History

Eolas 8 (2015), 20-38
How does Bede represent the Irish in his eighth-century work, the Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum? How does this Anglo-Saxon monk conceive of them as a people, and how does this influence his use of them in his narrative of the development of the Anglo-Saxon Church? Ireland and the Irish are very visible elements in his account, and Bede’s description of the gens Scottorum and his depictions of the individual Irish who populate his work feed into his interest in ethnicity. Aspects and indicators of this, such as origin tales, language, and common customs, can be discussed in the context of the Irish in the Historia ecclesiastica to great effect. However, ethnicity alone does not define the Irish who appear in Bede’s text. They are not a homogeneous group for Bede: they are scholars and missionaries, penitents and kings, and he inserts them throughout the work, making them an integral part of his story.

An Irish Nationalist Perspective on Eastern Europe: William Smith O’Brien’s Travel Journals, 1861-1864 The travel journals of Irish nationalist politician William Smith O’Brien, challenge the claim by Lar-ry Wolff of a general western European condescension towards eastern Europe from the eighteenth century onwards. Hostility towards British rule in Ireland led Smith O’Brien to celebrate and identify with the Hungarians and Poles in their struggles against their imperial rulers during his travels in the 1860s. He concluded, however, that the Irish suffered more under Britain than these nations under either Austria or Russia.

This chapter examines of the outpouring of solidarity for the Poles during and after the January Uprising of 1863–64. Support for the rebels stemmed from both a belief in the right to self-determination and horror at attacks on the Catholic Church by the Russian authorities. Unlike the unification process in Italy, the Uprising in Poland posed no conflict between the combined commitment to nationalism and Catholicism of most Irish observers. Led by William Smith O’Brien, who visited Poland during the Uprising, Irish nationalists donated money to assist the Poles, but stopped short of sending troops there. The chapter closes by showing how the Kulturkampf in Prussian Poland, which followed German unification in 1871, consolidated Irish Catholic support for the Poles.