What Does It Mean To Be Irish?

I love the Irish. I have to visit the country someday.

(more, not much, swear)
Anyhoo, there was a war of independence, by the separatists, a war against the separatists by often very undisciplined crown forces, and an Ulster Unionist status quo, or even Ulster seperatist movement. It wasn't exactly going to end well.
It didn't
In 1922, the state that is now the Republic of Ireland, was granted independence(more of less) and Northern Ireland, became almost fully autonomous.
Northern Ireland had 33%(ish) catholic and the remainder Protestant of various denoms.
Contrary to the advice of the spiritual leader of Ulster Unionism, Lord Edward Carson, the Belfast government wasn't always fair with it's governing. In the South, a civil war, followed by defeat of even more severe seperatists, began an Oirish renaissance... The Roman church became ever so involved in the government, and Irishness, which was a broad and encompassing term, began to be identified with Celtic/Gaelic Catholic, so on so forth, getting trashed on paddy's day.
Ulster Protestant, mostly Scots-Irish or Anglo-Irish, it became different, naturally so.

Anyway, history being as it is, Ireland, all of it, 'race' is not so simple... Count how many Smiths there are in the Dublin phonebook, for example. Populations moved, it's the past. Northern Ireland, it's at peace now, for the first time, as representing all of those that live there. Whatever label they choose to attach to themselves, and the South, once known for it's Anti-Britishness, hardly blamable, the new local government, regularly irritated the London government, and vice versa. Blaming the british on the past was a way of life. since there was little chance of a future, it's easy to live in the past, all too easy. Not now though... With money, comes a change of heart, naturally :)
So southern Ireland is closer than ever to Britain, in spirit and it's appetite for cheap celebrity worshipping magazines, and Murdoch newspapers, and has money, even though the economy's not what it was, and Northern Ireland is taking it's first steps as a nation, within a nation, without having rebellion or persecution in it's veins.

It's easy to live in the past and adopt a complex of persecution, a poor me, whaaaaaa, if u will, but nothing changes, except dopomine levels.
It's a good time (except economy) to be Irish/Northern Irish/Ulster Scots/Anglo-Irish/British/European?/whatever
it's all about where we are, now, not living in yesterday, picking on those that are different or moaning about money (less so)

Ireland... Some of my descent is from here,
Lived here for a lil while, nice place, interesting history, interesting present...
The legacy of the 2 nations on the island, one in the UK, the other, not.
While (all of) Ireland was a kingdom in the UK, the UK was different. It was more obsessed with religion to begin with, and was the proud captain of a global empire. Most of Britain, along with northern Ireland and south Dublin was Protestant. Back then, religion was, as is still with many, tied with your nationality. It was more important then.
Also to mention, was the London government, and crown in particular, dislike of Roman Catholicism, which often was more important than national loyalty to then followers. An post-secessionist Irish PM said he was a Catholic first and Irishman second (it hurts my teeth to say that out loud)...
Then there was WWI, then a rebellion in 1916... Allies not doing so well that year, a whiff of a German sponsored rebellion in Ireland? The government overreacted, and so did the army. even though by then there was a divide between maintaining the status quo (aka Irish representatives in westminster), or a federal-esque system of Irish representatives in Dublin, dealing with island only issues. Then there were the militant Unionists, and militant separatists.
The Separatists, aka IRA were as popular and as known as the kamchatka liberation front (whether one exists, i dunno), in the sense that autonomy was the main persuasion in the south, not independence.
However, being wartime, the people of dublin, only a few years earlier, having lined the streets of Kingstown (the city port) to welcome the king, with Union flags, all the way to Dublin, were now throwing rotten fruit, amonst other things. Mainly for disrespecting the many of them with sons and fathers in the war, and also for the rebels choosing of the recently renovated post office as their HQ, the post office was then destroyed (but restored later)...
The less than restrained Army, wasn't too choosy about who it beat, or executed, needless to say that put many people out. Had this been in peacetime, it would have been different, but the circumstances were as they were.

Please leave BROOKLYN out of it.. First of all The late GREAT IRA MAN himself George Harrison lived in Brooklyn. I hope Toibin puts him in his book.. When ever a unionist leaves Northern Ireland He is called a paddy. Why? Ireland = Irish Scots =Scottland Whales = Welch England = English Nothern Ireland = British ? The unionist live in a state of Denial not Northern Ireland......................

it is easy to to be irish if your home isn't in nortern ireland but i did live there until i was forced to leave. i have been back many times since the good friday agreement and nothing has changed. it may be illegal to discriminate on faith but it still goes on also the mafia type thugs are still there on both sides and no one is doing anything to stop it. mr trimble may associate with famous irish authers and not question their beliefs but he would not walk down the street with a catholic he once belonged to the party who forced catholics from their homes and and never condemmed the murder of catholics throughout the conflict in northern ireland and he stood by as john major shafted john hume on the peace treaty.
maybe ireland is european but the irish people should always be proud of their heritage.

it is easy for anyone who has had no experience of trying to live and work in northern ireland and be rejected because of your faith. when you have been forced out of your home as i have and forced to start all over again in a forign country then you can talk about idenity. mr. trimble may associate with famous catholic authers but he would never have taken the time to talk to a catholic person if he were to meet them in the street.

See that is the problem with Beckett, he makes a throwaway comment which is over-analysed to the point of meaninglessness. Add in a utterly irrelevant reference to Wagner and the article writes itself. Irish and European. Don't make me laugh.

Verily this article strikes me as being utter rubbish: starting with a caricature of Irish identity,it goes on to establish a near-equivalence between what one feels, what one believes, and what one is,and ends, completely deaf to the irony of Joyce and the discretion of Beckett on an optimistic note, without for one second even noticing that Ireland is an occupied territory.Absolutely deplorable to say the least !