The Two Irelands

Land of Division

• Political – Two Countries

• Religion – Catholic vs. Protestant

• Cultural – Celtic vs. English / Scottish

Ireland’s Physical Characteristics

• Shaped like a huge soup bowl

• River Shannon• Marine west coast

climate (green, green, green) – Emerald Island

• Peat – spongy material containing waterlogged mosses and plants…..

Peat

• Used for fuel, cooking and heating• Even used in power plants that now

produce ¼ of the nations electricity!

Ireland’s History• Celtic Tribes• Viking Raiders• Norman Invaders• King Henry II• Religious conflicts (Reformation)• Potato Famine• Rebellions and Division• Independence• Peace Talks

Celtic Tribes

• Celtic tribes from Europe first settled Ireland around 300 B.C.

Viking Raiders

• The Celtic settlers had to defend themselves from repeated Viking raids….we’ll learn a lot about this in our mini unit!

• Vikings raided from A.D. 800 - 1014

Norman Invaders

• 1066 – Norman invaders from France took land in Ireland and built castles to protect themselves

• Tried to control the Celts• Marriage was not allowed between

Normans and Celts• Banned the Celtic language (Gaelic) and

outlawed Celtic harp music!

King Henry II

• 1171 – King Henry declared himself Lord of Ireland and tried (unsuccessfully to force Norman lords to obey him.

• It didn’t work – but all the English kings following held on to the title and began to think of Ireland as a possession

Religious conflicts (Reformation)• Until the 1500’s the Roman Catholic

Church had controlled religious affairs in most of Western Europe.

• Early 1500’s – Reformation - Protestants broke wit the Roman Catholic church and formed new churches

• Many English became Protestant but most Irish remained Catholic…..

Protestant vs. Catholic

• Not just religion – but Economics• Protestant minority controlled most of the

wealth and the Irish Catholics were poor.• Conflict between the groups led to

intentional cultural divergence

Potato Famine• 1840’s – Potato blight (plant disease)• Destroyed the potato crop year after year.• Most relied on Potatoes as their major

source of nutrition.• 1,000,000 died of starvation or disease• Push and Pull migration…..

Push and Pull Migration

• Pushed from Ireland by Famine• 2,000,000 Irish emigrated in only 7 years• Pulled by jobs –most went to US

Rebellions and Division

• Many Irish continued to press fo independence.

• Rebellions in 1916 and 1921 led the UK to divide the island into 2 parts: – The 6 northeastern

counties remained part of the UK but the rest became a free state (under British supervision)

– Declared independence in 1949 (but the trouble had just begun)

1949 - Independence

Conflict continues….• ½ of Northern Ireland’s

people are Protestant. Most of the rest are Catholics.

• Catholics support the reunification of Ireland – most Protestants oppose it.

• Both sides have used violence to try and win control of Northern Ireland.– Bombings, hunger strikes,

gun battles….

Peace Talks

• Peace talks began in 1994 but violent outbreaks continued to erupt. And still erupt today.

Economic Activities• 1990’s – invested in education and modern

telecommunications• Offered tax incentives to foreign high tech

companies• So successful that Irish economic growth was

the highest in Europe between 1994 and 2000 – unemployment fell to 3.8 %

• The downside….1999 – adopted the Euro (brought inflation)

• Earning gap between new industries and traditional industries

The End