Ireland and England's relationship between 1800 and 1916 was tumultuous at best. Politics, nationalism, and religion caused huge rifts between the two countries. England believed they had authority over the country, and that 'Ireland should be governed in the English interest,' as England's history with Ireland went back before Ireland was even an organized state. (Document 1) The Irish obviously felt that they should have control of the land they grew up on and cultivated. They didn't want to be ruled by the king of England, across the sea, in a different country, of a different religion. 'All of civilization, arts, comfort, wealth that Ireland enjoys she owes exclusively to England,' argues John Wilson Croaker. (Document 5) However, most Irish, particularly the Catholics who opposed the Act of Union in 1801, didn't see it that way. 'The land of Ireland belongs to the people of Ireland. Those who cultivate it have a higher claim to its absolute possession than landlords who only use it for profit or pleasure,' declared the National Land League in 1879, certainly repeating what many Irish believed. (Document 6)

Most of Ulster, the northernmost province of Ireland, was Protestant but in the rest of the country, the majority of the Irish were Catholic. (Document 9) This caused clashes with England, which was a Protestant country at the time. William J. Flynn argued that Protestantism in Ireland would ...