Sheena BardeenDr. Margaret HallissyEnglish 103Thesis Driven Essay
Ireland’s Rebellion against British law
Since Ireland was overtaken by British rule by military conquest, the Irish has suffered many centuries under England's rule. During the 17th century, a great number of Irish land owner’s mainly in Ulster were replaced by English and Protestant settlers who dominated the colonies in the Kingdom. Along with colonies being dominated there were religious conflicts, division in politics, and war which led to many rebellions against British rule. Ireland was a sovereign Kingdom which was governed by the monarch and Parliament of the island until many laws were enacted by the English which gave Ireland less independence compared to other North American colonies, and adding to the list of many conflicts. The purpose of this topic of exploration through characters, the problems, and solutions by Irish writers and their plays is to give insight to Ireland's past under British rule which lead to rebellion against England's law. Although Ireland’s past consist of violence, conflict, and bitter disagreements; these are all centered around Irish obtaining Independence.
The first work explored is the Irish uprising of 1798, in which this rebellion lasted several months against the British. Most people in Ireland who lived on the countryside, were tenant farmers, didn’t own land and were laborers. Many formed to protest against the high rents. When the leaders of the American war of Independence was won it showed that if the Irish rebelled they could attain freedom from the British as well. In hopes of forming a republican government and independent Ireland, this would be achieved with the help of French military intervention. It was almost a success when thousands of French soldiers on a fleet on the southern coast of Ireland, bad weather conditions prevented them from landing and they were forced to return back to France.
The Dublin castle then increased their defenses for the war in case the French came back.Eventually the Dublin castle was successful at preventing rebellion because many of the United Irishmen were put into prison, and the Irishmen outside of the capital felt it was the right time for the uprising. Unfortunately, the rebellion didn’t go as planned because of lack of focus, and Dublin didn’t perform as they should have, leaving the rebels outside of the area to take the center stage but that didn’t go well either because there was no coordination. When the French did finally arrived to Ireland, it was too late because the Irish was already defeated. The United Irishmen rebellion ended and many were killed on both sides. Captured rebels were tormented for information before being executed and British soldiers would go into the villages raping, beating, and killing people.
Eventually, the Rebellion of 1798 resulted in the Irish parliament being removed by theBritish, and the union of Great Britain and Ireland was formed which didn’t sit well with theIrish. It resulted in them having less political freedom, but the rebellion remains part of the Irish Revolution history. The French and American Revolution gave them the courage to rise up against oppression and foreign law. It gave men and women hope that one day they will win back their freedom, and control their own country again. Till this day the Rebellion is still spoken of along with the many songs and stories that were sung and told.
Ongoing conflict with the British and Irish can be seen in Maria Edgeworth’s Castle Rackrent. During the time when Castle Rackrent was written the Irish identity was under Protestant ruling. Anglo-Irish landowners at that time overpowered native Irish which was put into place by British military. The narrator named Thady Quirk who was an old steward of the estate tells the story of the Rackrent family, Sir Patrick, Sir Murtagh, Sir Kit, and Sir Condy. The O’shanghlin’s are forced by the law to become Protestant and have their name changed to Rackrent in order to get back their estate. The weak men of the Rackrent family wives were independent and strong, but went into debt with their lavish spending. The also charged outrageous rent to their tenants.
Sir Patrick was the first to take over the estate. He’s a generous spender, big drinker, and ends up drinking himself to death. Sir Murtagh then takes over who is right with his money along with his cheap wife. Ultimately, he ends up dying in a rage, while his wife steals anything of value from the estate, and flees to London. The estate is then passed on to, Sir Kit, who goes to England looking for a rich wife to pay off the estates debt. He ends up finding a wife, but realizes there isn’t any love between the two of them so he locks his wife in her room for years, and eventually he ends up getting killed in a duel. After he’s killed, his wife flees to England and ditches the estate. Sir Condy, a politician, ends up taking over the estate, and eventually run the estate out of money. He ends up having to sell the estate. Although the Anglo-Irish Rackrent landlords claimed Irish heritage, they also let go of their heritage to run the estate.
During this time of the century, Irish Catholics supported England’s King, and Irish protestant supported the protestant contestant. When the King was defeated, the Catholics that supported him were penalized by having their land taken away from them, and given to the protestants. Since the Protestants hand overtaken much of the land, they were able to control the Irish parliament and other parts of the Irish public life. The parliament ended up passing laws that kept Catholics from holding government office, and banned from legal and armed services. They weren’t allowed to open schools, or send their children overseas for education. Native Irish clothes were forbidden to be worn, and because of the lack of unity among the Irish, overthrowing English rule was impossible creating an ongoing separation between theAnglo-Irish and the Irish.Thady's son, Jason becomes a successful lawyer, and ends up buying out the Rackrents who were terrible landlords at running the estate. Although Thady plays both sides of the fence, which allows his family to survive during this time and prosper which is the same way the native Irish culture had to survive under British.Ireland’s rebellion is seen through John Millington Synge, “The Playboy of the Western World”. The conforming standards and rebellion towards the law is seen throughout his work as the Irish community is presented as a law-abiding society, but at the same time reveal a rebellious law-breaking spirit. This is shown when Christy reveals that he murdered his father, and becomes recognized as a hero to the women in the community. Shawn is law-abiding, god-fearing, and conforms to the laws and church while Christy is portrayed as an individual who rises above the law and institution and by removing his father from the picture, he removes the authority figure in his life and therefore becomes free. Pegeen rebels against her father and anyone else that comes to the pub, she’s not afraid to go against the church and looks down on Shawn for his devotion to the church.Shawn Keogh is seen as the most law-abiding in the community and refuses to participate in anything that contradicts the law. He obeys the laws of the church by waiting for permission from the bishops to get married, and refuses to be alone with his fiancée until he gets permission from the church. He displays the same obedience to the law by not being amused with crime, not seeing Christy as a hero for his horrific crime, and views him as a murderer and devilish.The village idolizes and praises Christy for murdering his father and they applaud his courage. Christy knows how to play with words as his language and storytelling inflates his self-image. He is distinguished as a hero not by his actions, but his ability to represent those actions through his language. The young women brings rewards for his heroic deed, but when they find out that his father is alive, they all turn on him and come to the realization that his crime deserve harsh treatment.Christy ends up rebelling and freeing himself from oppression and dominance of the British legal system by breaking the law which allows him to finally express his individuality and own self. Breaking away from oppression and law allows him to escape the constraints of the law and community versus being obedient like Shawn. Christy also frees himself from the authority of his father by thinking he murdered him, but fails, and tries a second time to murder his father and escape oppression. Breaking the law is viewed as something virtuous and perhaps if Ireland had the same courageous spirit as Christy, they could free themselves from British rule and become sovereign again. The same way Christy strikes down his father is the same act of courage Ireland can do by rebellion and gaining its independence once again.
Another Irish writer that’s explored is Lady Gregory for “ The Rising of the Moon”, in which the rising of the moon is symbolized by rebellion and that Ireland will rise from the oppression from the British. Language and customs that are used throughout Lady Gregory’s work is seen by the police being Irish native, but hired by the British to protect their interest and capture any leaders of Irish nationalism like the “Ragged Man". The “Ragged Man” eventually uses their common native Irish background to persuade the policeman to not capture him. The policeman also realizes as mentioned by the “Ragged Man" that the same Irish port he’s guarding where fugitives escape and aid the rebels could have easily been him on a boat to freedom and escaping authority.
The “Ragged Man" also sing songs while pretending to be a ballad singer, in which the policeman also begins to say the words to the song which let the “Ragged Man” know that the policeman was a fellow native Irish like himself. The pursuit of self gain is shown by the ragged man being trapped in prison and escaping while the sergeant wishes to capture the fugitive and receive the reward but he loses out on his own search for the “Ragged Man”. Ultimately the two are both united in their search for self gain, and the policeman realizes he has more in common with the “Ragged Man" than with the British. The Irish quest for independence from British authority is depicted by Lady Gregory as she incorporates that if the English saw Ireland’s true Gaelic spirit that the English would sympathize and allow the Irish to rule themselves. Throughout her play native Irish rhythms and lore are used to symbolize the suffering of Ireland. Despite the conflict and drama, Ireland will rise again and escape British law.
An Uprising that’s explored while trying to obtain independence from the British by staging rebellion is seen in The Easter Rising by the rebels taking over buildings in Dublin and within a week more than two thousand were killed and injured. The Irish leaders were executed and there was little support from the Irish people, and eventually the executed leaders were named as martyrs. Although the rising was a failure, it left an impact on the British and in response instead of the idea of Irish home rule, the public moved towards the concept of independent Irish Republic.
The leaders of the Rising believed in the idea of Irish Republic and felt the only way to achieve this was through violence in which they felt was feasible. An organization by the name of the name of the Irish Republican Brotherhood began planning the Easter Rising in and hope the rebellion would be aided by Germany military support. They arranged a shipment of arms and ammunition for the rebels, but before the rising could take place the ships were detected by the British.
On April 24, 1916, when rebel leaders overtook prominent buildings in Dublin, they stated that they were declaring Ireland an independent republic and they appointed a provisional government. Eventually the British declared martial law in Ireland, where many were killed and wounded including civilians, and also destroyed most of Dublin city. In 1918 when the general election of the parliament of the United Kingdom, the Irish won majority of the seats. In 1919 when members met in Dublin wanting a single chamber of parliament and also declare Ireland’s independence, the Irish army then launches a war against the British government. In 1921 a treaty between the two was signed and declared the establishment of free state and self governing nation, but North Ireland didn’t want to be part of the free state and remained with the United Kingdom. The Independent Republic of Ireland consisted of the South and Western counties took place on Easter in 1949. Despite the many lives that were lost during this tragic time,Ireland was able to overcome its conflict with the British, break free, and become independent.
For centuries the Irish has battled against the British for freedom. Two things that are remembered when the Irish come to mind is the Great Famine and Rebellions. After the Great Famine which killed thousands and forced many Irish to flee across seas for a better life, great resistance to British rule started to come into effect through rebellions and revolutionary movements. There were many rebellions and revolutionary movements in which many were unsuccessful until the Easter Rising when the Irish finally broke free from England law.
Ireland now is divided into two regions, the North and South which took place by the British parliament. Both regions where going to remain with the United Kingdom, but after the war of Independence this helped them succeed to break free, but the North chose to remain with the United kingdom. Irelands past relationship with the British can be explored through various Irish writers, poems, and plays. Despite the troubled past and failed rebellions against British law, Ireland finally succeeds and becomes free from its oppressor and become a free state.
Bibliography
Coogan, Tim Pat. The 1916 Easter Rising. New edition. W&N, 2005.Harrington, John P., ed. Modern and Contemporary Irish Drama.W.W. Norton, 2009.Murphy, Maureen, and James MacKillop. An Irish Literature Reader:Poetry, Prose, Drama. 2nd ed. Syracuse UP, 2006.Pakenham, Thomas. The Year of Liberty: The Great Irish Rebellion of 1798. Crown, 1998.Watson, Kirkpatrick, Maria Edgeworth. Castle RackRent. Oxford World Classics, 2009.