May Update

A month from today I'll be standing in the Dublin airport, bewildered that I just flew to another country by myself. Actually by this time, I'll probably be on the road to Co. Roscommon. As the departure day grows nearer, I get more and more excited for this journey to start. Just one more month.

Elle, my OM contact, sent my support summary and guess what?!?!? Everything is in except for $29! It makes me smile in shock every time. I can handle $29.

Some History:

In 1172 Henry II, King of England, invaded Ireland to establish British rule and ensure the security of his western defenses. This was with the permission of the only English Pope there has been. From that time there has been a foreign military presence on Irish soil. English influence was centered on Dublin and extended out from it into what became known as “the pale.” Over the years the strength of this influence varied.

Whilst the Reformation took root in England, it was opposed in Ireland. Despite some initial progress within the pale, reformed religion met the united opposition of the Anglo and Gaelic Irish. The reformed church was established by legislation and became the church of the new English colony and the official class. Various methods were used to subdue the Irish including the plantation of loyal subjects in various regions. These were unsuccessful until the early 17th century when opposition led by the old Irish lords, O’Neill and O’Donnell, was crushed marking the end of the old Irish world. Ulster lay open for settlement and was populated by Scots Presbyterians and English Anglicans. The town of Derry was given to the merchants of London and became known as Londonderry.

The injustice felt by the native population resulted in a brutal uprising in 1641. Claims of the number of Protestants slaughtered at that time are now considered greatly exaggerated, but at the time they gave rise to feeling of outrage. The eventual reprisal for this was the landing of Oliver Cromwell on Irish soil in 1649 at the head of his Puritan army. Cromwell’s infamous activities resulted in many Irish Catholics being dispossessed of their lands. By 1660 Catholics were not allowed to own land east of the River Shannon in the province of Connacht and Co. Clare to which many had been banished. All of this is vital to grasp as it shows the reason for the deep antipathy towards the English and Protestantism. The puritans may be revered as godly Bible expositors by evangelical Christians but they left a terrible legacy in Ireland. The indiscriminate inhumanity with which revenge was enacted by Cromwell’s forces on the towns of Drogheda and Wexford left an indelible impression on the Irish. When in 1688 there was the “Quiet Revolution” in England with the accession to the throne of the Protestant William and Mary in the place of the Catholic James, it was to Ireland that James looked to raise the army to regain his throne. The decisive battle ending his hopes was at the River Boyne, near Drogheda, in 1690 and is celebrated to this day in Ulster on the 12th July. It became known as the day the Protestants beat the Catholics! (The fact that the Pope celebrated High Mass in commemoration of the victory is a little known, but illuminating fact!)

Application:

History is very relevant to the Irish and explains the fierce demarcation between the communities in the North. Preaching the gospel into this context is fraught with difficulties. To be a Protestant can be viewed as being an alien, a supporter of the foreign oppression that was finally thrown off in 1922, and as a justifier of Cromwell! The Protestant community is tolerated in the Republic, but to expect an Irishman to become a Protestant is to ask him to reject not only his faith, but his culture and his national identity. This was not always so, but the 150 years has done much to produce within the Irish people a view that to be Irish is to be Catholic.