How much do English people know about Irish history?

Question

I had an English MA student say "we British" to include me, I'm from Cork!

And a lecturer from England who didn't know what the plantations in Ireland refered to.

"Petty religious bickering" - that's true, the British did a lot of their "bickering over here" But I asked you what you knew about it.

"Potato famine" - do you know how and why that happened, how many died?

... If you're not from the British Isles

That's what the Brits called it, personally never would call it that. And you are confusing antiquated offensive nomenclature with political entities

Dogsbody - they doth protest too much

Yeah, we're really grateful. A million dead of hunger and disease and two million emmigrated in a decade, while Britain satisfied its taste for beef.

"the struggle for independence looks odd"

ha ha

ha ha ha

Where do you start with a comment like that.

The halving of our population in a hundred years due to starvation, disease and emmigration is ... hmm... peculiar.

British isles...

Aryan entered English language in 1601, but you wouldn't use that would you?

SORRY TO SHOUT - but "most countries teach their own history" - i presume they teach you about the D day landing - that happened in France though didn't it...

SORRY TO SHOUT - but "most countries teach their own history" - i presume they teach you about the D day landing - that happened in France though didn't it...

Iontaim leat

Clive. Shw mae? I wouldn't break it down to race myself. There's a fella from Fiji playing with the Cork hurling team, speaks Irish, wouldn't call him anything other than Irish.

I lived in Wales myself for a good few years, Lampeter.

I haven't read any biographies of Lloyd George or anything, but you'll understand I've no love for the man.

Clive, bew is beo in Irish

Answer 1

Greebo, the term British comes from Britain not Britannia(albeit that Britain stems from that Latin/Greek term).

The British Isles is not used by Irish people or officially by the Irish government. Nor is it used by the UK government in when in communication with or releasing joint statements with the Irish government.

What right does the UK have in deciding the geographic term for these islands.

For those answerers, Irish people don't know their own history, I beg to differ, we are taught our history in primary school quiet well.

Also, the Irish secondary school curriculum covers the history of other countries on a European or international scale. Just because Britain is so obsessed with its own insular history doesn't mean every country is the same.

Answer 2

When addressing the Irish in terms of their race, there is some difficulty concerning the origins thereof. All the DNA tests carried out by the Uni of Oxford in Wales, seem to point directly to Eire. In other words, my race, the Welsh [Brits] are directly related to the Irish, the Celts.

There is a small Welsh phrase which you may like to use. Celtii bew = the living Celts.

As for Irish History. The only part I know something of is the Famine and how the people of Eire were allowed to starve with little or no help coming from Britain. Also of the brutal absentee landlords and their gangs who threw people out of their cottages in Eire because the harvest failed and they were unable to pay the rent.

I have an entirely biased opinion of Eire and the people thereof, being that I am Welsh, a fellow Celt and brought up a Methodist and learning something of the common people of Eire and their struggle for Independence and their successful revolution to oust the British.

A native of Wales, David Lloyd George, otherwise known simply as the Wizard, wanted very much for there to be total Independence for Eire. Very difficult times.

Answer 3

Had big argument with some Irish friends about some similar semantics.
fact is British Isles is a geographical term, which dates back to ancient times, when the Romans invaded, they invaded Britain, England did not even exist. Going back that far the Irish would have been 'Britons' same as everyone else living in the British Isles.

The Problem is that in modern times Britain has become synonomous with 'England' and clearly many Irish have a problem with that for entirely understandable reasons. Ireland the geographical country is part of the British Isles, the republic of Ireland is nothing to do with the United Kingdom/Great Britain which is a purely political construct.

Answer 4

Hi there.
Irish history isn't taught over here and the history the Irish teach themselves is nowhere to be seen either.
This is partly because the English who do know a little of the history are largely ashamed of what has happened, but mostly because that history is uninteresting to anybody except the Irish.
Most people believe that Ireland was united with the UK because it was invaded, for instance, and would be astonished to know about the request for union made by the Irish parliament and the subsequent act of union! The struggle for independence looks very odd once you know that.

Don't worry about it, ignorance is ignorance wherever you find it.
Cheers, Steve.

Answer 5

I would think nothing or very little as most countries only teach their own history in schools as trying to teach the history of other countries would mean too much work for a standard curriculum, if a student then goes on to university and studies History then he / she my learn more of the other countries , It is the same with the map of the world , depending in which county you live THAT country is always in the centre of the map.

Answer 6

The English people don't know about English history, never mind Irish history. But then I don't suppose that the Irish really know all that much about Irish history either. That's partly because of the modern malaise and partly because traditionally that Irish have been keen to apply a somewhat subjective view about who killed who.

Of course, Ireland was conquered by the Normans/Angevins, not the English per se. One version of history suggests that the English were similarly conquered and held in the thrall of their conquerors until the emancipation of the late twentieth century. This interpretation of history seems to be largely ignored in Ireland, where I appear to be held responsible for the potato famine, which is particularly galling given the number of my own Irish (Catholic) ancestors.

Are the Irish any more aware of the role of the Great Marshal in Ireland than the English are of his role in saving England? Probably not.

Answer 7

eire and Scotland weren't in any respect divided by using a wall geared up by using the Romans. there is not any such element and it is likewise impossible. The Romans geared up a extensive wall to maintain the Scottish tribes out of the Roman's land (the place modern-day England now's). you're able to desire to do extra learn in this. look into Hadrian's Wall in my hyperlink under for all historic past. What do you mean by using "Irish (English) cultures" precisely? some Irish might talk one in all those English language dialect yet they are no longer English human beings. The Irish additionally talk a Celtic language called Irish. The Irish are recognized as Celtic human beings and not English (Anglo) human beings. learn Celtic human beings in my hyperlink under. eire = Celtic Scotland = Celtic Wales = Celtic Galicia (Spain) = Celtic England = Anglo-Saxon

Answer 8

My husband is from Northern Ireland, and recently I've been shocked by people's ignorance. It also makes me realise how ignorant I was until I met him.
It's something that should be taught in much greated depth at school

Wow! See that! Even more ignorance than you can shake a stick at!

Answer 9

Probably not a lot because it's not taught in schools in England and that's about it I'm afraid. Most countries just usually teach their own history, nothing unusual there.

Answer 10

Hardly got a mention in Surrey during the sixties.