Again, these are generalizations, and would not stand up to detailed scrutiny. The first problem is that all historians can claim to be ‘revisionists’, in that they constantly reinterpret the past as well as the work of other historians. ‘Revisionist history’ can also mean history that is politically motivated or has a social or cultural agenda to advance. Holocaust deniers and other disreputable commentators are often branded ‘revisionists’. This type of mindless extremism is entirely different from the serious and scholarly work done by the revisionist school in Irish history. Readers should avoid applying guilt by association with the pejorative use of ‘revisionist’. Secondly, not all members of each of the schools mentioned above would agree with all the other members of that school. Revisionists quarrelled with each other as much as they did with traditionalists. Third, the newest set of historians have not rejected the very real contributions that historians before them have made to the overall field of Irish history. Finally, the generational divisions in this explanation of interpretations are too sharply drawn, even if the long lens does seem to reveal a generational tendency.
Irish history has attracted a great deal of public notice, especially since the beginning of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Much of what Irish, British and American politicians and commentators have to say about contemporary Irish problems has been given a historical gloss. The problem, however, is that the work of professional historians has not received adequate attention in these quarters. In many countries there is a great difference between popular and professional ideas about history. In Ireland, however, some popular ideas about history have been used to justify political extremism and even violence. Many myths and misunderstandings have become solidified into different conceptions of history that can be used to justify contemporary actions and attitudes.
Finally, as if the issue of interpretation were not complicated enough, there needs to be some clarification of geography before embarking on chapter one. Ireland has been traditionally made up of four provinces: Ulster [ull-ster] in the north, Leinster [lenn-ster] in the east, Munster [munn-ster] in the south and Connacht [conn-uckt] in the west. At present, the island is divided politically between Éire [air-uh] (literally ‘Ireland’) and Northern Ireland. Ireland (often referred to as ‘The Republic’ in order to distinguish it from Northern Ireland) is an independent country made up of Leinster, Munster, Connacht and three counties from Ulster (to make twenty-six counties in total). Northern Ireland comprises the six north-easternmost counties of Ulster and is part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, and is governed by its own Assembly for domestic matters, and by the British parliament for broader UK matters.
There are several terms that appear throughout this book which need to be explained here. They relate mainly to politics and religion, but it is essential that they are understood. ‘Nationalist’ refers to someone who desired independence (in varying degrees) from Britain. Nationalists have ranged in opinion from those who wanted Ireland to have control of its domestic affairs but share the monarchy with Great Britain, to those who wanted an Irish republic, completely independent from Britain. Those with the latter view are called ‘republicans’. ‘Unionist’ refers to someone who wanted to retain the link with Great Britain, but even here there were different opinions about how strong that connection should be. ‘Loyalist’ refers to someone who was loyal to the English crown as the monarch of Ireland as well. Loyalists are now also unionist in political opinion, but this has not always been the case. Generally speaking, ‘loyalist’ is used today when referring to extremist groups who oppose a united Ireland. ‘Catholic’ refers to someone who believes in the Catholic religion. Many Catholics were nationalist as well, but some were not, and it is very important not to assume that these two words are synonymous in Irish history and society. For instance, even the New York Times refers to the nationalist Social Democratic Labour Party (SDLP) in Northern Ireland as ‘the Catholic SDLP’. While it is certainly true that most SDLP members are Catholics, and that the SDLP has fought for equal rights for Catholics in Northern Ireland, it is not a religious party. That is, it does not seek to make Catholic doctrine part of public policy. ‘Protestant’ refers to a member of a Protestant religion. While many Protestants (especially those in Northern Ireland) were unionists, this was not universally the case. In fact, many of the most important Irish nationalists from the late eighteenth century to the late nineteenth century were Protestants. Recognizing this subtlety in politics and religion is not just a historical concern. The popular perception of the Troubles in Northern Ireland as a religious conflict is inaccurate because it can give the impression that the two main groups there are fighting over theology and religious doctrine. While religion has played an important part in Northern Ireland’s difficulties, the situation is much more complex than that. Politics and culture are at least as important (perhaps more so) in explaining the divisions there, as the Interpretations section of chapter nine makes clear. Finally, the ‘Church of Ireland’ referred to in chapters one to seven is not the Catholic Church (the majority religion in Ireland), but the Anglican Church of Ireland, allied to the Church of England since 1536.
ONE
Ireland: Prehistory to 1534
Understanding Irish history before 1800 is a difficult task. Diverse geography, different groups of settlers and invaders and complicated relations with Ireland’s larger and usually more powerful neighbour make easy assumptions untenable and simple generalizations impossible. There are, however, several important themes that stand out. One is geography, the second is the diversity of settlers and invaders over the centuries and of the cultures that they brought, and the third is the distinct lack of inevitability in the complicated power struggles between groups in Ireland and between them and powerful English monarchs, warriors and settlers. These themes will be discussed generally in this chapter, before slowing down the narrative, starting with chapter two, to examine modern Irish history more closely for the remainder of this book.
GEOGRAPHY
Ireland is a small island on the fringes of western Europe, and geography has played a very important role in its history. For centuries, many areas of the island were inhospitable. Excessive rain and rugged terrain prevented much of the soil from becoming fertile. The island was partly made up of mountains, bogs and small hills called drumlins, which were steep and unsuitable for tillage. Roughly half of the rest of the land in the country was good for farming, but not much of it was connected in large unified spaces. Small good patches were separated by stretches of barren land, which acted as barriers to the development of any large-scale agriculture. The poor land had its advantages, however. It provided for some grazing, and the more remote areas were havens from invaders and warring factions. Specifically, there were two geographical features that have been important to the rest of Irish history. First, the north of the country is somewhat different from the south. It is ringed by small mountains in the west, and drumlins and forests along its southern border. Once inside these boundaries, however, the northern land becomes more gentle and accommodating. Its close proximity to Scotland and northern England also made outside settlement more likely than migration from the rest of Ireland. The second major geographical feature is that the east is very different from the west. The east has gentler land, less rain, fewer bogs and mountains and greater potential for communication and trade with the rest of Europe. The west was far more inaccessible, with arable patches of land existing as margins to mountain and bog. Both of these major features proved to be dividing lines for settlement, economic development and communication as different groups started to populate Ireland.
PREHISTORIC IRELAND
As the glaciers from the last ice age retreated from Europe (c. 8000 BCE), forests grew rapidly, driving out the deer and horses which had grazed on grassy plains during the ice age. This forced early European hunter groups to search further for food, and migration became common. The first inhabitants of Ireland probably came from Scandinavia,
through Britain, crossing over to Ireland before it was cut off by the rising ocean (c. 6500 BCE). They settled mainly in the north-east of the country, where food was more plentiful. These were hunters, gatherers and scavengers. By about 3000 BCE, new settlers began arriving in Ireland, bringing with them Neolithic agricultural inventions, more sophisticated tool-making and the domestication of animals. These people founded small settlements and concentrated on diverse living, comprising basic agriculture, clearing of woodland for space and fuel, tool-making, hunting and rearing animals. The way these people met the day-to-day requirements of living shows that they were relatively sophisticated. This is also evident from their treatment of the dead, which seems to indicate strong religious beliefs. Huge burial monuments dating from this period (3000–1800 BCE) can be found all over Ireland. Long stone burial chambers and ‘dolmens’ (tripods of stone with a capstone) still exist in many parts of the country. These burial chambers often had highly decorative interiors, which indicates how much time was set aside for their planning and construction. By 2000 BCE, metalworking technology had reached Ireland. As with other advances, this had come largely from the migration of peoples from the Middle East through Europe. Metalworking had many practical applications, ranging from arms (knives, swords and spearheads) to domestic tools and jewellery. Further improvements in such technology, starting around 800 BCE, brought more sophisticated tools, including an early plough. From about 600 BCE, the iron age began to establish itself in Europe, led by iron-using tribes from central Europe. The Greeks called them keltoi, from which we get the name Celts [kelts]. Their use of superior iron technology led to their gradual spread west and north through much of Europe. The Celts came into Ireland in two movements. The first was to the west, coming directly from the European mainland. The second was from northern Britain, settling in the north-east of Ireland. By 150 BCE, the Celts were well established in Ireland.
EARLY IRISH SOCIETY
Much of early Irish society was concentrated in Ulster and Connacht, and many of the sites of Irish myths and legends have corresponding ancient Celtic settlements. Most of the pre-Celtic groups in Ireland survived the Celtic migration, but were thoroughly Celticized by 450 ce, with a common language and culture. There was much movement between the Celtic peoples of Ireland and those of Britain, as well as raiding and warring. By 600–700 ce, however, Ireland was becoming a settled agricultural country, with many small kingdoms called ‘tuath’ [too-ah]. This was a very rural society, with no cities or towns. People lived on small farms. The wealthy and the rulers surrounded their farms with earthen banks for defence, and many of these still survive. The king of each small kingdom was expected to lead the people in war, if necessary, and to preside over regular assemblies and festivals. It was a simple, agrarian life, with no coined money, most of the business conducted in bartering, and the value of things related to agricultural products or livestock
These were law-based societies, centred around the tuath and the ‘fine’ [finna], the extended family. Most of the laws in this culture were based on the family and its relations with other families. There was a great deal of mutual responsibility between fine, and the legal system rarely required the intervention of the chief of the tuath. Although the law tracts surviving from this time do not identify a king of all Ireland, by the fifth century the Uí Néill dynasty from Ulster claimed to be high kings of Tara, the ancient fort near Navan in County Meath. To what extent this family had true power over the rest of the country is open to debate, but the significant thing was that they claimed they did, and a new political phenomenon appeared in Ireland – the idea of a high king. This is not to say, however, that the country was completely united under one ruler. Each successive Uí Néill king had to continue difficult and often divisive negotiations with other kings in order to retain his prominence. Although the island was politically diverse, it was culturally quite unified. The language was more or less the same, and many cultural practices were held in common across the country.
EARLY CHRISTIAN IRELAND
During this period (400–500 CE), Irish trade with Britain and Europe was fairly extensive, and it was through these links that Christianity probably came to Ireland. There were, therefore, Christians in Ireland before the arrival of Saint Patrick, the most significant Christian missionary in Irish history. Most of these early Christians came from Roman Britain and Gaul (France), and there were enough of them in Ireland for Rome to appoint a bishop, Palladius, in 431. Patrick succeeded him, but there are different theories about when he arrived in Ireland (tradition says 432, but 456 has also been argued). Much of what is known about Patrick comes from his own writings. He was a Roman Briton who was captured by Irish raiders when he was sixteen years old. Like other such captives, Patrick was put to work tending sheep for six years. While he was in Ireland, Patrick became very religious, and after he escaped back to Britain he had a vision that he was being asked by the Irish to come back to them. He returned to Ireland via France (where he had probably received his seminary training). Most of his missionary work was done in the northern half of Ireland. Despite the uncertainty over the dating of Patrick’s time in Ireland (432–61, or 456–90), it is clear that he introduced two important religious structures into Ireland – the episcopal system of dividing the country into areas controlled by bishops, and the system of church monasteries. The monasteries flourished, especially after Patrick’s death, but they were austere places. Few of them had stone buildings; most had wooden structures built like a camp or small fort. The monks spent their time working to maintain the monastery, and in studying religious texts and making copies. Students from Britain and the continent came to study in Irish monasteries, and Irish monks went abroad to study and to live in other monasteries. Customs and practices were interchanged in this way.
Alongside the monasteries, there was a parallel education system in early Ireland. It was based not on reading and writing, but on memorization of tales and stories. This was the system that educated lawyers and poets. But during the seventh and eighth centuries (600–800), the two educational systems, the Latin system of the monasteries and the Irish system of oral teaching, began to communicate more and more with each other, and to borrow ideas and methods. The Irish system gradually started training students to read and write, and the Irish oral tradition began to be written down. The Latin system was influenced by secular Irish law, and clergymen began to be able to accept roles in noble society. Likewise, the church did not suppress Irish stories. Indeed, much surviving Irish literature was preserved in monasteries. During this period, many monasteries grew in wealth and power, and consequently built more permanent structures. The sites at Clonmacnoise, Armagh, Kildare and Glendalough are among these. Monasteries also diversified their roles. They became places of learning and refuge, as well as religious centres. Books were brought in from other countries, such as Spain, and Irish books were being sent to the continent. There was also a flowering of Irish art and carving, and this was the period of illuminated texts such as the Book of Kells (c. 800).
THE AGE OF THE VIKINGS
During the first forty years of the ninth century, Viking (or Norse) ships raided islands off the coast of Ireland, coastal Irish towns, and river towns further inland. This was part of a larger movement of men out of Scandinavia, raiding and settling all over northern Europe, and eventually as far as the Mediterranean. The Viking invaders of Ireland came mostly from western Norway, via the Orkney Islands off the northern Scottish coast. These Vikings had developed great ‘long ships’ capable of sailing greater distances than previous vessels. Single ship raids to Britain started in 795, and by 837 Viking fleets were landing in Ireland. During the late 830s, the Vikings were also trying to settle in Ireland. In 841 they established a foothold at the mouth of the Liffey, which eventually became Dublin city. Irish kings were too divided to put up a common defence, and the Vikings made significant inroads to the interior of the island while the native kings fought each other. From 850 onward
s, it was common for treaties and alliances to be made between a Norse band and an Irish king in order to defeat another Irish king. By the end of the ninth century, the Norse settlement-making largely stopped, and raids, although still happening, were less frequent. The Vikings in Ireland settled more or less permanently in Ireland, and began to intermarry with native Irish groups.
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