Irish views on Old Austria and Austrian views on the Irish Question

This thesis looks at the closing years of the Austrian Empire and the growth of Czech nationalism, in contrast and comparison with the development of Irish nationalism, as reflected in a provincial Irish newspaper, the Cork Examiner. And, moreover, how discernible the question of Ireland was on a Continental scale and in view of a World War. The years 1914 to 1918, pivotal to many nationalist aspirations in Europe, Panslav or Irish, mark the primary time-span, and the Cork Examiner, founded 1841, a time when nationalist sentiment among the literate masses was globally detectable, is the primary source of information relied upon. This thesis juxtaposes Ireland and Bohemia, former colonies in former empires, and it is worthwhile noting the quality and quantity of interest they showed in each other’s destinies, or, indeed, lack of it. The geographic, denominational and cultural distance between Ireland and Bohemia seems to have proved too great to allow satisfactory monitoring of potentially mutually supportive political movements, essentially nationalist and separatist in nature.