[phenkdo]

Honest question, not meaning to be offensive or hurtful at all. I know how raw the wounds of the famine are etc.

How do historians objectively - provided there is one - view the British empire's involvement in Ireland over much of the last millennium? Was it particularly repressive vis-a-vis other medieval empires in their dominions/spheres of influence?

[cyocum]

To help answer your first question, I would recommend reading Gaelic and Gaelicized Ireland in the Middle Ages, 2nd ed. by K. W. Nicholls (http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/471778201) and A New History of Ireland, Volume II and III (http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/495293791 and http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/299242437 respectively). As for your second question, I am not an expert enough to answer because I tend to study the earlier period before the Norman invasion.

[mkmk]

Not an exact answer, but I heartily endorse the /r/AskHistorians/ subreddit for these types of questions. It is moderated quite differently from the rest of Reddit, and questions like this are answered in-depth. There are several threads on the Irish Potato Famine that may answer a subset of your question.

[Spooky23]

It was colonialism, with all of the attributes associated with it. Irish were seen as a lesser people and various phases and the machinery of empire acted appropriately.

IMO it is a similar story to India in many ways. The Brits leveraged and undermined the existing power structure and extracted value at whatever cost deemed appropriate. Was there some “benefit”… at some level yes. Were there atrocities and disgusting levels of suffering without the consent of the governed? Yes.

[uptime]

There is a very interesting podcast on the Irish/Indian overlap. The Irish themselves are not spotless but there was some support. This duo does well researched stuff and helps a lot if you are interested in Brexit and NI. https://www.theirishpassport.com/podcast/ireland-and-india-a...

[Spooky23]

Thank you. This is one of those interesting and obscure areas of history. Appreciate the link!