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ireland:
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The island of Ireland was inhabited around 6000BC by clans from north-east
Scotland. Considered not worth invading by the Romans, the
original Celtic
tribes fought among themselves Wars continued and the Vikings were followed by Norman and British invaders. Henry VII broke with the
Catholic church and declared himself the head of the Protestant Church of Ireland. Half a century later, Oliver Cromwell marched through
the land with a bloodied sword, strengthening the English hold.
In 1660 laws were enforced forbidding Catholics to hold mass or to buy or inherit land. The failure of the
potato crops in 1845, 1846 and then 1848
threw the people into appalling famine. In less than 10yrs the population was reduced by
4 million. Half died, the other half emigrated.
Longstanding resentment deepened in Easter 1916 when a group of Fenians took control of public buildings in
Dublin. They were overrun
and executed, but this only strengthen sympathy for the Republicans. in 1921 the Anglo-Irish treaty was signed which did little but
plunge the country further into civil war. A new constitution came into effect in 1938, finally
declaring Ireland's complete independence and renouncing British sovereignty. This free state
became known as Eire but even though a truce exists today, the trouble in Ireland remain
its most reported topic. On Good Friday 1998, political parties in Northern Ireland signed a new peace settlement supported
but the
vast majority of the people, both north and south. This new settlement offers an opportunity of permanent peace for the first time and an
end to the troubles in Northern Ireland, although events, like the August 1998 bombing of Omarh by the 'Real' IRA, which
killed 28 innocent people, leave the process in a tenuous state.
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