Why did Presbyterians turn on Catholics in Irish History?
During the 17th century a lot of Presbyterians were settled in Ulster, displacing Catholics. This, together with religious discrimination under British law, caused political dissent and rebellions, often involving atrocities and counter-atrocities. Presbyterians also suffered religious discrimination under British law as they didn’t belong to the (Anglican) Church of Ireland, which was the Established Church of the state. That was the basis for Wolfe Tone’s alliance with them. In 1800 the Act of Union merged the Irish parliament with the British one. The Church of Ireland was disestablished in 1837 but many Catholics still wanted the Act of Union repealed. Protestants generally favoured the Union with Britain so the political argument split along religious lines. This led to discrimination in employment etc which was controlled mainly by pro-Union British. In 1921, after a lot of fighting, the island was split into 2 parts, the south (mainly Catholic) becoming independent of Britain, w
