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CHAPTER FIVE

The English come to Ireland

A thousand years ago, Ireland had many kings and they often fought each other. In 1152 one Irish king, Dermot MacMurrough, attacked another Irish king, Tiernan O’Rourke, and took his wife. Tiernan O’Rourke was the friend of a third king, Rory O’Connor. In 1166 Rory O’Connor was made king of all Ireland. At this time, Tiernan and Rory attacked Dermot MacMurrough, but Dermot escaped to England.

Dermot then asked the king of England, Henry the Second, to help him to fight Rory and Tiernan. So in 1169 Henry’s men came to Ireland and fought Rory and Tiernan, but they did not go home again. They took more and more of the land for themselves. They built cities by the sea, and big castles. Henry called himself King of England and Ireland. But not all the Irish were happy about this.

For the next four hundred years, English kings tried to rule Ireland from Dublin. But it was very difficult. The Irish did not listen to the King of England - he was too far away.

In 1536 the English church changed from Catholic to Protestant. So England was a Protestant country, but Ireland was still Catholic. For the Protestant English, their king was the most important man in the Church. but for the Catholic Irish, the most important man was the Pope - the leader of the Catholic Church - in Rome. There was a lot of fighting in Ireland about this, and usually the English won. The kings of England took more land from the Catholic Irish, and gave it to Protestant Englishmen and Scotsmen. This plan was called the Plantation of Ulster, because much of the land was in Ulster, in the north of Ireland. Englishmen from London built a new town in a place called Derry, and called it Londonderry.

The Catholic Irish were angry about this and wanted their land back. In 1641 the Catholics attacked the Protestants in Ulster. They took their houses and clothes and killed thousands of people.

Eight years later, in 1649, Oliver Cromwell took an English army to Ireland. Cromwell was the leader of the English after the death of King Charles the First. The English soldiers killed thousands of Catholics in a town called Drogheda.

In 1685 the people of England and Scotland got a new king - James the Second. He was a Catholic, and he was not very popular. Many people wanted a different king, and in 1688 William of Orange, a Dutch Protestant, came to England. He was married to James’s daughter Mary, and he wanted to be king of England, Scotland, and Ireland.

In those three countries people who wanted James to be king fought against people who wanted William to be king. Most of James’s friends were Catholics in Ireland. With his help, they tried to get their land back again. They got most of it, but they could not get Londonderry. When they attacked it, the Protestants ran inside the city walls and closed the gates. For 105 days, the Catholic soldiers tried to get inside and kill them. The Protestants were cold and afraid and hungry. They ate cats and dogs and horses, but they did not open the gates. 15,000 people died during this time, which was called the Siege of Derry.

At last, three Protestant ships came to Londonderry with food and soldiers, and the siege was over. After that the new Protestant English King, William of Orange, won two very important battles against the Catholics: the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, and the Battle of Aughrim in 1691. The Catholic Irish didn’t fight a big battle again for 100 years.

So for the next hundred years life was very difficult for the Catholic Irish. Keeping their land or going to Catholic schools or Catholic churches was very difficult and they could not speak or vote in Parliament.

All the important people in Ireland were

Protestants, and all the big, beautiful houses and the best farms belonged to Protestants.

In most countries, people read about history in books. in Ireland, history is alive today. Every year, Protestants in Londonderry march to remember 1688. In Belfast, on 12 July, Protestant Orangemen march with music and songs about King William of Orange - often called ‘King Billy’- and the Battle of the Boyne. Every year, Catholics are angry about these marches.