Basic HTML Version
January
1971
countries tried by one means or another
to overthrow the Protestant kings in
England - all to no avail.
In the seventeeoth century, France
eveo landed a number of troops in Ire–
land to ass ist the English Catholic king,
James II, in his struggle against the
Protestant king, William of Orangc, the
"Dutchman." James had gone to Ire–
land to rccn. it a Calhol ic army
lO
cxpel
William from the Jand. James' follow–
ing was espccially strong in the Nortb
of Ireland.
The "Ulster Plantations"
British monarchs of the Protcstant
faith finally decided the way to solve
the "lr ish Problem" was to dcvastate
Ireland and drive many of the people
out of their homelands - especially in
the North - and to "plant' ' a number
of staunch
Protestrmls
from Scotland
and Eogland in the Emerald Tsle -
hoping then:by to be better al-lle to
control that predominantly C.atholic
country.
Queen Elizabeth I initiated this pro–
gram of planting Protestants in Jreland.
King James I (the one who had the
Bible translated into English in 1611)
worked out a scheme whereby these
"Ulster Plantations" would be made.
Protestant James
J
of Britain - who
had been James VI of Scotland - took
away much of the better land f rom the
Irish, especially in the North, and
leased large tracts to Protestants. "The
land was divided among Scotch and
English Protestants, most of whom had
to promise to take
no
hish
and
no
Catholici
as tenants. Thcy advertised in
England and Scotland for suh-tenants.
In thc next 30 years about
lll'enty
thou–
!tlnd E1If. li1h and
fl
htmdred thomand
Scotch
wcre succcssfully settled in
Ulster"
(A HistOI')' of
Ire/a11d.
Julius
Pokorny, p. 83). The Scots, who
were used to a less productive land,
were especially successful and prolific,
although the English soon went home
in droves bccause o f a bad crop year.
Meaniog of Scotch-I rish
Now, with this historical back–
ground, wc can bettcr understand the
meaning of Scotch-Irish.
Most of the "Piantation of Ulster''
was from
Sco!li.rb
racial stock ( with
sorne
En~lísh).
The
PLAIN TRUTH
These peoples becamc known in Brit–
ai n as
Ulster-Scots.
In America they
have beco called
Scotch-lrilh.
A Crucial Battle
The Battle of the Boync of 1690 is
Jooked upon as being thc most impor–
tant battle cver fought in Ireland.
Jt
was fought betwcen the Protestant King
of England, William of Orange, and
the Catholic King of England, James lT.
King James
JI
passed thc
Decree of
Allainder,
in which over 3,000 Protes–
tants were scntenced to death. Maoy of
these condemned Protestants fled to the
wallcd city of Londondcrry (Derry) for
refuge. They were there besieged by the
Catholic forccs, but the Apprcntice Boys
wcre able to hold out until William of
Orange could se:nd relief.
The Siege of Derry was Iifted in
J
690 and thc British ship, the
MO!mt–
joy,
arrived with provisions for the
city's starving inhabitants. The Protes–
tants have nc.ver forgotten the slaughter
which they rcccived at thc hands of thc
Catholics. And the Catholics, too, are
cver mindful of the opprcssions and
untimely deaths which thcy received
f
rom Protestants.
And let it be said - and said plainly
- that
griet·om wrongJ haz
1
e been com–
mi!led
011
both sides!
After thc Siege of Oerry and the
Protcstant victory at the Battle of the
Boyne, the Protestants contrived by vari–
ous means to make surt' that the Catho–
lics of Ireland would
never
again ga in
thc upper hand.
The
Ormtge Sorie!J.
later to become
the Orange Order, was established for
this cxpress rmpose.
This past Ju ly, an estimated 100,000
Protestant Orangemen, induding thou–
sands from Scotlaod, marched through
Bclfast's strects - demonstrating their
loyalty to the British Crown - and
their "No-Surrender" to the Catholic
Republic of Ireland. Thc annual July
Orange Parade in Bclfast and othcr
Northern Trish cities is a memorial of
the Battle of the Boyne - a con–
stant reminder to Protcstants never to
surrcoder.
Irish Catholics of Southern Ireland
through the ceoturies grcw very
bi!ler
toward English rule.
From thc Irish Catholic's point of
23
view, what are sorne of his grievances?
What,
arcordi11,~
lo
!he lriJh,
did
England do to cause them to
be
so bitter
toward British rule?
( l )
English rulers took
large tracts
of lrmd
away from the Irish and gave
them to British - mainly English -
laodlords.
(2)
Penal /r¡u.r
wcre very harsh and
greatly restricted Jrish freedom. These
penal laws forbade Roman Catholics
purchasing or holding land on long
Jcasc. Often vcry cxcessive reots were
chargcd.
( 3) Succession of estates of Roman
Catholics by c9ual division among sons,
instead of primogeniture (giving the
whole estate to the older son), tended
to the break-up of large estates.
( 4) A Roman Catholic could not
wear a sword or possess a horsc worth
more than 5 pounds.
( 5) All teachers and schoolmasters
werc reguircd to be of thc Protestant
faith.
(6) Roman Catholics had no vote.
(7) [n the economic sphcre, the sell–
ing of Irish goods - except for linen
- was prohibited in Britain and on the
Continent.
(8) Even during the sevcre potato
famine of 1848-19, badly needed food
was exported from I reland by landlords
- in spite of the fact that one million
werc starving in the famine. (The
English side of the story has, however,
been consistently overlooked by the
Irish.)
(9) Furthermore, Oliver Cromwell
totally destroyed the towns of Drogheda
and Wexford, slaughtering the Irish
without merey. Under Cromwellian rule
- as well as under the rule of some
British monarchs - the Irish, in their
own cyes, were trcated cmelly.
At the turn of the eightecnth century,
William Pitt, the famous English Prime
1\finister, wrestled with the "lrish Prob–
lern." He knew there would be trouble
if England gavc "Home Rule" to Ire–
land, theceby turning the
Protestan!
majority of Ulstcr ovcr to the control of
thc
Catholic
majority in a uoited
Jreland.
Pitt knew the Ulster Scots would
nevcr consent to letting all Ireland
becomc united under Dublin rule and
under Catholic cont rol. He also knew