Ireland

From CreationWiki, the encyclopedia of creation science

Ireland (Irish: Éire) or the Republic of Ireland (Irish: Poblacht na hÉireann) is a state which covers approximately five-sixths of the island of Ireland, off the coast of northwest Europe. The remaining sixth of the island of Ireland is known as Northern Ireland and is part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The country's official constitutional name is Éire or, in the English language, Ireland. The Republic of Ireland is the official description of the state.

History

History of the Island

A long cold climatic spell prevailed until about 3800 years ago, and most of Ireland was covered with ice. This era was known as the Ice Age. The Ice Age lasted from 2300-1800 BC. Sea-levels were lower then, and Ireland, as with its neighbor Britain, instead of being islands, were part of a greater continental Europe. The first inhabitants arrived some time after 1800 BC. Agriculture arrived around the same time circa 2250-2150 BC where sheep, goats, cattle and cereals were imported from southwest continental Europe. At the Céide Fields in County Mayo, an extensive Neolithic field system - arguably the oldest in the world - has been preserved beneath a blanket of peat. Consisting of small fields separated from one another by dry-stone walls, the Céide Fields were farmed for several centuries between 2250 and 2150 BC. Wheat and barley were the principal crops cultivated.

The Bronze Age, which began around 1600 BC, saw the production of elaborate gold as well as bronze ornaments, weapons and tools. The Iron Age in Ireland was supposedly associated with people known as Celts. The ancestors of the Irish people are the Milesians, the sons of Míl Espáine, also known as the Gaels. They were Goidelic speaking Celts who came from the area of Galicia in northwest Spain and sailed to Ireland around 504 BC. They soon conquered and colonized the island and exterminated the Tuatha Dé Danann, who were the previous inhabitants, dividing it into five or more kingdoms. All of the previous settlers were Bythronic speaking Celts (similar to those that also settled in Britain & central Europe) from the North West European coastal regions from Holland to Amorica (Brittany, France) over a period of 1000 years.

The Romans referred to Ireland as Hibernia and/or Scotia. Ptolemy in AD 100 records Ireland's geography and tribes. Native accounts are confined to Irish poetry, myth, and archeology. The exact relationship between Rome and the tribes of Hibernia is unclear; the only references are a few Roman writings.

In medieval times, the Ard Rí ('High King') reigned over the (then five) provinces of Ireland. These provinces too had their own kings, who were subject to the monarch, who resided at Tara. The written judicial system was the Brehon Law, and it was administered by professional learned jurists who were known as the Brehons.

True colour image of Ireland, captured by a NASA satellite on 4 January 2003, with the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the Irish Sea to the east.

According to early medieval chronicles, in 431, Bishop Palladius arrived in Ireland on a mission from Pope Celestine to minister to the Irish "already believing in Christ." Tradition maintains that in AD 432, St. Patrick arrived on the island and, in the years that followed, worked to convert the Irish to Christianity. The druid tradition collapsed in the face of the spread of the new faith. Irish scholars excelled in the study of Latin learning and Christian theology in the monasteries that flourished, preserving Latin learning during the Dark 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 clochans, ringforts and promontory forts. This golden age was interrupted in the 9th century by 200 years of intermittent warfare with waves of Viking raiders who plundered monasteries and towns. The Vikings eventually founded many seacoast towns in Ireland.

In 1172, King Henry II of England gained Irish lands, and from the 13th century, English law began to be introduced. English rule was largely limited to the area around Dublin known as the Pale initially, but this began to expand in the 16th century with the final collapse of the Gaelic social and political superstructure at the end of the 17th century due to manipulation by the British government. In the middle of the 1800's the country suffered a huge potato famine. England's economic policy meant that millions were starving, spurring emigration waves to Britain, North America and Australia. The result was that, between deaths and emigration, the population dropped from over 8 million before the Famine to 4.4 million in 1911. From that time, English influence and expansion grew, and with it spread the English language. Over time there grew a movement to shake off British rule, and for Ireland to become independent.

An attempt was made to gain independence for Ireland with the 1916 Easter Rising, an insurrection largely confined to Dublin. Though support for the insurgents was not entirely widespread, the suppression of the rebellion, and subsequent executions by the British government galvanized support for independence. A war of independence, or the Anglo-Irish War raged from 1919 to 1921, resulting in the creation of Southern Ireland (becoming the Irish Free State) and Northern Ireland (which remained in the Union).

The Republic of Ireland

On Easter Monday, April 18, 1949, the anniversary of the Easter Rebellion, Éire declared itself the Republic of Ireland, completely independent of the British crown and no longer a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. In May the British Parliament recognized Ireland’s status as a republic but declared that the six counties of Northern Ireland would not be severed from the United Kingdom without the assent of the parliament in Northern Ireland.

The transition from Éire to the Republic of Ireland was of chiefly symbolic significance, marking the achievement of a goal sought by Irish nationalists for generations. The United Kingdom allowed Ireland to retain the economic benefits of Commonwealth membership, and it extended to Irish citizens living in the United Kingdom the same rights as British citizens. Ireland granted British citizens residing in the republic similar benefits. Nevertheless, the continued partition of Ireland strained the republic’s relations with the United Kingdom. As a protest against partition, the republic declined to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), since this would have entailed entering into a military alliance with the United Kingdom.

In the republic’s first national election in 1951, Éamon de Valera returned as prime minister. De Valera’s willingness to accept an independent country that did not include the six counties of Northern Ireland provoked renewed protests from the IRA (Irish Republican Army). During the 1950s the IRA organized armed raids and ambushes along the border of Northern Ireland. De Valera was forced to take repressive action against the IRA while simultaneously protesting the continuation of partition.

More pressing than the question of partition, however, were the social and economic problems that beset the republic. Particularly serious was the constant loss of young people, who continued to leave the country by the tens of thousands annually in search of greater opportunities in the United Kingdom and the United States. In an effort to assist the agricultural population, and to stem the flow of farm workers to the cities and foreign countries, the de Valera government began an ambitious program of rural electrification and promoted new measures to stimulate local industry.

Timeline

• 2250 BC: Arrival of first men in Ireland across land-bridge from Scotland.
• 2150 BC: Arrival of men who built Newgrange.
• 504 BC: Arrival of Gaels in Ireland.
• 150 AD: Ptolemy draws map of Ireland.
• 367 AD: Irish, Picts, and Saxons attacked Roman controlled Britannia.
• 431 AD: Bishop Palladius sent by the pope to Ireland to minister to Christians there.
• 432 AD: St. Patrick arrives to help convert pagan Gaelic Kings to Christianity.
• 455 AD: St. Patrick founds church at Armagh.
• 795 AD: Arrival of first Norsemen or Vikings (sometimes called 'Danes') on Lambay island off Dublin coast.
• 1014: High King Brian Boru killed after victory over Norsemen and their Irish allies at battle of Clontarf.
• 1224: Dominican order enters Ireland.
• 1315: Scots attack Ireland.
• 1348-1351: Black death kills a third of population.
• 1539: Irish monasteries dissolved.
• 1541: Henry VIII of England declared King of Ireland.
• 1592: Trinity College of Dublin established.
• 1607: Flight of O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone and O'Donnell, Earl of Tyrconnell ('The Flight of the Earls').
• 1649: Catholics rebel over land rights. Oliver Cromwell, England's Protestant Lord Protector, led a punitive expedition into Ireland. The massacre was bloody, brutal and most destructive.
• 1650: The few remaining Catholic landowners are all relocated to western Ireland.
• 1688: James II, deposed Catholic King of England, flees to Ireland and gathers an army.
• 1704: Enactment of penal laws debarring Catholics from Parliament, holding government office, entering the legal profession, holding commissions in the army and navy, among other things. Catholic Clergy illegal in Ireland since 1697.
• 1778: Only 5% of Irish land held by Catholics even though in number of inhabitants, they were in the clear majority.
• 1790: Protestant Barrister supportive of the Catholic cause comes on the scene – Wolfe Tone. Organizes groups to resist English governance in Ireland and the discrimination against Catholics.
• 1798: Rebellion – United Irishmen, a group organized by Wolfe Tone, rebel. Rebellion is, however, a failure and Wolfe Tone is captured and executed.
• 1800: By the Act of Union, Ireland becomes a part of Great Britain.
• 1829: Act of Catholic Emancipation thanks to Daniel O’Connell.
• 1845-1849: Great Potato Famine causes great hardship, thousands of deaths, and forces mass-immigration to the United States.
• 1867: Thousands of Irish-Americans return home to fight for Irish Republican Brotherhood.
• 1916: Nationalists stage Easter Rising, proclaiming an independent Irish Republic. All of their leaders executed by the British.
• 1919: Nationalists, led by Éamon de Valera, establishes Dublin assembly. Guerrilla war begins between British forces and the Irish Republican Army.
• 1920: British parliament passes the Government of Ireland Act establishing one parliament for the six counties of Northern Ireland, and another for the rest of Ireland.
• 1921: Anglo-Irish treaty signed. Northern Ireland partitioned off to remain part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
• 1922: The Dublin parliament accepts the treaty despite Nationalist opposition. Subsequently civil war breaks out and hundreds are killed
• 1932: Éamon de Valera heads the Irish Free State government.
• 1937: Voters approve a new constitution, abolishing the Irish Free State, and proclaiming Ireland (Éire) as a sovereign, independent, democratic state, free from British control.
• 1949: On Easter Monday, Éire becomes Republic of Ireland, and totally independent from Britain.
• 1972: Bloody Sunday, as British troops shoot and kill 13 demonstrators.
• 2002: Irish punt note replaced by Euro.
• 2005: IRA announces an end to armed campaign.

Related References

• Catholic Encyclopedia - Ireland
• Wikipedia - Ireland
• Wikipedia - Republic of Ireland
• MSN Encarta: Ireland

See Also

• Roman empire