I have been learning about the irish and the irish potato blight recently. And, it seems there is a lot of anti catholicism among the irish(who were likely formerly catholic) who side with seemingly the nationalists(not surprising) and those who think this was a deliberate act by the english.
The english definitely persecuted the irish but I'm not sure if the potato famine was directly caused by them, or was an 'act of God'. Either way, the english had persecuted good catholics to the edge where potatoes were their last main source of food. Indirectly, the english caused the reliance on potatoes, which was evil.
A few interesting stories i've heard about this period-
1. Maybe you've heard of the alcohol term a "black and tan". (This is a mixture of guiness and bass (because it's english)) It's supposed to represent Ireland vs England and how they don't mix and will always be at odds.
It comes from the name the irish gave to the english mercenaries who wore tan uniforms and black boots. These mercenaries were ruthless and were hired to steal lands, houses and property from the catholics who wouldn't apostasize. They also killed many irish in the process.
So the term 'black and tan' is a derogatory name for sure. Don't EVER order one if you're in Ireland; you'd probably be beaten up. I've ordered one here in the US at an authentic pub and got some strange looks from the irish employees, when I didn't understand it's historical significance.
2. Another fact about this time is the term "souper". Many, many irish starved to death during this time due to the famine but mostly due to the ARTIFICIAL famine imposed by british rule, who wanted to kill all the catholics. The british would go around and offer soup to starving catholics if they'd renounce their faith. Those who apostasized in order to get soup were known as "soupers".
It seems like some or maybe even many irish place blame(on english) but follow this blame trail all the way back to the introduction of catholicism into ireland. They seem to want to go back to being nomadic people who migrate with animals for survival. And, that sounds to me like a time before Catholicism took root/took over. Am I wrong?
I don't know the current mindset of the irish people, but I would imagine that many of them, having given up religion (like most of europe) now question their identity (both personally and nationally), so it would make sense that they would imagine a "peaceful" time in their minds and think of times long ago, before religion and politics were involved much.
As Brexit has shown, and as the migrant-crisis heats up across europe, some people are FINALLY 'waking up' and questioning the ideals of socialism, since they see the TRUE end goal by the elites, which is the destruction of european culture. Yet, since many europeans have personally thrown out the true foundation of their culture (i.e. catholicism) from their lives, they still love their culture and don't want to be muslim-ized, so they are at a crossroads with how to save their history, since they have hypocritically rejected the religious aspect which made such history possible.
Sin clouds the mind and the europeans' sins have put them in a pickle for sure. They are utterly confused as to the solution, because God is not an option. As many prophecies say, only cινιℓ ωαr and revolution will wake them up, and such trials will start in France and Italy, who after some bitter struggles and much death, will be humble, repent, and ask God for a king. Thus monarchies will return to europe (and the world) once people realize that republics/democracies are inherently corruptible, unstable and not sustainable long-term.
I recently started reading a book called how the irish saved civilization by cahill, and it is such a fraud book filled with lies. Yet, this book is a national best seller with 4.3 out of 5 stars on amazon. And, it makes me think that irish opposition to the english has turned into opposition to Christianity. Not only this book, but also a docuмentary I saw about ireland and the blight highlighted its discontent with what seems to be the development of irelend all the way from the middle ages(catholic influence) to the present(the blight). Which, seems like none other than a return to irish pagan sympathy mirroring that popular cahill book.
Yes, I've read that book and I agree, it's garbage. Subtlely anti-irish and openly anti-catholic.
The best book i've read on this period is one about the life of Ven Matt Talbot. I can't remember the name of it, but it had a lot of good irish history since Matt grew up in the mid 1800s.
Aside from that, I want to talk about alcohol consumption among the irish. When did that become a problem? When did it begin?
I don't know if the Irish had a big problem with drinking before the 1800s, but in much of the problems with alcoholism started in Europe/America in the 1800s with the introduction of mass-produced beer/liquor. In America mass-produced beer didn't happen until after the cινιℓ ωαr (1860s). The prohibition movement started a few decades after this, due to the increase in abuse of alcohol. One historian said that as immigrants made more $, they could buy more alcohol, so that contributed to the problem as well as hard liquor being available.
Most immigrants (Irish/German) were used to drinking 2 different types of beer (5-8% of normal beer or wine, home-brewed, for parties/festivals...took a long time to make, not available except seasonally) and daily they would drink what's called "small beer" or other "farm beer". Some farmers would have a glass at breakfast and lunch because it would only contain 1-2% alcohol. They often drank it for sanitary reasons since clean water was hard to get. It would be continually brewed in the kitchen with yeast, sugar and yeast from the air. Much like the middle ages, it was an alternative to dirty water.
Once mass produced beer/liquor started, the brewers either built or bought up the local pubs, so they could control distribution in all the neighborhoods. These pubs became the center of social activities, political events and other gatherings. Often, the workers had to go to the pubs to get their paychecks, since manufacturing plant owners made deals with with the owners of the brewers/pubs. Many men would get their check and spend a 1/3 or 1/2 of it on beer, (in 1 or 2 nights) which would contribute to their drunkeness and the growing problem of desitute and poor families. Matt Talbot talks about this problem and how he easily became an alcoholic as a young teenager when he first started a job. Fridays would be the big pay day and the start of a weekend binge.
Topic: + Faure Irish h0Ɩ0cαųst (Read 1283 times)