Ireland in WWII

German photo, Connemara

Operation Green was a plan by Nazi Germany (perhaps real; perhaps a ruse to distract the enemy) to invade Ireland. The full briefing consists of five volumes of photographs (including this one), sketches and maps, including tourist photos of the coast. The purported idea was to distract British troops, make Ireland a staging area for German troops rather than British ones, and intercept any American shipping coming to Europe. 

It is possible that this possible threat played into Britain’s decision to expend quite a bit of energy trying to get Ireland to join the Allies. Winston Churchill dangled the possibility of a free and united Ireland before then-President Éamon de Valera, but understandably de Valera questioned his sincerity.

Churchill’s efforts didn’t see fruit. The Irish Free State, as it was known then, declared a neutral stance while quietly helping the Allies. The first American soldiers to join the war landed in Ireland, and American planes were allowed to refuel at Shannon Airport. German soldiers who survived a downed plane or shipwreck were held in detention by the Irish for the duration of the war, while similar Allied soldiers were sent on their merry way to continue the fight. A tower was built near Ballyconneely in Connemara to keep a lookout for German ships. The IRA however, having been bitterly opposed to any cooperation with the British despite the Anglo-Irish treaty, toyed with support of Nazi Germany as they still considered Britain a common enemy. 

Oh, and Nazis didn’t invade Ireland as it turns out. 

The Wild Atlantic Way

Image by Bernhard from Pixabay

The Wild Atlantic Way is as untamed and beautiful as the name suggests. It is 2600 km long (1600 mi) and is one of the “longest defined coastal routes in the world” per website thewildatlanticway.com. It runs from Cork at Ireland’s south end to Derry in the north and is home to stunning cliffs, beautiful beaches, mystical lakes, wild bays and magical islands

A section of the Way runs from Galway up to Clifden, bordered by the ocean on the west and the Twelve Pins (or Bens- “Ben” from the Irish “Binn” which means “peak”) on the left. It’s in a Gaeltacht region- a place where you can still hear Irish spoken in shops and pubs. It continues from Clifden up to Westport where you can see the sacred mountain Croagh Patrick (where St. Patrick reportedly had it out with some snakes). The thousands of yearly penitents who climb the peak barefoot for their sins have caused erosion, making the climb more dangerous than heretofore.

Roundtree

Bog Cotton by Christel from Pixabay

The mountain of Errisbeg rises to almost 1,000 feet in the background of the ancient and wild Roundstone Bog. Admire the bog’s windswept beauty from the road- a bog’s a bog, after all. You may see someone cutting peat for home fires (or to flavor whiskey), or you may see bricks drying in the (intermittent) sun.

Peat bricks drying by Wälz from Pixabay

Roundstone is a charming harbor village south of Clifden known for delightful restaurants and traditional handicrafts, particularly pottery. There is also a music shop where a respected craftsman creates the traditional Irish drum called the Bodhrán (Bow-Rawn).

The Irish Renaissance

The Irish Renaissance (or Celtic Revival) was an art, handicrafts and literary movement of the early 20th century that proposed a return to Irish language, tradition and culture. It was marked by a nationalist spirit and a revival of Ireland's pride in its Gaelic heritage. It was a backlash to centuries of English oppression and suppression, from as far back as the 1367 ‘Statute of Kilkenny' which proscribed Irish language and culture for Irish inhabitants who were of the English "race".

Image by Darelle from Pixabay

The Statutes of Kilkenny was a reproof of the adoption by English settlers of Irish language, manners and customs. It forbade the "native" English from intermarriage to the Irish, adoption of Irish children and the use of the Irish language. Those assimilated English settlers who has never spoken English had to learn it or risk losing their land and possessions. Further, it mandated the separation of the English and Irish churches, insisting "no Irishman of the nations of the Irish be admitted into any cathedral or collegiate church ... amongst the English of the land".

Examples of the literature that came from the Revival include J.M. Synge's The Playboy of the Western World and James Joyce’s Ulysses. (Super bonus points if you’ve actually read that. The only works I’ve found more knobbly on the brain are by Gertrude Stein.) The poet William Butler Yeats, who co-founded The Abbey Theater (the first national theater of Ireland) won the 1923 Nobel Prize for Literature for writing poetry that gave "expression to the spirit of a whole nation."

Grace O'Malley, The Pirate Queen

Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Grace O'Malley (also known as Gráinne O'Malley, Gráinne Ní Mháille, Gráinne Mhaol and Granuaile) left a large footprint on the west of Ireland and beyond. The head of the O'Malley (or Ó Máille) dynasty, her power and influence made her the subject of lore and myth. There is little Irish documentary evidence of her life- being a woman meant she was largely written out of history by the male Irish monks who were reportedly the "saviors of civilization". Whether she was a heroine or a cutthroat thief, the facts of her ambition, fearlessness and both seafaring and political prowess are not in dispute.

O'Malley was born in Belcare Castle near Westport. She grew up in the western province of Connacht in a seafaring family that made their money fishing, trading and taxing others who fished in areas of their control, such as Clew Bay. Through marriage and conquest, she acquired several other castles in the area. The ruins of these can be found in Kildavnet Tower in Achill (aka Grace O'Malley's Towerhouse), Granuaile Castle on Clare Island, Rockfleet Castle in Clew Bay, and Doona Castle on Blacksod Bay.

During the reign of Elizabeth I, Grace O’Malley sailed up and down the west coast of Ireland with her fleet of ships, raiding as she went and building up a great deal of wealth, earning her title The Pirate Queen. A biographer described her as “a fearless leader, by land and by sea, a political pragmatist and politician, a ruthless plunderer, a mercenary, a rebel, a shrewd and able negotiator, the protective matriarch of her family and tribe, a genuine inheritor of the Mother Goddess and Warrior Queen attributes of her remote ancestors.” Grace O’Malley has been held as a personification of Ireland and has inspired poems, plays and songs (including Dead Can Dance's "Return of the She-King"). Documentary evidence for her life comes mostly from English sources.

Patrick Weston Joyce, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

In 1593, two of her sons and a half-brother were captured by the English “Lord President of Connacht”, Sir Richard Bingham, who complained that she was "nurse to all rebellions in the province for this forty years". O'Malley sailed to England to petition Queen Elizabeth for their release. O'Malley met with the Queen at Greenwich Castle, finely dressed. O'Malley refused to bow before Elizabeth because she didn't recognise her as the "Queen of Ireland" and considered they were of similar rank. Their discussion was carried out in Latin, as O'Malley spoke no English and Queen Elizabeth spoke no Irish. The women eventually came to an agreement that Elizabeth would remove Bingham and O'Malley would stop supporting the Irish lords' rebellions.

Claddagh Ring

Image by Mégane Percier from Pixabay

One of the most romantic of Irish symbols is the Claddagh Ring, which originated in Claddagh, County Galway. Its modern form of the heart (love) within two hands (friendship) and topped with a crown (loyalty) was first produced in the 17th century. Its popularity spread during the Victorian period through Ireland and Britain, and this is when it became known as the Claddagh ring. Claddagh rings are sometimes used as friendship rings, but are usually used as engagement or wedding rings. Mothers sometimes give these rings to their daughters when they come of age. Claddagh rings can be purchased most anywhere nowadays, but in the west coast of Ireland they can feature a heart of the distinctive green Connemara marble. 

According to Irish author Colin Murphy, the way it’s worn can communicate the wearer's relationship status:

1. On the right hand with the point of the heart toward the fingertips: the wearer is single
2. On the right hand with the point of the heart toward the wrist: the wearer is in a relationship
3. On the left ring finger with the point of the heart toward the fingertips: the wearer is engaged.
4. On the left ring finger with the point of the heart toward the wrist: the wearer is married.

William Butler Yeats

W.B. Yeats

Yeats was a crucial proponent of the Irish Renaissance and was friend to members of the Easter Rebellion of 1916. Among these was Maud Gonne, an English-born Irish revolutionary, suffragette and actress. She actively agitated for Home Rule and then for the republic declared in 1916. The story of Yeats’ enduring and unrequited love for Maud Gonne against the background of the Easter uprising is a romance for the ages. 

Thoor Ballylee Castle (Túr Bhaile Uí Laí) is 15th century Anglo-Norman tower house built near Gort in County Galway that was once purchased and inhabited by William Butler Yeats. It has been described as ‘the most important public building in Ireland’ by late Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney. It was flooded out in 2015, but Thoor Ballylee is open once again, every day from 11am to 5 pm. Tower Admission €7: “Cups of tea, tour, and hearty welcome all included.” A wall tablet adds Yeats' imprint on the ancient tower:

I, the poet William Yeats,

With old mill boards and sea-green slates,

And smithy work from the Gort forge,

Restored this tower for my wife George.

And may these characters remain

When all is ruin once again