By: Taylor Burton | Staff Writer
Being Irish American is something I have always prided myself on and I have grown up with a strong sense of what it means to be Irish. After hearing throughout my life what my family has gone through in order for me to get to where I am today, it’s hard not to be proud of my heritage.
Ireland, in recent years, has become a tourist hotspot and while I am glad to see the beauty of my country and culture finally appreciated, the dark, storied history of the nation is still widely unknown.
The British ruled Ireland for hundreds of years, suppressing language, religion, culture and rights. Irish Catholics were treated as lower class, even in their own country. They could not vote, hold land, or public office, nor were they allowed to practice Catholicism freely or speak Irish in public.
Then in 1845, when a destructive water mold destroyed successful potato crops across Ireland, causing the Great Famine, people starved and the British exported what grain was left out of Ireland, furthering the Irish people’s suffering. Over one million people died from various diseases and many fled, causing the population of Ireland to drop by over 20%.
The Irish people were done being treated like this. In 1916 they finally rebelled, turning once common farmers into revolutionaries. After many deaths and hardships, Ireland would gain its independence, however not the country as a whole. The southern 26 counties would be the free Republic of Ireland, while the 6 Northern counties would remain under British rule.
In the North of Ireland, however, the tensions remained high. There was an intense rivalry between the Irish Catholics and the Protestant loyalists, leading to over three thousand people to be killed and nearly fifty thousand to be wounded before the Good Friday Agreement of 1998.
This put an end to the bloodshed that came along with the troubles. There was now a balance and for the most part peace amongst the people.
I grew up hearing firsthand accounts from my grandparents about what they went through during this time. They taught me to not just roll over when times get tough, but to fight tooth and nail for what I believe in. That is what the Irish people are still doing today.
After nearly 30 years of the Good Friday Agreement, the past has recently returned to the streets of Portadown, Northern Ireland.
The Orange Order, a protestant political group founded in 1795, dedicated to the defense Protestant interests and opposition to Catholic influences in Ireland, has marched through the streets of Catholic areas to intimidate and exert their power for decades. Garvaghy Road has long been an area of dispute and was the location of many encounters between Protestants and Catholics during the troubles.
People blocked the Garvaghy Road area, a Catholic enclave in the town of Portadown in Northern Ireland, on Sunday as a Protestant group was expected to march through.Credit. | Cathal Mcnaughton/Reuters
That is why the Orange Order has historically been banned from marching the road, but on Sep. 27, the ban was lifted and the order took full advantage of their new found route.
The people were not happy, with protestors linking arms and barricading the road, ultimately halting any forward movement, even after the threat of prosecution. This is proof that Ireland wants its country back.
They are done being threatened and they are done letting their culture and history be erased.
Both groups have been in a standoff since, with neither willing to back down from what they believe in.
26 + 6 has become a notable Irish phrase, commemorating the fight to bring all of Ireland back together as one free, beautiful country.
To be Irish is to be loud, to be strong, to never back down and to know when to have a good laugh. To be Irish is to be free.