Agents or Victims of Empire?
In this blog, Dr Brian Donovan explores several of the Irish datasets available through The Social History Archive, in the context of Ireland’s complex relationship with imperialism, as both an agent and victim of Empire.
Introduction
It is well known that Ireland’s relationship with Britain is still coloured by the long shadow of colonialism. Ireland was certainly a colony, both politically and economically, but this fact was obscured. The governing structures and institutions were ostensibly mirrored on England (both before or after the Act of Union in 1800). Likewise, the law followed closely the common law of England. Moreover, the majority of the Irish population could speak English, even before 1800, and there was plenty of cultural diffusion. However, these superficial similarities could not hide the fact that the government and legal system had excluded Catholics until emancipation in 1829 (Ireland, Catholic Qualification & Convert Rolls 1701-1845) and never gave official recognition to indigenous culture, especially the Irish language, which remained dominant in the western half of the country. The political apparatus of the country was always subservient to the government in London. Moreover, the wealth and capital of the country, largely represented by its agricultural output, was not reinvested into the country, but instead in English industry or commercial prospects overseas facilitated by the burgeoning British Empire.
Despite this, the Irish people, especially those living in the more urbanised eastern half, were adept at leveraging what they could out of this reality. The population’s relationship to Empire and their role within it is complex. Uniquely the Irish story is both as victims and perpetrators of the British Empire. Naturally we feel more comfortable with the former than the later, but both aspects are reflected time and again in the extant documents from the past.
Ireland as an agent of Empire
There is no doubt that a sizable proportion of Irish society directly benefited from, and played a role in the creation and management of, the British Empire. The British Army was an obvious opportunity for the impoverished rural population and by 1831 40% of the British army was Irish (British Army Service Records). Irish soldiers, both enlisted men and officers, were considered particularly reliable in the regular British army and navy and the private corporate East India company army. In fact, the later was especially popular in Ireland as it lifted the bar on Catholic enlistment in the 1770s, long before the British army. They also paid more. As a consequence, there was significant Irish involvement in the bloody conquest of the Indian subcontinent, which is well reflected in the surviving military records (e.g. British India Office Army & Navy Pensions & Britain, Campaign, Gallantry & Long Service Medals & Awards). The Imperial service in India also needed administrators, and their annual directories record plenty of Irish clerks and other civil servants (British In India, Directories 1792-1959).
Back in Ireland, the wealth of Empire flowed through the markets that supplied the victuals needed by the armed forces, especially in Cork and Dublin. It also enabled the adornment of the capital and other cities with the grand public buildings which still attract tourists today (Ireland, Belfast & Ulster Directories & Ireland, Thom's Directory, 1844-1900). Even the darkest aspects of Empire had Irish beneficiaries. Irish people were involved in both the trafficking and ownership of enslaved people. When the British government finally abolished slavery in 1833, they paid compensation to hundreds of Irish enslavers (Legacies Of British Slavery 1833).
Ireland as victim of Empire
At the same time, Ireland was no normal constituent part of the United Kingdom. The elevated security apparatus of the Irish state touched every aspect of life in the country, with a trained and armed police service (Ireland, Royal Irish Constabulary Service Records 1816-1922), a network of prisons to cater for the large numbers of incarcerations (Irish Prison Registers 1790-1924) and a countrywide courts service to process the exceptionally high number of cases (Ireland, Petty Sessions Court Registers).
Despite this focus on security, and even with the countrywide establishment of a poor law system to alleviate poverty (see workhouse registers for Clare, Donegal, Dublin, Galway, Sligo & Waterford), the Dublin administration’s response to the Irish Famine (1845-52) was woefully inadequate. It led to a million deaths and drove over a million emigrations – around 20% of the population. The Ireland, Poverty Relief Loans 1821-1874 gives a glimpse into the hardships suffered by the population at that time.
Paradoxically, the success of Empire facilitated the birth of an independent Irish state. Rebellion was fostered in former British colonies (e.g. Ireland, American Fenian Brotherhood 1864-1897) which helped fund the War of Independence (Easter Rising & Ireland Under Martial Law 1916-1921).
Conclusion
British control of Ireland, its culture and language, and the British Empire were part of the fabric of everyday life for the majority of the Irish population. This blog has only touched on this complex history and the role played by Irish people as they navigated it, highlighting several datasets for academics, researchers, and students interested in exploring the nuances and complexities of Irish history and its broader relationship with the Empire.
Further reading
- Barr, Colin, Ireland's Empire: The Roman Catholic Church in the English-Speaking World, 1829–1914 (Cambridge, 2020).
- Jeffery, Keith (ed.), ‘An Irish Empire’?: Aspects of Ireland and the British Empire (Manchester, 1996).
- Kenny, Kevin (ed.), Ireland and the British Empire (Oxford, 2005).
- Ohlmeyer, Jane, Making Empire: Ireland, Imperialism, and the Early Modern World (Oxford, 2023).
Author
Dr Brian Donovan is a historian of the 16th and 17th centuries and is passionate about unearthing new sources to help recover Ireland’s complex history.