Torn Away

1
Torn Away

• Novel Study

2
Timeline of Events

• 12th century settlers from Britain to set up
  plantations
• Large parcels of land taken from indigenous
  Irish, and given to British settlers
• Many of these settlers integrated into the way of
  life

3
17th, 18th Centuries

• Scottish/English settlers relocated to Northern
  Ireland but, due to recent Reformation, were
  Protestant instead of the Irish Catholic
  population already there.
• Rebellions by native Irish against British rule
  was common

4
20th century

• After WW1 pressure on British government to grant
  independence intensified
• This was resisted by Protestants in the North who
  wanted to maintain British rule for their
  protection (religious and economic)
• They began mobilizing armies

5
20th century continued

• In an effort to avoid conflict, PM Lloyd George
  partitioned the island into two sections 6
  counties in North to remain part of United
  Kingdom the rest to be independent
• There was resistance to the idea, and bitter
  civil conflict between those who wanted the
  partition versus those who rejected it erupted
• Those who accepted the partition won a bloody
  victory in 1923
• Irish Free State created, and was declared a
  republic in 1949 (90 Catholic majority)

6
20th century Northern Ireland

• Population 1.5 million, 2/3 of which were
  Protestant
• Protestant population had much more privilege in
  terms of housing, jobs, political representation,
  etc. than did their Catholic counterparts
• The Catholics in Northern Ireland viewed
  themselves as an oppressed minority
• The two populations were essentially divided

7
(No Transcript)
8
Such separation, with parallel discrimination,
inevitably led to significant distrust and
prejudice between the communities (Seamus
Heanery, poet)
9
Civil Rights Movement

• Ghettoisation/discrimination basis for Civil
  Rights Campaign in the 1960s
• Protestant community in Northern Ireland felt
  Civil Rights Movement a threat to their security
• Violence erupted and the separation intensified
• Vigilante groups/paramilitaries (illegal armies)
  meant the deployment of British Army in the
  streets

10
(No Transcript)
11
1960s and later

• Unionists in power were unable to address the
  Catholic demands for civil rights who escalated a
  violent campaign. This was countered by Loyalist
  paramilitaries
• Two significant armies
• The IRA versus the Ulster Freedom Fighters

12
My first memory was when my aunt got shot... It
frightened me, so it did. She was only home from
visiting my granny in England, and she was
walking around the corner to me aunt's house.
She got shot dead... I.R.A. crossfire... Well,
you 're afraid to go out, in case you get shot
dead, so you are.
13
I remember something else as well. This is
whenever I was a wee bit older, and I already
knew about the Troubles and all... I was angry,
really, like, somebody could be so bitter, you
know like, beat him (uncle) to death... You
hear about people who get beat to death, it
annoyed me more. If he had a got shot... I
would've still been angry, but it would've been
happier, you know? You know a quicker death for
him. And it made me angry...I didn't even know
he was beat... Somebody says to me that somebody
got beat... I knew it was my uncle. I knew he
was down there... And he had another son. He had
another two sons and another daughter And his
son got shot dead after.
14
(No Transcript)
15
(No Transcript)
16
The IRA (Irish Republican Army)

• Unionist resistance to the civil rights campaign
  caused the IRA to regroup
• Began bombing campaigns
• Gained further support in 1971 when the
  government allowed imprisonment without trial
• Hundreds of Catholics imprisoned

17
IRA continued

• 1972 support for IRA increased again when British
  soldiers opened fire during a demonstration. 13
  men were killed, and the event was given the name
  Bloody Sunday

18
IRA continued

• Another significant event occurred with hunger
  strikes in 1981. Bobby Sands and 9 other IRA
  members in prison fought to be treated as
  political prisoners instead of mainstream ones.
  Sands died, becoming a martyr in the fight for
  independence.
• Again, the violence escalated

19
(No Transcript)
20
If they aren't able to destroy the desire for
freedom, they won't break you. They won't break
me because the desire for freedom, and the
freedom of the Irish people, is in my heart.
The day will dawn when all the people of Ireland
will have the desire for freedom to show. It is
then we'll see the rising of the moon. Bobby
Sands diary
21
Ulster Freedom FIghters

• On the other side were the Ulster Freedom
  Fighters, who also had a campaign of violence
  with Catholics as the targets

22
(No Transcript)
23
Finally Peace?

• Realization by IRA and British Army that war was
  not the answer
• IRA through political party Sinn Fein, given as
  an alternative to fighting
• Ceasefire in 1994
• 1998 Belfast Agreement signed which gives
  self-government to Northern Ireland (on power
  sharing basis, and reform of the police which
  must include 20 Catholics

24
Damages

• 3600 deaths, more than half of which were
  civilians
• 91 male
• 53 of people under 30
• Majority Catholic (43 to 30 Protestant
• In the majority of killings, almost no one was
  convicted