History of Ireland

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.

• Contents:Pre-Christian Ireland Iron Age – During the fifth century the main kingdoms of In Tuisceart, Airgialla, Ulaid, Mide, Laigin, Mumhain, Cóiced Ol nEchmacht began to emerge.The Coming of the Gospel The spread of Christianity in fifth-century Ireland is inextricably linked with the iconic figure of St Patrick. The development of Christianity was fundamental to the evolution of an Irish cultural identity, and helped to maintain the flame of learning and education in Europe during the chaotic centuries that followed the fall of Rome.Vikings and Normans The first recorded Viking raids on Ireland took place in 795 AD, when islands off the north and west coasts were plundered. In the summer of 1167, a small band of Anglo-Norman adventurers sailed from Pembrokeshire and landed on the County Wexford coast. It was a seismic moment in Irish history, marking the establishment of the Lordship of Ireland: in effect, the first English colony.Protestants and Catholics In the spring of 1606, a wave of Scots settlers came ashore 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 Ulster’s Gaelic aristocracy fled Ireland for the continent. The sack of Drogheda – In August 1649, Oliver Cromwell and his New Model Army landed at Dublin. 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 in July 1691. It epitomised the final defeat of Catholic 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. Blight was spreading across the countryside. 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.Independence Movements and Civil War Wolfe Tone dreamt of a radical, non-sectarian Irish republic. By the 1830s, a new leader had emerged onto the national stage. Daniel O’Connell understood the importance of enlisting the mass of the population as a means of achieving 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 (1922–23): 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, British soldiers opened fire on the crowd. Good Friday Agreement – In April 1998, the Agreement was signed, setting out a framework for future political progress in Northern Ireland. 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 Union (EU).

"Whether you are Irish, of Irish descent or a friend of the Irish, there is something in there for all."