The island’s settlement dates back to 6000 BC. , But only in 300 a. Is that a people is established in a decisive way: the Celts. By the beginning of the Christian Era, these were divided into five kingdoms, usually referred to as the Five Fifths – Ulster, Meath, Leinster, Munster and Connaught -, being Christianized by St. Patrick in the 5th century. In 795, Ireland it is invaded by the Norwegians, remaining in the island until 1014, year in which they are defeated by the main Irish king, Brian Boru.
Freed from Norwegian rule, each of the Irish kingdoms tries to impose itself on the others, at the same time that one begins to feel the influence of the Reformation movement, forming, consequently, dioceses within the borders of the different kingdoms. However, this situation was changed in 1171, when the English king Henry II, encouraged by popes Hadrian IV and Alexander III, invaded Ireland, calling himself master of the entire island.
Over the centuries, English settlers have assimilated Irish culture, so that, in the 15th century, only the small region of Pale (located around Dublin) remained entirely faithful to the English Crown. The effective power in Ireland was in the hands of the counts of Kildare, officially designated for this purpose by England, and this situation continued until the English Reformation carried out by Henry VIII of England in the 16th century. This Reformation, whose spirit moved against the Roman Church, made the Anglican Church official, whose leader resided in the figure of the King of England, in this case Henry VIII, an act that extended, for example, to Ireland, attributing itself to that monarch. title of king of Ireland (1541).
The eighteenth century was marked by demands raised by Irish Protestants with a view to loosing control of the English crown, culminating even in the occurrence, in 1798, of a revolt that forced England to take a position of strength, leading to the constitution of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on January 1, 1801. This union deepened the rivalry between Catholics and Protestants and the constant social unrest led Ireland to poverty, exacerbated by the famine years between 1846-51, causing the emigration of more than 2 000 000 Irish people. After this period a revolutionary movement known as Fenianism was born among the exiles, which quickly spread in Ireland through the newspaper The Irish People. This movement, financed by emigrants based in the United States, fomented several rebel actions (including a national rebellion in 1867) against the British interests in the territory, thus obtaining that some reforms were approved in the Irish Parliament, as for example the Irish Land Law ( 1870), which instituted the tenure and compensation principles for those who made the most efforts to fight against poverty. However, these actions restrained a little, due either to the constant presence of conservatives in power, or to rivalries that have emerged in the midst of nationalists.
In 1906, the situation changed with the great victory of the liberals in the parliamentary elections, allowing the nationalists to gradually gain ground until they were able to see a law passed by Parliament in 1911 reducing the powers of the lords. Meanwhile, Irish Ulster unionists , supported by the British, launched a campaign against nationalist laws passed by the Irish Parliament, even declaring the constitution of a provisional government in Ulste in 1912. This climate of tension degenerated into civil war on April 24, 1916, and the Irish provisional government was declared, whose leaders were however executed by the English. This act provoked an even stronger reaction of discontent on the part of the Irish, visible in the 1918 elections, which gave victory to Sinn Fein (founded in the early 20th century) led by Eamon Valera, a survivor of the 1916 Republican revolt. The Irish Republican Army (IRA) comes into play, organized to resist the English administration and ensure the recognition of the Republican Government, but quickly turns its forces towards terrorist actions.
The division of Ireland stemmed from the Irish Governance Act, which was passed in 1920 with English consent and American support. Following the Anglo-Irish Treaty signed on 6 December 1921, Ireland was renamed the Irish Free State, with Northern Ireland remaining separate from this process. In 1937, a new Constitution was approved, decreeing, not only the end of the rule of the English Crown, but the replacement of the name “Free Irish State” by the name Eire , which means Irish in Ireland, a fact that constituted the first step towards officialization of the Republic of Ireland, which only happened in 1948. England recognized the new status of Ireland in 1949, but as for the Irish intentions to include Northern Ireland (also known as Ulster) in this case, warned that this could only happen only by the express wish of the Parliament of Ulster . This problem has since marked the history of that region, confronting, on the one hand, the will of the Republic of Ireland to unite the island and on the other a Northern Ireland that prefers to remain under the English Crown. The religious factor is of enormous importance in this division, since Ireland is overwhelmingly Catholic, while Ulster is mostly Protestant. The situation worsened with the resurgence of the IRA in the late 1950s and early 1960s, whose attacks on British forces along the Ulster border heightened the tension between the two Irish women. In 1973, Ireland and Ulster, signed the Sunningdale Agreement (which lasted only one year), stating that Ulster’s relationship with England can only be changed through the express will of the majority of the population of the North, at the same time as the Council of Ireland is created, composed of members of both parliaments. A similar agreement – except for the creation of the Council – was made between Ireland and England in November 1985, as a result of constitutional initiatives carried out since 1981 by Irish Prime Minister Fitzgerald in defense of reunification. For Ireland democracy and rights, please check intershippingrates.
These talks at the highest level have kept out the IRA’s political arm, Sinn Fein, even after the IRA announced on August 31, 1994 the cessation of military operations, following the Anglo-Irish agreement signed by John Major and Albert Reynolds in December 1993. This agreement provided for Sinn Fein to be included in the peace negotiations if the IRA ended acts of violence in Northern Ireland. Thus, new attacks against England were made by the IRA as early as 1995, but this time privileging the city of London. This new strategy was seen as a form of pressure on the Government of John Major, taking advantage of the low popularity that it had with the British.
The position of the Republic of Ireland in the face of this situation has not changed, although in December 1994, after the break-up of the governing Labor Party / Fianna Fail coalition led by Reynolds, the leader of the Fine Gael party, John Bruton, was elected Prime Minister.
Countryaah.com: Offers a full list of airports in the country of Ireland, sorted by city location and acronyms.
Abbreviationfinder.org: Provides most commonly used abbreviations and initials containing the country name of Ireland. Listed by popularity.
1UpTravel.com – Maps of Ireland
Browse a collection of city, country, shaded relief and historical maps of this European country. Check out the historical map of Dublin.
