(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A leading expert on the Irish community in Illinois says it's understandable why reactions in that community to the death of Queen Elizabeth are mixed.
Dr. Sean Farrell recently co-wrote a book called "The Irish in Illinois" and teaches history at Northern Illinois University.
He said as a monarch, Elizabeth was viewed by many in the Irish community as a symbol of centuries of British rule over Ireland, as well as the current separation of British-controlled Northern Ireland from the rest of the island.
As a person, Elizabeth was praised by many people of Irish heritage for her efforts to improve relations and increase understanding between Britain and Ireland, according to Farrell.
"She was a representative of this imperial history, which the vast majority of Irish people both in Ireland and across the diaspora were against, but as a person and as as somebody who tried in the last years of her life particular to bring the islands together in some ways, I think there is different way of thinking about her," he explained.
"This kind of two-sided image-one that is kind of political and symbolic and the one that is more human and warmth that would lead many Irish people to have these many differing, complex reactions to her."
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