what was the war between the british and the irish all about and is it over in laymens language please?

Answer 1

Oh boy you are going to get some huge "cut and paste" answers here. This subject arouses such strong feelings you are unlikely to receive even ONE unbiased answer.

1) in nature, the big fish ALWAYS swallows up the little fish. For as long time, Ireland was dominated by english landlords etc and they ran the place in a disgraceful fashion.

2) Ireland is/was a Celtic nation and Celts are somewhat prone to being dominated by other races. But during the first world war, they managed to get rid of the English. So fair play to them.But northern Ireland is still BRITISH because they want to be.

I doubt if the memories will ever be over but of course after 9/11 terrorism was no longer an option so the thugs and killers had to resort to peaceful means .

Answer 2

This is not the easiest to answer and goes back hundreds of years probably as early as the 12th century when Englands King Henry II started to take over the country.

But the real trouble probably started in the 16th century when English settlers colonised the island and tried to convert the people to become protestants. From that time on, there was religious instability in the country. This is when the real hatred began.

In 1916, the Irish Republican army began to fight for an independant country know as the Easter Rising which resulted in 1921 to the division of Ireland into what is known today as Northern Ireland and Eire.

In Northern Ireland, some Irish Nationalist factions (most notably Sinn Fein) continued their dispute with England right up until a few years ago.

There is relative peace at the moment, although i would be amazed (but happy) if hundreds of years of conflict were over so quickly.

Answer 3

I would say there has been short periods of all out war

The have been 2 uprisings in Ireland

One in 1798 involving more than 20,000 English troops against a few thousand French troops who aided the local militia. The war lasted a few months during which time it is estimated that between 15,000 and 30,000 people died.

In the Easter uprising that lasted about 6 days, 16,000 English troops were deployed against a few thousand "rebels" as they are often described.

Since 1916, the Irish Republicans have not openly committed to battle on the field. There have been a few minor skirmishes involving a handful of people.

In the 1970's and 1980's. the Irish Republicans chose to show their denial of British rule through the bombings of civilians in England where they could achieve maximum effect, e.g. the Birmingham pub bombings. One of my first memories as a child was being evacuated from a Birmingham shopping centre as a result of a bombing scare.

From the other point of view, Northern Ireland has been occupied for decades by by British troops who patrolled streets and set up check points within the country. I recall one occasion when a car drove through a checkpoint without stopping and were machine gunned to death. These turned out not to be affiliated to any organisation.

From the English point of view, it only directly affected peoples lives when a bombing happenned. From a Northern Irish point of view, they had to live with troops on the streets and daily checks.

It was all very sad and i hope it is at an end.

Answer 4

The Irish troubles originally started roughly 800 years ago.The English in their desire to control the country shipped in farmers from the North of Scotland (they were called "planters") and dispossessed the local people. When the English throne became protestant there was a drive to strip all catholics of any civil or human rights and widespread evictions. It was for instance a criminal offence for a catholic to own a horse worth more than £5 and in a well documented case a farmer, who had already been evicted from his home with his 5 children, was then legally evicted from a freshly dug grave where they had taken shelter. All in all Irish people were regarded and treated as non human. Eventually the Irish Republican Brotherhood was founded to seek Irish independence. the founders, surprisingly, were mainly protestant among them one of Irelands biggest Republican heroes General Wolfe Tome. In this century before 1916 the Republicans had little sympathy amongst the population but when the republicans attempted to take the GPO in Dublin the British government made a serious PR mistake instead of imprisoning them they executed them in ones and twos' by firing squad over many days angering the people and creating a cause. This developed into a sectarian war where many, many people were killed and maimed simply because of their religion. The only reasoning behind it was if someone of the other religion was not in the IRA or the UVF then they were probably related to someone who was, if not they probably knew someone who was, if not they probably must have sympathies for them. So many innocent people died on either side that it is a period in both Irish and British history that both sides should look on with shame.

Answer 5

There has NEVER been all all-out war between the 2 countries. All of Eire was once part of Britain, until the republican movement fought for (and won) independence for all but the six counties in the north (Ulster). Most of the population of Ulster are ethnically Scottish, and want to remain part of the UK. The indigenous (Irish) people want a united Ireland. Many opportunties for unity have been missed: In WW2 Churchill offered to return the province if the Irish government gave up its neutral stance against nazi Germany, they refused. The European union also could have refused to let Britain or Ireland join until it was resolved.(They are making the same mistake now with Cyprus). If the majority of voters in Ulster elected a republican party, you can be sure the British government would love to see the back of it.

Answer 6

Well during the reign of Queen Victoria, she wanted to control most of the world and that included Ireland. So lots of English big-wigs moved over there and started throwing their weight around and the Irish didn't like it. So at the turn of the last century the Irish started to fight back and that's how the war basically started. It got more intense in the 20s when religious reasons where thrown in too. Hope that helps a little bit. Try doing a yahoo search on it. Try looking up Micheal Collins. He was one of the Irish big-wigs that took a stand against the English.

Answer 7

It's easy the Brits are protestant meaning they don't recognize the pope or all that wealthy glitz they use. The Irish are catholic and recognize the pope as gods representative on earth. Thus religious intolerance equals blood shed what a surprise. It seems to be in neutral for now getting rid of the orange day parade or at least keep it out of catholic neighborhoods would go along way towards putting this war to bed. Keep your chin up it seems to be headed that way slowly but surely.

Answer 8

Basically England and Ireland got along when everyone was Catholic. But then England changed rulers, and the new ruler was a Protestant. Half of Ireland changed their religion to go along with the new English King (usually those who were closely tied by royal favor, Lords and Earls and such), and the rest refused. England tried to make them change. They fought back. They are still fighting back, only for the past 100 years or so they've been killing themselves as well.

Answer 9

It's about the British controlling Ireland and the Irish not beinhappy about that...

Answer 10

it started with henry v111, catholics versus protestants, long story cut short, his queen was irish catholic, didn't like that, so stated that all should be protestant, if not killed,. Half the country agreed, other half didn't. Then later on hard polotics got envolved, and so you have it. Stupid if you ask me, Irelands a beautiful place, holidayed many times