The Empire might be gone but ‘the notions’ linger on

Country Living with Francis Farragher

At the risk of using the Brexit word and prompting any potential reader into pressing the exit button, a friend of mine mentioned to me during the week that there were strains of the old colonial days and ‘The Empire’ beginning to stray back into the great debate on Europe and the EU.

It prompted to do just a little delving into the vast stretches of the world that Britain controlled back through the centuries but it is generally accepted that the British Empire was at the height of its powers during the 19th century when its tentacles found their way into most parts of the globe.

Some of the legacy still survives most notably on our own doorstep of Northern Ireland but many moons ago, I remember being on a holiday in Cyprus and talking to some of the locals there who were not too enamoured at the British air bases on their island.

Initially they were quite reticent to talk about the topic but when they established that I was Irish, they ‘opened up’ and spoke of their history, which is of course the story of another divided island.

The history and origins of the British Empire are quite interesting. By the latter part of the 16th century, the British were establishing the odd settlement here and there but most of the big moves in expanding territory came through the 17th and 18th centuries.

The expansion of their navy, the maritime traditions of the UK, commercial ambitions and an ongoing spat with the French in trying to make ‘new signings’ fuelled the growth of the empire.

By the late 1600s, Britain was very definitely ‘on the move’ with settlements along the east coast of North America including the now USA and Canada, the West Indies, India and parts of Africa. The foundations stones were well and truly in place for more expansions to follow.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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