Anglo-Irish was a term used primarily in the 19th and early 20th centuries to identify a privileged
social classSocial classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
in
IrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, whose members were the descendants and successors of the
Protestant AscendancyThe Protestant Ascendancy, usually known in Ireland simply as the Ascendancy, is a phrase used when referring to the political, economic, and social domination of Ireland by a minority of great landowners, Protestant clergy, and professionals, all members of the Established Church during the 17th...
, mostly belonging to the Church of Ireland, which was the established church of Ireland until 1871, or to a lesser extent one of the
English dissentingEnglish Dissenters were Christians who separated from the Church of England in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.They originally agitated for a wide reaching Protestant Reformation of the Established Church, and triumphed briefly under Oliver Cromwell....
churches, such as the
MethodistMethodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
church. Its members tended to follow English practices in matters of culture, science, law, agriculture and politics. Many became eminent as administrators in the
British empireThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
and as senior army and naval officers.
The term is not usually applied to Presbyterians in
Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, whose ancestry is mostly
ScottishThe Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
and who are usually identified as "Ulster-Scots." In
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and Ireland the term is also used informally to refer to anyone with ties of blood, residency or citizenship to both countries. In the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, people who identify with the Ulster-Scots are usually called "Scotch-Irish", while people whose ancestry can be traced to the Anglo-Irish may refer to themselves simply as "Irish."
The term "Anglo-Irish" may also be used to describe formal contacts, negotiations, and treaties between the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and the
Republic of IrelandIreland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
. Some examples of this usage are the
Anglo-Irish TreatyThe Anglo-Irish Treaty , officially called the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was a treaty between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and representatives of the secessionist Irish Republic that concluded the Irish War of...
of 1921, the
Anglo-Irish AgreementThe Anglo-Irish Agreement was an agreement between the United Kingdom and Ireland which aimed to help bring an end to the Troubles in Northern Ireland...
of 1985, and the Anglo-Irish Summits (as meetings between the British and Irish
prime ministerA prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
s are usually called). In more modern times, many films that are British and Irish co-productions are often referred to as
Anglo-Irish films.
Anglo-Irish social class
The term "Anglo-Irish" is often applied to the members of the Church of Ireland who made up the professional and landed class in Ireland from the 17th century up to the time of Irish independence in the 20th century. In the course of the 17th century, this Anglo-Irish landed elite replaced the Gaelic Irish and
Old EnglishThe Old English were the descendants of the settlers who came to Ireland from Wales, Normandy, and England after the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169–71. Many of the Old English became assimilated into Irish society over the centuries...
aristocracies as the ruling class in Ireland. They were also referred to as "New English" to distinguish them from the "Old English" who descended from the medieval
Hiberno-NormanThe Hiberno-Normans are those Norman lords who settled in Ireland who admitted little if any real fealty to the Anglo-Norman settlers in England, and who soon began to interact and intermarry with the Gaelic nobility of Ireland. The term embraces both their origins as a distinct community with...
settlers. A larger but less socially prominent element of the
ProtestantProtestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
Irish population were the immigrant French
HuguenotThe Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
s and the English and Scottish
dissidentsNonconformity is the refusal to "conform" to, or follow, the governance and usages of the Church of England by the Protestant Christians of England and Wales.- Origins and use:...
who settled in Ireland in the 17th and 18th centuries, many of whom later emigrated to the American colonies.
Under the
Penal LawsThe term Penal Laws in Ireland were a series of laws imposed under English and later British rule that sought to discriminate against Roman Catholics and Protestant dissenters in favour of members of the established Church of Ireland....
, which were in force between the 17th and 19th centuries (though enforced with varying degrees of severity),
CatholicThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
recusantsIn the history of England and Wales, the recusancy was the state of those who refused to attend Anglican services. The individuals were known as "recusants"...
in Britain and Ireland were barred from public office, while Catholics in Ireland were also barred from entry to the
University of DublinTrinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...
and professions such as law, medicine, and the military. The lands of the recusant Roman Catholic elite who refused to take the prescribed oaths were largely confiscated during the
Plantations of IrelandPlantations in 16th and 17th century Ireland were the confiscation of land by the English crown and the colonisation of this land with settlers from England and the Scottish Lowlands....
and the rights of Roman Catholics to inherit landed property were severely restricted. Those who converted to the Church of Ireland were usually able to keep or regain their lost property, as the issue was primarily one of allegiance. In the late 18th century the Dublin Parliament won legislative independence and the movement for the repeal of the Test Acts began.
The Anglo-Irish
social classSocial classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
was usually of mixed Irish and British ancestry. Members of this ruling elite usually identified themselves as Irish while adopting English practices in politics, commerce, and culture. They participated in the popular English sports of the day, particularly racing and hunting, and often intermarried with the ruling classes of Great Britain. The more successful among them spent a significant part of their careers either in Great Britain or in some part of the
British EmpireThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
.
Dublin working class playwright
Brendan BehanBrendan Francis Behan was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, and playwright who wrote in both Irish and English. He was also an Irish republican and a volunteer in the Irish Republican Army.-Early life:...
, a staunch
Irish RepublicanIrish republicanism is an ideology based on the belief that all of Ireland should be an independent republic.In 1801, under the Act of Union, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
, famously defined an Anglo-Irishman as "a Protestant with a horse".
Thus, in Behan's understanding, the Anglo-Irish were Ireland's
leisure classThe Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study of Institutions is a book, first published in 1899, by the Norwegian-American economist and sociologist Thorstein Veblen while he was a professor at the University of Chicago....
.
The Anglo-Irish novelist and short story writer
Elizabeth BowenElizabeth Dorothea Cole Bowen, CBE was an Irish novelist and short story writer.-Life:Elizabeth Bowen was born on 7 June 1899 at 15 Herbert Place in Dublin, Ireland and was baptized in the nearby St Stephen's Church on Upper Mount Street...
memorably described her experience as feeling "English in Ireland, Irish in England" and not accepted fully as belonging to either.
Business interests
At the turn of the 20th century, the Anglo-Irish owned many of the major corporations in Ireland, such as
Jacob's BiscuitsJacob's is a brand name for several lines of biscuits and crackers. The brand name in the Republic of Ireland is owned by Jacob Fruitfield Food Group and in the United Kingdom it is owned under license by United Biscuits.-History:...
,
Bewley'sBewley's Limited is an Irish company, established in 1840, that produces tea and coffee for sale around the world. The company is owned by Campbell Bewley Group Ltd....
,
Beamish and CrawfordBeamish and Crawford is the longest-established brewery in Cork, Ireland. Established in 1792 by William Beamish and William Crawford on the site of an existing porter brewery, it has had a number of owners over the centuries...
,
Jameson's WhiskeyJameson is a single distillery Irish whiskey produced by a division of the French distiller Pernod Ricard. Jameson is similar in its adherence to the single distillery principle to the single malt tradition, but Jameson combines malted barley with unmalted or "green" barley...
,
W.P. & R. OdlumOdlums Group is an Irish food processing and marketing company owned entirely by Origin Enterprises, itself a subsidiary of the IAWS Group, all of Dublin...
,
Cleeve'sThe Condensed Milk Company of Ireland Limited was an Irish manufacturer of dairy products and, in its heyday, the largest of its kind in the United Kingdom. Its most famous product was Cleeve's Toffee, a popular confectionery which continued to be sold in Ireland until the 1980s.-Origins:The...
,
R&H HallR&H Hall plc is Ireland's biggest importer and supplier of animal feed ingredients for feed manufacturing through its extensive trading, purchasing, shipping and storage capability.-Company history:...
, Dockrell's,
Arnott'sArnotts is the oldest and largest department store in Dublin, Ireland. The company has two stores in Dublin. Its flagship store is located on Henry Street on the northside of the city centre, and there is a smaller store selling mainly shoes in an outlet in Stillorgan Shopping Centre in south...
,
Goulding ChemicalsGoulding Chemicals Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of IAWS Group plc and has been operating since 1856. It was run for decades by the Goulding family that included Valerie Goulding...
, the
Irish Times, the Irish Railways, and the Guinness brewery (Ireland's largest employer). They also controlled financial companies such as the
Bank of IrelandThe Bank of Ireland is a commercial bank operation in Ireland, which is one of the 'Big Four' in both parts of the island.Historically the premier banking organisation in Ireland, the Bank occupies a unique position in Irish banking history...
and
Goodbody StockbrokersGoodbody Stockbrokers is Ireland's longest established stockbroking firm with roots dating back to 1877. As well as being one of the leading institutional brokers, it is one of the largest private client firms in Ireland. It is a member firm of the Irish Stock Exchange and a SETS participant of the...
.
Prominent members
Prominent Anglo-Irish poets and writers include
Jonathan SwiftJonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...
,
George BerkeleyGeorge Berkeley , also known as Bishop Berkeley , was an Irish philosopher whose primary achievement was the advancement of a theory he called "immaterialism"...
,
Oliver GoldsmithOliver Goldsmith was an Irish writer, poet and physician known for his novel The Vicar of Wakefield , his pastoral poem The Deserted Village , and his plays The Good-Natur'd Man and She Stoops to Conquer...
,
Bram StokerAbraham "Bram" Stoker was an Irish novelist and short story writer, best known today for his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula...
,
Oscar WildeOscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
,
J.M. SyngeEdmund John Millington Synge was an Irish playwright, poet, prose writer, and collector of folklore. He was a key figure in the Irish Literary Revival and was one of the cofounders of the Abbey Theatre...
,
W.B. YeatsWilliam Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and playwright, and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. A pillar of both the Irish and British literary establishments, in his later years he served as an Irish Senator for two terms...
, Cecil Day Lewis,
Bernard ShawGeorge Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
,
Samuel BeckettSamuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
, and
Elizabeth BowenElizabeth Dorothea Cole Bowen, CBE was an Irish novelist and short story writer.-Life:Elizabeth Bowen was born on 7 June 1899 at 15 Herbert Place in Dublin, Ireland and was baptized in the nearby St Stephen's Church on Upper Mount Street...
.
Some of the most prominent British scientists of the 19th century, including
William Rowan HamiltonSir William Rowan Hamilton was an Irish physicist, astronomer, and mathematician, who made important contributions to classical mechanics, optics, and algebra. His studies of mechanical and optical systems led him to discover new mathematical concepts and techniques...
,
George Gabriel StokesSir George Gabriel Stokes, 1st Baronet FRS , was an Irish mathematician and physicist, who at Cambridge made important contributions to fluid dynamics , optics, and mathematical physics...
, and
John TyndallJohn Tyndall FRS was a prominent Irish 19th century physicist. His initial scientific fame arose in the 1850s from his study of diamagnetism. Later he studied thermal radiation, and produced a number of discoveries about processes in the atmosphere...
, were Anglo-Irish. Other Anglo-Irish scientists include
George Johnstone StoneyGeorge Johnstone Stoney was an Irish physicist most famous for introducing the term electron as the "fundamental unit quantity of electricity"....
, Thomas Romney Robinson,
Edward SabineGeneral Sir Edward Sabine KCB FRS was an Irish astronomer, geophysicist, ornithologist and explorer.Two branches of Sabine's work in particular deserve very high credit: Determination of the length of the seconds pendulum, a simple pendulum whose time period on the surface of the Earth is two...
,
Thomas AndrewsThomas Andrews FRS was an Irish chemist and physicist who did important work on phase transitions between gases and liquids.-Life:Andrews was born in Belfast, Ireland where his father was a linen merchant...
,
William ParsonsWilliam Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse, Knight of the Order of St Patrick was an Irish astronomer who had several telescopes built. His 72-inch telescope "Leviathan", built 1845, was the world's largest telescope until the early 20th century.-Life:He was born in Yorkshire, England, in the city of...
,
George SalmonThe Reverend George Salmon was an Irish mathematician and theologian. His publications in algebraic geometry were widely read in the second half of the 19th century, but he devoted himself mostly to theology for the last forty years of his life...
,
George FitzGeraldGeorge Francis FitzGerald was an Irish professor of "natural and experimental philosophy" at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, during the last quarter of the 19th century....
, and, in the 20th century,
John JolyJohn Joly FRS was an Irish physicist, famous for his development of radiotherapy in the treatment of cancer...
and
Ernest WaltonErnest Thomas Sinton Walton was an Irish physicist and Nobel laureate for his work with John Cockcroft with "atom-smashing" experiments done at Cambridge University in the early 1930s, and so became the first person in history to artificially split the atom, thus ushering the nuclear age...
.
Anglo-Irishmen
Edmund BurkeEdmund Burke PC was an Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist and philosopher who, after moving to England, served for many years in the House of Commons of Great Britain as a member of the Whig party....
,
Richard Brinsley SheridanRichard Brinsley Butler Sheridan was an Irish-born playwright and poet and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. For thirty-two years he was also a Whig Member of the British House of Commons for Stafford , Westminster and Ilchester...
,
Henry GrattanHenry Grattan was an Irish politician and member of the Irish House of Commons and a campaigner for legislative freedom for the Irish Parliament in the late 18th century. He opposed the Act of Union 1800 that merged the Kingdoms of Ireland and Great Britain.-Early life:Grattan was born at...
,
Lord CastlereaghRobert Stewart, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry, KG, GCH, PC, PC , usually known as Lord CastlereaghThe name Castlereagh derives from the baronies of Castlereagh and Ards, in which the manors of Newtownards and Comber were located...
,
George MacartneyGeorge Macartney, 1st Earl Macartney, KB was an Irish-born British statesman, colonial administrator and diplomat. He is often remembered for his observation following Britain's success in the Seven Years War and subsequent territorial expansion at the Treaty of Paris that Britain now controlled...
,
Charles Stewart ParnellCharles Stewart Parnell was an Irish landowner, nationalist political leader, land reform agitator, and the founder and leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party...
, and
Edward CarsonEdward Henry Carson, Baron Carson PC, PC , Kt, QC , often known as Sir Edward Carson or Lord Carson, was a barrister, judge and politician from Ireland...
played major roles in British politics.
The Anglo-Irish were also represented among the senior officers of the
British ArmyThe British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
by men such as
Field MarshalField Marshal is the highest military rank of the British Army. It ranks immediately above the rank of General and is the Army equivalent of an Admiral of the Fleet and a Marshal of the Royal Air Force....
Lord RobertsField Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, Bt, VC, KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, KStJ, PC was a distinguished Indian born British soldier who regarded himself as Anglo-Irish and one of the most successful British commanders of the 19th century.-Early life:Born at Cawnpore, India, on...
, first honorary Colonel of the
Irish GuardsThe Irish Guards , part of the Guards Division, is a Foot Guards regiment of the British Army.Along with the Royal Irish Regiment, it is one of the two Irish regiments remaining in the British Army. The Irish Guards recruit in Northern Ireland and the Irish neighbourhoods of major British cities...
regiment, who spent most of his career in
IndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, and Field Marshal
Lord GoughField Marshal Sir Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough, KP, GCSI, KCB, PC , was an Irish British Army officer. He was said to have commanded in more general actions than any other British officer of the 19th century except the Duke of Wellington.- Early career :Born at Woodstown House, Co...
who served under
WellingtonField Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
, himself a Wellesley born in Dublin to the
Earl of MorningtonEarl of Mornington is a title in the Peerage of Ireland, since 1863 a subsidiary title of the dukedom of Wellington. It was created in 1760 for the Anglo-Irish politician and composer Garret Wellesley, 2nd Baron Mornington. He was made Viscount Wellesley, of Dangan Castle in the County of Meath, at...
, a prominent Anglo-Irish family in Dublin (see also
Irish military diasporaThe Irish military diaspora refers to the many people of either Irish birth or extraction who have served in foreign military forces, regardless of rank, duration of service, or success....
).
Prolific
art musicArt music is an umbrella term used to refer to musical traditions implying advanced structural and theoretical considerations and a written musical tradition...
composers include
John FieldJohn Field was an Irish pianist, composer, and teacher. He was born in Dublin into a musical family, and received his early education there. The Fields soon moved to London, where Field studied under Muzio Clementi...
and
Charles Villiers StanfordSir Charles Villiers Stanford was an Irish composer who was particularly notable for his choral music. He was professor at the Royal College of Music and University of Cambridge.- Life :...
. The sculptor
John Henry FoleyJohn Henry Foley , often referred to as JH Foley, was an Irish sculptor, best known for his statues of Daniel O'Connell in Dublin, and of Prince Albert in London. Both are still considered iconic in each city.-Life:...
was also famous outside Ireland.
Discussing the lack of Irish civic morality in 2011, former
TaoiseachThe Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...
Garret FitzGeraldGarret FitzGerald was an Irish politician who was twice Taoiseach of Ireland, serving in office from July 1981 to February 1982 and again from December 1982 to March 1987. FitzGerald was elected to Seanad Éireann in 1965 and was subsequently elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fine Gael TD in 1969. He...
remarked that before 1922: "In Ireland a strong civic sense did exist - but mainly amongst Protestants and especially Anglicans".
Attitude towards independence
Protestants in Ireland, and the Anglo-Irish class in particular, were by no means universally attached to the cause of continued political
union with Great BritainUnionism in Ireland is an ideology that favours the continuation of some form of political union between the islands of Ireland and Great Britain...
: for instance, author
Jonathan SwiftJonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...
(1667–1745), a clergyman in the Church of Ireland, vigorously denounced the plight of ordinary Irish people under British rule. Reformist politicians such as
Henry GrattanHenry Grattan was an Irish politician and member of the Irish House of Commons and a campaigner for legislative freedom for the Irish Parliament in the late 18th century. He opposed the Act of Union 1800 that merged the Kingdoms of Ireland and Great Britain.-Early life:Grattan was born at...
(1746–1820), Wolfe Tone (1763–1798),
Robert EmmetRobert Emmet was an Irish nationalist and Republican, orator and rebel leader born in Dublin, Ireland...
(1778–1803), and
Charles Stewart ParnellCharles Stewart Parnell was an Irish landowner, nationalist political leader, land reform agitator, and the founder and leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party...
(1846–1891), were also Protestant nationalists, and in large measure led and defined Irish nationalism. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, however, Irish nationalism became increasingly tied to a Roman Catholic identity.
During the
Irish War of IndependenceThe Irish War of Independence , Anglo-Irish War, Black and Tan War, or Tan War was a guerrilla war mounted by the Irish Republican Army against the British government and its forces in Ireland. It began in January 1919, following the Irish Republic's declaration of independence. Both sides agreed...
(1919–1921), many Anglo-Irish landlords left the country due to attacks on their family homes. Animosity towards them continued after the establishment of the
Irish Free StateThe Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...
in 1922; many members of the Anglo-Irish class left Ireland, fearing that they would be subject to discriminatory legislation and social pressures. The Anglo-Irish proportion of the Irish population dropped from 10% to 6% in the twenty five years following independence.
The reaction of the Anglo-Irish to the
Anglo-Irish TreatyThe Anglo-Irish Treaty , officially called the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was a treaty between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and representatives of the secessionist Irish Republic that concluded the Irish War of...
which envisaged the establishment of the
Irish Free StateThe Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...
was mixed. The Right Rev. J.A.F. Gregg, the Church of Ireland's
Archbishop of DublinThe Archbishop of Dublin may refer to:* Archbishop of Dublin – an article which lists of pre- and post-Reformation archbishops.* Archbishop of Dublin – the title of the senior cleric who presides over the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin....
, stated in a sermon in December 1921 (the month the Treaty was signed):
In 1925, when the Irish Free State was poised to outlaw
divorceDivorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
, poet
W.B. YeatsWilliam Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and playwright, and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. A pillar of both the Irish and British literary establishments, in his later years he served as an Irish Senator for two terms...
delivered a famous eulogy for the Anglo-Irish in the Free State's Senate:
The term "Anglo-Irish" is no longer commonly used to describe southern Irish Protestants, or Protestant citizens of the Republic of Ireland as a group, since —despite retaining a certain distinctive identity— they have mostly been keen to stress their Irishness and loyalty to the
Republic of IrelandIreland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
.
Anglo-Irish peers
Following the English victory in the
Nine Years' WarThe Nine Years' War or Tyrone's Rebellion took place in Ireland from 1594 to 1603. It was fought between the forces of Gaelic Irish chieftains Hugh O'Neill of Tír Eoghain, Hugh Roe O'Donnell of Tír Chonaill and their allies, against English rule in Ireland. The war was fought in all parts of the...
(1594–1603), and particularly with the "
Flight of the EarlsThe Flight of the Earls took place on 14 September 1607, when Hugh Ó Neill of Tír Eóghain, Rory Ó Donnell of Tír Chonaill and about ninety followers left Ireland for mainland Europe.-Background to the exile:...
" in 1607, the traditional Gaelic
Irish nobilityThis article concerns the Gaelic nobility of Ireland from ancient to modern times. It only partly overlaps with Chiefs of the Name because it excludes Scotland and other discussion...
was displaced in Ireland. By 1700, after further Irish defeat in the
Williamite WarThe Williamite War in Ireland—also called the Jacobite War in Ireland, the Williamite-Jacobite War in Ireland and in Irish as Cogadh an Dá Rí —was a conflict between Catholic King James II and Protestant King William of Orange over who would be King of England, Scotland and Ireland...
, the aristocracy in Ireland was dominated by Protestant families who owed allegiance to the
British CrownThe monarchy of the United Kingdom is the constitutional monarchy of the United Kingdom and its overseas territories. The present monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, has reigned since 6 February 1952. She and her immediate family undertake various official, ceremonial and representational duties...
. Some of these were Irish families who had chosen to conform to the established
Church of IrelandThe Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...
in order to keep their lands and privileges, such as the
Dukes of LeinsterDuke of Leinster is a title in the Peerage of Ireland and the premier dukedom in that peerage. The title refers to Leinster, but unlike the province the title is pronounced "Lin-ster"...
(whose surname is FitzGerald, and who descend from the
Old EnglishThe Old English were the descendants of the settlers who came to Ireland from Wales, Normandy, and England after the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169–71. Many of the Old English became assimilated into Irish society over the centuries...
aristocracy), or the Gaelic
Guinness familyThe Guinness family is an extensive aristocratic Irish Protestant family noted for their accomplishments in brewing, banking, politics and religious ministry...
. Some were families of British or mixed-British ancestry who owed their status in Ireland to the British monarch, such as the
Earls of CorkEarl of the County of Cork, usually shortened to Earl of Cork, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1620 for the Anglo-Irish politician Richard Boyle, 1st Baron Boyle...
(whose surname is Boyle and whose ancestral roots were in
HerefordshireHerefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...
, England).
Among the prominent Anglo-Irish peers are:
- Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork
Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork , also known as the Great Earl of Cork, was Lord Treasurer of the Kingdom of Ireland....
, Lord High Treasurer of Ireland, father of scientist Robert BoyleRobert Boyle FRS was a 17th century natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, and inventor, also noted for his writings in theology. He has been variously described as English, Irish, or Anglo-Irish, his father having come to Ireland from England during the time of the English plantations of...
.
- James Campbell, 1st Baron Glenavy
James Henry Mussen Campbell, 1st Baron Glenavy PC was an Irish lawyer, politician in the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and later in the Oireachtas of the Irish Free State...
, first speaker of the Irish SenateSeanad Éireann is the upper house of the Oireachtas , which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann . It is commonly called the Seanad or Senate and its members Senators or Seanadóirí . Unlike Dáil Éireann, it is not directly elected but consists of a mixture of members chosen by...
(1922).
- Henry Conyngham, 8th Marquess Conyngham, owner of the Slane Castle
Slane Castle is located in the town of Slane, within the Boyne Valley of County Meath, Ireland. The castle has been the family home of the Conyngham Marquessate since the 18th century....
rock venue and candidate for Fine GaelFine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000...
in recent Irish general electionIn a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
s.
- Benjamin Guinness, 3rd Earl of Iveagh
Arthur Francis Benjamin Guinness, 3rd Earl of Iveagh , known as Benjamin, was the son of Arthur Onslow Edward Guinness, Viscount Elveden, and Elizabeth Cecilia Hare. He inherited the title from his grandfather Rupert in 1967....
, of Gaelic Irish descent; head of the GuinnessGuinness is a popular Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin. Guinness is directly descended from the porter style that originated in London in the early 18th century and is one of the most successful beer brands worldwide, brewed in almost...
family who sat in the Irish SenateSeanad Éireann is the upper house of the Oireachtas , which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann . It is commonly called the Seanad or Senate and its members Senators or Seanadóirí . Unlike Dáil Éireann, it is not directly elected but consists of a mixture of members chosen by...
(1973–1977).
- Valerie, Lady Goulding
Valerie Hamilton, Hon. Lady Goulding was an Irish campaigner for disabled people and senator who set up the Central Remedial Clinic in 1951, now the largest organisation in Ireland looking after people with physical disabilities...
, founder of the Rehabilitation Institute and close associate of former TaoiseachThe Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...
(Prime Minister) Charles HaugheyCharles James "Charlie" Haughey was Taoiseach of Ireland, serving three terms in office . He was also the fourth leader of Fianna Fáil...
.
- Edward Pakenham, 6th Earl of Longford
Edward Arthur Henry Pakenham, 6th Earl of Longford was an Irish peer, politician, and littérateur.-Family and education:...
, Impresario at the Gate TheatreThe Gate Theatre, in Dublin, was founded in 1928 by Hilton Edwards and Micheál Mac Liammóir, initially using the Abbey Theatre's Peacock studio theatre space to stage important works by European and American dramatists...
in Dublin in the 1950s.
- Frank Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford
Francis Aungier Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford KG, PC , known as the Lord Pakenham from 1945 to 1961, was a British politician, author, and social reformer...
(who succeeded his brother (above) in the Earldom), British LabourThe Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
CabinetA Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...
minister, biographer and friend of Éamon de ValeraÉamon de Valera was one of the dominant political figures in twentieth century Ireland, serving as head of government of the Irish Free State and head of government and head of state of Ireland...
.
- William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse
William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse, Knight of the Order of St Patrick was an Irish astronomer who had several telescopes built. His 72-inch telescope "Leviathan", built 1845, was the world's largest telescope until the early 20th century.-Life:He was born in Yorkshire, England, in the city of...
, astronomer and builder of the then largest telescopeLeviathan of Parsonstown is the unofficial name of the Rosse six foot telescope. This is a historic reflecting telescope of 72 in aperture, which was the largest telescope in the world from 1845 until the construction of the 100 in Hooker Telescope in 1917...
in the world.
- Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron Dunsany
Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany was an Irish writer and dramatist, notable for his work, mostly in fantasy, published under the name Lord Dunsany...
, author.
- James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde
James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde PC was an Irish statesman and soldier. He was the second of the Kilcash branch of the family to inherit the earldom. He was the friend of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, who appointeed him commander of the Cavalier forces in Ireland. From 1641 to 1647, he...
, 17th century statesman, served as Lord Deputy of IrelandThe Lord Deputy was the King's representative and head of the Irish executive under English rule, during the Lordship of Ireland and later the Kingdom of Ireland...
on two occasions and commanded Royalist forces in Ireland in the Irish Confederate WarsThis article is concerned with the military history of Ireland from 1641-53. For the political context of this conflict, see Confederate Ireland....
negotiating with the Irish ConfederatesConfederate Ireland refers to the period of Irish self-government between the Rebellion of 1641 and the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland in 1649. During this time, two-thirds of Ireland was governed by the Irish Catholic Confederation, also known as the "Confederation of Kilkenny"...
on behalf of Charles ICharles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
.
- Murrough O'Brien, 1st Earl of Inchiquin
Murrough McDermod O'Brien, 1st Earl of Inchiquin and 6th Baron Inchiquin , was known as Murchadh na dTóiteán ....
, 6th Baron Inchiquin (1618–1674), of Gaelic Irish descent; a Parliamentary commander in the Irish Confederate WarsThis article is concerned with the military history of Ireland from 1641-53. For the political context of this conflict, see Confederate Ireland....
1644-48 before changing sides to become one of the leaders of the Royalist troops in Ireland during the Wars of the Three KingdomsThe Wars of the Three Kingdoms formed an intertwined series of conflicts that took place in England, Ireland, and Scotland between 1639 and 1651 after these three countries had come under the "Personal Rule" of the same monarch...
and the Cromwellian conquest of IrelandThe Cromwellian conquest of Ireland refers to the conquest of Ireland by the forces of the English Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Cromwell landed in Ireland with his New Model Army on behalf of England's Rump Parliament in 1649...
(1649–53).
- Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
, Irish-born British general who fought many successful campaigns and defeated NapoleonNapoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
at the Battle of WaterlooThe Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
. He later became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
Until the year 1800, the peers of Ireland were all entitled to a seat in the
Irish House of LordsThe Irish House of Lords was the upper house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from mediaeval times until 1800. It was abolished along with the Irish House of Commons by the Act of Union.-Function:...
, the
upper houseAn upper house, often called a senate, is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house; a legislature composed of only one house is described as unicameral.- Possible specific characteristics :...
of the
Parliament of IrelandThe Parliament of Ireland was a legislature that existed in Dublin from 1297 until 1800. In its early mediaeval period during the Lordship of Ireland it consisted of either two or three chambers: the House of Commons, elected by a very restricted suffrage, the House of Lords in which the lords...
, in
Dublin. After 1800, under the provisions of the Act of Union, the Parliament of Ireland was abolished and the Irish peers were entitled to elected twenty-eight of their number to sit in the British
House of LordsThe House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
, in
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, as
representative peerIn the United Kingdom, representative peers were those peers elected by the members of the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the British House of Lords...
s. During the
Georgian EraThe Georgian era is a period of British history which takes its name from, and is normally defined as spanning the reigns of, the first four Hanoverian kings of Great Britain : George I, George II, George III and George IV...
, titles in the peerage of Ireland were often granted by the British monarch to Englishmen with little or no connection to Ireland, as a way of preventing such honours from inflating the membership of the British House of Lords.
A number of Anglo-Irish peers have been appointed by
Presidents of IrelandThe President of Ireland is the head of state of Ireland. The President is usually directly elected by the people for seven years, and can be elected for a maximum of two terms. The presidency is largely a ceremonial office, but the President does exercise certain limited powers with absolute...
to serve on their advisory
Council of StateThe Council of State is a unique governmental body in a country or subdivision thereoff, though its nature may range from the formal name for the cabinet to a non-executive advisory body surrounding a head of state. It is sometimes regarded as the equivalent of a privy council.-Modern:*Belgian...
. Some were also considered possible candidates for presidents of Ireland, including:
- Valerie, Lady Goulding
Valerie Hamilton, Hon. Lady Goulding was an Irish campaigner for disabled people and senator who set up the Central Remedial Clinic in 1951, now the largest organisation in Ireland looking after people with physical disabilities...
- Michael Morris, 3rd Baron Killanin
Michael Morris, 3rd Baron Killanin, MBE, TD was an Irish journalist, author, sports official, the sixth president of the International Olympic Committee...
- Edward Gibson, 1st Baron Ashbourne
Edward Gibson, 1st Baron Ashbourne PC, QC was an Irish lawyer and Lord Chancellor of Ireland.-Background and education:...
(a renowned Gaelic scholar).
See also
- Baron Baltimore
Baron Baltimore, of Baltimore Manor in County Longford, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1625 for George Calvert and became extinct on the death of the sixth Baron in 1771. The title was held by several members of the Calvert family who were proprietors of the palatinates...
- Protestant Nationalist
Irish nationalism has been chiefly associated with Roman Catholics. However, historically this is not an entirely accurate picture. Protestant nationalists were also influential supporters of the political independence the island of Ireland from the island of Great Britain and leaders of national...
- Derry
Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...
- Hiberno-English
Hiberno-English is the dialect of English written and spoken in Ireland .English was first brought to Ireland during the Norman invasion of the late 12th century. Initially it was mainly spoken in an area known as the Pale around Dublin, with Irish spoken throughout the rest of the country...
- Ireland–United Kingdom relations
- Irish Unionist Alliance
- Irish migration to Great Britain
- Miler Magrath
Miler Magrath or Miler McGrath , was born in County Fermanagh, Ireland. He came from a family of hereditary historians to the O'Brien clan. He entered the Franciscan Order and was ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood...
- Reform Movement
The Reform Movement is an organisation whose goal is to have the Republic of Ireland become part of the Commonwealth and to promote British culture throughout Ireland....
- Unionism in Ireland
Unionism in Ireland is an ideology that favours the continuation of some form of political union between the islands of Ireland and Great Britain...
- West Brit
Further reading
- Peter Berresford Ellis, Erin's Blood Royal: The Gaelic Noble Dynasties of Ireland ISBN 0-09-478600-3