Ulster (1912) - By Rudyard Kipling

Kipling wrote the poem "Ulster" in 1912, reflecting his Unionist politics. Kipling often referred to the Irish Unionists as "our party". Kipling had no sympathy or understanding for Irish nationalism, seeing Home Rule as an act of treason by the government of the Liberal Prime Minister H. H. Asquith that would plunge Ireland into the Dark Ages and allow the Irish Catholic majority to oppress the Protestant minority. The scholar David Gilmour wrote that Kipling's lack of understanding of Ireland could be seen in his attack on John Redmond - the Anglophile leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party who wanted Home Rule because he believed it was the best way of keeping the United Kingdom together - as a traitor working to break up the United Kingdom. Ulster was first publicly read at a Unionist rally in Belfast, where the largest Union Jack ever made was unfolded. Kipling admitted it was meant to strike a "hard blow" against the Asquith government's Home Rule bill: "Rebellion, rapine, hate, Oppression, wrong and greed, Are loosed to rule our fate, By England's act and deed."

[@kurtyboy01]

Excellent mate 🧡💙💜

[@Ger1872]

Thanks, mate 👍

[@joebyrne3159]

That's an Irish tune, The Minstrel Boy, more associated with the Fenians, nothing to do with Ulster, 😂😂😂🇮🇪💪!