up. The country was divided into counties for administrative purposes, English law was introduced and attempts were made to reduce the power of `liberties' - lands held by aristocratic families.

Parliament started in Ireland in 1297. The parliament represented the English only; native Irish were aloof and unrepresented.

The 14th and 15th centuries.

English power is strengthened , particularly after the threat by Edward Bruce of Scotland to intervene. New Anglo-Irish earldoms were created and lands given to appropriate English supporters. In reaction, later in the 14th century, there was a revival of Irish political power and a concomitant flourishing of the Irish language, law and civilisation. The Gaels recovered large parts of Ulster, the midlands, Leinster and Connaught.

During the early part of the 15th century Ireland was effectively ruled by 3 great earls - Desmond, Ormonde and Kildare - who combined to dominate the Dublin government. With time the earls of Kildare came to effectively rule Ireland well into the 16th century: this is called the Kildare Ascendancy.

The Reformation Period
Papal authority was weakened in Ireland and the period is most noted for the role of Henry VIII, who was recognised by a weak Irish parliament as King of Ireland. Confiscation of monastic properties, as well as rebels' lands, by the Protestant leader paid for an expanded governmental administration. This loss of land drove the religious orders and the Anglo-Irish into the arms of the Gaelic Irish.

Mid 16th century attempts were made to encourage lords of Ireland to renounce the Pope and recognise the king's supremacy.

(Note: Protestantism originated in the 16th century and challenged the beliefs and practices of the Catholic church. In England Protestant leaders such as Henry VIII saw Ireland's commitment to Catholicism and to the Pope as a threat to their control and power.)

Under Queen Mary (1553-58), a Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism was restored in Ireland. The Irish resentment of Protestantism was noted at the time. Nevertheless, Mary gave approval for the continued plantation of Irish lands by Englishmen.


Ireland Under Elizabeth I

Elizabeth's involvement in Ireland is perhaps most famous for having reduced the country to obedience. However, the cost was great and the involvement in Ireland resulted in the poverty of the crown under Elizabeth. Under Elizabeth there was exploitation in the towns and countryside by administrators and planters.

(Note: the Anglican Church was established under Elizabeth I. It was a combination of Protestant beliefs and practices and some Catholic beliefs and practices. It has since become the main established church of England. More extreme Protestant churches, however, continued to thrive and have often regarded the Anglican church as corrupt in its `middle way' of trying to combine the two traditions.)

The Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity , recognising the power of the Anglican church, were passed in Ireland in 1560. The Protestant church found it difficult to resist these changes and three great rebellions reinforce the seriousness of the resistance to changes. An example is the Desmond Rebellion in which Fitzmaurice in 1575 fled to the Continent and returned to Ireland in 1579 with papal approval for a Roman Catholic crusade against Queen Elizabeth. However, the rebels were defeated and supporting Italians and Spaniards massacred in the famous `Golden Fort' incident. This particular rebellion gave the government an opportunity to confiscate 300, 000 acres of land and begin stringent proceedings against Roman Catholics. The Tyrone Rebellion (1594 on) was based in Ulster and was an attempt to drive out English forces in order that the attack on Roman Catholicism could be halted. The Irish were defeated in the longer term.


The 17th and 18th Centuries

It is important to be aware of the religious background to 17th century politics; so remember that Ireland at this time was a predominantly Roman Catholic country that was viewed with suspicion by the English rulers of the time, who were mainly Protestant in religious persuasion.

James VI of Scotland became King James I(1603-25) of England and Ireland in 1603. Although he might have pursued a more enlightened Irish policy than Elizabeth - whose anti-Catholicism dictated a harsh policy towards Ireland - he allowed his Irish policy to be dominated by the English governing class and sought to provide opportunities for his countrymen in Ireland.

As a result of James' policies there was a flight from Ireland by soldiers, churchmen and Ulster Gaelic lords. This exodus from Ulster made possible the most important moment in early 17th century Irish politics: The Plantation of Ulster.

The Plantation of Ulster by a new landowning class from England and Scotland became one of the most successful British settlements in Ireland. British tenants and labourers as well as landlords were introduced. One of the plantations was called Londonderry.

There was, nevertheless, a Catholic hierarchy in Ireland from 1618 on.

Charles I (1625-49) used Ireland to raise armies and money.

1641: a general uprising of the Irish in Ulster took place. A Roman Catholic confederacy was also formed in Kilkenny in 1642. Despite resistance to English and Protestant rule, by 1652, after the rule of Oliver Cromwell, all Irish resistance to English rule was over.

During Cromwell's Commonwealth and Protectorate authority of the British was exercised by parliamentary commissioners and chief governors.

1653: the union of England, Scotland and Ireland was created. Ireland was regarded as a conquered territory and was parcelled out between soldiers and creditors of the Commonwealth. Many Roman Catholic landowners lost their land or were transferred to inferior lands.

However, The Act of Explanation (1665) made Cromwellian settlers surrender one-third of their granted territories; Catholics benefited.

Under James II, advantage was taken of the king's Roman Catholicism to reverse the tendencies of the previous reign. New legislation made it possible for Catholics to return to lands previously confiscated.

In Ireland James II was challenged by William III who landed in Ireland to oppose James. At The Battle of the Boyne William defeated James and James fled to France. Catholic supporters of James continued to fight William but were defeated also.

Under William's regime the Protestant Ascendancy was established whereby Catholics were banned from sitting in Irish parliaments and Catholic ownership of land was reduced again. By 1703 less than 10% of Irish land was owned by Irish Roman Catholics.

The Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland in the 18th century was the domination of Ireland by Protestant Episcopalians who made up only 10% of the population.

After the American Revolution there was agitation in Ireland for greater powers being made available to the Irish parliament. In this period, when the British government was threatened by war with France and it needed Irish Catholic support, there were attempts to conciliate Catholic opinion. Catholics were admitted to civil offices that had previously been banned.

At the time of the French Revolution a temporary alliance between an intellectual elite of Protestant Presbyterians and Catholics resulted in the United Irishmen societies, led by Wolfe Tone. This group became known for their radical political discontent and with some help from France were involved in notable rebellions against the British. The result was that William Pitt, Prime Minister, amalgamated the British and Irish parliaments joining the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland into a new political formula: The United Kingdom.

Socio-economic notes:
i) Although in the 16th century Gaelic civilisation was destroyed in the upper classes of Irish society it was preserved for the next two centuries among the ordinary people of the Northwest, west and Southwest, who continued to speak Gaelic and who maintained a way of life remote from the ruling classes.

ii) In a land of great estates, most small Irish towns were in a state of decay in part because of the British restrictions of trade.

iii) In 1795 The Orange Order was established in defence of the Protestant Ascendancy. It fought for the privileges of Protestants and tended to exclude Catholics from breaking into the privileged ring of Protestant gentry and farmers.

Apart from folklore, little is known of the lives of ordinary people.


The 19th and 20th centuries.

It is recommended that students of Yeats read the Encyclopaedia Britannica essay on 19th and 20th century politics and life. It is important that some detail is gone into. See `Ireland. The 19th and 20th centuries' and `Independent Ireland to 1959'.