Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T19:06:47.688Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Presbyterianism, unionism, and the Second World War in Northern Ireland: the career of James Little, 1939–46

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 December 2019

Matthew Houston
Matthew Houston*
Affiliation:
Queen's University, Belfast
*
*School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics, Queen's University, Belfast, [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article examines the career of the Irish Presbyterian minister and member of the Westminster parliament, James Little, as a case study of Presbyterian clerical responses to the Second World War in Northern Ireland. Establishing a more detailed narrative of contemporary interpretations of the conflict improves our understanding of the functions of religious institutions during the period. It demonstrates that Presbyterian church leaders were largely enthusiastic supporters of the war, employing theological language while promoting the agenda of unionist politics. By juxtaposing clerical politico-religious support for the war with their commitment to conservative moral standards, the article assesses the strength with which these views were held, thereby adding to our knowledge of Presbyterianism in the 1940s. The article also situates the Northern Ireland Presbyterian view of the war within the context of the United Kingdom.

Type
Research Article
Information
Irish Historical Studies , Volume 43 , Issue 164 , November 2019 , pp. 252 - 268
Copyright
Copyright © Irish Historical Studies Publications Ltd 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Robbins, Keith, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales: the Christian churches, 1900–2000 (Oxford, 2008), p. 276CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

2 On the involvement of Catholic clergy in nationalist politics, see Harris, Mary, The Catholic church and the foundation of the Northern Irish state (Cork, 1993), p. 184Google Scholar; Murray, Patrick, Oracles of God: the Roman Catholic church and Irish politics, 1922–37 (Dublin, 2000), p. 360Google Scholar.

3 Brooke, Peter, Ulster Presbyterianism: the historical perspective, 1610–1970 (Belfast, 1994), p. 201Google Scholar.

4 Bruce, Steve, Paisley: religion and politics in Northern Ireland (Oxford, 2007), p. 21CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

5 Church of Ireland Gazette, 12 June 1942.

6 Barton, Brian, The Belfast blitz: the city in the war years (Belfast, 2015), pp 465–572Google Scholar. Barton's earlier work, Northern Ireland in the Second World War (Belfast, 1995)Google Scholar, makes less frequent reference to churches, but in the same contexts as discussed above. The same can be said of Ollerenshaw, Philip, Northern Ireland in the Second World War: politics, economic mobilisation and society, 1939–45 (Manchester, 2013)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

7 McCormick, Leanne, ‘“One Yank and they're off”: interaction between U.S. troops and Northern Irish women, 1942–1945’ in Journal of the History of Sexuality, xv, no. 2 (May 2006), pp 228–57Google Scholar; eadem, Regulating sexuality: women in twentieth-century Northern Ireland (Manchester, 2009), pp 148–79CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

8 Examples include Holmes, R. F. G., Our Irish Presbyterian heritage (Belfast, 1985), p. 160Google Scholar; McDowell, R. B., The Church of Ireland, 1869–1969 (London, 1975), p. 118Google Scholar; Cooney, D. L., The Methodists in Ireland: a short history (Dublin, 2001), pp 106–7Google Scholar. In terms of size, by 1937 the Presbyterian Church in Ireland comprised 390,931 adherents in Northern Ireland (30.5 per cent). The Church of Ireland had 345,474 adherents (27 per cent) and the Methodist Church had 55,135 (4.3 per cent). The Catholic church had 428,290 members, 33.5 per cent of the population. See Mitchel, Patrick, Evangelicalism and national identity in Ulster, 1921–1998 (Oxford, 2003), p. 126CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

9 Megahey, A. J., The Irish Protestant churches in the twentieth century (Basingstoke, 2000), pp 106–7CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

10 Ibid., p. 13; Northern Whig and Belfast Post, 1 Apr. 1946.

11 Megahey, The Irish Protestant churches, pp 81–3; Andrew Rainey, ‘Castlereagh Presbyterian church: further historical information and echoes from the past’, pp 24–5 (http://castlereagh.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/History-of-Castlereagh-Presbyterian-Church-Part-2.pdf) (4 Sept. 2017); Larne Times, 4 Apr. 1946.

12 Holmes, Our Irish Presbyterian heritage, pp 152–3.

13 Northern Whig and Belfast Post, 11 May 1939. For biographical details concerning Smyth, Kinnear and Simms see, respectively: Linde Lunney, ‘Smyth, Richard (1826–78)’ in D.I.B.; Desmond McCabe, ‘Kinnear, John (1823–1909)’ in ibid; Bridget Hourican, ‘Simms, John Morrow (1854–1934)’ in ibid.

14 Harbinson, J. F., The Ulster Unionist Party, 1882–1973: its development and organisation (Belfast, 1973), pp 90–91Google Scholar.

15 Jackson, Alvin, ‘“Tame Tory hacks”?’ The Ulster Party at Westminster, 1922–1972’ in Hist. Jn., liv, no. 2 (June 2011), pp 455–6Google Scholar. Other scholarly discussions of unionist representation at Westminster consider the years before and after the period examined in this article. See Jackson, Alvin, The Ulster Party: Irish unionists in the House of Commons, 1884–1911 (Oxford, 1989)Google Scholar; Walker, Graham and Mulvenna, Gareth, ‘Northern Ireland representation at Westminster: constitutional conundrums and political manoeuvres’ in Parliamentary History, xxxiv, no. 2 (June 2015), pp 237–55CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Walker, Graham, A history of the Ulster Unionist Party: protest, pragmatism and pessimism (Manchester, 2004), p. 63Google Scholar.

16 Walker, A history of the Ulster Unionist Party, p. 77; Barton, Brian, ‘Northern Ireland: the impact of war, 1939–45’ in Girvin, Brian and Roberts, Geoffrey (eds), Ireland and the Second World War: politics, society and remembrance (Dublin, 2000), pp 55–6Google Scholar.

17 Bew, Paul, Gibbon, Peter and Patterson, Henry, Northern Ireland, 1921–2001: political forces and social classes (London, 2002), pp 48, 86Google Scholar.

18 The Witness, 28 Apr. 1939.

19 Larne Times, 29 Apr. 1939.

20 Ulster unionist M.P.s at Westminster were frequently referred to as ‘the Ulster Party’. See Jackson, ‘“Tame Tory hacks?”’, pp 453–75.

21 Northern Whig and Belfast Post, 16 May 1939.

22 Hansard 5 (Commons), ccclv, 735–6 (6 Dec. 1939).

23 Rainey, ‘Castlereagh Presbyterian church’, p. 26.

24 Basil Brooke's diary, 13 Mar. 1940 (P.R.O.N.I., D3004/D/31).

25 Patterson, Henry, Ireland since 1939: the persistence of conflict (Dublin, 2006), p. 38Google Scholar; Barton, Northern Ireland in the Second World War, pp 38–40. For Little's opinion, see The Witness, 28 June 1940.

26 The Witness, 5 July 1940.

27 ‘Meeting between Ulster Unionist Imperial Members and the Government of Northern Ireland’, 17 June 1943 (P.R.O.N.I., CAB/9/J/6/2).

28 Jackson, ‘“Tame Tory hacks?”’, p. 458.

29 Northern Whig and Belfast Post, 22, 23 June, 3 July 1945.

30 Ibid., 27 July 1945.

31 Larne Times, 4 Apr. 1946.

32 Walker, A history of the Ulster Unionist Party, p. 105.

33 Cited in Wilkinson, Alan, Dissent or conform? War, peace and the English churches, 1900–1945 (London, 1986), p. 24Google ScholarPubMed.

34 Treloar, G. R., The disruption of evangelicalism: the age of Torrey, Mott, McPherson and Hammond (London, 2016), pp 121–3Google Scholar.

35 For a detailed narrative of ecclesiastical life during the First World War see Robbins, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, pp 96–151.

36 Brown, S. J., ‘“A solemn purification by fire”: responses to the Great War in the Scottish Presbyterian churches, 1914–19’ in Journal of Ecclesiastical History, xlv, no. 1 (Jan. 1994), pp 82–90CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

37 Megahey, The Irish Protestant churches, pp 38–40. It should be noted that, after the Easter Rising of 1916, many Irish Catholic clerics withdrew their initial support for the British war effort and became increasingly involved in Irish nationalism. See, for example, Rafferty, O. P., Violence, politics and Catholicism in Ireland (Dublin, 2016), pp 134–5Google Scholar.

38 Wolffe, John, God and greater Britain: religion and national life in Britain and Ireland, 1843–1945 (London, 1994), pp 235–41Google Scholar; Wilkinson, Dissent or conform?, pp 21–53.

39 Robbins, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, p. 279.

40 Brown, C. G., Religion and society in twentieth-century Britain (Harlow, 2006), p. 163Google Scholar; Stevenson, John, British society, 1914–45 (London, 1984), p. 94Google Scholar.

41 Parker, Stephen, Faith on the home front: aspects of church life and popular religion in Birmingham, 1939–1945 (Bern, 2005), p. 163Google Scholar.

42 Hoover, A. J., God, Britain, and Hitler in World War II: the view of the British clergy, 1939–1945 (Westport, 1999), p. 46Google Scholar.

43 Hoover, God, Britain, and Hitler, pp 8–17.

44 Robbins, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, p. 280.

45 Evans, G. R., The church in the early middle ages (London, 2007), p. 98Google Scholar.

46 Hoover, God, Britain, and Hitler, pp 97–111.

47 Wolffe, God and greater Britain, p. 250.

48 Hansard 5 (Commons), cccli, 1894 (3 Oct. 1939).

49 Ibid., ccclvii, 955 (15 Feb. 1940).

50 Ibid., ccclxxxiii, 2218–21 (22 Oct. 1942).

51 The Witness, 22 Sept. 1939.

52 Northern Whig and Belfast Post, 14 July 1936.

53 Ibid., 16 June 1941.

54 Ibid., 1 Dec. 1941.

55 Ballymena Observer, 22 Sept. 1939.

56 Johnston, J. W., Completed poems of a parachute padre (Belfast, 1952), pp 37–8Google Scholar.

57 Presbyterian Herald, June 1945, p. 62.

58 Private individuals and lay representatives of religious organisations encouraged Little to persist in his efforts. See Northern Whig and Belfast Post, 25 Apr., 24 July 1940.

59 Parker, Faith on the home front, pp 163–4.

60 Williamson, Philip, ‘National days of prayer: the churches, the state and public worship in Britain, 1899–1957’ in E.H.R, cxxviii, no. 531 (Apr. 2013), p. 348Google Scholar.

61 Hansard 5 (Commons), ccclvii, 578 (13 Feb. 1940).

62 The Witness, 26 July 1940.

63 Hansard 5 (Commons), ccclxv, 1702 (13 Nov. 1940).

64 Ibid., ccclvii, 1522–3 (22 Feb. 1940).

65 Ibid., ccclxxviii, 1509–10 (18 Mar. 1942).

66 Ibid., ccclxxxi, 936 (9 July 1942).

67 Ibid., cdi, 797-9 (29 June 1944).

68 The Witness, 26 July 1940.

69 Ibid., 30 Aug. 1940; Northern Whig and Belfast Post, 26 Aug. 1940.

70 Hansard 5 (Commons), ccclxxviii, 1509–10 (18 Mar. 1942).

71 Loughlin, James, ‘Politics and society, 1800–1960’ in Kennedy, Liam and Ollerenshaw, Philip (eds), Ulster since 1600: politics, economy, and society (Oxford, 2012), pp 241–2Google Scholar.

72 Hansard 5 (Commons), ccclv, 735–6 (6 Dec. 1939).

73 Rafferty, Violence, politics and Catholicism in Ireland, p. 178.

74 Jeffery, Keith, ‘The British army and Ireland since 1922’ in Bartlett, Thomas and Jeffery, Keith (eds), A military history of Ireland (Cambridge, 1996), p. 438Google Scholar.

75 Loughlin, James, Ulster unionism and British national identity since 1885 (London, 1995), p. 112Google Scholar.

76 Barton, Northern Ireland in the Second World War, pp 16–17.

77 Hansard 5 (Commons), cccxlvi, 2128–30 (4 May 1939).

78 Ibid., ccclv, 736 (6 Dec. 1939).

79 Ibid., ccclxxi, 1390–91 (20 May 1941).

80 Ollerenshaw, Northern Ireland in the Second World War, pp 163–5.

81 Hansard 5 (Commons), ccclxxi, 1718 (27 May 1941).

82 Megahey, The Irish Protestant churches, pp 91–120.

83 Macourt, Malcolm, ‘The nature of religion in Ireland’ in Hill, Michael (ed.), A sociological yearbook of religion in Britain, 7 (London, 1974), pp 31–3Google Scholar; Fitzpatrick, David, Descendancy: Irish Protestant histories since 1795 (Cambridge, 2014), p. 11CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

84 Detailed accounts of ecclesiastical influence on education reform can be found in Fleming, N. C., ‘The first government of Northern Ireland, education reform and the failure of anti-populist unionism, 1921–1925’ in Twentieth Century British History, xviii, no. 2 (Feb. 2007), pp 146–69CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Farren, Sean, ‘Unionist-Protestant reaction to educational reform in Northern Ireland, 1923–30’ in History of Education, xiv, no. 3 (1985), pp 227–36CrossRefGoogle Scholar; idem, The politics of Irish education, 1920–65 (Belfast, 1995)Google Scholar.

85 Megahey, The Irish Protestant churches, pp 102–3.

86 Temperance and licensing reform, 1938–9 (P.R.O.N.I., CAB/9B/33/13).

87 Fitzpatrick, David, The two Irelands, 1912–1939 (Oxford, 1998), pp 224–5Google Scholar.

88 McCormick, Regulating sexuality, p. 207.

89 McKibbin, Ross, Classes and cultures: England, 1918–1951 (Oxford, 1998), pp 330–1CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

90 Brown, Religion and society, pp 123–5.

91 Holmes, A. R., The shaping of Ulster Presbyterian belief and practice, 1770–1840 (Oxford, 2006), pp 74–7CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

92 Brown, Religion and society, p. 124.

93 Longmate, Norman, The water-drinkers: a history of temperance (London, 1968), pp 275–87Google Scholar.

94 Hall, L. A., ‘Sexuality’ in Addison, Paul and Jones, Harriet (eds), A companion to contemporary Britain, 1939–2000 (Oxford, 2005), p. 147Google Scholar; Rose, S. O., ‘Sex, citizenship, and the nation in World War II Britain’ in American Historical Review, ciii, no. 4 (Oct. 1998), p. 1148Google Scholar.

95 Reports and accounts of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland (Belfast, 1944), p. 13Google Scholar.

96 ‘Manifesto: unanimously adopted at a meeting held in the YMCA on Monday, 30th March, 1942’ (P.R.O.N.I., CAB/9CD/171/1).

97 Missionary Herald, Jan. 1940, pp 10–11.

98 Hansard 5 (Commons), ccclix, 308–9 (4 Apr. 1940).

99 Daily Mirror, 15 Mar. 1940.

100 The desire of unionists to appease the Americans is noted in McCormick, ‘“One Yank”’, p. 235; Topping, Simon, ‘“Laying down the law to the Irish and the coons”: Stormont's response to American racial segregation in Northern Ireland during the Second World War’ in Historical Research, lxxxvi, no. 234 (Nov. 2013), p. 758Google Scholar.

101 Hansard 5 (Commons), cccxcvi, 171–2 (19 Jan. 1944).

102 Northern Whig and Belfast Post, 16 Oct. 1940; The Witness, 18 Oct. 1940.

103 Hansard 5 (Commons), ccclxxviii, 263–4W (21 Jan. 1942).

104 Ibid., cccxciii, 644 (3 Nov. 1943).

105 Larne Times, 8 June 1940.

106 Hansard 5 (Commons), ccclxx, 942–5 (1 Apr. 1941).

107 Brown, C. G., The death of Christian Britain (London, 2001), p. 83Google Scholar.

108 Hansard 5 (Commons), ccclxxiv, 1906 (23 Oct. 1941).

109 Ibid., cccxcvii, 1556–7 (2 Mar. 1944).

110 Ibid., cdvii, 795–6 (21 Feb. 1945).

111 Extract from Hansard, 29 Apr. 1942 (P.R.O.N.I., CAB/9CD/171/1).