In this lecture We will examine the two remaining cultures of the UK Wales and N Ireland Like Scotland Wales and N Ireland have cultures that are distinct and different than those of England ID: 681397
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Slide1
LECTURE 8
REGIONALISM II: WALES & N. IRELANDSlide2
In this lecture…
We will examine the two remaining cultures of the UK: Wales and N. Ireland.
Like Scotland, Wales and N. Ireland have cultures that are distinct and different than those of England.
Also like Scotland, Wales and N. Ireland are examples of Celtic Nations.Slide3
Part I: WalesSlide4
Wales
1) What do you know about Wales?
2) What do you know about Welsh culture? (Welsh = of Wales)Slide5
The story of Wales
The history of Wales is primarily a story of struggle.
It is a tribute to the people of Wales' determination to survive against overwhelming odds -- a struggle reflected not only in its castle-dominated landscape and its surviving Celtic language, but also in its long literary history.
Created in a time when the flood of Germanic pagan invaders from the continent threatened to destroy Christian Celtic civilization in Britain, its history continued through the depredations of the Vikings, the invasions of the Normans, the oppression of the powerful Marcher Lords, and the ever-constant, ever threatening power of the English people and the English language. Slide6
Cultural History
1) Who were the Druids?
2) Who was King Arthur?Slide7
Druids
A
druid
was a member of the high-ranking professional class in ancient
Celtic
cultures.
In ancient times a Druid was a philosopher, teacher,
counsellor
and magician, the word probably meaning ‘A Forest Sage’ or ‘Strong Seer’.
They preserved the knowledge of the gods and were responsible for the sacrifices of animals, and sometimes of human sacrifices.
The
Gaullish
druid was a mediator between the mortals and gods; they stand between worlds, and in the case of Irish and Welsh myths, between the otherworld and mortal planes. The druids derived part of their magic powers and their divinations from the Otherworld.Slide8
King ArthurSlide9
Brief History
1000 BC
The story of Wales begins with the Celts. The Celts began migrating from their central European homeland around 1000 BC.
48AD
The recorded history of Wales begins with the arrival of the Romans on Welsh borders. At that time people spoke a Celtic language –
Brythonic
, the language that would eventually evolve into
Welsh
.Slide10
Brief History
550
The Saxon advance resumes in Wales. A great figure in the fight between the British and the Saxons was King Arthur. There are many
legends
surrounding Arthur but many believe he was first mentioned in Welsh poetry around 594.
784
Offa, King of Mercia builds a dyke from sea to sea, the first permanent boundary between the Welsh and English people. Offa’s Dyke shaped the territory of Wales.Slide11
Brief history
1400
Charismatic national hero
Owain
Glyndŵr
begins his rebellion against King Henry IV to establish an independent Wales.
1404
The castles of
Harlech
and
Aberystwyth
fall to
Owain
Glyndŵr
. Soon after he calls his first
Cynulliad
or Parliament at
Machynlleth
and crowns himself Prince of Wales.
1415
Owain
Glyndŵr
disappears. Slide12
Brief History
1536
The first Act of Union was passed between England and Wales. Wales becomes united politically with England and is governed by English law.Slide13
Brief history
The Act of Union in 1536 "incorporated, united and annexed“ to England.
Since then English law and government has ruled in Wales, and Wales has constitutionally followed the same path as England to become part of the United Kingdom today.
Until the middle of the 18th century Wales remained rural.
Population was sparse, and the topography meant that farming was not a viable proposition on any scale.
Then the exploitation of coal and iron brought the Industrial revolution to WalesSlide14
Brief history
The need for
labour
in the south Wales coalfields brought an influx of English into this area which brought about an erosion of the Welsh language, though Welsh continued to be spoken extensively in North Wales.
Today the mining of Welsh coal has all but disappeared, but the language continues to be spoken reasonably widely as a second language.Slide15
VIDEO
A look
at Wales:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOv6qwIandkSlide16
National symbols
1) What is the flag of Wales?
2) Who was Saint David?
3) Who is the current Prince of Wales?Slide17
Flag of WalesSlide18
Saint David
Welsh Bishop
The most famous story about Saint David tells how he was preaching to a huge crowd and the ground is said to have risen up, so that he was standing on a hill and everyone had a better chance of hearing him.
David believed that monks should live simply, and he prescribed a harsh life for his followers.
They rose at dawn for prayer, and then worked in the monastery and the fields around it. David would not allow them to make animals work for them, but made them pull the plough themselves, saying, "every man his own ox.“
They had a spare diet, too, eating only vegetables and bread, and having only milk and water to drink.Slide19
Remembering Saint David
The example of his life, and the modernity of his most famous saying - that we should concentrate on "doing the little things in God's presence with conscientiousness and devotion," make St David a figure with a contemporary appeal.
Today, the people of Wales celebrate Saint David’s Life with festivals and feasts. They wear daffodils or leeks as symbols of Saint David.Slide20
Prince of WalesSlide21
Modern Wales
In May 1997, a
Labour
government was elected with a promise of creating devolved institutions in Scotland and Wales.
In late 1997 a referendum was held on the issue which resulted a "yes" vote.
The Welsh Assembly was set up in 1999 (as a consequence of the Government of Wales Act 1998) and possesses the power to determine how the government budget for Wales is spent and administered.Slide22
Politics
What is Plaid
Cymru
?Slide23
Plaid
Cymru
Plaid
Cymru's
goals as set out in its constitution are:
To promote the constitutional advancement of Wales with a view to attaining independence within the European Union;
To create a bilingual society by promoting the revival of the Welsh language;
To promote Wales's contribution to the global community and to attain membership of the United Nations.Slide24
Part II: Northern IrelandSlide25
Northern Ireland
1) What do you know about Northern Ireland?
2) What do you know about Irish culture?Slide26
Before there was Northern Ireland…Slide27
There was ‘Ireland’Slide28
A brief history
Ireland has a long, often bloody and tragic history.
Ireland was first settled around the year 8000 BC, when hunter-gatherers came from Great Britain and Europe, possibly by land bridge. They lived by hunting and fishing for about four thousand years. Around 4000 BC they began to farm, and the old hunter-gatherer lifestyle gradually died out. Slide29
A brief history
The descendants of these original settlers built burial mounds and impressive monuments such as Ireland’s most famous prehistoric site,
Newgrange
.
Newgrange
is a stone tomb dated to sometime before 3000 BC: older than the pyramids in Egypt.
Early Irish society was organized into a number of kingdoms, with a rich culture, a learned upper class, and artisans who created elaborate and beautiful metalwork with bronze, iron, and gold.Slide30
A brief history
Irish society was pagan for thousands of years.
This changed in the early fifth century AD, when Christian missionaries, including the legendary St. Patrick, arrived. Christianity replaced the old pagan religions by the year 600.
The early monks introduced the Roman alphabet to what had been largely an oral culture. They wrote down part of the rich collection of traditional stories, legends and mythology that might have otherwise been lost. Slide31
Research & Discuss
1) Who was Saint Patrick?
2) How is he remembered by the Irish? (e.g. festivals, special events)
3) What are some customs associated with remembering Saint Patrick?Slide32
A brief history
Two centuries later, from the early ninth century AD, Vikings invaded Ireland. These attacks went on for over 100 years.
At first the Vikings raided monasteries and villages. Eventually, they built settlements on the island, many of which grew into important towns.
Irish cities founded by the Viking invaders include Dublin, the capital city of the Republic of Ireland, as well as Limerick, Cork, and Wexford.
Irish society eventually assimilated the descendants of the Vikings. Slide33
A brief history
The year 1169 saw another invasion that had severe consequences for the island. An invasion of Norman mercenaries marked the beginning of more than seven centuries of Norman and English rule in Ireland.
The Norman/English control over Ireland was expanded until the beginning of the 13th century, when the new rulers began to be assimilated into Irish society, as had the Vikings before them.
Important date! (
When did the Norman’s invade England?
)Slide34
Religion
1) What was the ‘Reformation’?
2) Who were the leaders of the Reformation?
3) What change did the Reformation movement seek?Slide35
A brief history
The Reformation brought this time of relative peace to a brutal end.
Beginning in 1534, military campaigns put down Irish chiefs who would not submit to the English king. People were massacred.
A policy of “plantations” began: land was confiscated from Catholic Irish landowners, and given to Protestant settlers from England and Scotland.
During the next century and a half, Catholic Ireland was conquered, and religion became a source of division and strife, a role it held until recent times. Slide36
A brief history
During the 18th century, many laws were passed that discriminated against Catholics.
The native Gaelic language was banned in schools. By 1778, only five percent of the land was owned by Catholics.
In 1801, the Irish parliament was abolished and Ireland became part of “the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland”. Catholics could not hold parliamentary office until 1829. Slide37
A brief history
Poverty was widespread.
For many Irish, potatoes were the most important food. In 1845, disaster struck: the potato blight. This disease destroyed much of the potato crop for the next few years.
The cause of the blight was not immediately understood, and the English rulers did little to help the situation.
About a million people died of starvation or disease.
Another million emigrated to escape poverty and starvation. Because of the potato blight, the population of Ireland fell from more than eight million in 1841 to about six million in 1852.
The population continued to decline more slowly until the second half of the 20th century.Slide38
Research
1) What is ‘Home Rule’?
2) What was the Easter Uprising?Slide39
A brief history
Efforts to gain home rule and improve the condition of the people went on during the 19th century.
There were movements for land reform and movements to make Gaelic the official language of Ireland once again.
There was strong Protestant opposition to these demands.
By 1900, civil war loomed.
The Home Rule act was passed in 1914, which would have given Ireland some autonomy, but it was
suspended
when the first world war started. Slide40
A brief history
There was an uprising on Easter Day, April 24, in 1916.
The Easter Uprising failed to spread beyond Dublin, and the leaders were arrested and executed.
Their brutal treatment tipped public opinion in favor of independence. The Irish War of Independence began in 1919 and continued until 1921. Slide41
A brief history
In 1922, the southern 26 counties of Ireland
seceded
from the United Kingdom.
The new country called itself the Irish Free State.
Gaelic was restored as the official national language, together with English.
Ties with Great Britain were cut in 1948.
The country became known as the Republic of Ireland.
The other six counties in the north of the Ireland, called Northern Ireland, remained part of the UK, which they still are today. Slide42
Research
1) What was ‘the Troubles’?
2) What was ‘Bloody Sunday’?Slide43
A brief history
This did not end the conflict.
There was sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland, between Nationalists, largely Catholics, who wanted Northern Ireland to unite with the Irish Republic, and the Unionists, mostly Protestants, who were loyal to Great Britain.
This unrest exploded violently in the late 1960s, a time called the Troubles.
It did not end until 1998, when a peace agreement was signed. Slide44
Research
1) What was the name of the 1998 peace treaty?
2) Who was prime minister at that time?
Timeline of the conflict:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/northernireland/11610345/Timeline-of-Northern-Ireland-Troubles-from-conflict-to-peace-process.htmlSlide45
Irish culture today
Due to large-scale emigration from Ireland, Irish culture has a global reach and festivals such as Saint Patrick's Day, Halloween, are celebrated all over the world.
Irish culture has to some degree been inherited and modified by the Irish Diaspora, which in turn has influenced the home country.Slide46
St. Patrick’s daySlide47
Food Culture
In tandem with these developments, the last quarter of the century saw the emergence of a new Irish cuisine based on traditional ingredients handled in new ways.
This cuisine is based on fresh vegetables, fish, especially
salmon
and
trout
,
oysters
and other shellfish, traditional
soda bread
, the wide range of hand-made cheeses that are now being made across the country, and, of course, the potato. Traditional dishes, such as the
Irish stew
, Dublin
coddle
, the
Irish breakfast
and
potato bread
, have enjoyed a resurgence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kagGfHf1n9oSlide48
Pub Culture
Pub culture pervades Irish society, across all cultural divides. The term refers to the Irish habit of frequenting
public houses
(pubs) or bars.
Traditional pub culture is concerned with more than just drinking. Typically pubs are important meeting places, where people can gather and meet their
neighbours
and friends in a relaxed atmosphere; similar to the cafe cultures of other countries.
Pubs vary widely according to the clientele they serve, and the area they are in. Best known, and loved amongst tourists is the traditional pub, with its
traditional Irish music
(or "
trad
music"), tavern-like warmness, and memorabilia filling it. Often such pubs will also serve food, particularly during the day.Slide49Slide50
Political cultureSlide51
Reflection & Discussion
1) What are three examples of Welsh culture discussed in the lecture. Explain them briefly.
2) The history of Ireland is a history filled with invasion, war and violence. Give three examples of invasion, war and violence discussed in the lecture.
3) Does Northern Ireland’s culture differ from the Republic of Ireland? If so, how?