Irish History FOR DUMmIES‰ by Mike Cronin Irish History For Dummies® Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd The Atrium Southern Gate Chichester West Sussex PO19 8SQ England E-mail (for orders and customer service enquires): [email protected] Visit our Home Page on www.wileyeurope.com Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, West Sussex, England Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, West Sussex All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmit- ted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except under the terms of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under the terms of a licence issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1T 4LP, UK, without the permission in writing of the Publisher. 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ISBN-13: 978-0-7645-7040-7 (PB) ISBN-10: 0-7645-7040-4 (PB) Printed and bound in Great Britain by Bell and Bain Ltd, Glasgow 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 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 We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Dummies online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/. Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following: Acquisitions, Editorial, and Composition Services Media Development Project Coordinator: Maridee Ennis Project Editor: Rachael Chilvers Layout and Graphics: Carl Byers, Andrea Dahl Development Editor: Tracy Barr Proofreaders: Dwight Ramsey, Charles Spencer Content Editor:Simon Bell Indexer:TechBooks 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 Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director, Consumer Dummies Kristin A. Cocks, Product Development Director, Consumer Dummies Michael Spring, Vice President and Publisher, Travel Kelly Regan,Editorial Director, Travel Publishing for Technology Dummies Andy Cummings,Vice President and Publisher, Dummies Technology/General User Composition Services Gerry Fahey,Vice President of Production Services 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 viii 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 ix 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