Religion Versus Culture in the Northern Ireland Conflict

(The Troubles)

Presentation for Capita Selecta CourseKU Leuven

Gerard Deighan

1550 to 1610: The ‘Plantations’:Importing Protestantism

• In the Elizabethan period Ireland was colonised (‘planted’) by English/Scottish settlers

• The plantation was most extensive in the Northern counties (see map)

• The settlers were staunchly Protestant

• The people among whom they came to live were staunchly Catholic

• Hence culture/race and religion were joint factors right from the start

1922: The Partition of the Island

Some Key Dates

• 1534: Henry VIII breaks with Rome• 1609: Plantation of Ulster• 1829: Catholic Emancipation• 1916: Easter Rising in Dublin and declaration of a

Republic• 1922: Partition into Republic and Northern Ireland• 1966: Ulster Volunteer Force founded (‘The

Troubles’ begin)• 1998: Good Friday agreement (‘The Troubles’ end)

Some Key Organisationsand Religious Affiliation

• DUP: Democratic Unionist Party (Protestant)• INLA: Irish Nation Liberation Army (Catholic)• IRA: Irish Republican Army (Catholic)• RUC: Royal Ulster Constabulary, the Northern Ireland

police force (During the Troubles almost exclusively Protestant; now more religiously balanced)

• SDLP: Social Democratic and Labour Party (Catholic)• Sinn Féin: Republican Party (Catholic)• UDA: Ulster Defence Association (Protestant)• UVF: Ulster Volunteer Force (Protestant)

Two different temperaments:A classic description

• “High up in the North, above the continent of Europe, lay two sister islands, ample in size, happy in soil and climate, and beautiful in the face of the country. Alas! that the passions of man should alienate from one another those whom nature and religion had bound together! […] Distinct, nay, antagonistic in character and talent, the one nation and the other, Irish and English, the one more resembling the Greek, the other the Roman, open from the first perhaps to jealousies as well as rivalries…”John Henry Newman, Rise and Progress of Universities, Chapter X (in Historical Sketches III; 1854)

Ethnic Difference

• Outside observers find it difficult to understand the degree to which the Irish and English differ in temperament

• Ethnically, Irish are Celts, English are Anglo-Saxon• Till 19th Century the Irish language (Gaelic) was widely

spoken in Ireland, and even today English is spoken in a manner highly influenced by Gaelic idioms

• The Scottish settlers, being Celtic, were much closer in temperament to the native Irish of the North; at the same time their Protestantism was more evangelical, and so more at variance with Catholicism

The Socio-economic Divide

• Alongside religion and ethnicity, a vital factor in the conflict has been socio-ecomomic

• Traditionally Catholics were poorer and less educated than their Protestant counterparts (the original settlers were wealthy, and subdued the native population)

• This division certainly not caused directly by religion• Radicalisation on both sides of the religious divide occurred

primarily in deprived working-class areas• Far more mutual tolerance among the middle classes, and

among the clergy• Increased prosperity was a key factor in bringing about peace

The Colonial Need for Difference

• ‘This is not to say that religious differences are of no consequence at all. Of course they are, and some individuals hold the opposing religion in sincere abhorrence. But if there had been no religious differences between the Irish and the English who expropriated their lands and subsequently settled under English protection, some other cultural marker to distinguish between coloniser and colonised would undoubtedly have been sought and found, such as language, history, lifestyle and so on… The Irish from the sixteenth century onward, however, were kind enough to retain their Catholic faith, thus obviating the necessity for too much strenuous myth making.’ (Pamela Clayton, 1998)

Racial Stereotyping

• ‘As a group Catholics are considered [by Protestant unionists] both inferior and dangerous. They have been accused of being lazy, dirty, devious, treacherous, violent, over-fecund, irrational, emotional, inferior in education and skills, ungrateful, easily-manipulated, superstitious, priest-dominated and in thrall to manipulative leaders. By contrast, Protestants portray themselves as hardworking and competent, independent in deed and thought, peaceful and law-abiding, but manly and resolute.’ (Pamela Clayton, 1998)

Relgious Conflict or Not?• The problem is to define what constitutes religion• If religion = doctrine, then not primarily a religious conflict, though

heavy anti-Papal emphasis in Unionism• But if religion is taken in a broader sense, as intimately connected

with ethnicity and cultural life, then the conflict can indeed be seen as religious

• Is the latter, in fact, a more Catholic view of religion?• ‘The use of religion for political purposes does not, however, make it

a religious conflict in the sense of a conflict caused by religion or informed by purely religious values.’ (Pamela Clayton, 1998)

• Modern commentators who downplay the religious element may often lack religious convictions themselves, and/or understanding of same

Relative Protestant/Catholic Population Figures 1861–2011

Significance of Population Figures

• Catholic population in 2011 is almost identical to that of 1861, but has been increasing steadily since the low of 1971

• Is the Catholic birth rate a religious phenomenon? (Cf. Humanae Vitae, 1968)

• Protestant population in gradual decline since 1937• Growing Catholic population seen as a threat by declining

Protestant population• Catholics now numerically equal, but Catholicism is a united

religion, Protestantism fragmented• 2011 Census shows large group professing ‘no religion’ – a

new phenomenon in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland Religionin 2011 Census

Catholic 40.76Presbyterian 19.96Anglican 13.74Methodist 3Other Christian 5.76Other Religion 0.82No Religion 10.11

Ian Paisley (1926–2014)

• Founder of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster (1951)

• Vehemently anti-Catholic, and especially anti-Papal

• Founder of the Democratic Unionist Party (1971)

• Iconic politico-religious leader

• Ultimately a peacemaker

The Orange Order

• Founded 1795• Avowed aim to uphold

Protestantism• Members must be

Protestant; cannot marry Catholics

• Politically unionist• Peak membership in 1965

was 70,000 (one in five Protestant males)

• Now only 30,000

Gerry Adams (1948– )

• The Iconic Republican figure

• Generally believed to have been a senior member of the paramilitary IRA

• Nominally Catholic, but no strong religious convictions

• Ultimately a man of peace

The Role of the Churches

• Whereas the Catholic Church was a monolith, there have been about 50 different Protestant denominations in Northern Ireland

• Lacking a central, common Church voice, Protestant political groups have been more religiously vocal (explicit religious identity)

• Absence of overt religious content in Catholic political groups due to Catholic clergy’s taking the religious leadership role

• Protestant political groups resiliently faith-oriented; Catholic groups far less so

Realignment in a Secular World• The end of the Troubles saw a decline in religious fervour and an

increase in secularism• Catholic politicians less likely to embrace traditional Christian values

than their Protestant counterparts• Catholics now likely to vote for Protestant DUP due to that party’s

traditional stance on issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage

• “This is what has some Catholics questioning their previous allegiance to the nationalist parties. Previously they saw those parties as being sympathetic to Catholic concerns and the DUP as being irredeemably hostile. Now they are beginning to wonder.” (David Quinn, 2015)

Strange Bedfellows

• ‘Sinn Féin, the DUP’s partner in a shaky power-sharing deal and the party for which most Catholics vote, is pro-gay marriage and favours liberalising abortion laws… Father Tim Bartlett, a Catholic spokesman, insists that the Church…does urge the faithful to assess the parties’ stance on moral matters. For Catholics, he adds, the issues of abortion and gay marriage might now be “of a higher order” than the old quarrel over flags… Secularism’s advance is driving all sorts of Christians together. Organising an inter-denominational carol service is much easier than it used to be.’(Bruce Clark, 2014)

Conclusions

• Very hard to separate religion from culture• Religion certainly played a role in the conflict,

but the debate as to what extent will continue• Probably religion was a more explicit concern for

Protestants• The fact that Catholics now consider abandoning

traditional political loyalties in favour of Christian values may indicate a greater underlying concern for religion that was supposed