Anglo-Irish
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The term Anglo-Irish means British-Irish and is used frequently to describe formal contacts, negotiations or treaties between both states. The most famous examples are:
- Anglo-Irish Treaty (1921)
- Anglo-Irish Agreement (1985)
- Anglo-Irish Summits (meetings between the British and Irish prime ministers).
The term Anglo-Irish was applied to Irish aristocrats of British or partially British descent, or indeed to all members of the Peerage of Ireland since the flight of the Earls. One leading Anglo-Irish peer described his experience as one of the 'Anglo-Irish' as being regarded as Irish in England, English in Ireland and not accepted fully as belonging to either. However such divisions are no longer as prevalent in Ireland, where Anglo-Irish peers have played a prominent role in modern Irish affairs.
The term was also used for the anglicized Anglican Protestant Irish who made up the Irish professional classes. A number of them became famous as poets or writers, Dean Swift, Oscar Wilde, W.B. Yeats and George Bernard Shaw for example, others became high ranking military officers, Lord Kitchener. They were usually of Irish ancestry and considered themselves Irish, but adopted the English ways and manners of speaking, though not always English politics. This class developed as there were restrictions on Roman Catholics entering the legal, medical and other professions.
The term is no longer widely used in a current context. People who the term would have referred to in the past have been partly assimilated into Irish society, and would now be described as "southern Irish Protestants", or "Protestants of the Republic of Ireland". Brendan Behan used the term in one play, where he defined an Anglo-Irishman as "a Protestant with a horse", meaning a gentleman of the upper or middle classes as opposed to a member of the working class.
Among the most prominent Anglo-Irish Peers are or were:
- Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington - British general who fought many successful campaigns and defeated Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo;
- Henry Conyngham, Earl of Mount Charles - owner of the Slane Castle rock venue and candidate for Fine Gael in recent Irish general elections;
- Benjamin Guinness, 3rd Earl of Iveagh - head of the Guinness Family, who sat in the Irish Senate (1973-1977)
- The O'Conor Don - claimant to the Irish Throne;
- James Campbell, 1st Baron Glenavy - first speaker of the Irish Senate (1922);
- Valerie, Lady Goulding - founder of the Rehabitation Institute & close associate of former Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Charles J. Haughey
- Edward Pakenham, 6th Earl of Longford - Impressario at the Gate Theatre in Dublin in the 1950s;
- Frank Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford (who succeeded his brother (above) in the Earldom) - British Labour Cabinet minister, biographer and friend of Eamon de Valera;
- Senator Martin Mansergh - new Irish senator and advisor of three Irish Taoiseachs on Northern Ireland);
- Michael Morris, 3rd Baron Killanin - former head of the International Olympic Committee and head until his death of the state-affiliated Irish Heritage Council;
A number of Anglo-Irish Peers have been appointed by Presidents of Ireland to serve on their advisory Council of State. A number of peers were also considered possible candidates for presidents of Ireland, including
- Valerie, Lady Goulding
- Michael Morris, 3rd Baron Killanin
- Edward Gibson, 1st Baron Ashbourne (a renowned Gaelic scholar)
See also
Further reading
- Peter Berresford Ellis, Erin's Blood Royal: The Gaelic Noble Dynasties of Ireland ISBN 0094786003