In recent decades, the Irish have had a conflicting relationship with the laws that determine the country's submission to British rule. Under the allegation of religious and cultural differences, an Irish terrorist group called the IRA (the acronym for "Irish Republican Army") has come acting through kidnappings, murders and other acts of vandalism that consolidated a tense relationship between British authorities and the country in question.
Historically, British domination over Irish territory took place during the reign of Henry II in the 12th century. During this period, the process of formation of national monarchies and the problem of lack of land motivated this process of domination, which ended with the signing of the Treaty of Windsor. By this document, England's right to establish its laws in Irish territory was guaranteed.
Reaching the 16th century, when Protestant religions were emerging, the establishment of the Anglican Church in England promoted a serious transformation in relations with Ireland. The Catholic majority in the Irish territory resisted the process of religious conversion to Anglicanism, imposed as a means of reaffirming monarchic authority in their territories.
In the following century, this rivalry widened when King James I implemented a project to colonize the Ulster region, from which the Irish were clearly ignored. The exclusionary situation ended up fueling the realization of several rebellions between the 1640s and 1650s, when the authorities British companies imposed a violent crackdown on the insurgents and transferred part of the Irish territory to producers English.
Reaching the nineteenth century, the movements in favor of Irish autonomy gained significant momentum with the spread of liberal ideas. In the year 1829, a movement with a nationalist nature managed to win some civil rights, including the occupation of public office. In the mid-19th century, this same population suffered from disease and starvation, which together killed 800,000 Irish in a short space of time.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Sinn Fein (us alone) formed a new nationalist movement, responsible for electing several Irish representatives to the British Parliament. Driven by this performance, the members of the new party decided to proclaim Ireland's unilateral independence, as early as 1919. Before long, the settlers of the Ulster region and the British Crown itself reacted against the demand for political autonomy.
After two years of confrontation, the British signed a treaty recognizing Irish independence in 1921. In the year 1937, Irish independence was reaffirmed with the organization of its first constitutional face. In 1949, the British recognized Irish autonomy and allowed the Ulster region to also become independent with the creation of Northern Ireland. However, the conflicts were far from over.
In the early 1920s, the IRA appears with its terrorist actions that demanded the complete end of British interference and the complete unification of its territory. On the other hand, the Protestants of British origin who occupied the North region repudiated such intent, as they feared reprisals from the Catholics who dominated the South. Thus, the Irish question began to unfold into a political conflict, against the British, and a religious one, turned against the Northern Irish.
Throughout the 20th century, we observed that the confrontation between England and the IRA suggested the extension of an almost unresolved problem. However, from the 1990s onwards, the integration process of European economies, with the development of the European Union, significantly contributed to bringing this war to an end.
Even with the attempts at rapprochement and the weakening of the radical movements, the Irish question is still survives in the isolated action of small groups that use the discourse of violence and autonomy that developed throughout of time. Despite one or another manifestation, several indications today contribute to the Irish question reaching its end.
Do not stop now... There's more after the advertising ;)
By Rainer Sousa
Graduated in History
Brazil School Team
Contemporary age - General history - Brazil School
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
SOUSA, Rainer Gonçalves. "The Irish Question"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/historiag/a-questao-irlanda.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
