Ireland Tradition and Dissent
Humanities: Tradition and Dissent
TMA03 - Option 1 Ireland: the Invention of Tradition
How useful are the concepts of “tradition” and “dissent” in understanding attitudes to the built heritage of Ireland?
The two concepts of “tradition” and “dissent” are extremely useful in understanding the built heritage of Ireland. To understand the differing attitudes to the built heritage of Ireland is to contemplate the historical accounts, stories and legends that fabricate traditions and incite dissent.
The concept of tradition is associated with the passing down through generations, beliefs, thoughts and actions (“tradition”, n.d) and dissent derives from a desire to publicly protest against the traditions and against those holding the authority (“dissent”, n.d).
Ireland, ‘the land of saints and scholars’ (Burke, Watson, and Laurence, 2008), is a country coming to terms with its past by acknowledging the wealth it possesses within its built heritage. A past fabricated with tradition and dissent which resulted in the creation of The Irish Free State in 1922, known today as The Republic of Ireland (Hachey, 1996, p. 167).
Attitudes to Irish built heritage have been fashioned through the experiences of a people caught in the tides of both tradition and dissent. From the Anglo-Norman invasion in the 12th century to the creation of the Irish Republic, in 1922, Ireland had been battling with an apparent drive by Britain to ‘anglicise’ the isle. Celtic traditions encounter British dissent. Eventually, The Reformation of the 16th century secured a British dominance and thus, new colonial traditions were formed. Oliver Cromwell ensured his ‘plantation’ policies were implemented, whereby, the Irish- Catholics were ‘expelled’ from their lands and the British now landlord over the real estate and its subservient, Irish -Catholic tenants (“Cromwellian-Conquests, n.d). Irelands ‘lost her music, she lost her games, she lost her language and popular literature, and with language
TMA03 - Option 1 Ireland: the Invention of Tradition
How useful are the concepts of “tradition” and “dissent” in understanding attitudes to the built heritage of Ireland?
The two concepts of “tradition” and “dissent” are extremely useful in understanding the built heritage of Ireland. To understand the differing attitudes to the built heritage of Ireland is to contemplate the historical accounts, stories and legends that fabricate traditions and incite dissent.
The concept of tradition is associated with the passing down through generations, beliefs, thoughts and actions (“tradition”, n.d) and dissent derives from a desire to publicly protest against the traditions and against those holding the authority (“dissent”, n.d).
Ireland, ‘the land of saints and scholars’ (Burke, Watson, and Laurence, 2008), is a country coming to terms with its past by acknowledging the wealth it possesses within its built heritage. A past fabricated with tradition and dissent which resulted in the creation of The Irish Free State in 1922, known today as The Republic of Ireland (Hachey, 1996, p. 167).
Attitudes to Irish built heritage have been fashioned through the experiences of a people caught in the tides of both tradition and dissent. From the Anglo-Norman invasion in the 12th century to the creation of the Irish Republic, in 1922, Ireland had been battling with an apparent drive by Britain to ‘anglicise’ the isle. Celtic traditions encounter British dissent. Eventually, The Reformation of the 16th century secured a British dominance and thus, new colonial traditions were formed. Oliver Cromwell ensured his ‘plantation’ policies were implemented, whereby, the Irish- Catholics were ‘expelled’ from their lands and the British now landlord over the real estate and its subservient, Irish -Catholic tenants (“Cromwellian-Conquests, n.d). Irelands ‘lost her music, she lost her games, she lost her language and popular literature, and with language
References: Burke, M., Watson, N., & Laurence, A., Prof. (Producers). (2008). Ireland [DVD]. Hachey, T. E. (1996). The Irish free state 1922-1932: A reluctant dominion. In J. M. Hernon Jr, L. J. McCaffrey, & T. E. Hachey, The Irish experience (Revised ed., pp. 167-190). Armonk, New York, NY: M.E. Sharpe. The heritage council [Fact sheet]. (n.d.). Retrieved October 23, 2010, from http://www.heritagecouncil.ie/about-us/what-do-we-do/ Irish georgian society [Fact sheet] Laurence, A., & Danson (a contributor), R. (2008). Ireland: The invention of tradition. In C. Price (Ed.), The arts past and present AA100 (pp. 149-190). Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom: The Open University. McCaffrey, L. J. (1996). Catholic emancipation. In The Irish question (2nd ed., pp. 13-30). Lexington, KY: The University Press of Kentucky. (Original work published 1995) O’Brien, J., & Guinness, D Princeton University. (2010). WordNet [Dictionary]. Retrieved October 9, 2010, from Princeton University website: http://wordnet.princeton.edu/ Sullivan, A