Irish Avatar

George Gordon Byron was impressed by Lines on the Entry of the Austrians into Naples, which was written by Thomas Moore in 1821. Therefore, he conceived the Irish Avatar as a work in the same vein, attacking the servile Irish as Moore had attacked the capitulating Italians.[1]

Thomas Moore had liked the Irish Avatar, and had written in his journal, "Received Lord Byron's tremendous verses against the King & the Irish for their late exhibition in Dublin – richly deserved by my servile & hollow-hearted countrymen".[2]

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the so-called "Irish Question" was exacerbated in the socio-political life of England, a process of centuries-old discrimination against the Irish in both religious and socio-economic terms. One of the catalysts was the American Revolutionary War as well as the French Revolution. Against the backdrop of these events, backed by his own desire to break free, a national liberation movement erupted in Ireland, which broke out in the Irish Rebellion of 1798, which was suppressed with extreme cruelty.

Under persistent opposition pressure, the British government was forced to repeal part of the punitive laws. The autonomy of the Irish Parliament was briefly established. But as of January 1, 1801, under the so-called Acts of Union, the parliamentary autonomy of Ireland was abolished: the Irish Parliament was abolished, and Irish representatives received some seats in the British Parliament.

From Byron's letters, we know that the Irish question troubled him back in the years when he was a student at Cambridge University. In his second speech to the House of Lords, which he delivered on 21 April 1812, he spoke in defense of the civil rights of Irish Catholics. The formal reason for the speech was the proposal to set up a committee to investigate the complaints of Irish Catholics. However, from the outset, Byron made it clear that it was not the small details of the situation that arose, and that one should not liken the Lilliputians to their dispute from which end to break an egg. Knowing well the history of Ireland and the events of its modern life, Byron proves that it is precisely through the enmity of Catholics and Protestants in Ireland that an explosive situation is formed that has long been supported by the Government of England. If the government does not provide any subsidies to Catholics, then the Protestants have allocated a considerable amount to schools where children were raised in hatred of Catholics. Particularly strong is the part of the speech in which Byron sharply criticizes English politicians who artificially seek to focus the public's attention on the religious aspect of the problem, thus explaining the specifics of England's domestic policy.[3]

Irish Avatar was written by Byron in connection with the trip of the King of the United Kingdom George IV to Ireland. Byron's official interpretation of this fact is contrasted with the indignation of British tyranny imbued with angry copyright. Byron's satire is directed against both despotism and lackey. In his satire, the poet is indignant at the anguish of those who crawled before George, as before the new "god". The author reminds the Irish that in the person of George IV they should see the British government, which took away all their freedoms. The lyrical hero calls on the Irish to fight against British tyranny and speaks of their love for those Irish who are fighting for the freedom of their country.

• Vail, Jeffery (2001). The Literary Relationship of Lord Byron & Thomas Moore. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 9780801865008.
• The Irish Avatar (full text on Wikisource)