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Churchill and Ireland
Winston Churchill spent his early childhood in Ireland, had close Irish relatives, and was himself much involved in Irish political issues for a large part of his career. He took Ireland very seriously -- and not only because of its significance in the Anglo-American relationship. Churchill, in fact, probably took Ireland more seriously than Ireland took Churchill. Yet, in the fifty years since Churchill's death, there has not been a single major book on his relationship to Ireland. It is the most neglected part of his legacy, on both sides of the Irish Sea.
Distinguished historian of Ireland Paul Bew now, at long last, puts this right. Churchill and Ireland tells the full story of Churchill's lifelong engagement with Ireland and the Irish, from his early years as a child in Dublin, through his central role in the Home Rule crisis of 1912-14 and in the war leading up to the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1922, to his bitter disappointment at Irish neutrality in the Second World War and gradual rapprochement with his old enemy Eamon de Valera towards the end of his life.
As this long overdue book reminds us, Churchill learnt his earliest rudimentary political lessons in Ireland. It was the first piece in the Churchill jigsaw and, in some respects, the last.
Distinguished historian of Ireland Paul Bew now, at long last, puts this right. Churchill and Ireland tells the full story of Churchill's lifelong engagement with Ireland and the Irish, from his early years as a child in Dublin, through his central role in the Home Rule crisis of 1912-14 and in the war leading up to the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1922, to his bitter disappointment at Irish neutrality in the Second World War and gradual rapprochement with his old enemy Eamon de Valera towards the end of his life.
As this long overdue book reminds us, Churchill learnt his earliest rudimentary political lessons in Ireland. It was the first piece in the Churchill jigsaw and, in some respects, the last.
232 pages, Paperback
First published April 25, 2016
About the author
Paul Bew
25 books4 followersA graduate of Pembroke College, Cambridge, Paul Bew has been Professor of Irish Politics at Queen's University, Belfast since 1991. A leading commentator on Northern Irish politics, he is the author of many publications on Irish history and the politics of contemporary Ireland.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 20, 2026
It is with a certain trepidation that I announce my disagreement and disappointment with work by so notable a historian as professor Bew but I was disappointed because his book in my opinion while attempting to elucidate Churchill's complicated and changeable position on Ireland - or at least his publicly expressed opinion (and no one was better then Churchill at obfuscating) - utterly fails to put it within either Churchill's imperial outlook or the Irish context that it was responding to. I imagine professor Bew admires much about Churchill - but I don't and if ever a career was written on water his was.
Churchill became a convert to Home Rule for Ireland as part of his foray into Liberalism - I don't say it was cynical but it was always a belief that arose from his desire for Ireland to be a quiescent part of the UK and thus of the English imperial family. He had absolutely no understanding of Irish history, culture or of what motivated its majority catholic population whether peasant or gentry. For him they were there like the other Celtic nations there to support England's power and glory. He only understood Home Rule within the context of making Ireland a secure part of the Union and empire. The idea that the Irish, or anyone else like the Egyptians or Indians, had dreams other than being the bit players in England's story, was something he violently rejected.
His role during the War of Independence in supporting indiscriminate reprisals is loathsome, but then Churchill always had very defined views about how to treat those who were 'below the salt' - and Celts always were always below the salt (see the Tonypandy riots of 1911 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonypan...).
His true face was most apparent during WWII when de Valera insisted on keeping Ireland neutral - the point of Ireland, like Canada, Australia, New Zealand or South Africa - was to unthinkingly respond to England's needs. If you look at the way Churchill was willing to allow Australia to fall to Japanese aggression despite years of promises of 'imperial protection' it puts de Valera's actions in a different light. He didn't trust Churchill or want to link Ireland's future with England's or America's. He wanted Ireland to make its own decisions and to do so as an independent nation whose priority was itself not the needs of others. Let us also remember that the UK did not go to war for moral reasons - ask the Poles - but because they were fighting to maintain their power status. Although it is not a counterfactual history that anyone likes to explore but shift facts around and one could see Churchill fighting against the Weimar republic or fighting with Hitler against the Soviet Union - as long as England and its empire would retain it supremacy.
It is in the lack of an Irish context that I find this book most disappointing - but then it is about Churchill and what he believed and said - that most his beliefs and sayings were fatuous nonsense - if you know the context. Otherwise this is simply another bit of Churchillian hagiography slightly seasoned with a pinch of acknowledgement that he wasn't always right and many curent historians find more wrong then right.
Churchill became a convert to Home Rule for Ireland as part of his foray into Liberalism - I don't say it was cynical but it was always a belief that arose from his desire for Ireland to be a quiescent part of the UK and thus of the English imperial family. He had absolutely no understanding of Irish history, culture or of what motivated its majority catholic population whether peasant or gentry. For him they were there like the other Celtic nations there to support England's power and glory. He only understood Home Rule within the context of making Ireland a secure part of the Union and empire. The idea that the Irish, or anyone else like the Egyptians or Indians, had dreams other than being the bit players in England's story, was something he violently rejected.
His role during the War of Independence in supporting indiscriminate reprisals is loathsome, but then Churchill always had very defined views about how to treat those who were 'below the salt' - and Celts always were always below the salt (see the Tonypandy riots of 1911 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonypan...).
His true face was most apparent during WWII when de Valera insisted on keeping Ireland neutral - the point of Ireland, like Canada, Australia, New Zealand or South Africa - was to unthinkingly respond to England's needs. If you look at the way Churchill was willing to allow Australia to fall to Japanese aggression despite years of promises of 'imperial protection' it puts de Valera's actions in a different light. He didn't trust Churchill or want to link Ireland's future with England's or America's. He wanted Ireland to make its own decisions and to do so as an independent nation whose priority was itself not the needs of others. Let us also remember that the UK did not go to war for moral reasons - ask the Poles - but because they were fighting to maintain their power status. Although it is not a counterfactual history that anyone likes to explore but shift facts around and one could see Churchill fighting against the Weimar republic or fighting with Hitler against the Soviet Union - as long as England and its empire would retain it supremacy.
It is in the lack of an Irish context that I find this book most disappointing - but then it is about Churchill and what he believed and said - that most his beliefs and sayings were fatuous nonsense - if you know the context. Otherwise this is simply another bit of Churchillian hagiography slightly seasoned with a pinch of acknowledgement that he wasn't always right and many curent historians find more wrong then right.
September 26, 2016
Well surely we all know Churchill’s disdainful view of Ulster that is best summed up in his famous quote following World War One:
“…as the deluge subsides and the waters fall short we see the dreary steeples of Fermanagh and Tyrone emerging once again. The integrity of their quarrel is one of the few institutions that has been unaltered in the cataclysm which has swept the world.”
..and surely we all know how much he grew to dislike de Valera’s Irish Free State (and later Republic) with its war time neutrality and its refusal to bend on the treaty ports.
So what can such a short book tell us about this topic that we don’t already know? Well to my shame it transpires that the answer is a very great deal.
I now have a much clearer understanding of how and why Churchill’s views of both Ulster and the South changed and evolved. There are also some real surprises thrown in as that evolution is explored in the book. These surprises include Churchill’s very personal, as well as his known professional, link to the events of the Curragh “mutiny”, and his specific role in the creation of the so called Black and Tans. I really should have paid much more attention when I was a student attending Paul Bew’s lectures at Queens Belfast.
“…as the deluge subsides and the waters fall short we see the dreary steeples of Fermanagh and Tyrone emerging once again. The integrity of their quarrel is one of the few institutions that has been unaltered in the cataclysm which has swept the world.”
..and surely we all know how much he grew to dislike de Valera’s Irish Free State (and later Republic) with its war time neutrality and its refusal to bend on the treaty ports.
So what can such a short book tell us about this topic that we don’t already know? Well to my shame it transpires that the answer is a very great deal.
I now have a much clearer understanding of how and why Churchill’s views of both Ulster and the South changed and evolved. There are also some real surprises thrown in as that evolution is explored in the book. These surprises include Churchill’s very personal, as well as his known professional, link to the events of the Curragh “mutiny”, and his specific role in the creation of the so called Black and Tans. I really should have paid much more attention when I was a student attending Paul Bew’s lectures at Queens Belfast.
November 27, 2017
Paul Bew’s book is a very balanced account of Churchill’s relationship with Ireland, a relationship as complex as the history of Ireland was itself. Bew does a great job showing how Churchill’s position on Ireland subtly evolved over time and how nuanced his positions were during certain periods as he tried to balance nationalists desires for independence with unionist desires to remain part of the U.K. He succeeds in dispelling some of the stereotypes about Churchill adopted by both ends of the political spectrum in Ireland, north and south. I found the chapters on the Treaty and on Irish Neutrality during WWII especially interesting. I wish he had spent a little more time on the relationship between Collins and Churchill. All in all, an excellent book for anyone interested in Churchill and Ireland.
July 31, 2021
A worthy read on a historical titan and his relationship with my home nation. Overall, I liked this book. Bew's prose is very readable and he's clearly an expert on his subject and Churchill and his feelings on Ireland certainly qualify as an enigma.
My main issue is that parts of the book felt glossed over. I was disappointed that Churchill's part in negotiating the Anglo-Irish treaty that ended the war of Irish independence is barely mentioned. His attempts to diplomatically isolate Ireland are alluded to in a single sentence.
A real shame. I think this book had real potential but it sadly feels rushed and should have been at least a hundred pages longer given the vast amount of material there is in speeches and writing from Churchill.
My main issue is that parts of the book felt glossed over. I was disappointed that Churchill's part in negotiating the Anglo-Irish treaty that ended the war of Irish independence is barely mentioned. His attempts to diplomatically isolate Ireland are alluded to in a single sentence.
A real shame. I think this book had real potential but it sadly feels rushed and should have been at least a hundred pages longer given the vast amount of material there is in speeches and writing from Churchill.
August 17, 2018
Read this book really well researched and presented. Gets into Churchills character well and his opinions of Ireland. Very politically aware bright but headstrong who was not afraid to put his views out there.
Ultimately believed in Irish self government within the British Empire and by giving Ireland this would head of separatist movement. Chapters on Dev and him butting heads around WWII are the highlight for me.
Ultimately believed in Irish self government within the British Empire and by giving Ireland this would head of separatist movement. Chapters on Dev and him butting heads around WWII are the highlight for me.
September 5, 2016
Excellent history which gave me a real insight into Churchill's prickly relationship with Ireland. He wanted a united Ireland but one within the British Empire
I had not realised just what effect Ireland played on the political life at Westminster at the turn of 19th century
I had not realised just what effect Ireland played on the political life at Westminster at the turn of 19th century
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews