The history of the island of Ireland is both complex and connected to the wider world: it was the first place in the British and Irish archipelago to be settled by Christian monks, and has suffered Viking invasion, Norman colonization, British decimation, mass migration to the New World, civil war and eventually independence for Éire in the early 20th century. Despite its often troubled past, Ireland is today a dynamic island with a blossoming economy and culture. Discover the remains of the countrys many Iron Age hill forts, such as the atmospheric stone fort at Grianįn Aileach; explore the first Christian colonies in the monastic settlement at Glendalough in County Wicklow; read of the legend of St Patrick, and stood atop a hillside and banished snakes from Ireland prompting all serpents to slither away into the sea; discover the Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript of the Celtic Gospel written in the 9th century; learn about the Plantation of Ulster in the 17th century, where English and Scottish settlers established Protestant communities, causing lasting communal strife; understand the Easter Rising and the traumatic war for independence, which led to Irelands current political shape; and experience modern Ireland, a place of prosperity, with thriving cities like Dublin and Belfast alongside beautiful countryside. Arranged chronologically from ancient times to the 21st century, History of Ireland provides a pictorial exploration of a land that is well-known but often little understood.
Papildus informācija
Fascinating photographic history of Ireland from ancient times to the present day
Contents
Introduction While the English and British connection will always remain key
to any reading of Irish history, an array of other powers, including Spain,
France, the papacy and the United States, have left their mark on the
nation.
Pre-history and Ancient Iron Age During the fifth century that the main
over-kingdoms of In Tuisceart, Airgialla, Ulaid, Mide, Laigin, Mumhain,
Cóiced Ol nEchmacht began to emerge. Within these kingdoms, a rich culture
flourished. The society of these kingdoms was dominated by an upper class
consisting of aristocratic warriors, scholars and Druids. The Irish were in
the habit of plundering the long western seaboard of Roman Britain in search
of booty and the first Christians in Ireland, therefore, were most likely
Britons carried across the sea as slaves.
The Coming of the Gospel The spread of Christianity in fifth-century Ireland
is inextricably linked in the public mind with the iconic figure of Saint
Patrick: miracle-working missionary, canny politician and snake-banishing
national saint. In Ireland a large circular enclosure, a cashel, rath or ring
fort, had provided the characteristic form for any settlement from the Bronze
Age onwards. The Celtic church simply took over this form for its own use. An
important monastery might include several individual churches and crosses.
The development of Christianity was fundamental to the evolution of an Irish
cultural identity, led to the creation of such glories of early Irish art as
the Book of Kells and the Ardagh Chalice, and helped to maintain the flame of
learning and education in Europe during the chaotic centuries that followed
the fall of Rome.
Medieval Era: Viking Raiders and Norman Colonization The first recorded
Viking raids on Ireland took place in 795 AD, when islands off the north and
west coasts were plundered. Later, Viking fleets appeared on the major river
systems and fortified bases for more extensive raiding are mentioned from
about 840 AD. Monasteries were one of the main targets of Viking raiders
because they were likely to contain valuable loot and most importantly,
people to be sold as slaves. Plantagenets arrive: In the summer of 1167, a
small band of Anglo-Norman adventurers sailed from Pembrokeshire and landed
on the County Wexford coast. Within two years, the Norse ports of Wexford,
Waterford and Dublin had fallen; and the Gaelic Irish were mustering against
these potent newcomers on the Irish political scene. It was a seismic moment
in Irish history, marking the establishment of the Lordship of Ireland: in
effect, the first English colony.
Early Modern Era: Plantation of Ulster In the spring of 1606, a wave of Scots
settlers farmers, craftsmen, artisans crossed the narrow waters of the
North Channel and came ashore at the port of Donaghadee in County Down. This
was the beginning of the Plantation of Ulster: a systematic British and
Protestant settlement of the northern half of Ireland. With the defeat of a
Spanish expeditionary force at Kinsale in County Cork at Christmas 1601 came
the definitive victory of English military power in Ireland a fact
emphasised by the Flight of the Earls in 1607, when a large proportion of
Ulsters Gaelic aristocracy fled Ireland for the continent. The sack of
Drogheda In August 1649, Oliver Cromwell and his New Model Army landed at
Dublin. The Civil War in England had come to an end with the execution of
Charles I, and Cromwell was eager now to settle affairs in Ireland, where
anarchy reigned and the royalist faction retained significant support. Battle
of the Boyne The battle of the Boyne was fought on 1 July 1690, between
forces of the deposed and exiled Catholic king, James VII of Scotland and II
of England, and the Dutch Protestant new king, William II of Scotland and III
of England (William of Orange). Battle of Aughrim The Battle of Aughrim was
fought on the flat landscapes of County Galway in July
1691. It epitomised
the final defeat of Catholic Ireland, and the beginning of an uncontested
Protestant ascendancy in Ireland.
Famine and Emigration In September 1845, as the first potatoes were being
lifted in fields across Ireland, word began to spread of a disease affecting
the new crop. The potatoes were coming out of the ground rotten and putrid.
Blight was spreading across the countryside. The famine would continue until
1849 and its effects upon Irish society were cataclysmic. Of a pre-famine
population of some eight million, over a million died of hunger and
famine-related diseases. In the century between the Napoleonic Wars and the
Irish Civil War, more than seven million Irish men and women left their
homeland to begin new lives abroad. While the majority settled in the United
States, Irish emigrants dispersed across the globe, many of them finding
their way to another New World, Australia.
Independence Movements and Civil War Wolfe Tone stands as one of Irelands
most compelling and charismatic national leaders. Born in Dublin in 1763, his
political vision was sharpened as he watched revolutionary events unfold
first in America and then France. He dreamt of a radical, non-sectarian Irish
republic and his 1791 pamphlet An Argument on Behalf of the Catholics of
Ireland was envisaged as a necessary first step, calling as it did for the
emancipation of Irelands disenfranchised Catholic majority. By the 1830s, a
new leader had emerged onto the national stage. Daniel OConnell was as
Catholic as Wolfe Tone had been atheist. His vision was of an Ireland in
which Catholicism and national identity were folded into one; and he
understood the importance of enlisting the mass of the population as a means
of achieving his vision of the repeal of the Act of Union. Easter Rising:
Organised by a seven-man Military Council of the Irish Republican
Brotherhood, the Rising began on Easter Monday, 24 April 1916 and lasted for
six days. Civil War (192223): The conflict was waged between two opposing
groups of Irish nationalists: the forces of the new Free State, who supported
the Anglo-Irish Treaty under which the state was established, and the
Republican opposition, for whom the Treaty represented a betrayal of the
Irish Republic.
Modern Ireland Troubles in Northern Ireland Bloody Sunday: On 30 January
1972, a civil rights march was winding slowly from the western suburbs of
Derry towards the Guildhall Square in the city centre. Such marches were
commonplace: since 1968, Northern Ireland had become accustomed to the sight
of public demonstrations demanding equal rights for the provinces Catholic
minority; and an end to Unionist-majority rule. On this day, however, the
march ended in tragedy as British soldiers opened fire on the crowd. Soon, 13
men lay dead; a 14th died later of his injuries. Good Friday Agreement In
April 1998, the Belfast or Good Friday Agreement was signed, setting out a
framework for future political progress in Northern Ireland. The key to
progress had been the internationalization of the discussions and in
particular the close involvement of the Bill Clinton White House in the
protracted negotiations. Peace dividend: 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.
A journalist for more than a quarter of a century, Dominic Connolly was for many years Arts Editor of The Mail on Sunday. He also specialises in travel, property, gardening and money journalism, and over the years has contributed to the Telegraph, Evening Standard and Metro newspapers. He lives in London and is currently Commissioning Editor at Saga Magazine. He is author of History of Scotland.
