Irish nationalism

In Michael Mays’ book Nation States: The Cultures of Irish Nationalism, he discussed a political cartoon by the editorial cartoonist David Horsey from 1991, which basically suggested that ‘the IRA’s raison d’etre rests solely in a mad campaign of vicious self -perpetuation: “I bomb, therefore I am”’ (Mays, 2007, p149). This cartoon proposed that the only reason the IRA could be as prominent and effective as they were, was their own awareness that the only way to be taken seriously would be through negative publicity following their attacks. Whilst this can be argued to be true to some extent, there are a number of reasons why the Provisional Irish Republican Army was such an enduring force throughout the troubles and even on into the peace…

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) has been around for over a century. There have been multiple ceasefires and treaties. This paper will focus on the Good Friday Agreement signed in 1998 and why after decades of fighting the Provisional IRA came to agree finally to a peace treaty. Though it may seem as if these peace talks hold no relevance to the majority of people, it could, in fact, be a great insight into how to deal with armed aggressors within a country. This is a problem that countries all…

long history of patriotic writers that comment on the effects of British colonialism, as well as themes of nationalism and conservatism through their writings. The introduction of Gothic literature, and its fearful conventions of the supernatural and the uncanny, has allowed Irish writers to align nationalist motifs within their texts through a more analogous narrative. As Laura Doyle writes, “The Gothic text has been shown to represent colonialism 's crimes through its literary tropes of…

great turning points of Irish history. In addition to witnessing the zenith of Gaelic military power and sophistication, perversely, it also led to the final destruction of native military and political power. Despite the apparent modernisation of the native Irish forces it is not hard to find articles and attitudes which view the war as a contest of the backward and militarily weak Irish, against the modern armies of Elizabeth I. The historian John Keegan noted that, the way a person fought…

The Easter Rising is the defining event of the modern Irish republican tradition. Most Irish nationalists regard the Rising as the most important event in twentieth-century Irish history. Without it, Irish politics would have been shaped by the moderate constitutional nationalism of John Redmond’s Irish Parliamentary Party, and southern Ireland may have remained part of the British Empire for much of the twentieth-century. One of the driving forces behind the rebellion was Patrick Pearse, an…

at the Abbey Theatre. The theatre being known for Irish literature and drama, the majority of Gregory’s plays were performed there. Different literary critic have slightly different suggestions on what they consider the main theme of this play to be. Two analysis of Lady Gregory and her one-act play that will be presented in this paper are by Elaine T. Partnow and Edward A. Kopper Jr. Two people who can be considered credible sources considering they are both authors of books on women…

“You talk to me of nationality, language, religion. I shall try to fly by those nets” (Portrait, 182). Stephen saw nationality as a “net,” meaning that it would halt the progression of his personal identity. While nationality, language, and religion are stated as three separate categories, an extreme form of nationality can overwhelmingly influence all three. Nations tend to have a national language, and may even at times have a national religion. If one feels that their given language and…

I disagree that nationalism is inherently dangerous because it creates and encourages xenophobic attitude and policies. Nationalism does encourages fear and terror within a nation, but that does not mean it is dangerous. That fear and fright that nationalism creates, keeps a nation safe and secure. It also gives that same nation, hope and pride. Nationalism provides strength and motivation for citizens, so that one can be beneficial for their nation The good of nationalism has its positive…

to the tribe, to the region, towards a religious unit, and finally emerging into a formal multiethnic formation of some kind. The common bonds within any unit at any time must be strong enough to forge a consensus of action within the group and to create the notion of being able to fight together as one. The more diverse that the group is the more complex the task of forging such a meaningful and sustainable common bonds can be. Bonds that have not been developed on their own and are not found…

represented by distinctive traditions, culture and language’. Particularly, it is a sense of belonging to a nation or state (Bairner, 2003) although there are controversial arguments on the concept. As Edensor (2007) point out, national performance produced in modern sport may be the most influential one. There is an increasing number of literature on the relationship between sport and national identity. Kersting (2007) argues that both positive and negative nationalism could be influenced by…