Scots Irish against the British Crown. Protestant and Irish

Sceala Philosopher Location: Carnew

More about the Scots Irish or Scotch Irish.
I have discovered that Scots Roman Catholic emigration into Ireland was once frequent. For centuries it was only Roman Catholics Scots that came to Ireland from Scotland.
As of course it was only Irish Roman Catholics that emigrated into Scotland. Many of these same migrant families mixed and flowed back and forth.
If we go back in history, we discover that most people who think of themselves as Scots are mostly descended from Irish Gaels, invaders and settlers from Ireland.

Scots Irish or Scotch Irish today
I am of a Scots Irish ancestry. Presbyterian on both sides, Irish converts from Roman Catholic and some Roman Catholic Scots going back. Ironically in our family, the known Scots emigrants to Ireland were Roman Catholics.
Apart from one Great Grandparent, no other family members were Kings men, none ever had any love for the British monarchy or loyalty to England. Some were very anti British.

Conservative and Republican views of the Scots Irish or Scotch Irish.
The conservative and Republican sense of politics was dominant among the Scots Irish of North America.
There is a lot more to the story of the Protestant Irish than most people know.
Protestant Scots Irish, and Scots and Irish Protestants are not all British Royalists and we never were.

First let me explain what we mean by Scots Irish or Scotch Irish!
Today, we are usually (but not always) connected to people from Ireland. Irish people who were Roman Catholic converts to a Protestant but still Christian religion.
Who we are gets kind of complicated when you start studying. When the real history reveals, our ancestors were sometimes not converts, but Irish who had no religion.
Turns out most people back in time attended religious worship far less than some want us to imagine. We know that across North American in the 18th century, fewer people than today went to any form of religious worship, and less of the time.

Are the Scotch Irish Protestant?
Yes and no and other.
Historically of course the most ancient and original Scots Irish were all Roman Catholic. The Galloglass and the Redshanks. These first known Scots emigrants to Ireland and known to be from Scotland (mostly from the Western Isles), who are the original Scots Irish and they were ironically Roman Catholic every one.
This ancient and credibly Scots Irish group of real distinction now considers itself Irish.
So who are the Scots Irish today!
In Ireland or North America we are the same, people from various backgrounds, mostly Irish of Gaelic blood, what we are not is pure Scots, or pure Irish or pure anything. The Scots Irish is a badge for a real mix.
Ancestry may be mostly French or Dutch. could be some English or Scottish, many just Irish.
The only common bond most all of us Scots Irish have is Ireland. We all know or think we know, that we have some Irish family connection. We know we have or once had family in Ireland.
Some of us of course will have no Irish or Scots ancestors.

The factual history is Confusing, people who refer to themselves as Scots Irish today are not a distinct racial group, never have been.
Many Scots Irish are from a totally or mostly Irish ancestry from Ireland, Irish Roman Catholic Converts to Protestant.
Scots Irish has come to mean religion, not race or even a culture.
Scots Irish today means loosely Protestant, specifically not Roman Catholic. Which is kind of ironic considering the factual history of the original large scale migrants from Scotland to Ireland.
So we may call ourselves Scots Irish today, but the truth is the Scots Irish are not even a defined ethnic group. Most Scots Irish only really know one fact, they had a ancestor from Ireland who was not at some point in time a observing Roman Catholic or pagan anymore.
It should not be that confusing (except for the bigots) to accept as historical fact, we are all descended from Roman Catholic converts somewhere along the line.

So what are we Scots Irish, who we are.
More simply and more credibly we Scots Irish are Irish who are usually not Roman Catholic anymore.
We use the name in habit or error, we do so because a ancestor wanted or needed to distinguish their family from Irish Roman Catholics at a historical point in time. In North America this time period started post Irish famine and the millions of desperate Irish emigrants to America.
Curiously the habit of seeking a Scots Irish distinction is much more recent in Ireland itself, a late 20th century habit. Up until the late 2oth century the Protestant Irish in Ireland would claim their identity as either Irish or British.

Many of us know our real history, we were oppressed by the English and the established Anglican church and by the Roman Catholic church.
Most of us Scots Irish are not Orange Order, many of our families decline their loyalty to England and their sectarian bigotry and politics.
Most of us have no time for the Roman Catholic church. Speaking for myself, I believe that the Pope and Irish bishops have kept the Irish ignorant of their real history. The RC church in Ireland was equally as foreign in origin and equally as divisive and intolerant as the Orange Order.
The Crown and the established Church of England controlled both in Ireland.
All these old institutions promoted the ignorance of our shared culture and common bonds of history, they all rely upon the unquestioning habits of the Irish and Scots.

The real history of the Scots Irish Protestant.
Scots Irish Protestants were the architects of the Irish Republic.
The majority of Scots Irish were Irish Republicans.
Most Scots Irish fought against the British and Crown in the American war of independence.
Most of the leaders of the 1798 United Irishmen rebellion were either non denominational or Protestant faith.

A new debate of what it means to be Irish and Scots Irish should start.
The basis for debate must recognize as fact that religion is not a national identity.
The history of Ireland and Canada proves.
You can be Protestant and be Irish and for Ireland.
You can be Roman Catholic and be a British Unionist for the Monarchy.
Identity is not controlled by religion.
Our true identity can only ever be based upon our ancestors real culture and real history.
Can we raise some examples of Protestant and Irish for discussion here.

Good starting point to reclaim Irish and Protestant identity.
James Stephens (26 January 1825 - 28 April 1901) was an Irish Republican and the founding member of The Irish Republican Brotherhood (I.R.B).
James Stephens was a Protestant Irishman
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James Stephens a Irish Protestant, was the founder of the IRA.

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Scots Irish against the British Crown. Protestant and Irish