Since I moved to the Republic of Ireland in 2015, I have noticed that in many occasions history is rewritten obliterating the time when this country was part of the United Kingdom, when Irish people were citizens of the UK as well.

The Irish railway company, Iarnród Éireann has a number of history boards at its stations. The one at my local one makes reference to Willoughby Hamilton becoming the

First Irishman (and the first non-British player) to win the Men’s Singles at Wimbledon

Past Tracks Monasterevin station

This competition was in 1890. At that point in history Ireland was firmly part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and had been since 1801. To suggest that Willoughby Hamilton was not British is extremely incorrect.

Despite the Belfast Agreement of 1998, there persists a misunderstanding that one cannot be both Irish and British. It is certainly true now, and was definitely the case in 1890. Please don’t rewrite history. We cannot learn from it if it is not accurate.