The Irish Question
By Jakub Bína
RAMZ
What is The Irish Question?
• Complex problem
• Dates back to twelfth century when England
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imposed a feudal landowing system on Ireland
Feudal lords (noblemen) were granted large
tracts of land
The landowners (mostly English) became
wealthy, while the farm workers and other
laborers (Irish) lived in great powerty
What is The Irish Question?
• Great social problems came
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during the 1600s and 1700s
The English tried to impose
Protestantism
Ireland had a mainly Catholic
population
Irish Catholics rebelled agains
English and Protestant
domination
Events like Irish Catholic
rebellion (1641) and civil war
came
Oliver Cromwell re-conquered
Ireland killing 1/3 of Irish
Catholics
What is The Irish Question?
• Food tended to be produced for export rather than for
domestic needs
• Two very cold winters led directly to the Great
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Irish Famine (1740-1741) killing over 400 000
people
In 1801 the Act of Union came, which merged
Kingdom of Ireland and the Kingdom of Great
britain to create the United Kingdom
What is the Irish Question?
• The second of Ireland's "Great Famines"struck
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the country severely in the period 1845-1849,
leading to mass starvation and emigration. It
was named Irish Potato Famine.
The impact of emigration in Ireland was great;
the population dropped from over 8 million
before the Famine to 4.4 million in 1911.
What is the Irish Question?
• A series of violent rebellions by Irish republicans
took place in 1803
• In 1848 a rebellion by Young Irelanders and in
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1867 by the Irish Republican Brotherhood- All
failed…
Tension between nationalists and unionists
(northeast- Protestants, industry, wealth)
But most of the island was Catholic and
nationalist
What is The Irish Question?
• As the First World War broke out, a failed attempt was made
to gain separate independence for Ireland in 1916,
called Easter Rising
• In the December 1918 elections most voters voted for
Sinn Féin, the party of the rebels. Having won threequarters of all the seats in Ireland
• On 21. 1. 1919 Irish Republic parliament was
established, trying to gain indipendence of the country
• The Irish Republican army started a fight against the
British (1919-1921)
What is the Irish Question?
• During this war the island was divided into two
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parts- "Northern Ireland" and "Southern Ireland„
In mid-1921, the Irish and British governments
signed a truce that stopped the war
In December 1921, representatives of both
governments signed an Anglo-Irish Treaty. The
Irish delegation was led by Arthur Griffith and
Michael Collins. This established the Irish
Republic and created the Irish Free State
Northern Ireland could stay within the United
Kingdom and it did so
Political
map of
Ireland.
What is the Irish Question?
• Many people emigrated the new country in
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1920s due to great powerty
Also lots of Protestants left the Catholic country,
because they felt unwelcomed
The country stayed neutral during WW2
In 1949 the state was formally declared the
Republic of Ireland and it left the British
Commonwealth
In 1990s the Republic of Ireland gained big
economical strengh- ‚Celtic tiger‘
What is the Irish Question?
• Northern Ireland- a ‚a protestant state‘
• The founding Prime Minister, James Craig, proudly
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declared that it would be ‚a Protestant State for
Protestant People‘
Tensions came to a head with the events of Bloody
Sunday and Bloody Friday, and the worst years (early
1970s) of what became known as The Troubles resulted.
Private armies such as the Provisional IRA, the Official
IRA, the INLA, the Ulster Defence Association and the
Ulster Volunteer Force
Fights against the British army and Unionists- 3000 dead
people
What is the Irish Question?
• During the 1970s British policy concentrated on
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defeating the IRA by military force
1986- Anglo Irish Agreement signaling a formal
partnership in seeking a political solution.
In the 1990s- progress towards peace
40% population of Northern Ireland are Catholics
the Belfast Agreement (‚Good Friday Agreement‘) of April
10, 1998 brought a degree of power sharing to Northern
Ireland, giving both unionists and nationalists control of
limited areas of government
The situation is hopefully taking a peaceful way…
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Thank U for attention