What is ireland

In , Norman Vikings who had taken control of England invaded Ireland and made it an English territory. In the early s, England's official religion became Protestant while most Irish remained Roman Catholic. This would create tensions that would eventually lead to revolution and Ireland's independence.

By the s, British laws unfair to Catholics had sparked a mass movement for Irish sovereignty. In , many of those laws were overturned, but Ireland still wanted freedom. In , most of Ireland became an independent country, while six mainly Protestant counties in the northeast remained a British territory.

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Map created by National Geographic Maps. Watch "Destination World". In return he expected no Home Rule! Both sides fought with distinction in the war, both in the trenches of the Western Front and in the Middle East.

From the early s the Nationalist movement in Ireland had two strands. One strand was Redmond's Home Rule Party. The other strand was more radical, wanting complete independence from Britain. This strand had a political wing called Sinn Fein and a secret military wing the Irish Republican Brotherhood. From these radicals infiltrated the Irish Volunteers. On Easter Monday they led a small force of Volunteers into the centre of Dublin and declared that Ireland was now a Republic, free of British rule.

The British forces then faced a long and destructive week trying to get them out of their strongholds. After a week the rebels surrendered. The British then executed the leaders, which gained the Republicans sympathy and support in America and Ireland. The executions were stopped and the remaining prisoners were sent to Britain to serve short prison sentences.

The only senior commander who survived the Rising and the executions was Eamon de Valera. Another less senior survivor was Michael Collins. The release of the prisoners did not bring peace for the British.

When the war ended in there was an election in Britain and Ireland. Sinn Fein won all of the seats outside Ulster. They refused to accept British rule and set up their own government, Dail Eireann. By late both sides had had enough. They called a truce and reached a Treaty. The Celts had a huge influence on Ireland. Many famous Irish myths stem from stories about Celtic warriors.

The current first official language of the Republic of Ireland, Irish or Gaeilge stems from Celtic language. Following the arrival of Saint Patrick and other Christian missionaries in the early to mid-5th century, Christianity took over the indigenous pagan religion by the year AD.

Irish Christian scholars excelled in the study of Latin, Greek and Christian theology in monasteries throughout Ireland. The arts of manuscript illumination, metalworking and sculpture flourished and produced such treasures as the Book of Kells, ornate jewellery, and the many carved stone crosses that can still be seen across the country. At the end of the 8th century and during the 9th century Vikings, from where we now call Scandinavia, began to invade and then gradually settle into and mix with Irish society.

The 12th century saw the arrival of the Normans. The Normans built walled towns, castles and churches. They also increased agriculture and commerce in Ireland. The most successful plantation occurred in Ulster. From this period on, sectarian conflict became a common theme in Irish history. The 17th century was a bloody one in Ireland.

It culminated in the imposition of the harsh regime of Penal laws. These laws set about disempowering Catholics, denying them, for example, the right to take leases or own land above a certain value, outlawing Catholic clergy, forbidding higher education and entry to the professions, and imposing oaths of conformity to the state church, the Church of Ireland.

In a Parliamentary faction led by Henry Grattan a Protestant successfully agitated for a more favourable trading relationship with England and for greater legislative independence for the Parliament of Ireland. However, London still controlled much of what occurred in Ireland.

The United Irishmen were the inspiration for the armed rebellion of Despite attempts at help from the French the rebellion failed and in the Act of Union was passed uniting Ireland politically with Britain. He succeeded in getting the total ban on voting by Catholics lifted and they could now also become Members of the Parliament in London. Such political issues were overshadowed however by the worst disaster and tragedy in Irish history — the great famine.