IRELAND
See Also: The History of Ireland
Ireland is now an island divided into 2 political countries. The Republic of Ireland is
the central, south and west of the island, a thriving independent nation with
its own government. Northern Ireland is the north-east area, under the jurisdiction
of the British (U.K.) government.
'The Emerald Isle' is a jewel at the edge of the Atlantic. From the east central plain with its thriving city, a hub of art and culture for centuries, home of the fabulous illuminated medieval manuscripts, to the southern hills, and the beautiful rugged west coast with its offshore islands, to the wilds of the north-west, Ireland is a living Celtic wonder. Ancient stone circles, huge burial mounds (incredibly built to align with seasonal sunrises), cliff fortresses, archaic monastic dwellings and round towers, wonderful carved stone crosses, and imposing medieval castles make this a historians delight. Ireland has one of the oldest cultures and continuous vernacular (local language) literatures in Europe. The Celtic spirit of the people is overflowing in the wealth of traditional music and dancing to be found across the country. The native name for Ireland is Eire, also called Eirann, and 'Hibernia' by the Romans.
The land was long inhabited when the ancient people built the amazing megalithic tombs of the Boyne Valley in 3000 B.C., the tomb of Newgrange being the world's oldest structure, and the people we think of as Celts were there from at least 300 B.C., controlling the country for 1000 years.
History
and myth are mingled in early Irish times. Ancient Irish manuscripts, the 'Book
of Invasions' say that 5 groups of invaders arrived before the Celtic Gaels. Cessair
was descended from Noah, and after her father Bith was denied a place in the ark,
they sailed a ship for 7 years, until the Cessair arrived in Ireland 40 days before
Great Flood. Only one of her tribe, Fintan, the White Ancient, survived the deluge.
The Partholons arrived next, and battled the Fomorian warlike residents, winning
possession of the island for 300 years, until destroyed by plague. Next were the
Nemedians (possibly of Greek or Scythian origin), who beat the Fomorians several
times, but were decimated by plague, and were finally were defeated by their foes.
Among those that escaped was a Nemedian warrior, Briotan said to have given his
name to the island and people of Briton.
Descended from the Nemedians were the
next wave, the Fir Bolg, who divided the old land into 5 provinces, Leinster,
Meath, Connaught, Ulster and Munster. Meath later merged with Leinster. The following
invasion was by a mystical race known as the Tuatha de Danann (the children of
Danann), said to have arrived from the sky. They were a beautiful, artistic warrior
race, descended from the Nemedians, and achieved god-like status in Irish mythology.
They defeated the Fir Bolg at the First Battle of Moy Tura, only to return there
later to fight the ancient enemy, the Fomorians, at the Second Battle of Moy Tura,
led by King Nuada of the Silver Arm and their warrior hero Lugh the Il-Dana. Nauda
was slain, and so was the Fomorian king, Balor of the Evil Eye, by his own grandson,
Lugh, forever ending Fomorian power. The Tuatha de Danann ruled Ireland for 197
years, their main residences being in the Boyne Valley, where the ancient megalithic
tombs of Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth stand. The next invasion was by the Milesians,
of whom the Celtic descendants were the Gaelic Irish.
These
people are said to have come from Galiza, on the Atlantic corner of what is now
north-west Spain. Mile, the founder of that race, was married to Scota ( who may
have given her name to the later Irish settlers of Scotland), and their son Breagon
and his sons, are said to have sailed to Ireland from there. Although they beat
the Tuatha in battle and settled, mysterious blights on their land and animals
forced them to allow the Tuatha de Danann to remain in Ireland, however this magical
race retreated to their 'sidh' or 'fairy mounds', and other special natural places
in the landscape, where they are still said to live today.
Christianity arrived in Ireland probably in the 3rd to 4th centuries, the most famous missionary being St.Patrick in the 5th century. As the rest of Europe was in the 'Dark Ages', Ireland was a land of thriving monasteries, with the Irish monks taking the artform of interlaced knotwork (maybe from the earlier stonework of the Picts in Scotland), and refining it in fabulous illuminated manuscripts, illustrated versions of the Gospels. Many of these amazingly detailed volumes have survived to this day. The "Book of Kells", the "Book of Durrow" and the "Book of Armagh" are on display in Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. Some of the artists, hundreds of years later, were destined to be made Saints by the Christian Church. Many other Celtic treasures, including religious relics, ceremonial objects, jewellery, weapons and armour, can be seen in the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin.
With
the end of the 700s a new menace came to Ireland, the Vikings, persistently raiding
the rich monasteries, the monks building the high Round Towers, that can be seen
all over Ireland, as lookouts and refuges. The Vikings soon established permanent
bases at Dublin, Wicklow, Waterford and Wexford, Limerick and Cork. They were
defeated in the Battle of Tara in 980, and their expansion was halted by a decisive
victory against them in 1014 at the Battle of Clontarf, by the Irish forces led
by King Brian Boru.
From the 5th to the 10th century, the Ui Neill (O'Neill) Kings ruled the north, Ulster and Meath, from Tara. Their counterparts in the south, the Eoganacht Kings, followed by the Ui Brianne (O'Brien), ruled Munster, with their capital at Cashel. Connacht was held by the Ua Conchobair (O'Connor) Kings of Roscommon, and Leinster by the Ui Cheinnselaigh then MacMurroughs at Fern. Various regional kings claimed the High Kingship of Ireland, but the first one to actually gain that position was Brian Boru, establishing the Royal Seat at Tara.
The
Normans from France, originally 'Northmen' or Vikings themselves, invaded Britain
in 1066 - this affected the Celtic lands more than any other previous invasion.
They occupied the Anglo-Saxon areas, and the Celtic lands of Cornwall, Wales,
and Scotland, and later invaded Ireland. Ironically, they were called upon to
help a defeated king of Leinster regain his lands. In 1169 the Normans landed
and took Wexford and Dublin. A year later they took Waterford, led by Strongbow,
a Norman warlord from occupied Wales, who later inherited the kingship of Leinster
as part of his deal to help the previous king. For over 300 years, the immigrant
warlords settled in and grew to largely ignore their old Norman, now English,
rulers. Irish history after the Normans arrival becomes a complicated story of
English occupation, changing land ownership, national identity, politics, and
a struggle between 2 factions of the modern Christian religion. It is by no means
as simple as described above, and more details can be found on our Irish history
page.
Of relevance to descendants of emigrant Irish, is The Great Famine of 1845-49, which was disastrous, as crops of potatoes, the only affordable food for millions of poverty stricken Irish, failed. 2 -3 million people emigrated or died starving, as rich land owners exported other crops too expensive for their tenants. Huge emigration continued for the next 100 years, mainly to the U.S.A. At the time of the famine, there were maybe 9 million people in Ireland, and even today the population is only 6 million.
The Republic of Ireland flag is the tricolour of green, white and orange. The green is to represent the Catholics, the orange to represent the Protestants, and the white to represent peace between them.
