A map showing the Ireland – United Kingdom border.

The Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border is the boundary between the sovereign states of the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is also referred to as the Irish border (Irish: teorainn Éireannach) or – on the island of Ireland – simply as the border (an teorainn).

The border runs for a total of 360 kilometres (220 mi) from Lough Foyle in the north-west of the island to Carlingford Lough in the north-east (on the Irish Sea). The only international land border in Ireland, it is inconspicuous and open by world standards, in common with many international borders in the European Union. While both states are outside the European Union's Schengen Area, they do share the Common Travel Area, resulting in an essentially open border.

Establishment[link]

The border at Killeen marked only by a speed sign marked in km/h, and no other sign

Originally intended as an internal frontier within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the border was created in 1921 under the United Kingdom Parliament's Government of Ireland Act 1920.^[1] This legislated for Home Rule in Ireland, with separate parliaments for Southern Ireland and what became Northern Ireland. Six of the thirty-two counties of Ireland were assigned to Northern Ireland, and the other twenty-six to Southern Ireland.

The Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921 led to the creation of the Irish Free State, a Dominion established for the whole island of Ireland on 6 December 1922. The Free State was largely independent of the United Kingdom from its creation, a status formalised by the Statute of Westminster in 1931. The border became an international frontier after the Parliament of Northern Ireland exercised its right to opt out of the Free State on 7 December 1922. The 1920 border was a provisional frontier; a Boundary Commission met in 1924–5 to fix a permanent border between the two jurisdictions "in accordance with the wishes of the inhabitants, so far as may be compatible with economic and geographic conditions".^[2] However, its recommendations were not favoured by either side and the interim boundary was confirmed formally in 1925, without changes from the 1920 demarcation lines.^[2][3] The Boundary Commission report was not published until 1969.^[2] The Irish Free State was renamed Ireland (Irish: Éire) by the 1937 constitution, and the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 formally declared that it was a republic with the official description Republic of Ireland.

Customs and identity checks[link]

The Irish border on the Lenamore Road, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The Republic of Ireland begins just in front of the speed signs. Ironically, the Republic of Ireland is to the north of Northern Ireland at this location.

Customs controls were introduced on the frontier shortly after the establishment of the Irish Free State. These controls were maintained, with varying degrees of severity, until 1 January 1993 when systematic customs checks were abolished between European Community member states as part of the single market.^[4][5] There are no longer any operational customs posts along either side of the border. Whilst it has never been necessary for Irish or British citizens to produce a passport to cross the border, during the 1970s troubles, security forces regularly asked travellers for identification.

Military checkpoints[link]

During the Troubles in Northern Ireland, there were military checkpoints on main border crossings and UK security forces made the remaining crossings impassable. By about 2005, in phase with implementation of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, these controls were removed.

Possible reinstatement of border controls[link]

In October 2007, details began to emerge of a British Government plan that might end the Common Travel Area encompassing the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland (and also the Isle of Man and Channel Islands) in 2009, possibly creating an anomalous position for Northern Ireland in the process.^[6] In a statement to Dáil Éireann, the Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern assured the House that "British authorities have no plans whatsoever to introduce any controls on the land border between North and South. I want to make that clear. All they are looking at is increased cross-border cooperation, targeting illegal immigrants."^[6] This immediately raised concerns north of the border. Jim Allister, a former member of the Democratic Unionist Party and then a Member of the European Parliament, told The Times that it would be "intolerable and preposterous if citizens of the UK had to present a passport to enter another part of the UK".^[6]

In July 2008, the British and Irish governments announced their intent to resume controls over their common border and the Common Travel Area in general. Each proposes to introduce detailed passport control over travellers from the other state, where travel is by air or sea.^[7] However, the land border will be 'lightly controlled'.^[8] In a joint statement, Jacqui Smith, the British Home Secretary, and Dermot Ahern, the Irish Justice Minister, said:

It is crucial that our two countries work closely together to ensure our borders are stronger than ever. Both governments fully recognise the particular circumstances of Northern Ireland. Both governments reaffirm that they have no plans to introduce fixed controls on either side of the Irish land border.^[7]

The Times reported that another consultation paper was to be published in the autumn of 2008 on whether people travelling between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom should be subject to further checks.

One proposal is expected to suggest extending the electronic borders scheme, requiring travellers from Northern Ireland to provide their personal details in advance. This would mean residents of one part of the UK being treated differently from others when travelling within the country, something to which Unionists would object.^[7]

However, in 2011, the Governments renewed the 'de facto' agreement.

The 2011 inter-government agreement[link]

2011 marked the first public agreement between the British and Irish governments concerning the maintenance of the Common Travel Area. Officially entitled the "Joint Statement Regarding Co-Operation on Measures to Secure the External Common Travel Area Border" and referred to by both governments as a memorandum of understanding, it was signed in Dublin on 20 December 2011 by the UK's immigration minister, Damian Green and the Republic's Minister for Justice, Alan Shatter.^[9]

The Troubles[link]

The Troubles in Northern Ireland required that attempts were made from the early 1970s until the late 1990s to enforce border controls. Many smaller cross-border roads were cratered or blockaded with the intention of making them impassable to regular traffic. Bridges were also destroyed to prevent access at unauthorised border crossings (known officially as "unapproved roads"). In particular, the border area in south County Armagh was dominated by British Army surveillance posts. Derry, the second-largest city in Northern Ireland, is close to the border with County Donegal. This meant that there was a heavy security presence around the city, often impeding traffic and general movement between Derry City and County Donegal. Despite these measures, the border was simply too long and had too many minor access roads to enable control of all cross-border movements. In any case, authorised crossing-points on the border remained open to civilian traffic in both directions at all times although vehicles and their occupants were subject to detailed searches while some crossing points were closed to vehicle traffic at night when customs posts were unstaffed.

Difficulty in patrolling parts of the border and large taxation/currency differences (particularly during the 1980s) led to widespread smuggling. However, greater European integration has led to roughly similar tax rates on most items and easing of restrictions on cross-border trade. Smuggling nowadays is mostly limited to fuel, livestock and a seasonal trade in illegal fireworks (which are strictly regulated in the Republic. In both countries there are restrictions on the types which can be used and a licence is required to possess/use fireworks but in the Republic such licences are almost never issued to private individuals.).

While it still exists, the border presents no impediments to traffic in either direction. This has been mainly due to the Common Travel Area between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, as well as a sharp reduction in cross-border activity by paramilitaries. EU integration has also played a part. Following the Northern Ireland peace process, military surveillance has been replaced by routine PSNI patrols.

Ongoing maritime border demarcation dispute[link]

The exact division of territorial waters between Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland ('Southern Ireland' being coterminous with the territory of the modern-day Irish state) was a matter of some controversy from the outset. Section 1(2) of the Government of Ireland Act 1920 defined the respective territories of Northern Ireland and the then Southern Ireland as follows:^[10]

...Northern Ireland shall consist of the parliamentary counties of Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone, and the parliamentary boroughs of Belfast and Londonderry, and Southern Ireland shall consist of so much of Ireland as is not comprised within the said parliamentary counties and boroughs.

At the time of that Act, both Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland were to remain parts of the United Kingdom. Perhaps because of this, the Act did not explicitly address the position of territorial waters although Section 11(4) provided that neither Southern Ireland or Northern Ireland would have any competence to make laws in respect of “Lighthouses, buoys, or beacons (except so far as they can consistently with any general Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom be constructed or maintained by a local harbour authority)”.

When the territory that initially was Southern Ireland ultimately became a separate self-governing dominion outside the United Kingdom known as the Irish Free State, the status of the territorial waters naturally took on a significance it had not had before. Northern Ireland's Unionists were conscious of this matter from an early stage. They were keen to put it beyond doubt that the territorial waters around Northern Ireland would not belong to the Irish Free State. In this regard, James Craig, the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland put the following question in the British House of Commons on 27 November 1922 (the month before the establishment of the Irish Free State):^[11]

Another important matter on which I should like a statement of the Government's intentions, is with regard to the territorial waters surrounding Ulster. Under the Act of 1920, the areas handed over to the Governments of Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland respectively, were defined as the six Parliamentary counties of Northern Ireland and the twenty-six Parliamentary counties of Southern Ireland. I understand there is considerable doubt in the minds of lawyers and others as to whether these Parliamentary counties carry with them the ordinary territorial waters, extending three miles out from the shore. It has been asserted in some quarters that the Parliamentary counties only extend to low water mark. That has been exercising the minds of a good many people in Ulster, and I shall be glad if the Government in due course will inform the House what is their opinion on the subject and what steps they are taking to make it clear..... Am I to understand that the Law Officers have actually considered this question, and that they have given a decision in favour of the theory that the territorial waters go with the counties that were included in the six counties of Northern Ireland?

In response the Attorney General, Sir Douglas Hogg, said that “I have considered the question, and I have given an opinion that that is so [i.e. the territorial waters do go with the counties]".

However, this interpretation that the territorial waters went with the counties was later disputed by Irish Governments. A good summary of the Irish position was given by the then Taoiseach, Jack Lynch, during a Dáil debate on 29 February 1972:

...[W]e claim that the territorial waters around the whole island of Ireland are ours and our claim to the territorial waters around Northern Ireland is based on the Government of Ireland Act of 1920. This Act is so referred to in the 1921 Treaty that the Northern Ireland which withdrew from the Irish Free State is identical with the Northern Ireland defined in the Government of Ireland Act, 1920, and defined as consisting of named counties and boroughs. It is, I think, common case between us that in English law the counties do not include adjacent territorial waters and, therefore, according to our claim these territorial waters were retained by the Irish Free State.

A particular dispute arose between the Government of the Irish Free State of the one part and the Northern Ireland and UK governments of the other part over territorial waters in Lough Foyle.^[12] Lough Foyle lies between County Londonderry in Northern Ireland and County Donegal in the then Irish Free State. A court case in the Free State in 1923 relating to fishing rights in Lough Foyle held that the Free State’s territorial waters ran right up to the shore of County Londonderry.^[12] In 1927, illegal fishing on Lough Foyle had become so grave that Northern Ireland Prime Minister James Craig entered into correspondence with his Free State counterpart, W. T. Cosgrave. Craig indicated to Cosgrave that he proposed to introduce a Bill giving the Royal Ulster Constabulary powers to stop and search vessels on Lough Foyle. Cosgrave asserted all of Lough Foyle was Free State territory and that as such a Bill of that nature would be rejected by the Free State and its introduction would create “a very serious situation”.^[12] Cosgrave then raised the matter with the British government.

It appears that the territorial waters generally are no longer disputed between the two states but the maritime boundary dispute between Ireland and the United Kingdom concerning Lough Foyle (and similarly Carlingford Lough) may still not have been settled. As recently as 2005, when asked to list those areas of EU member states where border definition is in dispute, a British Government minister responding for the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs stated: "Border definition (ie the demarcation of borders between two internationally recognised sovereign states with an adjoining territorial or maritime border) is politically disputed [between] Ireland [and the] UK (Lough Foyle, Carlingford Lough—quiescent)"^[13] It appears moves have been made on the Irish side to settle the issue. During Dáil debates on the Carlingford Fisheries Bill, a contributor to the debate stated that he welcomed "the Bill’s aim of defining the area of jurisdiction over the Foyle."^[14] However, it appears that the Carlingford Fisheries Act 2007 ultimately remained silent on the point.

Identification[link]

A bilingual traffic sign in County Louth, in the Republic of Ireland, warning drivers travelling south across the border that metric speed limits are used in the Republic, whereas the United Kingdom uses imperial units.

Unlike other borders in the EU, the Irish border is not officially marked by either government. This can make identifying the border difficult for those unfamiliar with landmarks known to locals as the crossing point. At some crossings, there are signs welcoming visitors to the relevant local government authority district or, occasionally, reminding motorists of the need to ensure that their insurance is valid in the relevant jurisdiction.

Generally, signposts in the Republic of Ireland which indicate distances to destinations are bilingual (in Irish and English) and give distances in kilometres while such signposts in Northern Ireland are only in English and give distances in miles. On larger roads, the approximate location of the border can be determined by signs reminding the driver of the change in units. In Northern Ireland, place-name and street/road-name signs are usually (but not always) English-only and street/road-name signs are more standardised and extensively used.

There are other immediate indicators when crossing the border: differences in the design of road signage and a change in road markings. The hard shoulder on non-motorway roads in the Republic is marked with a yellow, usually broken, line. The same marking in Northern Ireland is white and usually continuous. In Northern Ireland, roads use A (major) and B (minor) route prefixes, whereas the Republic's route prefixes are N (major, standing for national) and R (minor, standing for regional). Road signs in the Republic of Ireland are mostly black/yellow and diamond shaped (similar to those in North America and Australasia) whereas those in the UK are mainly black/white/red triangles or circles (the same as the rest of the European Union). Signs also have subtle differences in colouring and fonts.

Since the adoption by the Republic of metric speed limits, warning signs have been placed on either side of the border to alert motorists to the change to or from miles or kilometres per hour. As the United Kingdom does not use the euro, advertised prices for service stations and shops will change currency on crossing, although many places along the border will accept cross-border currency informally (albeit usually at a rate favourable to the trader). Other typical signs of crossing a European border are also noticeable. These include subtle differences in the paving materials of road surfaces and sidewalks, sometimes with visible differences in colour between materials across the border (though these also vary across intra-county borders), changes in the colour of postboxes (green in the Republic, red in Northern Ireland).

By rail, there is no immediate sign of crossing the border, but the trackside mileage markers change from Irish-style^{[clarification needed]} markers at the 59¾-mile post (from Dublin Connolly railway station) to black-on-yellow markers, common to the United Kingdom, at the 60-mile (97 km) post, between Dundalk and Newry stations.

Mobile phone roaming charges[link]

As in most places, radio signals from the cellular networks on both of the border sides often travel several kilometres across it. This is a source of annoyance to those resident in border areas as roaming charges are incurred with most service providers if the phone connects to the "wrong" network when making or even receiving a call.^[15][16] It is believed that one third of mobile phone users in Northern Ireland have been affected by this.^[17] Discussion between the relevant communication regulators in the two jurisdictions is under way in an attempt to resolve the issue with Irish operator Meteor abolishing charges for receiving calls in Northern Ireland, once their customers roam on T-Mobile there, and creating a special Northern Ireland roaming tariff for both Post and Prepay customers. O₂ Ireland introduced and then abandoned an "all Ireland tariff". UK mobile networks have not provided such tariffs to their Northern Ireland customers. 3 Ireland also have a 3 Like Home tariff which allows Irish mobile phone users to use their phones in the U.K. at no extra cost.

Border settlements[link]

The following cities, towns and villages are located on the border or not far from it (listed from Lough Foyle to Carlingford Lough):

• Greencastle, Inishowen, County Donegal
• Muff, Inishowen, County Donegal
• Culmore, County Londonderry
• Derry, County Londonderry
• Killea, County Donegal
• Newtowncunningham, County Donegal
• Carrigans, County Donegal
• St. Johnston, County Donegal
• Lifford, County Donegal (linked to Strabane by Lifford Bridge)
• Strabane, County Tyrone (linked to Lifford by Lifford Bridge)
• Clady, County Tyrone
• Castlefin, County Donegal
• Castlederg, County Tyrone
• Killeter, County Tyrone
• Pettigo, County Donegal and Tullyhommon, County Fermanagh (separated by a river)
• Ballyshannon, County Donegal
• Bundoran, County Donegal
• Belleek, County Fermanagh (part of Belleek is actually in County Donegal, as the border passes through the town but most of it is on the 'northern' side)^[18]
• Kiltyclogher, County Leitrim
• Blacklion, County Cavan and
• Belcoo, County Fermanagh (linked to Blacklion by bridge)
• Swanlinbar, County Cavan
• Ballyconnell, County Cavan
• Scotshouse, County Monaghan
• Newtownbutler, County Fermanagh
• Clones, County Monaghan
• Aughnacloy, County Tyrone
• Glaslough, County Monaghan
• Caledon, County Tyrone
• Middletown, County Armagh
• Cullaville, County Armagh
• Forkhill, County Armagh
• Dundalk, County Louth
• Jonesborough, County Armagh
• Newry, County Armagh/County Down
• Warrenpoint, County Down
• Omeath, County Louth

See also[link]

• British–Irish relations
  • Foreign relations of the United Kingdom
  • Foreign relations of the Republic of Ireland
  • Irish nationality law
  • British nationality law
  • British nationality law and the Republic of Ireland
  • Common Travel Area
• Repartition of Ireland
• Partitionism

References[link]

• Sharrock, D. (2007) "New border control will abolish free movement between UK and Ireland", The Times, 25 October, TimesOnline website accessed 10 June 2008

External links[link]

• Centre for Cross Border Studies - researches and develops cooperation across the Irish border in education, training, health, business, public administration, communications, agriculture and the environment, and acts as secretariat for a number of cross-border educational organisations.
• "Border Ireland" - an information portal on cross-border co-operation on the island of Ireland since 1990 including a searchable database of cross-border activities, publications, organisations and funding, a series of critical briefing papers and an up-to-date media centre of cross-border issues in the national and regional press.
• "Mapping Frontiers" (a cross-border research project between UCD and QUB specifically about the Irish border)
• "Border People" - cross-border mobility portal with four main themes - Commute, Work, Live, Study
• Popular ferry back in action
• A Nameless Intra-Irish Pene-Enclave

Edward Finbar Wright (born September 26, 1957), known popularly as Finbar Wright,^[1] is a popular music singer, songwriter,^[2] poet from County Cork, Ireland.

Finbar Wright is a classically trained tenor ^[3] who emerged during the 1990s in Ireland and has become one of that country's "most popular singers",^[4] concentrating on romantic, jazz and pop standards for the adult contemporary audience. Referred to as one of Ireland's great romantic singers,^[5][6][7] his first album, Because in 1991 reached the top of the Irish music charts. Wright's second recording, "Whatever You Believe", also reached the top of the Irish charts with triple platinum certification and produced the number 1 hit single, Whatever You Believe, now a Christmas favorite in Ireland. His subsequent recordings have also received gold and/or platinum status.^[8]

The 2 time IRMA "Male Entertainer of the Year" and BBC Cardiff "Singer of the World"^[9] is best known outside of Europe as one of the Irish Tenors from their PBS specials and recordings.

Early life[link]

Born in Kinsale, County Cork, Ireland in 1957, Finbar Wright was the youngest of eight children in a Roman Catholic farming household. Finbar's paternal grandfather, whose family tree includes 7th President of the United States Andrew Jackson, was a Presbyterian hackney driver living in County Monaghan where he met his future bride, a Catholic from County Cork. The couple married and moved to Cork to begin a family. Grandfather Wright started up his own hackney service which became the family business until one son, Robert, decided to go into farming. Robert later met and married Julia O'Donovan and together raised their eight children on their Ballinspittle farm.^[10] Three years after the arrival of their seventh child, Julia gave birth to "Finbar" on September 26, one day after the feast-day of Saint Finbarr, the Patron Saint of Cork.

Robert and Julia both enjoyed singing and, subsequently, made it a priority that all eight of the Wright children were taught an appreciation for music, in one form or another. At age 6 young Finbar began studying piano with Ms. Maura Hourihane and singing on local stages with one of his four brothers. At age 11 Finbar, having shown a keen interest and, more importantly, an ability for athletics, was sent to Farranferris College, a Diocesan preparatory school known for its Hurling tradition. While there, Wright impressed academically as well, and at 16 was sent to university in Palencia, Spain to study for the priesthood.

While studying in Spain, Finbar developed his lasting appeciation and love for the Spanish culture and music. He returned to Ireland to take a Bachelor of Divinity Degree at National University of Ireland Maynooth, in County Kildare, where he joined the choir and became senior cantor in charge of liturgical singing. In 1978 Wright, at age 21, was the youngest man ever to be ordained a Catholic priest, a distinction which required special dispensation by the Pope.

1979 saw the historic first visit by a Pontiff to the island nation of Ireland. On 29 September 1979 in Phoenix Park, in Dublin, John Paul II celebrated an open-air Papal Mass to an assembled congregation of 1.25 million, at that time roughly one-third of the population of Ireland.^[11] Wright was appointed deacon^[12] for that Mass and, beneath the commemorative 100 ft (30 m) steel cross, read the Gospel (and sang the Responsories) to the largest gathering of Irish people ever recorded in one place.^[13]

As a priest, Fr. Finbar returned to Farranferris College to teach Spanish and Latin. In 1987, following the deaths of his eldest brother and his father, and citing philosophical differences with the Church, Wright, at age 30, made the decision to leave the priesthood^[14] and was laicised.

Career[link]

Finbar Wright has performed in many of the major concert halls around the world including Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House, Radio City Music Hall, Lincoln Center, Royal Albert Hall, Dublin's National Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl. Wright began his formal training rather late, at age 27, and professional music career at age 32 but he had been involved in music since his early childhood as well as his time in the priesthood so when he decided to leave, he felt there was only one career path to follow, ""Even when I went back to Farranferris as a teacher, I stayed interested in singing...""^[15]

Formal vocal studies began in 1984 as Wright attended the Cork School of Music, a college founded in 1878 and now part of the Cork Institute of Technology. There he studied music theory with George Dunne, singing with Robert Beare and piano with Angel Climent. Wright subsequently studied with Ernst Haefliger in Munich, Germany and the Romanian soprano Ileana Cotrubas at Aldeburgh, England. He was chosen to study with Dr. Veronica Dunne, regarded as Ireland's preeminent vocal teacher.^[16]

In 1987 Finbar made his television singing debut on RTE's "The Late Late Show", hosted by Gay Byrne. Finbar entered the Feis Ceoil competitions in Dublin, winning the major singing awards there,^[17] and, in 1989, Wright was chosen as Ireland's representative to the BBC Cardiff competition capturing the "Singer of the World" top honour.

In 1990 Wright began his professional music career in earnest with recitals and concerts around Ireland. By 1991 Finbar was starring in his own video for the United States Public Broadcasting System, "Finbar Wright in Concert". His first album, Because, in 1991, was produced by Phil Coulter and reached the top of the Irish music charts and platinum status. Later that same year Coulter invited Wright to accompany him on a world tour. As his popularity grew his reputation reached the ears of producers at RTE culminating in the successful television series, "Music of the Night" which Finbar hosted, along with singer/actress Angeline Ball. Finbar's second album, Whatever You Believe went triple platinum in Ireland and made the Mike Batt title song "Whatever You Believe" a Christmas classic in that country. All of Finbar Wright's recordings have reached gold and/or platinum status.

Wright was nominated for and won the Irish Recorded Music Association's "Male Entertainer of the Year" 2 consecutive years, 1992-1993. During his career, Finbar has appeared in public performance with such diverse personalities as Phil Coulter, Kiri Te Kanawa, Jerry Lee Lewis and Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber; Spanish soprano, Montserrat Caballé, invited the multilingual Wright to be special guest artist at her concert in Dublin in 1993 after hearing him sing a Spanish song on one of his albums. He is fluent in Irish, English, Spanish, Italian and French (as well as Latin) and his concerts and recordings include songs in most of these languages. The Jimmy Kennedy penned single "South of the Border", with its syncopated rhythms and Spanish flair, is a favorite Wright song with American audiences.

In 1995 Finbar performed at the State Dinner ^[18] in honour of U.S. President Bill Clinton at Dublin Castle. Finbar was invited to again sing for then President Clinton in Washington, DC^[19] and Daniel O'Donnell asked Finbar to join him in London at the Royal Albert Hall for a concert in 1999; ""...Daniel and I are going to be like the new Irish rat pack"".^[20] Wright's concert at the National Concert Hall in Dublin, October 4, 2007, on the occasion of Finbar's 50th birthday, saw him surprised with a five foot cake and a leather-bound book of well wishes from, most-notably, former President Bill and Hillary Clinton^[21] and old friends Daniel O'Donnell and Phil Coulter, among others.^[22]

Finbar has guested on most of Ireland's national television programs including many appearances on RTÉ's The Late Late Show and UTV's Gerry Kelly show, TV3's Ireland AM, RTÉ's The Afternoon Show and the comedy hit Podge and Rodge.^[23] Finbar, with the Irish Tenors, has guested on all the major network morning shows in the United States, NBC's Today Show, ABC's Good Morning America, CBS' the Early Show as well as Live with Regis and Kelly and several appearances on the home shopping network QVC.

Wright's musical influences are eclectic as he lists such notables as Count John McCormack, Mario Lanza, Ray Charles, Willie Nelson^[24] and Freddie Mercury and Queen. Still deeply spiritual, Finbar includes at least one piece of sacred music in every concert and on every album. Each of Wright's recordings reflect these wide-ranging influences as he embraces all genres of music encompassing popular, jazz, traditional Irish, rock-classics, Spanish rhythms, Neopolitan romance, old standards and light classical.

The Irish Tenors[link]

The first to be asked by producer Bill Hughes to join a new group called The Irish Tenors in 1998, Wright had to decline under the terms of his contract with Sony BMG Music. In 2000, having left Sony, Finbar was asked to step in at the last minute to replace John McDermott, who decided to leave the group, for the "Live from Belfast" PBS special.^[25] Since that time Finbar has recorded six albums and 5 PBS specials with the Irish Tenors.^[26]

The Irish Tenors, in 2001, filmed a historic PBS special^[27] at New York's Ellis Island,^[28] hosted by Irish/American actor Martin Sheen. Their album Ellis Island topped Billboard's Heatseeker^[29] list and landed on its "Top 10 Best of 2001". In 2007 the South Carolina Legislature issued a "Proclamation"^[30] welcoming the trio to that State at their performance in Charleston.

In 2003, The Irish Tenors participated in the prestigious UNICEF Snowflake Lighting celebrations to kick off the festive season in New York, sharing the stage with the Mayor of New York, Michael R Bloomberg, and movie star Liv Tyler, who hosted the event.^[31]

Wright and Irish Tenors' mate Anthony Kearns were asked by ABC's Good Morning America to sing the hymn "Amazing Grace" for their coverage of the funeral of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan in 2004.

2006 saw Finbar and the Irish Tenors host the 9 part Summer variety series for RTÉ produced by Bill Hughes' Mind the Gap productions, The Irish Tenors, Heroes & Friends. "Heroes & Friends" included Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, Finbar Furey, Hayley Westenra, Sharon Shannon, Rebecca Storm and Shane Ward, among others.^[32] In 2006 Finbar and the Irish Tenors welcomed newcomer Karl Scully^[33] into the group, replacing John McDermott, who stepped-in temporarily in 2004.

Personal life[link]

While attending classes at the Cork School of Music in 1984 Wright met a young woman, Angela Desmond.^[34] After leaving the priesthood, Finbar happened to meet her again and the romance resulted in marriage in 1990. ""By the time I left the priesthood I hadn't seen her for a few years. Then in 1988 I met her [again], by chance, and we met every day for a month and we haven't been apart since."" ^[35]

The Wrights prefer to live and raise their two children, a son and a daughter, away from the music capitals and bright lights. The family resides, still, in County Cork Ireland; ""If you are to have any kind of a fruitful life, it isn't wealth and success that matter - happiness is the important thing."" ^[36]

Discography[link]

	Whatever You Believe noicon Finbar's 1992 #1 single from the album "Whatever You Believe"
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Finbar Wright[link]

The Irish Tenors[link]

Television[link]

Writing[link]

The Gift of Glib (often referred to as "Gift of Gab") was not lost on this Corkman as Finbar began writing song lyrics several years ago, 4 of which have appeared on his recordings. A more literary style emerged and he began writing full-length verse. Private Friends is a collection of some of Wright's poetry published in 2001 and dedicated to his brother, Robert, who, at age 47, had died suddenly the same year.

Awards[link]

• Ireland Feis Ceoil Singing Competition Dublin, winner x 4
• BBC Cardiff "Singer of the World" winner 1989
• "Male Entertainer of the Year" 1992 Irish Recorded Music Association
• "Male Entertainer of the Year" 1993 Irish Recorded Music Association

Career Timeline[link]

• 1979 — Deacon at historic Papal Mass, Phoenix Park, Dublin, Ireland
• 1979-1987 — Catholic Priest
• 1989 — Winner BBC Cardiff "Singer of the World"
• 1989-Pres — Solo Singing Artist
• 1991 — USA PBS special, "Finbar Wright in Concert"
• 1992 — Debut at Carnegie Hall, New York City, New York, USA
• 1992 — Album Whatever You Believe reached triple platinum sales and single "Whatever You Believe" hit #1
• 1991-1993 — Host "Music of the Night" RTÉ
• 1992 — IRMA "Male Entertainer of the Year"
• 1993 — IRMA "Male Entertainer of the Year"
• 1994 — Narrated and Performed in RTÉ's "Tribute to John McCormack" special
• 1991-1999 — Sony BMG Artist
• 1999-2003 — Ritz Records Artist/Music Matters Artist
• 2000-Pres — Member of the "Irish Tenors"
• 2001 — As part of the Irish Tenors performed in the historic USA PBS special "Ellis Island"
• 2004 — Landmark performance at the Hollywood Bowl with the Irish Tenors and guests, Three Mo' Tenors, with the LA Philharmonic
• 2005 — Sang with Anthony Kearns for U.S. television's ABC "Good Morning America" coverage of the funeral for former President Ronald Reagan.

References[link]

Further reading[link]

Periodicals[link]

• Ireland's Own Magazine, October 2006, Cover Story "Finbar Wright"
• Woman's Way Magazine, December 28, 2004 "All the Presidents' Man"
• Irish Sunday Mirror, December 12, 2004, "Why I Owe The Pope A Tenor"
• Chicago Sun Times, July 13, 2001, "Irish Tenor Having a Ball"
• Billboard, October 20, 2001, p. 78

External links[link]

• Finbar Wright.com Official website
• Finbar Wright Universal Fan Organization
• The Irish Tenors Official website
• Finbar Bio - Anthony Kearns.com

Reivers at Gilnockie Tower, from an old print

Border Reivers were raiders along the Anglo–Scottish border from the late 13th century to the beginning of the 17th century. Their ranks consisted of both Scottish and English families, and they raided the entire border country without regard to their victims' nationality. Their heyday was perhaps in the last hundred years of their existence, during the time of the Stuart Kings in Scotland and the Tudor Dynasty in England.

Background[link]

Scotland and England were frequently at war during the late Middle Ages. During these wars, the livelihood of the people on the borders was devastated by the contending armies. Even when the countries were not at war, tension remained high, and royal authority in either kingdom was often weak. The uncertainty of existence meant that communities or people kindred to each other would seek security through their own strength and cunning, and improve their livelihoods at their nominal enemies' expense. Loyalty to a feeble or distant monarch and reliance on the effectiveness of the law usually made people a target for depredations rather than conferring any security.

There were other factors which promoted a predatory mode of living. Among them was the survival in the Borders of the inheritance system of gavelkind, by which estates were divided equally between all sons on a man's death, so that many people owned insufficient land to maintain themselves.^[1] Also, much of the border region is mountainous or open moorland, unsuitable for arable farming but good for grazing. Livestock was easily rustled and driven back to raiders' territory by mounted reivers who knew the country well. The raiders also often removed "insight," easily portable household goods or valuables, and took prisoners for ransom.

The attitudes of the English and Scottish governments towards the border families alternated between indulgence or even encouragement, as these fierce families served as the first line of defence against invasion from the other side of the border, and draconian and indiscriminate punishment when their lawlessness became intolerable to the authorities.

The popular story handed down within reiver families is that from earliest times, reivers would visit the homesteads prior to wars or invasions and remove the cattle and items of value to a place of safety.^{[citation needed]} Lords and Wardens unable to guarantee their masters' supply lines would claim wrongdoing by ruffians and broken men. It is easy to conjecture that this attitude of defiance to authority would grow into outright lawlessness.

"Reive" is an early English word for "to rob", from the Northumbrian and Scots verb reifen from the Old English rēafian, and thus related to the archaic Standard English verb reave ("to plunder", "to rob"), and to the modern English word "ruffian".^[2]

Nature[link]

The reivers were both English and Scottish and raided both sides of the border impartially, so long as the people they raided had no powerful protectors and no connection to their own kin. Their activities, although usually within a day's ride of the Border, extended both north and south of their main haunts. English raiders were reported to have hit the outskirts of Edinburgh, and Scottish raids were known as far south as Yorkshire. The main raiding season ran through the early winter months, when the nights were longest and the cattle and horses fat from having spent the summer grazing. The numbers involved in a raid might range from a few dozen, to organised campaigns involving up to three thousand riders.^[3]

When raiding, or riding, as it was termed, the Reivers rode light on hardy nags or ponies renowned for the ability to pick their way over the boggy moss lands (see: Galloway pony, Hobelar). The original dress of a shepherd's plaid was later replaced by light armour such as Brigandines or jacks of plaite (a type of sleeveless doublet into which small plates of steel were stitched), and a metal helmet such as a burgonet or morion; hence their nickname of the steel bonnets. They were armed with a lance and small shield, and sometimes also with a longbow, or a light crossbow known as a "latch", or later on in their history with one or more pistols. They invariably also carried a sword and dirk.

Borders horse[link]

As soldiers, the Border Reivers were considered among the finest light cavalry in all of Europe. After meeting one Reiver (the Bold Buccleugh), Queen Elizabeth I is quoted as having said that "with ten thousand such men, James VI could shake any throne in Europe." Reivers served as mercenaries, or were forced to serve in English and Scots armies in the Low Countries and in Ireland. Such service was often handed down as a penalty in lieu of that of death upon their families.

Reivers fighting as levied soldiers played important parts at the battles of Flodden Field and Solway Moss. When fighting as part of larger English or Scottish armies, Borderers were difficult to control as many had relatives on both sides of the border, despite laws forbidding international marriage. They could claim to be of either nationality, describing themselves as Scottish if forced, English at will and a Reiver by grace of blood.^{[citation needed]} They were badly-behaved in camp, frequently plundered for their own benefit instead of obeying orders, and there were always questions about how loyal they were. At battles such as Ancrum Moor in Scotland in 1545, borderers changed sides in mid-battle, to curry favour with the likely victors, and at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh in 1547, an observer (William Patten) noticed that the Scottish and English borderers were talking to each other in the midst of battle, and on being spotted put on a show of fighting.^[4]

Dwellings and fortifications[link]

Black Middens Bastle House, a surviving bastle house

The inhabitants of the Borders had to live in a state of constant alert, and for self-protection, they built fortified tower houses.

In the very worst periods of warfare, people were unable to construct more than rude turf cabins, the destruction of which would be little loss. When times allowed however, they built houses designed as much for defence as shelter. The Bastle house was a stout two-storeyed building. The lower floor was used to keep the most valuable livestock and horses. The upper storey housed the people, and often could be reached only by an external ladder which was pulled up at night or if danger threatened. The stone walls were up to 3 feet (0.91 m) thick, and the roof was of slate or stone tiles. Only narrow arrow slits provided light and ventilation.^[5]

Such dwellings could not be set on fire, and while they could be captured, for example by smoking out the defenders with fires of damp straw or using scaling ladders to reach the roof, they were not worth the time and effort. If necessary, they could be temporarily abandoned and stuffed full of smouldering turf to prevent an enemy (such as a government army) destroying them with gunpowder.

Peel towers (also spelled Pele Towers) were usually three-storeyed buildings. They were usually constructed specifically for defensive purposes by the authorities, or for prestigious individuals such as the heads of clans. Smailholm Tower is one of many surviving Peel towers.

Peel towers and bastle houses were often surrounded by a stone wall known as a barmkin, inside which cattle and other livestock were kept overnight.

Law and order[link]

A leather jack of the kind worn by reivers in the 16th century

During periods of nominal peace, a special body of customary law, known as Border Law, grew up to deal with the situation. Under Border Law, a person who had been raided had the right to mount a counter-raid within six days, even across the border, to recover his goods. This Hot Trod had to proceed with "hound and horne, hew and cry",^[6] making a racket and carrying a piece of burning turf on a spear point to openly announce their purpose, to distinguish themselves from unlawful raiders proceeding covertly. They might use a sleuth hound (also known as a "slew dogge") to follow raiders' tracks. These dogs were valuable, and part of the established forces (on the English side of the border, at least).^[7] Any person meeting this counter-raid was required to ride along and offer such help as he could, on pain of being considered complicit with the raiders. The Cold Trod mounted after six days required official sanction. Officers such as the Deputy Warden of the English West March had the specific duty of "following the trod".^[8]

Both sides of the border were divided into Marches, each under a March Warden. The March Wardens' various duties included the maintenance of patrols, watches and garrisons to deter raiding from the other kingdom. On occasions March Wardens could make Warden Roades to recover loot, and to make a point to raiders and officials.

The March Wardens also had the duty of maintaining such justice and equity as was possible. The respective kingdoms' March Wardens would meet at appointed times along the border itself to settle claims against people on their side of the border by people from the other kingdom. These occasions, known as "Days of Truce", were much like fairs, with entertainment and much socializing. For Reivers it was an opportunity to meet (lawfully) with relatives or friends normally separated by the border. It was not unknown for violence to break out even at such truce days.

March Wardens (and the lesser officers such as Keepers of fortified places) were rarely effective at maintaining the law. The Scottish Wardens were usually borderers themselves, and were complicit in raiding. They almost invariably showed favour to their own kindred, which caused jealousy and even hatred among other Scottish border families. Many English officers were from southern counties in England and often could not command the loyalty or respect of their locally-recruited subordinates or the local population. Local officers such as Sir John Forster, who was Warden of the Middle March for almost 35 years, became quite as well known for venality as his most notorious Scottish counterparts.^[9]

By the death of Elizabeth I of England, things had come to such a pitch along the Border that the English government considered re-fortifying and rebuilding Hadrian's Wall.^[10] When Elizabeth died, there was an especially violent outbreak of raiding known as "Ill Week", resulting from the convenient belief that the laws of a kingdom were suspended between the death of a sovereign and the proclamation of the successor.^[11] Upon his accession to the English throne, James VI of Scotland (who became James I of England) moved hard against the reivers, abolishing Border Law and the very term "Borders" in favour of "Middle Shires," and dealing out stern justice to Reivers.

Border 'Names' and Clan status[link]

Hermitage Castle, the strength of Liddesdale. An important stronghold for the Scottish Marches. Its holder, the Keeper of Liddesdale, usually had equal status to the Scottish Wardens of the Marches.

The border families can be referred to as clans, as the Scots themselves appear to have used both terms interchangeably until the 19th century. In an Act of the Scottish Parliament of 1597 there is the description of the "Chiftanis and chieffis of all clannis… duelland in the hielands or bordouris" - thus using the word clan and chief to describe both Highland and Lowland families. The act goes on to list the various Border clans. Later, Sir George MacKenzie of Rosehaugh, the Lord Advocate (Attorney General) writing in 1680 said "By the term 'chief' we call the representative of the family from the word chef or head and in the Irish (Gaelic) with us the chief of the family is called the head of the clan". Thus, the words chief or head, and clan or family, are interchangeable. It is therefore possible to talk of the MacDonald family or the Maxwell clan. The idea that Highlanders should be listed as clans while the Lowlanders are listed as families originated as a 19th-century convention.^[12]

Other terms were also used to describe the Border families, such as the "Riding Surnames" and the "Graynes" thereof. This can be equated to the system of the Highland Clans and their septs. e.g. Clan Donald and Clan MacDonald of Sleat, can be compared with the Scotts of Buccleuch and the Scotts of Harden and elsewhere. Both Border Graynes and Highland septs however, had the essential feature of patriarchal leadership by the chief of the name, and had territories in which most of their kindred lived. Border families did practice customs similar to those of the Gaels, such as tutorship when an heir who was a minor succeeded to the chiefship, and giving bonds of manrent. Although feudalism existed, loyalty to kin was much more important and this is what distinguished the Borderers from other lowland Scots.^{[citation needed]}

In 1587 the Parliament of Scotland passed a statute: “For the quieting and keping in obiedince of the disorderit subjectis inhabitantis of the borders hielands and Ilis.”.^[13] Attached to the statute was a Roll of surnames from both the Borders and Highlands. The Borders portion listed 17 'clannis' with a Chief and their associated Marches:

• MIDDLE MARCH: Elliot, Armstrong, Nixon, Crosier
• WEST MARCH: Scott, Bates, Little, Thomson, Glendenning, Irvine, Bell, Carruthers, Graham, Johnstone, Jardine, Moffat and Latimer.

Of the Border Clans or Graynes listed on this roll, Elliot, Armstrong, Scott, Little, Irvine, Bell, Graham, Johnstone, Jardine and Moffat are registered with the Court of Lord Lyon in Edinburgh as Scottish Clans. Others such as Clan Blackadder were armigerous in the Middle Ages but later died out or lost their lands, and are unregistered.

The historic riding surnames, as recorded by George MacDonald Fraser in The Steel Bonnets (1989),^[14] are:

• East March
  • Scotland: Hume, Trotter, Dixon, Bromfield, Craw, Cranston.
  • England: Forster, Selby, Gray, Dunn.
• Middle March
  • Scotland: Burn, Kerr, Young, Pringle, Davison, Gilchrist, Tait of East Teviotdale. Scott, Oliver, Turnbull, Rutherford of West Teviotdale. Armstrong, Croser, Elliot, Nixon, Douglas, Laidlaw, Turner, Henderson of Liddesdale.
  • England: Anderson, Potts, Reed, Hall, Hedley of Redesdale. Charlton, Robson, Dodd, Milburn, Yarrow, Stapleton of Tynedale. Also Fenwick, Ogle, Heron, Witherington, Medford (later Mitford), Collingwood, Carnaby, Shaftoe, Ridley, Stokoe, Stamper, Wilkinson, Hunter, Thomson, Jamieson.
• West March
  • Scotland: Bell, Irvine, Johnstone, Maxwell, Carlisle, Beattie, Little, Carruthers, Glendenning, Moffat.
  • England: Graham, Hetherington, Musgrave, Storey, Lowther, Curwen, Salkeld, Dacre, Harden, Hodgson, Routledge, Tailor, Noble.

Relationships between the Border clans varied from uneasy alliance to open "deadly feud". It took little to start a feud; a chance quarrel or misuse of office was sufficient. Feuds might continue for years until patched up in the face of invasion from the other kingdoms, or when the outbreak of other feuds caused alliances to shift. The border was easily destabilised if Graynes from opposite sides of the border were at feud. Feuds also provided ready excuse for particularly murderous raids or pursuits.

Aftermath[link]

Long after they were gone, the reivers were romanticised by writers such as Sir Walter Scott (Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border), although he made mistakes; the term Moss-trooper, which he used, refers to one of the robbers that existed after the real Reivers had been put down. Nevertheless, Scott was a native of the borders, writing down histories which had been passed on in folk tradition or ballad. The stories of legendary border reivers like Kinmont Willie Armstrong were often retold in folk-song as Border ballads. There are also local legends, such as the "Dish of Spurs" which would be served to a border chieftain of the Charltons to remind him that the larder was empty and it was time to acquire more plunder. Scottish author Nigel Tranter revisited these themes in his historical and contemporary novels.

The names of the Reiver families are still very much apparent amongst the inhabitants of the Scottish Borders, Northumberland and Cumbria today. Reiving families (particularly those large or brutal enough to carry significant influence) have left the local population passionate about their territory on both sides of the Border. Newspapers have described the local cross-border rugby fixtures as 'annual re-runs of the bloody Battle of Otterburn'. Despite this there has been much cross-border migration since the Pacification of the Borders, and families that were once Scots now identify themselves as English and vice versa.

Skills of horsemanship are kept alive in the Borders: fording the Tweed on Braw Lad's Day, Galashiels 2011

Hawick in Scotland holds an annual Reivers' festival as do the Schomberg Society in Kilkeel, Northern Ireland (the two often co-operate). The summer festival in the Borders town of Duns is headed by the "Reiver" and "Reiver's Lass", a young man and young woman elected from the inhabitants of the town and surrounding area. The Ulster-Scots Agency's first two leaflets from the ‘Scots Legacy’ series feature the story of the historic Ulster tartan and the origins of the kilt and the Border Reivers.

Borderers (particularly those banished by James VI of Scotland) took part in the plantation of Ulster becoming the people known as Ulster-Scots (Scotch-Irish in America). Reiver descendants can be found throughout Ulster with names such as Elliot, Armstrong, Beattie, Bell, Hume and Heron, Rutledge, and Turnbulls amongst others.

Border surnames can also be found throughout the major areas of Scots-Irish settlement in the United States, and particularly in the Appalachian region. The historian David Hackett Fischer (1989) has shown in detail how English border culture became rooted in parts of the United States. Author George MacDonald Fraser wryly observed or imagined Border traits and names among controversial people in modern American history; Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon, among others. It is also noted that, in 1969, a descendant of the Borderers, Neil Armstrong, was the first person to set foot on the moon. In the following year, Mr. Armstrong visited the town of Langholm, home of his ancestors.

See also[link]

• Debatable Lands
• History of Northumberland
• The Borderers (Television series)

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Carey, Robert. The Stirring World of Robert Carey, Robert Carey's Memoirs 1577-1625. RippingYarns.com. ISBN 1-904466-29-X. 
• Durham, Keith; McBride, Angus (1995). The Border Reivers: The story of the Anglo-Scottish borderlands. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-85532-417-2. 
• Ennis, Garth (2006). War Stories: Volume 2. Vertigo. ISBN 1-4012-1039-2. 
• Fischer, David Hackett (1989). Albion’s Seed: Four British Folkways in America. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. 
• Howker, Janni (1997). Martin Farrell. Red Fox. ISBN 978-0-09-918161-3. 
• MacDonald Fraser, George (1971). The Steel Bonnets. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-00-272746-3. 
• Moffat, Alistair (2008). The Reivers. Edinburgh: Birlinn. ISBN 978-1-84158-674-8. 
• Turnbull, Rob (December 2003). The Border Reivers: A stain on the image of Tudor England. 4. Medieval History Magazine. 
• Moss, Tom (2007). Deadlock and Deliverance: The Capture and Rescue of Kinmont Willie Armstrong. Rose Cottage Publications. ISBN 978-0-9558016-0-0. 

External links[link]

• The Border Reivers Website
• The Border Reivers
• Border Reivers DNA Project
• Yet Another Border Reivers Website
• The Routledge Reivers
• The Capture and Rescue of Kinmont Willie Armstrong