Will's St. Patrick's Day Spectacular

Or, How I Accidently Learned a Tonne about the Troubles while researching World War 1990: Thatcher's War.  

For Ulster I have come! [You just had to, didn't you. You just had to-Ed] What do you care, love? You're from Liverpool. And, yes. Yes we had too. Recall that on our mum's side we're descended from a long line of bible thumping Scotch-Irish Presbyterians who got a land grant from Orange Billy after the Battle of the Boyne. Our maternal grandfather, from whom we get our middle name, told our mother to always wear orange on St. Patrick's Day. And so we have....so we have...

Before our wee Thatcher's War research program begun last summer, we really didn't know too much about the Troubles. Growing up, Northern Ireland was in the news periodically and we knew a few people, who, shall we say had opinions on the matter. We formed our own opinions from pop culture encounters, a PJ O'Rourke article, a few movies, maybe a 60 Minutes report. We noticed an Irish habit of wallowing in the conflict and the history (English hung me grandfather, they did). This blog has been lambasting said wallowing for a decade.*

We used to think the Troubles were about the six counties in Ulster being part of the UK. To us this made the matter a rather territorial dispute, like Argentina claiming the Falklands or Slobovia claiming sovereignty over Slobovians living in Whogivesadamnia. 

But there's always been more to the Troubles then mere territory. We're almost embarrassed that we didn't realize this, but hundreds of thousands of Catholics in Northern Ireland were second class citizens to the Protestant majority. This makes the Troubles at least partly a Civil Rights issue. In that context the raw nerves and grudges make a lot more sense. And the Troubles began when Protestants in Derry rioted, didn't they? Something else we were shocked to learn. 

We can't believe we're writing this, but we loath the IRA and Sinn Fein a lot less than we used to. Hey idiots, we didn't say we support the IRA and Sinn Fein, we said we loath them less than we used to. To put it another way, we've come to understand their point of view. 'Oh, that makes a lot of sense, then,' we've said a few times. 

What else can we say? We've learned more than we ever wanted to know about the various terrorist organizations running around Northern Ireland in the 80's and 90's. By 1990 the IRA was also a vast criminal organization robbing banks and kidnapping people to raise money. The various Ulster groups were begun in self-defense but developed a nihilist streak in which killing any old Catholic would do. A lovely lot they were. Just lovely. 

Notes, Thatcher's War...why are readers picking up a book about Ireland and reading about the Kremlin, the White House, doings in Central America and the Carribean, Jugosalvia, Iraq? [Because you have to lay the groundwork for World War 1990: Esercito Italiano, World War 1990: Saddam's War, World War 1990: The Managua Campaign... you Knobhead-Ed]. We dunno, man... We have to figure out if we're using Derry, or Londonderry. This is kind of a big deal. [Are you Loyalist, or aren't you?-Ed]

Notes, Irish miscellany...We're having corned beef and cabbage tonight...no we aren't having a pint as we'll be on dance-taxi duty...Of course we're flying our Northern Ireland flag....For God and Ulster I have come, or if one prefers, 'Never! Never! Never! Never to Popery and Priestcraft shall we succumb. We remain and always will be a Loyalist. [Please, you tried for years to convert to Irish-Ed].

Below a St. Patrick's day (not) Monday Metal:

*We lambast Jews even more for wallowing in the Holocaust.