How come it was the Irish Protestants who fought for Ireland's independence from the UK?

Question

How come it was the Irish Protestants who fought for Ireland's independence from the UK?
I mean if its true that the leaders were Protestants then why wud they fight for Ireland's independence when Protestants are loyal to the English & have English ancestry, i dont get this.

This is what some guy told me that it was the Protestants who mainly fought for independence, so if its because they wanted to practice their religion that means Ireland wanted independence for Protestants, not because of the Catholics, Celtics wanted their land back & being independent, lol.

Answer 1

How come you write questions you know nothing about

Answer 2

This is a question badly worded. There were Protestant Irish fighting for Independence, but not all the independentist were Protestant and I'm sure than amongst the British forces that fought against them there were many Roman Catholics. The Independence of Ireland was not a matter of religion, even when both countries were Catholic, there was resentment for the English presence. Ireland is a different country with its own characteristics and with every right to be independent as any other country in the world. Remember that the British (Normans before) invaded Eire. I would recommend you to read history books. Comments hardly give you the whole panorama.

Answer 3

Many of the early leaders of an independence movement were Protestant. This was for a number of reasons - they had the social standing to be able to do anything about it, the education to know how to etc. Those that wish to portray the Irish Independence movement as some sort of Catholic anti-Protestant group need to learn some history.

Religion has nothing to do with whether or not one wants their country to be free.

You have to remember that as a colony, Ireland was fleeced by Britain and Protestant Irish could see this just as clearly as Catholic Irish, though it did not always affect them in as serious a way as it did the Catholics.

Wolfe Tone and Parnell were both Protestants.

Answer 4

It is a mistake to confuse the Unionism / Nationalism divide of ireland in the past with a sectarion (catholic / protestant) split just as it was a mistake made by many in the media to apply the same reasoning to the Unionist / Republican divide in the Northern Ireland Troubles.

Though both Unionism and Nationalism attracted a number of supporters from outside their main religious faiths, whereas Nationalism did have a number of Protestant leaders (from Henry Grattan to Theobald Wolfe Tone and Charles Stewart Parnell), Unionism was invariably led by Protestant leaders, with few prominent Catholics involved in the Unionist parties.

Answer 5

Home rule was an issue prior to irish independance in 1921.
this was supported by irish protestants and catholics.
The penal laws of the 17th and 1800`s forbidded catholics from an education. Naturaly protestants who availed of this, would see a free island of ireland as all encompassing in regards to religion. The rebellion of 1798 had catholics and protestants fighting together for irish independance.
You have to break the link between protestant being loyal and catholic being republican when you look at irish history prior to 1921 and the northen ireland issue. As previously mentioned Wolfe tone was a protestant nationalist, who is held in high regard even by sinn fein. the government has a memorial to him every year. Had he succeded he would be the irish version of george washington.


The reason why your getting thumbs down is because of your neanderthal view of irish history.
Charles stewart parnell, was a protestant politician who nearly succeded in home rule for ireland long before 1921

Answer 6

it really is a question badly worded. there have been Protestant Irish struggling with for Independence, yet no longer each and each of the independentist were Protestant and that i'm particular than among the British forces that fought antagonistic to them there have been many Roman Catholics. The Independence of eire become no longer a matter of religion, even at the same time as both international places were Catholic, there become resentment for the English presence. eire is a special us of a with its personal characteristics and with each ideal to be autonomous as the different us of a contained in the international. bear in mind that the British (Normans before) invaded eire. i might want to propose you to study heritage books. comments hardly provide you with the completed panorama.

Answer 7

Some of the earlier proponents of Irish Independence were prodestant, Wolfe Tone (born in 1700s), one of the United Irishmen was protestant. (The United Irishmen were both protestant and catholic). Charles Stewart Parnell was also a protestant. But the majority of the people who fought for independence were Catholic.

Answer 8

Both Catholics and protestants faught together against the injustice of the british crown and the crown forces, Theobalde Wolfe Tone is recognised as the father of Irish resistance and he was indeed a protestant.
Religion became an issue as part of the UK strategy of Divide & Conquor.

Answer 9

My Grandfather fought in the war of independence and his neighbours were prodestant as were alot of his neighbours and they would have had no great affinity for the british either they were originally settlers brought from germany in the 1600s
(they needed good protestant stock).
Also there would have been irish families that had converted to protestantism to keep their land generations before.
also
the british did not treat people very well
the lines seem to very clearly drwan in northern ireland but in the rest of ireland it is alot more blurred
protestant does not = british

also you forget that the protestants were aligned with the catholics politically in northern ireland against the presbyterians early in the 20th century ....

Answer 10

its probably the 1798 uprising you mean,see below for a bit of info.

The promise of reform inspired a small group of Protestant
liberals in Belfast to found the Society of the United Irishmen in 1791. The organisation crossed the religious divide with a membership comprising Roman Catholics, Presbyterians, Methodists, and other Protestant "dissenter" groups excluded from the Protestant Ascendancy. The Society openly put forward its policies of further democratic reforms and Catholic emancipation, reforms that the Irish Parliament had little intention of granting and the British government were just as unwilling to enforce, until pressured to do so in 1793. The outbreak of war with France earlier in 1793 following the execution of Louis XVI forced the Society underground and toward armed insurrection with French aid. The avowed intent of the United Irishmen was now to "break the connection with England"; the organisation spread throughout Ireland and had at least 100,000 members by 1797. It linked up with Catholic agrarian resistance groups, known as the Defenders, who had started raiding houses for arms in early 1793.

Despite their growing strength, the United Irish leadership decided to seek military help from the French revolutionary government, and to postpone the rising until French troops landed in Ireland. Theobald Wolfe Tone, leader of the United Irishmen, travelled in exile from America to France to press the case for intervention. These plans seemed to come to fruition when he accompanied a force of 15,000 French troops under General Hoche which arrived off the coast of Ireland at Bantry Bay in December 1796 after eluding the Royal Navy. However unremitting storms, indecisiveness and poor seamanship all combined to prevent invasion, prompting the despairing Wolfe Tone to remark, "England has had its luckiest escape since the Armada."

Answer 11

hope this helps..excerpts taken from a page on net...brits there own worst enemy!
Ireland signed a treaty allowing for limited independence, but with some strings attached. One of those strings was that the country would be split in two - the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland. The limitations of the treaty were hugely controversial (the negotiator for the Irish side, Michael Collins, announced after signing the Treaty, that he had signed his death warrant), and in the Free State it lead quickly to a vicious civil war between both sides; those who agreed with the Treaty, and those who disagreed. The Irish Civil war accounted for 3,000 deaths on both sides. Most of today's political parties of the Irish Republic originate from this deeply divisive political split.


Northern Ireland and the Troubles

Things in the sister state, Northern Ireland, did not go so smoothly. After the split, Northern Ireland continued to maintain its position within the United Kingdom. A large Catholic community lived side by side with a larger, dominant, Protestant community. Catholics had little representation and almost no political power in this state. During the 1960s, Catholics began to organise themselves to agitate for civil rights. This lead to rioting and civil violence between Catholics and Protestants, whereby the government of Northern Ireland requested that soldiers be brought in from mainland Britain to keep the peace. However, the British military was drawn quickly into the conflict. To the Catholic population of the time, here was history repeating itself. What ensued was a period of 25 years of vicious low-intensity warfare, between the IRA (a Catholic, armed, separatist movement), and the British security forces, with Protestant paramilitaries adding fuel to the fire each time Protestant police, soldiers or civilians were killed. In total, over 3,000 people died. This cycle of killings, bombings and violence was eventually broken by the signing and ratification of an historic accord (The Good Friday Agreement) in 1998. Since then, normal life in Northern Ireland has improved, if somewhat imperfectly and slowly8. Northern Ireland now has a devolved government where Nationalist and Unionist ministers share power.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A707906