Ireland's Reaction To The Queen Of England's Death

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Part of a series on Queen Elizabeth II's Death. [View Related Entries]

About

Ireland's Reaction To The Queen Of England's Death refers to a generalized reaction from Irish people on Irish Twitter when Queen Elizabeth II died in September 2022. Due to the long history of Irish oppression under the British Queen's rule, many Irish internet users humorously celebrated her passing by chanting "Lizzy's in a box" at a football match in Dublin, dancing to Queen's "Another One Bites The Dust" on TikTok or listening to Crab Rave, which was made by Irish EDM producer Noisestorm. Additionally, verified U.K. brand accounts were ratioed by fake Irish counter accounts, including Domino's Pizza UK and Heinz UK. Other countries that were also historically oppressed by the British, such as India, Australia, Jamaica and African nations (Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa), additionally celebrated the Queen's death through jokes and memes.

Background

English oppression of Ireland and Northern Ireland dates back centuries, starting predominantly in the 1100s when the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland took place under the rule of King Henry II of England.^[1] Continuing into the modern era, events such as the Statutes of Kilkenny,^[2] the Penal Laws,^[3] suppression of the Irish Home Rule movement^[4] and the Irish War of Independence^[5] cemented Great Britain and its royal family as a figure of opposition to many in Ireland.

During Queen Elizabeth II's rule throughout the 20th century and into the 21st, transgressions and profiling still played out between England and Ireland.^[6] Ultimately, the Queen became a symbol of oppression for many of the Irish despite Queen Elizabeth's attempts at reconciliation with the Irish people, most notably in 2011 when she became the first British monarch to visit the Republic of Ireland since independence.^[7] In turn, when the Queen died on September 8th, 2022, Irish leaders like President Michael D. Higgins and Sinn Féin's President Mary Lou McDonald shared supportive affirmations about her passing.^[7]^[8]

Online Reactions

Irish Twitter Death Reactions

On the morning of September 8th, 2022, Buckingham Palace^[9] released a statement announcing the Queen was under medical supervision at Balmoral Castle in Aberdeen, Scotland. Immediately, the unusual announcement inspired speculation relayed through memes and commentary as to whether or not the Queen was on her deathbed. Many of these early memes centered on the concept of the Irish people's reaction to the news and the possibility of the Queen's death.

For instance, at around 8:30 a.m. EST on September 8th, 2022, Twitter^[10] user WhyVeeES tweeted, "I know the Irish finna dry the pubs out when they announce the funeral. Lemme book a flight to Ireland to celebrate with my ginger cousins," earning roughly 34,100 likes in one day (shown below, left). Roughly two hours later, Twitter^[11] user kennedytcooper tweeted, "The death of Queen Elizabeth keeps us right on schedule," and attached a Star Trek meme that read, "the Irish Unification of 2024." The tweet received roughly 117,600 likes in less than 24 hours (shown below, right).

At 1:30 p.m. EST on September 8th, 2022, the Royal Family^[12] announced on Twitter that the Queen had passed away. Memetic reactions from the imagined perspective of the Irish started to surface in the hours that followed. For instance, at around 2 p.m. EST on September 8th, Twitter^[13] user FFurmer tweeted, "UK: Our Queen has died, we all ask you a minute of si- / The entirety of ireland:" and attached a video of a man dancing to Irish music with the Irish flag overlayed. The tweet received roughly 902,000 views and 98,700 likes in less than 24 hours (shown below). The video was tweeted an hour earlier, however, by Twitter^[17] user Mudatimes7.

Twitch streamer Keffals posted a tweet^[15] on September 8th that stated there were fireworks going off in Ireland, earning roughly 70,400 likes in one day. Twitter^[16] user Jessica_Whitney tweeted a similar statement about fireworks being lit in Northern Ireland in a tweet that received roughly 494,200 likes in less than a day.

Additionally, a video from a Snapchat story was tweeted by Twitter user dublincelticfan on September 8th, 2022, showing Dublin natives at Tallaght Stadium chanting, "Lizzy's in a box," gaining roughly 5.7 million views and 119,300 likes in less than a day (shown below).

#IrishTwitter Tallaght stadium in Dublin tonight pic.twitter.com/FhHtoVGT1L

— Dublin Bhoy (@dublincelticfan) September 8, 2022

U.K. Brand Accounts Getting Ratioed

On September 8th, 2022, the verified Twitter^[23] account of Heinz U.K. (@HeainzUK) tweeted its condolences to the Royal Family. The tweet was then quote retweeted by Twitter^[24] user Haurmeya who changed their name and profile picture to appear as Heinz Ireland. Their QT simply read, "Nah," and received roughly 313,800 likes in less than a day (shown below, left). The same happened to Domino's Pizza UK (@Dominos_UK) on the behalf of Twitter^[25] user kvnesky, whose quote retweet read, "Not us," and received roughly 332,600 likes in less than a day (shown below, right).

Other Reactions

Irish reactions and memes were prevalent across social media platforms in the days that followed the Queen's death. For instance, on September 8th, 2022, iFunnyer ^[14] thememecuration posted a Sam Hyde 'The Candyman' meme related to the Queen's death, earning roughly 1,700 smiles in less than a day (shown below, left). On the same day, an anon on 4chan's /pol/ ^[18] imageboard posted Irish Republican Army (IRA) Soyjaks to make fun of the Irish celebrations (shown below, right).

Irish TikTok Reactions

On September 8th, 2022, TikToker^[21] annabellehartnett posted a video of her saluting the Irish flag on her iPad in relation to the Queen's death, earning roughly 254,800 plays and 29,500 likes in one day (since deleted). On September 9th, TikToker^[22] king.druumaycry compared Black Twitter's reaction to the Queen's death to the Irish's, earning roughly 92,700 plays and 29,000 likes in less than a day (shown below).

Indian Twitter, Australian Twitter, African Twitter Reactions

Aside from Irish Twitter, the respective Twitter subgroups of other British-oppressed nations were singled out in regard to their reactions. For instance, on September 8th, 2022, Twitter^[19] user comradesipho tweeted, "Irish, Indian, Kenyan, Nigerian, South African, and Caribbean Twitter right now," earning roughly 225,100 likes in one day (shown below, left). Later in the day, Twitter^[20] user TappuTuppuDum tweeted Disappointed Muhammad Sarim Akhtar in Meme Heaven with the caption, "Your ancestors who suffered under British rule watching you post RIP Queen Elizabeth," earning roughly 9,100 likes in less than a day (shown below, right).