How was cultural identity promoted in Ireland, North and South, between 1920
and 1949?
While some developments took place in promoting Irish culture in 1920 and 1921,
the increased level of sovereignty offered by the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 6 December
1921 meant attempts to promote cultural identity increased drastically. With the
introduction of dominion status, Cosgrave’s government in southern Ireland was able
to promote an identity separate from that of Britain. In the North, the promotion of
cultural identity was characterised by Ulster unionists to show allegiance to Britain.
Under the direction of Eoin MacNeill, the Minister for Education in the Irish Free
State, the new Department of Education promoted Irish culture. Most schools were
under Church control. The Irish language was promoted, and in 1922 primary schools
were instructed to teach Irish for at least an hour per day. From 1926 all infant classes
were to be conducted through Irish. Summer schools were organised to improve
teachers’ Irish. Schools which taught exclusively through Irish received increased
grants, and Irish became compulsory for entry to the civil service. However, the
element of compulsion turned many young people against the language.
The culture promoted in the Free State was overwhelmingly Catholic and the
Church held great power. The emigration of the young from rural areas also
contributed to the conservatism of society. As a recently independent country, the
Irish Free State was anxious to create its own identity. In 1925, the Cosgrave
government banned divorce in an effort to promote a Catholic culture. Protests by
Protestants such as the poet and senator William Butler Yeats were ignored. Though
many women, such as Countess Markievicz and Maud Gonne, had aided the struggle
for Irish independence, the position of women disimproved in the 1920s. Women at
work earned less than their male counterparts and often left their jobs when they
married. Strict censorship was used to ensure society adhered to Catholic values.
Famous books were banned and several writers emigrated. Only artists such as Evie
Hone, who painted stained glass windows for churches, were allowed to work
unhindered.
Many citizens saw independence as a triumph for Catholics over the Protestant
British state. Elaborate commemorations were organised in 1929 to celebrate the
centenary of Catholic Emancipation. In the same year, the Pope agreed to send a
nuncio to Dublin and to receive an Irish ambassador at the Vatican. In 1932, the
arrival of De Valera to power caused apprehension among bishops, as he had been
condemned by the Church during the Civil War. However, De Valera continued to
promote a Catholic identity and sought the approval of the Church. The fact that the
Eucharistic Congress took place in Dublin in 1932 provided De Valera with an ideal
opportunity to win the Church’s approval.
Pope Pius XI decided the Congress should take place in Dublin in 1932 as it was
1500 years since the arrival of St Patrick in Ireland. The Congress began with the
arrival of Cardinal Lauri, the papal legate, in Dún Laoghaire Harbour. 50,000 people
gathered to greet him, along with a squadron of aeroplanes in cross formation. A royal
salute was fired on his arrival. Cardinal Lauri was then accompanied to the centre of
Dublin by De Valera and Archbishop Byrne. Even poor areas were decorated with
shrines and altars. In his official address to Cardinal Lauri, De Valera clearly
identified the Irish nation with Catholicism.
The role of Catholicism in Ireland was highlighted by an open-air Mass in the
Phoenix Park at the conclusion of the Congress. Over a million people attended. At
the Offertory, Count McCormack sang the Panis Angelicus. The Congress was
directly addressed by radio by the Pope. The Congress ended with a procession of the
Blessed Sacrament through Dublin to O’Connell Bridge. On the bridge a temporary
altar had been set up and a service of Benediction was held. In a telegram sent by
Cardinal Lauri to Pope Pius XI, it was said that the Irish people were united in crying
“God Bless the Pope.” The papal newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, carried a
favourable report. The dominance of Catholicism in Ireland was reflected even years
later, in the 1937 Constitution.
Northern culture was characterised by an attempt to show allegiance to Britain, and
by serious discrimination against Catholics. The shooting of policemen by the IRA
provoked attacks on ordinary Catholics. 5,000 Catholics were driven from their jobs
in Belfast shipyards in July 1920. Anti-Catholic riots were held in towns around
Ulster. In the violence of 1920-22, two-thirds of those killed were Catholics. Most
Unionist politicians were members of the Orange Order, which aimed to unite all
social classes in promoting a Protestant culture. The annual Orange marches on 12
July expressed this Protestant identity. Catholics, feeling isolated by this culture,
waited for the results of the Boundary Commission, hoping partition might be
temporary.
Schools were controlled by either Protestant or Catholic clergy. James Craig
appointed Lord Londonderry to head a new Ministry of Education. Londonderry set
up a committee to examine the education system, hoping to create a culture in which
education would be influenced less heavily by the divisions between churches, but
Catholic bishops refused to take part. Under the 1923 Education Act, clergy were
replaced as managers of primary schools. “Transferred schools,” accepting pupils of
all religions were to receive higher grants. However, the Protestant churches and
Orange Order campaigned against this system. They persuaded the Government to
allow increased clerical control and Bible reading in “transferred schools.” Second
level schools were also controlled by the churches, while separate teacher-training
colleges existed for Catholics and Protestants.
Southern neutrality during World War II was another way of asserting Irish
culture. However, food and fuel shortages during the war came to take precedence
over cultural issues. When war began in September 1939, Northern Ireland involved
itself strongly in the war effort. Unionists were divided in opinion when conscription
was not introduced. After the war, the culture of discrimination against Catholics in
education was reduced. 80% of Catholic students no longer had to pay fees. The
resulting generation of educated Catholics played a crucial role in civil rights
campaigns.
Two completely different cultures were promoted in North and South between
1920 and 1949. In 1949, the independent culture of southern Ireland was confirmed
by the declaration of an Irish republic. The North, however, maintained strong
cultural links with Britain.