Irish vs. British Empire

Originally posted by Sparten You mean besides the fact they are both unintelligable?

There is so much misinformation on this thread that I don't really know where to start.

The original religion of Ireland was not Catholicism, just Christianity, the Church of Ireland.

It then aligned with the Roman Catholic Church.

Protestantism came to Ireland with the English Plantations, commencing in about 1550. This was a system of taking the best land from the Irish, by force, and giving it to Scots and English aristocracy who in turn brought out their own people to work the land.

Ireland suffered the consequences of Henry VIII's pogrom against the Catholics, and Ireland was forced to become Protestant (Anglican Church or the Church of England).

Over the centuries, the Irish revolted against the English many times, on the basis that their religion had been taken from them, their land had been taken, and, by the 1698 Penal Laws, their whole culture was denied them, even their Celtic names.

They gained some minor concessions over time, but religion became the symbol of the oppressors (Protestant England) over the oppressed (Catholic Irish).

In Northern Ireland, there is still a religious tension from historic times, but in the Republic of Ireland, the religions live side by side without any problems.