I have seen a lot of people try, in bad attempts at Alternate History, to turn Ireland into a huge Empire. That is understandable, as I would imagine most people who even try to keep Ireland independent are probably Hibernophiles who would love to see their favorite nation dominate the world.
I'm not going to do that, but I am wondering what anyone thinks of the possibility of Ireland unifying more strongly before the English take an interest, and thus being able to withstand attempts to take it. After all, from the history I have studied, it does not seem that Ireland was a particularly useful territory to dominate: it did not have the resources to make itself a great power, and thus its resources would not have been so important that a powerful nation would bother to take on a more unified country. It seems to me that it was easily conquered largely due to disunity.
So, my idea (which I admit might be implausible, as it is late and I haven't studied this aspect of history for some time) is that an Irish king, a sort of earlier version of Brian Boru, attempts to consolidate power. He manages to begin the process of centralization, which continues after him. By about 1000, there is a King of Ireland (or "Emperor of the Irish" if you wish) who rules the whole island. It seems to me there would be few butterflies at this point...the Danes might have done a little less in Ireland, but would probably have still made roughly the same contributions they did in OTL.
I imagine then that Ireland, which would be independent but still poor, lightly populated, and without serious resources, would look for allies in Europe. My goal for this time-line would be to have, by the middle of the 16th century, Ireland allied with Spain, as a sort of puppet state to annoy England and France. The Hispano-Irish alliance would be in competition with the Auld Alliance (as, I would imagine, an Independent Scotland would be desired, certainly, by Spain and Ireland to keep England in check, and by France especially to keep both England and Spanish-allied Ireland in check) and the Anglo-Portuguese.
This would result, I believe, in a much more diverse (perhaps "balkanized") America, as six different Western European nations would be colonizing larger or smaller parts of the New World (I imagine England, Spain, Portugal and France would still get the best territories, whereas Ireland and Scotland would probably get the bits Spain and France, respectively, wanted to use as buffers against their enemies but didn't want to actually have to colonize.
I can also imagine that it might result in a wider spread of Protestantism: England would probably go Protestant on schedule, and if Spain was busier up north more Portuguese might be tempted. Scotland and France would both have large Calvinist populations, even if they remained a minority. I imagine that in TTL Spain would be the leader of the Catholic cause, and as their ally Ireland would probably come along for the ride (the polar opposite of the reasons for Ireland's adherence to Catholicism in OTL).
Please let me know what you all think of the idea...I will think about expanding it into a more coherent time-line if anyone thinks it is worthwhile. Again, this isn't an attempt at some kind of great Irish empire, but only an attempt to gain a slightly more deadlocked, competitive Western Europe and a more chaotic settlement of the New World
I'm not going to do that, but I am wondering what anyone thinks of the possibility of Ireland unifying more strongly before the English take an interest, and thus being able to withstand attempts to take it. After all, from the history I have studied, it does not seem that Ireland was a particularly useful territory to dominate: it did not have the resources to make itself a great power, and thus its resources would not have been so important that a powerful nation would bother to take on a more unified country. It seems to me that it was easily conquered largely due to disunity.
So, my idea (which I admit might be implausible, as it is late and I haven't studied this aspect of history for some time) is that an Irish king, a sort of earlier version of Brian Boru, attempts to consolidate power. He manages to begin the process of centralization, which continues after him. By about 1000, there is a King of Ireland (or "Emperor of the Irish" if you wish) who rules the whole island. It seems to me there would be few butterflies at this point...the Danes might have done a little less in Ireland, but would probably have still made roughly the same contributions they did in OTL.
I imagine then that Ireland, which would be independent but still poor, lightly populated, and without serious resources, would look for allies in Europe. My goal for this time-line would be to have, by the middle of the 16th century, Ireland allied with Spain, as a sort of puppet state to annoy England and France. The Hispano-Irish alliance would be in competition with the Auld Alliance (as, I would imagine, an Independent Scotland would be desired, certainly, by Spain and Ireland to keep England in check, and by France especially to keep both England and Spanish-allied Ireland in check) and the Anglo-Portuguese.
This would result, I believe, in a much more diverse (perhaps "balkanized") America, as six different Western European nations would be colonizing larger or smaller parts of the New World (I imagine England, Spain, Portugal and France would still get the best territories, whereas Ireland and Scotland would probably get the bits Spain and France, respectively, wanted to use as buffers against their enemies but didn't want to actually have to colonize.
I can also imagine that it might result in a wider spread of Protestantism: England would probably go Protestant on schedule, and if Spain was busier up north more Portuguese might be tempted. Scotland and France would both have large Calvinist populations, even if they remained a minority. I imagine that in TTL Spain would be the leader of the Catholic cause, and as their ally Ireland would probably come along for the ride (the polar opposite of the reasons for Ireland's adherence to Catholicism in OTL).
Please let me know what you all think of the idea...I will think about expanding it into a more coherent time-line if anyone thinks it is worthwhile. Again, this isn't an attempt at some kind of great Irish empire, but only an attempt to gain a slightly more deadlocked, competitive Western Europe and a more chaotic settlement of the New World