The impact of Irish nationalism on central Scotland, 1898-1939

Agnew, Julian Marcus (2009) The impact of Irish nationalism on central Scotland, 1898-1939. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

The impact of Irish nationalism on central Scotland, 1898 – 1939

The years 1898 to 1939 were momentous ones for both Irish and Scottish history. The rise of Sinn Fein, the impact of the First World War and the Easter Rising, followed by the formation of the Irish Free State in 1921 and Eire in 1937 all occurred within these forty or so years. This thesis explores the nature and extent of the impact that Irish nationalism had on Scotland in this period.
This thesis divides these years into four segments: from 1898 when Irish nationalists began to renew their activities in Scotland in earnest, to the Easter Rising in 1916 (i); from the suppression of the Easter Rising until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922 (ii); from 1922 until the 1931 census when anti-Irish prejudice was widespread again in Scotland, coming in particular from the Church of Scotland and associated institutions (iii); from the Depression to the coming of the Second World War in 1939, when these institutions altered their campaigns to become anti-Catholic in general and the IRA once again looked to Scotland for assistance.
There can be little doubt that Irish nationalism had a profound effect on Scotland and had its many different aspects: the organisation of IRA supply and training activity; the military and intelligence responses by the British government; the reaction of the Protestant churches, and the anti-Irish or anti-Catholic campaigns of the Church of Scotland in particular; the influence on the movement for Scottish Home Rule and the founding of a nationalist political party with the NPS in 1928; the electoral benefits enjoyed by the Labour Party from an already politicised ‘Irish’ vote; and the conflict between constitutional and militant Irish nationalist politics. This mixture of both positive and negative effects demonstrates the deep impact made on Scotland during a transitional period of economic adjustment amid continuing urbanisation. It was in the industrial towns and cities of central Scotland that this impact was most keenly felt, on both sides of the religious divide, and this presents itself as an underlying cause of the continuing religious bigotry felt in central Scotland to this day.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Keywords: Scottish History, Ireland, Nationalism, Politics
• Subjects: H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform; J Political Science > JN Political institutions (Europe) > JN1187 Scotland; D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain
• Colleges/Schools: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities > History
• Supervisor's Name: Maver, Dr. Irene
• Date of Award: 2009
• Depositing User: Dr Julian M Agnew
• Unique ID: glathesis:2009-1248
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 22 Oct 2009
• Last Modified: 04 Feb 2013 13:18
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/1248