History about The Republic Of Ireland

“1916 Irish Uprising”

In order to understand why the 1916 Easter Uprising occurred, you need to look at events that happened prior to it. I’ll touch briefly on past events that led up to the Easter Rising, why the Irish rebelled against the British. I’ll also mention long term effects of the Easter Rising.

In 1541, Ireland was forced to declare Henry the VIII King of Ireland. When Henry’s daughter, Elizabeth I, took the throne, she sent Protestants into Northern Ireland, because she thought it would later lead to control of the population, but it would take time. The most significant event in Ireland’s history was when King James I (also he was known as James the VI of Scotland) took land from the Irish, and gave it to Scottish, and English settlers. During James I reign, Ulster province became a Protestant majority. Out of all the four provinces of Ireland, this is why Ulster (Northern Ireland) province is predominantly Protestant, and historically has had strong ties to Great Britain[1]. The Act of Union was signed, and the Irish people became part of the United Kingdom in 1800.

On April 24, 1916, The Proclamation of the Irish Republic was signed, and read on what is now called O’Connell Street in Dublin, Ireland, which, “…proclaimed the establishment of an Irish Republic…”[2]. The sixteen men involved in the Easter Rising were executed, one of them was James Connolly[3]. My great grandfather actually took the day off to be at the Easter Rising, and watched it all unfold on O’Connell Street.

The Easter Rising led to an increase of anti-British sentiment in the region. After the Easter Rising “…2,000 ‘rebels’…”[4], who were Irish citizens, had been detained, and locked up in England. After these “rebels” were released, they returned to Ireland with the intent of getting involved in the Irish nationalist community. They would get involved in politics, or would use violence in order to fight the British.

In 1922, the Republic of Ireland was created, however, Ulster Province refused to break away, and stayed with the Union. The creation of the Republic of Ireland lead to the establishment of multiple armed paramilitary factions in Northern Ireland, such as the Ulster Volunteer Force, and the Red Hand Defenders[5]. The IRA would dissolve, but evolved into terrorist factions such as the Real IRA, Provisional IRA, and Continuity IRA. The IRA would also be responsible for multiple terrorist attacks in England, as well as Northern Ireland.

The IRA died in 1922 as far as I’m concerned. Also, to this day you have Americans, who claim to be of “Irish decent”, who send money back to the Republic of Ireland, or to Belfast, to support these terrorist factions.

I think the Easter Rising caused a tremendous divide between the Catholics, and the Protestants in Ireland. Good and bad came out of The Easter Rising, such as the establishment of the Republic of Ireland, but at the cost of many lives. On the other side of the coin, the Easter Rising led to the creation of terrorist groups which still operate to this day. The Easter Rising occurred because they had their government, land, and culture taken by force.

In some ways I don’t think the Republic of Ireland was completely “free” from the British. The Irish pound was directly tied into the British pound, so whatever the going rate was for the British pound would be the same rate for the Irish pound. This went away once the Republic of Ireland decided to adopt the Euro. Interesting enough, when Scotland wanted to break away from the British, back in 2014, they actually asked the British government if they could do the same thing they did for the British.

[1] “Northern Ireland Timeline”, History On The Net, accessed February 9, 2015. www.historyonthenet.com/chronology/timelinenorthernireland.htm.

[2] “The 1916 Rising: Personalities & Perspectives”, National Library of Ireland, accessed February 9, 2015. http://www.nli.ie/1916/1916_main.html

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Northern Ireland Loyalist Paramilitaries (U.K. Extremists), Council On Foreign Relations, accessed February 10, 2015. http://www.cfr.org/terrorist-organizations-and-networks/northern-ireland-loyalist-paramilitaries-uk-extremists/p9274.