Question 3 Ireland has long been divided along religious lines. The Protestant Irish and Catholic Irish are said to be almost two distinct ethnic groups. Irish Catholics consider themselves to be the "original Irish". The Protestant Irish are seen to represent the British colonists. But when the Irish immigrants of the nineteenth century came to Canada, they left their religious and cultural differences behind. False. Differences and animosity between Protestant and Irish Catholics persisted among Irish immigrants to Canada. The Orange Order, started in Ireland to preserve British rule, became an important vehicle in the New World for maintaining Protestant distinctiveness. Settling into Canadian society was made difficult for Catholic Irish immigrants because Canadian citizenship was tied to allegiance to the British Crown, the very institution that had oppressed and marginalized Irish Catholics in their homeland. This made it extremely difficult for the "native Catholic Irish" to remain loyal to their political culture and heritage and be good Canadian citizens as well. Next Top of Page