Museum of Country Life

While there last year I saw this sign:




It struck me as being completely wrong and in the context of the exhibition, justifying what happened.

Am I wrong or is the museum wrong?

tac foley

Well, this is taken from the website - http://www.theirishstory.com/2011/06/21/the-big-house-and-the-irish-revolution/

The ‘Big House’ or country mansion of the Anglo-Irish landed class, was a target of republicans throughout the Irish revolution of 1919-23.

A total of 275 were burned out, blown up or otherwise destroyed between 1920 and 1923. Of these, by far the greatest number, 199, were destroyed, not during the conflict against the British, but in the period of intra-nationalist civil war between 1922-1923.[2]The Irish nationalist narrative had always maintained that the land of Ireland had been stolen from its rightful, native Irish and Catholic, owners by the alien “Protestant Ascendancy” in the 15 and 1600s. Even more deeply ingrained in the popular psyche were the land struggles of the 19th century, aimed first at establishing security for tenant farmers and eventually at a transfer of land ownership from landlord to tenant. In 1914, the Irish Republican Brotherhood’s organ Irish Freedom still wrote of the land system as comprising of, “robbery, fraud and hatred of the people”.[3]

Once British protection had been withdrawn, the most radical elements of the nationalist revolution, in the anti-Treaty IRA, took the opportunity to sweep away the symbols of the old order in the countryside.

I guess you can make up your own mind who did most of the burning and for what reason.

tac

pedroeibar1

blindjustice wrote: »

It struck me as being completely wrong and in the context of the exhibition, justifying what happened.

Am I wrong or is the museum wrong?

I agree with you – the wording is emotive and incorrect.

Some burnings were due to settling “old scores”, were sectarian or just a means of intimidation, in the hope that more land would become available under the Land Acts. Many landlords had seen service with one of the Crown Forces and it was locally believed that they had given tacit support to the British during the War of Independence. (e.g. Castletownshend)

Legally, such attacks should have ceased with the subsequent Truce, but they continued and even escalated during the Civil War. Usually the Anti-Treaty side made no distinction between Catholic or Protestant supporters of the then Irish government or landlords. e.g. Gogarty, Horace Plunkett, etc. The usual excuse for a burning was "the place could be used as a garrison for soldiers”.

Sadly too many gombeenmen with the same 'anti' attitude still exist and have no compunction of pulling down old estate walls or destroying heritage from the big house era with the “justification” of ‘shur it was the ###### landlords anyway’. (rant over)