Meanwhile in Ireland

    SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER!

    What's Hot

    Top 5 all-time STRONGEST Irish accents EVER on film

    February 3, 2023

    Top 10 things that were illegal in Ireland 100 years ago

    February 2, 2023

    10 tongue-twisting longest PLACE NAMES in Ireland

    February 2, 2023
    Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Meanwhile in Ireland
    • Home
    • News
    • Craic
    • Sports
    • More
      • Culture
      • Dublin
      • Funny
      • Irish People
      • Interesting News
      • Satire
      • The Drink!
      • Travel
      • TV and Movies
      • Viral
    Facebook YouTube Instagram TikTok
    Meanwhile in Ireland
    You are at:Home » News » Audio » 5 Times The Irish Suffered Racial Persecution
    Culture History

    5 Times The Irish Suffered Racial Persecution

    Meanwhile in IrelandBy Meanwhile in IrelandJuly 17, 2017No Comments5 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    Share:
    Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Pinterest Email

    It’s amazing how far the Irish have come from the days of severe persecution both inside and outside of Ireland. Although there are still many issues the Irish face, in general the Irish are accepted and loved worldwide. We should be happy for the remarkable distance the Irish travelled to get to this point and never take things for granted as our ancestors went through pain and hardship. With this in mind, here are five times the Irish have suffered racial persecution and discrimination.

    1. Oliver Cromwell’s Genocide in Ireland

    The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland refers to the conquest of Ireland by the forces of the English Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Cromwell invaded Ireland with his New Model Army to take on the Irish Catholic Confederation who controlled most of Ireland.

    Cromwell is widely credited with the ruination of Anglo-Irish relations. From the moment he stepped foot on Irish soil until he left years later, Cromwell’s forces ruthlessly killed all that was in front of them. In Drogheda, the first town the New Model Army lay siege, he slaughtered almost every soldier and clergyman—nearly 3,000 men—for not surrendering soon enough. From there they moved on to Wexford, where his troops interrupted surrender negotiations to destroy the town so savagely that they couldn’t even use it for a supply port. At every turn, Cromwell handily defeated the Irish defenders. Even Ireland’s most formidable force, the Ulster Army, had a third of its men killed in one battle.

    Without a comparable army, the Irish Catholic Confederation resorted to guerrilla tactics as early as 1650. In response, Cromwell enacted a policy of total war, burning food stocks in villages across the island and imprisoning suspected Tory sympathisers. What the ensuing famine failed to kill, the Black Plague preyed on. All told, roughly 40 percent of the island’s population was struck down by Cromwell’s actions, rivalled in Irish history only by the 19th Century Potato Blight.

    2. Discrimination of Irish people in Ireland

    In the 17th and 18th centuries, the majority of Irish people in Ireland were Catholics. Irish Catholics had been prohibited by the Penal Laws from purchasing or leasing land, from voting, from holding political office, from living in or within 5 miles (8 km) of a corporate town, from obtaining education, from entering a profession, and from doing many other things necessary for a person to succeed and prosper in society.

    The laws had largely been reformed by 1793, and the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 allowed Irish Catholics to again sit in Parliament. The Penal Laws was a contributing factor in The Great Famine between 1845 and 1852. Religious discrimination continued in Ireland after this, especially in Northern Ireland, where it contributed to sectarian violence during the ‘The Troubles’.

    3. Irish Discrimination in America

    Irish refugees who fled the famine were met with hatred and discrimination in America. The discrimination faced by Irish famine refugees was not subtle or insidious. It was right there in black and white, in newspaper classified advertisements that blared “No Irish Need Apply.” The image of the simian Irishman, imported from Victorian England, was given new life by the pens of illustrators such as Thomas Nast that dripped with prejudice as they sketched Celtic ape-men with sloping foreheads and monstrous appearances.

    In 1849, a clandestine fraternal society of native-born Protestant men called the Order of the Star Spangled Banner formed in New York. Bound by sacred oaths and secret passwords, its members wanted a return to the America they once knew, a land of “Temperance, Liberty and Protestantism.” Similar secret societies with menacing names like the Black Snakes and Rough and Readies sprouted across the country.

    4. Irish Discrimination in Scotland

    As a result of the Protestant and Scottish Reformations, Scotland adopted Presbyterianism (the Church of Scotland) as its state religion. Following on from this, economic hardship in Ireland meant that many Irish Catholic emigrants settled in Scotland.  Places in Scotland such as the east end of Glasgow began to have a large Irish community which resulted in increased competition for employment and housing and, in some instances, antagonism and conflict between competing groups. The result of the influx of Irish people into Scotland was met head on with rife religious discrimination and established tension between Protestants and Catholics.

    5. Anti-Irish racism in England

    Anti-Irish racism in England is as old as the 12th century. Even Irish jokes go back at least to the 16th century and chroniclers as long ago as 1187 were attacking the Irish for their filth and ignorance. A notable scholar Dr Mary Hickman, director of the Irish Studies Centre at the University of North London, stated in her book ‘Religion, Class and Identity’ that since the Anglo-Norman invasion in the 12th century the English have tried to justify their attacks on Ireland by racism.

    Hickman said: “Many people assume that current English hostility or discrimination towards the Irish is the result of events in Northern Ireland so they see it as regrettable but understandable.” She argues that Ireland is important to the security of England and successive generations have tried to justify invasion and colonisation by stereotyping the Irish as wild and uncivilised.

    Share. Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    Avatar photo
    Meanwhile in Ireland

    Meanwhile in Ireland is a celebration of all that is weird and wonderful about Ireland! We are one of Ireland’s most popular humour websites, specialising in news, viral videos and general Irish craic. Launched in 2014, Meanwhile in Ireland has cultivated a community of over 600,000 social media followers, with over 200,000 monthly page views on MeanwhileinIreland.com.

    Related Posts

    Top 10 things that were illegal in Ireland 100 years ago

    By Grainne KavanaghFebruary 2, 2023

    Top 20 IRISH SLANG words for getting DRUNK

    By Grainne KavanaghJanuary 31, 2023

    KILKENNY CATS: the HISTORY of this iconic phrase

    By Grainne KavanaghJanuary 19, 2023

    20 Belfast SLANG words that only LOCALS understand

    By Katie MorrisJanuary 17, 2023
    Latest Articles

    Top 5 all-time STRONGEST Irish accents EVER on film

    February 3, 2023

    Top 10 things that were illegal in Ireland 100 years ago

    February 2, 2023

    10 tongue-twisting longest PLACE NAMES in Ireland

    February 2, 2023

    10 times the BRITISH claimed the IRISH as their own in the media

    February 1, 2023
    Stay In Touch
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • TikTok
    Don't Miss

    Top 10 Irish cultural traditions, customs, and their origins

    By Conor WickhamJanuary 7, 2021

    Irish culture is one that is rich, diverse, vibrant, and interesting. Ireland has many cultural…

    Top 10 best Irish crisps we all know from childhood

    August 25, 2021

    Hilarious Joke: An Englishman, an Irishman and a Pakistani man are sat in a hospital…

    June 2, 2016

    Top 10 facts about Nicola Coughlan you never knew

    January 4, 2022

    Subscribe to our Newsletter!

    We specialise in Bizarre Irish News, Viral Videos and general Irish Craic.

    • Home
    • About us
    • Contact us
    • Guests Posts
    • Team
    • Work for us
    • Terms of use
    • Privacy policy
    • Disclaimer
    • Copyright
    Follow us

    Connect with us on your favourite social media app.

    Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube TikTok
    Contact us

    19 Arthur St, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BT1 4GA.

    [email protected]

    Subscribe to our Newsletter!

    ©Copyright 2019 - Meanwhile in Ireland | Trading under Emerald Green Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.