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Tema 56:
Relaciones 
históricas entre 
Irlanda y Gran 
Bretaña. Autores 
Irlandeses: 
S.O’Casey y J. Joyce  

Madhatter Wylder 
07/06/2009 
 
 Topic 56:
Relacion
nes históricas entre Irlanda y G
Gran Bretaña. Au
utores Irlandese
es: S.O’Casey y J. Joyce
2

Table of contents.
1. Tiimeline. _____________
____________________ ___ 3 
______________________________
___ 5 
2. Hiistorical rellations btw Ireland andd Great Briitain. _________________________
2.11. The Post-Roman Irelland. _________________
________________________________
____ 5 
2.11.1. Christiaanization ________________________ ________________________________ ____ 5 
2.1.2. The Viikings.______________________________ _____ 6 
____________________________________
2.22. The Angloo-French Coontrol (11500 – 1450). __ ________________________________ ____ 6 
2.2.1. MAC MURCHADA annd STRONGBOW W. _________ _____ 6 
____________________________________
2.2.2. King Henry
H II intervvenes.___________________ _____ 7 
____________________________________
2.2.3. Prince John _______________________________ _____ 8 
____________________________________
2.2.4. The Noorman declinee _______________________ _____ 9 
____________________________________
2.33. King Hen
nry VIII regaain control (1450
( – 1541
1) ______________________________
____ 9 
2.44. Religious disagreemeents (1541 - 1788) 1 _____ ________________________________ ___ 10 
2.4.1. The prootestant reform
mation in Enggland. _______ ____ 10 
____________________________________
____ 10 
2.4.2. The Deefeat of Ulsterr and the Ulsteer Plantation __________________________________
2.4.3. The Ennglish civil War: CROMWELLL. _________ ____ 11 
____________________________________
2.4.4. JAMES II and WILLIA AM OF ORANG GE.__________ ____ 12 
____________________________________
2.4.5. The Peenal Laws ___________________________ ____ 13 
____________________________________
2.55. The creation of the United
U Kingddom (1789 – 1877) __________________________ ___ 14 
2.5.1. The Unnited Irishmenn and the 17988 Rebellion ____________
__ ____ 14 
________________________
2.5.2. The Acct of Union __________________________ ____ 15 
____________________________________
2.66. The way towards
t Ind
dependence (1878
( – 19233). _____________________________ ___ 15 
2.6.1. Politicaal parties: Hom
me Rulers, Unnionists, Natio ____ 15 
onalists & Reppublicans. _______________
2.6.2. The thrree Home rulee Bills and Ulsster’s oppositiion. ____________________________________ 16 
2.6.3. The War
W of Independence and Parrtition_______ ____________________________________ ____ 18 
2.6.4. The Iriish Civil War. _______________________ ____________________________________ ____ 19 
2.77. Independence of Nortthern Irelan nd (1969 – 1998) ___________________________ ___ 20 
2.7.1. O'NEILLL and the Civvil Rights Movvement ______
________________________________________ 20 
2.7.2. The staart of the Trouubles and the Fall
F of Stormo ____ 21 
ont ________________________________
2.7.3. The Firrst Ceasefire. _______________________ ________________________________________ 22 
____ 23 
2.7.4. The Seecond Ceasefirre and the Goood Friday Agrreement. ____________________________
3. Th
he Irish Liteerary Renaaissance. ____________ __ 24 
______________________________
3.11. The Irish National Drramatic Socciety. ______
________________________________
___ 24 
3.22. The Abbeey Theatre company
c ______________
________________________________
___ 24 
4. Jaames Joyce (1882 – 19441) ________________ __ 25 
______________________________
4.11. The authoor and his tiimes. _________________
________________________________
___ 25 
4.22. A portraitt of the Artiist as a Youn
ng man (19116) _____________________________ ___ 28 
4.2.1. Themees. _________________________________ ____ 28 
____________________________________
4.2.2 Style. ____________
__ ________________________ ____ 31 
____________________________________
4.2.3. Point of
o view. _____________________________ ____ 32 
____________________________________
5. Seean O’Casey
ey. ________
____________________ __ 33 
______________________________
Bibliiography_____________
____________________ __ 34 
______________________________
Summary: Relaaciones histtóricas entree Irlanda y Gran Bretaaña. Autorees Irlandesees:
S.O’’Casey y J. Joyce
J _____
____________________ ______________________________ __ 35 

Iván Matellaness’ Notes

 Topic 56:
Relaciones históricas entre Irlanda y Gran Bretaña. Autores Irlandeses: S.O’Casey y J. Joyce
3

1. Timeline.
2.1. The Post-
Roman Ireland
-367: Simultaneous attack to England of the SCOTS (From Ireland), PICTS and SAXONS.
Christianization

-431: 1st Christian missionary arrived to Ireland: PALLADIUS.

-460s: ST. PATRICK arrived to Ireland.
2.1.2.

-795: First Viking attacks on Ireland.

-914: Second Viking attacks on Ireland.
-917: DUBHLINN is under the control of the Vikings.

-1066: WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR became King of England.

2.2. The Anglo -French

-1166: MAC MURCHADA met with King HENRY II, looking of help for his invasion to IRELAND.
-1169: Treay: MAC MURCHADA king of Leinster and RORY O’CONNOR High King.
-1170: Treaty broken: STRONGBOW arrives to Ireland w/1000 more soldiers → Attacked DUBLIN.
Ctrl

-1171: MAC MURCHADA dies and STRONGBOW becomes KING RICHARD OF LEINSTER.
HENRY II goes to IRELAND.
-1176: STRONGBOW dies.PRINCE JOHN (later King John the Lackland) became Lord of Ireland.
-1250: England controls almost 50% or Irish land.
-1360s: England (EDWARD III) tries to regain its almost lost power in Ireland.

-1450: English control in Ireland had been reduced to a 20 mile strip around Dublin: The pale.
regain ctrl
2.3. H VIII

-1485: HENRY VIII came to the throne of England: he decides to regain Ireland control.
-1533: A mutiny in the Pale is put down and the Pale is from now on ruled by Englishmen.
-1536: HENRY VIII made his great break with Rome, and created the Church in England.

-1541: HENRY VIII declares himself king of Ireland against the Pope wishes.
-1598, ULSTER was the last bastion of pure Celtic life in IRELAND.
HUGH O'NEILL attacked English troops in ULSTER. England withdrew from ULSTER.
-1601: HUGH O'NEILL’s army is defeated.
-1603: TREATY OF MELLIFONT: HUGE O’NEILL is allowed to keep his land if he accepts UK law.
-1609: PLANTATION OF ULSTER: Immigration of protestant settlers (Presbyterian Scottish).
2.4. Religious disagreement

-1641: ULSTER’s Irish attacked the protestant settlers: 10,000-15,000 deads.

-1642-49: English CIVIL WAR.
-1649: CHARLES I is beheaded. England became a republic: OLIVER CROMWELL.
Cromwell landed at Dublin with 12,000 soldiers to punishing ULSTER’s Irishmen
-1652: CROMWELLIAN SETTLEMENT: Rounded soldiers were paid with Irish land their services.
-1687: JAMES II brother-in-law (Catholic) is appointed as viceroy of Ireland.
JAMES II daughter (MARY) marries a protestant commander: WILLIAM OF ORANGE.
-1688: JAMES II had male son (his catholic heir) vs. the parliament’s choice (WILLIAM ORANGE)
-1689: GLORIOUS REVOLUTION: Parliament→WILLIAM & MARY as kings of UK. JAMES II goes to France.
March. James lands in Ireland to get support from the Catholics to re-conquer UK.
-1690: THE BATTLE OF BOYNE: WILLIAM’s and JAMES’ armies met at the river Boyne.
-1691: TREATY OF LIMERICK: JACOBITES finally surrender. Catholics can practice their religion.
-1695: Anti-Catholic Penal Laws.
-1728: A law was passed which banned Catholics from voting.

-1789: The organization THE UNITED IRISHMEN is formed under WOLFE TONE.
2.5. creation

-1798: British attacked UNITED IRISHMEN and a rebellion against England arose.
of the UK

May. Battle of VINEGAR HILL: Irish are defeated by the English.

November. WOLFE TONES killed himself in prison while waiting for his own execution.
-1800: THE ACT OF UNION formed a new country: The UNITED KINGDOM OF ENGLAND AND IRELAND.

-1886: WILLIAM GLADSTONE, UK PM, passed the 1ST HOME RULE BILL. Conservatives stopped it.
-1892: WILLIAM GLADSTONE passed the 2ND HOME RULE BILL. House of the Lords stopped it.
2.6. The way towards Independence

-1904: JAMES JOYCE lefts Ireland to go to the Continent to became a writer at the age of 22.
-1905: ARTHUR GRIFFITH created a new republican party: THE SINN FÉIN.
-1912-19: 3 HOME RULE BILL is discussed by the Liberal government and the conservatives.
RD

-1913: January. A unionist military force is created: ULSTER VOLUNTEER FORCE.

November. A nationalist military force is created: IRISH VOLUNTEER FORCE.
-1914: March. COUNTY OPTION SCHEME: Each Irish county would vote to join the Home Rule.
st
1 Europe edition of JOYCE’s a portrait of the artists as a Young Man & Dubliners, banned in UK.
-1916: EASTERN RISING against the British, while England was fighting in the WW1.
Published JAMES JOYCE’s a portrait of the artists as a Young Man in England & the USA.
-1919: DAIL EIREANN: Irish Parliament with no power creayed by the SINN FÉIN MPs.
IRISH VOLUNTEER FORCE (IVF) renames to IRISH REPUBLICAN ARMY (IRA).
January. IRA kills two Irish policemen. Begins the WAR OF INDEPENDENCE.
-1920: GOVERNMENT OF IRELAND ACT: Ireland had two parliaments with 2 PMs.

Iván Matellanes’ Notes

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-1921: 1st Elections were held in NORTHERN IRELAND & IRELAND. IRA went on w/the war, though.
July. A ceasefire was signed between the IRA and the British.
November. ANGLO-IRISH TREATY: Ireland achieved a higher degree of independence.
Independence
2.6. towards

-1922: April. Anti-treaty IRA seized control of the Dublin four-courts.

November. MICHAEL COLLINS recovered the Four-Courts. The IRISH CIVIL WAR began.
JOYCE privately prints his Ulysses in Paris.
-1923: April. End of the CIVIL WAR. Death of MICHAEL COLLINS.

-1941: James JOYCE dies.

-1963: Ulster Unionist TERENCE O’NEILL became PM of Northern Ireland and wanted Improve relations
btw N Ireland and R. Ireland.
-1966: UVF (protestant Unionist army) is declared illegal by TERENCE O’NEILL.
IAN PAISLEY creates the PROTESTANT UNIONIST PARTY against O’NEILL Irish policy.
2.7. Independence of Northern Ireland

-1967: NORTHERN IRELAND CIVIL RIGHTS ASSOCIATION was set up.

-1968: 1ST CIVIL RIGHTS MARCH is banned, but the marchers ignore the ban. Beaten by police.
-1969: January. PEOPLE'S DEMOCRACY CIVIL RIGHTS MARCH. Marchers are attacked by loyalists.
February. General elections on northern Ireland. O’NEILL’s party won (minority).
April. O’NEILL is forced to resign bc he wants to introduce the one man one vote.
August. British army arrives to Belfast to support the RUC.
-1970: IRA extremists created the PROVISIONAL IRA: violently fought for N. Ireland independence.
-1971: INTERNMENT: to arrest and hold people without evidence of being terrorists.
-1972: ANTI-INTERNMENT MARCH: 14 people killed by the Army (BLOODY SUNDAY).
March. STORMONT government suspened and LND ruled N.Ireland. Abolishment of Internment.
-1993: DOWNING STREET DECLARATION: UK government accepts the right of self-determination of N. Ireland.
-1994: IRA declares a cease-fire.
-1995: Creation of the INTERNATIONAL BODY ON ARMS DECOMMISSIONING.
-1996: January. MITCHELL REPORT: Decommissioning & peace talks are recommended to be done together.
February. IRA cease-fire was over.
-1997: July. 2nd IRA cease-fire.
September. Peace talk began with most Northern Ireland parties involved.
th
-1998, 10 April GOOD FRIDAY: Senator Mitchell announced that the parties have reached an agreement
2.2. The Anglo -French Ctrl
2.1.2. Christianization

2.4. Religious disagreement

Iván Matellanes’ Notes

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2. Historical relations between Ireland & Great Britain.

2.1. The Post-Roman Ireland.
Although Ireland was not part of the ROMAN EMPIRE, it was soon
heavily influenced by it. As the Roman Britain weakened, the IRISH in the West
(Known as SCOTS) and the PICTS in the north began to attack the province with
growing success. Britain was devastated in 367 by a simultaneous
attack of SCOTS, PICTS and SAXONS.
The SCOTS were a branch of the Irish Celts. Ireland was divided
between the earlier Cruithens (PICTS, who migrated from Scotland around
200AD) and later arriving Goidels (SCOTS), who were constantly fighting. As
Ireland never experienced a Roman invasion, it was a safe place.
The Irish Celts maintained their cultural development free of the
Roman repression. After the Romans left Britain in about 453, the
Romanized Gaels of England became easy targets for the fierce SCOTICS.

2.1.1. Christianization
Christianity spread into Ireland in the 400s.
The first missionary was PALLADIUS, who came in 431.
He was followed a few years later by ST PATRICK.
Patrick had previously been in Ireland working as a
slave, but had escaped to Gaul where he became a
Christian Priest. He heard the people of Ireland calling
him to come back, so he did in the 460s. His mission
was very successful and he set up churches
across north and eastern Ireland.
Christianity was clearly accepted, & Ireland (Ir)
developed a network of thousands of Churches.
In the 500s, some Christians sought a life of solitude
from everyday life and this led to the setting up of monasteries. These were
initially small sites in remote locations (small church & individual
huts). Many of the monasteries produced famous hand-written manuscripts &
Ireland became a land of saints & scholars, whose influence spread outside Ir.

Iván Matellanes’ Notes

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2.1.2. The Vikings.

THE VIKINGS were groups of warriors from SCANDINAVIA who
attacked Britain, Ireland and northern France for treasures & slaves.
They attacked Ireland in two waves. The first began in 795 when a band
of Viking attacked a monastery on the north coast. More monasteries and
civilian settlements were attacked over the next 40 years. However, the
attacks stopped around 851, because they had turned their attention to
creating a kingdom of their own in northern Britain. Over the next few
decades the Irish managed to drive the Vikings out of all their coastal
settlements. The second wave of attacks began in 914. The Vikings re-
captured once again Dubhlinn. After 950, the second, and last, episode of
Viking attacks ended. The VIKINGS settled down in their towns around the
Irish coast and became traders.

2.2. The Anglo-French Control (1150 – 1450).

2.2.1. MAC MURCHADA and STRONGBOW.
DAIRMAIT MAC MURCHADA the King of Leinster had been expelled from
Ireland after being defeated by KING RORY O'CONNOR and the Dubliners. A
ruthless warrior now humiliated by defeat, MAC MURCHADA's only goal was to
win back his Kingdom. With this in mind, he sailed to Britain and sought
a meeting with King Henry II in 1166, in the hope that Henry might
help him in his quest.
HENRY II met MAC MURCHADA, but was reluctant to help him. He had
just become King, and his hold over England was still weak and he did not wish
to start an expensive war. Nevertheless, he had been given permission by
the Pope shortly before to claim Ireland as part of his kingdom in order
to reform the Church. He authorised MAC MURCHADA to privately recruit anyone
he could from the English populace but had no more to do with the matter
himself. MAC MURCHADA then travelled to Bristol, on the west coast of England,
where he recruited some lords (one of them was STRONGBOW). STRONGBOW was
no friend of Henry II, and the feeling was mutual (he had opposed Henry's bid
for the throne and was paying for it). In return for helping him, MAC MURCHADA
promised STRONGBOW his daughter AOIFE and the Kingdom of Leinster after

Iván Matellanes’ Notes

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7

MAC MURCHADA's death. The lesser barons were promised land, including the
Viking city of Wexford. Since he had little future in England, the prospect
of inheriting an entire kingdom in Ireland must have been very appealing to
STRONGBOW.
MAC MURCHADA had to wait two years for his reinforcements to arrive. In
1169 the lesser barons that had been recruited in Wales arrived with
600 archers and cavalry, and recruited 500 Irishmen loyal to MAC
MURCHADA. With this they managed to force a treaty with RORY O'CONNOR
that allowed him to be restored as King of Leinster, provided he
recognised O'CONNOR as High King. However, MAC MURCHADA secretely
wanted more. He sent a message to STRONGBLOW
asking for further reinforcements, STRONGBOW
himself arrived in 1170 with 1000 men.
They broke the treaty with O'Connor. STRONGBOW
became heir to Leinster's throne.
Strongbow's men then went north, attacked and
defeated Dublin.
The situation changed suddenly in 1171
when King DAIRMAIT MAC MURCHADA died and
STRONGBOW was crowned King Richard of
Leinster. STRONGBOW defeated O'CONNOR,
who retired humiliated, High King only in
name.

2.2.2. King Henry II intervenes.

When HENRY II of England knew that STRONGBOW had established
himself as King of a province in Ireland, He was furious. From his point
of view, he had given permission for his citizens to help MAC MURCHADA
militarily, not to rival his authority as King. Henry, rather uselessly, issued
a decree forbidding Strongbow to go to Ireland and set out for Ireland himself
with large army arriving in 1171. Realizing that the King could and would
defeat him, STRONGBOW intercepted Henry before he had even arrived
offering apologies and begging forgiveness.

Iván Matellanes’ Notes

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8

Henry's anger must have calmed for he let STRONGBOW remain Lord
of Leinster, provided he submitted authority to the King of England.
Realizing that King Henry was their only hope against STRONGBOW's
expansionism, the less powerful Irish kings decided it would be in
their best interests to have him on-side. Henry thus spent quite a period
receiving delegations from the Irish Kings all of whom submitted to King
Henry as their overlord and agreed to pay him tribute. Only the former High
King, RORY O'CONNOR of Connacht, and the Kings of the Northern Uí Néill did
not submit to Henry.
When STRONGBOW died in 1176, Leinster passed into the hands of the
King’s youngest son PRINCE JOHN. PRINCE JOHN was Lord of Ireland until he
became King of England in 1199, but in that time he showed little respect
for the remaining Irish Kings.

2.2.3. Prince John

The expansion of the
Anglo-French colony in Ireland
continued under the Lordship
of PRINCE JOHN in the period
1170 to the end of the 1200s.
The response of the Irish Kings was
largely to submit to the more
powerful invaders. However, the
general populace was less
enthusiastic. The story of the
expansion of the colony is largely
made up of the actions of individual
barons, with occasional input from
the King.
During the 1st half of the 13th C, the Norman expansion continued
in Ireland, even though some Irish Kings fought back. Half of the island was
under the control of the Norman, and chiefly the North resisted the invasion.

Iván Matellanes’ Notes

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9

2.2.4. The Norman decline

Despite their superior fighting capability and successful conquests, the
Norman colony in Ireland began to decline after 1250 AD. Firstly, there
were not enough dedicated Normans to occupy all the land they had
acquired. Secondly, after 1216, the Norman Kings back in England had
lost interest in Ireland. Thirdly, the Normans had begun to be
'Irishised' and many had married Irish people and had learned the Irish
language and traditions. Lastly, many Normans who had come to seek
their fortune on the 'new frontier' became tired of Ireland.
In 1360, King EDWARD III finally realised that he was on the edge of
losing control of the last Norman parts of Ireland and sent his son to try
to reverse the declining trend. He arrived in Dublin in 1361 with an army and
recruited local Normans, but he had not much success.
The Norman decline continued for the next half century. By 1450,
English control in Ireland had been reduced to a 20 mile wide strip
around Dublin, known as the Pale. The Irish were unable to completely
drive the English off the island. The Pale was surrounded with a fence
to keep out the Irish and the 3 major English Lords whose estates were
within the Pale continued to exist.

2.3. King Henry VIII regain control (1450 – 1541)

In 1485, HENRY VIII came to the throne in England. His coronation was
opposed by many Irish Lords, including supporters of the previous King. When
Henry looked at Ireland he did not like what he saw. For one thing, Irish
power has become a threat to the English control of the Pale. He decided that
English control in Ireland was pathetic and resolved to restore control to
the level that the Normans had enjoyed 250 years before.
In 1533 a mutiny against King HENRY VIII power in the Pale was
quickly and ruthlessly put down and the Pale was expanded. From then
on, the Pale was ruled by Englishmen and not Irish lords. Then HENRY
VIII changed tactics. He was forced to adopt a more peaceful policy. He
held talks with many Irish Lords and most signed peace treaties that
recognized Henry as their King and agreed to accept English law. In

Iván Matellanes’ Notes

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10

return they were allowed to live free of threats from the English. Most of
the Irish lords became Earls of parts of Ireland. By using this tactic, Henry
VIII managed to gain control of most of Ireland in a very short time
and with practically no violence.
In 1536, HENRY VIII made his great break with Rome, and set
himself up as head of the Church in England. HENRY VIII tries to spread
Reformation on the Irish, but he's not successful. This is said to be the
origin of the Irish-English religious conflict. In 1541 HENRY VIII went
against the expressed wishes of the Pope and made himself the King
of Ireland as well as England. This resulted in an increase in English
immigration and settlement in Ireland.

2.4. Religious disagreements (1541 - 1788)

2.4.1. The protestant reformation in England.
In 1533, when HENRY VIII tried to marry Anne Boleyn, the Roman
Catholic church forbade him from doing so because he was already
married. Henry found no other way to get around this problem than
declaring the Pope no longer head of the Church of England, and
made himself head instead. In 1536, the Church in Ireland was ordered to
follow recognise Henry as head of the Church, but they refused and continued
to regard the Pope as head.
In the next 10 years, England was to move from a protestant church
(EDWARD VI in 1549) to a catholic (QUEEN MARY in 1553) back to a non
catholic neither Protestant version (QUEEN ELIZABETH I in 1558). Ireland has
been traditionally, since St Patrick’s days, a deeply Catholic society. Therefore,
religious disagreements appeared btw these two societies which still exist in
present-day society.

2.4.2. The Defeat of Ulster and the Ulster Plantation

By 1598, ULSTER was the last bastion of pure Celtic life in Ireland.
The culture of most of the rest of Ireland had mingled with Viking, Norman and
then English settlers. ULSTER was largely shielded from these changed
because a) it was defended by strong clans, b) it was furthest away from the

Iván Matellanes’ Notes

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11

Norman invasions which took place on the south coast c) it was muddy and was
regarded as inferior land for conquering.
Around about this time, HUGH O'NEILL, the Earl of Tir Eoghain, decided
that the English control of the rest of Ireland was a threat to his Celtic
heritage and Catholic faith. Concerned by the strength of the English, he
decided to attack them first and England lost control of Ulster. In 1601,
O'NEILL's army was defeated and he retreated but did not surrender. Rather
than invading Ulster, the English started launching commando-attacks
into Ulster to destroy crops. O'Neill did attack again, but was defeated. In
1603, the O'Neill & the English signed the TREATY OF MELLIFONT which
permitted O'Neill to keep his land while adopting English law.
However, the English felt that the TREATY OF MELLIFONT was not
enough to keep control of ULSTER, because Catholic Spain could supply
them with arms. So England King decided to plant Ulster with Protestant
settlers. In 1609 the English mapped out 4,000,000 acres of land and started
giving it out in 1610. The vast majority of the settlers were Scottish and
they brought with them a new form of Protestantism (Presbyterianism). They
also brought new farming methods and a Puritan lifestyle.

2.4.3. The English civil War: CROMWELL.

All through these events the power of the English Parliament was
steadily increasing. Although officially ruled by the King, Parliament has
increased its power to such an extent that by the 1600s the king lost its control.
King CHARLES I came into conflict with Parliament. One of these conflicts endes
up in the ENGLISH CIVIL WAR. Those English who supported the King (THE
CAVALIERS) had support in north England and Wales and the
Parliamentarians (ROUNDHEADS) had support in the rest of England. The
Cavaliers were defeated and captured and executed CHARLES I in 1649. For the
next 11 years England was a Republic ruled by Oliver Cromwell (a
fundamental Protestant and an extremely cruel man).
In 1641, just prior to the Civil War, the Irish of Ulster had begun an
uprising and attacked the planters who had been settled 30 years
before. Between 10,000 and 15,000 Protestant planters were

Iván Matellanes’ Notes

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12

murdered by the Irish. Due to the war, the English did nothing about this. In
1649 CROMWELL landed at Dublin with 12,000 men with the intention of
punishing ULSTER’s Irishmen. Cromwell left Ireland in 1650 having dealt a
severe blow to the uprising Irish.
The soldiers in the Roundhead army needed to be paid, but
Parliament had no money to give them. So CROMWELL decided to pay
them in land. He forcibly moved thousands of Irish from their homes in
MUNSTER and LEINSTER and resettled them in the poorest land of Ireland (in
the West counties). Furthermore, Irish were not allowed to live within 3 miles of
the coast. In 1652 the newly cleared land in MUNSTER and LEINSTER was
given to Protestants in what was called the CROMWELLIAN SETTLEMENT.
There was now no part of Ireland where Catholics owned more than ½ of the
land. The main reason
for this was Cromwell's
belief in fundamental
Protestantism and
hatred of Catholicism.
He claimed to be acting
on God's behalf and
expelled about 1000
Catholic priests from
Ireland.

2.4.4. JAMES II and WILLIAM OF ORANGE.

In 1688, CHARLES II was succeeded by King JAMES II, a Catholic who
introduced laws for religious toleration of non-Anglicans (i.e. Catholics
and Presbyterians). However, when James II began promoting Catholics
up to the higher ranks of the army, Parliament became suspicious that he
was trying to make England an officially Catholic country again. To complicate
matters, James' II daughter, MARY, married a protestant commander WILLIAM
OF ORANGE, who thus became heir to the English throne.

Iván Matellanes’ Notes

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In 1687, JAMES II made his brother-in-law his viceroy in Ireland.

The viceroy strengthened the Irish army in case James needed it.
Because James was a Catholic, it was easy to find recruits in Ireland.
Things changed in 1688 when JAMES II had another son. While
James II regarded this Catholic boy as his heir, Parliament regarded
Protestant William as heir. Scared that James would take action to prevent
William becoming King, Parliament invited WILLIAM over to take over the
monarchy there and then, and WILLIAM arrived in November 1688 with
his troops and marched to London. James fled to France and WILLIAM
and MARY were made King and Queen in 1689. This coronation is called
the GLORIOUS REVOLUTION. The Protestants in Ireland joined the revolution and
declared their support for William.
In March 1689, James landed in Ireland at Dublin to start his
fight-back, because he knew he would get strong Catholic support
there. Many Protestant supporters of William took up arms and attacked
James' new army. However James was stronger than the natives and drove
them back. In August 1689, William’s armies landed at Ireland. William received
troops from the Danes and James was helped by Louis XVI of France. In July
1690, William’s and James’ armies met at the River Boyne. The battle, known
as the BATTLE OF THE BOYNE, is arguably the most famous event in Irish
history, due to its symbolic Catholic/Protestant confrontation.
In the event, William won the battle. James immediately fled to
France. James' viceroy remained and led the remains of James' army to
Limerick. William returned to England leaving his general GINKEL in charge.
1691, the JACOBINS (supporters of James) finally surrendered and a peace
treaty was signed in October. This was the TREATY OF LIMERICK which
permitted Catholics to retain the right to practice their religion, but
surrender their land. Most of the Jacobin soldiers were allowed free passage to
go to France to fight for Louis.

2.4.5. The Penal Laws

After the TREATY OF LIMERICK, a series of Penal Laws were passed
by the Irish Parliament whose expressed purpose was to purge Ireland of

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Catholicism, by forcing Catholics to become Protestant. These laws

banned Catholics from:
a) Having a gun
b) Being professionals (except medical)
c) Being involved in politics
d) Owning land
e) Receiving education (except for that in the Protestant faith)
f) Owning a horse over £5 value.
These laws were so cruel that many Irish converted to Anglicanism, if
only to escape the penalties that were incurred by those who broke
the Penal Laws. In 1728 another law was passed which banned
Catholics from voting. Catholics were not the only group to be discriminated,
but Presbyterianism too.

2.5. The creation of the United Kingdom (1789 – 1877)

2.5.1. The United Irishmen and the 1798 Rebellion
In 1789 (coinciding with the French Revolution) a new organisation
was formed in Ireland. Under WOLFE TONE, THE UNITED IRISHMEN (who
consisted of Protestants and Catholics alike) declared their belief in a
peaceful future for Ireland in which Protestants and Catholics could
live together in peace and with equality. They wanted to set up a
French-styled democratic republic in Ireland, which was independent of
Britain. They quickly gained support, although the ORANGE ORDER (set up to
preserve loyalty to the monarchy) was against them.
Britain was a constitutional monarchy, which meant that the King
did not have absolute power. Therefore the British regarded themselves
as already democratic. The British saw the UNITED IRISHMEN as a national
threat to be disposed of.
In 1798, the British began attacking known UNITED IRISHMEN
(murdering large numbers of Protestant and Catholic members). TONE realised
that if they were going to have their rebellion, it would have to be now.
So a large rebellion began in the spring. The UNITED IRISHMEN were

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finally defeated at the Battle of VINEGAR HILL. Almost all the several
hundred UNITED IRISHMEN were slaughtered. However, it was not over. In
late 1798, the French sent reinforcements to Ireland and they landed
at MAYO, in western Ireland. The French and their Irish were finally defeated
by the British. While the French were taken prisoner, the local Irish were
massacred as a punishment for treason. WOLFE TONE committed
suicide in prison while awaiting execution. Note that this was the last
time a hostile army ever invaded Ireland. Although the rebellion was over,
it was clear that Republicanism in Ireland could not be ignored and
serious changes were needed.

2.5.2. The Act of Union

The drastic action that was taken was the ACT OF UNION (1800). It
formed a new country (THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND

IRELAND) by uniting England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland. A new flag -

THE UNION JACK - was created for it which had components from the flags
of each member state. All regional parliaments were abolished, and
instead the entire UK was to be ruled from a centralised London
parliament. For most Irish, there wasn't a noticeable difference, but it meant
the Irish government representatives could not pass laws on their own.

2.6. The way towards Independence (1878 – 1923).

2.6.1. Political parties: Home Rulers, Unionists, Nationalists &
Republicans.
In the 1880s, there were several groups in Ireland. The HOME RULERS
wanted the ACT OF UNION repealed and Ireland given back its own
Parliament, but not made an independent country. Against the HOME RULE
movement were those who felt that the Act of Union was good for
Ireland and wanted to retain it. These were called the IRISH UNIONISTS. They
were mostly wealthy Protestants, because Catholics had not recovered
from the years of segregation. Against the UNIONISTS were those who felt
that Ireland could be made into a self-governing nation. These were
called the IRISH NATIONALISTS. The final group was those who wanted to

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create a self-governing republic in Ireland. These were called the IRISH

REPUBLICANS. They differed from Nationalists in that they wanted an
independent country above anything else. NATIONALISTS were more
interested in nationhood on the island, and did not place as much
emphasis on independence.

ACT OF UNION: IRELAND

IRELAND as a part Independent
of UK from UK

HOME RULERS NATIONALISTS

UNIONISTS REPUBLICANS

Political tendencies in the 1880s

2.6.2. The three Home rule Bills and Ulster’s opposition.

In 1886, the Liberal Party PM, WILLIAM GLADSTONE, decided that in
order to end the problems in Ireland, some action would have to be
taken. He felt that giving Ireland back their local Parliament, which
was removed in the Act of Union of 1800, would solve the problem. So in
1886, GLADSTONE introduced the 1ST HOME RULE BILL, but it was defeated in
the London Parliament because the Conservative Party were against it.
After this attempt to introduce Home Rule, the IRISH UNIONISTS 1
formed an organization called the IRISH UNIONIST ALLIANCE (IUA) to fight
HOME RULE. This organization was very influential, despite being small in
numbers, and received large donations from rich businessmen. The IUA also
gained support with the opposition in the UK Parliament (the
Conservatives) because they felt that if Ireland broke away from the UK, other
parts of the British Empire would try to as well.
In 1886, the anti-HOME RULE Conservatives came to power, but in
1892, the Liberals regained power. Despite threats from the UNIONISTS at
their 1892 conference, WILLIAM GLADSTONE introduced the 2ND HOME RULE
BILL in 1893. In a victorious vote, it was passed by the House of Commons.
However it was defeated in the UK's the House of Lords, where there were
many more Conservatives than Liberals, so it did not become law.

1
The Ulster is where Irish UNIONISM was significantly stronger than anywhere else.

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In 1905, ARTHUR GRIFFITH set up a new political party, called SINN

FÉIN. It was a Republican party and was fervently against HOME RULE,
which it regarded as falling too short of what was needed. It supported a
completely independent republic consisting of the whole island of Ireland.
In the 1909 General Election, Liberals and the Conservatives both
won exactly 272 seats. For the leader of the 84-seat HOME RULE PARTY (JOHN
REDWOOD), this was an ideal situation to get what he wanted. The Liberals
introduced the Parliament Act to reduce the power of the House of
Lords, but they needed more than 272 votes to ensure that it was
passed. REDWOOD agreed to support the Liberal's Parliament Act in
return for another HOME RULE BILL. The Act finally passed in 1910.
The Liberals were now obligated to introduce the 3rd Home Rule
Bill, in 1912. When the Bill was discussed, the Conservatives fiercely
campaigned to have the Unionist north east of Ireland treated
separately from the rest of the island. They argued that the
Protestants of Ulster constituted a separate Irish nation. In Belfast,
tensions were so high over the Bill that spontaneous rioting kept
breaking out between the Catholic and Protestant.
As the Bill was discussed, one proposition put forward was that the 4
counties with a Unionist majority (ANTRIM, DOWN, LONDONDERRY AND ARMAGH)
could be left out of the Home Rule scheme. Many Unionists decided they
would need a back up military force as insurance to make certain that at
least Ulster was left out of HOME RULE. So in 1913, the ULSTER VOLUNTEER
FORCE (UVF) was set up.
By the end of 1913 (the Bill was still being debated) the Nationalists
realised that the Liberal government was likely to agree with the
Conservatives and leave part of Ulster out of HOME RULE. So Nationalists
set up their own military force, the IRISH VOLUNTEER FORCE (IVF) in
November. In March 1914, the government introduced a new scheme, which it
hoped would prevent a Civil War between the UVF and IVF: The COUNTY
OPTION SCHEME, under which each county in Ireland would vote
whether or not to join Home Rule.

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2.6.3. The War of Independence and Partition

After the WW1 (1918) SINN FÉIN had on 73 MP seats compared to the
HOME RULE PARTY'S 6. The IRISH UNIONIST PARTY won 26 seats, mostly in
Ulster. All 73 Sinn Féin MPs refused to go to Westminster, and instead sat in
their own Parliament in Dublin, called DAIL EIREANN, it first met in 1919.
With the 3rd HOME RULE BILL under discussion now for 7 years, with no
implementation (because of the WW1), the IVF decided that they had
waited long enough. They also hoped that by becoming a formidable
military force, they could persuade the government to introduce
complete Independence rather than the proposed HOME RULE solution.
In 1919 they renamed themselves the IRISH REPUBLICAN ARMY (IRA).
On 21 January 1919, the IRA shot dead 2 Irish policemen, and this
marked the beginning of the WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. In 1920 the IRA, led by
MICHAEL COLLINS, concluded that the war was not having the desired effect
and decided to intensify the war.
Meanwhile, despite the conflict, the government decided to press
ahead with HOME RULE and passed the GOVERNMENT OF IRELAND ACT in 1920.
This gave Ireland 2 Parliaments (each with a Prime Minister), one for the
Unionists and one for the Nationalists, but kept both Parliaments under the
UK parliament in London. Elections were held both in Northern Ireland (won
by the Unionists) and in Ireland (won by the Sinn Féin) in 1921. However Sinn
Féin refused to recognize the Parliament and instead continued to meet in
DAIL EIREANN.
The IRA, under COLLINS, continued to fight on for more
independence. Finally a ceasefire was signed between the IRA and the
British on July 1921. After 4 months of negotiations a treaty was signed by
MICHAEL COLLINS on behalf of the IRA. However he did not fully consult his
colleagues, many of whom were horrified that he had accepted partition.
The ANGLO-IRISH TREATY replaced the Parliament created by the
GOVERNMENT OF IRELAND ACT. The new Act created an Ireland which was
much more independent, and certainly much more independent Northern
Ireland. The new country was to be called the IRISH FREE STATE and would

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have its own army, although it would remain within the British
Commonwealth (similarly to the status which Canada has today). Britain
would also have a representative in Ireland and would keep some naval
bases in Irish waters. The Sinn Fein leader, EAMONN DE VALERA, became the
first Prime Minister of the IRISH FREE STATE.

2.6.4. The Irish Civil War.

DE VALERA, however, was furious that COLLINS had signed the
treaty. To him it still fell much too short of what he had been fighting for
(independence of all 32 Ireland counties). However, there was a narrow split
between the pro- and anti-treaty. Sinn Fein decided to have a vote it and won
those in favour of the treaty. DE VALERA and other Sinn Fein members
walked out in protest and DE VALERA was replaced as Prime Minister.
In April 1922, the anti-treaty IRA seized control of the Dublin
Four-Courts and other key buildings. The situation grew very tense as the
new Irish government tried to mediate with the IRA. However, the government
quickly lost its patience and in June MICHAEL COLLINS ordered the Irish
Army to recover the Four-Courts. He succeeded in driving the IRA out of
Dublin but had also triggered the IRISH CIVIL WAR. The war went on for
almost a year. It was basically a guerilla war. Slowly, the Army drove the IRA
into the mountains. Therefore the IRA finally called a halt to its campaign in
April 1923.
Meanwhile in NORTHERN IRELAND, a new building for the Northern Ireland
government was constructed near Stormont Castle. From then on, the
NORTHERN IRELAND PARLIAMENT was referred to by the nickname STORMONT.
The government decided to stabilise the province by increasing Unionist
control of councils. So they abolished Proportional Representation and
replaced it with a First past the post electoral system2.

2
The first-past-the-post electoral system is a voting system for single-member districts,
variously called first-past-the-post or winner-take-all. Each voter selects one candidate.
All votes are counted and the candidate with the most votes is the winner and is the
representatife for the whole district. This system is very common in former British colonies.

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2.7. Independence of Northern Ireland (1969 – 1998)

2.7.1. O'NEILL and the Civil Rights Movement
In 1963, Ulster Unionist leader TERENCE O'NEILL became the Prime
Minister of Northern Ireland. He had high hopes for Northern Ireland and
wanted to build bridges between the protestant and catholic communities. Thus,
he declared the UVF illegal in 1966 and set up a new non-sectarian
university (the University of Ulster). An important part of this process was to
improve relations with the Republic of Ireland. Therefore, in 1965, he
invited the Irish Republic's prime minster for talks on trade relations.
Not all people in Northern Ireland supported O'Neill. Many Unionists
had grave reservations about the Republic of Ireland. In particular, they
objected to:
(1) Articles 2 & 3 of the Irish constitution which claimed jurisdiction
over the whole island
(2) The Irish constitution's declaration of the special position of
the Catholic Church
(3) The Catholic church's policies, such as banning members who
married Protestants from bringing up their children as Protestants.
Many felt that a Northern Ireland Prime Minister should not associate with the
Irish government.
In 1966, a Unionist named IAN PAISLEY, set up the PROTESTANT
UNIONIST PARTY and began to strongly oppose O'NEILL. Thanks to PAISLEY,
sectarian tensions rose further. In a Northern Ireland – Republic of Ireland
meeting in 1967, PAISLEY's supporters held mass demonstrations branding
O'NEILL the Ally of Popery & demanding that the keep Ulster
Protestant. This caused sectarian tensions in Northern Ireland to rise even
more and the relationship with the Republic deteriorated as a result.
In 1967, the NORTHERN IRELAND CIVIL RIGHTS ASSOCIATION (NICRA)
was set up. Its members were drawn from both communities, although
mainly from Nationalist Catholics who were more at a disadvantage. The
NICRA's demands were for a fair voting system ('one man one vote'), an
end to religious discrimination. As the first Civil Rights marches took

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place in August 1968, STORMONT began banning them because the police
had not been previously notified (illegal march). The marchers ignored the
ban and were attacked and beaten by the police.
However, another group of people refused to accept the
concessions, saying they were too little ('one man one vote' was not
introduced). Led by Northern Ireland students, the PEOPLE'S DEMOCRACY
MOVEMENT ignored pleas for calm from the NICRA and organised a march from
Derry to Belfast for January 1969. Near Derry, it was ambushed by loyalists
and some off-duty policemen. The marchers were stoned and beaten
and the on-duty police did not make much effort to stop them.
In February, a general election was called in Northern Ireland.
Although O'Neill's party won most votes they no longer had enough to form
a strong government. O'NEILL then decided to introduce 'one man one
vote' for the next election, but this caused so much anger from his own
party that he was forced to resign. Civil Rights marches began to get violent,
fuelled by the anger at the violence that had met their earlier marches.

2.7.2. The start of the Troubles and the Fall of Stormont

The summer months of 1969 saw some of the worst rioting in
Northern Ireland's history, mainly in response to the heavy attack on the
Civil Rights movement in the province. As time went on, the marches
became less concerned with Civil Rights and more concerned with
Republicanism.
The UK government realised in August that Northern Ireland was about
to collapse because the RUC could not maintain order. So, on August, the UK
Prime Minister, HAROLD WILSON, ordered the British Army into Belfast
and Derry to support the RUC. Four days later he also ordered the Stormont
government to introduce one man one vote and disarm and restructure the
RUC. With all their demands now met, the official Civil Rights was over.
This was not the end of the story. The violence that had erupted
towards the Catholic community had prompted many people there to
renew their old desire for a united Ireland. In 1969 a fierce debate began
within the ranks of the IRA (in favour or against violent intervention). This

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militant group split off in 1970, formed the PROVISIONAL IRA and began a
ruthless bombing campaign in Northern Ireland and sometimes on
mainland Britain.
By August 1971, the army and RUC knew who the main members of the
terrorist organisations were. So they decided to introduce INTERNMENT (to
arrest and hold people without evidence) to take them off the streets and
hopefully prevent further murders. Many innocent people were
detained and most of the leaders of the terrorist organisations slipped through
the net. Despite its good intentions, INTERNMENT served only to increase
support for terrorism yet again. Rioting against Internment began. In 1972,
a huge anti-Internment rally was organised in Derry. Although the
march itself passed off peacefully, rioting broke out as it ended. The army
opened fire on the protestors, because they thought they were under an armed
IRA attack. 14 people were killed, none of whom were found any weapon.
The event became known as 'Bloody Sunday'. The killings (and the subsequent
report which did not recommend charging the soldiers) outraged the nationalist
community.
In 1972, the STORMONT government is suspended and London
ruled Northern Ireland. The UK government also abolished INTERNMENT
and gave all Northern Ireland people the right to a fair trial.

2.7.3. The First Ceasefire.

After years of terrorism, in late 1993, the British and Irish
governments began a new peace process. The people of N. Ireland had
endured 24 years of violence and there was growing feeling that
something had to be done to end it once and for all. So the two
governments met and, on 15 December 1993, and created the called DOWNING
STREET DECLARATION, which committed both governments to permit any party
that gave up violence to join talks. The UK and Irish declared that a united
Ireland was possible if a majority so desired. This declaration angered
the extreme Unionists, who accused the UK of selling off Ulster.
In February 1994, the USA permitted GERRY ADAMS (Sinn Féin leader)
to go there for the first time. Afterwards, President Clinton urged the

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IRA to call a ceasefire. Eventually, on August 1994, the IRA announced a

complete cessation of military operations.
Although the peace talks had started by mid 1995, neither Sinn Fein
nor the fringe loyalists had been permitted to enter. The main reason
was that the UK Prime Minister JOHN MAJOR had said that the terrorists must
destroy their weapons before their political wings could be admitted to the
talks. The INTERNATIONAL BODY ON ARMS DECOMMISSIONING was chaired by
US Senator GORGE MITCHELL. At Christmas 1995, US President BILL CLINTION
made an historic visit to Northern Ireland to support the peace process.
In 1996 Senator Mitchell presented the MITCHELL REPORT which
recommended that parties be permitted to join talks and the process of
decommissioned was effective during the talks. The IRA was furious,
saying that decommissioning could not begin until the process was
completed, and refused to hand over any weapons. Sinn Fein tried to
hold IRA disagreements together. However on February the IRA announced
that their ceasefire was over. 60 seconds later, a massive bomb exploded at
Canary Wharf in London killing two civilians and causing millions of pounds
worth of damage. IRA now onwards would concentrated their campaign on
mainland Britain (London, Manchester …). The FRINGE LOYALIST PARTIES

managed to persuade the loyalist terrorists to maintain their ceasefires.

2.7.4. The Second Ceasefire and the Good Friday Agreement.

In 1997, The new UK Prime Minister, TONY BLAIR announced that the
all-party talks were starting, regardless of whether Sinn Fein was present
or not (Sinn Fein could not enter unless there was an IRA ceasefire). The issue
of decommissioning became less important, as it became clear that the
IRA was not going to accept it.
IRA realised that the talks were going ahead regardless of Sinn
Fein's presence, so that it would be better to be there to ensure that they
had a voice. So on July 1997 the IRA called a new ceasefire and the Sinn
Fein was admitted to the talks. On 15 September most Northern Ireland's
political parties sat down for peace talks. Progress was slow, but was
made.

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After 4 long months of talks, on 25 March, the chairman GEORGE

MITCHELL decided that an agreement must be reached by Thursday, 9
April 1998 at the latest. The talks went into full time session as
agreements were reached with astonishing speed. On April 6, Senator
MITCHELL released a draft discussion agreement to the parties. However,
the Unionists objected strongly to the strand 2 proposals and for a few days
it looked as if the talks were going to collapse. Only the personal
intervention of TONY BLAIR and PRESIDENT CLINTON managed to save
them. At 5pm on 10 April, GOOD FRIDAY, Senator MITCHELL announced
that the parties have reached an agreement after 29 years. Pictures of
Sinn Fein, the loyalists, the SDLP and the Unionists sitting together applauding
the announcement were beamed around the world.

3. The Irish Literary Renaissance.

There was a Nationalist movement to establish an Irish theatre during
the early years of the 20th C. The Irish theatre was:
- Independent of European (English) fashion.
- Different from the sentimental and imitative plays of the moment.
- Devoted to foster Irish poetic Drama.
The IRISH LITERARY THEATRE was founded by W.B. Yeats & Lady Gregory
in 1898.

3.1. The Irish National Dramatic Society.

It was born as an Amateur Group, which was initially formed by:
- W.B. YEATS (1865-1939). - W. & F. FAY.
- E. MARTYN (1859-1924). - LADY GREGORY, who was the
only woman.
- G. MOORE (1852-1933).

3.2. The Abbey Theatre company

This amateur society finally became professional. Annie Horniman, an
English woman friend of Yeats, paid for the conversion of an old theatre in
Abbey Street, Dublin, in 1904. The first presidents of the company were YEATS
and LADY GREGORY. Many well known writers (as WILDE, SHAW, JOYCE or O’CASEY)
presented their plays there.

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The company showed two peculiar features related to Irish culture:

1) Irish Style of acting, which was distinguished by (a) its realism in
scenery, dress and Lg; (b) the absence of stars dominating the group;
(c) and the absence of unnecessary gestures in stage performance.
2) Irish topics shoeing Irish controversy, which was sometimes
manifested through violence.

4. James Joyce (1882 – 1941)

I will introduce the life of James Joyce on the base of his novel the
portrait of the artists as a Young Man (1916).

4.1. The author and his times.

Silence, exile, and cunning, these are weapons STEPHEN DEDALUS
chooses in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. And these, too, were
weapons that its author, JAMES JOYCE, used against a hostile world.
Like his fictional hero, Stephen, the young JOYCE felt repressed by the
narrow interests, religious pressures, and political quarrels of turn-of-
the-century Ireland. In 1904, when he was 22, he left his family and the
Roman Catholic Church for the European continent to become a writer. With
brief exceptions, he was to remain away from Ireland for the rest of his
life. This was a difficult decision, because JOYCE had always been close to
his family. He still admired the intellectual and artistic aspects of the
Roman Catholic tradition that had fostered him and the city of DUBLIN was in
his soul.
Joyce did achieve his literary goal in exile. The artistic climate of
continental Europe encouraged experiment. He laboured for ten years on
Portrait of the Artist, the fictionalized account of his youth. When it
appeared in book form in 1916, it created a sensation. Joyce was considered as
an important new force in literature.
Portrait of the Artist is usually read as an autobiography, and
many of the incidents are, but don't assume that he was exactly like his
sober hero, STEPHEN DEDALUS. Joyce's younger brother called Portrait of the
Artist a lying autobiography and a raking satire. The book should be

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read as a work of art, not a documentary record. Joyce transformed

autobiography into fiction by selecting and reconstructing scenes from his own
life.
Still, JOYCE & STEPHEN have much in common. Both were marked
by their upbringing in a Catholic Dublin, a city that had dreams of being
the capital of an independent nation but which in reality was a
backwater ruled by England. Like STEPHEN, JOYCE was the eldest son of a
family that moved rapidly down the social and economic ladder. When JOYCE
was born in 1882, the family was still comfortably. But its income decreased
fast after Joyce's sociable, hard-drinking father lost his political job (as
STEPHEN's father Simon loses his).
JOYCE's father was determined that his son have the finest possible
education, and though precarious family finances, JAMES JOYCE received a
rigorous Jesuit education. In Portrait of the Artist JOYCE revives
through STEPHEN the intellectual and emotional struggles that came
with his schooling. Joyce's classmates admired the rebellious brilliance that
questioned authority, but he remained an outsider, socially and intellectually.
The religious training he received in the Jesuit schools also
shaped Joyce, giving him first a faith to believe in and then a power to
rebel against. Like STEPHEN, he was for a time devoutly religious, then
found that other attractions prevailed.
Joyce memorized whole pages of GUSTAVE FLAUBERT, the French
pioneer of psychological realism and author of Madame Bovary. He also
admired the Norwegian playwright HENRIK IBSEN, who shocked the world by
introducing previously forbidden subjects like venereal disease and
immorality among respectable citizens in his works. But realism wasn't
the only influence on the young Joyce. The subtle and suggestive poetic
imagery of French poets appealed to his love for the musicality of words and for
the power of words to evoke unexpected psychological associations. Their
example, too, is followed in Portrait of the Artist.

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Instead, at the age of 20, JOYCE did what STEPHEN DEDALUS is about
to do at the novel's end, and turned away from his family, his country,
and his church. He ran off to the continent. In 1903 he returned to Ireland to
visit his dying mother, but soon after her death (1904) he was again in Europe.
In Trieste (then a cosmopolitan city of Austria-Hungary), JOYCE wrote
incessantly. He put together Dubliners and continued working on a novel he
had started in Ireland. The first, brief version of what we know as A Portrait
of the Artist as a Young Man had been curtly rejected in 1904, before
Joyce left Ireland. I can't print what I can't understand, wrote the British editor
who refused it. Then, dissatisfied, JOYCE decided to reformulate his novel
into a shorter, more original form. The final version was banned by
British censorship and it was not until 1914 that Joyce, with the help of
YEATS and the American poet EZRA POUND, was able to get it printed in
serial. Dubliners, long delayed by printers' boycotts because of its supposed
offensiveness, also appeared the same year.
When Portrait of the Artist did appear, critical reaction was mixed.
It was called garbage and brilliant but nasty, among other things. Some
readers objected to the graphic physical description, the irreverent treatment of
religious matters, the obscurity of its symbolism, and its experimental style.
What sets Portrait of the Artist apart from other confessional
novels is that the action takes place mainly in the mind of the central
character. To portray that mind, JOYCE began to develop a technique
called the INTERIOR MONOLOGUE, or STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS, in which he
quoted directly the random, unshaped thoughts of his hero. Joyce used
this technique sparingly in Portrait of the Artist and exploited it more fully in his
later novels.
Portrait of the Artist also differs from more conventional novels
because it doesn't show STEPHEN DEDALUS' development in a
straightforward chronological progression, nor through flashbacks to
the past. Instead JOYCE presents a series of episodes that at first may
seem unconnected but which in fact are held together by use of
language, images, and symbols.

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After Portrait of the Artist, JOYCE went even further in

transforming the novel in his later works, Ulysses and Finnegans Wake.
Both are virtually plotless and try to reflect the inner workings of the
mind in language that demands much from the reader. Again, no
English publisher would print Ulysses because of its sexual
explicitness and earthy language. It was printed privately in Paris in 1922. It
was not legally available in the USA until 1933.
JOYCE was also increasingly depressed by his failing eyesight, as well
as his daughter mental illness. His reliance on alcohol increased. Once again
a world war sent him into exile in neutral Switzerland. Joyce died in Zurich in
1941.
James Joyce became a priest of art, as he (Stephen) had promised in
Portrait of the Artist. Because of his original use of language to tell a story
that simultaneously combined mankind's great myths, individual human
psychology, and the details of everyday life, JOYCE is now held by many
to be the most influential prose writer of this century. His influence was
felt by many others, including VIRGINIA WOOLF, T. S. ELIOT, WILLIAM FAULKNER,
THOMAS WOLFE, and SAMUEL BECKETT.

4.2. A portrait of the Artist as a Young man (1916)

4.2.1. Themes.
Many themes are woven into the fabric of Portrait of the Artist.
Is there one main theme that overrides the others? Readers differ in their views.
You may feel, as some do, that the book is chiefly about Stephen's struggle to
free himself from his surroundings. It's about his rejection of authority. Or you
may see the novel primarily as Stephen's discovery of his artistic vocation.
Perhaps you'll agree with those who see in Portrait of the Artist mainly the
mocking study of a pompous, self-important young egotist.
- Rejection of authority:
STEPHEN's ultimate rebellion is a classic example of a young person's
struggle against the conformity demanded of him by society. The
young STEPHEN possesses a childish faith in his family, his religion, and

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his country. As he matures, he comes to feel these institutions are

attempting to destroy his independent spirit and must escape them to
find himself.
STEPHEN also rejects the bonds of a religion that restricts his
natural impulses. Catholicism imposes a weight of guilt that turns him down.
He must admit and confess and apologise even when he feels innocent. By
rejecting Catholicism, STEPHEN is also rejecting his devoutly religious mother.
STEPHEN's rebellion is also directed against his native land. Dirty,
backward Ireland destroys any of its children who show creativity. His
classmates attempt to reform Ireland through political action and promotion of
native literature. STEPHEN rejects these attempts as futile and backward-looking.
Instead he abandons Ireland and looks toward the continent.

- The development of the artist.

STEPHEN's discovery of his artist's calling provides the major
framework for the novel. Certainly, from the opening pages of the novel to
its end, JOYCE emphasizes the boy's sensitive responses to language
and to the sights and sounds of the world around him. As a schoolboy,
he tries to arrange them to see where he fits in the scheme of the universe. He
turns to writing poetry to express the emotions he can't express in speech. In
time he writes prize essays and even shapes his own theories of beauty.
The desire to be an artist becomes the most powerful force in
STEPHEN's life. You can see three separate (but closely related) aspects of his,
and Joyce's, attitudes toward art:
• Art as vocation: Not everyone who has an artist's sensitivity chooses art
as a vocation. STEPHEN ultimately finds that his calling to art is so
strong that he has no choice but to follow it. Though family, friends,
and teachers try to discourage him, he must express himself as freely &
fully as he can, even though the result may be loneliness, poverty, and exile.
• Art as flight: The life of the imagination is a refuge from
monotonous reality for STEPHEN. But his attempts to create art are
not merely attempts to escape. He wants not just to reject but to

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transform. Art will let him use the negative parts of his world in a positive
way. Art can transform ugliness into beauty.
• Religion: Stephen comes to consider the pursuit of beauty as a religion.
Rejecting the Catholic priesthood, he sees himself as a priest of the
eternal imagination.

- Portrait of a young egoist:

The central theme is the character study of an arrogant,
unhappy egotist, an intensely self-absorbed young man. An egotist is
interested only in the self, and is intensely critical of other people and
the world. This can be said of STEPHEN, who feels superior and finds it
hard to care for others, even for his own family. It is equally hard for him
to accept affection or love from others. From his early school days on, he is at
the edge of group life, observing himself. As he grows older, he becomes even
more totally absorbed in his own ideas until he finally withdraws from his
familiar surroundings.

- Sin as a liberating force:

In some views, it is STEPHEN's acceptance of his own sinfulness
that sets him free. Guilt and fear of punishment keep him in a sterile, pale
world of virtue where he is always hounded by the pressure to confess, admit,
or apologize. By committing a serious sin of impurity (of the flesh) and
falling from grace like Adam from Paradise, or like Lucifer expelled from Heaven,
he is thrust back into the earthly world of the senses, a world that
releases his creative powers. Stephen will sin again and again, but
instead of confessing he will write.
- Life as a maze:
From the beginning, STEPHEN, like most young people, is caught in a
maze. The schools are a maze of corridors; Dublin is a maze of streets.
The mind itself is a convoluted maze filled with dead ends and circular
reasoning. Stephen moves through the labyrinth searching his mind for
answers.

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4.2.2 Style.
Many readers find JOYCE's style one of Portrait of the Artist's
greatest strengths. He used all the resources of the English language
(meaning and sound, as well as structure and spelling) to paint STEPHEN DEDALUS
and his world. If you like to read a story told in a traditional way, you may
become impatient with Joyce's style. But if you like books, plays, movies, or
pictures that suggest what things mean instead of telling you directly, you'll
enjoy Joyce's world of words.
For JOYCE, language did more than just portray surface reality. It
was also linked to an inner world of emotion. Words have shades of
meaning and sound that release feelings below your conscious
awareness. Words can also release a chain of thoughts and memories.
Joyce developed this idea of FREE ASSOCIATION, in which a character's
thoughts are presented as they occur, even if disorganized or
seemingly incoherent, into the INTERIOR MONOLOGUE.

Words also have symbolic value. That is, they can bring to the
reader's mind both an immediate image, and a larger, more abstract
concept. Some of the symbols you'll encounter most often include the
following:
• Eyes and the loss of vision are associated with fear, vulnerability,
and punishment.
• Birds and flight: Birds can be terrifying and punishing (the eagles that
threaten Stephen's eyes), but increasingly they become symbols of
freedom and creativity.
• Roses: In general, JOYCE uses roses to symbolize beauty, art, and
women. Their meaning can change with their colour. Stephen's
musings about a green rose seem to represent his desire to be an artist
(to create something, like a green rose, that doesn't exist in nature). White
roses are linked to purity.
• Water and sea: Especially early in the book, water is an unpleasant
image, linked to urine, filth, and a dirty sexuality. Later, however,
water and the sea come to stand for creation (for life, death, and

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rebirth). The repeated sea images seem to suggest that Stephen has been
reborn as an artist and is undergoing baptism.
• Colours also have symbolic value that can change from situation to
situation. JOYCE uses white to show both purity and sickliness. Green
suggests health but also decay. Yellow is almost always used to
portray ugliness.
The style of Portrait of the Artist changes with STEPHEN's age. The
first chapter is written in the simple sentences of a baby. The language
develops and becomes more elaborate as STEPHEN matures. It also
fluctuates with STEPHEN's mood. It's spare and logical when Stephen
discusses ideas, rich and lyrical when he describes emotions. In fact, it
becomes so rich and lyrical that some readers suspect Joyce is poking fun at a
young man who loves language but doesn't always use it wisely. It's a mistake
that Joyce himself seldom made.

4.2.3. Point of view.

Portrait of the Artist is, in general, an example of a third-person,
limited omniscient narrative. STEPHEN DEDALUS doesn't tell his story
himself, but in general you perceive only what he perceives. You don't
enter other characters' minds. Only occasionally do you even hear or see
other characters who haven't been completely filtered through Stephen's
perceptions. Indeed, the book focuses so closely on Stephen, and takes
you so deeply into his mind, that at times it resembles a 1st pers narrative.
In fact, however, the book is a little more tricky than that. If Portrait
of the Artist were a first-person narrative, or a traditional third-person, limited
omniscient narrative, it would be difficult for you to get outside of
Stephen. You would see him only as he sees himself. You could judge
him only as he judges himself, but that isn't what happens. JOYCE very
occasionally lets you step outside of Stephen's consciousness. More
subtly, and more frequently, JOYCE lets you stand just slightly outside
STEPHEN through the language he uses to describe Stephen's thoughts.
Language in Portrait of the Artist becomes closely connected to
point of view. You are inside STEPHEN's mind, yet JOYCE's language may

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put you slightly outside it as well. As you read Portrait of the Artist, you'll
have to decide for yourself what you think of Stephen Dedalus- and then decide
how Joyce's language and point of view have led you to make your judgment.

5. Sean O’Casey.
JOHN CASEY was born as an Irish protestant in Dublin, the youngest of
13 children (8 of which did not survive childhood). He knew hunger, ill health,
poverty and fear. He attended only three years of formal schooling, and thus
educated himself by reading. Caught by the Irish cause, he changed his
name to SEAN O’CATHASAIGH. He joined the Irish Citizen Army (a paramilitary
arm of the Unions).
Disillusioned with middle-class leadership of national movement
and with the existing political parties, he turned his energies to drama.
Three of his plays were staged at the Abbey Theater: The Plough and the
stars caused riots because it can be seen as denigrating for Irish
nationalist heroes. When Abbey rejected his anti-war expressionist drama
The silver tassie (1929), he moved to England, where he will marry an Irish
actress.
O’CASEY is considered the last of major early 20th C playwrights to
be associated with the Abbey Theater in Dublin. His plays are classified
within the Modernistic playwright tradition, but he is said to have
contributed to this tradition with his expressionist innovation. He is
much more influenced by the new Irish theatrical environment rather
than by conventional London establishment.
His plays are characterized by a mixture of self-criticism and social
denounce:
- He doesn’t romanticize or fantasize Ireland, but writes about the
frustrations & manners of tenements dwellers of the Irish capital.
- He also shows concerns for innocent victims and gives a social
and political view.
- The Lg used by his characters is taken from Irishmen’s ordinary talk.

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 Topic 56:
Relacion
nes históricas entre Irlanda y G
Gran Bretaña. Au
utores Irlandese
es: S.O’Casey y J. Joyce
34

- Th
he shadow
w of a Gun
nman (192
23):
The settting is the
e Irish War
W of Ind
dependen
nce: A bacck room at the
time
e of “black and tan” repression
n. Its main
n theme is decepttion and self-
dece
eption. The
T main focus
f is placed
p on how warr affects the live
es of
ordiinary peo
ople. In sp
pite of his nationalist
n position, he
h does n
not take sides
s
eith
her with th
he oppres
ssors or the suppo
osed libera
ators of IIreland.

- Th
he plough
h and the stars
s (192
26):
The settting is Irish War against
a Briitish in 19
916 (Easte
ern rising) and
conssequent se
eparation. The Main theme is the confflict btw bravado and
brav
very. An in
nnocent wo
oman is ag
gain the vicctim.

Bib
bliograp
phy
Historyy: http://www.m
members.tripod.com/~Hal_MaccGregor/gregor//Scythia.htm

Editorial MAD; CEDE & CEN apuntes

Iván Matellaness’ Notes

 Topic 56: Brief summary
35

Summary: Relaciones históricas entre Irlanda y Gran Bretaña. Autores Irlandeses: S.O’Casey y J. Joyce
- HISTORICAL RELATIONS BTW IRELAND & GREAT BRITAIN:
- The Post Roman Ireland:
♦ The Irish Celts maintained their cultural development free of the Roman repression.
___ Scots were a branch of the Irish Celts. Ireland was divided btw the earlier Cruithens (PICTS, who migrated from Scotland around 200 AD)
& later arriving Goidels (SCOTS), who were constantly fighting. As Ireland never experienced a Roman invasion, it was a safe place.
___ After the Romans left Britain in about 453, the Romanized Gaels of England became easy targets for the fierce Scotics.
♦ Christianity spread into Ireland in the 400s, by means of St. Patrick. Christianity was clearly accepted.
___ Ireland (Ir) developed a network of thousands of Churches & in the 500s, sm Christians set up of monasteries in small remote sites.
- The Anglo-French control:
♦ DAIRMAIT MAC MURCHADA the King of Leinster had been expelled from Ireland after being defeated by KING RORY O'CONNOR.
___ MAC MURCHADA's only goal was to win back his Kingdom. He sailed to Britain to meet with King Henry II in 1166 to ask for his help.
___ HENRY II was reluctant to help him, but he authorised MURCHADA to privately recruit anyone he could from the English populace.
___ MURCHADA recruited some Lords (Among them STRONGBOW, who was a King’s enemy, bc he opposed HII claim for the throne).
___ In return for his help, MAC MURCHADA promised STRONGBOW his daughter and the Kingdom of Leinster after MAC MURCHADA's death.
___ MURCHADA invaded Leinster and defeated O’CONOR, who became the High King of Ireland (only in name).
♦ MURCHADA dies in 1171, and STRONGBOW was crowned as KING RICHARD OF LEINSTER.
___ When Henry II knew that STRONGBOW was the King of Leinster, he was furious bc he saw him as a rival to his authority as king.
___ Henry II moved to Ireland w/troops to attack STRONGBOW, who intercepted Him before his arrival offering apologies & begging forgiveness.
___ Leinster was under the authority of Henry II, but STRONGBOW remained LORD OF LEINSTER. All other Irish Kings submitted to King Henry as
their overlord & agreed to pay him tribute, bc they were afraid of STRONGBOW’s expansionism.
♦ Once STRONGBOW died in 1176, Leinster passed into the hands of the youngest son PRINCE JOHN (lately known as the Lackland).
___ The expansion of the Anglo-French colony in Ireland continued under Prince John up to the end of the 1200s.
♦ The Norman colony in Ir began to decline after 1250 AD, bc there were not enough Normans in Ir, & those there became “Irishised”.
Furthermore, the Norman Kings had little interest in Ireland. By 1450, English controled only a 20 mile strip around Dublin, (the Pale).
- Henry VIII managed to regain control of most of Ireland in a very short time and with practically no violence.
♦ In 1536, Henry VIII made his great break with Rome, and set himself up as head of the Church in England.
___ Henry VIII tries to spread Reformation on the Irish, but he's not successful.
- Religious disagreements: Henry VIII broke with the Catholic religion because of a dynastic problem (he wanted a mail heir).
♦ Henry VIII tried to marry ANNE BOLEYN and get divorced from his current wife CATHERINE OF ARAGON.
♦ In 1536, the Church in Ireland was ordered to recognise Henry as head of the Church, but they refused & continued with the Pope as head.
♦ In the next 10 years, England was to move from a protestant church (Edward VI in 1549) to a catholic (Queen Mary in 1553) back to a non
catholic neither Protestant version (Queen Elizabeth I in 1558).
___ Ireland has been traditionally, since St Patrick’s days, a deeply Catholic society. Therefore, religious disagreements appeared btw them.
♦ By 1598, ULSTER was the last bastion of pure Celtic life in Ireland, bc the rest of Ireland had mingled w/Viking, Norman & English settlers.
___ HUGH O'NEILL decided that the English control of the rest of Ir was a threat to his Celtic heritage & Catholic faith & attacked them.
___ In 1603, the O'Neill & the English signed the TREATY OF MELLIFONT which permitted O'NEILL to keep his land while adopting English law.
___ English felt that the treaty was not enough & decided to plant ULSTER with Protestant settlers (vast majority Scottish).
♦ The English King CHARLES I is beheaded by the English Parliament after the civil war & O. CROMWELL ruled an English republic (11 years).
___ The Irish helped the British catholic King, so they were severly punished after the king’s death.
___ Roundheads (CROMWELL’s soldiers) needed to be paid, but Parliament had no money. So CROMWELL decided to pay them in Irish land.
___ He forcibly moved thousands of Irish from their homes in MUNSTER and LEINSTER and resettled them in the poorest land of Ireland.
___ Irish were not allowed to live within 3 miles of the coast. In 1652 MUNSTER & LEINSTER become the Protestant Cromwellian Settlement.
♦ In 1688 Catholic JAMES II introduced laws for religious toleration of non-Anglicans.
___ When James II began promoting Catholics in the army, Parliament suspected that he wanted to change England into Catholic country.
___ In 1688, JAMES II had another son. While JAMES II regarded this Catholic boy as his heir, Parliament wanted his son-in-law (William).
___ GLORIOUS REVOLUTION: The parliament invited to WILLIAM over to take over the monarchy, who arrived with his troops in 1688.
___ In 1689, James landed in Ireland to start his fight back. William won the BATTLE OF BOYNE and the Jacobites surrender sm years later.
♦ The penal laws: After the TREATY OF LIMERICK, a series of Penal Laws were passed by the Irish Parliament whose expressed purpose was
to purge Ireland of Catholicism, by forcing Catholics to become Protestant. These laws banned Catholics from:
___ having a gun, ___ Being involved in politics, ___ Receive education &
___ Being professionals, ___ Own land, ___ Own a horse over £5
The creation of the United Kingdom. In 1789 (coinciding with the French Revolution) a new organisation was formed in Ireland.
♦ Under WOLFE TONE, the UNITED IRISHMEN (who consisted of Protestants & Catholics alike) believed in a peaceful future in which
Protestants and Catholics could live together in peace and with equality.
___ In 1798, the British began attacking known UNITED IRISHMEN. TONE begun the rebellion against the British in the spring.
___ The UNITED IRISHMEN were finally defeated at the Battle of VINEGAR HILL.
♦ A drastic action was taken: ACT OF UNION (1800). It formed a new country (The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland).
___ A new flag - the Union Jack - was created for it which had components from the flags of each member state.
___ All regional parliaments were abolished, and instead the entire UK was to be ruled from a centralised London parliament.
- The way towards Independence:
♦ Political tendencies in the 1880s:
♦ 1886, the Liberal Party PM, WILLIAM
GLADSTONE, decided to end the problems
in Ireland, giving Ireland back their local
Parliament (Act of Union). 1 HOME RULE BILL was introduced, but it was defeated in the Parliament bc of the Conservative Party.
ST

___ IRISH UNIONISTS formed an organisation called the IRISH UNIONIST ALLIANCE (IUA) to fight Home Rule.
♦ In 1893, W. GLADSTONE passed the 2 HOME RULE BILL, which was passed by the House of Commons, but defeated in the House of Lords.
ND

___ ARTHUR GRIFFITH created the SINN FÉIN (1905): A Republican party against the HOME RULE, bc it was too short (complete independence)
♦ In the 1909 Gnrl Election, Liberals & the Conservatives both won exactly 272 seats. JOHN REDWOOD (leader of the HOME RULE PARTY), helped
the Liberals to introduce the PARLIAMENT ACT to reduce the power of the HoLords in exchange for another HOME RULE BILL (1910).
___ When the Bill was discussed, the Conservatives argued to have the Unionist north of Ireland treated separately from the rest of the island.
___ UNIONISTS created a military force to make certain that at least Ulster was left out of HOME RULE: ULSTER VOLUNTEER FORCE (UVF).
___ Liberals & Conservatives wanted to leave the Ulster out of HOME RULE. Nationalists created the IRISH VOLUNTEER FIvánORCE (IVF) –military-
Matellanes’ Notes
 Topic 56: Brief summary
36
- The war of Independence:
rd
♦ After WW1 (1918), with the 3 HOME RULE BILL still under discuission w/no implementation, the IVF decided that they had waited enough.
___ In 1919 they renamed as IRISH REPUBLICAN ARMY (IRA) & shot dead 2 Irish policemen, which began the WAR OF INDEPENDENCE.
♦ Despite the conflict, the government went on with HOME RULE and passed the GOVERNMENT OF IRELAND ACT in 1920, which gave Ireland 2
Parliaments (each with a PM), one for the Unionists and one for the Nationalists, keeping both Parliaments under the UK one in London.
♦ The IRA, under COLLINS, continued to fight for more independence. In 1921a treaty was signed by M. COLLINS on behalf of the IRA.
___ However he did not fully consult his colleagues, many of whom were horrified that he had accepted partition.
___ The new Act created an Ireland which was much more independent. The IRISH FREE STATE would have its own army.
___ Britain would also have a representative in Ireland and would keep some naval bases in Irish waters.
♦ In 1922, the anti-treaty IRA seized control of the Dublin Four-Courts and other key buildings. MICHAEL COLLINS ordered the Irish
Army to recover the Four-Courts. He succeeded in driving the IRA out of Dublin but had also triggered the IRISH CIVIL WAR.
- The independence of Northern Ireland:
♦ TERENCE O'NEILL (UNIONIST) became the PM of Northern Ireland and improved relations with the Republic of Ireland.
___ Another UNIONIST named IAN PAISLEY, set up the PROTESTANT UNIONIST PARTY and began to strongly oppose O'NEILL.
♦ In 1967, the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) was set up with members from both communities.
___ The NICRA's demands were for a fair voting system against the winner-take-all system, an end to religious discrimination.
___ As the first Civil Rights marches took place in 1968, The Ir parliament banned them bc the police had not been previously notified).
___ The marchers ignored the ban and were attacked and beaten by the police.
♦ In 1969 there were the worst riotings in Northern Ireland's history in response to the heavy attack on the CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT.
___ The UK PM, HAROLD WILSON, ordered the British Army into Belfast and Derry to support the RUC. He also ordered the STORMONT
government to introduce one man one vote and disarm and restructure the RUC.
♦ The violence that had erupted towards the Catholic community had prompted many people to renew their desire for a united Ireland.
___ In 1969 a fierce debate began in the IRA, which split it off in 1970, formed the PROVISIONAL IRA who began a ruthless bombing campaign.
___ By 1971, the RUC knew who the main members of the terrorist organisation were, so they decided to arrest & hold people w/out evidence.
___ Many innocent people were arrested & most IRA leaders slipped away. INTERNMENT served only to increase support for terrorism.
___ Rioting against INTERNMENT began. In 1972, a huge anti-Internment march was organized which passed off peacefully. However, rioting
broke out as it ended & the army opened fire on the protestors. 14 people were killed, none of them armed ('BLOODY SUNDAY')
♦ After years of terrorism, in late 1993, the British and Irish governments began a new peace process, which was a complete failure bc the
UK PM JOHN MAJOR said that the terrorists must destroy their weapons before their political wings could be admitted to the talks.
___ IRA said that decommissioning could not begin until the process was completed, and refused to hand over any weapons.
♦ In 1997, The new UK PM, TONY BLAIR announced that the all-party talks were starting, regardless of whether SINN FEIN was present or not
(Sinn Fein could not enter unless there was an IRA ceasefire). The issue of decommissioning became less important.
___ IRA called a new ceasefire and the Sinn Fein was admitted to the talks.
___ After 4 long months of talks, the chairman G. MITCHELL decided that an agreement must be reached by 9 April 1998 at the latest.
___ On April 6, SENATOR MITCHELL released a draft discussion agreement to the parties. However, the Unionists objected strongly to 2
proposals & it looked as if it was going to collapse. Only the intervention of TONY BLAIR & PRESIDENT CLINTON managed to save them.
___ At 5pm on 10 April, GOOD FRIDAY, SENATOR MITCHELL announced that the parties have reached an agreement after 29 years.
- IRISH AURHORS: J. JOYCE & O’CASEY.
- James Joyce:
♦ Like his fictional hero, Stephen in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, the young Joyce felt repressed by the narrow interests,
religious pressures, and political quarrels of turn-of-the-century Ireland. He was to remain away from Ireland for the rest of his life.
♦ Joyce did achieve his literary goal in exile. The artistic climate of continental Europe encouraged experiment. He laboured for ten years on
Portrait of the Artist, the fictionalized account of his youth.
♦ Portrait of the Artist is usually read as an autobiography, but don't assume that he was exactly like his sober hero, STEPHEN DEDALUS.
___ A brief version was rejected in 1904, before JOYCE left Ireland. "I can't print what I can't understand," wrote the British editor who refused it.
___ The final version was banned by British censorship and it was not until 1914 that JOYCE, with the help of YEATS and EZRA POUND,
was able to get it printed in serial.
___ What sets it apart from other confessional novels is that the action takes place mainly in the mind of the central character. To
portray that mind, Joyce began to develop a technique called the interior monologue, or stream of consciousness, in which he
quoted directly the random, unshaped thoughts of his hero.
♦ After Portrait of the Artist, JOYCE went even further in transforming the novel in his later works: Ulysses & Finnegans Wake.
___ Both are virtually plotless and try to reflect the inner workings of the mind in language that demands much from the reader.
___ Again, no English publisher would print Ulysses because of its sexual explicitness and earthy language.
A portrait of the Artist as a Young man. THEMES:
♦ Rejection of authority:
___ STEPHEN's ultimate rebellion is a classic example of a young person's struggle against the conformity demanded of him by society.
___ STEPHEN also rejects the bonds of a religion (Catholicism) that restricts his natural impulses.
___ Stephen's rebellion is also directed against his native land. Ireland destroys any of its children who show creativity.
♦ The development of the artist: The desire to be an artist becomes the most powerful force in STEPHEN's life.
___ Art as vocation: STEPHEN finds that his calling to art is so stroη that he has no choice but to follow it, despite his family, friends & teachers .
___ Art as flight: The imagination is a refuge from monotonous reality for STEPHEN. But, he wants not just to reject but to transform.
♦ Portrait of a young artist:
___ The central theme is the character study of an arrogant, unhappy egotist, an intensely self-absorbed young man.
♦ Sin as a liberating force:
___ It is STEPHEN's acceptance of his own sinfulness that sets him free.
___ Guilt & fear of punishment keep him in a pale world of virtue where he is always haunted by the pressure to confess, admit, or apologize.
___ By committing a serious sin of impurity (of the flesh) and falling from grace like Adam from Paradise, or like Lucifer expelled from
Heaven, he is thrust back into the earthly world of the senses, a world that releases his creative powers.
rd
- Portrait of the Artist is an example of a 3 person limited omniscient narrative. You perceive only what he perceives. You don't enter
other characters' minds. Only occasionally do you hear other characters who haven't been completely filtered through STEPHEN's perceptions.
- Sean O’Casey: JOHN CASEY was born as an Irish protestant in Dublin & caught by the Irish cause (changed his name to SEAN O’CASEY)
♦ O’Casey is considered the last of major early 20 C playwrights to be associated with the Abbey Theater in Dublin.
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♦ His plays are characterized by a mixture of self-criticism and social denounce:

___ He doesn’t romanticize or fantasize Ireland, but writes about the frustrations & manners of tenements dwellers of the Irish capital.
___ He also shows concerns for innocent victims and gives a social and political view.
___ The Lg used by his characters is taken from Irishmen’s ordinary talk. Iván Matellanes’ Notes