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To: SirJohnBarleycorn

'There was continual violence and threat of violence, and the government was constantly enforcing various Coercion Acts and suspending habeas corpus. Confrontations with violent mobs and attempted uprisings (such as the Fenian risings) occurred with regularity.'

And did not garner the support of the masses and were thus put down just as quickly.


41 posted on 11/14/2006 9:39:05 AM PST by AngloSaxonChristian
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To: AngloSaxonChristian
did not garner the support of the masses

You are simply wrong in your assessment of the nature of Ireland during this period.

For example, in the case of the Fenians, British authorities estimated that as many as 150,000 Irishmen had been recruited to the cause, and a massive uprising was averted at the last minute only by an anonymous tip that led to the preemptive arrests of hundreds of leaders on the eve of the planned event.

Ireland was practically ungovernable. Here are the words of one Lord Lieutenant in the latter half of the 19th century: "Ireland is an infernal country to manage...The only way to govern is the old plan (which I will not attempt) of taking up violently one faction or the other, putting them like fighting-cocks, and then backing one. I wish you would send me to India. Ireland is the grave of every reputation."

Your understanding of Irish history seems to be based on popular conceptions in England as opposed to an actual study of the history.

48 posted on 11/14/2006 9:51:40 AM PST by SirJohnBarleycorn
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