Ulster Unionists and Irish-American Nationalism in the Late Nineteenth Century

Abstract

Throughout the second half of the nineteenth century, Irish unionists increasingly associated Irish-America with violence and extremism. This chapter examines the relationship of Irish unionists and the United States in this era, as unionists denounced American funding of Irish nationalism, condemned Irish Parliamentary Party connections to violence and crime, and feared the threat of separatism. Unionists also emphasized the international appeal of their own movement as they attempted to draw support from the United States in their campaigns against Home Rule. This chapter concludes that the unionists’ approach to the United States was paradoxical and multifaceted, as they attempted to condemn Irish-American influence and extremism while at the same time seeking American aid for their own movement.