IRA bombs in public places were a problem for a long time in England, and there was a worry (based on some incidents) that they would be placed in garbage cans. So to this day they are either in a transparent plastic bag form, or absent entirely.
The IRA of course was the successor of the original IRA, which is in a long line of Irish resistance to British rule, in large part fueled by things like the “Protestant Ascendancy” in Ireland. Which, of course, is due to the Reformation.
AFAIK terms like Protestant/Catholic are not to be understood literally wrt to the conflict in Ireland. They are more tribal flags than faiths in this sense. It can be seen as an ethnic conflict—Protesants being of Scottish origin. Some people I know have a theory that conflicts that are hard to resolve tend to be ethnic. Or the political conflict of unionists / republicans. Or to a certain extent even a rich/poor class struggle.
While it is arguing from fictional evidence, Leon Uris laid out the history in Trinity. While it is true that the Reformation and Cromwell’s religious zeal motivated his conquests of Ireland, everything afterwards, according to Uris, is largely about Irish people (“Catholics”) had their land taken away and given to Cromwell’s Scots (“Protestants”). This generated a social, economic, class conflict.
This, IMHO, cannot really be blamed on the Reformation.
Another weird aspect is that for some reason unknown to me in the UK & Ireland people don’t like to see conflicts as ethnic. Cromwell’s people did not want to keep a Scottish identity, and adopted an Irish one, which can be understandble as a tactical move, but for some astonishing reason Irish people did not call them out on it, did not tell them “you are not really Irish just Scottish in disguise” but readily adopted the “you Protestant, me Catholic” tribal identities. So basically for some reason they did not want to approach their confict the same way as say Serbs and Croats approached theirs. For them, ethnicity was much important than their religious difference (Catholic/Orthodox).
By similar reasoning you can blame it on Jesus. And the Norman invasion. Etc. etc.
When you have a particular situation arising out of long and complicated history, pointing to one small piece and saying “Ah, that’s the cause” is disingenuous.
Because if a split results in a socio-economic setup that is conflict-generating in itself, it is a more immediate cause. I mean in a long chain of causes which one one should take the blame? Cosmic constants? :-)
What’s your line of thought?
IRA bombs in public places were a problem for a long time in England, and there was a worry (based on some incidents) that they would be placed in garbage cans. So to this day they are either in a transparent plastic bag form, or absent entirely.
The IRA of course was the successor of the original IRA, which is in a long line of Irish resistance to British rule, in large part fueled by things like the “Protestant Ascendancy” in Ireland. Which, of course, is due to the Reformation.
AFAIK terms like Protestant/Catholic are not to be understood literally wrt to the conflict in Ireland. They are more tribal flags than faiths in this sense. It can be seen as an ethnic conflict—Protesants being of Scottish origin. Some people I know have a theory that conflicts that are hard to resolve tend to be ethnic. Or the political conflict of unionists / republicans. Or to a certain extent even a rich/poor class struggle.
While it is arguing from fictional evidence, Leon Uris laid out the history in Trinity. While it is true that the Reformation and Cromwell’s religious zeal motivated his conquests of Ireland, everything afterwards, according to Uris, is largely about Irish people (“Catholics”) had their land taken away and given to Cromwell’s Scots (“Protestants”). This generated a social, economic, class conflict.
This, IMHO, cannot really be blamed on the Reformation.
Another weird aspect is that for some reason unknown to me in the UK & Ireland people don’t like to see conflicts as ethnic. Cromwell’s people did not want to keep a Scottish identity, and adopted an Irish one, which can be understandble as a tactical move, but for some astonishing reason Irish people did not call them out on it, did not tell them “you are not really Irish just Scottish in disguise” but readily adopted the “you Protestant, me Catholic” tribal identities. So basically for some reason they did not want to approach their confict the same way as say Serbs and Croats approached theirs. For them, ethnicity was much important than their religious difference (Catholic/Orthodox).
And this is misleading today.
Why not? That’s when the split between Protestants and Catholics happened.
By similar reasoning you can blame it on Jesus. And the Norman invasion. Etc. etc.
When you have a particular situation arising out of long and complicated history, pointing to one small piece and saying “Ah, that’s the cause” is disingenuous.
Because if a split results in a socio-economic setup that is conflict-generating in itself, it is a more immediate cause. I mean in a long chain of causes which one one should take the blame? Cosmic constants? :-)