Weary patriots

Historians of Irish unionism usually begin their investigations relatively late in time; the period since the first Home Rule Bill (1886) is the focus of attention, with perhaps a backward glance at the Protestant opposition to Daniel O’Connell’s agitation for the repeal of the Union in the 1830s and 1840s. The number of books and articles dealing with the unionist struggle against home rule has grown, and shows little sign of abating. But historians of unionism might consider the work of historians of the eighteenth century, who have drawn attention to the central place of religion, and particularly Protestantism, in the making of national identity, or identities, in America, Europe and the British Isles. ‘Throughout this period,’ two historians have remarked, ‘this sense of the fundamental Protestantism of Britain and Ireland was to have far-reaching consequences.’ ¹ These same historians warn against seeing religion as the main, or only, constituent part of national identity, as providing the sole dynamic force, instead of viewing it as related to other constituent parts, such as race, constitution and language. ² A further danger lies in adopting a teleological view of religion and identity; local circumstances, historical change, social and economic developments, all play a part in mediating the impact of religion on society. And yet contingency must be balanced by the appreciation of certain traditions of thought that, as Michael Oakeshott reminds us, take their rise from political activity. Practice is prior to doctrine; and so far from a political ideology being ‘the quasi-divine parent of political activity, it turns out to be its earthly stepchild’. The search for ‘coherence’ in political ideologies is an activity of trying to ‘alter the world as it affects us into the image we think most favourable to ourselves, the one which will better satisfy our wants’: the search by a set of people ‘whom chance or choice have brought together’ to alter the world so as to suit their needs. ³ This chapter traces the attempt by a set of people in Ireland, the Protestants of Ireland, to change the world in which chance or choice placed them, which is central to the making of Protestantism in Ireland, and to its earthly stepchild, Irish unionism.