Since England first invaded the country more than eight centuries ago, Ireland has suffered from war, religious conflict, and political division, and the encounter between the English and the Irish has also left a profound legacy in Irish culture and even in the landscape itself.
After the English revolution brought Cromwell and his parliamentary forces to power, he sent armies to crush resistance in Ireland with extreme brutality. In whole areas, the Irish population was exterminated or forced to flee, and Scottish or English protestant colonies were established.
The conflict began during a campaign by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association to end discrimination against the Catholic/nationalist minority by the Protestant/unionist government and local authorities.
Irish culture, law and language were replaced; and many Irish lords lost their lands and hereditary authority. Land-owning Irishmen who worked for themselves suddenly became English tenants.
In 1171, Henry II decided to invade Ireland with a big army to invoke the Laudabiliter, a bull passed some years ago to invade Ireland for church-reform reasons. He decided to do so after papal commissioners headed his way to issue a condemnation for Becket's murder.
The Normans first conquered Ireland in 1169 and aside from a brief decade of independence during the 1640s Ireland formed an integral part of the English imperial system, until 1922 and the foundation of modern state.
In December 1921, the British reconciled themselves to the nationalists' demands and created an Irish Free State in the 26 counties of the south. Those counties were not yet an Irish Republic; they were a dominion within the British Empire, but no longer a part of the United Kingdom.
The combination of warfare, famine and plague caused a huge mortality among the Irish population. William Petty estimated (in the 1655–56 Down Survey) that the death toll of the wars in Ireland since 1641 was over 618,000 people, or about 40% of the country's pre-war population.
The term “black Irish” refers to persons of Irish descent who are supposed to be descendants of the Spanish Armada, which sailed around the middle of the 15th century, and had dark hair and or eyes. The term is used among people of Irish descent and sometimes confuses people since it doesn't refer to dark skin color.
The Irish Unionist Alliance had been formed to oppose home rule, and the Bill sparked mass unionist protests. In response, Liberal Unionist leader Joseph Chamberlain called for a separate provincial government for Ulster where Protestant unionists were a majority.
Christianity is the largest religion in the Republic of Ireland based on baptisms. Irish Christianity is dominated by the Catholic Church, and Christianity as a whole accounts for 82.3% of the Irish population.
According to economic historian Kevin O'Rourke, the Irish economy remained underdeveloped for extended periods of time after partition due to its continuing excessive dependence on an underperforming British economy.
Religion. Ireland has two main religious groups. The majority of Irish are Roman Catholic, and a smaller number are Protestant (mostly Anglicans and Presbyterians). However, there is a majority of Protestants in the northern province of Ulster.
The landed proprietors in Ireland were held in Britain to have created the conditions that led to the famine. However, it was asserted that the British parliament since the Act of Union of 1800 was partly to blame.
For most of Ireland's recorded history, the Irish have been primarily a Gaelic people (see Gaelic Ireland). From the 9th century, small numbers of Vikings settled in Ireland, becoming the Norse-Gaels.
Blue eyes are most common in the UK, Ireland, Finland and Sweden. According to World Atlas, 8% - 10% of people in the world have blue eyes. Between 55% to 79% of people have brown eyes with dark brown eyes being most prominent in Africa, East Asia, and South East Asia.
Gene pool research shows that some Irish males have a high concentration of the R1B haplogroup in their Y chromosome. This characteristic is similar to the Basque males of Spain and is believed to be responsible for the dark features.
The British government chose not to use the resources of that vast empire to prevent suffering and starvation (Ireland had reluctantly been part of the United Kingdom since 1800.)
Most fund-raising, however, took place in the wake of the second, more devastating appearance of the potato blight in 1846. Calcutta sent approximately £16,500 in 1847, while Bombay sent £3,000. The Society of Friends, or Quakers, first became involved with the Irish Famine in November 1846.
Atkinson 1851'. In August 1849, at the height of the crisis following the disaster of the Irish potato famine, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert made their first visit to Ireland.
Tensions Leading to the Troubles
While Ireland was fully independent, Northern Ireland remained under British rule, and the Catholic communities in cities like Belfast and Derry (legally called Londonderry) complained of discrimination and unfair treatment by the Protestant-controlled government and police forces.
Several splinter groups have been formed as a result of splits within the IRA, including the Continuity IRA and the Real IRA, both of which are still active in the dissident Irish republican campaign.
Ireland during the period of 1536–1691 saw the first full conquest of the island by England and its colonization with mostly Protestant settlers from Great Britain.
Around 300BC, Iron Age warriors known as the Celts came to Ireland from mainland Europe. The Celts had a huge influence on Ireland. Many famous Irish myths stem from stories about Celtic warriors.
Hibernia, in ancient geography, one of the names by which Ireland was known to Greek and Roman writers. Other names were Ierne, Iouernia and (H)iberio. All these are adaptations of a stem from which Erin and Eire are also derived.