Evening star., 1924-07-14
IN TODAY'S SPOTLIGHT
BY PAUL y. COLLINS

The quota Is q third Of the entire
allotment to Great Britain and Ire
ana a1sa af Of snd thn assos
together. These figures give
point and emphasis to the right
which the Free State ID now proceed
teehnieai Hight, arrived At indirectly.
but one to which the Irish interests
in the great republic and Ireland's 8
contribution contribute to it: greatness, .,. clearly sal
i,n1 sntitis her bfsish eften IN con. On.
past been robbed Of their healing
effect by a lack Of good will The
czvillinG over Ireland's right to diplo-
matio representation, like the at
tempt tempt 70 ire. t1sa. article XII i,,s ss .,i
unhealthy spirit of tho British re-
dictionary is not dead"
1888
Article XII, above mentioned, refers
to the appointment of a joint COM
mission representing Ulster and the
Irish Free State, to define the bound
ary between the two states, since
six Of the nine counties Of the prov
ince of Ulster in northeastern Ireland,
remain under England, apart from
the new dominion of the Free State.
representative to settle the boundary.
y y + 4
1t will be recalled from history that
the dispute between England and
Ireland has rested primarily upon the
difference between Protestant Eng
land and Catholic ireland. Part Of
that branch of the Aryan race which
in the earliest centuries Of the
Christian era spread from Asia Minor
through Europe and over into Eng
land and Ireland. finally, as Celt peo-
pied all of Ireland, and left England
fourth century ST. Patrick, a Chris
tian missionary, exercised great in
fiuence amongst the Irish Celts,
and they became warm adherents of
the Roman Catholic Church. Most
druidical worship. For some centu-
ries the practices of the church in
Ireland differed somewhat from pure
Romanism. In the twelfth century,
the Irish were intensely Catholic, al
not conforming to Catholicism.
AT this time an English monk,
Nicholas Breakspeare, became Pope
Hadrian-the only Englishman who
decreed that Ireland belonged to the
Holy Roman Church, and, in 1155, ac-
cording to general history, granted
the island to the English king, Henry
II. That was the beginning of the
sovereign claim" of England over Ire
land.
Henry II invaded Ireland, under
the right of this papal sanction, but
the Irish refused to recognize alieg
lance. Their customs and clannish
institutions, as well as their religion,
were different from those of feudal
England. When the reformation came,
Henry VIII, Protestant mon
arch of England, undertook to sep
arate Ireland from papal Rome by
the establishment IN Ireland of the
English church of which his majesty
was the head.
During the reign of Queen Eliza
beth. Irish resistance was: aided by
the Pope and by Catholic Philip II OF
Spain. An English fleet commanded
by Drake destroyed in the harbor OF
Cadiz the Spanish feet preparing to
attack England. Elizabeth then in
vaded Ireland and put down the re-
ster under the leadership of the Ear
Of Tyrone. She then removed the
earls followers from Ulster ant
scattered them in less desirable parts
of the island, leaving Ulster devas-
tated and vacant. Subsequently, un.
der Cromwell, these vacated regions
of Ulster were coloniZed by Scotch
Protestants taken prisoner in battle
in Scotland by Cromwell and exileG
to Ulster. Hence the irrepressiblt
conflict of religions between Ulster
and the rest of Ireland
The events of the recent -conflio,
are too near to need review. Today
free and independent to work ou1
their destiny, the Irish are eagerly
undertaking to develop a racial unity
by reviving the Irish or Gaelic Ian.
guage, including a remaining of cities
and places throughout the "Saorstat'
the Irish name of the state. This
effort is fostered by the Gaelic League,
a non-political organization working
only for the Irish race as SUCH
Gu Uladh, the president of the
league, says he will not surrender
his right to take part in politics, but
adds:
"Dubhairt Sc da mbeadh air a
rogha a ghlacadh idir an da rud go
n-eireochadh Sc as an gConradh' mar
bhocal sin; nj dubhairt aonne dada
ach amhainr an chneal mhi-shastachta
('huh' sotto voce) rim aon teach
taire amhain."
Concluding, Gu UIadh said he psom-
ised not to draw the Gaelic League
into politics, but he appealed that
the language should be used in
churches, schools, courts and news
papers. [-..
Copyright. 1924. by Paul v. Collins)