Ireland In The Early 20th Century

In 1930s Ireland, improvement in energy technology and in the transportation of materials and goods were making the rural industrialisation of the country easier. But there was also a bigger political picture behind the developments. In the 1930s Ireland fought an ‘economic war’ with Britain. Before 1922 many tenant farmers borrowed money from the British government in order to buy their farms. As part of the treaty on 1922 the Irish state was to collect this money and pass it on to the British but in 1932 Eamon de Valera of the Fianna Fail Party stopped paying. In response the British imposed a tariff of 20 % on Irish goods. This caused great harm to the irish cattle trade and in response de Valera imposes import duties on British goods such as coal. He hoped Ireland would become economically self-sufficient and Irish industries would develop but in reality the war caused economic damage to both sides. It was only after independance in 1922 that Ireland could begin a process of de-specialisation, actively embracing the change from agriculture to a more diverse capitalist economy.

The industrial revolution had come very late to Ireland. The first phase of the revolution, began in England in the mid-1700s, yet in Dancing at Lughnasa the opening of the knitting factory in Donegal does not occur until 1936, 200 years after the advent of similar factories in England. Industrialisation was crucial: there was a scarcity of the necessary raw materials, coal, iron, and other minerals required for fuel and manufacturing were available in abundance in the North and Midlands of England and the lowlands of Scotland, but not in Ireland. By the end of the 19th century, however, advances in commerical shipping and the creation of an irish rail network offfered the possibility of releasing this dependency between the local availability of minerals and industrial production.

Yet still almost the entire country remained agricultural. The reasons for this lay in the part Ireland played in the larger economy of Britain. With huge portions or Irish land owned by English landlords, agriculture was a profitable business and an important source of imported food for mailand Britain. It was only Ulster – geographically well places for links with Liverpool and Glasgow – that developed industired in shipyards and linen manufacturing.

During the 1920s and 1930s unemployment was high in Ireland. many people lived in overcrowded conditions and as a result emigration was high. In the years of 1925-1929 the government created a hydro-electricity scheme called the Shannon scheme and by 1943 all the towns and many of the villages in Ireland had electricity. In the 1930’s the government tried to help the unemployment with a road-building scheme and some industry developed in Ireland at that time. In 1935 thery made a coal-cattle pact, which made trade in the two commodities easier. IOn 1938 a general trade treaty brought the economic war to an end. In 1935 the governments of Britain and Ireland made a coal-cattle pact, which made trade in the two commodities easier. In 1938 a general trade treaty brought their economic war to an end. In 1937 a new constitution made an elected president the head of state. Furthermore the name ‘Irish Free State’ was replaces with either Eire or Ireland. In 1948 Ireland was made a republic and the last ties with Britain were cut.

Image of Donegal from Old UK Photos