Irish lit

Bean Cabhrach.

"the help, the nanny, the midwife," a phrase liked by Rebecca and which is a Gaelic term referring to midwives

Robert Emmet

Robert Emmet (4 March 1778 - 20 September 1803) was a Republican, and Irish nationalist, Patriot, orator and rebel leader. After leading an abortive rebellion against British rule in 1803 he was captured then tried and executed for high treason against the British king. Robert Emmet's older brother, Thomas Addis Emmet emigrated to the United States shortly after Robert's execution. He eventually served as the New York State Attorney General. Also, Emmet's housekeeper, Anne Devlin, is also remembered in Irish history for enduring torture without providing information to the authorities. (Anne Devlin- Anne Devlin was an Irish republican famous for her involvement with the United Irishmen, and enduring terrible conditions, as well as torture, when imprisoned by the British authorities.)

Requiem for the Croppies

Seamus Heaney; The pockets of our greatcoats full of barley... No kitchens on the run, no striking camp... We moved quick and sudden in our own country. The priest lay behind ditches with the tramp. A people hardly marching... on the hike... We found new tactics happening each day: We'd cut through reins and rider with the pike And stampede cattle into infantry, Then retreat through hedges where cavalry must be thrown. Until... on Vinegar Hill... the final conclave. Terraced thousands died, shaking scythes at cannon. The hillside blushed, soaked in our broken wave. They buried us without shroud or coffin And in August... the barley grew up out of our grave.

William Gladstone

(1809-1898, died at age 88): -Born in Liverpool, England -First elected to parliament in 1832 - junior government positions (at age 23) -Member of the Tory party -Held junior government positions before joining Robert Peel's Conservative cabinet in 1843. With Peel, Gladstone became a Liberal-Conservative following a Tory party split in 1846. -Gladstone became head of the Liberal Party in 1867 -Gladstone was a British statesman and four-time prime minister of the United Kingdom (1868-74, 1880-85, 1886, 1892-94) -Gladstone's accomplishments included: expanding the vote and reforms in Ireland as chancellor, his budgets featured a balancing of expenditures and tariff reductions. he disestablished Ireland's Protestant church worked to grant Irish tenant farmers more rights vis-à-vis English landowners set up a national elementary education program outlawed the purchase of military commissions instituted secret ballots Irish Land Act of 1881 (more protection for peasants) Spent his own money helping prostitutes -Queen Victoria did not get along well with Gladstone and was relieved when his final term as prime minister concluded -Buried in Westminster Abbey

Irish Republican Army (IRA)

*significance to Irish writers Consisted of Irish republicans that believed all of Ireland should be an independent republic and political violence was necessary to achieve this goal. First coined during the Fenian Raids, the IRA were a group of Irish Volunteers that did not enlist in the British Army during WWI. They attacked British lands from the late 1700s until the 1860s. From there, the IRA has gone through many changes. The changes are listed chronologically: -1919: The "Old" IRA Recognized by Dáil Éireann in 1921 during the Irish War of Independence -1921: Anglo-Irish Treaty The Anglo-Irish Treaty cause the IRA to split into two factions: Pro-Treaty (National Army) and Anti-Treaty ( Republicans). This split led to the Irish Civil War -1922: IRA (Anti-Treaty) lost the Irish Civil War and refused to recognize the Irish Free State or Northern Ireland. -1969: The IRA split again into the Official IRA (OIRA) and the Provisional IRA (PIRA). The split was caused by the PIRA's policy on abstentionism and the inability to decide on how to deal with violence in Northern Ireland. Politically, the OIRA had a Marxist perspective while the PIRA were Left Wing. The OIRA had a subgroup known as the Workers' Party of Ireland -1986: The Continuity IRA (CIRA) broke away from the PIRA after the termination of their policy on abstentionism as it forced them to recognize the Republic of Ireland -1997: The Real IRA (RIRA) broke away from the PIRA members opposed to the Northern Ireland peace process -April 2001: Former PIRA members resumed hostilities. They were making claims of taking back the IRA and operating under that name while acting separately of the Real IRA, Óglaigh na hÉireann (ONH), and CIRA. These members also claimed responsibility for the murder of Ronan Kerr and other attacks -2012:The New IRA was formed as a merger between the Real IRA and other republican groups.

Parachute Regiment

-Airborne infantry in the British Army -1 Regiment, created during WWII -Responsible for shooting 11 Irish Catholics on Bloody Sunday 1972

Good Friday Agreement

-Also called the Belfast Agreement -Signed on April 10, 1998 in Belfast -The agreement is made up of two inter-related documents, the Multi-Party Agreement and British-Irish Agreement Multi-Party: Irish Government, British Government, and Political Parties of Northern Ireland British-Ireland: UK and Republic of Ireland -Part of the Northern Ireland Peace Process -Northern Ireland's devolved government stems from this agreement -Centered around many issues Sovereignty Civil and Cultural Rights Decommissioning of Weapons Demilitarisation Justice Policing -Worked under the title of the Northern Ireland Assembly -Fell apart in 2017

Tollund Man

A corpse from 400 BC (the Iron Age), naturally mummified by the peat bog on the Jutland Peninsula near Tollund, Denmark in which he was found in 1950. He is thought to have been hanged as a human sacrifice to a Scandinavian goddess of fertility. Seamus Heaney writes about him in "Tollund Man," mentioning that the brute violence of this ancient man's death parallels the violence alive and well in Ireland today. Grauballe, Nebelgard: other locations where natural mummies were found, also mentioned in Heaney's poem

Rathgar Road

A road and area of Dublin known for having a large Jewish community and includes Stratford College founded by Jews in the 1950s. The main school The High School is of Anglican heritage but also has a large Jewish background. There is also The Dublin Jewish Progressive Congregation Synagogue and The orthodox Dublin Hebrew Congregation have their synagogue in nearby Terenure. Rebecca references it as a place of dwindling Jewish influence

Kharki

A variation of the word "Khaki," used to refer to British troops during the 19th and 20th centuries. During the 19th century, the British military began to move away from the bright red service dress that they had previously employed. The word is Hindi for "dusty," and British colonial troops would wear it to blend in when they were in India. Years after being first adopted, it became the primary service dress during World War I. Soon, the word became synonymous with the British military, and Irish citizens in the early 20th century would have known its connotations

Catholic Church Sex Abuse Scandal in Ireland

Allegations of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church began in the 1950s but they didn't really start gaining media attention until the 1980s. In 2009, a report was released that stated that sexual and psychological abuse was prevalent in Catholic-run institutions like orphanages and schools as well for most of the 20th century. Most of the child-abuse victims were boys. In 2011, Pope Benedict told bishops that all suspected cases must be reported to the police. However, previous to this the accusations were sent to Rome so the Vatican played a heavy role when it came to covering up these instances of child abuse. So whenever a priest was accused he would be shuffled around and sent to another church. This is still an ongoing issue even today.

Diehards

Irish republicans who staunchly opposed the Free State Treaty of 1921, which would make Ireland a Dominion of the British Commonwealth of Nations (also known as Irregulars). Many had fought in the War of Independence from 1919-1921, which deepened the bitterness of the split between pro and anti treaty forces. The diehards wanted an independent Irish republic with self-governance, and to be free from British subjugation. Conflict over the ratification of that bill led to the Irish Civil War, in which they (the "new IRA"/anti-treaty IRA) fought the newly established National Army.

Daniel O'Connell

An Irish nationalist leader in the early 19th century and was an advocate for Catholic rights, including the right to be a member of parliament. He created the Catholic Association in 1823 that advocated for Catholic emancipation, and Ireland was about 85% Catholic at this time. He wanted to work within the British parliament structure in order to reform it. He was one of the first leaders to emerge to try and liberate Ireland from British rule.

Baile Beag (Ballybeg)

Ballybeg is the anglicisation of the Irish word baile beag, meaning "little town." This term is especially prominent in Irish literature and theatre because the Irish playwright Brian Friel uses this as a setting in many of his plays, most notably Translations. Ballybeg is the name of many small towns in Ireland but is largely compared to the village of Glenties which is close to where Friel lived

Sh'khol

Colum McCann; As a Jewish woman living in the West of Ireland, Rebecca Marcus is certainly somewhat "other" to the locals. She enjoys little company save for that of the characters in her books, and her 13 year-old son Tomas. Tomas is 'other' in his own way; he was adopted from Russia and, crucially, he's deaf. Rebecca seems to relish Tomas's difference: "There was a raw wedge of thrill in her love for him. The presence of the unknown." She tries a range of languages on him - Irish, English, Hebrew, Yiddish - but mostly she discerns his moods and needs via "rudimentary" signing or by reading certain aspects of his body language. This, of course, speaks to her job as a translator. At the time of the story, she's working on an Israeli novella about a middle-aged couple who have tragically lost both their children. However, while the Hebrew language offers the term sh'khol for a parent who has suffered such a fate, Rebecca discovers there is no English equivalent — "widow, widower, and orphan" are the limited options — so she searches in vain for a word that will "be true to the text," that will "identify the invisible." It is during this search that another kind of translation occurs. One morning Tomas has suddenly gone missing, believed to have gone swimming in his new wetsuit and drowned. We are reminded how life can often imitate art in the cruellest of ways. The police and the lifeguards set up their own kind of search, combing the area for clues of Tomas's whereabouts, but the more time passes the more Rebecca finds herself bereft of language entirely, until "she was making the sounds, she knew, of an animal."

Translations

Brian Friel; The play follows Owen O'Donnell's return to his hometown of Baile Beag after six years in Dublin. Owen is the younger son of Hugh O'Donnell, headmaster at the local hedge school. Hugh teaches Latin and Greek, in addition to Irish. Owen's brother, Manus, who has a lame leg, teaches at the school with his father. Owen is employed by the British army to work on a map survey of Ireland. He serves as a translator for his English colleagues, helping them translate the names of places on the map and communicate with the Irish-speaking villagers. Among these colleagues are Captain Lancey and Lieutenant Yolland, the latter of whom is a young romantic who falls in love both with Irish culture and a local woman named Maire. After a local dance, Lieutenant Yolland disappears mysteriously, likely kidnapped by an armed Irish resistance movement. A search party of British soldiers goes looking for Yolland, ransacking the village in its wake. Captain Lancey threatens the villagers, telling them that he will shoot all the livestock if Yolland is not found within twenty-four hours and burn their homes if he is not found in forty-eight hours. The ending of Translations is ambiguous; it never reveals what happened to Lieutenant Yolland. In the final scene, Hugh drunkenly reminisces about the day when he marched to join a 1798 rebellion against the British, bearing only his copy of Virgil's epic poem, the Aeneid. He fumbles through a recitation from the Aeneid, his memory blurred both by time and his drunken state. Translations thusexamines numerous atmospheric and environmental barriers to communication, including language, cultural change, and the questionable progress that occurs over time.

A Priest in the Family

Colm Tobin; "A Priest in the Family" is, as we could expect, a perfect gem of a story. It is about the consequences for the family of a priest, a man well into middle years,wen he is exposed as a child molester. The story is coming out in the paper and it will have to be announced in the Mass why the priest is being removed from his position. The priest has come home to talk to his mother and tell her what is going to happen. The siblings of the priest also are there. They talk about how they will explain this to their children, who were always so proud to have a priest for an uncle. It gave them special status. The siblings want there mother, now a widow and there are remarks in passing that it is good their father passed away before this happened, to go on a long trip out of the country until the scandal blows over. The mother asks her son what will happen to him. In a very sad moment in a very sad story she asks him if he will be able to say Mass in prison. Themes - Mother son relationship -Agression and love -Secrecy

Everything in this Country Must

Columm McCann; set in Northern Ireland during the British occupation and centres on a family's encounter with a unit of troops. The story is told in the first person, from the perspective of a fifteen year old girl, Katie. We join at a moment of action in which a draft horse is stuck in a river during a summer flood and find Katie, the narrator, and her father struggling to release it. Night begins to fall and all seems lost but just then hope is rekindled as lights are seen on the nearby road. The lights turn out to belong to a truck driven by a unit of British troops who set about helping to rescue the draft horse, much to the father's dismay. It is revealed that the narrator's mother and brother were killed by British troops in an accident, and it is this event that colours the world in which the narrator and her father live. The horse is eventually rescued and the narrator invites all involved back to the family home to the obvious displeasure of the father. The tension mounts and the father cracks, throwing all the soldiers out. The father leaves then too and kills the draft horse that was just saved.; Themes - relationship between the people of rural Northern Ireland and the British military

Northern Ireland Peace Process

Describes the events that happened in response to the Troubles conflicts. There is no clear beginning of the Peace process but many attribute it to the 1980's when Sinn Fein adopted the Armalite and Ballot Box strategy, in 1985 with the signing of the Anglo-Irish Accord, or even 1973 with the failed Sunningdale accord. The Peace Process was a series of discussions and agreements that led to the Good Friday Agreement (1998) which focused on power sharing between the unionists and nationalists. The Agreement aligned political forces with armed groups in Northern Ireland.

Black and Tans

During the Irish War of Independence between 1919 and 1921, the British desperately needed more police force in order to respond to attacks from the IRA. The British recruited unemployed British WWI vets en masse to join the Royal Irish Constabulary. Many vets, desperate for money and feeling unwelcome in their post-war homeland, accepted the offer. This new force, the Royal Irish Constabulary Special Reserve, were basically given free reign to behave brutally and violently towards IRA members. Their were so many of them that the RIC actually ran out of proper uniforms and were forced to hand out simple uniforms of khaki and dark military green - hence the name given to them by Irish citizens, "black and tans." The Irish tended to hate the black and tans and their brutality towards Irish rebels. Now, the term is often used in Ireland to speak derogatorily of British people who live in Ireland. They are not remembered fondly, to say the least.

Sister Imelda

Edna O'Brien; When the narrator was a student at a convent school, she fell in love with a young nun named Sister Imelda. She was Sister Imelda's petNSister Imelda gave her small presents and helped her with her geometry. She kissed the narrator on the night of the school play. Sister Imelda was tall and thin, and because she was young, the schoolgirls had all kinds of rumors about her past life. Sister Imelda wanted the narrator to become a nun. The Mother Superior warned Sister Imelda to keep away from the narrator, and the narrator was made sad and nervous by Sister Imelda's apparent coldness. After she left school, the narrator wrote Sister Imelda regularly for a while, but she went to college and decided not to become a nun. In her senior year of college, the narrator and her bold, brash friend Baba were on a bus, wearing alot of makeup, going somewhere to meet men. They saw Sister Imelda with another nun in the back of the bus. The narrator was embarrassed, but Baba insisted they had to walk right past the nuns. Luckily, the nuns got off before Baba and the narrator, so there was no confrontation. The narrator wondered if she would have said something about the sadness of love's ending, but doubts she would have, because, she realised, in our deepest moments we say the most inadequate things. Theme -lack of faith

Cuchulain

Is a great hero of Irish mythology who was a strong warrior that served the King of Ulster. His adventures were chronicled in the "Ulster Cycle" that can be dated back to the 7th century. Said to have possessed extraordinary powers from birth. His stories also have a strong connection to place, and emphasize their location within Ireland. His image has been invoked in political messages, as he is known to have a lust for war that makes his enemies and friends indistinguishable. Chrissy in The Playboy of the Western World is viewed as a Cuchulain character by the people of the town.

Midwife to the Fairies

Eilis Ni Dhuibhne; As the story opens a woman who works in a maternity ward of a Dublin hospital in relaxing on a Friday night with her husband, looking forward to the weekend when there is a knock on the door. It is a man telling he he needs her to come with him to deliver the baby of his wife. Her mother and grandmother were both midwifes so she feels she has to go. She wants to take her own car but it won't start so she goes with the man. When she gets there she finds a young woman ready to give birth. There are a number of people there but they are unfriendly and seemingly not concerned about the woman. The baby is born but his birth weight is very low and she tells the husband the baby needs to be taken to a hospital. He takes her home and gives her some well needed money. There is another story being told also, an old story about a woman who assists in the birth of "wee people". It is a very dark story and it is, or I should better say they the old and and the new story are commentaries on each other. Both story lines end in a terrible fashion. Themes -

Royal Engineers

Featuring prominently in Friel's Translations, the Royal Engineers is a division of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces. The Royal Engineers trace their origins back to the military engineers brought to England by William the Conqueror and claim over 900 years of unbroken service to the crown. Their role in times of peace was to aid in the modernization of the Empire, including the design and construction of roads, railways, and harbors. In Translations, the Englishmen in the play (Lancey and Yolland) are a detachment of the Royal Engineers and function as part of the Ordnance Survey creating six inch maps of Ireland.

Galway

Galway is one of Ireland's oldest and sixth most populous cities with a complicated 800 year history. Galway was home to several Cromwellian raids, and with such a high population of Catholics, suffered greatly. In the 17th century, Galway was treated with suspicion by the British government, again due to the number of Catholics. The British Parliament ordered that no new Catholics could move into the city due to their intense suspicion. After more suspicion of French invasion, all Catholics were ordered to leave the city, and Galway became a Protestant dominated city. Catholics merchants exited the city and, as a result, the economy suffered. After some economic recovery, the Great Irish Famine hit Galway hard. Many Irish cities saw a huge population growth in the 19th century, but Galway's population shrunk due to the famine. At the beginning of the 20th century around 1920, the British Army was headquartered in Galway. Fighting broke out and the Irish Free State National Army took over Galway in 1922 right before the Irish Civil War and burned down several buildings before abandoning the city. Again in 1972, part of the city was destroyed by a fire.

The Mad Lomasneys

Frank O'Connor; O'Connor's omniscient narrator selectively peeps into the minds of numerous characters who appear as supporting cast in what could be appropriately subtitled, 'The Affectations and Antagonistic Affairs of Rita Lomasney' The adverbs and over-egged descriptions of speech and manner are an unwelcome surprise on the opening page. By page two, one comes to recognise that such a heavy hand from such an acclaimed writer must, of course, be intentional. The dialogue is not permitted to speak for itself naturally because there is nothing natural about it - it is forced, deliberated, purposeful and concealing.But the excitable attraction of danger, the fear of the unknown, the risk - and the hope - of someone being unknowable - is not even one half of this story. Which are more easily broken: family ties or wedding rings? This story has been wrapped and re-wrapped like a party game of Pass the Parcel, and just when the music stops, and everyone stops in baited silence, another level is uncovered. The joy is in the anticpation, the delayed gratification, and that we cannot know how many layers there will be, but only that with each reveal everyone must be coming closer, and closer. Themes -

Lady Gregory

Isabella Augusta, Lady Gregory was an Irish dramatist, folklorist, and theatre manager. She co-founded the Irish Literary Theatre and the Abbey Theatre, giving Ireland a national theatre in 1904. She translated Irish legends and wrote comedies and fantasies based on folklore. Lady Gregory played a considerable part in the late-19th century and early-20th century Irish literary Renaissance. She is often associated with Synge, Yeats and his painter brother, George Bernard Shaw, and Sean O'Casey, as well as Coole Park.

Bloody Sunday

I. When: 1913: Where: O'Connell street, Dublin City Who: James Larkin, Irish Transport Union, & General Workers Union Strike Why/What: Peaceful rally in Croydon Park Fairview. 300 police officers were present. Warrant for James Larkin's arrest, because he spoke out the police attempted to place him under arrest. One mistook the surge in the crowd (mostly just onlookers) as an attack on the police and took action. The police were later described by onlookers as appearing to be "possessed." The police used violence and began striking on the crowd with truncheons. People were crawling away from the rally with smashed, bloody heads (fighting to survive). Many blamed Larkin for how he handled the entire situation (by choosing to speak out and protest even though there was a warrant out for his arrest). II. When January 30th, 1972: (Also referred to as Bogside Massacre) Where: Bogside area of Derry (Northern Ireland) Who: British soldiers against Irish citizens Why/What: British soldiers shot 28 unarmed civilians during a peaceful protest (against interment). 14 people died. Most were shot while trying to flee or while helping the wounded. The March was organized by the Northern Ireland Rights Association (NIRA). This tragic event resulted in a rise of support for the IRA, as Catholic & Irish nationalism grew, along with resentment for Britain.The final report for 1972 was made public in 2010, which followed with a formal apology on behalf of the UK embassy.

1798 Riots

Irish protestant loyalists (loyal to Britain) vs. Irish Catholic republicans (and small amount of French soldiers), influenced by the French and American revolutions. Numbers amount to approximately 1,000 French + 5,000 Irish republicans vs. Irish protestants + the British Army. Unlike those two revolutions, the Irish 1798 riots were an unsuccessful attempt. The independence that the Irish republicans declared lasted only 12 days, organized rebellion ended in 1803, and unorganized rebellions ended in early 1804. In 1803 another French force of 3,000 was intercepted by the British Navy and never landed in Ireland. Marked by atrocities on both sides, British and Irish loyalists taking French as POWs, Irish republicans massacring protestant men, women, and children. Death tolls on the Irish republican side are approximated as anywhere from 10-30 thousand. In the end, the Irish republican Act of Union, which declared an Irish Parliament, was abolished, and the Irish Parliament was absorbed into the British Parliament.

IDA

Internal Development Authority. "Probably the most powerful governmental agency in Ireland" (US Law Journal, 1984). Acts as both coordinator and lobbyist for all matters relating to manufacturing and service industries as well as the industrial infrastructure. Partially responsible for Ireland's movement from GDP to MNGI (modified national gross income), as a result of multinational firms.

Cromwell

Ireland around 1641 was controlled by the Irish Catholic Confederation. England was controlled by the Parliamentarians who had defeated the English Royalists. At the end of the 1640s, the Irish Confederates sided with the British Royalists. By 1652, the Parliamentarians in England took control of Ireland, but despite the war being over, guerilla warfare continued against Irish citizens for another year. The new British colonizers also set in place laws oppressing the Irish Catholics and took over much of their land. Cromwell disdained the Irish Catholics for previously persecuting Protestants, and led a movement to arrest those involved with the Confederacy. The results of the war led to substantial loss of life in Ireland due to a famine and an onset of the bubonic plague. Cromwell remains to this day a hated figure in Irish history due to his cruelty and extended stay.

Sinn Féin

Irish political party founded by Arthur Griffith in 1905 in Dublin in order to bring together the disparate Irish nationalist groups of the time. The phrase Sinn Féin ('ourselves' or 'we ourselves') had been in use since the 1880s as an expression of separatist thinking, and was used as a slogan by the Gaelic League in the 1890s. Sinn Féin has historically supported Irish nationalism and Irish republicanism. Sinn Féin was not involved in the Easter Rising, despite being blamed by the British Government for it. However, later in 1916, surviving members of the Rising led by Éamon de Valera joined and took control of the party. In 1932, when De Valera resigned and formed Fianna Fáil, he took the great majority of Sinn Féin support with him along with most of Sinn Féin's financial support from America. This was a low point for the party and continued to affect it for decades afterward. In 1962, supporters of Marxism/Leninism took control of the Sinn Féin leadership from traditional republicans, and started to take policy in a new direction. Sinn Féin split in two at the beginning of 1970 and the offshoot party became known as the Workers' Party. Sinn Féin today is a republican (not the same as American Republican), left-wing, and secular party. It follows a policy of abstentionism, refusing to attend parliament or vote on bills. It is the third-largest party, and the largest party on the left.

Croppies

Irish rebels fighting for independence in the 1798 uprisings were given the nickname "Croppies," which was a reference to the closely cropped hair associated with the anti-powdered wig French revolutionaries of the period (which was a hairstyle Irish revolutionaries also wore).

Summer Voices

John Banville; 'Summer Voices' reminded me of Stephen King's 'The Body' (or the film of that tale, Stand By Me), with two kids checking out a corpse, but it's Banville's fantastic ear for dialogue that made it especially memorable, overriding a clichéd soul-searching-look-in-the-mirror ending. Themes -Corruption of Innocence

James Napper Tandy, 1739-1803

Known as one of Ireland's most notable revolutionaries, James Napper Tandy was a member of the United Irishmen, and founder of the Society of United Irishmen. Napper is most remembered for his failed uprising in 1798, which has been famously perpetuated by the ballad entitled "The Wearing of the Green." (Juno and the Paycock: "I met with Napper Tandy, an' he shuk me by the han!") Lasting from May through September of 1798, this uprising was speared by the United Irishmen, a republican revolutionary group influenced by the ideas of the French and American revolutions, in order to defeat British Rule. Although unsuccessful, this uprising is largely responsible for Ireland's claim to the color green. During this period, in support of the United Irishmen, as well as a display of patriotism, supporters and other activists wore green garments, ribbons, cockades, and even green shamrocks. It is the oppression associated with this "Wearing of the Green," that Dion Boucicault laments in his famous ballad. After the uprising of 1798, Tandy was arrested, plead guilty, and was sentenced to death, but he was eventually reprieved and allowed to flee to France. He would die there on Christmas Day,1803, in the city of Bordeaux

Paul Kruger

Kruger was a farmer, soldier, and statesman that is noted in South African history as the builder of the Afrikaner nation. Kruger was President of the South African Republic from 1883 to 1900, after the outbreak of the first Boer War. The war resulted in a defeat for the British defeat which is important to Irish history because at the First Battle of Bronkhorstspruit, 120 Connaught Rangers, a mainly Irish regiment, were killed or wounded (basically meaning that an Irish sacrifice led to a British defeat). This led to many Irish people fighting in the Second Boer War, referenced in "The Playboy of the Western World."

Maud Gonne

Maud Gonne was a prominent Irish patriot, actress, and feminist. Gonne was the daughter of a prominent army officer, and was raised as a socialite. Gonne became committed to the Irish nationalist cause following the Land Wars, and helped found the Daughters of Ireland. Gonne was very active in Irish society, and had a successful stage career. W.B Yeats was in love with her for years, and modeled the character Cathleen Ni Houlihan after her. She originated the role on stage, and was a large part of the reason that it became so influential. She and Yeats were both deeply intrigued by the occult, and was part of the reason why Yeats got involved with the nationalist cause. She married John McBride, a prominent nationalist, in 1903. They separated in 1906 because he was abusive, but after his death she started using his last name again to accrue credibility with nationalists. Gonne was deeply influential in both society and the nationalist cause, and her son Sean McBride later became the foreign minister of Ireland, winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

Abbey Theatre

National theater of Ireland. Established by W.B. Yeats and Lady Gregory in 1904. Mission statement: "to bring upon the stage the deeper emotions of Ireland." In 1907, the Playboy of the Western World caused riots in the audience. Later in 1912, during the 1st tour in America, the play's cast was arrested in Philadelphia for performing 'immoral or indecent' plays. The case was later dismissed.

Ordnance Survey

Occurred between 1829 and 1842 and was the first ever large-scale survey of an entire country. It was done by England, so many places and names were Anglicized from their original Irish meaning and history. The map made was of unheard of detail for such a large scope to cover.Engineers from the army and civilian workers went out to map the physical features of the land and to record place names. The linguistic aspect of name changing raised philosophical concerns and is the basis for Friel's Translations.

Internment

Operation Demetrius: the first wave of internment in 1971 during The Troubles. The British Army was occupying parts of Northern Ireland and conducted a mass arrest and internment of 342 citizens suspected of working with the IRA. The 342 individuals were imprisoned without trial. Northern Ireland proposed it and British Government supported it. There were dawn raids which caused 4 days of violence in which 20 civilians, 2 IRA members, and 2 British soldiers were killed. During the chaos, 7,000 individuals fled or were forced out of their homes. Torture was used as an interrogation tactic. The policy of internment lasted from August 1971 until December 1975 and in total interned 1,981 people.

Patrick Pearse

Patrick Pearse was a writer, lawyer, and revolutionary most known for his leadership in the Easter Rebellion of 1916. After his ultimate execution, Pearse became the nationalist figure most emblematic of the revolution. In 1913, Pearse joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood and quickly rose up the ranks. He was the one who actually read aloud and drafted the Proclamation of the Irish Republic, which declared Ireland free of British rule. Ideologically, Pearse is also known for his commitment to Irish culture; as a young boy he was very studious, and fell in love with the Irish language. He believed that having a national language was an inseparable part of a country's intrinsic identity, famously saying that "a country without language is a country without a soul," and created St. Edna's, a bilingual school

Peelers

Peelers is the slang term for Police Officers from London. This term is mainly used in Northern Ireland but some places in the south also use this term. Peelers were named after Sir Robert Peel, Chief Secretary for Ireland from 1812-1818. Ireland was very troubled during this time, struggling with agricultural depression, secret societies, gangs, and sectarian violence. The Peace of Preservation Act of 1814 resulted in the Peace Preservation Force. Their main aim was to deal with unrest and rioting in country districts with violence.

Scapegoat

Referenced in Heaney's poem "Punishment," a scapegoat is a person who is blamed for the wrongdoings of others--the fall guy, essentially. It also has a Biblical connotation (which is important in the poem). In the Bible, a goat is sent into the wilderness to die after a Jewish priest symbolically laid the sins of the people upon it. The girl in the poem functions in a similar fashion, and the term "scapegoat" brings the poem into a modern Irish POV about guilt and Catholicism, which is further explored in the final stanza.

Vinegar Hill

Refers to a battle that occured on the 21st of June 1798 wherein the Irish rebels were quickly defeated by the more powerful and prepared British forces. Ultimately the Irish rebels were hoping to use this battle as an attempt to unite both Protestants and Catholics and just the Irish people in general against the British rule. This insurrection was supposed to occur all throughout Ireland, but miscommunications led the action to be centered primarily in County Wexford, which is located in Southeastern Ireland. There were about 20,000 Irish protestants who gathered at Vinegar Hill to fight, though this number includes people merely seeking protection from the ongoing violence. Comparatively, there were only about 10,000 British troops. Nonetheless, it was the British who emerged victorious, having better weaponry and sealing off the escape routes. Ultimately, those Protestant leaders were executed and just the general violence that they caused.

Digging

Seamus Heaney; 1966; Between my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests; snug as a gun. Under my window, a clean rasping sound When the spade sinks into gravelly ground: My father, digging. I look down Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds Bends low, comes up twenty years away Stooping in rhythm through potato drills Where he was digging. The coarse boot nestled on the lug, the shaft Against the inside knee was levered firmly. He rooted out tall tops, buried the bright edge deep To scatter new potatoes that we picked, Loving their cool hardness in our hands. By God, the old man could handle a spade. Just like his old man. My grandfather cut more turf in a day Than any other man on Toner's bog. Once I carried him milk in a bottle Corked sloppily with paper. He straightened up To drink it, then fell to right away Nicking and slicing neatly, heaving sods Over his shoulder, going down and down For the good turf. Digging. The cold smell of potato mould, the squelch and slap Of soggy peat, the curt cuts of an edge Through living roots awaken in my head. But I've no spade to follow men like them. Between my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests. I'll dig with it.

Death of a Naturalist

Seamus Heaney; All year the flax-dam festered in the heart Of the townland; green and heavy headed Flax had rotted there, weighted down by huge sods. Daily it sweltered in the punishing sun. Bubbles gargled delicately, bluebottles Wove a strong gauze of sound around the smell. There were dragonflies, spotted butterflies, But best of all was the warm thick slobber Of frogspawn that grew like clotted water In the shade of the banks. Here, every spring I would fill jampotfuls of the jellied Specks to range on window sills at home, On shelves at school, and wait and watch until The fattening dots burst, into nimble Swimming tadpoles. Miss Walls would tell us how The daddy frog was called a bullfrog And how he croaked and how the mammy frog Laid hundreds of little eggs and this was Frogspawn. You could tell the weather by frogs too For they were yellow in the sun and brown In rain. Then one hot day when fields were rank With cowdung in the grass the angry frogs Invaded the flax-dam; I ducked through hedges To a coarse croaking that I had not heard Before. The air was thick with a bass chorus. Right down the dam gross bellied frogs were cocked On sods; their loose necks pulsed like sails. Some hopped: The slap and plop were obscene threats. Some sat Poised like mud grenades, their blunt heads farting. I sickened, turned, and ran. The great slime kings Were gathered there for vengeance and I knew That if I dipped my hand the spawn would clutch it.

The Grauballe Man

Seamus Heaney; As if he had been poured in tar, he lies on a pillow of turf and seems to weep the black river of himself. The grain of his wrists is like bog oak, the ball of his heel like a basalt egg. His instep has shrunk cold as a swan's foot or a wet swamp root. His hips are the ridge and purse of a mussel, his spine an eel arrested under a glisten of mud. The head lifts, the chin is a visor raised above the vent of his slashed throat that has tanned and toughened. The cured wound opens inwards to a dark elderberry place. Who will say 'corpse' to his vivid cast? Who will say 'body' to his opaque repose? And his rusted hair, a mat unlikely as a foetus's. I first saw his twisted face in a photograph, a head and shoulder out of the peat, bruised like a forceps baby, but now he lies perfected in my memory, down to the red horn of his nails, hung in the scales with beauty and atrocity: with the Dying Gaul too strictly compassed on his shield, with the actual weight of each hooded victim, slashed and dumped.

Casualty

Seamus Heaney; I He would drink by himself And raise a weathered thumb Towards the high shelf, Calling another rum And blackcurrant, without Having to raise his voice, Or order a quick stout By a lifting of the eyes And a discreet dumb-show Of pulling off the top; At closing time would go In waders and peaked cap Into the showery dark, A dole-kept breadwinner But a natural for work. I loved his whole manner, Sure-footed but too sly, His deadpan sidling tact, His fisherman's quick eye And turned observant back. Incomprehensible To him, my other life. Sometimes, on the high stool, Too busy with his knife At a tobacco plug And not meeting my eye, In the pause after a slug He mentioned poetry. We would be on our own And, always politic And shy of condescension, I would manage by some trick To switch the talk to eels Or lore of the horse and cart Or the Provisionals. But my tentative art His turned back watches too: He was blown to bits Out drinking in a curfew Others obeyed, three nights After they shot dead The thirteen men in Derry. PARAS THIRTEEN, the walls said, BOGSIDE NIL. That Wednesday Everyone held His breath and trembled. II It was a day of cold Raw silence, wind-blown surplice and soutane: Rained-on, flower-laden Coffin after coffin Seemed to float from the door Of the packed cathedral Like blossoms on slow water. The common funeral Unrolled its swaddling band, Lapping, tightening Till we were braced and bound Like brothers in a ring. But he would not be held At home by his own crowd Whatever threats were phoned, Whatever black flags waved. I see him as he turned In that bombed offending place, Remorse fused with terror In his still knowable face, His cornered outfaced stare Blinding in the flash. He had gone miles away For he drank like a fish Nightly, naturally Swimming towards the lure Of warm lit-up places, The blurred mesh and murmur Drifting among glasses In the gregarious smoke. How culpable was he That last night when he broke Our tribe's complicity? 'Now, you're supposed to be An educated man,' I hear him say. 'Puzzle me The right answer to that one.' III I missed his funeral, Those quiet walkers And sideways talkers Shoaling out of his lane To the respectable Purring of the hearse... They move in equal pace With the habitual Slow consolation Of a dawdling engine, The line lifted, hand Over fist, cold sunshine On the water, the land Banked under fog: that morning I was taken in his boat, The Screw purling, turning Indolent fathoms white, I tasted freedom with him. To get out early, haul Steadily off the bottom, Dispraise the catch, and smile As you find a rhythm Working you, slow mile by mile, Into your proper haunt Somewhere, well out, beyond... Dawn-sniffing revenant, Plodder through midnight rain, Question me again.

Punishment

Seamus Heaney; I can feel the tug of the halter at the nape of her neck, the wind on her naked front. It blows her nipples to amber beads, it shakes the frail rigging of her ribs. I can see her drowned body in the bog, the weighing stone, the floating rods and boughs. Under which at first she was a barked sapling that is dug up oak-bone, brain-firkin: her shaved head like a stubble of black corn, her blindfold a soiled bandage, her noose a ring to store the memories of love. Little adulteress, before they punished you you were flaxen-haired, undernourished, and your tar-black face was beautiful. My poor scapegoat, I almost love you but would have cast, I know, the stones of silence. I am the artful voyeuur of your brain's exposed and darkened combs, your muscles' webbing and all your numbered bones: I who have stood dumb when your betraying sisters, cauled in tar, wept by the railings, who would connive in civilized outrage yet understand the exact and tribal, intimate revenge.

Bog Queen

Seamus Heaney; I lay waiting between turf-face and demesne wall, between heathery levels and glass-toothed stone. My body was braille for the creeping influences: dawn suns groped over my head and cooled at my feet, through my fabrics and skins the seeps of winter digested me, the illiterate roots pondered and died in the cavings of stomach and socket. I lay waiting on the gravel bottom, my brain darkening, a jar of spawn fermenting underground dreams of Baltic amber. Bruised berries under my nails, the vital hoard reducing in the crock of the pelvis. My diadem grew carious, gemstones dropped in the peat floe like the bearings of history. My sash was a black glacier wrinkling, dyed weaves and phoenician stitchwork retted on my breasts' soft moraines. I knew winter cold like the nuzzle of fjords at my thighs- the soaked fledge, the heavy swaddle of hides.

Black-berry Picking

Seamus Heaney; Late August, given heavy rain and sun For a full week, the blackberries would ripen. At first, just one, a glossy purple clot Among others, red, green, hard as a knot. You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet Like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust for Picking. Then red ones inked up and that hunger Sent us out with milk cans, pea tins, jam-pots Where briars scratched and wet grass bleached our boots. Round hayfields, cornfields and potato-drills We trekked and picked until the cans were full, Until the tinkling bottom had been covered With green ones, and on top big dark blobs burned Like a plate of eyes. Our hands were peppered With thorn pricks, our palms sticky as Bluebeard's. We hoarded the fresh berries in the byre. But when the bath was filled we found a fur, A rat-grey fungus, glutting on our cache. The juice was stinking too. Once off the bush The fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour. I always felt like crying. It wasn't fair That all the lovely canfuls smelt of rot. Each year I hoped they'd keep, knew they would not.

Clearances

Seamus Heaney; She taught me what her uncle once taught her: How easily the biggest coal block split If you got the grain and hammer angled right. The sound of that relaxed alluring blow, Its co-opted and obliterated echo, Taught me to hit, taught me to loosen, Taught me between the hammer and the block To face the music. Teach me now to listen, To strike it rich behind the linear black. 1 A cobble thrown a hundred years ago Keeps coming at me, the first stone Aimed at a great-grandmother's turncoat brow. The pony jerks and the riot's on. She's crouched low in the trap Running the gauntlet that first Sunday Down the brae to Mass at a panicked gallop. He whips on through the town to cries of 'Lundy!' Call her 'The Convert'. 'The Exogamous Bride'. Anyhow, it is a genre piece Inherited on my mother's side And mine to dispose with now she's gone. Instead of silver and Victorian lace, The exonerating, exonerated stone. 2 Polished linoleum shone there. Brass taps shone. The china cups were very white and big— An unchipped set with sugar bowl and jug. The kettle whistled. Sandwich and tea scone Were present and correct. In case it run, The butter must be kept out of the sun. And don't be dropping crumbs. Don't tilt your chair. Don't reach. Don't point. Don't make noise when you stir. It is Number 5, New Row, Land of the Dead, Where grandfather is rising from his place With spectacles pushed back on a clean bald head To welcome a bewildered homing daughter Before she even knocks. 'What's this? What's this?' And they sit down in the shining room together. 3 When all the others were away at Mass I was all hers as we peeled potatoes. They broke the silence, let fall one by one Like solder weeping off the soldering iron: Cold comforts set between us, things to share Gleaming in a bucket of clean water. And again let fall. Little pleasant splashes From each other's work would bring us to our senses. So while the parish priest at her bedside Went hammer and tongs at the prayers for the dying And some were responding and some crying I remembered her head bent towards my head, Her breath in mine, our fluent dipping knives— Never closer the whole rest of our lives. 4 Fear of affectation made her affect Inadequacy whenever it came to Pronouncing words 'beyond her'. Bertold Brek. She'd manage something hampered and askew Every time, as if she might betray The hampered and inadequate by too Well-adjusted a vocabulary. With more challenge than pride, she'd tell me, 'You Know all them things.' So I governed my tongue In front of her, a genuinely well- Adjusted adequate betrayal Of what I knew better. I'd naw and aye And decently relapse into the wrong Grammar which kept us allied and at bay. 5 The cool that came off sheets just off the line Made me think the damp must still be in them But when I took my corners of the linen And pulled against her, first straight down the hem And then diagonally, then flapped and shook The fabric like a sail in a cross-wind, They made a dried-out undulating thwack. So we'd stretch and fold and end up hand to hand For a split second as if nothing had happened For nothing had that had not always happened Beforehand, day by day, just touch and go, Coming close again by holding back In moves where I was x and she was o Inscribed in sheets she'd sewn from ripped-out flour sacks. 6 In the first flush of the Easter holidays The ceremonies during Holy Week Were highpoints of our Sons and Lovers phase. The midnight fire. The paschal candlestick. Elbow to elbow, glad to be kneeling next To each other up there near the front Of the packed church, we would follow the text And rubrics for the blessing of the font. As the hind longs for the streams, so my soul. . . Dippings. Towellings. The water breathed on. The water mixed with chrism and with oil. Cruet tinkle. Formal incensation And the psalmist's outcry taken up with pride: Day and night my tears have been my bread. 7 In the last minutes he said more to her Almost than in all their life together. 'You'll be in New Row on Monday night And I'll come up for you and you'll be glad When I walk in the door . . . Isn't that right?' His head was bent down to her propped-up head. She could not hear but we were overjoyed. He called her good and girl. Then she was dead, The searching for a pulsebeat was abandoned And we all knew one thing by being there. The space we stood around had been emptied Into us to keep, it penetrated Clearances that suddenly stood open. High cries were felled and a pure change happened. 8 I thought of walking round and round a space Utterly empty, utterly a source Where the decked chestnut tree had lost its place In our front hedge above the wallflowers. The white chips jumped and jumped and skited high. I heard the hatchet's differentiated Accurate cut, the crack, the sigh And collapse of what luxuriated Through the shocked tips and wreckage of it all. Deep-planted and long gone, my coeval Chestnut from a jam jar in a hole, Its heft and hush become a bright nowhere, A soul ramifying and forever Silent, beyond silence listened for.

The Tollund Man

Seamus Heany; I Some day I will go to Aarhus To see his peat-brown head, The mild pods of his eye-lids, His pointed skin cap. In the flat country near by Where they dug him out, His last gruel of winter seeds Caked in his stomach, Naked except for The cap, noose and girdle, I will stand a long time. Bridegroom to the goddess, She tightened her torc on him And opened her fen, Those dark juices working Him to a saint's kept body, Trove of the turfcutters' Honeycombed workings. Now his stained face Reposes at Aarhus. II I could risk blasphemy, Consecrate the cauldron bog Our holy ground and pray Him to make germinate The scattered, ambushed Flesh of labourers, Stockinged corpses Laid out in the farmyards, Tell-tale skin and teeth Flecking the sleepers Of four young brothers, trailed For miles along the lines. III Something of his sad freedom As he rode the tumbril Should come to me, driving, Saying the names Tollund, Grauballe, Nebelgard, Watching the pointing hands Of country people, Not knowing their tongue. Out here in Jutland In the old man-killing parishes I will feel lost, Unhappy and at home.

The Trout

Sean O'Faolain; The Trout is a short story by Sean O Faolain, an Irish writer. The story is about a little girl that finds a well in a dark cranny that has trout. She knows that they can not survive long because the water is drying up, so she returns daily with bread and worms to feed the fish.; Themes -metaphor for the Irish of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, trapped in a small country too poor in resources to hold their burgeoning population. -a young girl's desire for mystery and her hope to continue seeing the world with wonderment, in conflict with her maturing realization that in the real world, doing nothing has its consequences

Home Rule

Since Ireland became part of the UK in 1801, there have been riots/uprisings for Ireland to have their own independent government while under British rule. Was heavily supported by Parnell and other liberalists in Ireland, and many attempts at peaceful reconciliation were denied. Parnell, Gladstone, and other leaders tried to pass a Home Rule Bill, that would allow the Irish to have their own government to make decisions over domestic issues. Was finally passed in 1914, but progress was halted during WWI. Following the Anglo-Irish treaty, the southern 26 counties of Ireland became independent (now the Republic of Ireland) and the northern counties (Northern Ireland) stayed under British parliament rule(is a "home rule" territory)

Wearing of the Green

The "Wearing of the Green" refers to an Irish street ballad about the repression of supporters of the 1798 Irish Rebellion. The most popular version is by Dion Boucicault, an Irish playwright and actor. The Society of United Irishmen adopted green as their color, which is also the color of Ireland. The ballad has strong tones of patriotism, claiming that England can ban the wearing of the shamrock but they can't stop the grass from growing.

Irregulars

The Anglo-Irish Treaty's*** opposition, sometimes referred to by Free State forces as Irregulars, continued to use the name Irish Republican Army (IRA) or in Irish Óglaigh na hÉireann, as did the organization in Northern Ireland, which originally supported the pro-Treaty side. ***The Anglo-Irish Treaty (Irish: An Conradh Angla-Éireannach), commonly known as "The Treaty," or "The Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland," was an agreement between the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and representatives of the Irish Republic that concluded the Irish War of Independence.

Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921

The Anglo-Irish Treaty, also referred to as "The Treaty," or "The Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland," was the treaty that ended the Irish War of Independence (began 1919) on December 6, 1921. Specifically, the treaty led to the creation of "the Irish Free State," which would function as a self-governing dominion of the British Empire. The treaty also gave Northern Ireland, having just formed in 1920, the option to decline their inclusion in this newly established state (which they did).

Battle of Clontarf

The Battle of Clontarf was a conflict between Brian Boru, the High King of Ireland and King of Munster, and a Norse-Irish alliance (mostly Vikings). The battle took place on April 23, 1014 near Clontarf, Dublin. The battle resulted in a larger-than average loss of life than most contemporary battles, and Brian Boru was killed. Despite his death, Boru's side won the battle, and his son took over the throne. This battle later became viewed by the Irish people as an event that freed Ireland from foreign rule (the Vikings), and as a victory of the Christian Irish against pagan foreigners (an oversimplification, but an important one for Irish nationalism).

French Assistance in Irish War of 1798

The French Government, which was going through its own revolutionary process at the time, made promises to the Irish rebels that it would provide assistance in their fight against British forces. Around 5,000 troops landed in the County of Mayo in 1798, but they were quickly overpowered by Loyalist forces and the revolution ended soon after. In Kathleen Ni Houlihan, Michael is convinced by the Poor Old Woman to journey to Mayo and help the French forces in the failed rebellion

Garda

The Garda refers to the police service of the Republic of Ireland. It was formed in 1923 to take over the policing of the Irish Free State. Previously this job was done by the RIC and the Irish Republican Police, but they needed to be replaced due to their association with the black and tans, and the auxiliaries. The full name is the "An Garda Síochána" which translates to "The Guardian of the Peace"

UVF

Ulster Volunteer Force. Peak enrollment in 1914, with around 90,000 men. This included vehicles, a medical/nursing corps, and a troop of cavalry. Remember, Ulster was one of the four Irish provinces. (Ulster, Connacht, Leinster, Munster).

Easter 1916

refers to an armed insurrection against British-ruled Dublin led by Patrick Pearse and the Irish Republican Brotherhood, a group devoted to establishing independent democratic rule for Ireland. The IRB published a proclamation wherein they declared "the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland." The rebellion lasted 6 days before Pearse surrendered, leaving the city in destruction. Pearse and 15 others were imprisoned and executed at Kilmainham Gaol. Some of the Irish criticized the IRB for putting the city in danger, but generally this event is seen as a catalyst in changing the way that the rest of the world saw the Irish plight. These 15 executed leaders became martyrs, both in Ireland and through the world, commemorated in poems such as Yeats' "Easter 1916."

Potato Famine

The Irish Potato Famine occurred from 1845-1849, and resulted in the deaths of one million people, and an estimated mass emigration of roughly two million people from Ireland. The Potato Famine started as a natural potato blight, but became aggravated by the lack of a substantive response from the British government. Irish rural poor depended on the potato for the vast majority of their diet, and Irish society in general had a heavily potato-based diet. British response to the famine was typical of their usual response to famine: they continued grain exportation from Ireland, but Prime Minister Robert Peel authorized the import of corn from the United States. Lord John Russell took over in 1846, and continued the export of grain from Ireland, but transitioned to a laissez-faire approach to the famine, placing the landlords in charge of taking care of their tenant farmers. This resulted in an economic crisis--tenant farmers were unable to sell crops, and the landowners received no money from their tenants, and the cycle got worse. British economic relief was primarily putting able-bodied farmers in workhouses, resulting in more death and disease, but also eventually had upwards of three million people receiving rations from soup kitchens. Tl;dr: the Irish people were thrown into famine, the British responded reluctantly and minimally, and it resulted in the decimation of the Irish population (Ireland's population in 1921 was barely half of what it was pre-famine) and the extreme distrust of the British by the Irish people.

Northern Irish Riots

The Northern Irish riots took place from August 12-17, 1969. The riots started as a conflict between the Royal Ulster Constabulary and nationalist/Catholic citizens, and popped up in multiple cities in Northern Ireland (primarily in Belfast and Derry). The conflict led to the Battle of the Bogside, which was a three day riot in Derry that resulted in the British army sent to restore order. Peace lines were built after the conflict, which, somewhat ironically, created tension between nationalist and unionist factions in the years that followed. The riots are considered the start of the 30 year period known as "The Troubles," and is the start of the complete deterioration of Irish-British relations, with direct rule of the British on Ireland established two years after the riots.

Dáil Éireann

The Oireachtas, or the parliament of Ireland, consists of Dáil Éireann, Seanad Éireann, and the Irish president. The Dáil Éireann is the lower house and principal chamber of parliament, and Seanad Éireann is the upper house. In the Dáil Éireann, there are currently 158 seats, representing 40 constituencies. Elections take place every five years, and the voting system is that of a single transferable vote. Since 1937, the Dáil Éireann (literally, the Assembly of Ireland) has operated under the Constitution of Ireland. For nearly 100 years, the assembly has met in Dublin's Leinster House. The assembly first met in 1919, and attempted to offer an alternative to British rule.

Penal Laws

The Penal Laws were a series of laws imposed in an attempt to force Irish Roman Catholics and Protestant dissenters to adhere to the practices of the Anglican Church. Various acts passed in the 16th and 17th centuries prescribed fines and imprisonment for participation in Catholic worship and severe penalties, including death, for Catholic priests who practiced their ministry in Britain or Ireland. Other laws barred Catholics from voting, holding public office, owning land, bringing religious items from Rome into Britain, publishing or selling Catholic primers, or teaching. The Penal Laws were sporadically enforced in the 17th century and largely ignored in the 18th. They were almost completely nullified by the Roman Catholic Relief Act (1791), the Catholic Emancipation Act (1829), the Roman Catholic Charities Act (1832), and the Roman Catholic Relief Act (1926).

The Troubles

The Troubles were a 30 year ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland. They're known for the Londonberry march in 1968 and the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. The unionists/Protestant majority wanted to remain with the UK whereas the nationalists/Catholic minority wanted to become a part of Ireland. Territorial at heart, not religious. 3,600 deaths as a direct result. Things were so bad by 1972 that Britain imposed direct rule onto Northern Ireland.

Derry/Londonderry

The are is most commonly renowned because of strong catholic and protestant divisions leading to the eventual siege of derry in 1688. The siege lasted 105 days and many people died of starvation. Former British King James II storms the protestant stronghold with booms and fire. He was hoping to regain support from the Irish catholic to be reinstated as ruler of Britain. With the help of the French he captured a lot of the southern portions of Ireland, and then turned to the Protestant city of Derry. Further political conflict occurred in the 1960s and onward when the British elected to dub the territory Londonderry to Anglicize to, but Irish representative still refer to it as Derry coming from the Irish Doire which means oakgrove. It was a war base in WWI & II, and served as a big striking point during the troubles as well as other attacks to Ireland. Strong evidence of continued imperialism in the present day exists in the district providing strong rationale for a fifth province created by Field Day theater company. **field day theatre, why is started here

The Four Provinces

The four provinces of Ireland are Ulster in the North, Munster in the South, Leinster to the East, and Connacht to the West. The word for "province" in Irish is "cúige," meaning "a fifth" and signifying the five former provinces or "over-kingdoms" of Ireland. Leinster, which includes the city of Dublin, is the largest in size and consists of twelve counties. Ulster includes Belfast, and is the second largest in size after Leinster. Six of the nine counties in Ulster make up Northern Ireland in the modern day. Munster, the third largest of the provinces, has only six counties with Cork as its chief city. The smallest province, Connacht, has only five counties and has a chief city of Galway. The county of Leinster often symbolized prosperity, while Ulster was associated with courage in battle. Munster represented the music and the arts, and Connacht had a poetic significance of learning and wisdom. These provinces are referred to as the "four green fields" in Cathleen Ni Houlihan, when she is pleading for unity.

Nationalists

The movement/assertion that Ireland is a single nation, and that foreign rule has been a detriment to national Irish interests. Traditionally, this movement has largely included the Catholic population (both Gaeil AKA native Irish, as well as Gaill AKA Normans), in hopes of protecting their land and interests from English protestant forces.

Viking Settlement

occurred in 841 AD (possibly earlier, like 678 AD), there were roughly four to five thousand vikings that settled in the heart of modern Dublin. They lasted for two centuries until they were expelled by the Irish warlord Brian Boru (who was recognized as the High King in 1002) in the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. Initially began with raids of Irish monasteries. They built Dublin, Cork, and Waterford (which were the main settlements). Helped Irish advance their ships and their weapons.

Unionists

The political group that opposes the Nationalists. While many countries in Southern Ireland achieved autonomy from Great Britain in 1912, Northern Ireland was still under British Rule. The Unionists, mainly found in Northern Ireland, are interested in preserving the connection between Ireland and Britain. They often have a sense of cultural pride in their ties with Britain. The majority of Unionists are Protestant, as opposed to the largely Catholic Nationalists, but there are exceptions to the rule

Celtic Tiger Period

This term refers to the booming economic period in Ireland from the mid-1990's to the early 2000's. The reasons for this rapid economic growth included greater female participation in the workforce, a low corporate tax rate, membership in the EU, an English speaking workforce, government and trade unions, a social partnership among employers, and high foreign direct investment. During this time, Ireland provided a rare example of a poor Western country matching the economic growth of the "Four Asian Tigers," which included Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. In this period, Irish employment was able to grow 5X faster than the rest of the EU. The cause of the downturn in 2001-2003, when this period of growth slowed/halted, was mainly due to a decrease in investment in the worldwide IT (information technology) industry post-internet bubble.

MacDonagh

Thomas MacDonagh was one of the seven core leaders of the Easter Rebellion of 1916, ultimately executed for his involvement. Worked at St. Edna's school, which was a bilingual school that stressed the importance of the Irish language. Close friends with Pearse and Plunkett, two more of the executed leaders. Poet and writer who was also involved in the Gaelic League

James Connolly (1868-1916)

Was born in Scotland to Irish Catholic immigrants, and was raised in poverty. After returning to Ireland in 1910, he rose to prominence and became General Secretary of the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union. Was a commander of the Irish Citizen Army (ICA) and the founder of the Irish Socialist Republican Party. Heavily supported an insurrection against British rule in Ireland. He didn't want home rule, believing that being an independent republic was the only way to deliver what would help the Irish working class. Was originally just an organizer and agitator, he quickly became involved with military operations. Helped the ICA to work together with the Irish Republican Brotherhood to start the Easter Rising of 1916. Willingly surrendered 5 days after the uprising to prevent more bloodshed, and was executed at Kilmainham Gaol along with the other rebel leaders in May 1916.

Initially called the Irish Revolutionary Brotherhood, and the Fenian movement in the 1850s and 1860s

Was founded on St. Patrick's Day 1858 by James Stephens (in Dublin). The IRB was a secret oath-bound fraternal organization that was dedicated to the establishment of an "independent democratic republican" within Ireland. Though the IRB's attempts at rebellion were suppressed, they did take on a significant role in Ireland's movement to become independent from Britain. Before 1916 the IRB had 11 members and after 1917 it had 15 members (of council?). There were three executive branches: president, secretary, and treasurer. The IRB's constitution was dedicated to using force against England at any chance possible, but only with the support of the Irish population. The IRB never exceeded 2,000 members. Yeats was a member. The IRB staged the Easter Rising in 1916. IRB dissolved in 1924 mostly due to internal conflicts of leadership and strategy

Land Wars

Wasn't a war in the technical sense, but rather a period of civil, sometimes violent, unrest among the agricultural community in Ireland lasting from 1879 to 1882. Tenant farmers in particular were struggling in the post famine economy and under the hands of the landlords. They began to push for reform with tactics including boycotting, refusing to pay rent, and refusing to farm the land that someone had been evicted from. The goals of the movement were outlined by the Three F's: fair rent, free sale, and fixity of tenure. It eventually led to legislation that ended landlordism in Ireland.

Wolfe Tone

Wolfe Tone was a leading Irish revolutionary. He was considered to be a founding member of the Society of United Irishmen, father of Irish Republicanism, and leader of the 1798 Irish Rebellion. Tone was Anglican and believed that cooperation between religions was the only way to settle Irish grievances. Working closely with Thomas Russell, Napper Tandy, and others in the Society of United Irishmen, Tone aimed for political union between the religions but the movement quickly lead to the desire to overthrow English rule in Ireland. Tone was captured November 3, 1798 and taken to Provost's Prison in Dublin, Ireland, where he died 16 days later.

Battle of the Bogside

a three day riot in Derry that resulted in the British army sent to restore order. Peace lines were built after the conflict, which, somewhat ironically, created tension between nationalist and unionist factions in the years that followed.

The Field Day Theatre Company

an artistic collaboration between playwright Brian Friel and actor Stephen Rea that began in 1980 when the two decided to put up a production of Friel's play Translations. They rehearsed and performed the play in Derry with the hope of establishing a major theatre company for Northern Ireland and unite the various parts of a divided community. The informal mission statement was to create a 'fifth province' of Ireland that made space for creativity that could transcend the harsh political atmosphere of Ireland. The Company has also ventured into publishing, usually pamphlets that caused Field Day to enter the political debate via Seamus Heaney

Éamon de Valera

was a prominent political leader in 20th-century Ireland. He was born in New York, but moved to Ireland when he was 2. He was an avid supporter of the Irish language movement. De Valera was a leader in the 1916 Easter Rising. Arrested, he was saved from a death sentence because of his American birth and instead received a prison term. He was released and stood as a Sinn Fein Party candidate in the 1918 general election. Sinn Fein won the majority of seats outside Ulster, but refused to take their seats at Westminster, instead establishing an independent parliament called Dail Eireann to govern Ireland. De Valera was elected president of the Dail. He opposed the treaty that established the Irish Free State because it involved the partition of Ireland and did not create an independent republic. The treaty was passed by a narrow margin in the Dail and de Valera resigned as president. He led the anti-treaty side (irregulars) in a bitter civil war (June 28, 1922-May 24, 1923) against the government of the new Free State. The irregulars were defeated. De Valera founded and became the leader of Fianna Fail, which won elections in 1932. De Valera wrote a new constitution in 1937 that asserted greater autonomy for Ireland, but he stopped short of declaring the Free State a republic. He was elected prime minister three times and then president of the republic, a position he held until 1973

Charles Stewart Parnell

was an Irish member of British Parliament from 1875 to 1891 who led the movement for Home Rule and championed for land reform in Ireland. Born in Avondale in County Wicklowe, Parnell was a member of the "Home Rule League," which he renamed the "Irish Parliamentary Party," and was later president of the National Land League. Although Parnell initially supported William Gladstone's efforts toward land reform, Parnell abandoned support after Gladstone's Land Act was unsuccessful in 1881. Leader of the Irish Nationalist Movement, Parnell was imprisoned for championing the boycott of landlords as a strategy for demanding land reform, and the Land League was suppressed. From prison, he encouraged his followers through the Kilmainham Treaty to avoid violence. His career was ended in disgrace as a result of his affair with Katherine O'Shea, former wife of Parliament member William O'Shea. He died soon after this scandal in 1891.