D.P. Moran
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D. P. Moran (1869 - 1936) was a principal ideologist for 'Irish-Ireland' through his paper 'The Leader'.
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[edit] Irish-Ireland
Given the parliamentary success of Irish nationalism in 1885-1914, an ideology was developed to define its scope and to identify who was truly Irish. Best known for his 1905 text The Philosophy of Irish-Ireland, Moran argued that to be Irish required:
- the use of the Irish language
- membership of the Roman Catholic Church
- an anti-materialist (but not socialist) outlook on life
Though a sponsor of the use of Irish, he never became fluent in the language [1]. He emphasised the use of English in 1908-1909; 'an active, vigilant, and merciless propaganda in the English language'. In the longer term, when Irish became again the language of the people, its use would enable a de-facto censorship of any foreign and unwelcome ideas written in English.
While Moran argued that the idea of 'the Gael' was one that could assimilate others, he also felt that it would be hard if not impossible to argue that Irish Protestants who supported the British Empire could ever qualify as Irish, being 'resident aliens'. This extended to Anglo-Irish literature.
[edit] Belfast contrasted with Ireland
Historians argue how such a philosophy could ever tempt the Ulster Unionists in what became Northern Ireland to support the nationalist ideal. His articles frequently contrasted Belfast with 'Ireland', yet hoped that Belfast could eventually change and assimilate. He felt that Ulster unionists should: "...be grateful to the Irish nation for being willing to adopt them".
When the Irish Republic launched its war of liberation in 1919, widescale anti-Catholic rioting broke out in Belfast in 1920 and 1922, which Moran identified as caused by Orangeism, 'a sore and a cancer' in Ireland. This reconfirmed his views, and any 'bigotry on the part of Catholics in the Six Counties is immediately due to Orange bigotry.'
[edit] Support for the Treaty
A supporter of Sinn Féin from its earlier years, Moran also supported the Anglo-Irish Treaty agreed in 1921-22, and saw the partition of Ireland as beneficial for a truly Irish culture in the Irish Free State. This caused a sea-change in his opinions; from now on Northern Ireland could be safely ignored, along with what he saw as the English evils of 'free thought, free trade, and free literature'.
Irish life and culture had to be protected from foreign influences, including the twin evils of the music hall and the English press. The new jazz music of the 1920s was deprecated as 'imported debasement and rot'.
Moran is now seen as a necessary ideologue of his day, and interesting in terms of the development of Irish thought, but modern Irish opinion has resiled from his views, particularly since 1960.
