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From civil war to oppression to suppression of language, there are a number of parallels between Catalonia and Ireland’s history.
In my time in Ireland I have experienced a solidarity I have never felt before when I say I'm from Barcelona in Spain. “So Catalonia, right?”, I'm asked with an immediate smile of understanding. While the histories of both Catalonia and Ireland share a number of parallels, I have also had my fair share of debates about how our histories cannot compare. Namely, because Catalonia was never colonised.
Ireland and Catalonia's plight for independence both go as far back as the 17th century; in the 1640s both rebelling against London and Madrid respectively. In Ireland the violent Irish Rebellion of 1641 took place, with the Irish fighting against Catholic discrimination, for greater Irish self-governance, and the return of confiscated Catholic lands. This led to the Irish Confederate Wars against English and Scottish colonists and the establishment of the Catholic ‘Confederate’ Government in May 1642. This succeeded in governing most of Ireland, before being defeated by Cromwell's army in August 1649, who annexed Ireland to the English Commonwealth.
A similarly bloody revolt, known as the “Reapers War” took place in Catalonia at the same time, lasting from 1640–1659. Philip IV wanted to centralise power as a result of Spain’s declining economy due to its recent wars in France and the Netherlands. Consequently, he wanted to establish a single political system in Spain, abolishing each region's independent economies and judicial systems. That was met with fierce opposition from amongst Catalans. Additionally, Philip IV’s “Union of Army” policy obliging all kingdoms of Spain to give the monarchy soldiers and money proportional to their population, raised tension with Catalans not wanting to support the Empire.
Moreover tensions rose because Castilian troops crossing to fight the French caused damage to the countryside, private property and abused civilians, particularly women, obliged to lodge them. With the crisis escalating, the President of the Generalitat, Pau Claris proclaimed the Catalan Republic in January 1641, allying with France. In a week, Braços Generals led by Pau Claris made Catalonia a Principality under the protection of France, first governed by Louis III and then Louis XIV. However, Catalonia was eventually reincorporated into the Spanish Monarchy in 1652.
Parallels reemerge in the late 17th century, with both Catalans and the Irish supporting ascendants in the throne that would favour them, albeit unsuccessfully. In the 1690s Irish Catholics rose to defend Catholic King James II, as opposed to the Protestant prince William of Orange who the English wanted to take the throne. Similarly, in the War of Spanish Succession, 1702-1714, Catalans fought for the Habsurg Charles III, supported by the Holy Roman Empire and Great Britain, against the absolutist monarch Bourbon Philip V, supported by France and the Bourbons in Spain.
It is unsurprising after seeing such similar histories, that Catalonia has always considered Ireland a sister nation.
After William was successful in the battle of Boyne 1690, the Irish were punished by the ‘Penal Laws’ suppressing Catholicism and restricting Catholics land ownership, education opportunities, political participation and religious practice. In Spain Philip V won the war, with Charles III withdrawing his candidature as he became Holy Roman Emperor after the death of his older brother. Once in power he abolished Catalonia’s autonomy and Catalan as an administrative language.
Lastly there’s the parallel between the 1918 Irish elections and the 2017 Catalonia elections. An Irish Republic was declared in 1918 with the Sinn Féin party winning the elections. The British declared their parliament to be an illegal assembly which led to the War of Independence, the eventual partition of the country, and a resulting Civil War.
In Catalonia in 2017, the Spanish police attempted to violently stop an independence referendum from taking place - over 1,000 people were injured - and declared it similarly illegal. With a majority of votes being pro-independence, 92.01%, from a 43.03% turnout, independence for Catalonia was declared. In a matter of hours, however, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy dismissed the Catalan government and parliament with the notorious Article 155, which grants the Spanish government the power to intervene in autonomous communities, when they go against the law or constitution of Spain or threaten the interest of Spain.
A broader analogy between Irish and Catalan’s history is the repression of language. The repression of Catalan goes back to 1659, with the Treaty of Pyrenees signed by Louis XIV, prohibiting catalan in the land Catalonia had to give France. Moreover, Catalan was banned across Spain under Franco's regime in 1939–1975, both in public, prohibited in education, books, newspapers and magazines; and in private, being prohibited in telegrams, telephone conversations and in the streets. Nevertheless, Catalan remained the dominant language, including in the upper classes.
Irish was banned much earlier; Article III of The Statute of Kilkenny in 1367 making it illegal for both English colonists and native Irish. Subsequent treaties banned it in all areas under English rule, the Irish Parliament, courtrooms and legal documents. Moreover, the Irish language was banned in education in 1831. Additionally, the Irish Penal Laws from 1695 onwards forbade Irish speakers entry to high paying professions and the practice of Catholicism. Lastly, the Great Potato Famine contributed to the loss of the Irish language with many Irish speakers dying or emigrating to the US. Within years Irish became seen as a peasant language, and unfortunately declined to a much greater extent than Catalan.
Catalan citizens held a mass demonstration in his commemoration after his funeral, university students and shop assistants wore green ribbons on their button holes, and Catalans sent his daughter Máire, a doll dressed in Catalan dress, now preserved in the Cork Public Museum.
It is unsurprising after seeing such similar histories, that Catalonia has always considered Ireland a sister nation. Indeed, Catalonia has given various support to Ireland throughout history. For example, when the IRA volunteer Kevin Barry was executed by the British, students at Barcelona University held a special mass and sent a wreath of waxed flowers to Dublin.
When Sinn Féin’s Terence MacSwiney died on hunger strike in prison, 500 catalan protesters chanted “Long live Ireland, die England” waving Sinn Féin flags outside the British consulate. Catalan citizens held a mass demonstration in his commemoration after his funeral, university students and shop assistants wore green ribbons on their button holes, and Catalans sent his daughter Máire, a doll dressed in Catalan dress, now preserved in the Cork Public Museum.
Many Irish journalists, writers and politicians who travelled to Catalonia expressed solidarity in their writings back to Ireland, such as activist Maire Ní Bhrian who stated “the aspiration for independence is the bond between [catalans] and us”. On the other hand, Ireland supported Spain in the Civil War between Spain and Catalonia.
Roughly 700 Irishmen fought on the side of Francisco Franco, recruited by Eoin O'Duffy. However, the reasons for the Irish to sympathise with Franco were religious and not political, wanting to protect the church from communism. Moreover, 80 men did fight in the International Brigades on the Republican side, recruited by Frank Ryan in solidarity for the Catalan’s cause.
Solidarity between the Irish and Catalans extends into the present too. In December 2020, former Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams had an online meeting with two political prisoners of the famous, or rather infamous, 2017 independence referendum, the catalan left party leader Oriol Junqueras and former Catalan foreign minister Raül Romeva. He stated:
“You know you have our support. The links between the struggles of the Catalan and Irish people go back a long way. I myself was imprisoned for Christmas, and it's not a pleasant place to be. But the knowledge that you're right will I hope be some small consolation for you. And when you look back on these days, you'll see them as an almost necessary phase of the struggle to win freedom for your people. So I wish you well.”
Ireland and Catalunya have faced similar histories, both having violent protests and uprisings, fighting in civil wars, supporting leaders for the throne who would favour them, having their languages oppressed, and being declared independent in different points in history only to be reintegrated into the British and Spanish Empire. Although in Ireland there was the additional tension of religion, between Protestants and Catholics, they share the ethnic and cultural, language, and economic tensions with Catalonia. In Catalonia, economics is the driving force; Catalonia has always been one of the richer regions in Spain, and resents endowing the government in Madrid.
It is undeniable there’s always been a feeling of unanimity between citizens of the two nations. Nowadays both nations have things in common; both have schemes to preserve their languages such as making them mandatory in schools, and encouraging them in entertainment. Additionally, both are seeing a rise in social media content producers and musicians defending and promoting culture, history and language. Consequently, one wonders what could be achieved if the two nations united and supported each other further in their enduring plight for independence.