Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-01-26
IreIond's Troubles

made to stir up American
feeling against our British ally
over the ancient Irish prob
lem. True to tradition, when
England is hardest pressed,
she can expect, as in the First
and Second World Wars, a stab
in the back by these perennial
trouble-makers. The current
phase is. of course. the attempt
of the Irish Republican
Army" (illegal even in Ire
land). and their Irish-Ameri-
can supporters, to take over
by bombs and bullets the re-
naming six Independent
northern counties.
Your correspondent Gerald
Mooney appears interested in
historical facts, but excludes
many very pertinent ones
which are too little known. Let
him begin. for example, with
why English influence came
into Ireland at all, and partic-
ularly in the northern coun-
ties.
AS part of the attempt to put
order and justice into their
backward and chaotic neigh
boring territories, beginning
with Cornwall, the Scottish
border and Wales, the Eliza
bethan English were shocked
and Mortified at what they dis
covered in Ireland. The mass
Of the people were suffering
under unbelievably primitive
conditions, oppressed and i'm
poverished by the reverend
ing struggle for power between
a few warning Irish chieftains,
The church. once a center of
learning and Of missionaries to
the darkness of Europe, was
helpless and impotent in this
decay of Irish society. In an
age when many countries of
Western Europe had reached
a high stage of civilization, on
the continents doorstep was a
land of treason, where the
standard of living was on a
bestial level. In addition, a
glazing opportunity existed for
Spain, the threatening power
Of the day, to capitalize on
the chaos by invasion, and so
menace the very life of nearby
England. The Elizabethans
could not tolerate such bar
barous and dangerous condi-
tons SO few miles from their
shores. They attempted to take
the side Of the suffering masses
against the tyrannical Irish
chieftains. and did what the
Irish were unable to do for
Observation-Disclosures a state
with some semblance of law
and order.
Ulster was the last strong
hold of these chieftains. and to
subdue them cost much suffer-
ing to their own Irish victims,
and much treasure of the
'Elizabethans. The earls finally
fled. Peace brought agricultural
revival. Far from being hurt
or displaced, the inadequate
population was invigorated and
benefited by immigration, prin-
cipally from nearby Scotland.
The different C character Of
Ulster was thus established by
these new settlers. and by the
Professionalism they brought
with them. Therein lies, in
brief. the fundamental divi-
sion and issue to the present
day.
The period up to the recent
past was a sad one, with many
complications and much neg
lect due to more important dis
fractions. racial and religious
difficulties, Puritan seventies,
and innate Irish love of any
kind of local fight. The
latter does not extend, how
ever, to fights of world
responsibility. When Eng
land was fighting almost
alone against the Kaiser, came
the stab in the back Of Irish
rebellion and support Of Ger
man submarines. In World
War II, Southern ireland was
neutral. No one knows how
many lives and cargoes -
American and British-could
have been saved had southern
Irish ports been available to
the allies. Despite their desper-
ate straits, however, to their
credit they put no pressure
whatever on southern Ireland
for the use of these badly
needed ports. and allowed her
to sulk in her petulant isola-
ton. On the other hand, the
people and ports Of Northern
Ireland made a great contri-
button to the allied cause. The
civilized world does not forget
the contrast in behavior be-
tween the two parts Of Ire
land at q time Of grave peril.
The problem is not an
American one, not an English