[13:45] <steampunkey> today i was shocked to find out that the orange in your tricolour stands for William of Orange's followers
[13:46] <steampunkey> the same one that defeated the last Catholic king of the islands.
[13:46] <steampunkey> i find that very very strange
[13:46] <zmoylan> the flag is meant to indicate peace between the two.  nationalists and loyalists with a white indicating peace
[13:47] <zmoylan> it was given to the irish by the french iirc
[13:47] <steampunkey> i'd understand if it were a flag of the northern ireland - ie the brittish subject. but it's the flag of the republic
[13:48] <steampunkey> zmoylan: i think its history is way more complex than that
[13:48] <zmoylan> it predates the republic.
[13:50] <zmoylan> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Ireland#History
[13:50] <steampunkey> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Ireland#Symbolism
[13:51] <steampunkey> "When the tricolour was designed in 1848 the Orange Order faced suppression and was in serious decline."
[13:52] <steampunkey> very, very weird.
[13:53] <zmoylan> it's irish history.  weird is a given
[13:53] <steampunkey> when they're marching through streets of northern ireland in orange, they are hated. yet, see - they're on the flag of the republic.
[13:54] <zmoylan> many of out greatest leaders were protestant, parnell and wolf tone.  the most northern part of the island is in the south.  after that it gets complicated :-D
[13:56] <steampunkey> i understand there are protestants in ireland, and people must coexist in peace. but William of Orange - for me, he's the symbol of oppression of Catholicism
[13:57] <zmoylan> i don't think the irish see him that way.  we would have a worse opinion of cromwell.
[13:59] <steampunkey> oooh ". When he produced a Catholic heir, the tension exploded, and leading nobles called on William III of Orange (his son-in-law and nephew) to land an invasion army from the Netherlands, which he did."
[13:59] <steampunkey> never did understand the "huns" insult before. i thought it's racist confusion. now i understand.
[14:02] <steampunkey> wait... are dutch descendants of huns? they aren't are they?
[14:03] <steampunkey> i guess i don't understand the "huns" insult then.
[14:04] <zmoylan> there were a lot of mercenaries in the army that came over.
[14:10] <steampunkey> what do you mean?
[14:12] <zmoylan> most armies in ireland included mercenaries.  hessian (german) troops in ireland are said to have given rise to the phrase kilkenny cats.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilkenny_cat