Irish History For Dummies

433 Pages·2006·5.62 MB·English

by  Mike Cronin

Irish History
FOR
DUMmIES‰
by Mike Cronin
Irish History For Dummies®
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ISBN-13: 978-0-7645-7040-7 (PB)
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About the Author
Mike Croninstudied history at the University of Kent and at Oxford, and has
taught history to university students for the past fifteen years. He has pub-
lished widely on the history of Ireland, and also on the history of sport. His
books include a history of sport and nationalism in Ireland, a jointly authored
history of St Patrick’s Day celebrations around the world, and a general his-
tory of Ireland. He is currently the Academic Director at Boston College’s
Centre for Irish Programmes in Dublin, and is researching the history of
major public spectacles and festivals in twentieth century Ireland.
Author’s Acknowledgements
Over the years I have taught many university students who knew no Irish his-
tory and had no Irish heritage. This was a challenging and fascinating
process as it forced me to rethink my teaching of Irish history from the begin-
ning. Much of what appears in this book, and the ways that different periods
of Irish history are explained, emerge from the challenges laid down to me by
my students over the years. To all of them, for their patience and their inter-
est, I offer my thanks.
I would also like to acknowledge the work of two important people at Wiley:
Alison Yates who first came to me with the idea for this book, and Rachael
Chilvers who worked long and hard in making sure that everything was done
properly. The efforts of the development editor, Tracy Barr, the copy editor,
Martin Key, and the technical editor, Neil Fleming, are much appreciated, and
all made incisive and valuable comments that have improved the text.
My colleagues at the Centre for Irish Programmes at Boston College were, as
always, a mine of useful information and a source of support, and in Dublin,
Thea Gilien graciously allowed Dummies to interfere with the work of the
office. For his help (again) with the Irish language, and his general enthusi-
asm for life, I’d like to thank Brian Ó Conchubhair. As always, Julie Anderson
lived with a book in our lives, and was always there with comments, help,
and encouragement. Anything that is amiss with the book is all my fault, and
all the wonderful people listed above are blameless!
Publisher’s Acknowledgements
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Development Editor:Tracy Barr
Commissioning Editor:Alison Yates
Copy Editor: Martin Key
Proofreader:Sue Gilad
Technical Editor: Dr N.C. Fleming,
Queen’s University, Belfast
Executive Editor: Jason Dunne
Executive Project Editor:
Amie Jackowski Tibble
Cover Photo:© CORBIS: Brooks Kraft,
Bettmann, Hutton-Deutsch Collection,
Reuters; Hulton Archive/Getty Images; The
Irish Image Collection
Cartoons: Rich Tennant, www.the5thwave.com
Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies
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Debbie Stailey,Director of Composition Services
Contents at a Glance
Introduction ................................................................1
Part I: Saints and Kings: Ireland’s Early Years................9
Chapter 1: No Man Is an Ireland ....................................................................................11
Chapter 2: The First People Arrive ................................................................................21
Chapter 3: The Early Irish Kings.....................................................................................35
Chapter 4: Snakes Alive! Christianity Comes to Ireland..............................................45
Part II: The Normans Are Coming! The Twelfth
and Thirteenth Centuries .............................................61
Chapter 5: The Vikings Arrive First................................................................................63
Chapter 6: Irish vs. Norman Invaders . . . But Who’s in Charge?................................75
Chapter 7: Boy Meets Gael: The Norman-Irish Alliance .............................................89
Part III: The Invading English Kings: The Fourteenth
and Fifteenth Centuries.............................................103
Chapter 8: The Scottish-Irish Rebellion and its Aftermath.......................................105
Chapter 9: From Richard II to Henry IV: More Turmoil in Ireland............................119
Chapter 10: Family Feuds I: The Wars of the Roses...................................................131
Part IV: Religious Wars and Family Feuds:
The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries....................147
Chapter 11: Popes vs. Archbishops: The Reformation and Ireland.........................149
Chapter 12: Religious Roundabouts and Irish Rebellion...........................................161
Chapter 13: James I and the Plantations; Charles I and Chaos...............................179
Chapter 14: Family Feuds II and III: The English Civil War,
then William and James..............................................................................................195
Part V: Catholic and Protestant: The Eighteenth
and Nineteenth Centuries..........................................211
Chapter 15: Going Irish? Grattan’s Parliament and Wolfe Tone’s Rebellion ..........213
Chapter 16: Going British: The Act of Union...............................................................225
Chapter 17: Three Strikes for Irish Independence:
O’Connell, Davis, and Mitchel ...................................................................................241
Chapter 18: The Great Hunger and the Land War......................................................257
Chapter 19: The Fight Over Home Rule.......................................................................277
Part VI: Divided in Two: Life from the 1880s..............295
Chapter 20: Balls and Books in Irish: The Cultural Revival......................................297
Chapter 21: Fighting Against Britain: The Revolution...............................................313
Chapter 22: One Land, Two Systems: Partition..........................................................325
Chapter 23: Troubles Begin Again . . . And Maybe Finish..........................................343
Part VII: The Part of Tens..........................................363
Chapter 24: Ten Top Turning Points............................................................................365
Chapter 25: Ten Major Documents...............................................................................369
Chapter 26: Ten Things the Irish Have Given the World...........................................373
Chapter 27: Ten Great Irish Places to Visit..................................................................379
Chapter 28: Ten Irish People Who Should Be Better Known....................................385
Index.......................................................................391
Table of Contents
Introduction..................................................................1
About This Book...............................................................................................1
Conventions Used in This Book.....................................................................2
Foolish Assumptions.......................................................................................3
How This Book Is Organised...........................................................................3
Part I: Saints and Kings: Ireland’s Early Years....................................3
Part II: The Normans Are Coming! The Twelfth and Thirteenth
Centuries..............................................................................................4
Part III: The Invading English Kings: The Fourteenth and
Fifteenth Centuries.............................................................................4
Part IV: Religious Wars and Family Feuds: The Sixteenth and
Seventeenth Centuries.......................................................................4
Part V: Catholic and Protestant: The Eighteenth and Nineteenth
Centuries..............................................................................................5
Part VI: Divided in Two: Life from the 1880s.......................................5
Part VII: The Part of Tens......................................................................6
Icons Used in This Book..................................................................................7
Where to Go from Here....................................................................................7
Part I: Saints and Kings: Ireland’s Early Years ................9
Chapter 1: No Man Is an Ireland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
I’m Irish – But Who Isn’t?..............................................................................12
Arrivals..................................................................................................12
Departures.............................................................................................14
So Much History in Such a Small Place.......................................................15
Ireland and the land across the Irish Sea..........................................15
Religion..................................................................................................16
Land........................................................................................................16
Famine....................................................................................................17
Emigration.............................................................................................17
Self-determination................................................................................17
Culture...................................................................................................18
Living History ................................................................................................19
Ireland Today..................................................................................................19
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Irish History For Dummies
Chapter 2: The First People Arrive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
Anyone There? Early Settlers.......................................................................21
Hunters and gatherers ........................................................................22
New (Stone) Age farmers.....................................................................23
Buildings and Bracelets: The Bronze Age...................................................25
Life in Bronze Age Ireland...................................................................26
Bronze Age metalworking....................................................................26
Then Comes the Iron Age – and the First Celts..........................................27
The Priteni.............................................................................................28
Taking over half of Ireland: The Bolgic..............................................28
And then the second half: The Laginians..........................................29
Iron Age advancements.......................................................................30
Celts Go Gaelic................................................................................................30
Minding P’s and Q’s: A new tongue....................................................31
Houses and settlements......................................................................32
Slige: The Gaelic motorway.................................................................32
Why the Romans Never Made It...................................................................33
Chapter 3: The Early Irish Kings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35
The Romans: They Came, They Saw, and They Didn’t Bother.................35
To invade or not...................................................................................36
Rome’s impact on Ireland ...................................................................37
The Rise of the Irish Kings............................................................................37
Two cheers for Tuathal, the first true Irish king..............................38
He’s so cool: Finn Mac Cool................................................................40
Niall of the Nine Hostages ..................................................................41
Ogham Is the Word: The First Irish Texts...................................................43
Chapter 4: Snakes Alive! Christianity Comes to Ireland . . . . . . . . . . .45
Holy Tree Huggers! The Druids....................................................................45
Druid beliefs..........................................................................................46
Living in pagan Ireland ........................................................................47
Knocking on Heaven’s Door: Enter St Patrick.............................................47
Patrick: the early years........................................................................47
Holidaying in Europe............................................................................48
A brief sojourn in Britain.....................................................................48
Then back to Ireland ...........................................................................49
Christianity Comes to Ireland.......................................................................49
Tackling the five kingdoms..................................................................50
Patrick’s contribution in a nutshell....................................................53
Christian Ireland.............................................................................................54
The influence of the monasteries ......................................................55
Monk-y business, Part I: On a mission round Ireland......................57
Monk-y business, Part II: Taking God farther afield.........................57
The King–Church connection.............................................................59
Forget Christian Kindness! This Is War!.............................................59
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Table of Contents
Part II: The Normans Are Coming! The Twelfth
and Thirteenth Centuries..............................................61
Chapter 5: The Vikings Arrive First . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63
The Men from Scandinavia...........................................................................63
The pattern of attack...........................................................................64
Looting the Church..............................................................................65
Founding Dublin (and you thought it was Irish)..............................65
The Irish Get Their Own Back......................................................................66
The Return of the Vikings.............................................................................67
Irish kings regroup...............................................................................68
Two cultures become one...................................................................69
Big Brian Boru................................................................................................70
The rise of a legend..............................................................................70
The Irish kings get together................................................................71
The kings fall out..................................................................................72
Brian Boru, the High King....................................................................73
Attacking Ulster....................................................................................73
Brian’s last stand..................................................................................74
Chapter 6: Irish vs. Norman Invaders . . . But Who’s in Charge? . . . . .75
Realities of Irish Kingship: A Royal Pain ....................................................75
The Kingly Contenders, Round 1: The Munster Men................................76
Donnchad (Brian Boru’s son).............................................................77
Diarmait.................................................................................................77
Turlough (Donnchad’s brother).........................................................78
Muirchertach (Turlough’s son)..........................................................78
The Legacy of the Munster Kings ......................................................80
The Contenders, Round 2.............................................................................80
Turlough O Connor..............................................................................80
Squaring off: The fight for supremacy...............................................82
Rory: At last, a High King.....................................................................83
Bout’s Over: Enter the Normans..................................................................83
Early skirmishes...................................................................................84
Strongbow settles in.............................................................................84
The Power of the Church..............................................................................85
Growing more connected....................................................................85
Church councils....................................................................................86
Chapter 7: Boy Meets Gael: The Norman-Irish Alliance . . . . . . . . . . .89
Strongbow: Making Political and Personal Hay..........................................90
Fighting the good fight.........................................................................91
Claiming his kingdom...........................................................................91
King Henry Comes to Ireland .......................................................................92
Henry decides to invade but doesn’t.................................................93
To heck with it! Henry invades...........................................................94
The kings submit..................................................................................95
Stopping future rebellions...................................................................95