Delivering the History curriculum through Ireland

Year 9
A World Study after 1900

Why has Irish history been

interpreted so differently?
Jordan s Michael Collins
by
Peter Agnew
Elton High School
Bury
Neil Jordan directs Liam Neeson in the surrender of Dublin Castle

Bury Pilot Scheme

Bury Education Department

Ireland in Schools

Contents
About this enquiry

What Irish children learned in their History lessons

Sources

Films as interpretations of history

Memories of Irish history: the potato famine of 1846

Remembering the Easter Rising, 1916

Why is Bloody Sunday so famous

10

How similar are the IRA and the UVF

12

End of unit evaluation

14

About this enquiry

A World Study after 1900
This enquiry uses the film Michael Collins as way of probing how Irish History can be, and is, interpreted in
so many different ways. (There is a very helpful critique of the film in Framing History. Neil Jordan s Michael
Collins by Luke Gibbons in History Ireland, Spring 1997, 47-51.)
It is part of the Year 9 Scheme of Work on a World Study after 1900. It follows the general pattern of the
History curriculum at Key Stage 3 at Elton High School which revolves around a series of main enquiries or key
questions.
The Year 9 scheme of work, a World Study after 1900, is arguably the most important unit in Key Stage 3 and
we have chosen to frame it loosely around a quest to see how the twentieth century should be interpreted.
There are nine main enquiries, including the Irish unit:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Was the Edwardian Age Golden?

Why was the Battle of the Somme so important in History?
Why has Irish History been interpreted so differently?
How did Hitler come to power?
Why was there a Second World War?
How was the Second World War fought and won?
How should the Holocaust be remembered?
Did America win the Cold War?
Should the twentieth century be called the Century of Human Rights ?

Where the Scheme of Work fits in

These enquiries come after the National Curriculum study unit 12, Britain 1750-1900. Students will have looked
at the growth of trade and industry in the nineteenth century and the most recent enquiry considered whether
Britain had become a fairer society in the nineteenth century. The study on extending the franchise in the
nineteenth century feeds directly to the work on Suffragettes.
In future, the inclusion of the Irish Famine in the study of Britain 1750-1900, will help students understand more
readily the issues involved in the Irish drive for independence.
Links
In the scheme of work as a whole, the literacy opportunities and links with numeracy, ICT, citizenship and other
subjects are many. The richness of the Irish sources and the range of issues raised by conflict within Ireland
and the clash between Irish nationalism and British imperialism enhances such opportunities.
Time
The Irish unit occupies three of the thirty weeks devoted to the World Study after 1900, which gives three lesson
each of seventy minutes.
The requires tight organisation and time management, which is managed by devoting each lesson to clearly
defined questions, as outlined in the table below.
Students have enjoyed working on Ireland so much that the study of Ireland in being extended in the earlier
years.

Agnew, Michael Collins (Yr 9), page 1

Week

Key questions & skills

Learning outcomes

Teaching strategies

Possible homework

Why has Irish History been interpreted so

differently?
Why was there such a furore over the film
Michael Collins ? Why are there two
different views of what happened in Ireland
before 1916?
Skills involved: understanding where
different interpretations arrive from. Making
deductions.
Linking causes.

Pupils will be able to understand and use key

vocabulary including: Interpretations,
Nationalist, Unionist, Fenian, Rebellion,
Home Rule.
Pupils will be able to show why there are
more Unionists living in the North of Ireland
and what grounds Irish people like Collins
had for wanting to break away from British
control in the early 1900s.

Look at Modern Minds p. 42 with the pupils. Try to get them to answer the
question; What sort of man was Michael Collins? Support with clip from
film which shows IRA violence. Pupils should be confused... They need
the background. Introduce blurb from Warner Bros. (OHT) Try reading
this in different voices. This should show the contentious nature of the film
as interpretation.
The second part of the lesson is aimed at showing why two young people,
both born and brought up in Ireland, could have very different views on
Irish History. There is a special w/s for this.
To conclude this week s work, pupils should finish the table on p45 of
MM. (Less able groups could have the left hand column filled in before
hand.)

Worksheet on the Irish

Potato famine. Pupils
have to produce a flow
chart showing the causes
and consequences of the
famine.

Words

Interpretations, Nationalist, Unionist, Fenian, Rebellion, Home Rule.

Why was there an Easter Rising of 1916?

How has the Easter Rising been
remembered?
How significant was the Easter Rising? Who
were the Heroes in the War of Independence?
Does the Michael Collins film excuse his
violence during the war?
Skills involved: as week 1 plus
understanding how different interpretations
result in myths.
Forming judgements and substantiating them.

Pupils should be able to use long and

short-term factors to explain why there was a
rising in 1916. They should be able to
describe the bias of the film clips of the
Rising and the War (namely Bloody Sunday)
in order to shape their understanding of
Collins role. They should be able to argue
both for placing a high and low degree of
SIGNIFICANCE on the Easter Rising. They
should be able to explain why both events
have been interpreted differently by
Unionists and Nationalists.

Pupils to be given several statistics about the Rising together with statistics
about the Battle of the Somme. Which was more momentous? The
difficulty in ascribing significance can be emphasised by contrasting the
time given over to the Rising by Michael Collins film and the film: Rebel
Heart. There is a w/s on Bloody Sunday investigating how it has been
remembered.
The next section of the lesson could be spent watching one or two clips
from the Michael Collins film, analysing the way that the director builds
up a sympathetic portrait of Collins. This can lead to an extension of the
previous week s work looking at how different communities have regarded
both the rising and the war.

The other Bloody

Sunday Can be set as a
HW to contrast with the
1920 one. More able
pupils can research this
on the internet, but others
can be given a collection
of sources and be asked
to sort them out in to
evidence of the event
and later interpretations
e.g U2 song

Words

Retribution, Bias.

How has Ireland s bloody past affected life

for people in Ireland today?
What causes violence in Northern Ireland
today?
How has History been remembered by
different communities in Ulster.
Skills involved: inference from pictorial
sources.
Interpretations of history Linking Key
Features together, understanding why the
Troubles started in the 1960 (more able).

All pupils will be able to give some reasons

why Protestant and Catholic communities in
Ulster live separate lives. All will be able to
show why murals in the different
communities choose to depict different
events from History. Some pupils will have
progressed further and will be able to show
similar reasons for people from both
communities to become involved in violence
and terrorism. Most pupils should be able to
explore ways forward in N. Ireland.

Using the two videos from Mr Monk s collection (LOYALISTS and

PROVOS) pupils should record separately in a table the reasons the
terrorists interviewed give for their involvement in terrorist acts.
LITERACY work can focus on grouping these different reasons under
headings. There is a w/s for the less able allowing these ideas to be
attached to the IRA or UVF in speech bubbles. The next stage is to
examine a series of murals in N. Ireland (2 good ones in MM but PA has
OHTs of others) before asking pupils to explain the message of each one.
Finally. a brainstorm of possible solutions to the problems can be made
more interesting by dividing the class into two and giving each side
opinion cards for the Protestant and Catholic community members and
asking them to comment on the solutions that the teacher proposes.

Design a Peace mural.

Revise for a simple test
on what pupils have
learned in this unit on
Ireland.

Words

IRA, UVF

Agnew, Michael Collins (Yr 9), page 2

What Irish children learned in their history lessons

In 1916, a group of Irish Nationalists tried to take over control of their country from the British. Up to that time,
the whole of Ireland was part of the British Empire and was run by the British Government in London. The
Nationalists wanted Ireland to be an independent country run by the Irish. Another group of people who lived
in Ireland wanted Ireland to remain part of the British Empire. They liked the UNION Ireland had with Britain.
They called themselves the Unionists.
Your task
Read the introductions of the two people here. Both were at school in Ireland in 1904 and were in Year 9. They
were in different schools of course. They are both being told the facts of Irish History. In their own exercise
books they write down their opinions of these facts.

Beatrice Stuart
UNIONIST

Michael Collins
NATIONALIST

Beatrice came from a rich farming

family in Antrim in Northern
Ireland. Her family had originally
come from Scotland and been
given the land hundreds of years
ago by Queen Elizabeth I.
Beatrice s family were Protestant
as were all her friends.

Came from a poor farming family

in Cork in south Ireland. His
family were Catholic and he was
taught by a Nationalist teacher.
He felt the British had invaded
and used the Irish and that they
had no right to rule Ireland.

In the 1530s, the English did a

terrible because
.....................................................
.....................................................
.....................................................
.....................................................

Queen Elizabeth had no right to

do what she did all those years
ago because
.....................................................
.....................................................
.....................................................
.....................................................

Lesson 1
England tried to make the Irish
follow English customs in the
1530s, because they did not
want Irish Catholics to rebel
against them. Ireland was all
Catholic at this time.

Lesson 2
Irish Catholic lords rebel against
English rule in the 1590s.
Elizabeth does not want the
Spanish to use Ireland as a way
of attacking England. Elizabeth
takes land away from Irish
Catholics and gives it to Scottish
Protestants. Some of the best
farmland goes to these new
landowners, under the rule of a
few Protestants.

Agnew, Michael Collins (Yr 9), page 3

It s a good thing the English did

this because
.....................................................
.....................................................
.....................................................
.....................................................

It s no wonder that Elizabeth

gave land to my ancestors from
Scotland because
.....................................................
.....................................................
.....................................................
.....................................................

Beatrice Stuart
UNIONIST

Michael Collins
NATIONALIST
Cromwell was a cold blooded
murderer because
.....................................................
.....................................................
.....................................................
.....................................................
William of Orange was no hero
because he
.....................................................
.....................................................
.....................................................
.....................................................

The British were treating the

Irish ..................... at this time
because
.....................................................
.....................................................
.....................................................
.....................................................

The poor Irish tenants have been

treated unfairly because
.....................................................
.....................................................
.....................................................
.....................................................

I wish we has Home Rule

because
.....................................................
.....................................................
.....................................................
.....................................................

Lesson 3
In 1649, after the English Civil
War, the Irish Catholics
rebelled. Oliver Cromwell led
an army over from England to
stop the rebellion. In the town
of Drogheda, 3000 Irish people
were killed. Later in 1690, the
Protestant king of England,
William of Orange defeated an
Irish army of rebels led by a
Catholic ex king of England.

Lesson 4
After 1800, the Irish were able
to vote for Protestant Members
of Parliament to go to London.
In 1829, Catholics were
allowed to become MPs There
was to be no parliament in
Ireland however.
Lesson 5
In the 1800s, most of the land
was owned by Protestants.
When the Catholic tenant
farmers could not pay their
rent, they were evicted by their
landlords. This situation had got
a little better by 1900, but by
that time there were many Irish
MPs who wanted Ireland to
have it s own parliament
(Home Rule). The British
government were worried
about a group of extreme
nationalists called FENIANS.
The Fenians had tried to take
over Ireland by force in 1867.
The British government did not
want to give in to Home Rule.

Agnew, Michael Collins (Yr 9), page 4

These Catholics just don t learn.

Cromwell had every right to
.....................................................
.....................................................
.....................................................
.....................................................
If it were not for William of
Orange, we Protestants would
have
.....................................................
.....................................................
.....................................................
.....................................................

1829 was a very worrying year

for my ancestors
.....................................................
.....................................................
.....................................................
.....................................................

I think that the British

government has every right to be
strict with Ireland and not to
allow Home Rule because
.....................................................
.....................................................
.....................................................
.....................................................

Sources
A. A British cartoon of an Irish nationalist
(republican), December 1867

B. Map showing those parts of Ireland which

were given to English and Scottish settlers

THE FENIAN GUY FAWKES

The cartoon was published in the satirical magazine,
Punch, 28 December 1867, at the time of a Fenian
rising in Ireland and a bombing campaign in England.

Plantation was adopted by the Tudors and Stuarts to

civilize and control Ireland and to provide an outlet for
the surplus population of England and Scotland.

C. A Protestant description of what Catholic

Irish people did when they rebelled in 1641

D. A description of what Oliver Cromwell s

soldiers did at Drogheda in 1649

The soldiers threw down their arms

on an offer of quarter. The enemy
entered the Mill Mount without
resistance. They put every soldier to
the sword and all the citizens who
were Irish, man, woman and child.

The inscription reads They have set men and women on

hot gridirons to make them confess where their money
was.

This was written by the Earl of Clarendon in 1668-70.

He was in France with Charles I s son at the time of the
Irish rebellion. He was a friend of the Duke of Ormond,
the Protestant commander of the Royalist army which
fought Cromwell.

Agnew, Michael Collins (Yr 9), page 5

Films as interpretations of history

Michael Collins

This controversial film charts the life of the founder of the IRA.
Does it make him look glamorous?
Clip number 1
Michael Collins taking files from the archive in the castle and then demanding files on British soldiers.
This clip makes paramilitary activity look .....................
Clip number 2
English soldiers open fire on the public.
This clip makes the English soldiers look .....................
Clip number 3
A maid steals papers from the bin of the chief of secret police.
This clip makes terrorism look .....................
Clip number 4
Collins and the IRA volunteers in the warehouse.
This makes terrorism look .....................
Clip number 5
The clerk who let Collins into the castle is hanged.
This clip makes the Protestants look .....................
Clip number 6
The murder of the chief of secret police.
This makes paramilitary activity look .....................
Clip number 7
Collins being romantic.
This makes Collins look .....................
Overall I think Michael Collins in this film is shown as being .....................
Overall the film makes terrorism look .....................
Many critics have said that the film is not historically accurate. Some say it distorts history and makes a
murderer look glamorous. This part of history is still very sensitive as the relatives of the victims are still alive.
Indeed people are still dying.
Should this film be banned because it is offensive to those who have lost relatives at the hands of the IRA?
Explain whether you agree with this point of view using details from the film to back up your argument.

Agnew, Michael Collins (Yr 9), page 6

Memories of Irish history

The potato famine of 1846

(A famine is when a large number of people starve to death)

In the first part of the 19th century, Ireland s population was rising fast. This was
despite the fact that most of the Catholic Irish were tenants who lived on poor
farmland. They had lived on poor farmland ever since British Protestant
landowners had taken over their land in the 1600s. The Irish were able to have
large families however, because these poor farmers lived almost entirely on
potatoes, and a field of potatoes produces a lot of food. The Protestant landowners
encouraged their tenants to grow potatoes.
Ireland s farmers also grew corn, but this was paid as rent to the Protestant
landlords, so the Irish people were forced to live on potatoes. In 1846, disaster
struck. The potato crop caught a disease and failed all over Ireland. Thousands of
Irish people began to starve. Many were forced to eat their corn which they were A drawing of
saving to pay the landlord. Without corn to pay as rent, thousands of Irish farmers printed in the
were EVICTED from their farms. The WORKHOUSES of Ireland were unable toNews in 1846.
cope with the thousands of homeless and starving people.

starving children,
Illustrated London

The scale of the famine shocked many people in Britain. However, the price of corn in Britain was so high, that
the government could not buy enough to give to the Irish. Even after the government finally brought the price
of corn down and sent it to Ireland, it was too late for many.
Over ONE MILLION Irish people starved to death in the famine. Many more lost their homes and farms is they
became evicted from the land. Over a million Irish decided that the only way out of their misery vas to
EMIGRATE abroad. About 75% went to the USA, but others went to live in English cities like Liverpool and
London.
Tasks
1.

Put the title The Irish famine of 1846 in your books along with today s date and underline it.

2.

Your first task is to make a diagram to show the causes and effects of the famine. In your book copy his
diagram. Then in the bubbles on the left, write down the causes. Use the ideas box to choose causes n
the bubbles on the right, write down the effects. Use the ideas box to choose effects

Causes

Effects

The Irish
Potato Famine
of 1846

IDEAS BOX
Over a million people died. Many Irish people could only afford to eat potatoes. Thousands
of Irish people were evicted from their homes. A disease struck the potato crop in 1846.
Over a million Irish emigrated. Many Irish farmers had to farm poor quality land.

Agnew, Michael Collins (Yr 9), page 7

3.

Now you have completed your diagram, label the causes LONG TERM or SHORT TERM. The
Long Term Causes are the causes which had been making things tough for the Irish for years
before the famine. The Short Term Causes are the things that sparked off the famine.

4.

Look at the picture of the starving children on the first page. Do you think the artist wanted the
readers of the newspaper in London to feel sorry for the Irish OR to hate the Irish? Explain your
answer.

5.

Look at the picture at the foot of this page. It shows a family being thrown out of their house after
the famine because they cannot pay their rent. DESCRIBE what you can see happening at (a) ,
(b), (c), (d), (e).

6.

Read this source. It was written by an Irish Nationalist in the 1860s.

A people whose lands and lives are owned by others are very unsafe. The Irish famine
of 1846 showed this. The corn crops were enough to feed everybody, but the landlords
would have their rents in spite of the famine. They took the whole harvest and left
hunger to those who raised it. If the people of Ireland had been the landlords of
Ireland, not a single human creature would have died of hunger.

Who does this author blame for the famine? Explain your answer.
7.

Why might memories of the famine make cause disagreement between Irish Nationalists and Irish
Protestant Unionists?

A
B

Agnew, Michael Collins (Yr 9), page 8

Remembering the Easter Rising, 1916

Extract from the Irish Independent newspaper printed on the fiftieth anniversary of the Rising in 1966.

DUBLIN FLAMES KINDLED A NATION S SPIRIT

Fifty years ago in Dublin, seven men with a dream led out a small army
of Irishmen and women - that Ireland might be free. The dream was an
age-old one,
THE DREAM
The dream of a free Ireland, obeying no other authority except her own;
a Republic in which the Irish people would resume their rightful heritage
as owners and rulers of the land.
This was the dream of Pearse, Connolly, Clarke, Plunkett, MacDonagh,
McDermott and Ceannt. By force of arms they set out to make reality of
the dream. After their fight and their deaths things were never the same
again in Ireland. The nation had been set upon a road on which there
could be no turning back. Ireland could never again be cheated.
During the Rising, the leaders printed a PROCLAMATION, which set
out Ireland s RIGHT to be a free country.
We declare the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership
of Ireland, and to ... the control of Ireland s future, to be
sovereign and indefeasible (true) .
The long usurpation of that right by a foreign people and
government has not extinguished the right, nor can it ever be
extinguished except by the destruction of the Irish people.
This Proclamation was signed in blood by the seven leaders of the
Rising. Scores of others also sacrificed their lives for it, hundreds more
suffered imprisonment and internment, thousands forfeited freedom,
comfort and careers to carry its term into effect.
Are we today fully mindful of what occurred in that Easter Week of
1916? Have we forgotten the dream for which these men died?

Agnew, Michael Collins (Yr 9), page 9

Why is Bloody Sunday so famous?

You are now going to study another Bloody Sunday. This one took place in Londonderry in
Northern Ireland in 1972.
The background
After 1921, most of Ireland became independent and the British pulled out. Michael Collins
and his fellow nationalists had won a famous victory!
However, the North of Ireland remained part of the UK. This was because
there were many Protestant Unionists living in Northern Ireland who did not
want to become part of an Ireland ruled by mainly Catholic nationalists.
For the Catholics living in Northern Ireland,
life was tough. Protestant people tended to
have the best jobs and houses. They even
controlled most of the town councils and the
police.
In the late 1960s, the Catholics in Northern
Ireland started to campaign for-more rights.
They went on marches and sometimes rioted.
Many joined the IRA to use violence to get
what they wanted. The British sent more soldiers to Northern Ireland, but this
did not stop the Catholics from protesting.
On 30 January 1972, a huge march took place in Londonderry. The British army
had banned the march because they thought that the IRA would cause trouble and
kill people.

Catholic housing in Londonderry, Northern

Ireland

What happened?
As the crowd marched from the Catholic housing estate of the Bogside towards the city centre, they came up
against army barricades. Shots rang out, people started screaming and in a short time 13 people lay dead, killed
by army bullets. Seven of the dead were under 18 years old.
Questions
1.

Put the title, Why is Bloody Sunday so famous in your exercise book and underline it.

2.

Look at the two accounts of what happened. One was written by a Catholic priest who was on the march
and one was written by the British government investigation into what happened.
Which one is which? Start your answer like this:
It was a massacre. I saw no shooting at
the troops. I only saw army shooting.
The British army should hang it s head
in shame after today s disgusting
violence. They shot indiscriminately and
everywhere around them without any
provocation.

There was no breakdown in army

discipline ... soldiers who identified
armed IRA gunmen fired upon them in
accordance with their orders. Each
soldier was his own judge of whether he
had identified a gunman.

Agnew, Michael Collins (Yr 9), page 10

3.

This poster was produced by Sinn Fein (the Catholic Nationalist Republican - political party) in 1986.
a. Why are the words Shot on Sight written over the coffins?
b. Why do you think Sinn Fein want people to remember Bloody
Sunday even 11 years after the event?

4.

The poster below was made in 1997. It is advertising a march in

Londonderry to remember Bloody Sunday.
a. Why does the poster show dove s feathers fluttering down?
b. Does this poster want us to remember Bloody Sunday in the same
way as the first poster?

5.

Look at the picture of the girl carrying flowers at the top of this
worksheet. This picture was taken in 2000 on a march to remember
Bloody Sunday. This girl is younger than you and was not around in
1972. Why then do you think she was taking part in this march?

6.

CHOOSE ONE OF THE NEXT TWO QUESTIONS

Either
a. Now you have looked at the Bloody Sunday of 21 November 1920 and the Bloody Sunday of 30
January 1972, how similar do you think both events are?
or
b. Do you think it is a good idea to remember events like Bloody Sunday in marches every year?

B
Agnew, Michael Collins (Yr 9), page 11

How similar are the IRA and the UVF?

Name: ............................

As you learned last week, when Ireland achieved independence from Britain in 1921, the North of Ireland
continued to be ruled by Britain. 66% of the people in the North are Protestants. They are afraid that if their
part of Ireland lost its links with Britain and became ruled by the south, their way of life would disappear. 34%
of the people in the North of Ireland are Catholic. Most of them are nationalists and they want the North of
Ireland to become part of the south.
In the late 1960s, trouble began between the Catholics and the Protestants of Northern Ireland. Two paramilitary
organisations were set up to fight for what each side wanted. The Irish Republican Army (IRA) tried to continue
what Collins had done earlier in the century. The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) fought to keep Ulster British.
Task
Look at these two people. They are both paramilitaries. Since they use terror and killing to get what they want,
they are often called terrorists. However, they would not admit to being terrorists. They think that they are
FREEDOM FIGHTERS. Use a pencil to shade in the motives bubbles. These show the reasons why they take
part in paramilitary activities. Then underline the actions bubbles. These show what they do. Now join each
bubble to the correct person. Some bubbles can go to both people.
An IRA member. 25 years
old. Lives in the Bogside
area of Londonderry
(Catholic)

My friend s brother was killed by British troops on Bloody

Sunday.
For hundreds of years, my people have marched down
the street to celebrate the victory of King William over
the Catholic rebels. Now the British tell us we must not
march into Catholic areas.
The Catholics will destroy our way of life if they get into
power.
Michael Collins showed us; that the only way to get the
British out of Ireland is to use violence and kill soldiers.
The British government says that we must give more
power and money to Catholics. We cannot do this and
will fight them.
In 1982, the IRA prisoner, Bobby Sands starved himself
to death in prison to try and get the British out. What a
hero! I wish I could be so brave.
I will paint "Up the IRA" on a Protestant s house to scare
them and get them to leave our town.
I ve just heard that the IRA have planted a bomb in
Manchester. The murderers. Don t worry, we ll get even!
Our soldiers get treated quite well in prison. I don t
worry about getting caught. Ours is a cause worth
fighting for.
I know someone who can get me a gun. If I join our side
I can fight for our freedom and I ll be a hero.
Somebody in my street had their house burned down by
members of the UVF. When we find out who they are,
they won t walk again.

Agnew, Michael Collins (Yr 9), page 12

A member of the UVF. 25

years old. Lives in the
Shankill road area of
Belfast (Protestant)

My young brother has just painted kerbstones in our

street Red, White and Blue. The police didn t stop him.
They support us.
I went to a Protestant school. As far as I m concerned, all
Catholics are Papists (followers of the Pope) and I hate
them all.
My grandfather told me some great tales about killing
British soldiers back in 1919. This makes me feel much
better about what I do.
The Protestants have always had the best jobs and the
best land around here. It will only end when we join
with the south of Ireland.
I went into a Catholic pub the other day and shot 2 men.
I didn t feet any sympathy. I am a soldier and this is a
war. All Catholics are supporters of the IRA.
I went to a Catholic school. I don t know any Protestants.
I hate them all.
Just look at how the British treated us during the potato
famine. They left us to starve. I hate the British for that.

What were the main reasons the paramilitaries had for getting involved in killing? Give four reasons.

What should Britain do?

Here are some ideas about how to stop the violence. For each solution however, are the problems. Match each
solution with a possible problem. The first has been done for
Possible solution

Possible problem

Take all British soldiers out of Ireland. Too many have

been murdered. Leave the Catholics and Protestants
to fight it out.

If the British execute terrorists, it make them look like

martyrs (dying for a cause). Thousands of young men
might rush to join the terrorists.

Get Northern Ireland to run its own government made

up of equal numbers of Nationalists and Unionists.

War might break out between the IRA and the UVF.
The UVF will feel let down by Britain and might start
bomb attacks in British Cities.

Send more soldiers to Ireland. Bring back hanging for

any terrorist caught with guns or bombs.

This might make both sides target the British army and
government with their guns and home-made bombs.

Ban the marches by both Catholics and Protestants.

Ban the paintings on houses. These cause a lot of bad
feeling and wind each side up.

There would be a great deaf of quarrelling since

Unionists and Nationalists hate each other.

As you can see, there is no easy solution. Unless you have any ideas ....

Agnew, Michael Collins (Yr 9), page 13

End of unit evaluation

Name: ............................

Key words
Complete these sentences.
1.

A Unionist is an Irish person who wants Ireland to be ....................................................................

2.

A Nationalist is an Irish person who wants Ireland to be ....................................................................

3.

The letters IRA stand for ....................................................................

4.

Is the UVF, a Protestant or a Catholic terrorist organisation?....................................................................

Key bits of history

5.

Why is Michael Collins seen as a hero by many Catholics living in Ireland today?
....................................................................................................................................................................

6.

Why do Catholics living in the North of Ireland want people to remember what happened on Bloody
Sunday in Londonderry in 1972?
....................................................................................................................................................................

7.

Which part of Ireland is still ruled by Britain today? ....................................................................

Murals
You have seen how Catholics and Protestants use murals to remind people of their history and beliefs. Imagine
that you live in Northern Ireland. Some Catholics in your street want to paint a picture from the film, Michael
Collins, on the end wall of a house. Explain whether you think it is a good idea or a bad idea to paint a picture
showing Michael Collins as a hero.
I think you should/should not paint this picture because

Studying Northern Ireland

Why do you think it is important far us to understand what it is going on in Northern Ireland?

Agnew, Michael Collins (Yr 9), page 14