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a short history of Ireland

Brief History of Ireland

Most of Ireland was covered with ice till 9000 years ago. At that time the sea levels were very low and Ireland along with Britain were part of the European continent. During the Mesolithic Stone Age around 8000 BC the territory was inhabited for the first time, while during the Neolithic Era agriculture was introduced with the import of cattle, sheep and goats. During the Bronze Age around 2500 BC, on the territory of todays Ireland were produced various gold and bronze ornaments, tools and weapons. During the following Iron Age Celts settled in the area in several waves between the eights and the first centuries before Christ. They were helped by the Gaels, and togheter the tribes conquered the island to divide it into five or more kingdoms. The Romans were later referring to Ireland as Hibetrnia and Scotia, however the relations between the two states are unclear and are only revealed by few Roman writings that are preserved from that period. The five kingdoms of Ireland were ruled by a monarch known as the High King, who was residing in Tara and who was superior of the kings of each kingdom. All people were obeying the Brehn Law.

The early medieval chronicles revealed that in year 431 Bishop Palladius went to Ireland with the mission to convert the Irish people from the Celtic Church to Roman Catholicism. Acording to the same chronicles, Saint Patrick who is later chosen as the patron saint of Ireland, arrived there the next year, in 432, who also played a great role in the spreading of the new religion. The Irish Christian scholars studied the Greek and Latin learning and the Christian theology to preserve them later in the Early Middle Ages. In that period in Ireland flourished manuscript illumination and metalworking, and the Book of Kells was produced. During the ninth century, the territory of Ireland was plundered by Vikings, who eventually settled in the area and founded many towns including Cork, Dublin, Limerick and Waterford. In year 1169 Ireland was invaded by the Cambro-Norman troops. Some years before that King Henry II of England came to Ireland to claim for sovereignty. From the 13th centuries then on, the English law was introduced in Ireland and a feaudal system was accepted, while most of the settlements went under Norman-Irish control. The English presence in Ireland during the medieval years was shaken seriously by the Black Death which reached the island in 1348 but was later stabilized during the Tudor State and the rules of Henry VIII, Mary and Elizabeth. The complete conquest of Ireland happened in 1603, as a result of the English and Scottish Protestant colonization, the wars of the three kingdoms and the Williamite War. During the Cromwell conquest of the country, nearly half of the Irish population died.

In year 1641, the Irish Rebellion broke out and hen it was crushed the Irish Catholics and Protestants were barred from voting. The area was ruled by the English Protestant class known as the Protestant Ascendancy. It was at the end of the eighteenth century that the Anglican Irish Parliament received some more independence from the British one but still the Catholic community was disadvantaged to a great extend. In yea 1798 broke out the Irish Rebellion, which was strongly supported by France and was led by the Society of United Irishmen. Despite the preparation and the assistance, the rebellion was crushed by the British troops. Following that crush, in year 1800 the British and the Irish Parliamnet accepted the so called Act of Union which merged the Kingdom of Great Britain with that of Ireland, thus forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and thus Ireland was ruled directly by the United Kingdom Parliament based in London. In the 1840s Ireland was devastated by the Great Famine, which caused the deaths of many people and the migration of many others, mainly to the United States. In the next century Ireland faced the rise of the Irish nationalism especially among the Roman Catholic population. A campaign for Catholic Emancipation was organized and passed by the British parliament. That act was followed by a campaign to repeal the Act of Union, but it failed. Some years later Charles Stewart Parnell organized a campaign for self-governing of Ireland within the Union or the so called home rule. The idea of the home rule was opposed by the protestants who considered themselves half British as well.

The country was divided by the Ulsher Volunteers who wanted to prevent the home rule and the Irish Volunteers who wanted to impose it. That led to armed rebellions and the Irish War of Independence from 1919. In year 1921 a treaty was signed between the British Government and the Irish Republic and was created the Government of Ireland Act. Northern Ireland proceeded to form a home rule state. It had a significant Protestant population. Two years later the disagreements that emerged over some clauses in the treaty led to the Irish Civil War. The Irish Free State that was formed at that time was goverened by those who won the Civil War. During the 1930s however, in the government was elected the party of the opponents of the treaty. They proposed a referendum and in 1937 a new constitution was accepted, which renamed the state to Eire or Ireland. Eire remained neutral during the Second World War, even though it offered assistance to the Allies in Northern Ireland. In year 1949, the country declared itself a republic.

In the years that followed Ireland faced two large emigration waves, during the 1950s and during the 1980s. The conomy of the country improved at the beginning of the 1990s and it enjoyed a phenomenon economic success. In year 2007, Ireland was pronounced the second richest country in the European Union and the fifth richest one in the entire world. Administratively divided from the United Kingdom from 1921 till 1972, Northern Ireland had self-government, own parliament and prime minister. After the partition there were certain inter-communal struggles between those who supported the union and the nationalists. And if the Irish Free State (later Ireland) was neutral during the Second World War, Northen Ireland as part of the United Kingdom could not enjoy such neutrality. Thus Northern Ireland became involved in the war and Belfast suffered a terrible bombing in 1941. In its more recent history, Ireland has enjoyed a booming economy and tourists all over the world flocking to this small island nation.