THE TROUBLES IN NORTHERN IRELAND What were the long-term causes of the Troubles?
British conquest and colonisation In the 16th
and 17th centuries, the kings and queens
of England used war and plantation to conquer Ireland.
They took land from the Gaelic and Anglo- Norman lords and gave it to Protestant planters from England and Scotland. By the end of the 17th century, the Protestant settlers controlled the land and government of Ireland (see Ch. 8).
The struggle for independence By the end of the 18th
century, many people in
Ireland were calling for greater or full independence from Britain (see Ch. 10). These nationalists formed
two different groups: ●● One group favoured the parliamentary tradition. They wanted to achieve a separate parliament for Ireland by peaceful means.
●● The second group favoured the physical force tradition. They wanted to achieve complete separation or independence from Britain by armed rebellion.
Limerick
Areas given by Cromwell to new landowners
Area reserved for transplanted Irish landowners
Plantation of Ulster
Private plantation of Montgomery and Hamilton Plantation towns
Donegal Sligo Cavan Drogheda Galway Shannon River Dublin Coleraine Londonderry
Omagh Strabane
Enniskillen Dungannon
26
Kilkenny Waterford Cork
These were opposed by a third group, unionists. After the Act of Union in 1800, which brought in direct rule in Ireland from the parliament in Westminster, unionists wanted to maintain the unity of Britain and Ireland. The unionists were strongest in Ulster.
Plantations in the 16th and 17th
resulted in the transfer of land and power
from Gaelic and Anglo Irish lords to Protestant settlers
A Belfast mural
featuring King William of Orange. In the Battle of the Boyne in 1690,
the Protestant William of Orange defeated the Catholic King
James. Protestants and unionists celebrate this victory on 12 July each year, as a victory that guaranteed the
Protestant Ascendancy (power, control) in Ireland (see p. 142).
