British Colonization In Ireland

The theory of colonization in Ireland has been wondered about for a while. Did it help Ireland or did it just cause more problems? Ireland didn’t want to be part of the British Colony, yet it was forced upon them. No matter how hard they fought to get away from the colonization, the British came back stronger. After long and vigorous fights, the irish finally won back control.

Before the British colonized Ireland, it was invaded by Celts, who split the country in two different provinces. They had no one to control them and had no central power. People became very accustomed to the Christianity and Catholicism that was being spread. Then the vikings from the Nordic countries wanted to invade Ireland, and stop the rapid growth of religion.

However that didn't happen as well as they had hoped, and they became part of the population (I need help with this citation).

Although the vikings wanted to stop the rapid growth, in the end they accepted it. They had their own cultures and beliefs, yet they were willing to take in the Irish beliefs and cultures as well as theirs. Irish then became Catholic, Christian, and Pagan to accustom everyone.

Tension in Ireland started rising as the British began colonize Ireland. The Norman conquistador Maurice fitz Gerald said “We are English to the Irish, and Irish to the English” (McNamee), meaning they are two different types of people. You can’t change one into the other and expect them to be happy. But the british rule thought differently. Religion became a main topic of disagreement in Ireland due to the different types of religion. The British were Protestant while the Irish were Catholic. The Irish had been Catholic for so long that they couldn’t remember being any other religion. When the British wanted Ireland to become Protestant and they wouldn't have it. Which led to the Irish being persecuted and the Protestants taking over control (I need help with this citation). Many children had a hard time dealing with what kind of

religion they would be, because they were told to be both and knew that wasn't possible. Henry VIII declared himself as the head of the church in England and later English kings became persistent in showing their control over Ireland.The Irish was then forced to conform to an established church, but most of them stayed Catholic. But many of the English settlers came to Ireland, and were Protestant dissenters who felt it was best to stay out of the conformity of establishing the church the Presbyterians from Scotland were the largest group, but other groups settled in Ireland too. The other groups kept their faith while remaining loyal to Britain, but the Irish fought to keep their Catholic faith no matter what the Protestants did to persuade them. This then allowed the connection of Catholicism and Irishness in the nineteenth century when the Irish started to assemble the modern form again (White). The evolution of religion that occurred in Ireland was chaotic because of the certain ways to do things. The Irish were being pushed to throw their Catholicism out and follow the way the British wanted them to be, while still hold on to their religion.

Ireland has long been called an internal colony of Britain. While Ireland’s status as a colony is often seen as complex and ambiguous and therefore contested, many depict the Irish as a national group that was subjugated by British imperialism and sought to resist it (White). Even though the British was dominant and the situation was complicated, and the Irish eventually won. They weren't intimidated or fearful of crossing the British people if it meant they were getting their rights to religion and culture back. They didn't want to abide to what the British wanted and took a stand. Ireland, a poor country found a way to access cheap money, while the government, did not display their good judgement on how to get their country out of poverty. There were no banks (CITE). That caused troubles for people who had enough money to save away, which meant they had to deal with a way to be able to come up with enough money to start banks which took a long time but they had the power to go back into prosperity.The first presidential election Ireland had, marked the end in their involvement with the european economy (cite). They needed a break to get out and start on their own and the election helped them do that. Even though the colonization had ended, they needed to cut all ties with the British, and by getting their own currency, they were able to achieve that. But during one of their presidential elections they were not only in a financial crisis, but also in a social crisis (Cite). The social crisis started due to the high unemployment rate going on. There wasn't enough jobs for all the people in Ireland, which then caused the financial crisis to become even worse.

There have been a lot of theories whether or not the British colonizing Ireland made much of a difference. Many have studied the impact of imperialism, but very little have determined the interaction between colonial powers and the beginning religion of those they planned to defeat (White). It’s hard to tell if the British had helped or hurt Ireland due to the conflict of religion and one side wanting to keep their religion, while the other was against it and trying to convert them into something they weren’t. This is probably what caused a wedge in them in the first place as both sides were unhappy. The postcolonial theory has largely cornered the market in Irish Studies, while revisionism has lost the argument - though there are few who still refuse to accept some aspects of the colonial model for Irish history. This book, with its major figures, and published by Notre Dame Press, representing the university with the wealthiest (and most thriving) Irish Studies program in the U.S., looks back confidently over the previous two decades, reflecting not just on historical and cultural problems, but also offering accounts of postcolonial theory's own origins, trajectory,and ultimate victory. The volume marks the plateau of theory, and in some senses lacks the cutting edge that its promoters claim (Carroll and King). Post colonization is a big topic in the Ireland history because it is such a controversial topic. While some believe that what the British did was a right way to handle, a majority believe it was wrong and turned problematic.
Mary Beckett wrote a short story about during the British colonization how they took over.

One of the first things she remembered was in 1921, when the British burned their house down to get them out of the area, to continue their invasion (Beckett, p 302). The hardships they faced from having their house burned down was probably really hard, not to mention that they lost pretty much everything they had. The British were wrong to have done that to the innocent people, as it was hard for them to find a place for them to live temporarily. In 1935, she was living in another place, when they got a note threatening to burn them out if they didn't leave, so they packed their bags and left (Beckett, p 302). It seems as though the British were targeting one group of people. Anytime they moved, they wanted them to move again, and the cycle seemed endless. It wasn't fair to them to keep being pushed out of their places time and time again. She talks about on day everyone was in town, and the British started firing their guns and everyone ran to get away as fast as possible (Beckett, p 303). The Irish people were scared of the British and didn't want to upset them in any way so they tried to keep a low profile. However it wasn't always easy when everything they knew was being changed and they didn't like that. It was probably pretty hard to assimilate to a new culture and new belief with absolutely no control. They also had the fear of being burned out of their houses which was pretty

common. They would kill people for not obliging to their requests, and the killed a young man for not going back into army. The British needed all the help they could get, but by forcing someone into doing something they don't want to do and then killing them when they don’t is terrible. The British had all the power because anyone will to stand up was killed. A few years later, the author is sitting at her kitchen table when she got a note threatening to burn her out, yet again. Her husband had died and she had nowhere else to go. She ended up going to her friend Liam and asking him for help (Beckett, P 308). Its honestly amazing how many times she got burned out and had a place to go. but now she only has Liam, and that must be hard. How many more times can one person take being burned out before they finally quit. It’s inspiring the amount of times the author willingly leaves and goes somewhere else still full of life and hope. After leaving with Liam, the author decides to go back to her house. She finds that they didn't burn it down, but instead destroyed it. They broke the water pipes from pulling out the sink, and leaving the place an utter mess (Beckett, p 310). The soldiers didn't burn the house down, but did something just as bad, making it to where the author had no place to go, even when everything was finished. She would never have the money to pay to get it fixed, and they knew that. The soldiers targeted the poor.