A metaphor for the world lurks in Ireland. People refuse to forget. From Cyprus to Lebanon, The Balkans to Greece, people refuse to forget.
Succession. Impostor newborns. Disguises. Heir presumptive. Immortal Sevens. Depose your father-in-law. Secret codes. And more: France at the time was trying to dominate Europe in defiance of the Pope and Catholic James was an ally of......France! Crazily the Pope, in his opposition to French expansionism, opposed the Catholic James and supported the Protestant William. English speakers didn't have this much fun again until The Housewives of Orange County.
But the losers had no fun. This was the beginning of the Glorious Revolution or the Revolution of 1688. William was successful and ascended the English throne as William III of England jointly with his wife Mary II of England. Catholicism in England was destroyed.
It was worse in Ireland where the Catholics had already suffered a crushing defeat by Cromwell. Catholics lost their lands, their right to hold public office--even in Parliament--and the right to practice their religion. Resistance to William had local religious and ethnic motives: The war was fought for Irish sovereignty, religious tolerance for Catholicism, and land ownership. Led by Richard Talbot, the Irish raised an army to restore James and, by 1690, controlled all Ireland except the province of Ulster. Fearing retaliation for years of oppression, Protestants fought enthusiastically for William of Orange.
The Battle of the Boyne was joined on July 11, 1690 and took place over a wide area west of the town of Drogheda on the Irish east coast. The two armies were led by William and James. Both were experienced in battle but neither distinguished. Most feel that at some point in the even contest James panicked and ordered a retreat. This surprised and discouraged his supporters and the lines broke up. A fine cavalry effort prevented a disaster. Of the 50,000 combatants only 2,000 were killed, mostly Catholics.
This battle would never be forgotten by either side and is commemorated every year with demonstration, challenge and violence. 323 years later they still fight in the street over this conflict but, as only makes sense in Ireland, the conflict is celebrated on the twelfth. Known as "The Troubles," it became institutionalized by the IRA, a broad collection of killers ranging from abstract idealists to unreflective, vicious psychopaths.
But there is reason for hope. Sometimes people can rise above bitterness, revolution and idealism. At the Northern Bank, across from Belfast's City Hall, the novelist Stuart Neville, in an interview with NPR's Noah Adams, recalled the details of a robbery in which approximately 26 million pounds were stolen. Residents still talk about it today. "They drove a lorry up the side, opened the door, money was loaded into the lorry and away they went," Neville says. "Of course it turned out within a few days it was the IRA who'd done it. They had kidnapped somebody who worked for the bank, forced them to come and load the money up. I remember jokes at the time, you know: This was a retirement fund for the boys."
("The boys" means the leadership of the Irish Republican Army, and jokers called the heist a "retirement fund" because the robbery happened in 2004, while "The Troubles" officially ended in 1998 — at least, on paper.)
Bonfires light up the Belfast skyline on July 12, 1997. Remembering 1688.
The year is 1688. Mary, daughter of James ll, King of England, was next in line to rule England on the death of her father. Her husband was William of Orange, a Dutch noble. But suddenly James had a new child, a son, and the heir presumptive was replaced by the heir apparent.
In June, 1688, a letter was sent by English noblemen known as the "Immortal Seven" to William of Orange. It was carried to William by Rear Admiral Arthur Herbert disguised as a common sailor and identified by a secret code. The problem? James was a Catholic, Mary was raised a Protestant as was William. James had already shown an interest in religious tolerance and was also aligned with Catholic France. If James' new son became king there was risk he might be a Catholic. Soooooo.... the letter informed William that if he were to land in England with a small army, the signatories and their allies would rise up and support him. William would then force the ruling king, James--his father-in-law--to make William's Protestant wife Mary, James' eldest daughter, heir, on the grounds that newborn baby was allegedly an impostor.
Succession. Impostor newborns. Disguises. Heir presumptive. Immortal Sevens. Depose your father-in-law. Secret codes. And more: France at the time was trying to dominate Europe in defiance of the Pope and Catholic James was an ally of......France! Crazily the Pope, in his opposition to French expansionism, opposed the Catholic James and supported the Protestant William. English speakers didn't have this much fun again until The Housewives of Orange County.
But the losers had no fun. This was the beginning of the Glorious Revolution or the Revolution of 1688. William was successful and ascended the English throne as William III of England jointly with his wife Mary II of England. Catholicism in England was destroyed.
It was worse in Ireland where the Catholics had already suffered a crushing defeat by Cromwell. Catholics lost their lands, their right to hold public office--even in Parliament--and the right to practice their religion. Resistance to William had local religious and ethnic motives: The war was fought for Irish sovereignty, religious tolerance for Catholicism, and land ownership. Led by Richard Talbot, the Irish raised an army to restore James and, by 1690, controlled all Ireland except the province of Ulster. Fearing retaliation for years of oppression, Protestants fought enthusiastically for William of Orange.
The Battle of the Boyne was joined on July 11, 1690 and took place over a wide area west of the town of Drogheda on the Irish east coast. The two armies were led by William and James. Both were experienced in battle but neither distinguished. Most feel that at some point in the even contest James panicked and ordered a retreat. This surprised and discouraged his supporters and the lines broke up. A fine cavalry effort prevented a disaster. Of the 50,000 combatants only 2,000 were killed, mostly Catholics.
This battle would never be forgotten by either side and is commemorated every year with demonstration, challenge and violence. 323 years later they still fight in the street over this conflict but, as only makes sense in Ireland, the conflict is celebrated on the twelfth. Known as "The Troubles," it became institutionalized by the IRA, a broad collection of killers ranging from abstract idealists to unreflective, vicious psychopaths.
But there is reason for hope. Sometimes people can rise above bitterness, revolution and idealism. At the Northern Bank, across from Belfast's City Hall, the novelist Stuart Neville, in an interview with NPR's Noah Adams, recalled the details of a robbery in which approximately 26 million pounds were stolen. Residents still talk about it today. "They drove a lorry up the side, opened the door, money was loaded into the lorry and away they went," Neville says. "Of course it turned out within a few days it was the IRA who'd done it. They had kidnapped somebody who worked for the bank, forced them to come and load the money up. I remember jokes at the time, you know: This was a retirement fund for the boys."
("The boys" means the leadership of the Irish Republican Army, and jokers called the heist a "retirement fund" because the robbery happened in 2004, while "The Troubles" officially ended in 1998 — at least, on paper.)
Bonfires light up the Belfast skyline on July 12, 1997. Remembering 1688.
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