Protestant Irish Nationalists

Protestant Irish Nationalists

Irish Protestants have played a central role in the development of Irish nationalism since the eighteenth century, despite a majority of nationalists historically being Roman Catholics. Protestant nationalists (or patriots, particularly before the mid-19th century) have consistently been influential supporters and leaders of various movements for the political independence of Ireland from Great Britain. Historically, these movements ranged from supporting the legislative independence of the Parliament of the Kingdom of Ireland; to a form of home rule within the United Kingdom, to complete independence in an Irish Republic, and (since the partition of Ireland) a United Ireland.

Despite their relatively small numbers, individual Protestants have made important contributions to key events in Irish nationalist history, such as Wolfe Tone during the 1798 rebellion, Charles Stewart Parnell and the Home Rule movement, and Robert Erskine Childers and the 1916 Easter Rising.

Today the relation of Protestants to Irish nationalism differs sharply between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. In the Republic of Ireland, the vast majority of Protestants regard themselves as nationalists, and accept the independence of Ireland, even if there have been tensions over the central role of the Roman Catholic Church in independent Ireland. The only unionist political movement of any significance is The Reform Group, a pressure group which advocates that the Republic of Ireland should rejoin the commonwealth, but it has not contested any elections. In Northern Ireland, however, the vast majority of Protestants are unionists and vote for unionist parties. As of 2008, only 4% of Protestants in Northern Ireland thought the long-term policy for Northern Ireland should be unification with the Republic of Ireland, whereas 89% said it should be to remain in the United Kingdom.

All the various denominations of Protestantism in Ireland have had members involved in nationalism. Historically the Anglican Church of Ireland and the Presbyterian Church of Ireland have been the largest Protestant churches, and this remains the situation across the island of Ireland today. The largest Protestant denomination is the Church of Ireland (having roughly 365,000 members, making up around 3% of the Republic of Ireland and 15% of Northern Ireland), followed by the Presbyterian Church of Ireland (having a membership of around 300,000, accounting for 0.6% of people in the Republic and 20% of Northern Ireland).