Anglo-Irish

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Anglo-Irish literally means English-Irish. It is used frequently, though inaccurately, to describe formal contacts, negotiations, and treaties between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland (not, as the term should strictly denote, between the UK constituent country of England and the island of Ireland). Some examples of this usage are the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, the Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985, and the Anglo-Irish Summits (as meetings between the British and Irish prime ministers are usually called).

The term Anglo-Irish was/is also applied to Irish aristocrats of British or partially British descent, as well as to the anglicized, mainly Protestant population that made up the Irish professional and landed classes during British rule. Most of the members of this class belonged to the Anglican Church of Ireland, while a minority was part of one of the English evangelical churches. Some use the term Anglo-Irish to apply to a wider group in Irish society namely Irish people of the "Unionist tradition" with a strong ethnic or cultural affiliation with Britain (particularly England)


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Anglo-Irish peers

After the Flight of the Earls in 1607, the peerage of Ireland was composed entirely of Protestant families of British origin. One leading Anglo-Irish peer described his experience as one of the 'Anglo-Irish' as being regarded as Irish in England, English in Ireland and not accepted fully as belonging to either. However such divisions are no longer as prevalent in Ireland, where Anglo-Irish peers have played a prominent role in modern Irish affairs.

Among the most prominent Anglo-Irish peers are:

The Duke of Wellington is reputed to have denied being Irish by stating that "being born in a stable does not make one a horse."Template:Ref

A number of Anglo-Irish peers have been appointed by Presidents of Ireland to serve on their advisory Council of State. Some were also considered possible candidates for presidents of Ireland, including

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Anglo-Irish social class

Under the Penal Laws that were in force between the 17th and 19th centuries, Roman Catholics were barred from entering professions such as law and medicine, and their rights to own property were severely restricted. The term "Anglo-Irish" was often applied to the anglicised Protestants who therefore made up the Irish professional and landed classes. A number of them became famous as poets or writers, including Dean Swift, Bishop Berkeley, Oliver Goldsmith, Bram Stoker, Edmund Burke, Oscar Wilde, W.B. Yeats, C.S. Lewis and Bernard Shaw. Others became high ranking military officers, such as Lord Kitchener, or scientists, such as William Rowan Hamilton, G.G. Stokes, and Ernest Walton. They were often of Irish or mixed Irish-British ancestry and usually identified themselves as Irish, but they adopted English ways and manners of speaking, though not always English politics. The more successful among them often spent their careers in Great Britain or in some part of the British Empire. In this sense, "Anglo-Irish" identified a social class. The term is no longer commonly used in this way as southern Irish Protestants, or Protestants of the Republic of Ireland as a group have been largely assimilated into Irish society and are no longer distinctive.

An amusing definition of the term occurs in one of the plays by the staunch republican, Brendan Behan. He defined it as A Protestant with a horse:

Pat: He was an Anglo-Irishman.
Meg: In the name of God, what's that?
Pat: A Protestant with a horse.
Ropeen: Leadbetter.
Pat: No, no, an ordinary Protestant like Leadbetter, the plumber in the back parlour next door, won't do, nor a Belfast orangeman, not if he was as black as your boot.
Meg: Why not?
Pat: Because they work. An Anglo-Irishman only works at riding horses, drinking whisky, and reading double-meaning books in Irish at Trinity College.
- From Act One of The Hostage, 1958
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See also


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Further reading

  • Peter Berresford Ellis, Erin's Blood Royal: The Gaelic Noble Dynasties of Ireland ISBN 0094786003
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Notes

  1. Template:Note Quoted, for instance, in Neillands, Robin, Wellington and Napoleon: Clash of Arms, Barnes & Noble Books, 2002, p. 32.
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