View source for Anglo-Irish people

{{Refimprove|date=August 2025}}
{{Short description|Ethnic group and historical social class in Ireland}}
{{Redirect|Anglo-Irish|the medieval Anglo-Irish|Normans in Ireland{{!}}Old English (Ireland)|the bank|Anglo Irish Bank|Anglo-Irish poetry|Irish poetry|the dialect group|Hiberno-English}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}

{{Infobox ethnic group
| group            = Anglo-Irish<br>''Angla-Éireannach''
| image            = File:St Patrick's saltire.svg
| caption          = [[St Patrick's Cross]] is often seen as a symbol of the Anglo-Irish.
| region1          = [[Northern Ireland]]
| pop1             = 407,454<ref>{{cite web|title=Census 2011: Religion: KS211NI (administrative geographies) |url=http://www.ninis2.nisra.gov.uk/public/Theme.aspx?themeNumber=136&themeName=Census%202011 |publisher=nisra.gov.uk|access-date=11 December 2012}}</ref><ref name=2011ks>{{cite web|title=Census 2011: Key Statistics for Northern Ireland|url=http://www.nisra.gov.uk/Census/key_stats_bulletin_2011.pdf|publisher=nisra.gov.uk|access-date=11 December 2012}}</ref> <br>{{small|{{nowrap|([[Church of Ireland|Northern Irish Anglicans]])}}}}<br>{{small|{{nowrap|([[Methodist Church in Ireland|Northern Irish Methodists]])}}}}<br>{{small|{{nowrap|([[Religion in Northern Ireland#Statistics|Other Northern Irish Protestants]])}}}}
| ref1             = 
| region2          = [[Republic of Ireland]]
| pop2             = 177,200<ref>{{cite web|title=8. Religion|url=https://www.cso.ie/en/media/csoie/releasespublications/documents/population/2017/Chapter_8_Religion.pdf|publisher=[[Central Statistics Office (Ireland)|Central Statistics Office]]|access-date=30 October 2018}}</ref> <br>{{small|{{nowrap|([[Church of Ireland|Irish Anglicans]])}}}}<br>{{small|{{nowrap|([[Methodist Church in Ireland|Irish Methodists]])}}}}<br>{{small|{{nowrap|([[Protestantism in the Republic of Ireland|Other Irish Protestants]])}}}}
| langs            = [[English language|English]] ([[Hiberno-English]], [[Ulster English]])<br>[[Irish Sign Language|Irish Sign]]<br>[[Northern Ireland Sign Language|Northern Ireland Sign]]
| rels             = [[Church of Ireland|Anglicanism]] <br><small>(some [[Methodist]], [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] or other Protestant)<br/>(see also [[Religion in Ireland]])</small>
| related          = [[English people|English]]{{•}} [[Scottish people|Scots]]{{•}} [[Irish people|Irish]]{{*}}[[Anglo-Normans]]{{•}} [[Anglo-Saxons]]{{•}} [[Ulster Scots people|Ulster Scots]]{{•}} [[Ulster Protestants]]{{•}} [[Welsh people|Welsh]]
}}

'''Anglo-Irish people''' ({{Langx|ga|Angla-Éireannach}}) denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping consisting mostly of the descendants and successors of the English [[Protestant Ascendancy]] in Ireland.<ref>[http://multitext.ucc.ie/d/The_Anglo-Irish ''The Anglo-Irish'', Fidelma Maguire, University College Cork] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060502065641/http://multitext.ucc.ie/d/The_Anglo-Irish |date=2 May 2006 }} and [[Donnchadh Ó Corráin]]</ref> Predominantly, the Anglo-Irish belong to the Anglican [[Church of Ireland]], which was the [[State religion|established Church]] of Ireland until 1871 or, to a lesser extent, to one of the [[English Dissenters|English Dissenting]] Churches, such as [[Baptists]], [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterians]], the [[Methodism|Methodist Church]]. However, some were [[Roman Catholics]]. They often defined themselves simply as "British", or less frequently as "Anglo-Irish", "Irish" or "English".<ref name="Irish"/> Many became notable as administrators in the [[British Empire]] or as senior [[Irish military diaspora#Britain|army and naval officers]]. The [[Kingdom of England]] and [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] were in a [[real union]] with the [[Kingdom of Ireland]] for over a century, before politically uniting into the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]] in 1801.

The term is not usually applied to [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterians]] in the province of [[Ulster]], whose ancestry is mostly [[Scottish people|Lowland Scottish]], rather than English or Irish, and who are sometimes identified as [[Ulster Scots people|Ulster Scots]]. The Anglo-Irish hold a wide range of political views, with some being outspoken [[Irish nationalism|Irish nationalists]], but most overall being [[Unionism in Ireland|Unionists]]. And while most of the Anglo-Irish originated in the [[English diaspora]] in Ireland, others were descended from families of the old [[Gaelic nobility of Ireland]].<ref name ="Wolff">{{cite book |title=An Anarchy in the Mind and in the Heart: Narrating Anglo-Ireland|last=Wolff|first=Ellen M.|year=2006|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DYFLR2jsDnMC&pg=PA37|publisher=Bucknell University Press|place=Lewisburg |page=37|isbn=0838755569}}</ref>

== As a social class ==

{{See also|Protestant Ascendancy}}

The term "Anglo-Irish" is often applied to the members of the [[Church of Ireland]] who made up the professional and [[landed gentry|landed class]] in Ireland from the 17th century up to the time of Irish independence in the early 20th century.  In the [[Early Modern Ireland 1536-1691|course of the 17th century]], this Anglo-Irish landed class replaced the [[Gaelic Aristocracy|Gaelic Irish]] and [[Old English (Ireland)|Old English]] aristocracies as the ruling class in Ireland.  They were also referred to as "'''New English'''" to distinguish them from the "Old English", who descended from the medieval [[Hiberno-Normans|Hiberno-Norman]] settlers.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Morgan |first=Hiram |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199234837.001.0001/acref-9780199234837-e-1420 |title=The Oxford Companion to Irish History |date=27 July 2002 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-923483-7 |doi=10.1093/acref/9780199234837.001.0001}}</ref>

Under the [[Penal Laws (Ireland)|Penal Laws]], which were in force between the 17th and 19th centuries (although enforced with varying degrees of severity), [[Roman Catholic]] [[Recusancy|recusants]] in Great Britain and Ireland were barred from holding public office, while in Ireland they were also barred from entry to [[Trinity College Dublin]] and from professions such as law, medicine, and the [[Irish establishment|military]]. The lands of the recusant Roman Catholic [[landed gentry]] who refused to take the prescribed oaths were largely confiscated during the [[Plantations of Ireland]]. The rights of Roman Catholics to inherit landed property were severely restricted. Those who converted to the Church of Ireland were usually able to keep or regain their lost property, as the issue was considered primarily one of allegiance. In the late 18th century, the [[Parliament of Ireland]] in Dublin won legislative independence, and the movement for the repeal of the [[Test Acts]] began.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

[[File:St. Patrick's Cathedral Swift bust.jpg|upright|thumb|right|Marble bust of [[The Very Reverend|The V. Rev.]] [[Jonathan Swift]], inside [[St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin|St Patrick's Cathedral]], [[Dublin]]. Swift was [[Dean (Christianity)|Dean]] of St Patrick's from 1713 to 1745.]]

Not all Anglo-Irish people could trace their origins to the Protestant English settlers of the Cromwellian period; some were of Welsh stock, and others descended from Old English or even native Gaelic converts to Anglicanism.<ref name="Wolff" /> Members of this ruling class commonly identified themselves as Irish,<ref name="Irish">[http://multitext.ucc.ie/d/The_Anglo-Irish ''The Anglo-Irish'', Movements for Political & Social Reform, 1870–1914, Multitext Projects in Irish History, University College Cork] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060502065641/http://multitext.ucc.ie/d/The_Anglo-Irish |date=2 May 2006 }}</ref> while retaining English habits in politics, commerce, and culture. They participated in the popular English sports of the day, particularly [[horse racing|racing]] and [[fox hunting]], and intermarried with the ruling classes in Great Britain. Many of the more successful of them spent much of their careers either in Great Britain or in some part of the [[British Empire]]. Many constructed large [[country house]]s, which became known in Ireland as [[Anglo-Irish big house|Big Houses]], and these became symbolic of the class' dominance in Irish society.

The Dublin working class playwright [[Brendan Behan]], a staunch [[Irish Republicanism|Irish Republican]], saw the Anglo-Irish as Ireland's [[The Theory of the Leisure Class|leisure class]] and famously defined an Anglo-Irishman as "a Protestant with a horse".<ref>{{blockquote|'''Pat''': He was an Anglo-Irishman.<br>
'''Meg''': In the name of God, what's that?<br>
'''Pat''': A Protestant with a horse.<br>
'''Ropeen''': Leadbetter.<br>
'''Pat''': No, no, an ordinary Protestant like Leadbetter, the plumber in the back parlour next door, won't do, nor a [[Belfast]] [[Orange Institution|orangeman]], not if he was as black as your boot.<br>
'''Meg''': Why not?<br>
'''Pat''': Because they work.  An Anglo-Irishman only works at riding horses, drinking whiskey, and reading double-meaning books in [[Irish language|Irish]] at [[Trinity College Dublin|Trinity College]].|From act one of ''The Hostage'', 1958}}</ref>

The Anglo-Irish novelist and short story writer [[Elizabeth Bowen]] memorably described her experience as feeling "English in Ireland, Irish in England" and not accepted fully as belonging to either.<ref name="Bowen">Paul Poplowski, [https://books.google.com/books?id=1OpUU_ShWvsC&pg=PA27 "Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973),"] ''Encyclopedia of Literary Modernism'', (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2003), pp. 26–28. {{ISBN|0-313-31017-3}}</ref>

Due to their prominence in the military and their conservative politics, the Anglo-Irish have been compared to the [[Prussian Junker]] class by, among others, [[Correlli Barnett]].<ref>"Roberts, Kitchener and Wolesley were three national heroes of the nineteenth century whom Correlli Barnett sees as prime examples of the Anglo-Irish gentry, the nearest thing Britain ever possessed to the Prussian Junker class". Desmond and Jean Bowen, ''Heroic Option: the Irish in the British Army'', Pen & Sword, Barnsley, 2005.</ref>

===Business interests===

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Anglo-Irish owned many of the major businesses in Ireland, such as [[Jacob's|Jacob's Biscuits]], [[Bewley's]], [[Beamish and Crawford]], [[Jameson Irish Whiskey|Jameson's Whiskey]], [[Odlums Group|W. P. & R. Odlum]], [[Condensed Milk Company of Ireland|Cleeve's]], [[R&H Hall]], [[Crawford McCullagh|Maguire & Patterson]], [[Maurice Dockrell (Unionist politician)|Dockrell's]], [[Arnotts (Ireland)|Arnott's]], [[Goulding Chemicals]], the ''[[Irish Times]]'', the Irish Railways, and the [[Guinness brewery]], Ireland's largest employer. {{Citation needed|date=October 2012}} They also controlled financial companies such as the [[Bank of Ireland]] and [[Goodbody Stockbrokers]].

[[File:Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland (Sculpture of George Salmon).jpg|upright|thumb|left|Statue of Anglo-Irish mathematician and theologian [[George Salmon]] (1819–1904), in front of the campanile of [[Trinity College Dublin]], the traditional ''alma mater'' of the Anglo-Irish class.  Salmon was provost of Trinity from 1888 until his death.]]

===Prominent members===

Prominent Anglo-Irish poets, writers, and playwrights include [[Oscar Wilde]], [[Maria Edgeworth]], [[Jonathan Swift]], [[George Berkeley]], [[Sheridan Le Fanu]], [[Oliver Goldsmith]], [[Laurence Sterne]], [[George Darley]], [[Lucy Knox]], [[Bram Stoker]], [[John Millington Synge|J. M. Synge]], [[W. B. Yeats]], [[Cecil Day-Lewis]], [[George Bernard Shaw|Bernard Shaw]], [[Augusta, Lady Gregory]], [[Samuel Beckett]], [[Giles Cooper (playwright)|Giles Cooper]], [[C. S. Lewis]], [[Frank Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford|Lord Longford]], [[Elizabeth Bowen]], [[William Trevor]] and [[William Allingham]]. The writer [[Lafcadio Hearn]] was of Anglo-Irish descent on his father's side but was brought up as a Catholic by his great-aunt.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

In the 19th century, some of the most prominent mathematical and physical scientists of the British Isles, including [[Sir William Rowan Hamilton]], [[Sir George Stokes, 1st Baronet|Sir George Stokes]], [[John Tyndall]], [[George Johnstone Stoney]], [[Thomas Romney Robinson]], [[Edward Sabine]], [[Thomas Andrews (scientist)|Thomas Andrews]], [[William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse|Lord Rosse]], [[George Salmon]], and [[George Francis FitzGerald|George FitzGerald]], were Anglo-Irish. In the 20th century, scientists [[John Joly]] and [[Ernest Walton]] were also Anglo-Irish, as was the polar explorer Sir [[Ernest Shackleton]].  Medical experts included [[Sir William Wilde]], [[Robert James Graves|Robert Graves]], [[Thomas Wrigley Grimshaw]], [[William Stokes (physician)|William Stokes]], [[Robert Collis]], [[Sir John Lumsden]] and [[William Babington (physician)|William Babington]]. The geographer [[William Desborough Cooley|William Cooley]] was one of the first to describe the process of [[globalization]].{{cn|date=April 2025}}

The Anglo-Irishmen [[Richard Brinsley Sheridan]], [[Henry Grattan]], [[Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh|Lord Castlereagh]], [[George Canning]], [[George Macartney, 1st Earl Macartney|Lord Macartney]], [[Thomas Spring Rice, 1st Baron Monteagle of Brandon|Thomas Spring Rice]], [[Charles Stewart Parnell]], and [[Edward Carson]] played major roles in British politics. Downing Street itself was named after [[Sir George Downing, 1st Baronet|Sir George Downing]]. In the Church, Bishop [[Richard Pococke]] contributed much to C18 travel writing.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

The Anglo-Irish were also represented among the senior officers of the [[British Army]] by men such as [[Field Marshal (UK)|Field Marshal]] [[Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts|Earl Roberts]], first honorary Colonel of the [[Irish Guards]] regiment, who spent most of his career in [[British India]]; Field Marshal [[Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough|Viscount Gough]], who served under [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Wellington]], himself a Wellesley born in Dublin to the [[Garret Wesley, 1st Earl of Mornington|Earl of Mornington]], head of a prominent Anglo-Irish family in Dublin; and in the 20th century Field Marshal [[Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke|Lord Alanbrooke]], Field Marshal [[Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis|Lord Alexander of Tunis]], General [[John Hackett (British Army officer)|Sir John Winthrop Hackett]], Field Marshal [[Sir Henry Wilson, 1st Baronet|Sir Henry Wilson]] and Field Marshal [[Garnet Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley|Sir Garnet Wolseley]]. (see also [[Irish military diaspora]]).

Others were prominent officials and administrators in the [[British Empire]], such as: [[Frederick Matthew Darley]], the Chief Justice of New South Wales; [[Henry Arthur Blake]], [[Antony MacDonnell, 1st Baron MacDonnell|Antony MacDonnell]] and [[Charles Gavan Duffy (Canadian politician)|Gavan Duffy]]. Others were involved in finding better ways of managing it, heading the [[Donoughmore Commission]] or the [[Report of West India Royal Commission (Moyne Report)|Moyne Commission]].

[[John Winthrop Hackett|Sir John Winthrop Hackett]] emigrated to Australia where he became the proprietor and editor of many prominent newspapers. He was also influential in the founding of the [[University of Western Australia]] and was its first chancellor.

Prolific [[art music]] composers included [[Michael William Balfe]], [[John Field (composer)|John Field]], [[George Alexander Osborne]], [[Thomas Roseingrave]], [[Charles Villiers Stanford]], [[John Andrew Stevenson]], [[Robert Prescott Stewart]], [[William Vincent Wallace]], and [[Charles Wood (composer)|Charles Wood]].

In the [[visual arts]], sculptor [[John Henry Foley]], art dealer [[Hugh Lane]], artists [[Daniel Maclise]], [[William Orpen]] and [[Jack Butler Yeats|Jack Yeats]]; ballerina [[Ninette de Valois|Dame Ninette de Valois]] and designer-architect [[Eileen Gray]] were famous outside Ireland.

[[William Desmond Taylor]] was an early and prolific maker of [[silent film]]s in [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]]. Scriptwriter [[Johanna Harwood]] penned several of the early [[James Bond (literary character)|James Bond]] films, among others.

[[Philanthropist]]s included [[Thomas John Barnardo|Thomas Barnardo]] and [[Edward Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh|Lord Iveagh]].

Confederate general [[Patrick Cleburne]] was of Anglo-Irish ancestry.

Discussing what he considered the lack of Irish civic morality in 2011, former [[Taoiseach]] [[Garret FitzGerald]] remarked that before 1922: "In Ireland a strong civic sense did exist – but mainly amongst Protestants and especially Anglicans".<ref>"Ireland's lack of civic morality grounded in our history", ''[[Irish Times]]'', 9 April 2011, p.14</ref>

[[Henry Ford]], the American [[Business magnate|industrialist and business magnate]], was half Anglo-Irish; his father William Ford was born in Cork to a family originally from [[Somerset]], England.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.hfmgv.org/exhibits/hf/|title=Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village|date=2001-10-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011005164558/http://www.hfmgv.org/exhibits/hf/|access-date=2019-08-04|archive-date=5 October 2001}}</ref>
{{Clear}}

==Attitude towards Ireland's independence==

The Anglo-Irish, as a class, were mostly opposed to the notions of [[Irish nationalism|Irish independence]] and [[Irish Home Rule movement|Home Rule]].<ref>Alan O'Day, ''Reactions to Irish Nationalism, 1865–1914'' (Bloomsbury Publishing, 1 July 1987), 376.</ref> Most were supporters of continued political [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|union with Great Britain]], which existed between 1800 and 1922. This was for many reasons, but most important were the economic benefits of union for the landowning class, the close personal and familial relations with the British establishment, and the political prominence held by the Anglo-Irish in Ireland under the union settlement.<ref>{{cite book|first =D. George |last =Boyce|title =Nationalism in Ireland|publisher =Routledge|date= 2 September 2003|page = 40|isbn = 9781134797417|url =https://books.google.com/books?id=2VCEAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA40}}</ref> Many Anglo-Irish men served as officers in the [[British Army]], were clergymen in the established Anglican [[Church of Ireland]] or had land (or business interests) across the British Isles – all factors which encouraged political support for [[Unionism in Ireland|unionism]]. Between the mid-nineteenth century and 1922, the Anglo-Irish comprised the bulk of the support for movements such as the [[Irish Unionist Alliance]], especially in the southern three provinces of Ireland.<ref>Alan O'Day, ''Reactions to Irish Nationalism, 1865–1914'' (Bloomsbury Publishing, 1 July 1987), 384.</ref>

During [[World War I]], [[Irish nationalist]] [[Member of parliament|MP]] [[Tom Kettle]] compared the Anglo-Irish landlord class to the [[Prussia]]n [[Junker (Prussia)|Junkers]], saying, "England goes to fight for liberty in [[Europe]] and for junkerdom in [[Ireland]]."<ref>{{cite book|first =Tim|last = Cross |date =1988|title =The Lost Voices of World War I| page= 42|publisher = University of Iowa Press|isbn = 9780877452645}}</ref>

However, Protestants in Ireland, and the Anglo-Irish class in particular, were by no means universally attached to the cause of continued political union with Great Britain. For instance, author [[Jonathan Swift]] (1667–1745), a clergyman in the Church of Ireland, vigorously denounced the plight of ordinary [[Irish Catholics]] under the rule of the landlords. Reformist politicians such as [[Henry Grattan]] (1746–1820), [[Wolfe Tone]] (1763–1798), [[Robert Emmet]] (1778–1803), [[John Gray (Irish politician)|Sir John Gray]] (1815–1875), and [[Charles Stewart Parnell]] (1846–1891), were also [[Protestant Irish nationalists|Protestant nationalists]], and in large measure led and defined Irish nationalism. The [[Irish Rebellion of 1798]] was led by members of the Anglo-Irish and Ulster Scots class, some of whom feared the political implications of the impending union with Great Britain.<ref name="D. George Boyce 2003">D. George Boyce, ''Nationalism in Ireland'' (Routledge, 2 Sep 2003), 309.</ref> By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, however, Irish nationalism became increasingly tied to a [[Roman Catholic Church in Ireland|Roman Catholic]] identity.<ref name="D. George Boyce 2003"/> By the beginning of the twentieth century, many Anglo-Irishmen in southern Ireland had become convinced of the need for a political settlement with Irish nationalists. Anglo-Irish politicians such as [[Sir Horace Plunkett]] and [[Thomas Spring Rice, 2nd Baron Monteagle of Brandon|Lord Monteagle]] became leading figures in finding a peaceful solution to the 'Irish question'.

During the [[Irish War of Independence]] (1919–1921), many Anglo-Irish landlords left the country due to [[Destruction of country houses in the Irish revolutionary period|arson attacks on their family homes]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reform.org/TheReformMovement_files/article_files/articles/cork.htm|title=The fate of Cork unionists 1919-1921|website=www.reform.org|date=2002|first=David|last=Christopher|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040316110819/http://www.reform.org/TheReformMovement_files/article_files/articles/cork.htm|archive-date=16 March 2004|access-date=3 February 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> The burnings continued and many sectarian murders were carried out by the [[Anti-Treaty IRA]] during the [[Irish Civil War]]. Considering the Irish State unable to protect them, many members of the Anglo-Irish class subsequently left Ireland forever, fearing that they would be subject to discriminatory legislation and social pressures. The Protestant proportion of the Irish population dropped from 10%  (300,000) to 6% (180,000) in the [[Irish Free State]] in the twenty-five years following independence,<ref>[http://multitext.ucc.ie/d/The_Anglo-Irish ''The Anglo-Irish''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060502065641/http://multitext.ucc.ie/d/The_Anglo-Irish |date=2 May 2006 }}, Fidelma Maguire, University College of Cork</ref> with most resettling in [[Great Britain]]. In the whole of Ireland the percentage of Protestants was 26% (1.1 million).

The reaction of the Anglo-Irish to the [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]] which envisaged the establishment of the [[Irish Free State]] was mixed. [[John Gregg (archbishop of Armagh)|J. A. F. Gregg]], the [[Archbishop of Dublin (Church of Ireland)|Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin]], stated in a sermon in December 1921 (the month the Treaty was signed):

{{blockquote|It concerns us all to offer the Irish Free State our loyalty. I believe there is a genuine desire on the part of those who have long differed from us politically to welcome our co-operation. We should be wrong politically and religiously to reject such advances.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=AG19211214.2.36.2&srpos=12&e=-------10--11----2%22Irish+Free+State%22-all|title=Papers Past - RATIFICATION QUESTION. (Ashburton Guardian, 1921-12-14)|first=National Library of New|last=Zealand|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}}</ref>}}

In 1925, when the Irish Free State was poised to outlaw [[divorce]], the Anglo-Irish poet [[W. B. Yeats]] delivered a famous eulogy for his class in the [[Irish Senate]]:

{{blockquote|I think it is tragic that within three years of this country gaining its independence we should be discussing a measure which a minority of this nation considers to be grossly oppressive. I am proud to consider myself a typical man of that minority. We against whom you have done this thing, are no petty people. We are one of the great stocks of Europe. We are the people of [[Edmund Burke|Burke]]; we are the people of [[Henry Grattan|Grattan]]; we are the people of [[Jonathan Swift|Swift]], the people of [[Robert Emmet|Emmet]], the people of [[Charles Stewart Parnell|Parnell]]. We have created the most of the modern literature of this country. We have created the best of its political intelligence. Yet I do not altogether regret what has happened. I shall be able to find out, if not I, my children will be able to find out whether we have lost our stamina or not. You have defined our position and have given us a popular following. If we have not lost our stamina then your victory will be brief, and your defeat final, and when it comes this nation may be transformed.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=izMWO_4_8WgC&pg=PA34 ''Modern Irish Poetry: Tradition and Continuity from Yeats to Heaney''], Robert F. Garratt, University of California Press, 1989, page 34</ref>}}

== Peerage ==

{{See also|Irish House of Lords|Peerage of Ireland}}

Following the English victory in the [[Nine Years' War (Ireland)|Nine Years' War]] (1594–1603), the "[[Flight of the Earls]]" in 1607, the traditional Gaelic [[Irish nobility]] was displaced in Ireland, particularly in the Cromwellian period.  By 1707, after further defeat in the [[Williamite War in Ireland|Williamite War]] and the subsequent Union of England and Scotland, the aristocracy in Ireland was dominated by Anglican families who owed allegiance to the Crown.  Some of these were Irish families who had chosen to conform to the established [[Church of Ireland]], keeping their lands and privileges, such as the [[Duke of Leinster|Dukes of Leinster]] (whose surname is [[FitzGerald dynasty|FitzGerald]], and who descend from the [[Hiberno-Norman]] aristocracy), or the Gaelic [[Guinness family]].  Some were families of British or mixed-British ancestry who owed their status in Ireland to the Crown, such as the [[Earl of Cork|Earls of Cork]] (whose surname is Boyle and whose ancestral roots were in [[Herefordshire]], England).

Among the prominent Anglo-Irish peers are:

[[File:Lord Arthur Wellesley the Duke of Wellington.jpg|thumb|right|Field Marshal [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington]], from a portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence]]

*[[Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork|The 1st Earl of Cork]], [[Lord High Treasurer of Ireland]], father of scientist [[Robert Boyle]].
*[[James Campbell, 1st Baron Glenavy|The 1st Baron Glenavy]], second-last [[Lord Chancellor of Ireland]] and first [[Cathoirleach]] (or Chairman) of the [[Seanad Éireann|Irish Senate]] (1922).
*[[Henry Conyngham, 8th Marquess Conyngham|The 8th Marquess Conyngham]], owner of the [[Slane Castle]] rock venue and candidate for [[Fine Gael]] in recent Irish [[general election]]s.
*[[Benjamin Guinness, 3rd Earl of Iveagh|The 3rd Earl of Iveagh]], of Gaelic Irish descent; head of the [[Guinness]] family who sat in the Irish [[Seanad Éireann|Senate]] (1973–1977).
*[[Valerie Goulding|Valerie, Lady Goulding]], founder of the Rehabilitation Institute and close associate of former [[Taoiseach]] (Prime Minister) [[Charles Haughey]].
*[[Edward Pakenham, 6th Earl of Longford|The 6th Earl of Longford]], Impresario at the [[Gate Theatre]] in [[Dublin]] in the 1950s.
*[[William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne|The 2nd Earl of Shelburne]], British prime minister in 1782–83.
*[[Frank Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford|The 7th Earl of Longford]] (who succeeded his brother (above) in the Earldom), British [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] [[Cabinet (government)|Cabinet]] minister, biographer and friend of [[Éamon de Valera]].
*[[William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse|The 3rd Earl of Rosse]], astronomer and builder of the [[Leviathan of Parsonstown|then-largest telescope]] in the world.
*[[Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron Dunsany|The 18th Baron of Dunsany]], author.
*[[Edmond Roche, 1st Baron Fermoy]], [[Peerage of Ireland|Irish peer]].
*[[James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde|The 1st Duke of Ormonde]], 17th-century statesman, served as [[Lord Deputy of Ireland]] on two occasions and commanded Royalist forces in Ireland in the [[Irish Confederate Wars]] negotiating with the [[Confederate Ireland|Irish Confederates]] on behalf of [[Charles I of England|Charles I]].
*[[Murrough O'Brien, 1st Earl of Inchiquin|Murrough, 1st Earl of Inchiquin]], 6th Baron Inchiquin (1618–1674), of Gaelic Irish descent; a Parliamentary commander in the [[Irish Confederate Wars]] (1644&ndash;1648) before changing sides to become one of the leaders of the Royalist troops in Ireland during the [[Wars of the Three Kingdoms]] and the [[Cromwellian conquest of Ireland]] (1649–53).
*[[Field Marshal (United Kingdom)|Field Marshal]] [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|The 1st Duke of Wellington]], Anglo-Irish general who fought many successful campaigns and defeated [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon]] at the [[Battle of Waterloo]]. He later became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

Until the year 1800, the peers of Ireland were all entitled to a seat in the [[Irish House of Lords]], the [[upper house]] of the [[Parliament of Ireland]], in [[Dublin]].  After 1800, under the provisions of the [[Acts of Union 1800|Act of Union]], the Parliament of Ireland was abolished and the Irish peers were entitled to elect twenty-eight of their number to sit in the British [[House of Lords]], in London, as [[List of Irish representative peers|Irish representative peer]]s.  During the [[Georgian Era]], titles in the peerage of Ireland were often granted by the British monarch to Englishmen with little or no connection to Ireland, as a way of preventing such honours from inflating the membership of the British House of Lords.<ref>[[Simon Winchester]], ''Their Noble Lordships: Class and Power in Modern Britain'', (New York: Random House, 1984), p. 202, {{ISBN|0-394-52418-7}}.</ref>

A number of Anglo-Irish peers have been appointed by [[President of Ireland|Presidents of Ireland]] to serve on their advisory [[Council of State (Ireland)|Council of State]]. Some were also considered possible candidates for presidents of Ireland, including:

*[[Valerie Goulding|Valerie, Lady Goulding]]
*[[Michael Morris, 3rd Baron Killanin|Lord Killanin]] (though an Irish Catholic, rather than Anglo-Irish despite his peerage)
*[[William Gibson, 2nd Baron Ashbourne|Lord Ashbourne]] (a renowned Gaelic scholar).

== See also ==

* [[Normans in Ireland]]
* [[Surrender and regrant]]
* [[Hiberno-English]]
* [[Ulster Scots people]]
* [[Plantation of Ulster]]
* [[Unionism in Ireland]]
* [[Catholic Unionist]]
* [[Protestant Irish nationalists]]
* [[Souperism]]
* [[English diaspora]]
* [[Reform Movement (Ireland)|Reform Movement]]
* [[Confederate Ireland]]
* [[Jacobitism]]
* [[Irish Unionist Alliance]]
* [[West Brit]]
* [[Ireland–United Kingdom relations]]
* [[Irish migration to Great Britain]]
* [[Baron Baltimore]]
* [[Derry]]
* [[Miler Magrath]]
* [[Samuel Beckett]]

==References==

=== Citations ===

{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===

{{refbegin|2}}
* [[Mark Bence-Jones]] (1987), ''Twilight of the Ascendancy''. London: Constable, {{ISBN|978-0-09465-490-7}}
* {{cite book |title=Religion, Law, and Power: The Making of Protestant Ireland 1660–1760|last=Connolly|first=S. J.|year=1992|publisher=Clarendon Press|isbn=9780191591792}}
* {{cite book|title=Gothic Ireland: Horror and the Irish Anglican Imagination in the Long Eighteenth Century|last=Killeen|first=Jarlath|year=2005|publisher=1851829431|isbn=0140154094|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780140154092}}
* [[Julian Moynahan]] (1995), ''Anglo-Irish: The Literary Imagination in a Hyphenated Culture''. Princeton: Princeton University Press, {{ISBN|978-0691037578}}
* [[Terence de Vere White]] (1972), ''The Anglo-Irish: The Men and Women Who Were Involved in a Confluence of Cultures that Spanned 200 Years''. London: Victor Gollancz.
{{refend}}

{{Kingdom of Ireland}}
{{Ireland topics |expanded=Culture}}
{{British people}}

[[Category:Anglo-Irish people| ]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Ireland]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Social class in Ireland]]
[[Category:Social history of Ireland]]
[[Category:Social history of the United Kingdom]]