Scots in Ireland under the Union: the boundaries of Britishness c.1800-1925
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Date
26/06/2020Item status
Restricted AccessEmbargo end date
26/06/2021Author
Clark, Stuart James Robert
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Abstract
The aim of this study is to contribute towards historical understanding of how Scottishness,
Irishness, and Britishness were constructed and operated within the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, c.1800-1925. It seeks to move beyond existing comparative work
concerning Scottish and Irish engagement with the British union state by focussing on direct
interactions between the two groups. The thesis focuses on the activities and experiences
of different groups of Scots on the island of Ireland during this period: soldiers in the Scottish
regiments; Scottish politicians holding Irish office; Scottish farmers and agriculturists
involved on Irish land; and the membership of Dublin’s Saint Andrew Society. It argues that
in each sphere of research Scots articulated distinct versions of Scottish identity in Ireland
and were correspondingly recognised as distinctly Scottish by the Irish. Whilst the elements
of Scottish identity articulated by different individuals in differing contexts does not
necessarily point to a consistent and coherent interpretation of Scottishness; Scottishness
was, crucially, consistently deployed as a claim to expertise or superiority in areas crucial to
British interests in Ireland and the wider empire. I argue that this functionality is reflective of
the leading role Scots had played in defining and maintaining interpretations of Britishness
which worked to privilege their own place within the union state and empire. By seeking to
rigidly adhere to and enforce their interpretations of Britishness in Ireland, Scots were
significant contributors to the failure of the union state to develop a version of British identity
capable of including all of the inhabitants of Ireland.