The history linking England and Ireland has been far from pleasant. Between wars for power, sieges, discrimination and murder, Ireland has always endured bullying and violent action on the part of the British… But did you know that one king went even further, attempting to eradicate Irish Gaelic culture from Irish soil? The Statute of Kilkenny, promulgated on April 19, 1367, was designed to do just that… We explain.
1300s. Ireland is ruled by the Kingdom of England. The English set out to colonize the Emerald Isle as extensively as possible.
But the situation remained explosive: the Irish, far from accepting the situation, continued to fight against the English presence… and some British settlers seemed to be “seduced” by Irish culture…
For King Edward III of England, it was absolutely essential to strengthen the English colony on Irish soil, and prevent the local Anglo-Irish from becoming too “Irish”.
Thus was born the Statute of Kilkenny, a text deciding to completely ban the way of life and culture of the indigenous Irish.
With this text, Anglo-Irish settlers were forbidden to do anything that might be Irish. They were suddenly forbidden to fraternize with the natives, marry them, speak their Gaelic, wear their clothes and even listen to their music.
A deliberate strategy on the part of the Kingdom of England, designed to bring Ireland back under the control of English-born nobles, not English descendants in Ireland.
The statute was adopted following a meeting of the Irish parliament in Kilkenny on April 19, 1367. Among its prohibitions, the Statute provided for :
Breaking any of the Statute’s laws was tantamount to treason, and punishable by death.
This statute was designed exclusively to oppose the colonists and bring them back into line with English colonialist thinking… But the law quickly lost its force and was not applied as it should have been.
In theory, this status remained in force for almost three hundred years, until the 17th century… But local resources were lacking to enforce it… So much so that many Anglo-Irish soon stopped respecting the Statute of Kilkenny.
However, this piece of legislation had a profoundly negative impact on the relationship between the English colonists and the Irish… For many centuries, the Statute of Kilkenny fostered the belief that the English and Irish belonged to different races… and that the Irish were part of a sub-race to be educated…
A law that has had a major impact on Irish Gaelic culture, making it almost illegal throughout the country. However, many Irish people have preserved their way of life, practicing Gaelic culture in spite of prohibitions, through secret meetings, out of sight.
