History: Ireland (Development of Nationalism)

Question 1

Why was revolution brought back to the forefront of the Irish consciousness in the 1790s?

Answer 1

The French Revolution spread republican values and ideas around Europe.

Question 2

Why did Wolfe Tone’s rebellion fail in 1798?

Answer 2

Poor organisation lead to failure to capture key strategic locations
Vinegar Hill was the decisive battle to ensure British victory

Question 3

What was the most significant consequence of the 1798 rebellion?

Answer 3

Directly credited with causing the 1800 Act of Union, formally joining Great Britain and Ireland into the United Kingdom

Question 4

What was the ‘Protestant Ascendancy’?

Answer 4

Superiority of Protestants in Ireland based on three pillars:

• Land ownership
• Political power
• Church of Ireland

Question 5

What were tithes and why were they a problem for Catholics?

Answer 5

Tithes were 10% taxes on earnings given to the Church of Ireland collected from all Irish citizens
Catholics did not want to pay tithe to a Protestant run church

Question 6

What were methods used in the Tithe Wars?

Answer 6

Began as non-payment of tithes

Became violent as police began to forcefully seize property

Question 7

What did the Tithe Rentcharge Act 1838 do?

Answer 7

Tithes were only payable by landlords, not tenants. Only partial victory as rents went up to compensate for this.

Question 8

What were Daniel O’Connell’s two major organisations?

Answer 8

Catholic Association - Catholic Emancipation

Repeal Association - Repeal 1800 Act of Union

Question 9

What were Daniel O’Connell’s two major methods?

Answer 9

‘Rents’ - Small charges for membership in organisations to fund activities, united membership
‘Monster Meetings’ - Large gatherings where speeches were held

Question 10

What event could be seen as the one to stop the Repeal Association’s momentum?

Answer 10

Banning of the Clontarf meeting, O’Connell refused to breach the law and thus the organisation was undermined

Question 11

How did the Young Ireland movement emerge as an independent movement?

Answer 11

Expelled from Repeal Association in 1846

Did not trust O’Connell’s leadership any longer

Question 12

Why did Young Ireland’s 1848 rebellion fail?

Answer 12

Leader John Mitchel is arrested and transported to Australia, yet the rebellion runs anyhow.
Poorly organised, badly lead, not a lot of popular support
One small fight in Tipperary

Question 13

Which two groups fit under the ‘Fenian’ umbrella term?

Answer 13

Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) - Established in 1858 after John Stephens is radicalised in France, swore oaths to democratic republic. 
Fenian Brotherhood (FB) - John O'Mahony sets it up and goes to America. Fundraises and gains sympathy for IRB in the USA

Question 14

Why did the 1867 Fenian Rising fail?

Answer 14

Despite being 50,000 men and 6,000 weapons strong, Stephens’ arrest means organisational chaos
Largely consisted of small skirmishes

Question 15

What were the immediate consequences of the Fenian Rising?

Answer 15

British police officers capture 25 and kill 3 IRB men, branded the Manchester Martyrs

Question 16

What was Home Rule and how did it rise?

Answer 16

Irish separatist parliament inside Britain, similar to federalism in the USA
Isaac Butt establishes Home Rule Association in 1870
Home Rule quickly becomes the dominant way of nationalist thinking as radicalism fails

Question 17

Who were key figures in the Land War and what did they form?

Answer 17

Charles Stuart Parnell - Constitutional nationalist
Michael Davitt - Agrarian radical
John Devoy - Fenianism
Together form the ‘New Departure’

Question 18

What were the methods and outcomes of the Land War?

Answer 18

Methods: vandalism, mass meetings, bailiff blocking, boycotts
Outcomes: fair rent, fixity of tenure

Question 19

Who was the dominant Unionist force in Ulster and what did he create?

Answer 19

Edward Carson creates Ulster Unionist Party in 1886
Ulster Covenant written in 1912, declaring opposition to Home Rule
UVF formed in 1913 to defend from Home Rule

Question 20

What was the significance of the Curragh Mutiny?

Answer 20

Highlighted British sympathy to Unionist feeling in Ulster

Question 21

Who were the key leaders of the Easter Rising in 1916?

Answer 21

Patrick Pearse and James Connolley, both very different people united in the name of an Irish Republic

Question 22

What was the British response to the rising immediately following?

Answer 22

Executed the leaders of the movement

Turned Irish support to the leaders who were then seen as martyrs