History Summarized: Ireland

While the rest of Europe was flailing aimlessly through the Dark Ages, Ireland was both preserving the ancient world and setting the stage for the Medieval Period. Then England showed up.

Sources & Further Reading:
Modern Ireland: 1600 — 1972 by R.F. Foster

Our content is intended for teenage audiences and up.

[sirrliv]

Fun fact: One of the groups to come to Ireland's aid during the Potato Famine was the Native American Choctaw Nation. Fresh off their own atrocity of the Trail of Tears, the Choctaw sent food aid and advisors to Ireland to help feed a fellow oppressed people and develop more sustainable farming methods so that such a calamity might not happen again. A Choctaw embassy was even established in Dublin and today there is a monument to the Choctaw and the help they gave to the Irish.

[cristobalrojas]

Another fun fact: During the Irish famine and irish migration to the US, many irishmen were enlisted to fight on Mexico's invation. The poverty and opression they found in Mexico, their catholic religion and the abuses american soldiers made during the war reminded them their own opression and suffering in Ireland. So many soldiers led by Captain John Riley desserted the US Army and fought on the mexican side as "Saint Patrick's Batallion". In Mexico City we have a monument with the names of all of them and a street called "Irish martyrs" were their last battle was fought.

[lfclife_]

Fun Fact: The U.S. government denied proper aid for two native american groups during the height of the COVID Pandemic and Ireland caught wind of this and raised several million dollars to help the Navajo and Hopi tribes as a thank you for the $170 raised by the Choctaw during the famine.

There is definitely a special bond between the Irish and Native Americans. I am half Anishinaabe and Half Irish so I go by Irishinaabe. I visited Ireland back in 2015 and was welcomed with open arms everywhere I went. I hope to go back again one day.

[mikasinger]

Additionally, Ireland has started a scholarship system for Choctaw students to welcome them to study in some of our third level colleges. They receive their fees paid and a €10, 000 stipend. Ireland and the Choctaws have a really powerful and positive relationship with each other, it’s very beautiful.

[natkatmac]

My favorite Irish joke:
"Hey stranger, before we become friends, I need to know. Are you Catholic or Protestant?"
"I'm an atheist, actually."
"Okay... but are you a Catholic atheist or a Protestant atheist?"

[HyruleSwordsman]

“It’s time to complain about England!” Is it a day ending in Y already?

[boot]

“I drove all the snakes out”
“We don’t have any snakes tho”
“Your welcome”

[padraigbennett]

Fun Fact: During the Great Famine, when the potato crop failed and the people starved, what many people don’t know is that there was food in the country, they just exported 90% of crops and produce were shipped off to England. Hence many Irish refer to the Famine as ‘The Great Starvation’

[MadSwedishGamer]

(Not so) fun fact: The population of Ireland is still lower than it was before the Great Famine. That's how devastating it was.

[EmperorTigerstar]

I’d hate to *harp* you on the *Eires* of the Irish, but there is a severe lack of Irish history and I’m glad you talked about it.

[adamdoyle]

The most infuriating thing about the famine is we actually were producing enough food, but it was all being exported to britain. At no point did they stop and think “ hey, maybe we should let the starving people producing our food have some of it so they dont all die”

[AlexRider]

I believe they actually did have a written language: Ogham. A fairly mind blowing vertical writing structure. It's named for the Celtic God of language: Ogma. Ogma set up a competition where the winner got to have Ireland named after them. Ériu won, obviously.

[jamesgilvarry]

Therapist : how did these issues start?
England : nice island you got there
Ireland : and that's where the trouble started

[richmanifesto]

Irish history summarized "But wait, it gets worse!"

[oldfridge]

Wales is a forgotten child playing with clay in the corner at this point.

[craigkingdon]

Fun fact: it's possible Ireland had the first legally upheld right to healthcare in history, as well as protections and rights for the mentally ill. This was about 1300 years ago.

[subutaynoyan]

I still am amused by the fact that with all it's internal struggles, it was the Ottomans who sent out a significantly charitable help as far as I'm aware, even though Queen Victoria was against it. See, Abdulmejit I for some reason, decided to help out the starving Irish people, either out of the softness of his heart. Or just to spite English Queen.

Victoria herself send out a help of 2, 000 pounds, so they demanded Ottomans to evade helping them worthier than that. So the Ottomans did send 1, 000 pounds of cash, and also smuggled 5 ships of food to Irish lands.

I even saw an Irish newspaper from some date around the Great Hunger, thanking the Sultan for showing Christian values and not being indifferent to people in need.

History is weird.

[williampym]

I'm English and my history teacher is Irish. You can probably imagine all the fun conversations we've had.

[simotheirishwolf]

This is the perfect example of why the phase “I wish you the luck of the Irish”

Is a insult

[LylDyl]

Great video, born and raised in Ireland my whole life, same as my family before me. One thing I’ll never forget is when a white American woman called me a coloniser, crazy how little people know of Irish history across the world