Rachel Evans
The conflict between Ulster and Irish Catholics, also known as the Troubles, was a violent sectarian conflict that took place in Northern Ireland from about 1968 to 1998. It was a political and nationalistic struggle fueled by historical events, with a strong ethnic and religious dimension. The conflict was between the Protestant Unionists, who wanted Northern Ireland to remain within the United Kingdom, and the Roman Catholic Nationalists, who wanted Northern Ireland to leave the United Kingdom and join a united Ireland. This conflict was preceded by a history of social change and outbreaks of violence, including the rebellion of 1641, the Irish Confederate Wars (1641-1653), and the Williamite War (1689-1691), which resulted in Protestant victories and the enactment of Penal Laws that curtailed the rights of Catholics. The late 18th century saw increasing sectarian violence and the founding of the Orange Order, devoted to maintaining British rule and Protestant ascendancy. The 20th century witnessed the Irish War of Independence, the partition of Ireland, and continued communal violence between Protestants and Catholics, with the British Army being deployed to keep the peace. Despite a shift in recent years, with Catholics slightly outnumbering Protestants, the conflict between Ulster and Irish Catholics has had a lasting impact on the region.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date of conflict | Late 16th century to the present day, with particular intensity in the 17th century, late 18th century, 1920s, 1960s and 1970s |
| Location | Ulster, Ireland |
| Primary participants | Protestants (including Ulster loyalists and unionists) and Irish Catholics (including nationalists and republicans) |
| Other participants | British Army, Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR), Irish Republican Army (IRA), Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), Ulster Defence Association (UDA), Ulster Special Constabulary (USC/B Specials), Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) |
| Causes | Struggle for emancipation of Ireland's Catholic majority under Protestant rule, pursuit of Irish Home Rule and independence, resistance to independence by Ulster loyalists and unionists, historical events, cultural and political differences, economic competition, social change, religious division |
| Key events | Plantation of Ulster, Irish Confederate Wars (1641-1653), Williamite War (1689-1691), Penal Laws, Irish War of Independence (1919-1921), Government of Ireland Act (1920), The Troubles (c. 1968-1998), Bloody Sunday (1972), Miami Showband ambush (1975), Kingmill attack (1976) |
| Casualties | c. 35,000 deaths during the 1798 rebellion, c. 500 deaths during the Troubles in Ulster in the 1920s, 11 Protestant workers killed at Kingmill |
| Impact | Displacement of native Irish, division of Ireland, ongoing sectarian conflict, discrimination against Catholics, educational disadvantage for Ulster Catholics |
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What You'll Learn
The Troubles
The roots of the conflict can be traced back to the Plantation of Ulster in the 17th century, which led to the settlement of Protestants from lowland Scotland and the North of England, creating a sectarian divide in the province. This divide was further exacerbated by the displacement of native Irish Catholics to less arable land, the rise of the Orange Order, and the refusal of the Protestant population to accept their minority status in Ireland.
During the Troubles, the main participants included republican paramilitaries such as the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA), as well as loyalist paramilitaries like the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and Ulster Defence Association (UDA). The British Army, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), and the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) were also involved, ostensibly to play a peacekeeping role between the nationalists and unionists. However, there were incidents of collusion between British state forces and loyalist paramilitaries.
The conflict resulted in more than 3,500 deaths, with civilians accounting for 52% of the fatalities. Loyalists were responsible for the highest number of civilian deaths, while republicans carried out a guerrilla campaign against British forces and a bombing campaign targeting infrastructure, commercial, and political targets. The Troubles also witnessed mass protests, civil disobedience, and increased segregation, ultimately leading to the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement.
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Penal Laws
The Penal Laws were passed following the defeat of Catholic attempts to regain power and lands in Ireland. They sought to restrict the religious, political, and economic activities of Catholics, including their participation in public life and professional activity. The laws included the Education Act 1695, the Banishment Act 1697, the Registration Act 1704, the Popery Acts 1704 and 1709, and the Disenfranchising Act 1728. They barred Catholics from voting, holding public office, owning land, bringing religious items from Rome into Britain, publishing or selling Catholic primers, or teaching.
The laws also affected the clergy and church hierarchy, with severe penalties, including death, for Catholic priests who practiced their ministry in Britain or Ireland. They further impacted the family through restrictions on education, marriage, and inheritance. The enforcement of these laws depended on the attitudes of local magistrates, with some being rigorous and others more liberal.
The Penal Laws were gradually repealed through a series of relief acts beginning in 1771, as the British government sought Catholic alliances and loyalty in its rivalry with France. The last significant disability, the requirement for Members of Parliament to take the Oath of Supremacy, was removed in 1829. The laws were almost completely nullified by various acts in the late 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, including the Roman Catholic Relief Act (1791), the Catholic Emancipation Act (1829), and the Government of Ireland Act (1920).
The Penal Laws had a significant impact on Ulster, contributing to the conflict between Protestants and Catholics in the region. Ulster became a province dominated by Protestant English and Scottish planters, with a landholding aristocracy that was largely English. The native Irish, who were mostly Catholic, were displaced to less arable lands and faced economic and cultural disadvantages. The Penal Laws further contributed to the tensions between the two groups, and their easing in the 1790s coincided with a period of social change and sharp outbreaks of violence, including the birth of the Orange Order.
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Plantation of Ulster
The Plantation of Ulster was the biggest of the plantations of Ireland. It was the organised colonisation of Ulster, a province of Ireland, by people from Great Britain during the reign of King James VI and I. The population of Ulster before the plantation has been estimated to be around 180,000-200,000. This was after the destruction caused by the devastating famine and warfare at the end of the Nine Years' War. Small privately funded plantations by wealthy landowners began in 1606, while the official plantation began in 1609.
The plantation was seen as a means of controlling, anglicising, and "civilising" Ulster. The province was almost wholly Gaelic, Catholic, and rural, and had been the region most resistant to English control. The colonists (or "British tenants") were required to be English-speaking, Protestant, and loyal to the king. The Scottish settlers were mostly Presbyterian Lowlanders, and the English settlers were mostly Anglican Northerners. Their cultures differed from that of the native Irish. The plantation led to the founding of many of Ulster's towns and villages and created a lasting Ulster Protestant community in the province with ties to Britain.
The plantation also resulted in many of the native Irish nobility losing their land, and the displacement of the native Irish to less-arable and more-marginal landholdings. The native Irish reaction to the plantation was generally hostile, and native writers lamented what they saw as the decline of Gaelic society and the influx of foreigners. The most violent reaction to this economic and cultural displacement was the rebellion of 1641, which originated in Ulster and took the form of a surprise attack on English (and later Scottish) settlers. The plantation temporarily collapsed as colonists fled for their lives, but it was reestablished with the reconquest of Ireland by Oliver Cromwell in the 1650s and the restoration of the Stuart monarchy in 1660.
The Plantation of Ulster had a lasting impact on the region, contributing to centuries of ethnic and sectarian animosity, which at times spilled into conflict, including the Troubles in the late 20th century. The Protestant settlers who arrived during the plantation and their descendants held tightly to their British identity and remained loyal to the British crown, often refusing to accept their minority status in Ireland and demanding a controlling role in the country's affairs. This dynamic contributed to social change and outbreaks of violence, as the relative standing of Protestants and Catholics shifted over time.
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Irish War of Independence
The Irish War of Independence (1919–1921), also known as the Anglo-Irish War, was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland between the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and British forces, including the British Army, the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC), and its paramilitary forces, the Auxiliaries and Ulster Special Constabulary (USC). It was the culmination of a centuries-long struggle for control of Ireland, which had seen numerous bloody wars and revolts against British rule.
The immediate backdrop to the war was the Easter Rising of 1916, in which Irish republicans launched an insurrection against British rule and proclaimed an Irish Republic. The Rising was defeated after a week of fighting, but the British response, including the execution of the rebellion's leaders, led to increased support for Irish independence. In the December 1918 election, the republican party Sinn Féin won a landslide victory in Ireland. On 21 January 1919, they formed a breakaway government, Dáil Éireann, and declared Irish independence.
The IRA, formed in 1919 as a successor to the Irish Volunteers, employed guerrilla tactics, including ambushes, raids, and attacks on police barracks. The British forces responded with ruthless reprisals. The conflict escalated towards the end of 1919, when the IRA launched a series of attacks on RIC barracks across southern Ireland, effectively removing British authority from large areas of the country. By the end of 1920, about 500 people had been killed in the war, with approximately another 1,000 deaths occurring in the first half of 1921.
The war concluded with the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 6, 1921, which established 26 counties in the south of Ireland as the Irish Free State, with dominion status within the British Empire. Six predominantly Protestant counties in the north (Ulster) were granted "Home Rule" and remained a self-governing part of the United Kingdom. The treaty led to dissension among Irish nationalists, resulting in the Irish Civil War (1922–1923).
The Irish War of Independence was a significant event in the long-standing conflict between Ulster and Irish Catholics. Ulster became a province dominated by Protestant English and Scottish settlers, while the native Irish, who were predominantly Catholic, were displaced and disadvantaged. This religious and cultural divide persisted and manifested in violent outbreaks, such as the Troubles in the late 20th century, which saw conflict between Protestant unionists loyal to the United Kingdom and Catholic nationalists seeking independence for Northern Ireland.
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Sectarian violence
The roots of the conflict can be traced back to the plantation of Ulster in the 17th century, which resulted in the displacement of the native Irish to less arable land. This led to violent reactions, including the rebellion of 1641, which originated in Ulster and targeted English and Scottish settlers. The Ulster plantation was re-established following the reconquest of Ireland by Oliver Cromwell. However, the tension between the two groups remained, with Ulster developing as a region where Protestant settlers outnumbered the indigenous Irish.
In the 18th century, Ulster exhibited both aspirations for an ecumenical nation and bitter sectarian strife. The Society of United Irishmen, founded in 1791 in Belfast, envisioned an end to religious division. However, in County Armagh, sectarian passions ignited, leading to a pitched battle between Protestant and Catholic factions in 1795 and the founding of the Orange Society (later the Orange Order). The easing of anti-Catholic Penal Laws in the 1790s, alongside the birth of the Orange Order, further fuelled conflict.
The Irish War of Independence (1919-1921) and the subsequent partition of Ireland contributed significantly to sectarian violence. The Government of Ireland Act of 1920 divided the island into two self-governing areas, with Northern Ireland formed by six counties, including four with significant Protestant loyalist majorities. This partition was viewed by nationalists as an illegal division of the island, reinforcing sectarian divisions. From 1920 to 1922, communal strife between Catholics and Protestants erupted, resulting in the deaths of 557 people, mostly Catholics, and widespread violence in Belfast.
The Troubles, a period of violent sectarian conflict from approximately 1968 to 1998, exemplified the ongoing tension between Ulster Protestants and Irish Catholics. During this time, Protestant unionists desired to maintain Northern Ireland's status within the United Kingdom, while Catholic nationalists sought to unite Ireland as a republic. Paramilitary groups, such as the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and Ulster Defence Association (UDA), along with republican groups like the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA), engaged in violent clashes, targeting each other and their respective communities. The British Army and the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) attempted to play a peacekeeping role, but their involvement also led to accusations of bias and harassment, particularly towards Catholics.
While political violence has decreased since the Troubles, sectarian animosity persists, and residential segregation between Catholic nationalists and Protestant unionists has increased. The conflict between Ulster and Irish Catholics has been characterised by a recurring cycle of violence, driven by power struggles and a refusal to accept religious and cultural differences.
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Frequently asked questions
The conflict was a result of the plantation of Ulster, which led to a struggle for the emancipation of the island’s Catholic majority under the rule of the Protestant ascendancy. The Irish nationalists pursued Home Rule and then independence after the island was formally united with Great Britain in 1801.
The British Army was deployed to Ulster in 1969 to deal with the riots and communal violence between Protestants and Catholics. While some Catholics initially welcomed the British Army as a neutral force, they soon began to see them as hostile and biased, especially after Bloody Sunday in 1972.
The conflict resulted in thousands of people being killed, injured, and displaced. In Belfast alone, more than 500 people were killed, 500 were interned, and 23,000 were made homeless. Approximately 50,000 people fled the province due to intimidation.
