Armenian Public Opinion on the Irish National Movement of the 1840s

Abstract

The Irish National Movement of the 1840s received a wide reflection in the Armenian periodicals of the time. According to reports in the European press, they were well aware of the political, social and religious events taking place in Ireland. They considered the main reasons for the Irish national movement to 1847 unprecedented famine of 1847, the repeal of the Anglo-Irish "Act of Union" in 1800, the existence of an independent parliament, the emancipation of the Catholic Irish. The Irish national movement was mostly covered by the Armenian national-conservative current periodicals. Among them, the "thoughtful, far-sighted" editors and journalists of the Mkhitaryans’ weekly "Europe" in Vienna with "European-style and skills" from an impartial position covered the Irish struggle. According to them, in the conditions of famine, epidemic and misery, the Irish company "Ripil" and the organization "Young Ireland" tried to abolish the union peacefully, but failed and rebelled. According to the Mkgitaryans’ "Multi-Novel" magazine in Venice, the Irish wanted to completely break the English yoke and become a sovereign country.

            According to the Tbilissian Armenian political-philological weekly "Tbilissi", the Irish lost their freedom by uniting with England, and had been suffering a lot since that day. The official newspaper of the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople, calling the Irish movement a riot, comes to conclusion that the "Young Ireland" "freedom-loving company", inspired by the victory of the February Revolution in France, is making every effort to achieve freedom by armed means.

            The Smyrna-Armenian "Arshaluys Araratyan", realizing the aspirations of the Irish for national independence, understands that the "Ripil" company tries to achieve the political freedom of Ireland in a constitutional way. The paper advocated for the Irish to achieve this in a peaceful and thoughtful way, without violence and riots.

The Indian-Armenian "Azgaser" and "Azgaser Araratyan" periodicals in their brief publications criticized the British colonial policy and the violence against the Irish. They believe that the Irish want to get rid of the British yoke by establishing an independent republic to rule their country. "Patriotic Araratyan" mocks the cowardice of the Irish rebels, because of which "the mountain gave birth to a mouse".

The National Movement of the Irish in its public discourse praised the great figures of the Armenian democratic current Michael Nalbandyan and Matteos Mamuryan. M. Nalbandyan condemns Britain's policy in Ireland, whose freedom-loving people deserve sympathy. He blames the British authorities for strongly condemning the Irish rebels seeking independence. M.Mamuryan believes that England abolished the Irish parliament and reserved all rights to Catholics. He mourns the catastrophic situation in Ireland, which is constantly being oppressed by the British. He considers rebellion to be the only way out of this situation for the Irish.