Ireland: Past and Present - Ireland 2014 - page 655

emigrate. By 1900, emigration had further cut the island's population to just over 4 million
(half of what it had been just before the famine).
Ireland, which remained one of Europe's poorest countries for more than a century, was
slowtoforgetEngland'sindifference.Ireland'spopulationhasonlyrecentlybeguntogrow
again; Irish Nationalists point out that Britain's population, on the other hand, has grown
from 12 million in 1845 to about 60 million today.
Before the famine, land was subdivided—each son got a piece of the family estate
(which grew smaller with each generation). After the famine, the oldest son got the estate,
and the younger siblings—with fewer options for making a living in Ireland (primarily
joining the priesthood)—emigrated to Britain, Australia, Canada, or the US. Because of
the huge emigration to the US (today there are 50 million Irish Americans), US influence
increased. (During the negotiations between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, US
involvement in the talks was welcomed and considered essential by nearly all parties.)
Occasional violence demonstrated the fury of Irish nationalism, with the tragedy of the
famine inflaming the movement. In 1848, the Young Irelander armed uprising was easily
squelched. In 1858, the Irish Republican Brotherhood was formed (the forerunner of the
IRA). Also called the Fenians, they launched a campaign for independence by planting
terrorist bombs. Irish Americans sent money to help finance these revolutionaries. Upris-
ing after uprising made it clear that Ireland was ready to close this 800-year chapter of
invasions and colonialism.
Home Rule Party leader Charles Stuart Parnell (1846-1891), an Irishman educated
in England, made “the Irish problem” the focus of London's Parliament. Parnell lobbied
for independence and for the rights of poor tenant farmers living under absentee landlords,
pioneering the first boycott tactics. Then, in 1890, at the peak of his power and about to
achieve Home Rule for Ireland, he was drummed out of politics by a scandal involving
his mistress, scuttling the Home Rule issue for another 20 years (for more on Parnell, see
here ) .
Culturally, the old Gaelic, rural Ireland was being crushed under the Industrial Revolu-
tion and the political control wielded by Protestant England. The Gaelic Athletic Associ-
ation was founded in 1884 to resurrect pride in ancient Irish sports such as hurling (see
sidebar on here ). Soon after, in 1893, writers and educators formed the Gaelic League to
preserve the traditional language, music, and poetry. Building on the tradition of old Celtic
bards, Ireland turned out a series of influential writers: W. B. Yeats, Oscar Wilde, George
Bernard Shaw, and James Joyce (see “Irish Literature,” later).