ABSTRACT
The strength and endurance of the nationalist tradition in Ireland gives that country its distinctive place in the history of the British Isles. Nationalism was therefore a political response to ‘internal colonisation’; and the ethnic identity of the periphery provides a basis for the movement of resistance. It would be inappropriate here to discuss the defects of these theories in explaining the general phenomenon of nationalism; but their application to the case of Ireland requires investigation. Nationalism in Ireland flourished after the land question was settled in 1903, and settled in favour of the periphery ‘ethnic’ group. Theories of nationalism of the social scientific type do not take account of the multiple and varied nature of human experience, of the rich variety of the nationalist tradition in Ireland. By the beginning of the early modern period Ireland was a hotchpotch of races and cultures; but although there was, much cultural, linguistic and social interchange based on national origin, remained.
