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This article is about the island. For the state, see Republic of Ireland. For other uses, see Ireland (disambiguation).
| Ireland Éire Airlann | |
|---|---|
 Northwest of continental Europe with Great Britain to the east. | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Western Europe
|
| Area | 84,412 km² (32,591 sq mi)
|
| Highest point | Carrauntoohil 1,038 m (3,406 ft) |
| Administration | |
 Ireland
| |
| Largest city | Dublin
|
 United Kingdom
| |
| Constituent part | Northern Ireland
|
| Largest city | Belfast
|
| Demographics | |
| Population | approximately 6 million (as of 2007)
|
| Indigenous people | Irish |
Ireland (Irish: Éire; Ulster Scots: Airlann) is the third largest island in Europe,Great Britain being the largest and Iceland being the second largest. and the twentieth-largest island in the world.See List of islands by area. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain. Politically, the state Ireland (described as the Republic of Ireland in cases of ambiguity) covers five-sixths of the island, with Northern Ireland (NI), part of the United Kingdom, covering the remainder in the north-east.
The population of the island is slightly over six million (2007), with 4.34 million in the RepublicCentral Statistics Office Ireland (1.7 million in Greater DublinPopulation of the Greater Dublin Area to reach 2 million by 2021, Central Statistics Office Ireland) and an estimated 1.75 million in Northern IrelandBreakingNews.ie - \'Migration pushes population in the North up to 1.75 million\' Demography and Methodology Branch, NISRA - Excel file (0.6 million in Greater Belfast"Background Information on Northern Ireland Society: Population and Vital Statistics" from CAIN Web Service. Combined population of Belfast, Castlereagh, Carrickfergus and Lisburn. Accessed 6 February 2007). This is a significant increase from a modern historical low in the 1960s, but still much lower than the peak population of over 8 million in the early 19th century, prior to the Irish potato famine.
The name Ireland derives from the name Ériu (in modern Irish, Éire) with the addition of the Germanic word land. Most other western European names for Ireland derive from the same source, such as French Irlande, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese Irlanda, German Irland and the Dutch Ierland.
The island of Ireland has two distinct jurisdictions:
Article 2, Republic of Ireland Act 1948, Government of Ireland. a sovereign state, covers five-sixths of the island. Its capital is Dublin.
For the political history of the island, see History of Ireland.
Traditionally, Ireland is subdivided into four provinces: Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster; and, in a system developed between the 13th and 18th centuries, 32 counties. Twenty-six of the counties are in the Republic of Ireland, and the remaining six (all in Ulster) are in Northern Ireland. Notably, based on boundaries established in the Early Modern period, Ulster and Northern Ireland are neither synonymous nor co-extensive, as three counties of Ulster (Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan) are part of the Republic. Nonetheless, \'Ulster\' is often used colloquially as a synonym for Northern Ireland. Counties Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford and Tipperary have been broken up into smaller administrative areas, but are still considered by Ordnance Survey Ireland to be official counties. The counties in Northern Ireland are no longer used for local government, although their traditional boundaries are still used in sports and in some other cultural and ceremonial areas.
The rugby union flag of Ireland.
Despite the constitutional division of Ireland, the island does operate as a single entity in a number of areas. With a few notable exceptions, the island operates as a single unit in all major religious denominations and in many economic fields despite using two different currencies. There are also significant all-island dimensions to sports such as rugby, Cricket and hockey.
For example most of the popular sports on the island operate on an all-Ireland basis, such as Gaelic games, rugby union and golf. The notable exception to this is Association Football (where the previously all-island Irish Football Association following partition retained control of soccer only in Northern Ireland, with a separate Football Association of Ireland being formed for the remainder of the island) although an all-Ireland club cup competition, the Setanta Cup, was created in 2005. The creation of an all-island Association Football league and a single international team (which is the case for rugby union) has been publicly touted by various prominent figures on the island in recent years, such as Irish government minister Dermot AhernBBC News, "Call for all-Ireland soccer team", 19 January 2007 More recently, FAI chief executive John Delaney believes there will be an all-Ireland league, but not before 2012 since a contract involving the Eircom League and the FAI runs to 2011.BBC Sport, "All-Ireland warning from Delaney", 17 January 2008 There is currently at least one player from Northern Ireland regularly appearing in the Republic of Ireland\'s squad, a practice that the latter\'s governing institution and the Irish government claim is permitted by the Belfast Agreement - although in reality there was apparently nothing to prevent the FAI from selecting players from Northern Ireland before the Agreement, since the Republic of Ireland\'s citizenship laws already extended north of the border. Nonetheless, Northern Ireland\'s governing body, the IFA, has raised the matter with the world governing body, FIFA, which appears to have ruled in favour of the Republic (although the matter remains unclear and therefore unresolved).
All major religious bodies are organised on an all-Ireland basis, such as the Roman Catholic Church, the Methodist Church in Ireland, the Church of Ireland/Anglican Church and the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. Some trades unions are also organised on an all-island basis and associated with the Irish Congress of Trades Unions (ICTU) in Dublin, while others in Northern Ireland are affiliated with the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in the United Kingdom, and some affiliate to both — although such unions may organise in both parts of the island as well as in Great Britain. The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) organises jointly in Northern Ireland with the National Union of Students of the United Kingdom (NUS), under the name NUS-USI.
The Belfast Agreement provides for all-Ireland governance in various guises. For example, a North-South Ministerial Council was established as a forum in which ministers from the Irish Government and the Northern Ireland Assembly can discuss matters of mutual concern and formulate all-Ireland policies in twelve "areas of co-operation", such as agriculture, the environment and transport. Six of these policy areas have been provided with implementation bodies, an example of which is the Food Safety Promotion Board. Tourism marketing is also managed on an all-Ireland basis, by Tourism Ireland.
Two political parties, Provisional Sinn Féin and the Irish Green Party, contest elections and hold parliamentary seats in both jurisdictions. The largest party in the Republic of Ireland, Fianna Fáil, considered extending its organisation into Northern Ireland, perhaps via a merger with another political party, the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP).World Socialist Web Site, "Ireland: Fianna Fail and SDLP float unity pact", 1 February 2003
Some newspapers on the island are circulated in both jurisdictions, e.g., the Irish Times and report news on an all-Ireland basis. The Irish Times includes news concerning Northern Ireland in its "Home" section, despite the fact that it is based in the Republic. In general, though, most newspapers\' circulation is largely concentrated in one jurisdiction or the other. Furthermore, most of the television stations based on the island broadcast across the whole island, such as RTÉ, TG4 and UTV (although signals may be relatively weaker in more remote areas).
An increasingly large amount of commercial activity operates on an all-Ireland basis,Northern Ireland Assembly minutes, December 2002 a development that is in part facilitated by the two jurisdictions\' shared membership of the European Union. There have been calls for the creation of an "all-island economy" from members of the business community and policy-makers on both sides of the border, so as to benefit from economies of scale and boost competitiveness in both jurisdictions.Forfás report This is a stated aim of the Irish Government and nationalist political parties in the Northern Ireland Assembly.Agreement Reached in the Multi-party Negotiations - Northern Ireland Assembly One commercial area in which the island already operates largely as a single entity is the electricity market.http://www.allislandmarket.com/about/ and there are plans for the creation of an all-island gas market.DUP minister expresses support for single gas market at Belfast Telegraph
17 March is celebrated throughout the island of Ireland as St. Patrick\'s Day.
True colour image of Ireland, captured by a NASA satellite on 4 January 2003, with the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the Irish Sea to the east.
Physical features of Ireland. See also this larger version.
A ring of coastal mountains surrounds low central plains. The highest peak is Carrauntoohil (Irish: Corrán Tuathail) in County Kerry, which is 1,038 m (3,406 ft).Highest Mountains in Ireland. Ordnance Survey Ireland. Retrieved on 2007-08-20. The River Shannon, at 386 km (240 miles) is the longest river in Ireland.River Shannon - Shannon Development Website www.shannonregiontourism.ie The island\'s lush vegetation, a product of its mild climate and frequent but soft rainfall, earns it the sobriquet "Emerald Isle". The island\'s area is 84,412 km²Land and People www.irlgov.ie (32,591 square miles).
Ireland\'s least arable land lies in the south-western and western counties. These areas are largely mountainous and rocky, with dramatic green vistas, hence the attributive name "the Emerald Isle".
Overall, Ireland has a mild, but changeable, Oceanic climate with few extremes. The warmest recorded air temperature was 33.3 °C (91.94 °F) at Kilkenny Castle, County Kilkenny on 26 June 1887, where as the lowest recorded temperature was −19.1 °C (−2.38 °F) at Markree Castle, County Sligo on 16 January 1881.Website of Met Éireann - Temperature in Ireland www.met.ie
Other statistics show that the greatest recorded annual rainfall was 3,964.9 mm (156.1 in) in the Ballaghbeena Gap in 1960. The driest year on record was 1887, with only 356.6 mm (14.0 in) of rain recorded at Glasnevin, while the longest period of absolute drought was in Limerick where there was no recorded rainfall over 38 days during April and May of 1938.Met Éireann (Irish National Meteorological Service) Historical rainfall statistics
The climate is typically insular, and as a result of the moderating moist winds which ordinarily prevail from the South-Western Atlantic, it is temperate, avoiding the extremes in temperature of many other global areas sharing similar latitudes.
Precipitation falls throughout the year, but is light overall, particularly in the east. The west, however, tends to be wetter on average and prone to the full force of Atlantic storms, more especially in the late autumn and winter months, which occasionally bring destructive winds and high rainfall totals to these areas, as well as snow and hail. The regions of North Galway and East Mayo have the highest incidents of recorded lightning annually (5 to 10 days per year).Website of Met Éireann - Rainfall in Ireland www.met.ie Munster in the south records the least snow with Ulster in the north more prone to snow. Some areas along the south and southwest coasts have not had any lying snow since February 1991.
Inland areas are warmer in summer, and colder in winter - there are usually around 40 days of below freezing temperatures (0 °C/32 °F) at inland weather stations, but only 10 days at coastal stations. Ireland is sometimes affected by heat waves, most recently 1995, 2003, 2006.
Irish countryside
Geologically the island consists of a number of provinces - in the far west around Galway and Donegal is a medium to high grade metamorphic and igneous complex of Caledonide (Scottish Highland) affinity. Across southeast Ulster and extending southwest to Longford and south to Navan is a province of Ordovician and Silurian rocks with more affinities with the Southern Uplands province of Scotland. Further south, there is an area along the Wexford coast of granite intrusives into more Ordovician and Silurian rocks with a more Welsh affinity.
In the southwest, around Bantry Bay and the mountains of Macgillicuddy\'s Reeks, is an area of substantially deformed but only lightly metamorphosed Devonian-aged rocks.
This partial ring of "hard rock" geology is covered by a blanket of Carboniferous limestone over the centre of the country, giving rise to the comparatively fertile and famously "lush" landscape of the country. The west coast district of The Burren around Lisdoonvarna has well developed karst features. Elsewhere, significant stratiform lead-zinc mineralisation is found in the limestones (around Silvermines and Tynagh).
Hydrocarbon exploration is continuing. The first major find was the Kinsale Head gas field off Cork/Cobh by Marathon Oil in the mid-1970s. More recently, in 1999, Enterprise Oil announced the discovery of the Corrib Gas Field. This has increased activity off the west coast in parallel with the "West of Shetland" step-out development from the North Sea hydrocarbon province. Exploration continues, with a frontier well planned north of Donegal for August 2006 and continuing drilling of prospects in the Irish Sea and St Georges Channel.
Ireland has fewer animal and plant species than either Britain or mainland Europe because it became an island shortly after the end of the last Ice Age, about 8,000 years ago. Many different habitat types are found in Ireland, including farmland, open woodland, temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, conifer plantations, peat bogs, and various coastal habitats.
Only 26 land mammal species are native to Ireland, because it was isolated from Europe by rising sea levels after the Ice Age. Some species, such as the red fox, hedgehog, and badger are very common, whereas others, like the Irish hare, red deer and pine marten are less so. Aquatic wild-life - such as species of turtle, shark, whale, dolphin, and others - are common off the coast. About 400 species of birds have been recorded in Ireland. Many of these are migratory, including the swallow. Most of Ireland\'s bird species come from Iceland, Greenland, Africa among other territories. There are no snakes in Ireland and only one reptile (the common lizard) is native to the country. Extinct species include the great Irish elk, the wolf, the great auk, and others. Some previously extinct birds - such as the golden eagle - have recently been reintroduced after decades of extirpation.
Agriculture drives current land use patterns in Ireland, leaving limited land to preserve natural habitats,"Land cover and land use", Environmental Protection Agency\', 2000. Accessed July 30 2007 in particular for larger wild mammals with greater territorial requirements. With no top predator in Ireland, populations of animals that cannot be controlled by smaller predators (such as the fox) are controlled by annual culling, i.e. semi-wild populations of deer.
Until mediæval times Ireland was heavily forested with oak, pine, beech and birch. Forests now cover about 9% (4,450 km² or one million acres), of the land.National forestation statistics, Jan 2007 - Coillte Teoranta Because of its mild climate, many species, (including sub-tropical ones like palm trees (Arecaceae)) are grown in Ireland. Much of the land is now covered with pasture, and there are many species of wild-flower. Gorse (Ulex europaeus), a wild furze, is commonly found growing in the uplands, and ferns are plentiful in the more moist regions, especially in the western parts of Ireland. It is home to hundreds of plant species, some of them unique to the island. The country has been "invaded" by some grasses, such as Spartina anglica.H. & J. Groves
The algal and seaweed flora is that of the cold-temperate. The total number of species is:- Rhodophyta: 264; Heterokontophyta: 152; Chloropyta: 114; Cyanophyta: 31 giving a total of 574. Rarer species include: Itonoa marginifera (J.Ag. - Masuda and Guiry); Schmitzia hiscockiana (Maggs and Guiry); Gelidiella calcicola (Maggs and Guiry); Gelidium maggsiae (Rico and Guiry) and Halymenia latifolia (P.Crouan and H.Crouan ex Kützing).Guiry, M.D. and Dhonncha, E.N. 2001. The marine macroalgae of Ireland : biodiversity and distribution. in Marine Biodiversity in Ireland and Adjacent Waters. Proceedings of a Conference 26–27 April 2001. Ulster Museum publication no.8 The country has been invaded by some algae, some of which are now well established: Asparagopsis armara - first recorded by de Valera in 1939; Colpomenia peregrina - now locally abundant and first recorded in the 1930s; Sargassum muticum (Yendo/Fensholt) - now well established in Strangford Lough; Codium fragile ssp. atlanticum and Codium fragile ssp. tomentosum - both now well established.Minchin, D. 2001. Biodiversity and Marine Invaders.(Appendix) in Maine Biodiversity in Ireland and Adjacent Waters. Proceedings of a Conference 26 - 27 April 2001. Ulster Museum publication no.8
The long history of agricultural production coupled with modern intensive agricultural methods (such as pesticide and fertiliser use) has placed pressure on biodiversity in Ireland. "Runoff" of contaminants into streams, rivers and lakes impact the natural fresh-water ecosystems. A land of green fields for crop cultivation and cattle rearing limits the space available for the establishment of native wild species. Hedgerows however, traditionally used for maintaining and demarcating land boundaries, act as a refuge for native wild flora. Their ecosystems stretch across the countryside and act as a network of connections to preserve remnants of the ecosystem that once covered the island. Subsidies under the Common Agricultural Policy which supported these agricultural practices are undergoing reforms.CAP reform - a long-term perspective for sustainable agriculture, European Commission, <http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/capreform/index_en.htm>. Retrieved on 30 July 2007 The CAP still subsidises some potentially destructive agricultural practices, however, the recent reforms have gradually decoupled subsidies from production levels and introduced environmental and other requirements.
Forest covers about 10% of the country, with most designated for commercial production."Land cover and land use", Environmental Protection Agency\', 2000. Accessed July 30 2007 Forested areas typically consist of monoculture plantations of non-native species which may result in habitats that are not suitable for supporting a broad range of native species of invertebrates. Remnants of native forest can be found scattered around the country, in particular in the Killarney National Park. Natural areas require fencing to prevent over-grazing by deer and sheep that roam over uncultivated areas. This is one of the main factors preventing the natural regeneration of forests across many regions of the country.Roche, Dick (2006-11-08), National Parks, vol. 185, Seanad Éireann, <http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/S/0185/S.0185.200611080008.html>. Retrieved on 30 July 2007 Seanad Debate involving Former Minister for Environment Heritage and Local Government
A long cold climatic spell prevailed until about 9,000 years ago, and most of Ireland was covered with ice. This era was known as the Ice Age. Sea-levels were lower then, and Ireland, as with its neighbour Britain, instead of being islands, were part of a greater continental Europe. Mesolithic stone age inhabitants arrived some time after 8000 BC. Agriculture arrived with the Neolithic circa 4000 to 4500 BC where sheep, goats, cattle and cereals were imported from southwest continental Europe. At the Céide Fields in County Mayo, an extensive Neolithic field system - arguably the oldest in the world - has been preserved beneath a blanket of peat. Consisting of small fields separated from one another by dry-stone walls, the Céide Fields were farmed for several centuries between 3500 and 3000 BC. Wheat and barley were the principal crops cultivated.The Neolithic, or New Stone Age: Farming
The Bronze Age, which began around 2500 BC, saw the production of elaborate gold as well as bronze ornaments, weapons and tools. The Iron Age in Ireland was supposedly associated with people known as Celts. They are traditionally thought to have colonised Ireland in a series of waves between the 8th and 1st centuries BC, with the Gaels, the last wave of Celts, conquering the island and dividing it into five or more kingdoms. Many scientists and academic scholars now favour a view that emphasises cultural diffusion from overseas over significant colonisation such as what Clonycavan Man was reported to be.Breakingnews.ie - Report on gene originsProspect-magazine.co.uk - Genetic heritageRoyal Society - Genes The Romans referred to Ireland as HiberniaHibernia unrv.com and/or Scotia.http://www.bartleby.com/65/sc/Scotia.html The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-05 Ptolemy in AD 100 records Ireland\'s geography and tribes.The Geography of Ptolemy www.Roman-Britain.org Native accounts are confined to Irish poetry, myth, and archaeology. The exact relationship between Rome and the tribes of Hibernia is unclear; the only references are a few Roman writings.
In medieval times, a monarch (also known as the High King) presided over the (then five) provinces of Ireland. These provinces too had their own kings, who were at least nominally subject to the monarch, who resided at Tara. The written judicial system was the Brehon Law, and it was administered by professional learned jurists who were known as the Brehons.
According to early medieval chronicles, in 431, Bishop Palladius arrived in Ireland on a mission from Pope Celestine I to minister to the Irish "already believing in Christ." (This was to convert the Celtic Church to Roman Catholicism). The same chronicles record that Saint Patrick, Ireland\'s patron saint, arrived in 432. There is continued debate over the missions of Palladius and Patrick, but the general consensus is that they both existed and that 7th century annalists may have mis-attributed some of their activities to each other. Palladius most likely went to Leinster, while Patrick is believed to have gone to Ulster, where he probably spent time in captivity as a young man.
The druid tradition collapsed in the face of the spread of the new religion. Irish Christian scholars excelled in the study of Latin and Greek learning and Christian theology in the monasteries that flourished, preserving Latin and Greek learning during the Early Middle Ages. 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 dot the island. From the 9th century, waves of Viking raiders plundered monasteries and towns, adding to a pattern of endemic raiding and warfare. Eventually Vikings settled in Ireland, and established many towns, including the modern day cities of Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Waterford.
.jpg/58px-Aughnanure Castle (pixinn.net).jpg)
Aughnanure, the main castle of O\'Flaherty
From 1169, Ireland was entered by Cambro-Norman warlords, led by Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (Strongbow)Scion of traitors and warlords: why Bush is coy about his Irish links, on an invitation from the then King of Leinster. In 1171, King Henry II of England came to Ireland, using the 1155 Bull Laudabiliter issued to him by then Pope Adrian IV, to claim sovereignty over the island, and forced the Cambro-Norman warlords and some of the Gaelic Irish kings to accept him as their overlord. From the 13th century, English law began to be introduced. By the late thirteenth century the Norman-Irish had established the feudal system throughout most of lowland Ireland. Their settlement was characterised by the establishment of baronies, manors, towns and large land-owning monastic communities, and the county system. The towns of Dublin, Cork, Wexford, Waterford, Limerick, Galway, New Ross, Kilkenny, Carlingford, Drogheda, Sligo, Athenry, Arklow, Buttevant, Carlow, Carrick-on-Suir, Cashel, Clonmel, Dundalk, Enniscorthy, Kildare, Kinsale, Mullingar, Naas, Navan, Nenagh, Thurles, Wicklow, Trim and Youghal were all under Norman-Irish control.
In the 14th century the English settlement went into a period of decline and large areas, for example Sligo, were re-occupied by Gaelic septs. The medieval English presence in Ireland was deeply shaken by Black Death, which arrived in Ireland in 1348.The spread of the Plague: Ireland From the late 15th century English rule was once again expanded, first through the efforts of the Earls of Kildare and Ormond then through the activities of the Tudor State under Henry VIII and Mary and Elizabeth. This resulted in the complete conquest of Ireland by 1603 and the final collapse of the Gaelic social and political superstructure at the end of the 17th century, as a result of English and Scottish Protestant colonisation in the Plantations of Ireland, and the disastrous Wars of the Three Kingdoms and the Williamite War in Ireland. Approximately 600,000 people, nearly half the Irish population, died during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland.BBC The curse of Cromwell
After the Irish Rebellion of 1641, Irish Catholics and nonconforming Protestants were barred from voting or attending the Irish Parliament. The new English Protestant ruling class was known as the Protestant Ascendancy. Towards the end of the 18th century the entirely Anglican Irish Parliament attained a greater degree of independence from the British Parliament than it had previously held. Under the penal laws no Irish Catholic could sit in the Parliament of Ireland, even though some 90% of Ireland\'s population was native Irish Catholic when the first of these bans was introduced in 1691. This ban was followed by others in 1703 and 1709 as part of a comprehensive system disadvantaging the Catholic community, and to a lesser extent Protestant dissenters.Laws in Ireland for the Suppression of Popery at University of Minnesota Law School In 1798, many members of this dissenter tradition made common cause with Catholics in a rebellion inspired and led by the Society of United Irishmen. It was staged with the aim of creating a fully independent Ireland as a state with a republican constitution. Despite assistance from France the Irish Rebellion of 1798 was put down by British forces.
In 1800, the British and subsequently the unrepresentative Irish Parliament passed the Act of Union which, in 1801, merged the Kingdom of Ireland and the Kingdom of Great Britain to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The passage of the Act in the Irish Parliament was achieved with substantial majorities, in part (according to contemporary documents) through bribery, namely the awarding of peerages and honours to critics to get their votes.Alan J. Ward, The Irish Constitutional Tradition p.28. Thus, Ireland became part of an extended United Kingdom, ruled directly by the UK Parliament in London. The 19th century saw the Great Famine of the 1840s, during which one million Irish people died and over a million emigrated.The Irish Potato Famine By the 1840s as a result of the famine fully half of all immigrants to the United States originated from Ireland. A total of 35 million Americans (12% of total population) reported Irish ancestry in the 2005 American Community Survey.Irish-American Heritage Month (March) and St. Patrick\'s Day (March 17) 2007, US government census Mass emigration became entrenched as a result of the famine and the population continued to decline until late in the 20th century. The pre-famine peak was over 8 million recorded in the 1841 census. The population has never returned to this level.Ireland Learns to Adapt to a Population Growth Spurt New York Times
The 19th and early 20th century saw the rise of Irish nationalism among the Roman Catholic population. Daniel O\'Connell led a successful unarmed campaign for Catholic Emancipation. A subsequent campaign for repeal of the Act of Union failed. Later in the century Charles Stewart Parnell and others campaigned for self-government within the Union or "home rule". Protestants, largely concentrated in Ulster, who considered themselves to be British as well as Irish, were strongly opposed to home rule, under which they would be dominated by Catholic and Southern interests. To prevent home rule the Ulster Volunteers were formed in 1913 under the leadership of Lord Carson, and to impose home rule the Irish Volunteers were formed in the South in 1914 under John Redmond. An armed rebellion took place with the Easter Rising of 1916, and subsequently Irish War of Independence in 1919. In 1921, a treaty was concluded between the British Government and the leaders of the Irish Republic. The Treaty recognised the two-state solution created in the Government of Ireland Act 1920. Northern Ireland was presumed to form a home rule state within the new Irish Free State unless it opted out. Northern Ireland had a majority Protestant population and opted out as expected, choosing to remain part of the United Kingdom, incorporating, however, within its border a significant Catholic and nationalist minority. A Boundary Commission was set up to decide on the boundaries between the two Irish states, though it was subsequently abandoned after it recommended only minor adjustments to the border. Disagreements over some provisions of the treaty led to a split in the nationalist movement and subsequently to the Civil War. The Civil War ended in 1923 with the defeat of the anti-treaty forces.
Republic of Ireland flag.
The Anglo-Irish Treaty was ratified by the Dáil in January 1922 by a vote of 64 - 57. The minority refused to accept the result and this resulted in the Irish Civil War, which lasted until 1923. On 6th December 1922, in the middle of the Civil War, the Irish Free State came into being. During its early years the new state was governed by the victors of the Civil War. However, in the 1930s Fianna Fáil, the party of the opponents of the treaty, was elected into government. The party proposed, and the electorate accepted in a referendum in 1937, a new constitution which renamed the state "Éire or in the English language, Ireland" (article 4 of the Constitution).
The state was neutral during World War II, which was known internally as The Emergency. It offered some assistance to the Allies, especially in Northern Ireland. It is estimatedBBC History of Northern Ireland that around 50,000 volunteers from Éire/Ireland joined the British armed forces during the Second World War. In 1949, Ireland declared itself to be a republic.
Ireland experienced large-scale emigration in the 1950s and again in the 1980s.
From 1987 the economy recovered and the 1990s saw the beginning of unprecedented economic success, in a phenomenon known as the "Celtic Tiger". By 2007 it had become the fifth richest country (in terms of GDP per capita) in the world, and the second richest in the European Union, moving from being a net recipient of the budget to becoming a net contributor during the next Budget round (2007-13), and from a country of net emigration to one of net immigration. In October 2006, there were talks between Ireland and the U.S. to negotiate a new immigration policy between the two countries, in response to the growth of the Irish economy and desire of many U.S. citizens who sought to move to Ireland for work.Ireland considering immigration deal with U.S., Reuters, October 25, 2006
The Ulster Banner, used as the flag of the former Government of Northern Ireland 1953 - 1972, now unofficially used by some sporting organisations to represent the area, some unionist-controlled local authorities and loyalists.
Parliament Buildings, seat of the present Northern Ireland Assembly.
Northern Ireland was created as an administrative division of the United Kingdom by the Government of Ireland Act 1920. From 1921 until 1972, Northern Ireland enjoyed limited self-government within the United Kingdom, with its own parliament and prime minister.
In the first half of the 20th century, Northern Ireland was largely spared the strife of the Civil War, but there were sporadic episodes of inter-communal violence between nationalists and unionists during the decades that followed partition. Although the Irish Free State was neutral during World War II, Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom was not, and became involved in the British war effort (albeit without military conscription as it was introduced in Great Britain). Belfast suffered a bombing raid from the German Luftwaffe in 1941.
In elections to the 1921-1972 regional government, the Protestant and Catholic communities in Northern Ireland each voted largely along sectarian lines, meaning that the Government of Northern Ireland (elected by "first past the post" from 1929) was controlled by the Ulster Unionist Party. Over time, the minority Catholic community felt increasingly alienated by the regional government, with further disaffection fuelled by practices such as gerrymandering of the local council in Londonderry, and alleged discrimination against Catholics in housing and employment.Professor John H. Whyte paper on discrimination in Northern Ireland
In the late 1960s nationalist grievances were aired publicly in mass civil rights protests, which were often confronted by loyalist counter-protests. The Government\'s reaction to confrontations was seen to be one-sided and heavy-handed, and law and order broke down as unrest and inter-communal violence increased. In August 1969, the regional government requested that the Army be deployed to aid the police, who were exhausted after several nights of serious rioting. In 1970, the paramilitary Provisional IRA, which favoured the creation of a united Ireland, was formed and began a campaign against what it called the "British occupation of the six counties". Other groups, on both the unionist side and the nationalist side, participated in the violence and the period known as the "Troubles" began, resulting in over 3600Religion, Identity & Politics – Northern Ireland Conflict & Resolution, 1969-2005 - NYU department of history deaths over the subsequent three decades. Owing to the civil unrest during "The Troubles", the British government suspended home rule in 1972 and imposed "direct rule" from Westminster.
There were several (ultimately unsuccessful) political attempts to end "The Troubles"; such as the Sunningdale Agreement of 1973 and Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985. In 1998, following a Provisional IRA cease fire and multi-party talks, the Belfast Agreement was concluded and ratified by referendum. This agreement attempted to restore self-government to Northern Ireland on the basis of power-sharing between the two communities. Violence decreased greatly after the signing of the accord, and on 28 July 2005, the Provisional IRA announced the end of its armed campaign and the international weapons inspectors supervised what they currently regard as the full decommissioning of the Provisional IRA\'s weapons.http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/peace/decommission/iicd190106.pdf The power-sharing assembly was suspended several times but restored from 8 May 2007.
From 2 August 2007, Britain officially ended its military support of the police in Northern Ireland, and began withdrawing troops. (In 1972, British troops numbered more than 25,000 in Northern Ireland. After the withdrawal, a garrison of approximately 5,000 is all that remains.)
Ireland has a proportionately rich history in science and is known for its excellence in scientific research conducted at its many universities and institutions. Noted particularly is Ireland\'s contributions to fiber optics technology and related technologies.
Founder of modern chemistry Robert Boyle was an Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, inventor and early gentleman scientist, noted for his work in physics and chemistry. He is best known for the formulation of Boyle\'s law.
Other notable Irish Physicists include Ernest Walton (famous as winner of the 1951 Nobel Prize in Physics with Sir John Douglas Cockcroft for splitting the nucleus of the atom by artificial means and contributions in the development of a new theory of wave equation), George Johnstone Stoney (famous for introducing the term electron in 1874 and as the uncle of the physicist George FitzGerald and distant relative of mathematician Alan Turing), Joseph Larmor (who predicted the phenomenon of time dilation [for orbiting electrons] and published a paper describing FitzGerald-Lorentz contraction some two years before Hendrik Lorentz and some eight years before Albert Einstein), John Stewart Bell (famous as the originator of Bell\'s Theorem and his paper concerning the discovery of the Bell-Jackiw-Adler anomaly - Bell was nominated for a Nobel prize), George Francis FitzGerald, sir George Gabriel Stokes and many others.
Notable mathematicians include Sir William Rowan Hamilton (mathematician, physicist, astronomer and discoverer of quaternions), Francis Ysidro Edgeworth (influential in the development of neo-classical economics, including the Edgeworth box), John B. Cosgrave (specialist in number theory, former head of the mathematics department of St. Patrick\'s College and discoverer of a new 2000-digit prime number in 1999 and a record composite Fermat number in 2003) and John Lighton Synge (who made progress in different fields of science, including mechanics and geometrical methods in general relativity and who had mathematician John Nash as one of his students).
The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) was established in 1940 by the Taoiseach Éamon de Valera. In 1940, physicist Erwin Schrödinger received an invitation to help establish the Institute. He became the Director of the School for Theoretical Physics and remained there for 17 years, during which time he became a naturalized Irish citizen.
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The Book of Kells. |
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Newgrange —5000 year old burial site. |
For an island of relatively small population, Ireland has made a disproportionately large contribution to world literature in all its branches, mainly in English. Poetry in Irish represents the oldest vernacular poetry in Europe with the earliest examples dating from the 6th century; Jonathan Swift, still often called the foremost satirist in the English language, was wildly popular in his day (Gulliver\'s Travels, A Modest Proposal etc.) and remains so in modern times amongst both children and adults. In more recent times, Ireland has produced four winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature: George Bernard Shaw, William Butler Yeats, Samuel Beckett and Seamus Heaney. Although not a Nobel Prize winner, James Joyce is widely considered one of the most significant writers of the 20th century and Samuel Beckett memorably refused to attend his own Nobel award ceremony, claiming that Joyce should have received the award. His 1922 novel Ulysses is considered one of the most important works of Modernist literature and his life is celebrated annually on June 16 in Dublin as the Bloomsday celebrations.The James Joyce Centre - Bloomsday in Dublin www.jamesjoyce.ie
The early history of Irish visual art is generally considered to begin with early carvings found at sites such as Newgrange and is traced through Bronze age artifacts, particularly ornamental gold objects, and the religious carvings and illuminated manuscripts of the mediæval period. During the course of the 19th and 20th centuries, a strong indigenous tradition of painting emerged, including such figures as John Butler Yeats, William Orpen, Jack Yeats and Louis le Brocquy.
Modern Irish literature is still often connected with its rural heritage, in writers like John McGahern, and poets like Seamus Heaney. There is a thriving performing arts culture in many Irish centres, most particularly in Galway.
The Irish tradition of folk music and dance is also widely known. In the middle years of the 20th century, as Irish society was attempting to modernise, traditional music tended to fall out of favour, especially in urban areas. During the 1960s, and inspired by the American folk music movement, there was a revival of interest in the Irish tradition. This revival was led by such groups as The Dubliners, The Chieftains, The Wolfe Tones, the Clancy Brothers, Sweeney\'s Men, and individuals like Seán Ó Riada and Christy Moore. Irish and Scottish traditional music share some similar characteristics.
Before too long, groups and musicians including Horslips, Van Morrison, and Thin Lizzy were incorporating elements of traditional music into a rock idiom to form a unique new sound. During the 1970s and 1980s, the distinction between traditional and rock musicians became blurred, with many individuals regularly crossing over between these styles of playing as a matter of course. This trend can be seen more recently in the work of artists like U2, Enya, Flogging Molly, Moya Brennan, The Saw Doctors, Bell X1, Damien Rice, The Corrs, Aslan, Sinéad O\'Connor, Clannad, The Cranberries, Rory Gallagher, Westlife, B*witched, BoyZone, Gilbert O\'Sullivan, Black 47, VNV Nation, Wolfe Tones, Ash, The Thrills, Stars of Heaven, Something Happens, A House, Sharon Shannon, Damien Dempsey, Declan O\' Rourke, The Frames and The Pogues.
There is a growing genre of Irish music fused with heavy heavy metal called Celtic Metal / Celtic Battle Metal (also sometimes called Folk Metal). Geasa, Primordial, Waylander, and Cruachan are examples of bands who perform this style of music.
Irish music has shown an immense inflation of popularity with many attempting to return to their roots. Some contemporary music groups stick closer to a "traditional" sound, including Altan, Teada, Danú, Dervish, Lúnasa, and Solas. Others incorporate multiple cultures in a fusion of styles, such as Afro Celt Sound System and Kíla.
Ireland has done well in the Eurovision Song Contest, being the most successful country in the competition, with seven wins in 1970 with Dana, 1980 and 1987 with Johnny Logan, 1992 with Linda Martin, 1993 with Niamh Kavanagh, 1994 with Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan and in 1996 with Eimear Quinn. Ireland in shock Eurovision exit. BBC Online (2005-05-19). Retrieved on 2008-01-10.
A hurling match between Wexford and Kilkenny in Croke Park.
The most popular sports in Ireland are Gaelic Football and Association Football. Together with Hurling and Rugby, they make up the four biggest team sports in Ireland. Gaelic Football is the most popular in terms of match attendance and community involvement Irish Government Website Culture and Sport Information http://www.irlgov.ie , and the All-Ireland Football Final is the biggest day in Ireland\'s sporting calendar. Association football, meanwhile, is the most commonly played team sport in Ireland and the most popular sport in which Ireland fields international teams[1]Furthermore, there is a large measure of Irish interest in the English and (to a lesser extent) Scottish soccer leagues. Many other sports are also played and followed, particularly golf and horse racing but also show jumping, greyhound racing,
