Queen Elizabeth II’s complicated history with the island of Ireland

In the 1970s and 80s the Queen managed just one, heavily-guarded, visit. The peace and reconciliation that came about later in her reign culminated in her historic visit to the Republic of Ireland - described by her son and heir as her greatest achievement.

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[pipoo]

The fact Michelle O’Neill, leader of Sinn Fein, attended her funeral service at Westminster Abbey speaks volumes. It would’ve been unthinkable 30 years ago. While our Monarchy doesn’t have overt political power, never under estimate the soft power that they and especially Her Majesty had.

[solidus]

As an Irish person I've zero time for the monarchy but in the woman herself did her best to build bridges. It was a big thing for her to lay a wreath at the memorial for our volounteers.

[MikeL-]

The relationship with Ireland is a lot less complicated when you take the Tory Party out of the equation.

[robertoneill]

People forget the atrocities the British conducted in Ireland. I admire her for her appearance in Dublin to acknowledge this. She was a great ambassador

[stephenmurphy]

The Queen’s state visit to Ireland needs to feature in the upcoming final two seasons of The Crown. It was probably one of her greatest achievements as monarch which is why I think it’s significant.

[mojophe]

Ireland's history with the monarchy goes back many hundreds of years and not confined to 'The Troubles' . A ferocious history. However, I admire a woman who took an Oath at 19 years of age and kept it until she expired. Not many in the world have done that. May she rest in peace.

[mutatis-mutandis]

The Irish never forget, the English never remember.

[jebbo-cl]

one wishes the British history in Ireland was taught better if at all in UK schools

[patriciayoung]

My grandparents remembered when Winston churchill sent the Black and Tans to Ireland and gave them a free hand to behave as they saw fit. They committed atrocious acts of violence against men, women and children, including rape and murder.
My grandparents often spoke about what they endured, under the B & T’s, before they passed. The Irish have long memories.

[df]

It’s the British education system, they are not taught the history of what Britain did in Ireland so they simply don’t know. I have many great British friends from working together and they just don’t know about it. Also not mentioning the famine in this report while Ireland was under British rule is a big omission…

[aspacebeyond]

It is time to move on from the troubles of the past. We Irish have suffered for far too long. We can try to forgive but we should never forget.

[adjoaosei]

I think this report needed to go quite a bit further back into history to full explore and explain the context of this matter.

[burntbacon]

Queen Elizabeth II was a remarkable woman and I, as an Irish Republican, admire, respect her for work to make the world a better place.

[kevinjosephorourke]

The Queen was sincere and dignified in attempting to bridge divides, and I respect her for that. The English education system should really provide more awareness of its own historical atrocities, which may help regular English citizens to understand why their country is so often reviled across the world and in former colonies in particular. Although if they went through all the atrocities they'd of course have no time left to learn their own domestic history.

[brownjames]

From orange drums in 1953 to speaking Irish at Dublin Castle….quite the leap in one reign. She was a wonderful lady 👑👏🇬🇧

[expatlifestyle]

It’s like she was being rammed down their throats whether they cared or not.

[Tghma]

As an Irish man in the 6 county's I and many like me want to be united with our kin, we want to be united with the rest of Ireland. We as a small island would benefit so much from unity when it comes to the Economy, gaelic sports and others, culture, Irish language and the creation of an all Ireland healthcare system. I would love to see GARDA on the streets of Tyrone and Belfast. Demographics of the 6 county's has be changing for years now and is going only one way. The English don't want the North of Ireland that is clear, the minority that do, most haven't been to our very divided society and having to walk daily between peace walls and looking at the lampposts to see where you are and where not to linger..

We can have peace and friendship and economic ties after but the struggle for the occupied 6 goes on.

Unite Ireland 🇮🇪

[jimpow]

My condolences from Ireland. I respect her legacy may she rest in peace.

[LOTW]

My dad died a month ago. Organizing some of his affairs and dealing with the funeral arrangements was too much for us to handle in the middle of the grieving process. The entire family was on edge and he was just a retired plumber in a small neighborhood in the island of Puerto Rico. I can't imagine how it must be for him dealing with the death of his mother and taking over a monarchy. I would have thrown the pen out of rage.

[grahamfleming]

No other country has been abused, in Europe like Ireland, for seven or eight hundred years, long overdue.