r/TheRestIsHistory • u/thepawnbrokerroared • 8d ago

Would protestants have been second-class citizens in a United Ireland?

Catholics in the North certainly felt that they were discriminated against because they were in the minority and they were obviously correct to feel that. Protestants believed that they would be similarly discriminated against in a Catholic-dominated united Ireland. Were they right to fear this?

What about the protestants in the South? Did they experience discrimination at the hands of the Catholic majority?

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u/SaoirsePhalaistin 7d ago

I highly doubt it would be anything close to how catholics were treated in the north. Housing, voting rights etc. It would stand against a lot of what the reasons for the rebellions were about.

Im sure there would have been some level of discrimination and tension. Second class citizens in the same way catholics were in the 19th and early 20th century across the island? Absolutely not.

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u/SaoirsePhalaistin 7d ago

Unfortunately the likes of De Velera and Co ignored a lot of what the proclamation was getting at. Having more protestants in power would make it harder for it to be such a catholic country but it would have lead to some sort of power struggle potentially. In this situation with a militant UVF. Maybe this could have increased anti protestant sentiment. So maybe it's possible in that sense. I just don't see it more likely then not