Comparison of Catholic and Protestant Relations
Although the people of Europe hold a firm understanding and connection to their cultural and historical roots, few Europeans do to such a degree as the Irish. And to the people of British Northern Ireland, this history plays a part of their every day lives; the political, class, culture and ethnic divisions run every bit as strong today as throughout Irish history. But why have these divisions hardened over time? Many European states manage religious and ethnic differences with tensions to a minimum. I propose that these tensions are the consequence of suppression of the Roman Catholic majority of a Protestant ruling elite for several centuries, which has left lasting implications on the modern class structure. Article Five of The Act Of Union, July 2, 1800 was a major contributing factor to the situation. While allowing Irish representation in Great Britain government, it did not allow for Irish Catholic representation. There was also the establishment of one Irish church under the law, Protestant Episcopal Church, to be called, The United Church of England and Ireland. This paper will outline the struggles between the Catholics and the Protestants in Ireland before and after the Act Of Union to compare relations before and a
While the history of Catholic and Protestant conflict is long and ardguous, The Act Of Union is a significant factor in the continuing problems. The Catholics of the region see freedom to their South, but the Protestants see the enemy. The Protestants feel very much British, and wish to remain a political unit with the rest of Britain, while the Catholics feel suppressed living in an uncivil system, with class divisions founded on religion. They are both painfully aware of the circumstances that brought them to this point. So modern Northern Ireland is somewhat comparable to Ireland of years past, one with two very separate and mutually antagonistic groups. The difference now is, unlike in centuries past, democratic ideals can't mitigate the problem, for the population is roughly split with a small majority going to the Protestants. This outrage led to an increase in paramilitary home rule advocates throughout Ireland, in many cases supported financially by displaced relatives abroad. One such organization was the Feinians, a militant nationalist (arguably terrorist) organization. But militancy was not the sole cause for Catholics, they also employed non-violent methods of protest such as strikes, and the first Boycott, used against Captain Charles Boycott in 1880. The cry for home rule could be heard clearly in Westminster and to the MP's Ireland was becoming more trouble than its worth (Foster: 1989). By the break of the twentieth century Irish home rule seemed a matter of time. It seemed to be on the brink when, in 1914 World War One took the forefront and any home rule had to be suspended. During the Battle of the Somme a large contingent of Unionist Ulstermen sustained heavy casualties, dying for the Crown and country they wish to stay in (Somerset: 1988). After the war, British troops were sent to Ireland to suppress the paramilitaries. This civil lasted only a year and a half and ended with the partition of Ireland, home rule for the South, and continued inclusion in the United Kingdom for the North (Somerset: 1988). This volatile mix of almost equal parts Catholic and Protestant exists to this day, with various groups fighting for Republicanism and Unionism. The methodological approach to this study is therefore predominantly based on a historical-comparative approach. This approach differs from both a positivistic and interpretive one, and is based primarily one case study's and qualitative data. The research is an intensive examination of a limited number of cases in which social meaning and context are critical. The research focuses on culture, and tries to see events through the eyes of those being studied, reconstructs the lives of the people studied, and examines particular groups. The benefit to this approach is that it uses many details to lead to a fuller understanding of the topic. There is a focus on the subjective feelings of people, and that everyday, ordinary activities signify important social meaning. A negative aspect of the historical comparative approach is that like most historical studies, the quality of the evidence will always be questioned since it has had to survive for so long. The researcher is limited to what has not been destroyed, and to what leaves a trace, record, or other evidence behind. There is also the problem of interpreting the evidence. Since every person enters the project with views, and experiences that will shape that interpretation, it is difficult, and maybe impossible to reconstruct the past in a thurally unbiased manner. There is also the problem of trying to shape the past, when one already has knowledge of the future. This means that researchers are more likely to conclude that thing happened in a certain way because of the way things are now. The temptation to fit things in a neat, and orderly way is very strong. When one culture rules another culture in the same country, the manner in which said culture is governed will always be debated. Should th
Some common words found in the essay are:
Act Union, Northern Ireland, Catholics O'Connor, Irish Catholics, Tony Blair, Anglican Church, Catholics Ireland, Due Protestant, Relief Act, Irish Catholic, northern ireland, irish catholics, foster 1988, home rule, act union, foster 1989, eighteenth century, o'connor 1962, irish history, anglo-irish ulster scots, anglo-irish ulster, northern ireland remained, central west ulster,
Approximate Word count = 2963
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page double spaced)
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