The conflict that has brewed between Ireland and Great Britain for the last thousand years, has been primarily based upon religious differences. The two religions being Roman Catholic and Protestant faith. England entered into the affairs of Ireland around 1170, due to an Irish chieftain asking for help in defeating other Irish chieftains. The English quickly realized the ease of success in capturing fortunes in Ireland. These fortune hunters adopted the Irish ways of life and created the Anglo-Irish race. The King of England, Henry VIII, decided to take action against these Anglo-Irish nobles and declared all of Ireland be surrendered to England. The nobles were then made into vassals of the King. The main problem with the takeover by England was that the Church of England was a Protestant church. This did not set well with the devout Roman Catholic nation of Ireland. A mild rebellion was quickly put out in Ulster, a province in Northern Ireland. The land was then sold and rented to Protestant landlords. This taking over of land and giving to Protestant landlords continued for the next century until more than 88% of the land in Ireland was owned by Protestants. The Roman Catholics had been reduced to the poor working class, but still owned three-fourths of the population. Throughout this time several revolts were quickly put down, but this led to the stripping of all political rights from the Catholic believers, turning Ireland into nothing more than a British colony.

Finally in the late 1700’s, the Irish Parliament won legislative freedom. This freedom was due to the fact that England was busy trying to keep it’s control over the new world in the American Revolutionary War, and the troops available to fight a revolt were minimal. Yet, the British government still kept a hold on Ireland by appointing the Executive Member to Parliament and corrupting the members. The Irish people, hearing of the revolutionary ideas in America and France, decide to try one of their own. Enlisting the help of France, the Society of United Irishmen, a force of Protestants and Catholics led by Wolfe Tone, were harshly defeated. However, it caused the Prime Minister of England, William Pitt the Younger, to reevaluate the situation that had been developing between Great Britain and Ireland.

In 1800 a bill created by Pitt was passed that deleted Irish independence by creating a legislative union of the two kingdoms. This was a very unpopular idea on the Irish side of things, and was not allowed to be submitted to the Irish Parliament in 1799. However, the ability for money to persuade people has never been an unappreciated tool. Thanks to bribes, the thought of promotions and threats of dismissals from office the bill easily passed. The catholic majority was assured due to the promise of emancipation from religious oppression. The Act of Union was officially put into effect on January 1, 1801. The Imperial Parliament consisted of four bishops of the Anglican church and twenty-eight representatives added to the House of Lords. One hundred representatives were added to the House of Commons, however Roman Catholics could still not participate in Parliament. The Church of England and the Church of Ireland were united. About the only thing good that came out of the union for Ireland was the free trade now available with England. Ireland kept it’s national debt and shared Imperial expenses for the next twenty years. After twenty years the situation would be reconsidered. The King, George III, did not think that emancipation was a good idea and therefore it never occurred. The bottom line is that the Act of Union did not address the real problems that were afflicting Ireland, and as a result the Union was dissolved after the twenty year period in 1821.

Throughout the nineteenth century, Irishmen had pushed for a restoration of an Irish Parliament and what they called “home rule.” Irish delegates used their eighty-five votes in the British Parliament to side with a Liberal legislative program in return for a bill to be passed creating “home rule.” It had to be passed three times in the House of Commons in order to override the veto of the House of Lords. The highlights of the bill were that and Irish Parliament be established in Dublin, while giving control over foreign affairs; and defense to the British Parliament. Irish nationalists claimed the bill would strengthen relations between Ireland and Great Britain, and would take away the burden of dealing with local Irish affairs. The bill, however, met great opposition, due mainly to the fate of Ulster. Ulster was a more urban area and mainly housed Protestant peoples. It differed from the rest of Ireland, which was mainly rural and Roman Catholic. Separating Ulster from Ireland was opposed by both sides. The Irish Nationalists wanted to keep Ireland as one nation, while the Protestants in Ulster did not want to abandon the minority Protestants in southern Ireland. The Ulster Unionists, were so opposed to the “home rule” bill, they began forming militia in order to rebel against it’s passing. The people of the south were hurt by the defiance of the north and also began to form a militia. The threat of civil war was at an all time high, however, the Ulstermen backed down thanks to an amendment to the bill which gave Ulster a six-year exclusion. This amendment however, was taken by the House of Lords and contorted into nothing like the original version, therefore pushing the level of tension even higher. The situation came to a head in Dublin when British soldiers fired on an Irish crowd, killing three. A certain civil war was saved due to Austria declaring war on Serbia the next day, and England being thrust into a World War. The idea of “home rule” was put on the back burner.

In 1920 the Government of Ireland Act was established in order to settle the problem of “home rule” and the fate of Ulster. Northern Ireland was created, which satisfied the two-thirds Protestant population in that province. The act gave Northern Ireland it’s own home rule parliament and also gave a second home rule parliament to the southern counties. The south was not happy with the arrangement for they wanted complete independence and had formed some extremely violent groups. The Irish Republican Army was formed and killing began in November of 1920. The British armies retaliated with force of their own. The civilian casualty rate was in the thousands after the first six months of 1921. The British government in middle of 1921 starting getting the upper hand and the King appealed for peace. Formal negotiations were attempted and a treaty was proposed giving dominion status to Ireland. Amid great controversy the treaty was accepted. Civil war was the result. The IRA split into pro- and antitreaty groups. The worst result of the war was confirming the belief of mistrust in the southern counties. The idea of an united Ireland was the loser in the civil war.