The Pittsburgh Press (August 27, 1942)
Roving Reporter
By Ernie Pyle
BELFAST – I’ve been surprised to learn, from my history reading, that in our American Revolution the Irish sent 4,000 troops over to help the British.
But we shouldn’t hold that against them, because the Irish government did it while the people themselves sympathized with America. Our revolution, in fact, caused a great deal of distress in Ireland. For England put an embargo on Irish products, to keep them from reaching America, and it very nearly ruined Irish agriculture.
The British are the cause of so many Irishmen being in America today. All through the centuries Britain periodically clamped on new trade restrictions that send the Old Sod skidding down to ruin.
The most disastrous was around 1700. British merchants felt that Irish prosperity was their loss; so the British forbade Ireland to export woolens anywhere in the world except to England. And the Irish parliament itself imposed a 20 per cent duty on exports. That settled the whole thing.
Thousands and thousands of Irish people were immediately reduced to poverty, and in that year 20,000 Irishmen left the Emerald Isle for New England. That was the beginning, from lack of employment, of the Ireland-to-America emigration which goes on to this day.
The next 200 years of Irish history is a continuation of legal and military brawls with England. To me it is dull reading. The thing becomes like a textbook, and I fall asleep on it.
A history of this 200 years is a recitation of laws passed and repealed, of economic and trade oppressions, of constant changes in government. I think we can very well skip it, with the one exception that during that time the drastic penal laws against Catholics were lifted, the Protestants gravitated more to the north, and once more the Catholic majority in Ireland had its rights.
We can come up to the last phase now. In 1916 there were an Irish rebellion, and they proclaimed the Irish republic. But it lasted only a few days, for British troops came and put it down. Ireland resisted conscription for the first World War.
Things worked up to such a fever heat after the war that something drastic had to be done. Cork was burned and there was fighting everywhere. So Prime Minister Lloyd-George invited the Irish to London to discuss a permanent status for Ireland that would be satisfactory to Irishmen.
In December 1921, a treaty was signed. It put Ireland in the same status as Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and gave her the name “Irish Free State.” The treaty specified, however, that the parliament of Northern Ireland might separate themselves from the Free State if they desired, and remain a part of the United Kingdom. They did desire.
But, as far as I can learn, Northern Ireland would not leave the United Kingdom and become a part of Eire unless England absolutely forced her to do it.
Northern Ireland is somewhat industrial and ore prosperous than the rest, so she would have to carry the burden of taxation for all Ireland. Further, there is the religious angle. Two of the six counties are overwhelmingly Protestant. Two others have a majority of Protestants. But two of them have a majority of Catholics.
It is all helplessly confusing. It is simple to say that Northern Ireland is Protestant and Southern Ireland is Catholic, but it is so much deeper and more involved than that, that the religious angle is hardly worth mentioning. I’ve talked with many Americans over here, but never to one who pretended to have it all straight in his mind.
So now that we’re through with the troops, and have you thoroughly muddled up on the Irish question, we’ll go down into the main part of Ireland – known variously as the real Ireland, as Eire, as the Irish Free State, or what not – and take a swing with our shillelagh.
It is only 100 miles from Belfast to Dublin, and it takes three and a half hours by train. Dublin next.