History of Ireland: Difference between revisions

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{{History of Ireland}}

The '''History of Ireland''' is the story of a large island at the north-west of [[Europe]]. It begins between [[8000 BC|8000]] and [[7000 BC]], when the first [[human]]s inhabited [[Ireland]] and were responsible for major [[Neolithic]] sites such as [[Newgrange]]. Christianity replaced Paganism by [[A.D.]] [[600]]. [[Irish (language)|Irish]] is the [[indigenous]] language of the island's inhabitants, though settlers such as the [[Vikings]] and [[Normans]] introduced others. Today, for historicial reasons, the overwhelming majority speak [[English (language)|English]].

The first evidence of human presence in [[Ireland]] dates to around 34,000 years ago, with further findings dating the presence of ''[[Homo sapiens]]'' to around 10,500 to 7,000 BC.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Roseingrave|first=Louise|date=2021-04-18|title=Reindeer bone found in north Cork to alter understanding of Irish human history|url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-40269116.html|access-date=2021-04-23|website=Irish Examiner|language=en}}</ref> The receding of the ice after the [[Younger Dryas]] cold phase of the [[Quaternary glaciation|Quaternary]], around 9700 BC, heralds the beginning of [[Prehistoric Ireland]], which includes the archaeological periods known as the [[Mesolithic]], the [[Neolithic]] from about 4000 BC, and the [[Copper Age]] beginning around 2500 BC with the arrival of the [[Beaker Culture]]. The Irish [[Bronze Age]] proper begins around 2000 BC and ends with the arrival of the [[Iron Age]] of the [[Celts|Celtic]] [[Hallstatt culture]], beginning about 600 BC. The subsequent [[La Tène culture]] brought new styles and practices by 300 BC.

Overt [[England|English]] colonial interest in Ireland began [[1171]], after the arrival there of an invasion force of (Welsh) [[Normans]] in [[1169]], but the Crown of England did not gain full control until the whole island had been subjected to numerous military campaigns in the period [[1534]]&mdash;[[1691]], which included the [[Desmond Rebellions]], the [[Nine Years War (Ireland)]], the [[Irish Confederate Wars]], and the [[Williamite war in Ireland]], and was colonised in the [[Plantations of Ireland]].

Greek and Roman

From [[1782]]&mdash;[[1800]], Ireland regained a form of self-governing status through the [[Parliament of Ireland]], but power was limited to the [[Anglo-Irish]], [[Anglican]] minority while the majority [[Roman Catholic]] population suffered severe [[Penal Laws|political and economic privations]]. This brief experiment was terminated following the outbreak (and vicious suppression) of the [[Irish Rebellion of 1798|1798 rebellion]]. In [[1801]], this parliament was abolished and Ireland became an integral part of a new [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]] under the [[Act of Union, 1800|Act of Union]]. The new political system led to a massive decline in trade and investment as business activity switched to London. In the [[1840s]], the population of Ireland fell due to a [[Irish potato famine|catastrophic famine]] and emigration from a peak of 8 million in 1840 to 4.4 million in 1911.

writers give some information about Ireland during the Classical period (see "[[Protohistory of Ireland|protohistoric]]" period), by which time the island may be termed "[[Gaelic Ireland]]". By the late 4th century CE Christianity had begun to gradually subsume or replace the earlier [[Celtic polytheism]]. By the end of the 6th century, it had introduced writing along with a predominantly monastic [[Celtic Christianity|Celtic Christian]] church, profoundly altering Irish society. Seafaring raiders and pirates from Scandinavia (later referred to as [[Vikings]]), settled from the late 8th century AD which resulted in extensive cultural interchange, as well as innovation in military and transport technology. Many of Ireland's towns were founded at this time as Scandinavian trading posts and coinage made its first appearance.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/art-and-design/what-have-the-vikings-ever-done-for-us-1.625270|title=What have the Vikings ever done for us?|newspaper=The Irish Times}}</ref> Scandinavian penetration was limited and concentrated along coasts and rivers, and ceased to be a major threat to Gaelic culture after the [[Battle of Clontarf]] in 1014. The [[Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland|Norman invasion]] in 1169 resulted again in a partial conquest of the island and marked the beginning of more than 800 years of English political and military involvement in Ireland. Initially successful, Norman gains were rolled back over succeeding centuries as a Gaelic resurgence<ref>{{cite thesis|url=https://cora.ucc.ie/handle/10468/2578|title=The Resurgence of Gaelic power in Ireland and Scotland and its wider impact, c.1350–1513|first=Simon Peter|last=Egan|date=18 December 2018|publisher=University College Cork|type=Doctoral thesis|via=cora.ucc.ie}}</ref> reestablished Gaelic cultural preeminence over most of the country, apart from the walled towns and the area around [[Dublin]] known as [[The Pale]].

Reduced to the control of small pockets, the [[English Crown]] did not make another attempt to conquer the island until after the end of the [[Wars of the Roses]] (1488). This released resources and manpower for overseas expansion, beginning in the early 16th century. However, the nature of Ireland's decentralised political organisation into small territories (known as [[túath]]a), martial traditions, difficult terrain and climate and lack of urban infrastructure, meant that attempts to assert Crown authority were slow and expensive. Attempts to impose the new Protestant faith were also successfully resisted by both the Gaelic and Norman-Irish. The new policy fomented the rebellion of the [[Hiberno-Norman]] Earl of Kildare [[Silken Thomas]] in 1534, keen to defend his traditional autonomy and Catholicism, and marked the beginning of the prolonged [[Tudor period|Tudor]] conquest of Ireland lasting from 1536 to 1603. [[Henry VIII]] proclaimed himself [[King of Ireland]] in 1541 to facilitate the project. Ireland became a potential battleground in the [[Religious wars in Europe|wars]] between Catholic [[Counter-Reformation]] and Protestant [[Reformation]] Europe.

In [[1922]], after the [[Anglo-Irish War|War of Independence]], the southern and western twenty-six counties of Ireland seceded from the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] and became the independent [[Irish Free State]] Since 1937 the country has been officially called Ireland (or Eire in Irish)but is more commonly refeered to as the "[[Republic of Ireland]]"). The remainder of the island, is known as "[[Northern Ireland]]", remained part of the UK. After independence in [[1922]], the Free State suffered from economic difficulties and continuing mass [[emigration]] for many decades. However, since the 1990s the Republic has been enjoying economic success, becoming known as the [[Celtic Tiger]]. Meanwhile, since its establishment, the history of Northern Ireland has been dominated by sectarian conflict between (mainly [[Roman Catholic| Catholic]]) [[Irish Nationalism |Nationalist]]s and (mainly [[Protestant]]) [[Unionist]]s. This conflict erupted into the [[The Troubles|Troubles]] in the late [[1960]]s, until an [[Belfast Agreement|uneasy peace]] 30 years later.

England's attempts either to conquer or to assimilate both the Hiberno-Norman lordships and the Gaelic territories into the [[Kingdom of Ireland]] provided the impetus for ongoing warfare, notable examples being the [[First Desmond Rebellion|1st Desmond Rebellion]], the [[Second Desmond Rebellion|2nd Desmond Rebellion]] and the [[Nine Years' War (Ireland)|Nine Years War]]. This period was marked by the Crown policies of, at first, [[surrender and regrant]], and later, [[Plantations of Ireland|plantation]], involving the arrival of thousands of English and [[Scottish people|Scottish]] [[Protestant]] settlers, and the displacement of both the Hiberno-Normans (or Old English as they were known by then) and the native [[Catholicism in Ireland|Catholic]] landholders. With English colonies going back to the 1550s, Ireland was arguably the first English and then British territory colonised by a group known as the [[West Country Men]]. [[Gaelic Ireland]] was finally defeated at the [[battle of Kinsale]] in 1601 which marked the collapse of the Gaelic system and the beginning of Ireland's history as fully part of the English and later [[British Empire]].

==Early history: 8000 BC&ndash;AD 400==

{{main|Early history of Ireland}}

[[Image:www.wesleyjohnston.com-users-ireland-maps-historical-ice_age.gif|thumb|200px|Ireland during the [[Ice Age]].]]

During the 17th century, this division between a Protestant landholding minority and a dispossessed Catholic majority was intensified and conflict between them was to become a recurrent theme in Irish history. Domination of Ireland by the [[Protestant Ascendancy]] was reinforced after two periods of religious war, the [[Irish Confederate Wars]] in 1641–52 and the [[Williamite War in Ireland|Williamite war]] in 1689–91. Political power thereafter rested almost exclusively in the hands of a minority Protestant Ascendancy, while Catholics and members of [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|dissenting]] Protestant denominations suffered severe political and economic privations under the [[Penal laws (Ireland)|Penal laws]].

What little is known of pre-[[Christianity|Christian]] Ireland comes from a few references in [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] writings, [[Irish poetry]] and myth, and archaeology. The earliest inhabitants of Ireland, people of a mid-[[Stone Age]], or [[Mesolithic]], culture, arrived sometime after [[8000 BC]], when the climate had become more hospitable following the retreat of the polar icecaps. About three or four millennia later, agriculture was introduced from the continent, leading to the establishment of a high [[Neolithic]] culture, characterized by the appearance of huge stone monuments, many of them astronomically aligned (most notably, [[Newgrange]]). This culture apparently prospered, and the island became more densely populated. The [[Bronze Age]], which began around [[2500 BC]], saw the production of elaborate gold and bronze ornaments and weapons.

On 1 January 1801, in the wake of the republican [[Irish Rebellion of 1798|United Irishmen Rebellion]], the [[Irish House of Commons|Irish Parliament]] was abolished and Ireland became part of a new [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]] formed by the [[Acts of Union 1800]]. Catholics were not granted full rights until [[Catholic emancipation]] in 1829, achieved by [[Daniel O'Connell]]. The [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Great Famine]] struck Ireland in 1845 resulting in over a million deaths from starvation and disease and a million refugees fleeing the country, mainly to America. Irish attempts to break away continued with [[Charles Stewart Parnell|Parnell's]] [[Irish Parliamentary Party]] which strove from the 1880s to attain [[Irish Home Rule Bill|Home Rule]] through the parliamentary constitutional movement, eventually winning the [[Home Rule Act 1914]], although this Act was suspended at the outbreak of [[World War I]]. In 1916, the [[Easter Rising]] succeeded in turning public opinion against the British establishment after the execution of the leaders by British authorities. It also eclipsed the home rule movement. In 1922, after the [[Irish War of Independence]], most of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom to become the independent [[Irish Free State]], but under the [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]] the six northeastern counties, known as [[Northern Ireland]], remained within the United Kingdom, creating the partition of Ireland. The treaty was opposed by many; their opposition led to the outbreak of the [[Irish Civil War]], in which [[Irish Free State]], or "pro-treaty", forces proved victorious.

The [[Iron Age]] in Ireland began about [[600 BC]]. By the historic period ([[AD]] [[431]] onwards) the main over-kingdoms of In Tuisceart, [[Airgialla ]], [[Ulaid]], [[Mide]], [[Laigin]], Mumhain, [[Cóiced Ol nEchmacht]] began to emerge (see [[Kingdoms of ancient Ireland]]). Within these five or more kingdoms, despite constant strife, a rich culture flourished. The society of these kingdoms was dominated by [[druids]]: priests who served as educators, physicians, poets, diviners, and keepers of the laws and histories.

The [[history of Northern Ireland]] has since been dominated by the division of society along sectarian faultlines and conflict between (mainly Catholic) [[Irish nationalism|Irish nationalists]] and (mainly Protestant) [[Unionism in Ireland|British unionists]]. These divisions erupted into [[the Troubles]] in the late 1960s, after civil rights marches were met with opposition by authorities. The violence escalated after the deployment of the British Army to maintain authority led to clashes with nationalist communities. The violence continued for twenty-eight years until an uneasy, but largely successful peace was finally achieved with the [[Good Friday Agreement]] in 1998.

Historians developed the concept from the [[17th century]] onwards that the language spoken by these people could be called the [[Goidelic languages]], a branch of the [[Celtic languages]], and this was explained as a result of invasions of [[Celt]]s. However, research during the [[20th century]] indicated otherwise, and in the later years of the century the conclusion drawn was that the language and culture developed gradually and continuously. No archaeological evidence was found for large intrusive groups of Celtic immigrants in Ireland. The [[hypothesis]] that the native Late Bronze Age inhabitants gradually absorbed influences to create Celtic culture has since been supported by recent genetic research. {{fn|1}}.

==Prehistory (10,500 BC–600 BC)==

The Romans referred to Ireland as [[Hibernia]]. [[Ptolemy]] in [[100|AD 100]] records Ireland's geography and tribes. Ireland was never formally a part of the [[Roman Empire]] but Roman influence was often projected well beyond formal borders. [[Tacitus]] writes that an Irish tribal chieftain was with [[Gnaeus Julius Agricola|Agricola]] in [[Great Britain|Britain]] and would return to seize power in Ireland. [[Juvenal]] tells us that Roman "arms had been taken beyond the shores of Ireland'. If Rome, or an ally, did invade, they didn't leave very much behind. The exact relationship between Rome and the tribes of Hibernia is unclear.

{{Main|Prehistoric Ireland|Protohistory of Ireland}}

===Stone Age to Bronze Age===

==Early Christian Ireland 400-800==

[[File:Www.wesleyjohnston.com-users-ireland-maps-historical-ice age.gif|thumb|Ireland during the [[Last Glacial Period|Ice Age]]]]

{{main|Early Christian Ireland 400-800}}

The middle centuries of the first millennium AD marked great changes in Ireland.

What is known of pre-Christian Ireland comes from references in [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] writings, [[Irish poetry]], myth, and archaeology. While some possible [[Paleolithic]] tools have been found, none of the finds is convincing of Paleolithic settlement in Ireland.<ref>{{cite book|last1=O'Kelly|first1=Michael J.|last2=O'Kelly|first2=Claire|title=Early Ireland: an introduction to Irish prehistory|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1989|page=5|isbn=0-521-33687-2}}</ref> However a bear bone found in [[Alice and Gwendoline Cave]], County Clare, in 1903 may push back dates for the earliest human settlement of Ireland to 10,500 BC. The bone shows clear signs of cut marks with stone tools and has been radiocarbon dated to 12,500 years ago.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-35863186|title=Earliest evidence of humans in Ireland|date=21 March 2016|publisher=BBC|access-date=15 January 2018}}</ref>

[[Niall Noigiallach]] (died c.[[450]]/[[455]]) laid the basis for the [[Uí Néill]] dynasty's hegemony over much of western, northern and central Ireland. Politically, the former emphasis on tribal affiliation had been replaced by the 700's by that of patrilinial and dynastic background. Many formerly powerful kingdoms and peoples disappeared. Irish pirates struck all over the coast of western Britain in the same way that the Vikings would later attack Ireland. Some of these founded entirely new kingdoms in Pictland, Wales and Cornwall. The [[Attacotti]] of south [[Leinster]] even served in the Roman Legions in the mid-to-late 300's.

It is possible that humans crossed a land bridge during the warm period, referred to as the [[Bølling–Allerød warming]], that lasted between 14,700 and 12,700 years ago (i.e. between 12,700 BC and 10,700 BC) towards the end of the last ice age, and allowed the reinhabitation of northern Europe. A sudden return to freezing conditions known as the [[Younger Dryas]] cold phase, which lasted from 10,900 BC to 9700 BC, may have depopulated Ireland. During the Younger Dryas, sea levels continued to rise and no ice-free land bridge between Great Britain and Ireland ever returned.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Tanabe|first1=Susumu|last2=Nekanishi|first2=Toshimichi|last3=Yasui|first3=Satoshi|title=Relative sea-level change in and around the Younger Dryas inferred from late Quaternary incised valley fills along the Japan sea|journal=Quaternary Science Reviews|volume=29|issue=27–28|pages=3956–3971|date=14 October 2010|doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.09.018|bibcode=2010QSRv...29.3956T}}</ref>

Perhaps it was some of the latter returning home as rich mercenaries, merchants, or slaves stolen from Britain or Gaul, that first brought the Christian faith to Ireland. Some early sources claim that there were missionaries active in southern Ireland long before [[St. Patrick]]. Whatever the route, and there were probably many, this new faith was to have the most profound effect on the Irish.

[[Image:KellsFol292rIncipJohn.jpg|thumb|200px|A page from the [[Book of Kells]] that opens the [[Gospel of John]].]]

Tradition maintains that in [[432|AD 432]], [[Saint Patrick|St. Patrick]] arrived on the island and, in the years that followed, worked to convert the Irish to [[Christianity]]. On the other hand, [[Palladius]] was sent to Ireland by the Pope in [[431]] as ''"first Bishop to the Irish believing in Christ"'', which demonstrates that, by whatever means, there were already Christians living in Ireland. Palladius seems to have worked purely as Bishop to Irish Christians in the Leinster and Meath kingdoms, while Patrick - who is now believed to have arrived as late as [[461]] - worked first and foremost as a missionary to the Pagan Irish, converting in the more remote kingdoms located in Ulster and Connacht.

[[Image:InishmaanRingfort1.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Ring fort on the island of Inishmaan, Aran Islands, Ireland. Photograph by Jonathan Leonard.]]

Patrick is credited, possibly too much so, with preserving the tribal and social patterns of the Irish, codifying their laws and changing only those that conflicted with Christian practices. He is credited with introducing the [[Roman alphabet]], which enabled Irish monks to preserve parts of the extensive [[Celt]]ic oral literature. While it is impossible to deny the very real effect Patrick had on his contemporaries, the fact remains that there were Christians in Ireland long before he came, and Pagans long after he died.

The earliest confirmed inhabitants of Ireland were [[Mesolithic]] [[hunter-gatherer]]s, who arrived sometime around 7900 BC.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Driscoll|first1=Killian|title=The Mesolithic and Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in Ireland|url=http://lithicsireland.ie/mlitt_mesolithic_west_ireland_chap_3.html|access-date=19 July 2017}}</ref> While some authors take the view that a [[land bridge]] connecting Ireland to [[Great Britain]] still existed at that time,<ref>{{cite book|last=O'Kelly|first=Michael J.|title=A New History of Ireland: Prehistoric and early Ireland|publisher=Clarendon Press|year=2005|pages=66–67|chapter=III. Ireland Before 3000 BC|isbn=978-0-19-821737-4}}</ref> more recent studies indicate that Ireland was separated from Britain by c. 14,000 BC when the climate was still cold and local ice caps persisted in parts of the country.<ref>Edwards, R.J., Brooks, A.J. (2008) The Island of Ireland: Drowning the Myth of an Irish Land-bridge? In: Davenport, J.J., Sleeman, D.P., Woodman, P.C. (eds.) Mind the Gap: Postglacial Colonisation of Ireland. Special Supplement to The Irish Naturalists' Journal. pp. 19ff.</ref> The people remained hunter-gatherers until about 4000 BC. It is argued this is when the first signs of agriculture started to show, leading to the establishment of a [[Neolithic]] culture, characterised by the appearance of pottery, polished stone tools, rectangular wooden houses, megalithic tombs, and domesticated sheep and cattle.<ref name="Landscapes of Neolithic Ireland">{{cite book|last1=Cooney|first1=Gabriel|title=Landscapes of Neolithic Ireland|date=2000|publisher=Routledge|___location=London|isbn=978-0415169776}}</ref> Some of these tombs, as at [[Knowth]] and [[Dowth]], are huge stone monuments and many of them, such as the [[Passage Tombs]] of [[Newgrange]], are astronomically aligned. Four main types of [[Irish Megalithic Tombs]] have been identified: [[dolmen]]s, [[court cairn]]s, [[passage tomb]]s and [[wedge-shaped gallery grave]]s.<ref name="Landscapes of Neolithic Ireland"/> In [[Leinster]] and Munster, individual adult males were buried in small stone structures, called [[cist]]s, under earthen mounds and were accompanied by distinctive decorated pottery. This culture apparently prospered, and the island became more densely populated. Near the end of the Neolithic new types of monuments developed, such as circular embanked enclosures and timber, stone and post and pit circles.

The druid tradition collapsed, first in the face of the spread of the new faith, and ultimately in the aftermath of famine and plagues due to the [[Climate changes of 535-536]]. Irish scholars excelled in the study of [[Latin]] learning and Christian theology in the monasteries that flourished shortly thereafter. Missionaries from Ireland to [[England]] and [[Continental Europe]] spread news of the flowering of learning, and scholars from other nations came to Irish monasteries. The excellence and isolation of these monasteries helped preserve Latin learning during the [[Middle Ages|Early Middle Ages]]. The arts of manuscript illumination, metalworking, and sculpture flourished and produced such treasures as the [[Book of Kells]], ornate jewelry, and the many carved stone crosses that dot the island. Sites dating to this period include [[clochan]]s, [[ringfort]]s and [[promontory fort]]s.

The [[Céide Fields]]<ref>[http://www.logainm.ie/114098.aspx Achaidh Chéide] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021222545/http://www.logainm.ie/114098.aspx |date=21 October 2013 }}, Placenames Database of Ireland. Retrieved: 2010-09-10.</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/08/travel/a-pompeii-in-slow-motion.html A Pompeii in Slow Motion] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190806110548/https://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/08/travel/a-pompeii-in-slow-motion.html |date=6 August 2019 }}, New York Times 2001-07-08. Retrieved: 2010-09-10.</ref><ref>[http://www.logainm.ie/2767.aspx Céide, "a hill level at top"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021222541/http://www.logainm.ie/2767.aspx |date=21 October 2013 }}, Placenames Database of Ireland. Retrieved: 2010-09-10.</ref> is an archaeological site on the north [[County Mayo]] coast in the west of [[Ireland]], about

== Early medieval era 800 - 1166==

7&nbsp;kilometres northwest of [[Ballycastle, County Mayo|Ballycastle]], and the site is the most extensive [[Neolithic]] site in Ireland and contains the oldest known [[field systems]] in the world.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.discoverireland.ie/Destinations/Location.aspx?LocationID=294|title=Where To Go in Ireland &#124; Cities in Ireland &#124; Visit Ireland &#124; Discover Ireland|website=discoverireland.ie|access-date=9 November 2019|archive-date=14 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414180106/https://www.discoverireland.ie/Destinations/Location.aspx?LocationID=294|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Céide Fields Visitor Centre|publisher=Museums of Mayo|url=http://www.museumsofmayo.com/ceide.htm|access-date=2009-02-03|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722094250/http://www.museumsofmayo.com/ceide.htm|archive-date=2011-07-22}}</ref> Using various dating methods, it was discovered that the creation and development of the Céide Fields goes back some five and a half thousand years (~3500 BCE).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.museumsofmayo.com/ceide.htm|title=Ceide Fields Visitor Centre, Ballycastle, County Mayo, West of Ireland|access-date=2011-07-16|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722094250/http://www.museumsofmayo.com/ceide.htm|archive-date=2011-07-22}}</ref>

''Main article [[Early Medieval Ireland 800-1166]]''

[[File:Newgrange.JPG|thumb|[[Newgrange]], built c. 3200 BC, is an Irish [[passage tomb]] located at [[Brú na Bóinne]].]]

[[Image:www.wesleyjohnston.com-users-ireland-maps-historical-map850.gif|thumb|200px|Viking raids in 850.]]

The short-lived Irish [[Copper Age]] and subsequent [[Bronze Age]], which came to Ireland around 2000 BC, saw the production of elaborate [[gold]] and [[bronze]] ornaments, weapons and tools. There was a movement away from the construction of communal megalithic tombs to the burial of the dead in small stone cists or simple pits, which could be situated in cemeteries or in circular earth or stone-built burial mounds known respectively as [[Tumulus|barrow]]s and [[cairn]]s. As the period progressed, inhumation burial gave way to cremation and by the Middle Bronze Age, remains were often placed beneath large burial urns. During the late Bronze Age, there was an increase in stored weapons, which has been taken as evidence for greater warfare. Fleshed [[Bog body|bog bodies]] also appear at this time, continuing into the Iron Age.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Irish Bronze Age {{!}} National Museum of Ireland {{!}} Bronze Age Handling Box|url=https://microsites.museum.ie/BronzeAgeHandlingBox/bronze-age.html|website=microsites.museum.ie|access-date=2020-05-05}}</ref>

==Iron Age (600 BC–400 AD)==

The first recorded [[Viking]] raid in Irish history occurred in [[795]] when Vikings from [[Norway]] looted the island of Lambay, located off the Dublin coast. These early Viking raids were generally small in scale and quick.

The Iron Age in Ireland began about 600 BC. The period between the start of the Iron Age and the historic period (AD 431) saw the gradual infiltration of small groups of Celtic-speaking people into Ireland,<ref name="Bardon">Jonathan Bardon, A History of Ulster, 2005, {{ISBN|0-85640-764-X}}</ref><ref name="Ross">David Ross, Ireland History of a Nation, {{ISBN|1-84205-164-4}}</ref> with items of the continental Celtic [[La Tene style]] being found in at least the northern part of the island by about 300 BC.<ref>Wallace, Patrick F., O'Floinn, Raghnall eds. ''Treasures of the National Museum of Ireland: Irish Antiquities'', pp. 126–12, {{ISBN|0-7171-2829-6}}</ref><ref name="Oxford">S.J. Connolly, Oxford Companion to Irish History, 2002, {{ISBN|978-0-19-923483-7}}</ref> The result of a gradual blending of Celtic and indigenous cultures would result in the emergence of Gaelic culture by the fifth century.<ref name="Bardon"/><ref name="Sean Duffy">Sean Duffy, A Concise History of Ireland, 2005, {{ISBN|0-7171-3810-0}}</ref> It is also during the fifth century that the main over-kingdoms of in Tuisceart, Airgialla, Ulaid, Mide, Laigin, Mumhain, Cóiced Ol nEchmacht began to emerge (see [[List of Irish kingdoms|Kingdoms of ancient Ireland]]). Within these kingdoms, a rich culture flourished. The society of these kingdoms was dominated by an upper class consisting of aristocratic warriors and learned people, which possibly included [[Druid]]s.

Linguists realised from the 17th century onwards that the language spoken by these people, the [[Goidelic languages]], was a branch of the [[Celtic languages]]. This is usually explained as a result of invasions by [[Celt]]s from the continent. However, other research has postulated that the culture developed gradually and continuously and that the introduction of Celtic language and elements of Celtic culture may have been a result of cultural exchange with Celtic groups in southwest continental Europe from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age.<ref name="prospect">{{cite web|access-date=30 June 2011|publisher=Prospect Magazine|url=http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?id=7817|title=Myths of British Ancestry|archive-date=26 September 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060926181227/http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?id=7817|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="hnn">{{cite web|access-date=30 June 2011|publisher=[[George Mason University]] History News Network|url=http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/7406.html|title=DNA Research Links Scots, Irish And Welsh To North-western Spain|date=17 September 2004 }}</ref>

These early raids interrupted the golden age of Christian Irish culture starting the beginning of two hundred years of intermittent warfare, with waves of Viking raiders plundering monasteries and towns throughout Ireland. Most of the early raiders came from the fjords of western Norway.

[[Image:Round tower, Glendalough.jpg|left|thumb|160px|The round tower at [[Glendalough]]]]

The hypothesis that the native Late Bronze Age inhabitants gradually absorbed Celtic influences has since been supported by some recent genetic research.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.familytreedna.com/pdf/capelli2_CB.pdf|title=A Y Chromosne Census of the British Isles (pdf)|website=Familytreedna.com|access-date=15 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120901035019/http://www.familytreedna.com/pdf/capelli2_CB.pdf|archive-date=1 September 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Ireland and England were both being raided by Vikings in the early 840's. The Vikings began to establish settlements along the Irish coasts at this time and began to spend the winter months there. Vikings started settlements in [[Waterford]], [[Wexford]], and most famously, [[Dublin]]. Written accounts from this time (early to mid 840's) show that the Vikings were moving further inland to attack (often using rivers such as the Shannon) and then retreating to their coastal headquarters.

In 60 AD, it is said that the Romans invaded [[Anglesey]] in Wales causing concerns across the Irish Sea, but there is a small controversy<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.archaeology.org/9605/newsbriefs/ireland.html|title=Romans in Ireland? – Archaeology Magazine Archive}}</ref> on if they even set foot into Ireland. The closest Rome got to conquering Ireland was in 80 AD, when, according to Turtle Bunbury from the [[The Irish Times|Irish Times]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/what-did-the-romans-ever-do-for-ireland-1.4205876#:~:text=The%20Romans%20never%20conquered%20Ireland,They%20did%20not%20even%20try.&text=According%20to%20Tacitus%2C%20Agricola's%20son,legion%20with%20a%20few%20auxiliaries.|title=What did the Romans ever do for Ireland?|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]}}</ref> "Túathal Techtmar, the son of a deposed high king, who is said to have invaded Ireland from afar in order to regain his kingdom at about this time".

In [[852]], the Vikings [[Ivar Beinlaus]] and [[Olaf the White]] landed in Dublin Bay and established a fortress, on which the city of [[Dublin]] (from the Irish Gaelic ''An Dubh Linn'' meaning "the black pool") now stands. Olaf was the son of a Norwegian king and made himself the king of Dublin. The Vikings founded many other coastal towns (notably [[Waterford]] and [[Limerick]]), and after several generations a group of mixed Irish and Norse ethnic background arose (the so-called ''Gall-Gaels'', ''Gall'' then being the Irish word for "foreigners" - the Norse).

The Romans referred to Ireland as [[Hibernia]] around AD 100. [[Ptolemy]], in AD 100, recorded Ireland's geography and tribes. Ireland was never a part of the [[Roman Empire]], but Roman influence was often projected well beyond its borders. [[Tacitus]] writes that an exiled Irish prince was with [[Gnaeus Julius Agricola|Agricola]] in [[Roman Britain]] and would return to seize power in Ireland. [[Satires of Juvenal|Juvenal]] tells us that Roman "arms had been taken beyond the shores of Ireland". In recent years, some experts have hypothesized that Roman-sponsored Gaelic forces (or perhaps even Roman regulars) mounted some kind of invasion around CE 100,<ref name='ba-n014-0596'>{{cite web|url=http://www.britarch.ac.uk/BA/ba14/ba14feat.html|publisher=British Archaeology|title=Yes, the Romans did invade Ireland}}</ref> but the exact relationship between Rome and the dynasties and peoples of Hibernia remains unclear.

The descendants of Ivar Beinlaus established a long dynasty based in Dublin, and from this base succeeded in dominating much of the isle. This rule was ultimately broken by the joint efforts of Maelsechlainn II, King of Meath, and the famous [[Brian Boru]] (c. 941- 1014) at the [[Battle of Clontarf]] where Brian Boru died.

Irish confederations (the [[Scoti]]) attacked and some settled in [[Great Britain|Britain]] during the [[Great Conspiracy]] of 367. In particular, the [[Dál Riata]] settled in western Scotland and the [[Western Isles]].

Early Ireland had an unusual government. All men who owned land, all professionals, and all craftsmen, were entitled to become members of an assembly, known as a ''[[tuath]]''. Each tuath's members annually formed an assembly which decided all common policies, declared war or peace on other ''tuatha'', and elected or deposed their 'kings'. The ''tuath'' was thus a body of persons voluntarily united for socially beneficial purposes, and its territorial dimension was the sum total of the landed properties of its members. About 80 to 100 tuatha coexisted at any time throughout Ireland.{{inote|see Murray N. Rothbard, For a New Liberty, Chapter 12|For a New Liberty}}

==Early Christian Ireland (400–795)==

===The Coming of the Normans 1167-1185===

''{{Main|History article [[Normanof Ireland]] (400–795)}}

[[File:Glendalough monastery.jpg|thumb|[[Kevin of Glendalough|Kevin]]'s monastery at [[Glendalough]], [[County Wicklow]]]]

[[image:TrimCastleNorman.jpg|thumb right|frame|Norman [[Keep]], Trim Castle - before renovation]]

[[Image:Ireland_tower_house_near_quin_county_clare.jpg|thumb left|frame|A tower house near [[Quin]]. The Normans consolidated their presence in Ireland by building hundreds of castles and towers such as this]]

By the 12th century, Ireland was divided politically into a shifting hierarchy of [[petty kingdom]]s and over-kingdoms. Power was concentrated into the hands of a few regional dynasties contending against each other for control of the whole island. One of their number, the King of [[Leinster]] [[Diarmait Mac Murchada]] (anglicised as ''Diarmuid MacMorrough'') was forcibly exiled from his kingdom by a confederation of Irish forces under the new High King, [[Ruaidri mac Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair]]. Fleeing to [[Aquitaine]], Diarmait obtained permission from [[Henry II]] to use the [[Norman]] forces to regain his kingdom. The first Norman knight to land in Ireland was Richard fitz Godbert de Roche in [[1167]], but it was not until [[1169]] that the main forces of Normans, [[Wales|Welsh]] and [[Flanders|Flemings]] landed in [[County Wexford|Wexford]]. Within a short time Leinster was regained, [[Waterford]] and [[Dublin]] were under Diarmait's control, and he had [[Strongbow]] as a son-in-law, and named him as heir to his kingdom. This latter development caused consternation to [[Henry II of England|King Henry II]] of England, who feared the establishment of a rival Norman state in Ireland. Accordingly, he resolved to establish his authority.

The middle centuries of the first millennium AD marked great changes in Ireland. Politically, what appears to have been a prehistoric emphasis on tribal affiliation had been replaced by the 8th century by patrilineal dynasties ruling the island's kingdoms. Many formerly powerful kingdoms and peoples disappeared. Irish pirates struck all over the coast of western Britain in the same way that the Vikings would later attack Ireland. Some of these founded entirely new kingdoms in [[Picts|Pictland]] and, to a lesser degree, in parts of [[Cornwall]], [[Wales]], and [[Cumbria]]. The [[Attacotti]] of south [[Leinster]] may even have served in the Roman military in the mid-to-late 300s.<ref>*Philip Rance, 'Attacotti, Déisi and Magnus Maximus: the Case for Irish Federates in Late Roman Britain', ''Britannia'' 32 (2001), pp. 243–270</ref>

Henry landed with a large fleet at [[Waterford]] in [[1171]], becoming the first [[King of England]] to set foot on Irish soil. Both [[Waterford]] and [[Dublin]] were proclaimed [[Royal Cities]]. Henry awarded his Irish territories to his younger son John with the title ''Dominus Hiberniae'' ("Lord of Ireland"). When John unexpectedly succeeded his brother as [[John of England|King John]], the "Kingdom of Ireland" fell directly under the English Crown.

Perhaps it was some of the latter returning home as rich mercenaries, merchants, or wealth in the form of enslaved people stolen from Britain or Gaul, who first brought the Christian faith to Ireland. Some early sources claim that there were missionaries active in southern Ireland long before [[Saint Patrick]]. Whatever the route, and there were probably many, this new faith was to have the most profound effect on the Irish.

<table><tr><td>[[Image:Www.wesleyjohnston.com-users-ireland-maps-historical-map1014.gif|thumb|200px|Ireland in 1014: a patch-work of rival kingdoms.]]

</td><td>

[[Image:www.wesleyjohnston.com-users-ireland-maps-historical-map1300.gif|thumb|200px|The extent of Norman control of Ireland in 1300.]]

</td></tr></table>

Tradition maintains that in A.D. 432, [[Saint Patrick|St. Patrick]] arrived on the island and, in the years that followed, worked to convert the Irish to Christianity. St Patrick's ''Confession'', in Latin, written by him is the earliest Irish historical document. It gives some information about the Saint.<ref>MacAmnaidh, S. 2013. ''Irish History''. Parragon Books Ltd. {{ISBN|978-1-4723-2723-9}}</ref> On the other hand, according to [[Prosper of Aquitaine]], a contemporary chronicler, [[Palladius (bishop of Ireland)|Palladius]] was sent to Ireland by the Pope in 431 as ''"first Bishop to the Irish believing in Christ"'', which demonstrates that there were already Christians living in Ireland. Palladius seems to have worked purely as Bishop to Irish Christians in the Leinster and Meath kingdoms, while Patrick – who may have arrived as late as 461 – worked first and foremost as a missionary to the pagan Irish, in the more remote kingdoms in Ulster and Connacht.

===The Lordship of Ireland 1185-1254===

[[ImageFile:John_Castle_Limerick-seabhcanKellsFol292rIncipJohn.jpg|thumb|250px|King John's CastleA sitspage onfrom the southern bank[[Book of the [[River ShannonKells]]. Itthat was built inopens the Twelfth Century on the orders[[Gospel of King John of England]]]]

Initially the Normans controlled the entire east coast, from [[Waterford]] up to eastern [[Ulster]] and penetrated as far west as [[County Galway|Galway]] and [[County Mayo|Mayo]]. The most powerful forces in the land were the great Anglo-Norman Earldoms such as the Geraldines, the Butlers and the Burkes, who controlled vast territories which were almost independent of the governments in Dublin or [[London]]. The Lord of Ireland was King John, who, on his visits in [[1185]] and [[1210]], had helped secure the Norman areas from both the military and the administrative points of view, while at the same time ensuring that the many Irish kings were brought into his fealty; many, such as [[Cathal Crobderg Ua Conchobair]], owed their thrones to him and his armies.

Patrick is traditionally credited with preserving and codifying Irish laws and changing only those that conflicted with Christian practices. He is credited with introducing the [[Roman alphabet]], which enabled Irish monks to preserve parts of the extensive oral literature. The historicity of these claims remains the subject of debate and there is no direct evidence linking Patrick with any of these accomplishments. The myth of Patrick, as scholars refer to it, was developed in the centuries after his death.<ref>[[Carmel McCaffrey]], Leo Eaton "In Search of Ancient Ireland" Ivan R Dee (2002)PBS 2002</ref>

However, the Anglo-Normans suffered from a [[Norman Ireland#Invasion contained|series of events]] that ceased the spread of their settlement and power. Politics and events in Gaelic Ireland served to draw the settlers deeper into the orbit of the Irish.

Irish scholars excelled in the study of [[Latin]] learning and Christian theology in the monasteries that flourished shortly thereafter. [[Hiberno-Scottish mission|Missionaries from Ireland]] to England and [[Continental Europe]] spread the news of the flowering of learning, and scholars from other nations came to Irish monasteries. The excellence and isolation of these monasteries helped preserve Latin learning during the [[Early Middle Ages]]. The period of [[Insular art]], mainly in the fields of [[illuminated manuscript]]s, metalworking, and sculpture flourished and produced such treasures as the [[Book of Kells]], the [[Ardagh Chalice]], and the many carved [[high cross|stone crosses]] that dot the island. Insular style was to be a crucial ingredient in the formation of the [[Romanesque art|Romanesque]] and [[Gothic art|Gothic]] styles throughout Western Europe. Sites dating to this period include [[clochan]]s, [[ringfort]]s and [[promontory fort]]s.

===Gaelic Resurgence, Norman Decline 1254-1360===

[[Francis John Byrne]] describes the effect of the epidemics which occurred during this era:

In [[1315]], [[Edward Bruce]] of [[Scotland]] invaded Ireland, gaining the support of many Gaelic lords against the English. Although Bruce was eventually defeated, the war caused a great deal of destruction, especially around Dublin. In this chaotic situation, local Irish lords won back large amounts of land that their families had lost since the conquest and held them after the war was over.

<blockquote>

The plagues of the 660s and the 680s had a traumatic effect on Irish society. The golden age of the saints was over, together with the generation of kings who could fire a [[saga]]-writer's imagination. The literary tradition looks back to the reign of the sons of [[Aed Slaine]] (Diarmait and Blathmac, who died in 665) as to the end of an era. Antiquaries, [[brehon]]s, [[Genealogy|genealogists]] and [[Hagiography|hagiographers]], felt the need to collect ancient traditions before they were totally forgotten. Many were in fact swallowed by oblivion; when we examine the writing of [[Tirechan]] we encounter obscure references to tribes that are quite unknown to the later genealogical tradition. The laws describe a ... society that was [[obsolescent]], and the meaning and use of the word ''moccu''<ref>Meaning "pertaining to the tribe of . .", or roughly equivalent to the later "Mc" or "Mac"</ref> dies out with archaic [[Old Irish]] at the beginning of the new century.<ref>"Tribes and Tribalism in Early Ireland", [[Ériu (journal)]] 22, 1971, p. 153</ref></blockquote>

The first English involvement in Ireland took place in this period. Tullylease, [[Abbey of Rathmelsigi|Rath Melsigi]] and [[Mayo, County Mayo|Maigh Eo na Saxain]] were founded by 670 for English students who wished to study or live in Ireland. In summer 684, an English expeditionary force sent by [[Northumbria]]n King [[Ecgfrith of Northumbria|Ecgfrith]] raided Brega.

[[Image:Bubonic plague map.PNG|thumb|300px|'''The Black Death''' rapidly spread along the major European sea and land trade routes. It reached Ireland in 1348 and decimated the Anglo-Norman urban settlements]]

==Early medieval and Viking era (795–1169)==

The [[Black Death]] arrived in Ireland in [[1348]]. Because most of the English and Norman inhabitants of Ireland lived in towns and villages, the plague hit them far harder than it did the native Irish, who lived in more dispersed rural settlements. A celebrated account from a monastery in Kilkenny chronicles the plague as "the beginning of the extinction of humanity and the end of the world". After it had passed, Gaelic Irish language and customs came to dominate the country again. The English-controlled area shrunk back to the [[Pale]], a fortified area around Dublin.

{{Main|History of Ireland (795–1169)}}

[[File:Viking Ireland.png|thumb|Map showing the [[Longphort|Viking settlements]] in Ireland]]

The first recorded [[Viking]] raid in Irish history occurred in 795 AD when Vikings from [[Norway]] looted the island. Early Viking raids were generally fast-paced and small in scale. These early raids interrupted the golden age of Christian Irish culture and marked the beginning of two centuries of intermittent warfare, with waves of Viking raiders plundering monasteries and towns throughout Ireland. Most of those early raiders came from western Norway.

The Vikings were expert sailors, who travelled in [[longship]]s, and by the early 840s, had begun to establish settlements along the Irish coasts and to spend the winter months there. The longships were technologically advanced, allowing them to travel faster through the narrow rivers. Vikings founded settlements in several places; most famously in [[Dublin]]. Most of the settlements were near the water, allowing the Vikings to trade using their longships. Written accounts from this time (early to mid 840s) show that the Vikings were moving further inland to attack (often using rivers) and then retreating to their coastal headquarters.

Outside the Pale, the [[Hiberno-Norman]] lords adopted the Irish language and customs, becoming known as the [[Old English (Ireland)|Old English]], and in the words of a contemporary English commentator, became "more Irish than the Irish themselves." Over the following centuries they sided with the indigenous Irish in political and military conflicts with England and generally stayed Catholic after the Reformation. The authorities in the Pale grew so worried about the "Gaelicisation" of Ireland that they passed special legislation in a parliament in [[Kilkenny]] (known as the [[Statutes of Kilkenny]]) banning those of English descent from speaking the [[Irish language]], wearing Irish clothes or inter-marrying with the Irish. Since the government in Dublin had little real authority, however, the Statutes did not have much effect.

In 852, the Vikings landed in [[Dublin Bay]] and established a fortress. Dublin became the centre for the trade of many goods like raw materials, luxury items, precious metals, weapons, horses, and enslaved people. Bringing back new ideas and motivations, they began settling more permanently. In the tenth century, an earthen bank was constructed around the city with a second larger bank built outside that in the eleventh century. On the interior of the town, an extensive series of defences have been excavated at Fishamble Street, Dublin. The site featured nine waterfronts, including two possible flood banks and two positive defensive embankments during the Viking Age. The early embankments were non-defensive, being only one metre high, and it is uncertain how much of the site they encircled. After several generations a group of mixed Irish and Norse ethnic background arose, the ''[[Norse–Gaels|Gall-Gaels]]'', '(''Gall'' being the Old Irish word for foreign).

By the end of the [[15th century]], central English authority in Ireland had all but disappeared. England's attentions were diverted by its [[Wars of the Roses]] (civil war). The [[Lordship of Ireland]] lay in the hands of the powerful Fitzgerald [[Earl of Kildare]], who dominated the country by means of military force and alliances with lords and clans around Ireland. Around the country, local Gaelic and Gaelicised lords expanded their powers at the expense of the English government in Dublin.

The second wave of Vikings made stations at winter bases called [[longphort]]s to serve as control centres to exert a more localized force on the island through raiding. The third wave in 917 established towns as not only control centres, but also as centres of trade to enter into Irish economy and greater Western Europe. Returning to Dublin, they set up a market town. Over the next century, a great period of economic growth would spread across the pastoral country. The Vikings brought Ireland into their wide-ranging system of international trade, as well as popularizing a silver-based economy with local trade and the first minting of coins in 997.

== Reformation (1536-1654) and Protestant Ascendancy (1654-1801)==

''Main Article [[Early Modern Ireland 1536-1691]]

In 902 [[Máel Finnia mac Flannacain]] of Brega and [[Cerball mac Muirecáin]] of Leinster joined forces against Dublin, and "The heathens were driven from Ireland, i.e. from the fortress of Áth Cliath [Dublin]".<ref group="note">[[History of Ireland#AU|AU 902.2]] Note that the untranslated text [http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100001A.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170227201302/http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100001A.html|date=27 February 2017}} reads: "Indarba n-gennti a h-Ere, .í. longport Atha Cliath o Mael Findia m. Flandacain co feraibh Bregh & o Cerball m. Muiricain co Laignibh...", that is "longport", not "fortress".</ref> They were allowed by the Saxons to settle in [[Wirral Peninsula|Wirral]], England, but would however later return to retake Dublin.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Chronicles the history of the world from the deluge|journal=Annála Ríoghachta Éireann (The Annals of the Four Masters)|issue=(Noah) to 1616}}</ref>

The [[Reformation]], during which, in [[1536]], [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] broke with [[Pope|Papal]] authority, fundamentally changed Ireland. While Henry VIII broke English Catholicism from Rome, his son [[Edward VI of England]] moved further, breaking with Papal doctrine completely. While the English, the Welsh and, later, the Scots accepted [[Protestantism]], the Irish remained Catholic. This fact determined their relationship with the British state for the next four hundred years, as the Reformation coincided with a determined effort on behalf of the English state to re-conquer and colonise Ireland. The religious schism meant that the native Irish and the (Roman Catholic) [[Old English (Ireland)|Old English]] were excluded from power in the new settlement.

The Vikings never achieved total domination of Ireland, often fighting for and against various Irish kings. The great [[High King of Ireland]], [[Brian Boru]], defeated the Vikings at the [[Battle of Clontarf]] in 1014 which began the decline of Viking power in Ireland but the towns which Vikings had founded continued to flourish, and trade became an important part of the Irish economy.

===Re-conquest and rebellion===

''See also [[Tudor re-conquest of Ireland]]''.

[[Brian Boru]], though he did not succeed in unifying Ireland, changed the [[High King of Ireland|High Kingship]] in the way that the High King would now have more power and control over the country and could manage the country's affairs.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib|journal=Encyclopedia of the Medieval Chronicle Online|doi=10.1163/9789004184640_emc_sim_001174}}</ref> This led to prosperity for Ireland over the next few years. The Irish economy grew as international trade became more common. The towns founded by the Vikings continued to grow and thrive as centres of Irish trade and finance. They remain so to this day.

There is some debate about why [[Henry VIII]] decided to re-conquer Ireland. However the most immediate reason was that the Fitzgerald dynasty of [[Kildare]], who had become the effective rulers of Ireland in the 15th century, had become very unreliable allies of the Tudor monarchs. Most seriously, they had invited [[Burgundian]] troops into Dublin to crown the [[Yorkist]] pretender, [[Lambert Simnel]] as [[King of England]] in [[1497]]. The final straw for the Tudor monarchs came in [[1536]], when [[Silken Thomas]] Fitzgerald went into open rebellion against the crown. Having put down this rebellion, [[Henry VIII]] resolved that pacifying Ireland and bringing it all under English government control was necessary if the island was not to become a base for foreign invasions of England (a concern that was to be repeated for another 400+ years).

Despite the breaking of Norse power in Ireland, the Norse still maintained control of the [[Kingdom of Dublin]]. Although the [[List of kings of Leinster|King of Leinster]] levied tribute from the Norse, they rarely directly intervened in the affairs of the city-state, as it brought trade to the area. This changed, however, when [[Diarmait mac Máel na mBó|Diarmuit mac Maél na mBó]], King of Leinster, captured Dublin in 1052. This gave the Irish greater access to the [[Kingdom of the Isles]]. Diarmuit was able to become [[High King of Ireland]], and after his death, the [[O'Brien dynasty]], who ruled Ireland since the days of Brian Boru, reclaimed the High Kingship and Irish influence in the [[Irish Sea]] area would increase dramatically over the next few decades, notably under High King [[Muirchertach Ua Briain|Muircherteach Ua Briain]], who was noted for his interest in foreign affairs.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Candon|first=Anthony|date=January 1988|title=Muircherteach Ua Briain, politics and naval activity in the Irish Sea 1075 to 1119|url=https://www.academia.edu/29536360|journal=Keimelia: Studies in Medieval Archaeology and History in Memory of Tom Delaney, ed. Geared Mac Niocaill & Patrick F. Wallace}}</ref>

Ireland was upgraded from a lordship to a full kingdom under Henry VIII. From the period of the original lordship in the [[12th century|twelfth century]] onwards, Ireland had retained its own bicameral [[Irish Parliament|Parliament of Ireland]], consisting of a [[Irish House of Commons|House of Commons]] and a [[Irish House of Lords|House of Lords]]. It was restricted for most of its existence in terms both of membership &mdash; [[Gaels|Gaelic]] Irishmen were barred from membership &mdash; and of powers, notably by [[Poynings Law]] of [[1494]], which said that no bill could be introduced into the Irish Parliament without the approval of the English [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Privy Council]]. After 1541, Henry VIII admitted native Irish lords into the Parliament and recognised their land titles in return for their submission to him as King of Ireland. With the institutions of government in place, the next step was to extend the control of the English Kingdom of Ireland over all of its claimed territory. Henry VIII's officials were tasked with extending the rule of this new Kingdom throughout Ireland, in the process either negotiating or fighting with the independent Irish Kings and lords. This took nearly a century to achieve. This re-conquest was accompanied by a great deal of bloodshed, as it meant annexing lordships that had been effectively independent for several hundred years.

Perhaps it was Muircherteach's increasing power in the [[Kingdom of the Isles|Isles]] that led [[Magnus Barefoot]], [[Monarchy of Norway|King of Norway]], to lead campaigns against the Irish in 1098 and again in 1102 to bring Norse areas back under Norwegian control, while also raiding the various British kingdoms. Although direct conflict with the [[Kingdom of Norway (872–1397)|Kingdom of Norway]] seemed imminent, the two Kings formed an alliance by the marriage of Muircherteach's daughter to Magnus' son. The two would campaign together in [[Ulster]], until Magnus was killed in an ambush by the [[Ulaid]] in August 1103, under mysterious circumstances (it is possible Muircherteach ordered his killing). Muircherteach was also politically involved in the Kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Scotland|Scotland]] and [[Kingdom of England|England]], as well as [[Wales]].<ref name=":0"/>

In the Elizabethan era, the English completed the re-conquest of Ireland, after several bloody conflicts. The [[Desmond Rebellions]] ([[1569]]-[[1573]] and [[1579]]-[[1583]] took place in the southern province of [[Munster]], when the Fitzgerald [[Earl of Desmond]] dynasty resisted the imposition of an English governor into the province. The second of these rebellions was put down by means of a forced famine, which may have killed up to a third of Munster's population. The most serious threat to English rule in Ireland came during the [[Nine Years War (Ireland)|Nine Years War]] [[1594]]-[[1603]], when [[Hugh O'Neill]], the most powerful chieftain in the northern province of [[Ulster]] rebelled against English government. This war developed into a nation-wide revolt and O'Neill successfully obtained military aid from Spain. A Spanish expeditionary force was defeated by English forces at the [[battle of Kinsale]] in [[1601]]. O'Neill and his allies eventually surrendered in [[1603]]. After this point, the English authorities in Dublin established real control over all of Ireland for the first time and successfully disarmed the Irish and Old English lordships.

One of the most prosperous reigns of any High King was the reign of [[Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair|Toirdelbach Ua Conchobhair]], who had overthrown Muircherteach and partitioned [[Kingdom of Munster|Munster]] in 1118. As [[List of kings of Connacht|King of Connacht]] and then [[High King of Ireland|King of Ireland]], Ireland underwent a period of modernization and elevation on the European stage.{{Sfn|Byrne|1973}} Under his rule, the first [[castle]]s in Ireland were built bringing improved defence and brought a new aspect to Irish warfare. He also built a naval base and castle at [[Galway Castle|Dún Gaillimhe]]. A settlement grew around this castle which would grow to be the [[Galway|city of Galway]] today.<ref name="Martyn, Adrian James. 2001">{{Cite book|last=Martyn|first=Adrian James|title=The tribes of Galway = na tuatha Gaillimhe|date=2001|publisher=The author|oclc=48208254}}</ref> He was a superb [[Commanding officer|military commander]] and this allowed him to keep control of Ireland, with the help of the castles he built and his [[Navy|fleet]] based at [[Galway Castle|Dún Gaillimhe]].<ref name="Martyn, Adrian James. 2001"/> He also had commercial and political links with the rulers of France, Spain and England, increasing Ireland's international presence which brought more trade to the island. His reign lasted more than 50 years.<ref name="Martyn, Adrian James. 2001"/>

However, the English were not successful in converting the Irish to Protestantism, alienating much of the native population. In addition, the brutal methods used to pacify the country heightened resentment of English rule. In the 16th and early [[17th century|seventeenth century]], English governments instituted a policy of [[colonisation]] known as [[Plantations of Ireland|Plantations]]. Scottish and English Protestants were sent as colonists to the provinces of [[Munster]], [[Ulster]] and the counties of [[Laois]] and [[Offaly]] (''see also [[Plantations of Ireland]]''). These settlers, who had a British and Protestant identity, would form the ruling class of future British government in Ireland. A series of [[Penal Laws]] discriminated against all Christian faiths other than the established ([[Anglican]]) [[Church of Ireland]]. The principal victims of these laws were Roman Catholics and from the late 17th century on, adherents of [[Presbyterianism]]. From [[1607]], Catholics were barred from public office and from serving in the army. In [[1615]], the constituencies of the Irish Parliament were altered so that Protestants would be a majority in it.

One of Tairrdelbach's sons, [[Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair|Ruadhrí]], would later go on to be [[High King of Ireland|High King]] himself. He was arguably the first High King without opposition, however, he would later [[Abdication|abdicate]] following the [[Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Roche|first=Richard|title=The Norman invasion of Ireland|date=1995|publisher=Anvil Books|isbn=0-9479-6281-6|oclc=231697876}}</ref>

===Civil Wars and Penal Laws===

[[Image:Oliver Cromwell.jpg|left|thumb|Oliver Cromwell, who re-conquered Ireland in [[1649]]-[[1651]] after Irish Catholic rebellion and civil war, on behalf of the English Commonwealth. Under his government, landownership in Ireland passed overwhelmingly to Protestant colonists]].

In the mid-seventeenth century, Ireland was convulsed by [[Irish Confederate Wars|eleven years of warfare]], beginning with the [[Irish Rebellion of 1641|Rebellion of 1641]], when Irish Catholics rebelled against English and Protestant domination. The rebellion was marked by the massacre of Protestant settlers, an event which scarred communal relations in Ireland for centuries afterwards. As a result of the outbreak of the [[English Civil War]] in [[1642]], no English troops were available to put down the uprising and the rebels were left in control of most of Ireland. The Catholic majority briefly ruled the country as [[Confederate Ireland]] ([[1642]]-[[1649]]) during the subsequent [[Wars of the Three Kingdoms]] in Britain and Ireland. The Confederate regime allied themselves with [[Charles I]] and the English Royalists and had they won the [[English Civil War]], the result could have been an autonomous Catholic ruled Ireland. However, the Royalists were defeated by the Parliamentarians, Charles I was executed and [[Oliver Cromwell]] [[Cromwellian conquest of Ireland|re-conquered]] Ireland in [[1649]]-[[1653]] on behalf of the [[English Commonwealth]]. As punishment for the rebellion of 1641, almost all lands owned by Irish Catholics were confiscated and [[Plantations of Ireland#The Cromwellian Plantation|given to British settlers]]. In addition, Catholics were barred from the Irish Parliament altogether, forbidden to live in towns and from marrying Protestants (although not all of these laws were strictly enforced). It has been calculated that up to a third of Ireland's population (4-600,000 people) died in these wars, either in fighting, or in the accompanying famine and plague. The Cromwellian conquest therefore left bitter memories in Irish popular culture. An uneasy peace returned with the Restoration of the monarchy in England and [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] made some efforts to conciliate Irish Catholics with compensation and land grants. (See also [[Act of Settlement 1662]]).

[[Image:James_II_of_England.jpg|thumb|right|200px|'''James VII and II''' <br><small>Irish Catholics, known as '''Jacobites''' fought for James in 1698-91, but failed to restore him to the throne of Ireland, England and Scotland</small>]]

However, within a generation, Ireland was at war again. Ireland became the main battleground in the [[Glorious Revolution]] of [[1689]], when the Catholic [[James II of England|James II]] was deposed by the [[Convention Parliament|English Parliament]] and replaced by [[William III of England|William of Orange]]. Irish Catholics backed James to try to reverse the Penal Laws and land confiscations, whereas Irish and British Protestants supported William to preserve their dominance in the country. James and William fought for the English, Scottish and Irish thrones in the [[Williamite war in Ireland|Williamite War]], most famously at the [[Battle of the Boyne]] in [[1690]], where James's forces were ultimately defeated. [[Jacobitism|Jacobite]] resistance was finally ended after the [[Battle of Aughrim]] in July [[1691]]. The [[Penal laws]] (which had been allowed to lapse somewhat after the [[English Restoration]]) were re-applied with great harshness after this war, as the Protestant elite wanted to ensure that the Irish Catholic landed classes would not be in a position to repeat their rebellions of the 17th century. In addition, as of [[1704]], [[Presbyterians]] were also barred from holding public office, bearing arms and entering certain professions. This was in part due to the distrust the mostly English [[Anglican]] establishment had for the mostly Scottish [[Presbyterian]] community, which by now had become a majority in [[Ulster]].

===ColonialAnglo-Norman Ireland= (1169–1536)==

''{{Main|History articleof [[Ireland 1691-1801]]''(1169–1536)}}

===Arrival of the Normans===

Subsequent Irish antagonism towards England was aggravated by the economic situation of Ireland in the eighteenth century. Throughout the century English trade with Ireland was the most important branch of English overseas trade{{fn|2}}. The Protestant Anglo-Irish absentee landlords drew off some £800,000 in the early part of the century, rising to £1 million, in an economy that had a [[GDP]] of about £4 million. Completely deforested of timber for exports (usually to the [[Royal Navy]]) and for a temporary iron industry in the course of the seventeenth century, Irish estates turned to the export of salt beef, pork, butter, and hard cheese through the slaughterhouse and port city of [[Cork]], which supplied England, the British navy and the sugar islands of the [[West Indies]]. The bishop of Cloyne wondered "how a foreigner could possibly conceive that half the inhabitants are dying of hunger in a country so abundant in foodstuffs?"{{fn|3}}. In the 1740s, these economic inequalities led directly to the [[Great Irish Famine (1740-1741)]], which killed about 400,000 people. In the 1780's, due to increased competition from salted-meat exporters in the Baltic and [[North America]], the Anglo-Irish landowners rapidly switched to growing grain for export, while the Irish themselves ate potatoes and groats.

{{Main|Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland}}

[[File:Ireland tower house near quin county clare.jpg|thumb|A tower house near [[Quin, County Clare]]. The Normans consolidated their presence in Ireland by building hundreds of castles and towers such as this.]]

By the 12th century, Ireland was divided politically into shifting [[petty kingdom]]s and over-kingdoms. Power was exercised by the heads of a few regional dynasties vying against each other for supremacy over the whole island. One of these men, King [[Diarmait Mac Murchada]] of [[Leinster]] was forcibly exiled by the new High King, [[Ruaidri mac Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair]] of the Western kingdom of Connacht. Fleeing to [[Aquitaine]], Diarmait obtained permission from [[Henry II of England|Henry II]] to recruit [[Normans|Norman]] knights to regain his kingdom. The first Norman knights landed in Ireland in 1167, followed by the main forces of Normans, Welsh and [[Flanders|Flemings]]. Several counties were restored to the control of Diarmait, who named his son-in-law, the Norman [[Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke|Richard de Clare]], known as Strongbow, heir to his kingdom. This troubled King Henry, who feared the establishment of a rival Norman state in Ireland. Accordingly, he resolved to establish his authority. In 1177, Prince [[John Lackland]] was made [[Lord of Ireland]] by his father [[Henry II of England]] at the [[Council of Oxford]].<ref>Connolly, S.J., ''The Oxford Companion to Irish History'', 2007, Oxford Univ. Press. p.423. {{ISBN|978-0-19-923483-7}}</ref>

By the late [[18th century|eighteenth century]], many of the Irish Protestant elite had come to see Ireland as their native country. A Parliamentary faction led by [[Henry Grattan]] agitated for a more favourable trading relationship with England and for legislative independence for the [[Parliament of Ireland]]. Many of their demands were met, in part through a campaign led by Grattan, amongst others. However, reform in Ireland stalled over the proposals of some radicals to [[Catholic Emancipation|enfranchise]] Irish Catholics. When this failed, some in Ireland were attracted to the more militant example of the [[French revolution]] of [[1789]]. They formed the [[Society of the United Irishmen]] to overthrow British rule and found a non-sectarian republic. Republicanism was particularly attractive to the Ulster Presbyterian community, who were discriminated against for their religion, and who had strong links with [[Scots-Irish American]] emigrants who had fought against Britain in the [[American Revolution]]. Their activity culminated in the [[Irish Rebellion of 1798]], which was bloodily suppressed. Partly in response to this rebellion, Irish self-government was abolished altogether by the [[Act_of_Union_1800|Act of Union]] on January 1, [[1801]].

With the authority of the papal bull [[Laudabiliter]] from [[Adrian IV]], Henry landed with a large fleet at [[Waterford]] in 1171, becoming the first [[King of England]] to set foot on Irish soil. Henry awarded his Irish territories to his younger son John with the title ''Dominus Hiberniae'' ("Lord of Ireland"). When John unexpectedly succeeded his brother as [[John, King of England|King John of England]], the "[[Lordship of Ireland]]" fell directly under the English Crown.

==Union with Great Britain (1801-1922)==

<div style="float:left;">[[File:Www.wesleyjohnston.com-users-ireland-maps-historical-map1014.gif|thumb|left|Ireland in 1014: a patchwork of rival kingdoms]]</div>

{{main|History of Ireland (1801-1922)}}

<div style="float:left;">[[File:www.wesleyjohnston.com-users-ireland-maps-historical-map1300.gif|thumb|left|The extent of Norman control of Ireland in 1300]]</div>

{{Clear}}

===Lordship of Ireland===

In 1800, after the [[Irish Rebellion of 1798]], the [[British Parliament|British]] and the [[Parliament of Ireland|Irish]] parliaments (the latter controversially, as massive bribery was involved) enacted the [[Act of Union, 1800|Act of Union]], which merged Ireland and the [[Kingdom of Great Britain]] (itself a union of [[England]] and [[Scotland]], created almost 100 years earlier), to create the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]]. Part of the deal for the union was that [[Catholic Emancipation]] would be conceded to remove discrimination against Catholics, [[Presbyterian Church in Ireland|Presbyterians]] and others. However King [[George III of the United Kingdom|George III]] controversially blocked any change.

{{Main|Lordship of Ireland}}

The Normans initially controlled the entire east coast, from [[Waterford]] to eastern [[Ulster]], and penetrated a considerable distance inland as well. The counties were ruled by many smaller kings. The first Lord of Ireland was King John, who visited Ireland in 1185 and 1210 and helped consolidate the Norman-controlled areas while ensuring that the many Irish kings swore fealty to him.

Throughout the thirteenth century, the policy of the English Kings was to weaken the power of the Norman Lords in Ireland. For example, King John encouraged [[Hugh de Lacy, 1st Earl of Ulster|Hugh de Lacy]] to destabilise and then overthrow the Lord of Ulster, before naming him as the first Earl of Ulster. The [[Hiberno-Norman]] community suffered from a series of invasions that ceased the spread of their settlement and power. Politics and events in Gaelic Ireland served to draw the settlers deeper into the orbit of the Irish.

In [[1823]], an enterprising Catholic lawyer, [[Daniel O'Connell]], "the Great Emancipator" began a successful campaign to achieve emancipation, which was finally conceded in [[1829]]. He later led an unsuccessful campaign for "[[Repeal (Act of Union campaign)|Repeal]]" (i.e., the repeal of the Act of Union).

Furthermore, unlike the Anglo-Normans, the Gaelic kings did not keep detailed estate inventories and accounts. Coupled with the absence of archaeological evidence to the contrary, this has tempted many scholars of medieval western Ireland to agree with the twelfth-century historian [[Giraldus Cambrensis]] who argued that the Gaelic kings did not build castles.<ref>Inside a Medieval Gaelic Castle, Author : Jarrett A. Lobell, Magazine : Archaeology, p.27. Issue : March/April 2020.</ref>

===Gaelic resurgence and Norman decline===

The second of Ireland's "Great Famines", ''An Gorta Mór'' struck the country severely in the period [[1845]]-[[1849]], with [[potato blight]] leading to mass starvation and emigration. (See ''[[Irish Potato Famine (1845-1849)]]''.)

[[File:Durer-Irish-16thC.jpg|thumb|right|Irish soldiers, 1521 – by [[Albrecht Dürer]].]]

The impact of emigration in Ireland was severe; the population dropped from over 8 million before the Famine to 4.4 million in [[1911]].

By 1261 the weakening of the [[Normans]] had become manifest when [[Fínghin Mac Carthaigh|Fineen MacCarthy]] defeated a Norman army at the [[Battle of Callann]]. The war continued between the different lords and earls for about 100 years, causing much destruction, especially around Dublin. In this chaotic situation, local Irish lords won back large amounts of land that their families had lost since the conquest and held them after the war was over.

[[Image:Irish population change (1841-1851).png|thumb|210px|Fall in Irish population (1841-1851)]]

The [[Black Death]] arrived in Ireland in 1348. Because most of the English and Norman inhabitants of Ireland lived in towns and villages, the plague hit them far harder than it did the native Irish, who lived in more dispersed rural settlements. After it had passed, Gaelic Irish language and customs came to dominate the country again. The English-controlled territory shrank to a fortified area around Dublin ([[the Pale]]), whose rulers had little real authority outside (beyond the Pale).

The [[Irish language]], once the spoken language of the entire island, declined in use sharply in the nineteenth century as a result of the Famine and the creation of the [[National School]] education system, as well as hostility to the language from leading Irish politicians of the time; it was largely replaced by [[English language|English]]. The form of English used in Ireland differs somewhat from [[British English]] and its variants. Blurring linguistic structures from older forms of English (notably Elizabethan English) and the Irish language, it is known as [[Hiberno-English]] and was in the twentieth century strongly associated with writers like [[J.M. Synge]], [[George Bernard Shaw]], [[Sean O'Casey]], and had resonances in the English of Dublin-born [[Oscar Wilde]].

By the end of the 15th century, central English authority in Ireland had all but disappeared. England's attentions were diverted by the [[Wars of the Roses]]. The [[Lordship of Ireland]] lay in the hands of the powerful Fitzgerald [[Earl of Kildare]], who dominated the country by means of military force and alliances with Irish lords and clans. Around the country, local Gaelic and [[Gaelicisation|Gaelicised]] lords expanded their powers at the expense of the English government in Dublin but the power of the Dublin government was in any case seriously curtailed by the introduction of [[Poynings' Law (on certification of acts)|Poynings' Law]] in 1494. According to this act, the Irish Parliament was essentially put under the control of the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Westminster Parliament]].

In the 1870s the issue of Irish self-government again became a major focus of debate under [[Protestant]] landowner, [[Charles Stewart Parnell]] and the [[Home Rule League]]. British prime minister [[William Ewart Gladstone]] made two unsuccessful attempts to introduce [[Home Rule]] in [[1886]] and [[1893]]. Parnell's controversial leadership eventually ended when he was implicated in a divorce scandal, when it was revealed that he had been living with the wife of a fellow Irish MP, [[Katherine Parnell|Katherine O'Shea]], and was the father of some of her children. However, with the introduction of the First Home Rule Bill of 1886 to the British [[House of Commons]], Parnell was known throughout the country as the ''Uncrowned King of Ireland.''

==Early modern Ireland (1536–1691)==

The debate over Home Rule led to tensions between [[Irish nationalist]]s and [[Unionists (Ireland)|Irish unionists]] (those who favoured maintenance of the union). Most of the island was predominantly nationalist, [[Catholic]] and agrarian. The northeast, however, was predominantly unionist, Protestant and industrialised. Unionists feared a loss of political power and economic wealth in a predominantly rural, nationalist, Catholic home rule state. Nationalists believed that they would remain economically and politically second class citizens without self-government.

[[File:Archive-ugent-be-79D46426-CC9D-11E3-B56B-4FBAD43445F2 DS-25 (cropped).jpg|thumb|A 16th century perception of Irish women and girls, illustrated in the manuscript "Théâtre de tous les peuples et nations de la terre avec leurs habits et ornemens divers, tant anciens que modernes, diligemment depeints au naturel". Painted by [[Lucas de Heere|Lucas d'Heere]] in the 2nd half of the 16th century. Preserved in the [[Ghent University Library]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Théâtre de tous les peuples et nations de la terre avec leurs habits et ornemens divers, tant anciens que modernes, diligemment depeints au naturel par Luc Dheere peintre et sculpteur Gantois[manuscript]|url=https://lib.ugent.be/viewer/archive.ugent.be:79D46426-CC9D-11E3-B56B-4FBAD43445F2#?c=&m=&s=&cv=85&xywh=-4233,-130,13874,8416|access-date=2020-08-25|website=lib.ugent.be}}</ref>]]

{{Main|History of Ireland (1536–1691)}}

===Conquest and rebellion===

Outside mainstream nationalism, a series of violent rebellions by Irish republicans took place in [[1803]], under [[Robert Emmet]]; in [[1848]], by the [[Young Irelanders]], most prominent among them, [[Thomas Francis Meagher]]; and in [[1868]], by the [[Irish Republican Brotherhood]]. All failed, but ''physical force nationalism'' remained an undercurrent in the nineteenth century.

{{Main|Tudor conquest of Ireland|Kingdom of Ireland}}

From 1536, Henry VIII of England decided to reconquer Ireland and bring it under crown control. The Fitzgerald dynasty of [[Earl of Kildare|Kildare]], who had become the effective rulers of Ireland in the 15th century, had become unreliable allies of the Tudor monarchs. They had invited [[Burgundians|Burgundian]] troops into Dublin to crown the [[Yorkist]] pretender, [[Lambert Simnel]] as [[King of England]] in 1487. Again in 1536, [[Silken Thomas]], Fitzgerald went into open rebellion against the crown. Having put down this rebellion, Henry resolved to bring Ireland under English government control so the island would not become a base for future rebellions or foreign invasions of England. In 1542, he upgraded Ireland from a lordship to a full kingdom. Henry was proclaimed King of Ireland at a meeting of the Irish Parliament that year. This was the first meeting of the Irish Parliament to be attended by the [[Gaelic Ireland|Gaelic Irish]] chieftains as well as the [[Hiberno-Norman]] aristocracy. With the institutions of government in place, the next step was to extend the control of the English Kingdom of Ireland over all of its claimed territory. This took nearly a century, with various English administrations either negotiating or fighting with the independent Irish and Old English lords. The [[Spanish Armada in Ireland]] suffered heavy losses during an extraordinary season of storms in the autumn of 1588. Among the survivors was Captain [[Francisco de Cuellar]], who gave a remarkable account of his experiences on the run in Ireland.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/ashorthistory/archive/intro63.shtml 'The Wild Irish are Barbarous and Most Filthy in their Diet'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301131545/http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/ashorthistory/archive/intro63.shtml |date=1 March 2012 }}, bbc.co.uk</ref>

The re-conquest was completed during the reigns of [[Elizabeth I|Elizabeth]] and [[James VI and I|James I]], after several brutal conflicts. (See the [[Desmond Rebellions]], 1569–73 and 1579–83, and the [[Nine Years' War (Ireland)|Nine Years' War]], 1594–1603, for details.) After this point, the English authorities in Dublin established real control over Ireland for the first time, bringing a centralised government to the entire island, and successfully disarmed the native lordships. In 1614 the Catholic majority in the Irish Parliament was overthrown through the creation of numerous new boroughs which were dominated by the new settlers. However, the English were not successful in converting the Catholic Irish to the Protestant religion and the brutal methods used by crown authority (including resorting to [[martial law]]) to bring the country under English control, heightened resentment of English rule.

The late nineteenth century also witnessed major land reform, spearheaded by the [[Land League]] under [[Michael Davitt]]. From [[1870]] various British governments introduced a series of Land Acts that broke up large estates and gradually gave rural landholders and tenants what became known as the ''[[3 Fs]]; Fair rent, free sale, fixity of tenure."

From the mid-16th to the early 17th century, crown governments had carried out a policy of land confiscation and [[colonisation]] known as [[Plantations of Ireland|Plantations]]. Scottish and English Protestant colonists were sent to the provinces of [[Munster]], [[Ulster]] and the counties of [[Laois]] and [[Offaly]]. These Protestant settlers replaced the Irish Catholic landowners who were removed from their lands. These settlers formed the ruling class of future British appointed administrations in Ireland. Several [[Penal laws (Ireland)|Penal laws]], aimed at Catholics, Baptists and Presbyterians, were introduced to encourage conversion to the established ([[Anglican]]) [[Church of Ireland]].

[[Dublin]], however, remained a city marked by extremes of poverty and wealth, possessing some of the worst slums anywhere in the [[British Empire]]. It also possessed one of the world's biggest "red light districts" known as [[Monto]] (after its focal point, Mountgomery Street, on the northside of the city). Monto was to feature in many novels set in Dublin, most notably in the writings of [[James Joyce]].

===Home Rule, Easter 1916 and the War of Independence===

===Wars and penal laws===

The division of the island into "Northern" and "Republic" is a relatively recent development, brought about by the Fourth [[Government of Ireland Act 1920]] which, amid much acrimony, (and the fact that the Island of Ireland was uncompromisingly divided within itself), separated the island into what the [[British government]] termed [[Northern Ireland]] and [[Southern Ireland]]. A bi-lateral [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]] in [[1922]] formalised independence for the twenty-six county [[Irish Free State]], (which in [[1949]] became the [[Republic of Ireland]]), while the six county [[Northern Ireland]], gaining Home Rule for itself, remained part of the [[United Kingdom]].

[[Image:1916proc.jpg|left|thumb|The Easter Proclamation<br><small>It was issued by the Leaders of the Easter Rising.</small>]]

[[File:Oliver Cromwell by Samuel Cooper.jpg|left|thumb|After an unusually bitter Irish Catholic rebellion and civil war, [[Oliver Cromwell]], on behalf of the English Commonwealth, re-conquered Ireland by invasion which lasted from 1649 to 1651. Under Cromwell's government, landownership in Ireland was transferred overwhelmingly to [[Puritan]] soldiery and commercial undertakers to pay for the war.]]

In September [[1914]], just as the [[First World War]] broke out, the UK Parliament finally passed the [[Home Rule Act 1914|Third Home Rule Act]] to establish self-government for Ireland, but was suspended for the duration of what was expected to be a very short war. Before it ended, Britain made two concerted efforts to implement the Act, one in May [[1916]] and again during [[1917]]-[[1918]], but the Irish sides (Nationalist, Unionist) were unable to agree terms for the temporary or permanent exclusion of Ulster from its provisions.

The 17th century was perhaps the bloodiest in Ireland's history. Two periods of war (1641–53 and 1689–91) caused a huge loss of life. The ultimate dispossession of most of the Irish Catholic landowning class was engineered, and recusants were subordinated under the [[Penal laws (Ireland)|Penal laws]].

A failed attempt was made to gain separate independence for Ireland with the [[1916]] [[Easter Rising]], an insurrection largely confined to [[Dublin]]. Though support for the insurgents was small, the violence used in its suppression (being considered by the British to be a serious treason in time of war) led to a swing in support of the rebels. In addition, the unprecedented threat of Irishmen being conscripted to the [[British Army]] in 1918 (for service in [[France]]) accelerated this change. In the [[Irish (UK) general election, 1918|December 1918 elections]] most voters voted for [[Sinn Féin]], the party of the rebels. Having won three-quarters of all the seats in Ireland, its [[Member_of_Parliament|MP]]s assembled in Dublin on [[21 January]] [[1919]], to form a thirty-two county [[Irish Republic]] parliament, [[Dáil Éireann]] unilaterally, asserting sovereignty over the entire island.

During the 17th century, Ireland was convulsed by [[Irish Confederate Wars|eleven years of warfare]], beginning with the [[Irish Rebellion of 1641|Rebellion of 1641]], when Irish Catholics rebelled against the domination of English and Protestant settlers. The Catholic gentry briefly ruled the country as [[Confederate Ireland]] (1642–1649) against the background of the [[Wars of the Three Kingdoms]] until [[Oliver Cromwell]] [[Cromwellian conquest of Ireland|reconquered]] Ireland in 1649–1653 on behalf of the [[English Commonwealth]]. Cromwell's conquest was the most brutal phase of the war. By its close, around half of Ireland's pre-war population was killed or exiled into slavery, where many died due to harsh conditions. As retribution for the rebellion of 1641, the better-quality remaining lands owned by Irish Catholics were confiscated and [[Cromwellian Plantation|given to British settlers]]. Several hundred remaining native landowners were transplanted to [[Connacht]].

{{IrishParliaments|clear="right"}}

[[File:King James II by Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt.jpg|thumb|''[[Portrait of James II of England|Portrait of James II]]'' by [[Godfrey Kneller]].<br />Forty years later, Irish Catholics, known as "Jacobites", fought for James from 1688 to 1691, but failed to restore James to the throne of Ireland, England and Scotland.]]

Unwilling to negotiate any understanding with Britain (by international law Ireland was still part of the United Kingdom), a [[War of Independence]] (or [[Anglo-Irish War]]) was waged from [[1919]] to [[1921]]. In mid-1921, the Irish and British governments signed a truce that halted the war. In December 1921, an [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]] was signed between representatives of both governments. The Irish delegation was led by [[Arthur Griffith]] and [[Michael Collins (Irish leader)|Michael Collins]]. This abolished the [[Irish Republic]] and created the self-governing [[Irish Free State]], a [[Dominion]] of the [[British Empire]]. Under the Treaty, [[Northern Ireland]] could opt out of the Free State and stay within the United Kingdom and promptly did so. For most of the next 75 years, each territory was strongly aligned to either [[Catholic]] or [[Protestant]] ideologies, although this was more marked in the six counties of Northern Ireland.

Ireland became the main battleground after the [[Glorious Revolution]] of 1688, when the Catholic [[James II of England|James II]] left London and the [[Convention Parliament (1689)|English Parliament]] replaced him with [[William III of England|William of Orange]]. The wealthier Irish Catholics backed James to try to reverse the [[Penal laws (Ireland)|Penal laws]] and land confiscations, whereas Protestants supported William and Mary in this "Glorious Revolution" to preserve their property in the country. James and William fought for the [[Kingdom of Ireland]] in the [[Williamite war in Ireland|Williamite War]], most famously at the [[Battle of the Boyne]] in 1690, where James's outnumbered forces were defeated.

====Indentured Labour====

===Free State/Republic (1922-present)===

From the 15th to the 18th century, Irish, English, Scots and Welsh prisoners were transported for forced labour in the Caribbean to work off their term of punishment. Even larger numbers came voluntarily as indentured servants. In the 18th century they were sent to the American colonies, and in the early 19th century to Australia.<ref>Kristen Block and Jenny Shaw, "Subjects Without an Empire: The Irish in the Early Modern Caribbean," ''Past & Present'' (2011) 210#1 pp 33–60.</ref><ref>Hilary McD. Beckles, "A 'riotous and unruly lot': Irish Indentured Servants and Freemen in the English West Indies, 1644–1713," ''William & Mary Quarterly'' (1990) 47#4 pp 503–545. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2937974 in JSTOR] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181108025954/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2937974 |date=8 November 2018 }}</ref> The Irish were dehumanised by the English, described as "savages," so making their displacement appear all the more justified. In 1654 the British parliament gave [[Oliver Cromwell]] a free hand to banish Irish "undesirables". Cromwell rounded up Catholics throughout the Irish countryside and placed them on ships bound for the [[Caribbean]], mainly the island of [[Barbados]]. By 1655, 12,000 political prisoners had been forcibly shipped to Barbados and into slavery.<ref name="Ph.D.1997">{{cite book|author=Junius P Rodriguez|title=The historical encyclopedia of world slavery. 1. A – K|url=https://archive.org/details/historicalencycl01rodr|url-access=registration|access-date=19 November 2012|year=1997|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-87436-885-7|pages=[https://archive.org/details/historicalencycl01rodr/page/368 368]–}}</ref>

''Main articles: [[History of the Republic of Ireland]]; [[Irish Free State]], [[Republic of Ireland]]; [[Names of the Irish state]]''

==Protestant ascendancy (1691–1800)==

After the treaty to sever the Union was ratified, the republican movement divided into ''pro-treaty'' and ''anti-treaty'' supporters. Between [[1922]] and [[1923]] both sides fought the bloody [[Irish Civil War]]. This division among Nationalists still colours Irish politics today, specifically between the two leading Irish political parties, [[Fianna Fáil]] and [[Fine Gael]] The new Irish Free State ([[1922]]&ndash;[[1937|37]]) existed against the backdrop of the growth of dictatorships in Europe and a major world economic downturn in [[1929]]. In contrast with many contemporary European states it remained a democracy, in which the losing faction in the Irish civil war, [[Eamon de Valera]]'s Fianna Fáil, was able to take power by winning the [[Irish general election, 1932|1932 general election]]. In contrast to many other states in the period, the Free State remained financially solvent. However, unemployment and emigration were high. The [[Catholic Church]] had a powerful influence over the state for much of its history.

{{Main|History of Ireland (1691–1800)}}

{{see also|Protestant Ascendancy}}

The majority of the people of Ireland were Catholic peasants; they were very poor and largely inert politically during the eighteenth century, as many of their leaders converted to Protestantism to avoid severe economic and political penalties. Nevertheless, there was a growing Catholic cultural awakening underway.<ref>{{Cite book|first=Ian|last=McBride|title=Eighteenth-Century Ireland: The Isle of Slaves – The Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland|date=2009|at=ch. 6: How Catholic Ireland Survived, ch. 7: Bishops, Priests, and people|isbn=978-0-7171-5927-7|ol=48222771M|series=New Gill History of Ireland|volume=4|author-link=Ian McBride}}</ref> There were two Protestant groups. The Presbyterians in Ulster in the North lived in much better economic conditions but had virtually no political power. Power was held by a small group of [[Anglo-Irish]] families, who were loyal to the Anglican Church of Ireland. They owned the great bulk of the farmland, where the work was done by the Catholic peasants. Many of these families lived in England and were absentee landlords, whose loyalty was basically to England. The Anglo-Irish who lived in Ireland became increasingly identified as Irish nationalists, and were resentful of the English control of their island. Their spokesmen, such as [[Jonathan Swift]] and [[Edmund Burke]], sought more local control.{{Sfn|Foster|1988|pp=153–225}}

[[Jacobitism|Jacobite]] resistance in Ireland eventually ended after the [[Battle of Aughrim]] in July 1691. The [[Penal laws (Ireland)|Penal laws]] that had been relaxed somewhat after the [[Restoration (1660)|Restoration]] were reinforced more thoroughly after this war, as the infant Anglo-Irish Ascendancy wanted to ensure that the Irish Roman Catholics would not be in a position to repeat their rebellions. Power was held by the 5% who were Protestants belonging to the Church of Ireland. They controlled all major sectors of the Irish economy, the bulk of the farmland, the legal system, local government and held strong majorities in both houses of the Irish Parliament. They strongly distrusted the Presbyterians in Ulster and were convinced that the Catholics should have minimal rights. They did not have full political control because the government in London had superior authority and treated Ireland as a backward colony. When the American colonies revolted in the 1770s, the Ascendency wrested multiple concessions to strengthen its power. They did not seek independence because they knew they were heavily outnumbered and ultimately depended upon the British Army to guarantee their security.<ref>{{Cite journal|first=Harry T.|last=Dickinson|title=Why did the American Revolution not spread to Ireland?|journal=Valahian Journal of Historical Studies|volume=18–19|date=2012|pages=155–180}}</ref>

In [[1937]], a new [[Constitution of Ireland]] proclaimed the state of [[Éire]] (or Ireland). The state remained neutral throughout [[World War II]] (see ''[[Irish neutrality]]'') and this saved it from much of the horrors of the war, although tens of thousands volunteered to serve in the British forces. Ireland was also hit badly by rationing of food, and coal in particular ([[Bórd na Móna|peat production]] became a priority during this time). Though nominally neutral, recent studies have suggested a far greater level involvement by the South with the Allies than was realised, with [[D Day]]'s date set on the basis of secret weather information on Atlantic storms supplied by the Republic. ''For more detail on [[1939]]&ndash;[[1945|45]], see main article [[The Emergency]]''.

Subsequent Irish antagonism toward England was aggravated by the economic situation of Ireland in the 18th century. Some [[absentee landlord]]s managed their estates inefficiently, and food tended to be produced for export rather than for domestic consumption. Two very cold winters near the end of the [[Little Ice Age]] led directly to a [[Irish Famine (1740–1741)|famine between 1740 and 1741]], which killed about 400,000 people and caused over 150,000 Irish to leave the island. In addition, Irish exports were reduced by the [[Navigation Acts]] from the 1660s, which placed tariffs on Irish products entering England, but exempted English goods from tariffs on entering Ireland. Despite this, most of the 18th century was relatively peaceful in comparison with the preceding two centuries, and the population doubled to over four million.

In [[1949]] the state was formally declared the [[Republic of Ireland]] and it left the British [[Commonwealth]].

By the 18th century, the Anglo-Irish ruling class had come to see Ireland, not England, as their native country.{{Sfn|Foster|1988|p=178}} A Parliamentary faction led by [[Henry Grattan]] agitated for a more favourable trading relationship with Great Britain and for greater legislative independence for the [[Parliament of Ireland|Irish Parliament]]. However, reform in Ireland stalled over the more radical proposals toward [[Catholic emancipation|enfranchising Irish Catholics]]. This was partially enabled in 1793, but Catholics could not yet become members of the Irish Parliament, or become government officials. Some were attracted to the more militant example of the [[French Revolution]] of 1789.

In the [[1960s]], Ireland underwent a major economic change under reforming [[Taoiseach]] (prime minister) [[Seán Lemass]] and radical senior civil servant [[T.K. Whitaker]], who produced a series of economic plans. Free second-level education was introduced by [[Brian Lenihan]] as Minister for Education in [[1968]]. From the early 1960s, the Republic sought admission to the [[European Economic Community]] but, because of its economy's dependence on the [[United Kingdom]]'s market, it could not do so until the UK did, in [[1973]].

Presbyterians and Dissenters too faced persecution on a lesser scale, and in 1791 a group of dissident Protestant individuals, all of whom but two were Presbyterians, held the first meeting of what would become the [[Society of the United Irishmen]]. Originally they sought to reform the Irish Parliament which was controlled by those belonging to the state church; seek Catholic Emancipation; and help remove religion from politics. When their ideals seemed unattainable they became more determined to use force to overthrow British rule and found a non-sectarian republic. Their activity culminated in the [[Irish Rebellion of 1798]], which was bloodily suppressed.

Economic downturn in the [[1970s]], augmented by a set of misjudged economic policies followed by Taoiseach [[Jack Lynch]], caused the Irish economy to stagnate. However, economic reforms in the late [[1980s]] and considerable investment from the [[European Community]] led to the emergence of one of the world's highest economic growth rates, with mass immigration (particularly of people from Asia and Eastern Europe) as a feature of the late 1990s. This period came to be known as the [[Celtic Tiger]] and was focused on as a model for economic development in the former Eastern Bloc states, which entered the [[European Union]] in the early [[2000s]].

Ireland was a separate kingdom ruled by King George III of Britain; he set policy for Ireland through his appointment of the [[Lord Lieutenant of Ireland]] or viceroy. In practice, the viceroys lived in England and the affairs in the island were largely controlled by an elite group of Irish Protestants known as "undertakers." The system changed in 1767, with the appointment of an English politician who became a very strong Viceroy. [[George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend|George Townshend]] served 1767–72 and was in residence in The Castle in Dublin. Townsend had the strong support of both the King and the British cabinet in London, and all major decisions were basically made in London. The Ascendancy complained, and obtained a series of new laws in the 1780s that made the Irish Parliament effective and independent of the British Parliament, although still under the supervision of the king and his Privy Council.{{Sfn|Foster|1988|pp=226–240}}

Irish society also adopted relatively liberal social policies during this period. [[Divorce]] was legalised, [[homosexuality]] decriminalised, while a right to [[abortion]] in limited cases was granted by the Irish Supreme Court in the [[X Case]] legal judgement. Major scandals in the Roman Catholic Church, both sexual and financial, coincided with a widespread decline in religious practice, with weekly attendance at Roman Catholic [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]] halving in twenty years.

Largely in response to the 1798 rebellion, Irish self-government was ended altogether by the provisions of the [[Acts of Union 1800]] (which abolished the Irish Parliament of that era).<ref>{{Cite book|first=R. B.|last=McDowell|title=Ireland in the age of imperialism and revolution, 1760–1801|date=1979}}</ref>

===Northern Ireland===

===="A Protestant State" (1921-1971)====

''Main article: [[History of Northern Ireland]]''

==Union with Great Britain (1801–1912)==

From [[1921]] to [[1971]], Northern Ireland was governed by the [[Ulster Unionist Party]] [[Parliament of Northern Ireland|government]], based at [[Stormont]] in East Belfast. The founding Prime Minister, [[James Craig]], proudly declared that it would be "a Protestant State for a Protestant People" (in contrast to the anticipated "[[Papist]]" state to the south). Discrimination against the minority nationalist community in jobs and housing, and their total exclusion from political power due to the [[majoritarian system|majoritarian electoral system]], led to the emergence of a [[civil rights]] campaign in the late 1960s, inspired by Martin Luther King's civil rights movement in the United States of America. A violent counter-reaction from right-wing unionists and the [[Royal Ulster Constabulary]] (RUC) led to civil disorder. To restore order, British troops were deployed to the streets of Northern Ireland at this time.

{{Main|History of Ireland (1801–1923)}}

[[File:Daniel O'Connell - Project Gutenberg 13103.jpg|thumbnail|left|[[Daniel O'Connell]]]]

In 1800, following the [[Irish Rebellion of 1798]], the Irish and the British parliaments enacted the [[Acts of Union 1800|Acts of Union]]. The merger created a new political entity called [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]] with effect from 1 January 1801. Part of the agreement forming the basis of union was that the [[Test Act]] would be repealed to remove any remaining discrimination against Roman Catholics, [[Presbyterian Church in Ireland|Presbyterians]], [[Baptists]] and other dissenter religions in the newly United Kingdom. However, King [[George III]], invoking the provisions of the [[Act of Settlement 1701]] controversially and adamantly blocked attempts by Prime Minister [[William Pitt the Younger]]. Pitt resigned in protest, but his successor [[Henry Addington]] and his new cabinet failed to legislate to repeal or change the [[Test Act]]. This was followed by the first [[Irish Reform Act 1832]], which allowed Catholic members of parliament but raised the property qualification to £10 effectively removing the poorer Irish freeholders from [[Suffrage|the franchise]].

Tensions came to a head with the events of [[Bloody Sunday (1972)|Bloody Sunday]] and [[Bloody Friday]], and the worst years (early 1970s) of what became known as [[The Troubles]] resulted. The Stormont government was prorogued in [[1971]] and abolished totally in [[1972]]. [[Paramilitary]] private armies such as the [[Provisional IRA]], the [[Official IRA]], the [[INLA]], the [[Ulster Defence Association]] and the [[Ulster Volunteer Force]] fought each other and the [[British army]] and the (largely Unionist) RUC, resulting in the deaths of well over three thousand men, women and children, civilians and military. Most of the violence took place in Northern Ireland, but some also spread to [[England]] and across the Irish border.

In 1823 an enterprising Catholic lawyer, [[Daniel O'Connell]], known in Ireland as "The Liberator" began an ultimately successful Irish campaign to achieve emancipation and to be seated in the Parliament. This culminated in O'Connell's successful election in the Clare by-election, which revived the parliamentary efforts at reform.

The [[Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829]] was eventually approved by the UK parliament under the leadership of the Dublin-born Prime Minister, [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington]]. This indefatigable Anglo-Irish statesman, a former Chief Secretary for Ireland, and hero of the [[Napoleonic Wars]], guided the legislation through both houses of Parliament. By threatening to resign, he persuaded [[George IV]] to sign the bill into law in 1829. The continuing obligation of Catholics to fund the established [[Church of Ireland]], however, led to the sporadic skirmishes of the [[Tithe War]] of 1831–38. The Church was disestablished by the [[William Ewart Gladstone|Gladstone government]] in the [[Irish Church Act 1869]]. The continuing enactment of parliamentary reform during the ensuing administrations further extended the initially limited franchise. Daniel O'Connell later led the [[Repeal Association]] in an unsuccessful campaign to undo the [[Act of Union 1800]].<ref>Kee, Robert. ''The Green Flag''. London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1972. pp. 187–243</ref>

The [[Great Irish Famine]] (''An Gorta Mór'') was the second of Ireland's "Great Famines". It struck the country during 1845–49, with [[potato blight]], exacerbated by the political factors of the time<ref>Cecil Woodham-Smith, ''The Great Hunger'', Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1991, p. 19. {{ISBN|978-0-14-014515-1}}</ref> leading to mass starvation and emigration. The impact of emigration in Ireland was severe; the population dropped from over 8 million before the Famine to 4.4 million in 1911. [[Irish language|Gaelic]] or Irish, once the island's spoken language, declined in use sharply in the nineteenth century as a result of the Famine and the creation of the [[national school (Ireland)|National School]] education system, as well as hostility to the language from leading Irish politicians of the time; it was largely replaced by English.

Outside mainstream nationalism, a series of violent rebellions by Irish republicans took place in 1803, under [[Robert Emmet]]; in 1848 a [[Young Irelander Rebellion of 1848|rebellion]] by the [[Young Irelanders]], most prominent among them, [[Thomas Francis Meagher]]; and in 1867, [[Fenian Rising|another insurrection]] by the [[Irish Republican Brotherhood]]. All failed, but ''physical force nationalism'' remained an undercurrent in the nineteenth century.

[[File:Family evicted by their landlord during the Irish Land War c1879.jpg|thumb|Irish family evicted at Moyasta, County Clare during [[Land War]], c.1879]]

A central issue throughout the 19th and early 20th century was land ownership. A small group of about 10,000 English families owned practically all the farmland; Most were permanent residents of England, and seldom presented the land. They rented it out to Irish tenant farmers. Falling behind in rent payments meant eviction, and very bad feelings – often violence.<ref>Michael J. Winstanley, ''Ireland and the Land Question 1800–1922'' (1984) [https://www.questia.com/library/103518785/ireland-and-the-land-question-1800-1922 online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622111438/https://www.questia.com/library/103518785/ireland-and-the-land-question-1800-1922 |date=22 June 2018 }}</ref> The late 19th century witnessed major land reform, spearheaded by the [[Irish National Land League|Land League]] under [[Michael Davitt]] demanding what became known as the ''3 Fs; Fair rent, free sale, fixity of tenure''. Parliament passed laws in 1870, 1881, 1903 and 1909 that enabled most tenant farmers to purchase their lands, and lowered the rents of the others.<ref>Timothy W. Guinnane and Ronald I. Miller. "The Limits to Land Reform: The Land Acts in Ireland, 1870–1909*." ''Economic Development and Cultural Change'' 45#3 (1997): 591–612. [https://www.princeton.edu/rpds/papers/Guinnane_Miller_Limits_to_Land_Reform_EDCC1997.pdf online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117223641/https://www.princeton.edu/rpds/papers/Guinnane_Miller_Limits_to_Land_Reform_EDCC1997.pdf |date=17 November 2015 }}</ref> From 1870 and as a result of the [[Land War]] agitations and subsequent [[Plan of Campaign]] of the 1880s, various British governments introduced a series of [[Irish Land Acts]]. [[William O'Brien]] played a leading role in the 1902 [[Land Conference]] to pave the way for the most advanced social legislation in Ireland since the Union, the [[Land Purchase (Ireland) Act 1903]]. This Act set the conditions for the break-up of large estates and gradually devolved to rural landholders, and tenants' ownership of the lands. It effectively ended the era of the [[absentee landlord]], finally resolving the Irish Land Question.

In the 1870s the issue of Irish self-government again became a major focus of debate under [[Charles Stewart Parnell]], founder of the [[Irish Parliamentary Party]]. Prime Minister [[William Ewart Gladstone|Gladstone]] made two unsuccessful attempts to pass [[Irish Home Rule Movement|Home Rule]] in 1886 and 1893. Parnell's leadership ended when he was implicated in a divorce scandal that gained international publicity in 1890. He had been secretly living for years with [[Katherine Parnell|Katherine O'Shea]], the long-separated wife of a fellow Irish MP. Disaster came quickly: Gladstone and the Liberal Party refused to cooperate with him; his party split; the Irish Catholic bishops led the successful effort to crush his minority faction at by-elections. Parnell fought for control to the end, but his body was collapsing and he died in 1891 at age 45.

After the introduction of the [[Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898]] which broke the power of the [[Protestant Ascendancy|landlord-dominated]] "Grand Juries", passing for the first time democratic control of local affairs into the hands of the people through elected Local County Councils, the debate over full Home Rule led to tensions between [[Irish nationalist]]s and [[Unionists (Ireland)|Irish unionists]] (those who favoured the maintenance of the Union). Most of the island was predominantly nationalist, [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] and agrarian. The northeast, however, was predominantly unionist, Protestant and industrialised. Unionists feared a loss of political power and economic wealth in a predominantly rural, nationalist, Catholic home-rule state. Nationalists believed they would remain economically and politically second-class citizens without self-government. Out of this division, two opposing sectarian movements evolved, the Protestant ''[[Orange Order]]'' and the Catholic [[Ancient Order of Hibernians]].

==Home Rule, Easter Rising and War of Independence (1912–1922)==

{{main|Irish revolutionary period}}

Home Rule became likely when in 1910 the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) under [[John Redmond]] held the balance of power in [[British House of Commons|Commons]] and the third Home Rule Bill was introduced in 1912. Unionist resistance was immediate with the leadership of Edward Carson and the formation of the [[Ulster Volunteers]]. In turn the [[Irish Volunteers]] were established to oppose Unionist efforts for resistance and enforce the introduction of self-government.

[[File:Easter Proclamation of 1916.png|left|thumb|The [[Proclamation of the Irish Republic|Easter Proclamation]], issued by Leaders of the Easter Rising]]

In September 1914, just as the [[First World War]] broke out, the UK Parliament passed the [[Government of Ireland Act 1914]] to establish self-government for Ireland, but it was suspended for the duration of the war. To ensure implementation of Home Rule after the war, nationalist leaders and the IPP under Redmond supported [[Ireland and World War I|Ireland's participation]] in the British and [[Allies of World War I|Allied]] war effort under the [[Triple Entente]] against the expansion of [[Central Powers]]. The core of the Irish Volunteers were against this decision, but the majority left to form the [[National Volunteers]] who enlisted in [[Irish military diaspora#'Irish' named units of the British Army|Irish regiments]] of the [[Kitchener's Army|New British Army]], the [[10th (Irish) Division|10th]] and [[16th (Irish) Division]]s, their Northern counterparts in the [[36th (Ulster) Division]]. Before the war ended, Britain made two concerted efforts to implement Home Rule, one in May 1916 and again with the [[Irish Convention]] during 1917–1918, but the Irish sides (Nationalist, Unionist) were unable to agree to terms for the temporary or permanent exclusion of Ulster from its provisions.

The period 1916–1921 was marked by political violence and upheaval, ending in the [[partition of Ireland]] in 1920 and independence for 26 of its 32 counties. A failed militant attempt was made to gain separate independence for Ireland with the 1916 [[Easter Rising]], an insurrection in Dublin. Though support for the insurgents was small, the violence used in its suppression led to resentment against British rule and a swing in support of the rebels. In addition, the unprecedented [[Conscription Crisis of 1918|threat of Irishmen being conscripted]] to the [[British Army]] in 1918 (for service on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] as a result of the [[German spring offensive]]) accelerated this change. In the [[1918 Irish general election|December 1918 elections]] [[Sinn Féin]], the party of the rebels, won three-quarters of all seats in Ireland, twenty-seven [[Member of parliament|MP]]s of which assembled in Dublin on 21 January 1919 to form a 32-county [[Irish Republic]] Parliament, the first [[First Dáil|Dáil Éireann]] [[Declaration of Independence (Ireland)|unilaterally declaring]] sovereignty over the entire island.

{{multiple image

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| image1 = Irish House of Lords chamber.jpg

| caption1 = House of Lords of the Kingdom of Ireland (abolished 1800)

| image2 = The Irish House of Commons in 1780 by Francis Wheatley.jpg

| caption2 = House of Commons of the Kingdom of

Ireland (abolished 1800)

| image3 = Leinsterhouse.jpg

| caption3 = [[Leinster House]], home of Ireland's parliament since 1922.

| image4 = Parliament Buildings Stormont 4.jpg

| caption4 = [[Parliament Buildings (Northern Ireland)|Parliament Buildings (Stormont)]]. Previously home of [[Parliament of Northern Ireland|Parliament]]. Now used by the [[Northern Ireland Assembly|Assembly]].

}}

Unwilling to negotiate any understanding with Britain short of complete independence, the [[Irish Republican Army]], the army of the newly declared Irish Republic, waged a guerilla war (the [[Irish War of Independence]]) from 1919 to 1921. In the course of the fighting and amid much acrimony, the Fourth [[Government of Ireland Act 1920]] implemented Home Rule while separating the island into what the [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|British government]]'s Act termed "[[Northern Ireland]]" and "[[Southern Ireland (1921–22)|Southern Ireland]]". In July 1921 the Irish and British governments agreed to a truce that halted the war. In December 1921 representatives of both governments signed an [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]]. The Irish delegation was led by [[Arthur Griffith]] and [[Michael Collins (Irish leader)|Michael Collins]]. This abolished the [[Irish Republic]] and created the [[Irish Free State]], a self-governing [[Dominion]] of the [[Commonwealth of Nations]] in the manner of Canada and Australia. Under the Treaty, [[Northern Ireland]] could opt out of the Free State and stay within the United Kingdom: it promptly did so. In 1922 both parliaments [[Second Dáil#The Treaty|ratified the Treaty]], formalising independence for the 26-county Irish Free State (which renamed itself ''Ireland'' in 1937, and [[Republic of Ireland Act|declared itself a republic]] in 1949); while the 6-county Northern Ireland, gaining Home Rule for itself, remained part of the United Kingdom. For most of the next 75 years, each territory was strongly aligned to either [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] or [[Protestant]] ideologies, although this was more marked in the six counties of Northern Ireland.

==Free State and Republic (1922–present)==

{{main|History of the Republic of Ireland|Irish Free State|Republic of Ireland|Names of the Irish state}}

[[File:Ei-map.svg|left|thumb|Political map of Ireland]]

The treaty to sever the Union divided the republican movement into ''anti-Treaty'' (who wanted to fight on until an Irish Republic was achieved) and ''pro-Treaty'' supporters (who accepted the Free State as the first step towards full independence and unity). Between 1922 and 1923 both sides fought the bloody [[Irish Civil War]]. The new Irish Free State government defeated the anti-Treaty remnant of the [[Irish Republican Army]], imposing [[Executions during the Irish Civil War|multiple executions]]. This division among nationalists still colours Irish politics today, specifically between the two leading Irish political parties, [[Fianna Fáil]] and [[Fine Gael]].

The new Irish Free State (1922–1937) existed against the backdrop of the growth of dictatorships in mainland Europe and a major [[Great Depression|world economic downturn]] in 1929. In contrast with many contemporary European states, it remained a democracy. Testament to this came when the losing faction in the Irish civil war, [[Éamon de Valera]]'s Fianna Fáil, was able to take power peacefully by winning the [[1932 Irish general election|1932 general election]]. Nevertheless, until the mid-1930s, considerable parts of Irish society saw the Free State through the prism of the civil war, as a repressive, British-imposed state. It was only the peaceful change of government in 1932 that signalled the final acceptance of the Free State on their part. In contrast to many other states in the period, the Free State remained financially solvent as a result of low government expenditure, despite the [[Anglo-Irish Trade War|Economic War]] with Britain. However, unemployment and emigration were high. The population declined to a low of 2.7 million recorded in the 1961 census.

The Roman [[Catholic Church]] had a powerful influence over the Irish state for much of its history. The clergy's influence meant that the Irish state had very conservative social policies, forbidding, for example, [[divorce]], [[contraception]], [[Abortion in the Republic of Ireland|abortion]], [[pornography]] as well as encouraging the [[Censorship in the Republic of Ireland|censoring and banning]] of many books and films. In addition, the Church largely controlled the State's hospitals and schools, and remained the largest provider of many other social services.

With the partition of Ireland in 1922, 92.6% of the Free State's population were Catholic while 7.4% were Protestant.<ref>M.E.Collins, Ireland 1868–1966, (1993) p. 431)</ref> By the 1960s the Protestant population had fallen by half. Although emigration was high among all the population, due to a lack of economic opportunity, the rate of Protestant emigration was disproportionate in this period. Many Protestants left the country in the early 1920s, either because they felt unwelcome in a predominantly Catholic and nationalist state, because they were afraid due to the burning of Protestant homes (particularly of the old landed class) by republicans during the civil war, because they regarded themselves as British and did not wish to live in an independent Irish state, or because of the economic disruption caused by the recent violence. The Catholic Church had also issued a decree, known as [[Ne Temere]], whereby the children of marriages between Catholics and Protestants had to be brought up as Catholics. From 1945, the emigration rate of Protestants fell and they became less likely to emigrate than Catholics.

[[File:President's Trip to Europe- Motorcade in Cork. President Kennedy, motorcade, spectators. Cork, Ireland - NARA - 194227.jpg|thumb|President [[John F. Kennedy]] in motorcade in [[Cork (city)|Cork]] on 27 June 1963]]

In 1937 a new [[Constitution of Ireland|Constitution]] re-established the state as ''Ireland'' (or ''[[Éire]]'' in Irish). The state remained neutral throughout [[World War II]] (see ''[[Irish neutrality]]''), which saved it from much of the horrors of the war, although tens of thousands volunteered to serve in the British forces. Ireland was also impacted by food rationing, and coal shortages; [[Bórd na Móna|peat production]] became a priority during this time. Though nominally neutral, recent studies have suggested a far greater level of involvement by the state with the Allies than was realised, with [[D Day]]'s date set on the basis of secret weather information on Atlantic storms supplied by Ireland. (''For more detail on 1939–45, see main article [[The Emergency (Ireland)|The Emergency]]''.)

In 1949, Ireland left the British [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] and was formally declared a republic.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thejournal.ie/70-years-since-ireland-became-a-republic-4597795-Apr2019/|title=Today marks 70 years since Ireland became a republic|first=Gráinne Ní|last=Aodha|website=TheJournal.ie|date=18 April 2019}}</ref>

In the 1960s, Ireland underwent a major economic change under reforming [[Taoiseach]] (prime minister) [[Seán Lemass]] and Secretary of the Department of Finance [[T.K. Whitaker]], who produced a series of economic plans. Free second-level education was introduced by [[Donogh O'Malley]] as Minister for Education in 1968. From the early 1960s, Ireland sought admission to the [[European Economic Community]] but, because 90% of exports were to the United Kingdom market, it did not do so until the UK did, in 1973.

Global economic problems in the 1970s, augmented by a set of misjudged economic policies followed by governments, including that of Taoiseach [[Jack Lynch]], caused the Irish economy to stagnate. [[The Troubles]] in Northern Ireland discouraged foreign investment. Devaluation was enabled when the Irish Pound, or Punt, was established as a separate currency in 1979, breaking the link with the UK's [[Pound sterling|sterling]]. However, economic reforms in the late 1980s, helped by investment from the [[European Community]], led to the emergence of one of the world's highest economic growth rates, with mass immigration (particularly of people from Asia and Eastern Europe) as a feature of the late 1990s. This period came to be known as the [[Celtic Tiger]] and was focused on as a model for economic development in the former Eastern Bloc states, which entered the [[European Union]] in the early 2000s (decade). Property values had risen by a factor of between four and ten between 1993 and 2006, in part fuelling the boom.

Irish society adopted relatively liberal social policies during this period. Divorce was legalised, homosexuality decriminalised, and abortion in limited cases was allowed by the Irish Supreme Court in the [[X Case]] legal judgement. Major scandals in the Roman Catholic Church, both sexual and financial, coincided with a widespread decline in religious practice, with weekly attendance at Roman Catholic [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]] dropping by half in twenty years. [[Public inquiries in the Republic of Ireland|A series of tribunals]] set up from the 1990s have investigated alleged malpractices by politicians, the Catholic clergy, judges, hospitals, and the [[Garda Síochána|Gardaí]].

Ireland's newfound prosperity was challenged abruptly in 2008 when the [[bank|banking system]] collapsed due to the [[Irish property bubble]] bursting. Some 25–26% of GDP was needed to bail out failing Irish banks and force banking sector consolidation. This was the largest banking bailout for any country in history, in comparison, only 7–8% of GDP was needed to bail out failing Finnish banks in its banking crisis in the 1990s. This resulted in a major [[Post-2008 Irish economic downturn|financial and political crisis]] as Ireland entered a [[recession]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cso.ie/indicators/default.aspx?id=1NQQ17A|title=Central Statistics Office Ireland Key short-term economic indicators:Gross Domestic Product (GDP)|website=Cso.ie|access-date=15 January 2018}}</ref> Emigration rose to 1989 levels as the unemployment rate rose from 4.2% in 2007 to reach 14.6% as of February 2012.<ref>[http://insideireland.ie/2012/03/07/cso-figures-reveal-unemployment-levels-59631/ CSO figures reveal unemployment levels] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308225201/http://insideireland.ie/2012/03/07/cso-figures-reveal-unemployment-levels-59631/ |date=8 March 2012 }} – Inside Ireland, 7 March 2012</ref>

However, since 2014, Ireland has seen strong economic growth, dubbed as the "[[Celtic Phoenix]]".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/ireland-is-a-spending-nation-once-again-as-celtic-phoenix-rises-30531688.html|title=Ireland is a spending nation once again as Celtic Phoenix rises|newspaper=Irish Independent|date=24 August 2014}}</ref>

==Northern Ireland (1921–present)==

{{Main|History of Northern Ireland}}

{{Irish police|clear="right"}}

====Direct"A RuleProtestant state" (1971-19981921–1972)====

The 1920 Government of Ireland Bill created the state of [[Northern Ireland]], which consisted of the six northeastern counties of Londonderry, Tyrone, Fermanagh, Antrim, Down and Armagh.<ref>Paseta, Senia: "Modern Ireland: A Very Short Introduction", p. 102. Oxford University Press, 2003</ref> From 1921 to 1972, Northern Ireland was governed by a [[Ulster Unionist Party|Unionist]] government, based at [[Stormont, Belfast|Stormont]] in east Belfast. Unionist leader and first Prime Minister, [[James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon|James Craig]], declared that it would be "a Protestant State for a Protestant People". Craig's goal was to form and preserve Protestant authority in the new state which was above all an effort to secure a unionist majority. In 1926 the majority of the population in the province were Presbyterian and Anglican, therefore, solidifying Craig's Protestant political power. The Ulster Unionist Party thereafter formed every government until 1972.<ref>Paseta, Senia: "Modern Ireland: A Very Short Introduction", pp. 102–104. Oxford University Press, 2003</ref>

For the next 27 years, Northern Ireland was under "direct rule" with a [[Secretary of State for Northern Ireland]] in the British [[Cabinet]] responsible for the departments of the Northern Ireland executive/government. Principal acts were passed by the [[United Kingdom Parliament]] in the same way as for much of the rest of the UK, but many smaller measures were dealt with by [[Order in Council]] with minimal parliamentary scrutiny. Throughout this time the aim was to restore [[devolution]] but three attempts - the power-sharing executive established by the [[Northern Ireland Constitution Act]] and the [[Sunningdale Agreement]], the [[1975]] [[Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention]] and [[Jim Prior]]'s [[1982]] assembly all failed to either reach consensus or operate in the longer term.

Discrimination against the minority Catholic community in jobs and housing, and their total exclusion from political power due to the [[majoritarian system|majoritarian electoral system]], led to the emergence of the [[Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association]] in the late 1960s, inspired by Martin Luther King's civil rights movement in the United States of America.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Dooley|first1=Brian|title=Black and Green: The Fight for Civil Rights in Northern Ireland & Black America|date=1998|publisher=Pluto Press|isbn=9780745312958|page=4|quote=SDLP leader John Hume regularly refers to Martin Luther King as an important influence in the late 1960s, and representatives from King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) visited Belfast}}</ref> The military forces of the Northern Protestants and Northern Catholics (IRA) turned to brutal acts of violence to establish power. As time went on it became clear that these two rival states would bring about a civil war. After the Second World War, keeping the cohesion within Stormont seemed impossible; increased economic pressures, solidified Catholic unity, and British involvement ultimately led to Stormont's collapse. As the civil rights movement of the United States gained worldwide acknowledgment, Catholics rallied together to achieve a similar socio-political recognition. This resulted in the formation of various organisations such as the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) in 1967 and the Campaign for Social Justice (CSJ) in 1964.<ref>Paseta, Senia: "Modern Ireland: A Very Short Introduction", pp. 108–110. Oxford University Press, 2003</ref>

During the [[1970]]s British policy concentrated on defeating the [[IRA]] by military means including the policy of [[Ulsterisation]] (requiring the RUC and (British Army reserve) [[Ulster Defence Regiment]] to be at the forefront of combating the [[IRA]]). Although IRA violence decreased it was obvious that no military victory was on hand in either short or medium terms. Even Catholics that generally rejected the IRA were unwilling to offer support to a state that seemed to remain mired in [[sectarian]] discrimination and the Unionists plainly were not interested in Catholic participation in running the state in any case. In the [[1980s]] the IRA attempted to secure a decisive military victory based on massive arms shipments from [[Libya]]. When this failed - probably because of [[MI5]]'s penetration of the IRA's senior commands - senior republican figures began to look to broaden the struggle from purely military means. In time this began a move towards [[TUAS|military cessation]]. In [[1986]] the British and Irish governments signed the [[Anglo Irish Agreement]] signaling a formal partnership in seeking a political solution. Socially and economically Northern Ireland suffered the worst levels of unemployment in the UK and although high levels of public spending ensured a slow modernisation of public services and moves towards equality, progress was slow in the 70s and 80s, only in the [[1990s]] when progress towards peace became tangible, did the economic situation brighten. By then, too, the demographics of Northern Ireland had undergone significant change, and more than 40% of the population are Catholics.

Non-violent protest became an increasingly important factor in mobilising Catholic sympathies and opinion and thus more effective in generating support than actively violent groups such as the [[Irish Republican Army|IRA]]. However, these non-violent protests posed a problem to Northern Ireland's prime minister Terrance O'Neil (1963) because it hampered his efforts to persuade Catholics in Northern Ireland that they too, like their Protestant counterparts, belong within the United Kingdom. Despite O'Neil's reforming efforts there was growing discontent amongst both Catholics and Unionists. In October 1968 a peaceful civil rights march in Derry turned violent as police brutally beat protesters. The outbreak was televised by international media, and as a result the march was highly publicised which further confirmed the socio-political turmoil in Ireland.<ref>Paseta, Senia: "Modern Ireland: A Very Short Introduction", pp. 110–114. Oxford University Press, 2003</ref> A violent counter-reaction from conservative unionists led to civil disorder, notably the [[Battle of the Bogside]] and the [[Northern Ireland riots of August 1969]]. To restore order, British troops were deployed to the streets of Northern Ireland at that time.

====Devolution and Direct Rule (1998-present)====

More recently, the [[Belfast Agreement]] ("Good Friday Agreement") of [[April 10]], [[1998]] brought a degree of power sharing to Northern Ireland, giving both [[Unionists (Ireland)|unionists]] and [[Nationalism|nationalists]] control of limited areas of government. However, both the power-sharing Executive and the elected Assembly have been suspended [[as of 2005|since]] October [[2002]] following a breakdown in trust between the political parties. Efforts to resolve outstanding issues, including "decommissioning" of paramilitary weapons, [[PSNI|policing]] reform and the removal of [[British army]] bases are continuing. Recent elections have not helped towards compromise, with the moderate [[Ulster Unionist Party|Ulster Unionist]] and (nationalist) [[Social Democrat and Labour Party|Social Democrat and Labour]] parties being substantially displaced by the hard-line [[Democratic Unionist Party|Democratic Unionist]] and (nationalist) [[Sinn Féin]] parties.

The violent outbreaks in the late 1960s encouraged and helped strengthen military groups such as the IRA, who served as the protectors of the working class Catholics who were vulnerable to police and civilian brutality. During the late sixties and early seventies recruitment into the IRA organisation dramatically increased as street and civilian violence worsened. The interjection from the British troops proved to be insufficient to quell the violence and thus solidified the IRA's growing military importance.<ref>Paseta, Senia: "Modern Ireland: A Very Short Introduction", pp. 114–116. Oxford University Press, 2003</ref> On 30 January 1972 the worst tensions came to a head with the events of [[Bloody Sunday (1972)|Bloody Sunday]]. Paratroops opened fire on civil rights protesters in Derry, killing 13 unarmed civilians. [[Bloody Friday (1972)|Bloody Friday]], Bloody Sunday, and other violent acts in the early 1970s came to be known as [[the Troubles]].

==Footnotes==

{{fnb|1}} See:

*[http://www2.smumn.edu/uasal/DNAWWW/pdfs/Yirish.pdf#search='Ychromosome%20variation%20and%20Irish%20origins' Y-chromosome variation and Irish origins (pdf)]

*[http://www.familytreedna.com/pdf/capelli2_CB.pdf A Y Chromosne Census of the British Isles (pdf)]

*[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2000/03/23/state0101EST0331.DTL&type=science Scientists use Irish genes to uncover Europe's past]

*[http://www.gnxp.com/MT2/archives/000648.html Gene Expression - CELTS AND ANGLO-SAXONS]

The Stormont parliament was [[Legislative session#Prorogation|prorogued]] in 1972 and abolished in 1973. Paramilitary private armies such as the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]], resulted from a split within the IRA, the [[Official IRA]] and [[Irish National Liberation Army]] fought against the [[Ulster Defence Regiment]] and the [[Ulster Volunteer Force (1966)|Ulster Volunteer Force]]. Moreover, the [[British Army]] and the (largely Protestant) [[Royal Ulster Constabulary]] (RUC) also took part in the chaos that resulted in the deaths of over 3,000 men, women and children, civilians and military. Most of the violence took place in Northern Ireland, but some also spread to England and across the Irish border.

{{fnb|2}} See: Braudel, F, 1979.

===Direct rule (1972–1999)===

{{fnb|3}} See: Plumb, J.H., 1973.

For the next 27{{Frac|1|2}} years, with the exception of five months in 1974, Northern Ireland was under "[[Direct rule over Northern Ireland|direct rule]]" with a [[Secretary of State for Northern Ireland]] in the British Cabinet responsible for the departments of the Northern Ireland government. [[Direct rule over Northern Ireland|Direct Rule]] was designed to be a temporary solution until Northern Ireland was capable of governing itself again. Principal acts were passed by the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]] in the same way as for much of the rest of the UK, but many smaller measures were dealt with by [[Order in Council]] with minimal parliamentary scrutiny. Attempts were made to establish a power-sharing executive, representing both the nationalist and unionist communities, by the [[Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973|Northern Ireland Constitution Act]] of 1973 and the [[Sunningdale Agreement]] in December 1973.

Both acts however did little to create cohesion between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The Constitution Act of 1973 formalised the UK government's affirmation of reunification of Ireland by consent only; therefore ultimately delegating the authoritative power of the border question from Stormont to the people of Northern Ireland (and the Republic of Ireland). Conversely, the Sunningdale Agreement included a "provision of a Council of Ireland which held the right to execute executive and harmonizing functions". Most significantly, the Sunningdale Agreement brought together political leaders from Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and the UK to deliberate for the first time since 1925.<ref>Paseta, Senia :"Modern Ireland: A Very Short Introduction", pp. 116–118. Oxford University Press, 2003</ref> The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention and Jim Prior's 1982 assembly were also temporarily implemented; however all failed to either reach consensus or operate in the longer term.

==References==

*"Irish Kings and High Kings", Francis John Byrne, Dublin, 1973.

*"A New History of Ireland: I - PreHistoric and Early Ireland", ed. Daibhi O Croinin. 2005

*"A New History of Ireland: II- Medieval Ireland 1169-1534", ed. Art Cosgrove. 1987.

*[[Fernand Braudel|Braudel, Fernand]], ''The Perspective of the World,'' vol III of ''Civilization and Capitalism'' (1979, in English 1985)

*Plumb, J.H., ''England in the 18th Century,'' 1973: "The Irish Empire"

*[[Murray N. Rothbard]], ''For a New Liberty'', 1973, [http://www.mises.org/rothbard/newliberty.asp#preface online].

During the 1970s British policy concentrated on defeating the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]] (IRA) by military means including the policy of [[Ulsterisation]] (requiring the RUC and British Army reserve [[Ulster Defence Regiment]] to be at the forefront of combating the IRA). Although IRA violence decreased it was obvious that no military victory was on hand in either the short or medium terms. Even Catholics who generally rejected the IRA were unwilling to offer support to a state that seemed to remain mired in [[sectarian]] discrimination, and the Unionists were not interested in Catholic participation in running the state in any case. In the 1980s the IRA attempted to secure a decisive military victory based on massive arms shipments from [[Libya]]. When this failed, senior republican figures began to look to broaden the struggle from purely military means. In time this began a move towards [[TUAS|military cessation]].

== Further reading ==

* S.J. Connolly (editor) ''The Oxford Companion to Irish History'' (Oxford University Press, 2000) [<i>a must for all students of Irish history</i>]

In 1985 the Irish and British governments signed the [[Anglo-Irish Agreement]] signalling a formal partnership in seeking a political solution. The Anglo-Irish Agreement (AIA) recognised the Irish government's right to be consulted and heard as well as guaranteed equality of treatment and recognition of the Irish and British identities of the two communities. The agreement also stated that the two governments must implement a cross-border co-operation.<ref>Paseta, Senia :"Modern Ireland: A Very Short Introduction", pp. 119–121. Oxford University Press, 2003</ref> Socially and economically Northern Ireland suffered the worst levels of unemployment in the UK and although high levels of public spending ensured a slow modernisation of public services and moves towards equality, progress was slow in the 1970s and 1980s. Only in the 1990s, when progress toward peace became tangible, did the economic situation brighten. By then the demographics of Northern Ireland had undergone significant change, and more than 40% of the population was Catholic.

* Tim Pat Coogan ''De Valera'' (Hutchinson, 1993) [<i>worth reading, though deeply hostile to de Valera</i>]

* Norman Davies ''The Isles: A History'' (Macmillan, 1999) [<i>fascinating read, but with some inaccuracies when dealing with the 20th century</i>]

===Devolution and direct rule (1999–present)===

* Nancy Edwards, The archaeology of early medieval Ireland (London, Batsford 1990).

More recently, the [[Belfast Agreement]] ("Good Friday Agreement") of 10 April 1998 brought – on 2 December 1999 – a degree of power-sharing to Northern Ireland, giving both [[Unionists (Ireland)|unionists]] and nationalists control of limited areas of government. However, both the power-sharing Executive and the elected Assembly were suspended between January and May 2000, and from October 2002 until April 2007, following breakdowns in trust between the political parties involving outstanding issues, including "decommissioning" of paramilitary weapons, [[Police Service of Northern Ireland|policing reform]] and the removal of [[British Army]] bases. In new elections in 2003, the moderate [[Ulster Unionist Party|Ulster Unionist]] and (nationalist) [[Social Democrat and Labour Party|Social Democrat and Labour]] parties lost their dominant positions to the more hard-line [[Democratic Unionist Party|Democratic Unionist]] and (nationalist) [[Sinn Féin]] parties. On 28 July 2005, the Provisional IRA announced the end of its armed campaign and on 25 September 2005 international weapons inspectors supervised the disarmament of the majority of weapons of the PIRA. Eventually, devolution was restored in April 2007.

*R. F. Foster ''Modern Ireland, 1600-1972''

* Joseph Lee ''The Modernisation of Irish Society 1848-1918'' (Gill and Macmillan) [<i>classic small history of the period</i>]

On 3 February 2022, [[Paul Givan]] resigned as first minister, which automatically resigned [[Michelle O'Neill]] as deputy first minister and collapsed the executive of Northern Ireland.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2022-02-03|title=DUP's Paul Givan resigns as Northern Ireland first minister, as Taoiseach brands it 'very damaging move'|url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/dups-paul-givan-resigns-as-northern-ireland-first-minister-as-taoiseach-brands-it-very-damaging-move/41307670.html|access-date=2024-01-30|website=Irish Independent|language=en}}</ref> On 30 January 2024, leader of the DUP [[Jeffrey Donaldson]] announced that the DUP would restore an executive government on the condition that new legislation was passed by the UK house of commons.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2024-01-30|title=DUP executive endorses deal to restore devolution at Stormont|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-68136950|access-date=2024-01-30|publisher=BBC News|language=en-GB}}</ref>

* FSL Lyons ''Ireland Since the Famine'' [<i>old, but still a classic</i>]

* Dorothy McCardle ''The Irish Republic'' [<i>old but impressive text, written from a pro-de Valera perspective</i>]

==Modern Ireland==

* James H. Murphy ''Abject Loyalty: Nationalism and Monarchy in #Ireland During the Reign of Queen Victoria'' (Cork University Press, 2001) [fascinating new book that puts 19th century Ireland in a new perspective]

*John A. Murphy ''Ireland in the Twentieth Century'' (Gill and Macmillan) [<i>good source of information</i>]

Ireland's economy became more diverse and sophisticated than ever before; integrating itself into the global economy by joining the [[European Economic Community]] (EEC), a precursor to the European Community (EC) and the [[European Union]] (EU), at the same time as the United Kingdom. By the beginning of the 1990s, Ireland had transformed itself into a modern industrial economy and generated substantial national income that benefited the entire nation. Although dependence on agriculture still remained high, Ireland's industrial economy produced sophisticated goods that rivalled international competition. Ireland's international economic boom of the 1990s became known as the [[Celtic tiger]].

* Frank Packenham (Long Longford) ''Peace by Ordeal'' [<i>The definitive account of the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations</i>]

* Alan J. Ward ''The Irish Constitutional Tradition: Responsible Government &amp; Modern Ireland 1782-1992'' (Irish Academic Press, 1994)

The Catholic Church, which once exercised great power, found its influence on socio-political issues in Ireland much reduced. Irish bishops were no longer able to advise and influence the public on how to exercise their political rights. Modern Ireland's detachment of the Church from ordinary life can be explained by the increasing disinterest in Church doctrine by younger generations and the questionable morality of the Church's representatives. A highly publicised case was that of Eamonn Casey, the [[Bishop of Galway]], who resigned abruptly in 1992 after it was revealed that he had had an affair with an American woman and had fathered a child. Further controversies and scandals arose concerning paedophile and child-abusing priests. As a result, many in the Irish public began to question the credibility and effectiveness of the Catholic Church.<ref>Paseta, Senia: "Modern Ireland: A Very Short Introduction", pp. 128–141. Oxford University Press, 2003</ref> In 2011 Ireland closed its embassy at the Vatican, an apparent result of this growing trend.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2012/0218/1224311977327.html|title=Closure of Vatican embassy has wide-ranging implications|date=18 February 2012|newspaper=The Irish Times}}</ref>

==Flags in Ireland==

[[File:Flag of Ireland.svg|left|upright=0.82|thumb|The [[flag of Ireland|Irish tricolour]]]]

The national flag of Ireland is a tricolour of green, white and orange. This flag, which bears the colours green for Irish Catholics, orange for Irish Protestants, and white for the desired peace between them, dates to the mid-19th century.<ref>[https://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/eng/Historical_Information/The_National_Flag/ National Flag] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180624010727/https://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/eng/Historical_Information/The_National_Flag/ |date=24 June 2018 }} Department of the Taoiseach</ref> The tricolour was first unfurled in public by [[Young Ireland]]er [[Thomas Francis Meagher]] who, using the symbolism of the flag, explained his vision as follows: ''"The white in the centre signifies a lasting truce between the "Orange" and the "Green," and I trust that beneath its folds the hands of the Irish Protestant and the Irish Catholic may be clasped in generous and heroic brotherhood"''. Fellow nationalist [[John Mitchel]] said of it: "I hope to see that flag one day waving as our national banner."

After its use in the [[1916 Rising]] it became widely accepted by nationalists as the national flag and was used officially by the [[Irish Republic]] (1919–21) and the [[Irish Free State]] (1922–37).

In 1937 when the [[Constitution of Ireland]] was introduced, the tricolour was formally confirmed as the national flag: "The national flag is the tricolour of green, white and orange." While the tricolour today is the official flag of Ireland, it is not an official flag in Northern Ireland although it is sometimes used unofficially.

The only official flag representing [[Northern Ireland]] is the [[Union Flag]] of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland however its use is controversial.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-20951202|title=Flags and symbols|first=Mark|last=Devenport|date=15 January 2018|publisher=BBC|access-date=15 January 2018}}</ref> The [[Ulster Banner]] is sometimes used unofficially as a de facto regional flag for Northern Ireland.

Since Partition, there has been no universally accepted flag to represent the entire island. As a provisional solution for certain sports fixtures, the Flag of the [[Provinces of Ireland|Four Provinces]] enjoys a certain amount of general acceptance and popularity.

{{Clear}}

Historically a number of flags have been used, including:

*[[Saint Patrick's Flag]] (St Patrick's Saltire, St Patrick's Cross) which represented Ireland on the [[Union Flag]] after the Act of Union;

*a green flag with a harp (used by most nationalists in the 19th century and which is also the flag of [[Leinster]]);

*a blue flag with a harp used from the 18th century onwards by many nationalists (now the standard of the [[president of Ireland]]);

*the [[Irish tricolour]].

St Patrick's Saltire was formerly used to represent the island of Ireland by the all-island [[Irish Rugby Football Union]] (IRFU), before the adoption of the four-provinces flag. The [[Gaelic Athletic Association]] (GAA) uses the tricolour to represent the whole island.

==Historiography==

{{further|List of Irish historians}}

Ireland has a very large historiography, contributed by scholars in Ireland, North America, and Britain.<ref>For example {{cite book|editor=Richard Bourke and Ian McBride|title=The Princeton History of Modern Ireland|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HTRJCgAAQBAJ&pg=PP1|year=2016|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=9781400874064}}; and S. J. Connolly, ed., ''The Oxford Companion to Irish History'' (Oxford UP, 2000)</ref> There has been both a standard interpretation and, since the late 1930s, a good deal of revisionism.<ref>Ciaran Brady, ed., ''Interpreting Irish history: the debate on historical revisionism, 1938–1994'' (Dublin, Irish Academic Press, 1994)</ref> One of the most important themes has always been Irish nationalism—what Alfred Markey, calls:

:the received nationalist tale replete with heroes, villains, and a host of stock elements, has a long history and has exercised a particularly important influence on the development of Irish identity.<ref>Alfred Markey, "Revisionisms and the Story of Ireland: From Sean O'Faolain to Roy Foster," ''Estudios Irlandeses – Journal of Irish Studies'' (2005): 91–101. [https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-152937307/revisionisms-and-the-story-of-ireland-from-sean-o-faolain online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180117012135/https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-152937307/revisionisms-and-the-story-of-ireland-from-sean-o-faolain |date=17 January 2018 }}</ref>

Nationalism has led to numerous monographs and debates.<ref>Steven G. Ellis, "Nationalist historiography and the English and Gaelic worlds in the late middle ages." ''Irish Historical Studies'' (1986): 1–18. [http://vmserver14.nuigalway.ie/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10379/710/Ellis_IHS_1986.pdf?sequence=1 online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110901173753/http://vmserver14.nuigalway.ie/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10379/710/Ellis_IHS_1986.pdf?sequence=1 |date=1 September 2011 }}</ref><ref>Brendan Bradshaw, "Nationalism and historical scholarship in modern Ireland." ''Irish Historical Studies'' (1989): 329–351. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/30008692 in JSTOR] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804045223/https://www.jstor.org/stable/30008692 |date=4 August 2020 }}</ref>

A great deal of attention has focused on the [[Irish revolutionary period]], 1912–23. Starting in 2012 a series of conferences on "Reflecting on a decade of War and Revolution in Ireland 1912–1923: Historians and Public History" brought together hundreds of academics, teachers, and the general public.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://creativecentenaries.org/event/reflecting-decade-war-and-revolution-ireland-1912-1923-road-war|title="Reflecting on a Decade of War and Revolution in Ireland 1912 – 1923: The Road to War" (2014)|website=Creativecentenaries.org|access-date=15 January 2018|archive-date=11 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151211143605/http://creativecentenaries.org/event/reflecting-decade-war-and-revolution-ireland-1912-1923-road-war|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Relations with Britain===

Ireland in some ways was the first acquisition of the British Empire.<ref>Kevin Kenny, ed., ''Ireland and the British Empire'' (2004)</ref> Marshall says historians continue to debate whether Ireland should be considered part of the British Empire.<ref>P.J. Marshall, ''The Cambridge illustrated history of the British Empire'' (2001) p 9.</ref> Recent work by historians pays special attention to continuing Imperial aspects of Irish history,<ref>Stephen Howe, ''Ireland and empire: colonial legacies in Irish history and culture'' (2002).</ref> Atlantic Ocean history,<ref>Nicholas P. Canny, ''Kingdom and Colony: Ireland in the Atlantic World, 1560–1800'' (1988)</ref> and the role of migration in forming the Irish diaspora across the Empire and North America.<ref>Andrew Bielenberg, ed., ''The Irish Diaspora'' (2014)</ref><ref>Barry Crosbie, "Networks of Empire: Linkage and Reciprocity in Nineteenth‐Century Irish and Indian History." ''History Compass'' 7#3 (2009): 993–1007.</ref><ref>Joe Cleary, "Amongst Empires: A Short History of Ireland and Empire Studies in International Context," ''Eire-Ireland'' (2007) 42#1 pp 11–57.</ref>

===Recent approaches===

As historiography evolves, new approaches have been applied to the Irish situation. Studies of women, and gender relationships more generally, had been rare before 1990; they now are commonplace with over 3,000 books and articles.<ref>Catriona Kennedy, "Women and Gender in Modern Ireland," in Bourke and McBride, eds. [https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=lang_en|lang_fr&id=HTRJCgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA361&dq=Historiography+Ireland+gender&ots=OaODxwl1z9&sig=qdc4z8Bw3Yg9KHoaf7nO4NzCMJc#v=onepage&q=Historiography%20Ireland%20gender&f=false ''The Princeton History of Modern Ireland'' (2016) pp: 361+]</ref> [[Postcolonialism]] is an approach in several academic disciplines that seeks to analyze, explain, and respond to the cultural legacies of colonialism and imperialism. The emphasis is usually on the human consequences of controlling a country and establishing settlers for the economic exploitation of the native people and their land.<ref>Claire Connolly, "Postcolonial Ireland: Posing the Question." ''European Journal of English Studies'' 3#3 (1999): 255–261.</ref><ref>Patricia King, ed., ''Ireland and postcolonial theory'' (2003)</ref><ref>Ellekje Boehmer, ''Empire, the national and postcolonial, 1890–1920: Resistance in Interaction'' (2002)</ref>

According to L.A. Clarkson in 1980, the 18th and 19th centuries are the best covered time frames. Recent research on 18th-century overseas trade and 19th-century agrarian conditions has broken the nationalist approach that traditionally structured Irish economic historiography. Understudied areas include economic growth and fluctuations, the labour market, capital formation, business, and history. Except for emigration, little has been written on Ireland's external economic relations in the 19th century.<ref>L.A. Clarkson, "The writing of Irish economic and social history since 1968." ''Economic History Review'' 33.1 (1980): 100–111 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2595549 online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804222118/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2595549 |date=4 August 2020 }}.</ref><ref>Timothy W. Guinnane, "Interdisciplinary perspectives on Irish economic and demographic history." ''Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History'' 30.4 (1997): 173–181.</ref>

==See also==

{{div col|colwidth=22em}}

*[[Timeline of Irish history]]

*[[History of Belfast]]

*[[History of Cork]]

*[[History of Derry]]

*[[History of Dublin]]

*[[History of England]]

*[[History of Europe]]

*[[History of the European Union]]

*[[History of Galway]]

*[[History of Limerick]]

*[[History of rail transport inNorthern Ireland]]

*[[History of Kilkenny]]

*[[History of Ireland (1801–1923)]]

*[[History of the Republic of Ireland]]

*[[History of Scotland]]

*[[History of the United Kingdom]]

*[[History of Wales]]

*[[History of Waterford]]

*[[History of rail transport in Ireland]]

*[[History of Roman Catholicism in Ireland]]

*[[Irish Historians]]

*[[Irish genealogy]]

*[[List of historical societies in Ireland]]

*[[Timeline of Irish history]]

{{div col end}}

==External linksNotes==

{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==

*[http://www.irelandstory.com/ Source of maps]

{{Reflist}}

*[http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/14510 Ireland Under Coercion] - "''The diary of an American''", by William Henry Hurlbert, published 1888, from [[Project Gutenberg]]

=== Works cited ===

{{Refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}

* {{Cite book|last=Byrne|first=Francis John|title=Irish Kings and High Kings|date=1973|publisher=Dublin|isbn=0-7134-1304-2|oclc=47920418}}

* {{Cite book|last=Foster|first=R. F.|author-link=R. F. Foster (historian)|title=Modern Ireland, 1600–1972|date=1988|publisher=Penguin history|isbn=9780140132502|ol=7348307M}}

{{Refend}}

==Further reading==

{{Refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}

* {{cite book|editor=Richard Bourke and Ian McBride|title=The Princeton History of Modern Ireland|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HTRJCgAAQBAJ&pg=PP1|year=2016|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=9781400874064}}

*Brendan Bradshaw, 'Nationalism and Historical Scholarship in Modern Ireland' in ''Irish Historical Studies'', XXVI, Nov. 1989

* {{Cite book|last=Braudel|first=Fernand|author-link=Fernand Braudel|title=The Perspective of the World|date=1982|isbn=0-06-015317-2|series=Civilization and Capitalism|volume=3|ol=9230060M|language=English}}

*S. J. Connolly (editor) ''The Oxford Companion to Irish History'' ([[Oxford University Press]], 2000)

*[[Tim Pat Coogan]] ''De Valera'' (Hutchinson, 1993)

* {{Cite book|title=A New History of Ireland|date=1987|editor-last=Cosgrove|editor-first=Art|volume=I – Medieval Ireland 1169–1534}}

* {{Cite book|title=A New History of Ireland|date=1976|isbn=0-19-821737-4|editor-last=Cróinín|editor-first=Dáibhí Ó|volume=I – Prehistoric and Early Ireland |publisher=Oxford University Press }}

* John Crowley et al. eds., ''Atlas of the Irish Revolution'' (2017). [http://www.corkuniversitypress.com/Atlas-of-the-Irish-Revolution-p/9781782051176.htm excerpt]

*[[Norman Davies]] ''The Isles: A History'' (Macmillan, 1999)

*Patrick J. Duffy, ''The Nature of the Medieval Frontier in Ireland'', in ''Studia Hibernica'' 23 & 23, 1982–83, pp.&nbsp;21–38; ''Gaelic Ireland c.1250-c.1650:Land, Lordship & Settlement'', 2001

*Nancy Edwards, ''The archaeology of early medieval Ireland'' (London, Batsford 1990)

*Ruth Dudley Edwards, ''Patrick Pearse and the Triumph of Failure'',1974

*Marianne Eliot, ''Wolfe Tone'', 1989

*B.J. Graham, ''Anglo-Norman settlement in County Meath'', ''RIA Proc.'' 1975; ''Medieval Irish Settlement'', Historical Geography Research Series, No. 3, [[Norwich]], 1980

*[[Robert Kee]] ''The Green Flag Volumes 1–3'' (''The Most Distressful Country'', ''The Bold Fenian Men'', ''Ourselves Alone'')

*J. J. Lee ''The Modernisation of Irish Society 1848–1918'' (Gill and Macmillan)

*J.F. Lydon, ''The problem of the frontier in medieval Ireland'', in ''Topic'' 13, 1967; ''The Lordship of Ireland in the Middle Ages'', 1972

*[[F. S. L. Lyons]] ''Ireland Since the Famine''1976

*F. S. L. Lyons, Culture and Anarchy in Ireland,

* {{Cite book|last=Mac Annaidh|first=Séamus|title=Irish History|date=1999|publisher=Parragon|isbn=0-7525-6139-1|___location=Bath|ol=7983444M}}

*[[Nicholas Mansergh]], ''Ireland in the Age of Reform and Revolution'' 1940

*Dorothy McCardle ''The Irish Republic''

* R. B. McDowell, ''Ireland in the age of imperialism and revolution, 1760–1801'' (1979)

*[[T. W. Moody]] and [[F. X. Martin]] "The Course of Irish History" Fourth Edition (Lanham, Maryland: Roberts Rinehart Publishers, 2001)

*Seán Farrell Moran, ''Patrick Pearse and the Politics of Redemption'', 1994

*Austen Morgan, ''James Connolly: A Political Biography'', 1988

*James H. Murphy ''Abject Loyalty: Nationalism and Monarchy in Ireland During the Reign of Queen Victoria'' (Cork University Press, 2001)

*[http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/E900003-001/ the 1921 Treaty debates online]

*John A. Murphy ''Ireland in the Twentieth Century'' (Gill and Macmillan)

*[[Kenneth Nicholls]], ''Gaelic and Gaelicised Ireland'', 1972

*[[Frank Pakenham]], (Lord Longford) ''Peace by Ordeal''

* {{Cite book|last=Plumb|first=John Harold|author-link=John H. Plumb|title=England in the Eighteenth Century [1714–1815]|date=1963|pages=179–185|chapter=The Irish Empire|ol=4610830M}}

*Alan J. Ward ''The Irish Constitutional Tradition: Responsible Government & Modern Ireland 1782–1992'' (Irish Academic Press, 1994)

*[[Carmel McCaffrey]] and Leo Eaton ''In Search of Ancient Ireland: the origins of the Irish from Neolithic Times to the Coming of the English'' (Ivan R Dee, 2002)

*Carmel McCaffrey ''In Search of Ireland's Heroes: the Story of the Irish from the English Invasion to the Present Day'' (Ivan R Dee, 2006)

*Paolo Gheda, ''I cristiani d'Irlanda e la guerra civile (1968–1998)'', prefazione di Luca Riccardi, Guerini e Associati, Milano 2006, 294 pp., {{ISBN|88-8335-794-9}}

*Hugh F. Kearney ''Ireland: Contested Ideas of Nationalism and History'' (NYU Press, 2007)

*Nicholas Canny "The Elizabethan Conquest of Ireland"(London, 1976) {{ISBN|0-85527-034-9}}

*{{Cite book|first=John|last=Waddell|title=The prehistoric archaeology of Ireland|place=Galway|publisher=Galway University Press|year=1998|hdl=10379/1357|isbn=9781901421101}} Alex Vittum

* Brown, T. 2004, ''Ireland: a social and cultural history, 1922-2001,'' Rev. edn, Harper Perennial, London.

{{Refend}}

===Historiography===

* Bourke, Richard. "Historiography" in Bourke and Ian McBride, eds. ''The Princeton History of Modern Ireland'' (Princeton University Press, 2016), ch 11.

*Boyce, D. George and Alan O'Day, eds, ''The Making of Modern Irish History: Revisionism and the Revisionist Controversy'', 1996

*Brady, Ciaran, ''Interpreting Irish History: The Debate on Irish Revisionism'', 1994

* Clarkson, L. A. "The writing of Irish economic and social history since 1968." ''Economic History Review'' 33.1 (1980): 100–111. DOI: 10.2307/2595549 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2595549 online]

* Elton, G.R. ''Modern Historians on British History 1485–1945: A Critical Bibliography 1945–1969'' (1969), annotated guide to 1000 history books on every major topic, plus book reviews and major scholarly articles. [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.176158 online] pp 206–16

* Frawley, Oona. ''Memory Ireland: History and Modernity'' (2011)

* Gibney, John. ''The Shadow of a Year: The 1641 Rebellion in Irish History and Memory'' (2013)

* King, Jason. "The Genealogy of Famine Diary in Ireland and Quebec: Ireland's Famine Migration in Historical Fiction, Historiography, and Memory." ''Éire-Ireland'' 47#1 (2012): 45–69. [http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/eir/summary/v047/47.1-2.king.html online]

* Louis, Wm Roger, and Robin Winks, eds. ''The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume V: Historiography'' (2001)

* McBride, Ian, ''History and Memory in Modern Ireland'' (2001)

* McCarthy, Mark, ed. ''Ireland's Heritages: Critical Perspectives on Memory and Identity'' (2005)

* McCarthy, Mark, ed. ''Ireland's 1916 Rising: Explorations of History-making, Commemoration & Heritage in Modern Times'' (2012)

* Noack, Christian, Lindsay Janssen, and Vincent Comerford. ''Holodomor and Gorta Mór: histories, memories, and representations of famine in Ukraine and Ireland'' (Anthem Press, 2012).

* Quinn, James. ''Young Ireland And the Writing of Irish History'' (2015)

==External links==

{{scholia|topic}}

*[http://www.irishhistorylinks.net/Irish_History_Timeline.html Irish History Timeline] at Irish History Links

*[http://eudocs.lib.byu.edu/index.php/History_of_Ireland:_Primary_Documents History of Ireland: Primary Documents]

*[http://www.irelandhistory.org/ History of Ireland guide]

*[http://greathunger.org/ Irish History Digitized]

*[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14510 Ireland Under Coercion] – "''The diary of an American''", by [[William Henry Hurlbert]], published 1888, from [[Project Gutenberg]]

*[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/11917/11917-h/11917-h.htm The Story of Ireland] by [[Emily Lawless]], 1896 (''[[Project Gutenberg]]'')

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060502020945/http://www.1916rising.com/timeline.html Timeline of Irish History] 1840–1916 (''1916 Rebellion Walking Tour'')

*[http://www.libraryireland.com/JoyceHistory/Contents.php A Concise History of Ireland by P. W. Joyce]

*[http://sources.nli.ie Sources: A National Library of Ireland database for Irish research]

*[http://www.life.com/image/first/in-gallery/24142/the-ireland-of-yesterday The Ireland of Yesterday] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100505065657/http://www.life.com/image/first/in-gallery/24142/the-ireland-of-yesterday |date=5 May 2010 }} – slideshow by ''[[Life magazine]]''

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090601233157/http://www.irishvideosonline.com/ Irish history stories recalled on dvd, free web videos online]

*[http://www.theirishstory.com/ The Irish Story – Irish History website]

*[https://digital.ucd.ie/view/ucdlib:22670 Historic Maps of Ireland from the Library of Congress, 1665 – 1797. A UCD Digital Library Collection]

*[https://irisharchaeology.ie/2016/03/new-discovery-pushes-back-date-of-human-existence-in-ireland-by-2500-years/ New Discovery Pushes back date of human existence in Ireland by 2500 Years]

*[https://www.rareirishstuff.com/about-us/about-you.406.html#:~:text=Ireland's%20first%20inhabitants%20landed%20between,this%20evolved%20into%20Irish%20Gaelic. History of Ireland] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201203075047/https://www.rareirishstuff.com/about-us/about-you.406.html#:~:text=Ireland's%20first%20inhabitants%20landed%20between,this%20evolved%20into%20Irish%20Gaelic. |date=3 December 2020 }} By Rare Irish Stuff

*[https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/what-did-the-romans-ever-do-for-ireland-1.4205876#:~:text=The%20Romans%20never%20conquered%20Ireland,They%20did%20not%20even%20try.&text=According%20to%20Tacitus%2C%20Agricola's%20son,legion%20with%20a%20few%20auxiliaries. What did the Romans ever do for Ireland?] By Turtle Bunbury on 21 March 2020

*[https://archive.archaeology.org/9605/newsbriefs/ireland.html Romans in Ireland?] By Andrew L. Slayman in May 1996

{{Ireland topics|expanded=History}}

[[Category:History of Ireland|*]]

{{European history by country}}

[[Category:Ireland]]

[[Category:{{History of Europethe British Isles|Ireland]]bar=yes}}

{{British Isles}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:History of Ireland}}

[[de:Geschichte Irlands]]

[[Category:History of Ireland| ]]

[[es:Historia de Irlanda]]

[[fr:Histoire de l'Irlande]]

[[he:היסטוריה של אירלנד]]

[[nl:Geschiedenis van Ierland]]

[[pt:História da República da Irlanda]]

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