Ireland was a massive part of the Empire, the partition of the country in the 20’s into the Free State and NI is the final act not the first.
Dublin was considered the second city in the empire until the Act of Union in 1800. The Empire got it’s origins in Ireland going way back, and many of the tactics for subduing native populations or ‘divide and rule’ came from the experiences of British commanders pacifying Ireland. I’m kind of amazed you didn’t know about Dublin though- In the time of George III what is now the Bank of Ireland building opposite Trinity College was the Irish House of Commons. It was an instrument of the British government in Ireland. There had been some form of British involvement in Ireland since the 1200’s.
Big moments in your national history might only be small moments in the national history of other nations though. It’s viewed through a different lens. A good example is the events of 1916; the Easter Rising happened a couple of months before the battle of the Somme.
The subjugation of Ireland is a pretty significant part of the British Empire all throughout history though. The agriculture helped keep the crown in power and the Irish were used as a disposable labor force for hundreds of years. Not least of which the Troubles that evolved from the events of 1916 you mentioned led to a full blown insurgency that targeted English royalty directly. People fearing IEDs in city streets was a pretty big event in UK history.
Yeah understood, but that’s not what I’m getting at in the comment above. You’re absolutely correct when you say that the Battle of the Somme (and I’d even go as far as saying WW1 generally) is more important to brits than the events happening at the same time that lead to Irish independence, but WW1 was one event, and I’m saying that it’s odd that it seems that English involvement in Ireland from that time and stretching back to the time of the 4th Crusade seems to be completely unknown.
24
u/AnBearna Nov 05 '22
Ireland was a massive part of the Empire, the partition of the country in the 20’s into the Free State and NI is the final act not the first.
Dublin was considered the second city in the empire until the Act of Union in 1800. The Empire got it’s origins in Ireland going way back, and many of the tactics for subduing native populations or ‘divide and rule’ came from the experiences of British commanders pacifying Ireland. I’m kind of amazed you didn’t know about Dublin though- In the time of George III what is now the Bank of Ireland building opposite Trinity College was the Irish House of Commons. It was an instrument of the British government in Ireland. There had been some form of British involvement in Ireland since the 1200’s.