The Cranberries and The Troubles.

The Catholic Church and the Protestants have long had their differences in how their respective churches and followers.

A little background:

The Catholics believe that only their church has the authority to interpret the bible. In contrast, Protestants believe individuals hold the power to interpret the bible and can choose how to “live their lives according to how they believe God intended”.

During this time, art played an important part of highlighting the differences between the two religions. Catholics included copious amounts of religious messages, images, and symbolism in their art, while Protestant art was devoid of religious imagery.

In the 1600s, millions of people died during this time of war between the two religions. But, for all the fighting and deaths both Catholicism and Protestants are still going strong, with these being the 2 largest forms of Christianity, respectively.

The Troubles:

In 1990s the violence between the Catholics and Protestants was again recharged, following a campaign by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association “To end discrimination against the Catholic/nationalist minority by the Protestant/unionist government and local authorities”. As it was in the 1600s, the 1990s were likewise very violent times.

The Troubles was the name of the time period from the late 1960s-1998 which saw a resurgence in the violence that separated the Protestants and Catholics, and in this case included the added issue of those wanting Northern Ireland to leave the UK, vs those who didn’t. This was an ugly time of violence, including the 1972 Bloody Sunday massacre where 26 unarmed civilians were shot during a protest march: 14 people died – many killed while trying to flee or help the wounded.

The “Irish Republican Army (IRA)” was one of the main participants in The Troubles, originally seeking to protect Catholic areas, it became increasingly offensive and violent in the 1970s.

The Cranberries’ response:

The song ‘Zombie’, on the album ‘No Need to Argue’ by the Cranberries was written as a protest in response to the IRA killing 2 young men in 1993, which was an extension of the Catholic vs Protestant protests and violence.

Some lyrics from ‘Zombie’