History of Ireland

Celtic tribes (a group of people from the mainland of Europe) arrived on the island between 600-150 BC.  The name Ireland comes from the Irish word "Eire," which comes from the Celtic goddess named Eiru.

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The Celts would often raid the coast of Britain and bring prisoners back to Ireland.  On one such raid, they brought back a 16 year old boy named Patrick and put him to work as a shepherd.  During this time he took solace in God.  After 6 years, he escaped back home where he was ordained.  He felt the call to return to Ireland in 432 AD, and set about converting the pagans.  He used Irish symbols that the people could understand.  For example, he used the 3 leaf clover to illustrate the trinity of God.  Also, since the pagans worshipped the sun, he incorporated it into the celtic cross.  There is a legend that St Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland, and indeed Ireland has no snakes, but the evidence indicates that snakes never existed on Ireland (same as Iceland, Greenland, and New Zealand).  We celebrate St Patrick's Day on March 17th each year because that is the date he is supposed to have died, in 460AD.

 

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Around 800 AD, Viking invaders began raids into Ireland and established settlements, including the capital of Dublin. There were many battles between the Vikings and Celts for 200 years, until a battle in 1014 defeated the Vikings. Peace was short lived, and Ireland was divided into many warring clans.

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In 1170, Ireland was invaded by Norman Vikings. The Norman Vikings were originally from Scandinavia, but were called Norman because the Viking chief Rollo had been granted land by the French king in the north of France. The Norman Vikings made Ireland an English territory under King Henry II of England.

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 By the 1600s, England's official religion became Protestant while most Irish remained Roman Catholic, creating tensions. In 1607, the Flight of the Earls occurred: leading families of Ulster (northern Ireland) refused to live under English dominance so they went to Spain for help but never returned. England kept control of Ireland by sending Protestant English farmers and landlords to replace the families that had left.

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In July 1690, the Battle of the Boyne was fought in Ireland between Catholic James II and Protestant William of Orange. This was the last time that 2 crowned kings of England faced each other in battle. William of Orange won a crushing victory, which ensured Protestant rule in Ireland for many years.

Imagecredit:http://cbladey.com/boyne/Ban1.gif

In 1692, new laws forbade Catholics to vote, own land, or practice their religion. The UK had also imposed Corn Laws which imposed steep import duties on foreign grain. These were a few of the factors that led to the Great Potato Famine between 1845 and 1852. At the time, almost half of the population faced poverty and depended heavily on their potato crops. Diseased potatoes were likely brought by ships from the eastern United States, and the blight spread quickly.

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Ireland was hit harder than other places because they relied on only one or two varieties of potato. In the first year, between one third to one half the potato crops were affected. The following year, ¾ of the crops were lost. Meanwhile, the government continued to export grain, meat, and other foods to Britain. In Ireland, there was mass starvation, disease, and emigration.  

Many people were forced to live in Irish poorhouses, and by 1845 there were 123 of them.  Families in poorhouses were separated and forced into labour for long hours.  Conditions were so bad that the road to a poorhouse was called the "pathway of the dead" because more than a quarter of the people died there.

Imagecredit:http://www.abandonedireland.com/Workhouse_files/Workhouse.jpg

In all, about a million people died, and one to two million more emigrated.  Many of the ships that carried Irish immigrants across the Atlantic were called "coffin ships" because of the high mortality rate of the passengers (as high as 50%). Sharks were said to follow the ships because of the high number of bodies thrown overboard.  The ships were crowded, the passengers were given little food and water, and disease resulted.  This sculpture by John Behan commemorates the coffin ships, and is Ireland's largest bronze sculpture. It was unveiled in 1997 to mark the 150^th anniversary of 

the potato famine:

https://www.google.ca/search?q=coffin+ships+ireland&newwindow=1&safe=off&espv=2&biw=1920&bih=955&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiS7qv-3JrLAhUKkoMKHRTSCx0Q_AUIBigB#imgrc=5MglApSb-JCswM%3A

Meanwhile, a movement for Irish independence had begun, in large part due to the unfair laws against Catholics. The Easter Rebellion occurred in 1916, when armed Irish patriots rebelled against British troops in Dublin. The rebel leaders surrendered, and were jailed and executed by the British.

 

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From 1919-1921 the Anglo-Irish War was waged between the British and the Irish Republican Army (IRA). After many violent uprisings, the Irish Free State was created within the British Empire in 1922. Britain gave up control of most of Ireland but retained its control over the six counties of Ulster (Northern Ireland). This led to the Irish Civil War from 1921-1923, between those who accepted the treaty and the IRA, who wanted all of Ireland to be independent. The IRA lost.

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In 1948, The Republic of Ireland became an independent country, while Northern Ireland remained part of the UK. 

 

 

image credit: http://www.mapsofworld.com/ireland/maps/ireland-road-map.jpg 

   

In 1969, “Troubles” began again between the IRA and the loyalists in Northern Ireland. In the northern town of Derry on July 30, 1972, British troops killed 13 unarmed marchers in an event known as Bloody Sunday. Constant violence continued between the two groups until the adoption of The Good Friday Agreement, approved by voters in two referendums held on May 22, 1998.

 

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In 2002, the Euro replaced the Irish pound as Ireland's official currency.

Famous people who have come from Ireland include Bono from U2, Robert Boyle (the founder of modern chemistry), Jonathan Swift (Gulliver's Travels), C.S. Lewis (the Chronicles of Narnia), Oscar Wilde (author), William Butler Yeats (poet), and actors Colin Farrel and Liam Neeson.

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