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Section 1: Reading
A Before you read - think and discuss
Britain and Ireland are separated by ju s t a sh o rt stretch
o f sea. H ow ever, the long h isto ry betw een the tw o coun trie s
has not alw ays been happy.
■ Has y o u r co u n try fo u g h t w ith any o f its neighbours?
m W hat do n e ig h b o u rin g countries fig h t about?
■ H ow can ancient co n flicts be solved?
■ W hat, if a n ything, do you know abo ut Ireland and its history?

B Read the text

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‘You have a starving population, an 17th century, British rule had identified Roman Catholics as
enemies of the constitution and denied them all political
absentee aristocracy and an alien rights. When the prime minister, William Pitt the Younger,
Church ... That is the Irish question.’ tried to reverse this situation, King George III prevented him.
B e n ja m in D is ra e li (la te r B r itis h p rim e He claimed this would be to go against the oath he had
m in is te r) to P a rlia m e n t , 1 8 4 4 sworn on becoming king in 1760, as ‘defender of the faith’ -
the Protestant faith.
It has been said that Ireland suffers from having too much
history and this is certainly true of its history with Britain. Although Catholics were eventually granted political rights in
Direct British influence over Ireland dates back to the reign 1829, Ireland’s fragile economy had reached breaking point.
of King Henry II in the late 12th century, and since then, A major problem was the staggeringly rapid growth of the
Anglo-Irish relations have rarely been harmonious. population. By 1845, this had passed 8 million, or over one-
third of the population of the United Kingdom. Such growth
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was formed
proved unsustainable when a fungal disease destroyed half
by an Act of Union on 1st January 1801 after the Irish
the Irish potato crop in 1845. A near-total crop failure
Parliament in Dublin voted itself out of existence. Britain,
followed in 1846 and again in 1848. As Ireland’s population
always the dominant power in the relationship, feared that
was largely dependent on the potato for food, over one
Ireland would become the base for a French invasion. One
million people died of starvation and disease. An even greater
historian has said, ‘From a British point of view the Union
number were forced to emigrate - to Canada, Australia, New
was little short of military necessity.’
Zealand, the United States and Great Britain. To this day,
The Union made Irish grievances against the British worse.
most people believe that the British government could and
Many of the problems stemmed from the inequality between
should have done far more to help the starving Irish. Ireland
the two sections of the population. Most of the population
was the only country in Europe to have a lower population in
(85 per cent) was Catholic, but most of the land was owned
1900 than it had in 1800.
by English Protestants. To make matters worse, since the

THm.Y CKOtD HUT VIIK WKSY: I B U l f )

The late 19th century saw growing unrest in Ireland, with
Charles Stewart Parnell leading calls for Home Rule. Anglo-
Irish relations were dominated by the actions of the Liberal
politician W. E. Gladstone. After the general election of 1868,
Gladstone was the leader of the largest political party in
Parliament. He received his formal summons from Queen
Victoria to form a new government while chopping down trees
on his family estate. He carefully put down his axe and told the
bemused messenger: ‘My mission is to pacify Ireland.’
Gladstone’s mission was a failure, but arguably a heroic one.
Gladstone was head of four separate governments between World War, with the Home Rule Act being suspended for its
1868 and 1894 and introduced various laws dealing with duration. By 1918, however, Irish politics had been
the Irish church, the land, the legal system and voting rights. transformed by the rise of Republicanism. The Republican
There were those who thought that the Irish question political party Sinn Fein (‘we ourselves’) demanded
obsessed him. His goal was not independence for Ireland complete independence from the United Kingdom. Home
but political freedoms within the UK similar to those enjoyed Rule was now dead and violence followed.
by Scotland today. To this end, in 1886 and 1893 Gladstone
Since 1922, there have been two Irelands. Northern Ireland
introduced Home Rule Bills that aroused feverish debate. On
has remained part of the UK, while the rest of the country
one occasion, there was even a fight in Parliament involving
has been independent. But Catholic Republicans in Northern
some 80 MPs. Ultimately, though, both bills were rejected
Ireland, opposed to any part of Ireland remaining under
and the British Liberal Party came close to collapse.
British rule, ultimately rose up against the dominant
Gladstone suffered savage personal criticism over Home Protestant majority. Between the late 1960s and late 1990s,
Rule for Ireland. Lord Randolph Churchill (Winston Churchill’s Northern Ireland was scarred by violent civil conflict known
father) called him ‘an old man in a hurry’. One Conservative as the Troubles. Over 3,700 people lost their lives as a
MP said he was 1half-cracked V result of terrorist bombings and shootings by the Catholic
Despite the criticism, Gladstone’s party thought that it had IRA, Protestant UDA and other paramilitary organizations.
cracked the Irish question in 1914. The Liberal government Many innocent people also died as the result of actions by
of H. H. Asquith managed to pass a Home Rule Bill almost the British army and Ulster police. In the early period of
identical to Gladstone’s. But in carrying through this reform, Tony Blair’s premiership, the Good Friday Agreement
Asquith faced a significant new enemy - - armed Loyalists (1998) was signed, effectively ending hostilities. There was
from Ulster. These Ulster Unionists threatened civil war in widespread celebration and Blair said he felt ‘the hand of
Ireland if Home Rule (they called it ‘Rome Rule’) was forced history’ on his shoulder. Perhaps there was an answer to
on them. Civil war was averted by the outbreak of the First the Irish question after all.

Glossary
bemused puzzled, confused
half-cracked half-mad
Ulster the nine most Protestant counties of Ireland
(situated in the north-east)
paramilitary organized like an army
C Check y o u r facts! D What do you think?
1 'B rita in has been d ire ctly in vo lve d in 1 W as 'the U nited K ingdom o f Great Britain
Irish affairs fo r over a th o u sa n d y e a rs / and Ireland' tru ly a united kingdom ?
True o r false? Explain y o u r answ er.

2 Britain w a nte d a union w ith Ireland in 2 The British could n o t fa irly be blam ed for:
1801 m a in ly because it feared: a) th e fu n g a l disease in potatoes.
a) a French invasion fro m Ireland. b) p o ve rty and starva tion in Ireland.
b) an Irish invasion fro m France. c) m ass Irish em ig ra tio n .
c) an Irish-F rench invasion. d) in justice suffered by Catholics.
d) all o f the above.
3 G ladstone was p ro b a b ly ch o p p in g dow n
3 W hy did G eorge III refuse to give Irish trees because:
C atholics p o litica l rights? a) he w as an old m an in a hurry.
b) he w as half-cracked.
4 H ow m uch o f the Irish potato crop w as c) he w as try in g to pacify Ireland.
destroyed by disease in 1845? d) he fo u n d the exercise beneficial.
a) 30 per cent
b) 50 per cent 4 '... the Irish question had fin a lly been
c) m ost o f it cracked' m eans th a t it had been:
d) all o f it a) solved or answ ered.
b) d ivid e d into tw o parts.
5 W h y did Queen V ictoria call on G ladstone c) ju d g e d to be mad.
to fo rm a g o ve rn m e n t in 1868? d) asked in the rig h t way.

6 'G lad ston e's m issio n w as to give Ireland its 5 D uring the T roubles, the tw o g roup s w h o
independence.' True o r false? w a nte d British rule in N orthern Ireland to
co n tin u e w ere:
7 'G ladstone trie d so hard w ith Ireland a) the B ritish and Irish gove rn m en ts.
o n ly because it m ade him p o p u la r.' b) Republicans and Loyalists.
True or false? c) the British A rm y and p a ra m ilita ry
groups.
8 W hat stopped the Irish g e ttin g Hom e Rule d) Loyalists and the British g ove rn m en t.
in 1914?

9 How long did th e Troubles last?

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Section 2: Topic development
A The famine
1 Look at th is photo. W hat do you
th in k the sculptu re shows?
2 This m e m o ria l to the fa m in e stands
in D ublin, capital o f the Republic
o f Ireland.
a) W ho do you th in k each o f the
fig u re s is? H ow do the figures
relate to each other?
b) Is th is m e m o rial d iffe re n t fro m
tra d itio n a l statues and civic
m onum ents?
c) H ow does it make you feel?
d) H ow do you th in k it makes
o rd in a ry D ubliners feel as they
go about th e ir lives?
e) Can you th in k o f any other m e m o ria ls like this?
f) Do you th in k th is kind o f m e m o ria l is a good or bad idea?

ik e k is b
B W hat could have been done to help the Irish?
To this day, most people believe that the British government could and should have done fa r more to
help the starving Irish.
1 Read the te xt below , w h ich develops the p o in t m ade in the extract above, and discuss the

:
difference in m eaning between could have, should have, might have and needed to.

m
Many Irish historians have argued that the British government
could have taken steps to ensure that im ported food was distributed to those Irish in greatest need,

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should have been willing to treat the famine crisis in Ireland as an imperial responsibility and to pay for relief,
m ight have prohibited the export o f grain from Ireland.
Historians also add two other ideas:

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T he am ount o f money that the government spent on public works in Ireland needed to be much higher.
T he poor-law system o f providing relief for the starving Irish needed to be much less restrictive.
2 T hink about one o f the biggest d isa p p o in tm e n ts in y o u r life. W rite about w h a t happened
and h o w you feel about it now. Then w rite sentences about w h a t a) would have c iu ib
happened , b) should have happened , c) could have happened and d) might have
happened instead.
h u t
C The political weather
1 Label pictures 1-6 w ith w o rd s fro m the box.

ra in b o w sh ow er su n lit uplands w e a th e r vane w in d storm

2 The title fo r th is chap ter is taken fro m a phrase in a fa m o us speech by G ladstone: Ire la n d ,
Ireland! That cloud in the w est! That co m in g s to rm !' In English, there is a long tra d itio n o f
describ ing politics in te rm s o f the w eather. Read the quotes b e lo w and stu d y the id io m s in
bold. W hat do you th in k th e y mean? Discuss y o u r ideas.
a) Between 1994 and 1997, Fine Gael, the Labour Party and the D em ocratic Left, the three
m ain parties o f the Irish republic, governed in the so-called 'Rainbow Coalition'.
b) They have spent m illio n s w ith o u t reaching any answ ers - w h a t a shower o f w asters!
c) [T ony Blair] has no rooted id e o lo g y w h a tso e ve r and is a political weathervane subject to
any puff of hot air.
d) S m ith has alw ays show n an a b ility to sense w h ich w a y the political wind is b lo w in g and
has changed his m ind accordingly.
e) For all its sudden em ergence recently onto w h a t look like sunlit uplands, Ireland has had
a h isto ry of hardship, and one ca n't blam e them fo r not w a n tin g to go back there.
f) E ventually he w as recalled to England w h ere he died as the great political storm in
Ireland brewed.
3 N o w w rite a politica l w e ath er forecast fo r y o u r co u n try fo r the next tw o /th re e years. Use at
least three o f the idiom s.
The political weather in m y country over the next two/three years will be/is going to be ...
(R em em ber th a t going to im p lie s a stro n g e r p rediction, based on evidence, than will.)

111.11 CHiOITD W X T H 1 W IST : 1RKIJLMB

Section 3: Extension activities
A Discuss
G ladstone believed th a t his m ission was to pacify Ireland, but m any believe all his effo rts
am oun ted to nothing m ore than a heroic fa ilu re . Discuss:
■ if fa ilu re can really be considered heroic.
■ w h e th e r it is a good th in g fo r p o liticians to have a sense o f m ission.
K w h a t new m issions the w o rld m ig h t need (e.g., to save the econom y, en viro n m e n t).

B Research

Search fo r: 'S a in t Patrick' / 'Fields o f A th e n ry ' + 'G la sg o w Celtic FC' + 'L ive rp o o l FC' /
'Irish pu b ' + (a city o f y o u r choice)

1 Find o u t about the patron saint o f Ireland, St Patrick.

■ W here was he born?
■ On w h ich date is he celebrated?
B H ow do people all over the w o rld m ark his day?
B W h a t do th e y drink?

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2 Search fo r the song T h e Fields o f A th e n ry ' and read the lyrics.
B W h o w ro te the song and when?
B W h a t sto ry does it tell?
B W h y do fans o f the Scottish fo o tb a ll team G lasgow Celtic sing it?

3 Search on the Internet to fin d a city in th e w o rld th a t does not have an Irish pub.
B Can you fin d one?
B Discuss w h y there are so m any Irish pubs all over the w o rld .
B W h a t does it tell you about a) the Irish and b) h o w people feel about the Irish?

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C Write
1 W rite about y o u r co u n try's h isto ry and one o f its big 'q u e stio n s' (problem s). Include:
B w h a t the question is.
B w h en it started.
B w h y it started. CICVB
E w h a t has been done about it.
E w h a t you th in k the answ er to it is/was. (250 w ords)

W atch a film about Irish history, such as Fifty Dead Men Walking (2008), Hunger (2008),
The Wind that Shakes the Barley (2006) o r Michael Collins (1996). Then w rite a review. Include:
TH1T

B w h o and w h a t the film is about.

B w h a t happens.
B w h o plays the m ain character(s).
B y o u r personal response to the film .
B w h e th e r you th in k th is is a good w a y to learn about history. (250 w ords)