Irish history for kids

FinnLizzy wrote: »

For instance, as a child, this is what I thought irish history was:
In the years before 1916, Ireland was a lovely country ruled by ourselves without the British. Then, for no other reason other than the British being pr*cks!, they came over and oppressed us. They did stuff like shoot people playing GAA (Michael Collins came out when I was 4)

Jesus, that's one for the tabloids

Mrmoe wrote: »

The history I remember being thought from a young age had more to to with ancient Irish history and fables such as Fionn MacCool and the CuChulainn.

My uncle(and Godfather) God rest his soul use to always read me all those stories as a small lad, It was thanks to him that i developed my love of history as a subject and old Irish history as a passion.

My grandad used to tell me stories about being beaten up for no reason by the Black and Tans and stuff like that. I used to hang onto his every word and found it fascinating.

That's probably my earliest memory of learning Irish history. I liked it in school but the way it was taught made me lose interest. You know the typical Irish education system- "Learn off the next 4 paragraphs by Monday". Why can't they make it more interesting??!!

FinnLizzy wrote: »

Jaysus! Beaten up by the black and tans? I'd say you developed quite a hatred for Africans and Spanish!

I can remember being seriously bored reading about the Flight of the Earls etc. and Oliver Cromwell in Primary School

I don't remember much but I do remember me and a friend joking about a dude called Napper Tandy, we decided he was Nappa from Dragonball Z.

FinnLizzy wrote: »

For instance, as a child, this is what I thought irish history was:
In the years before 1916, Ireland was a lovely country ruled by ourselves without the British. Then, for no other reason other than the British being pr*cks!, they came over and oppressed us. They did stuff like shoot people playing GAA (Michael Collins came out when I was 4) and somehow forced us to stop speaking Irish.
The Irish fought them out that very year, wouldja believe it?
Anyways, til this day, they are in the North being pricks and no one wants them there! (not even the large amount of unionists that violently want them there, but I didn't know about them)

Up to what age did you think this? Before 1916 we rule ourselves!

I think outlooks and views should be thought at a later stage, let people form their own opinions based on the facts (The why will be asked). Then they can come on boards and argue to their hearts content

In primary we did Irish Myths and Legends, The Great Famine, O'Connell, but then I had a teacher who brought us to all of the buildings in Dublin city telling us about the architecture, we also did allot about Irish Art Jack B. Yeats. And we play chess! haha! I must be a posh republican.

Imagine trying to teach a child about the Bank Bailout. The English beat up the Irish but before that the Irish had kings and queens up to 1916 then a Biffo starting building and people bought huge houses that they could not afford so their was a Famine and then the English and some other countries gave money to Ireland to feed the poor and we're still suffering 800 years later.

I think it's shameful that the Great Famine is not recognised as the genocide which it was.

A nation full of quislings. :mad:

One only has to look at the gobshites protesting against the Brits today in Seltic, Unira, and Heyselmurder football shirts. :rolleyes:

Tossers.

Zebra3 wrote: »

One only has to look at the gobshites protesting against the Brits today in Seltic, Unira, and Heyselmurder football shirts. :rolleyes:.

Many people wouldn't consider Scottish as British in the sense of who was in charge. Many people referred for many years to Britain as England forgetting either Scotland and Wales. This is in terms of a Celtic Jersey. But yes Irish people follow English teams, and Irish players play for them. But I would blame the bad organisations that run soccer in Ireland for that.

Sefirah wrote: »

When it comes to learning Irish history, it really does start at home. From a very young age, it was made very clear to me who the 'goodies' and 'baddies' were. Shortly before I was born, my dad (while on duty in the gardaí) was caught up in a terrorist incident which left him unable to work, and certainly his experiences growing up in the north but being forced to leave because of all the hassle and discrimination completely altered my worldview. Secondary school education only confirmed that they were assholes, and it's only now since I've started studying history in UCD that I've become more open to other outlooks

That's called "revisionism", I suppose Susannah Riordan has done the usual Ruth Dudley-Edwards "blood sacrifice" and "undemocratic" actions of the Pearse et al. and the Irish Republican movement of the 1918-21?

It seems to me like I've know each and every penal law since before I could speak thanks to the primary history book of the 60s and 70s. It was pretty much the same one in every school back then. Does anyone remember what it was called?

The same with the geography book - it had all the counties and main towns listed at the back listed with what they produced. Mallow: sugar beet, Carrick-on-Suir: Miloko, etc. I doubt many of those towns listed produce any of the products they used to any more.

The Brigadier wrote: »

I remember Inter Cert history seemed to start about 1850. It was as if nothing in Ireland happened before then.

Junior Cert history covers a huge amount including the Renaissance, archeology, primary & secondary sources, European history, Modern Irish History, The Famine and the Act of Union, flight of the earls etc. It maybe a little to broad.

When I did leaving cert History it began in 1870 and covered both Irish and European History. There was also a second history course before 1870 going back to the Flight of the Earls etc, up to the school which course they taught.

pickarooney wrote: »

We started with the stone age, then it skipped onto the Vikings and only a while after did we get to the British. We were well versed in all the treachery and chicanery of the local chieftains pulling fast ones on one another and enlisting the help of the sasanaigh in their internecine squabbles.

We did the Bronze Age. It wasn't a dull :rolleyes:

I love the way you hear the phrase "and the British suppressed the Irish language being spoken.." as if Irish people really love to speak Irish.

From what I have seen over my lifetime, 99.9% of Irish people can hardly string an Irish sentence together, hated it at school and have zero interest in ever speaking another word of it.:D

Instead, we are now a nation of English speakers, the most accepted 'world' language, which has no doubt brought great benefits to the country. If we all spoke Irish, do you think eBay, Intel, Google, plus the tourists would be rushing to come here?

NIMAN wrote: »

I love the way you hear the phrase "and the British suppressed the Irish language being spoken.." as if Irish people really love to speak Irish.

From what I have seen over my lifetime, 99.9% of Irish people can hardly string an Irish sentence together, hated it at school and have zero interest in ever speaking another word of it.:D

Instead, we are now a nation of English speakers, the most accepted 'world' language, which has no doubt brought great benefits to the country. If we all spoke Irish, do you think eBay, Intel, Google, plus the tourists would be rushing to come here?

Most colonizing countries suppressed the native language. Notice how uncolonized countries speak their own language aka most other European countries, notice how most of the main languages spoken around the world are European.

Do you think that other European countries don't have such companies running to them? or that tourist only visit countries where English is spoken?

IMO one of the main problems we have as an English speaking country is our lack of interest in learning other languages after all everyone speaks English. Many non-English speaking countries seem to be doing allot better than Ireland at the moment.

Irish was oppressed as all government business was dealt with through English and school was not taught through the native language. As time went on the language died out in many areas. If Ireland had not been invaded by the English we would have colonized other countries and they would now speak Irish just as many French colonies speak French. Irish was widely spoken in Newfoundland until the 1960s.

The history of the death of a language has nothing to do with the 99.9% of non-speakers.