A LITTLE HISTORY                            

             
          
Many see Ireland as a green island filled with myths and mysteries, full of cottages, pubs, good music and poetry. Its political and economic situation is of course less ideal, but Ireland remains one of the most inviting and welcoming places to visit.
 
                                                                                                     

 
   As an island, Ireland remained quite isolated from major European events throughout its history. Christianity never invaded the country until approximately the fifth century AD with the arrival of St. Patrick in 432. Until the Viking invasion of the ninth century, Ireland enjoyed relative peace. Huge monasteries were built where scholarship and art flourished. Although the Vikings failed to gain real control over the island, the Anglo-Normans succeeded in 1169. Many Irish submitted to King Henry II of England, who declared himself Lord of Ireland For centuries to come, they would be under England's rule.


   
   
Matters changed when King Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church in 1532. Ireland then became a battlefield between native Irish Catholics and the English forces.The Irish were ultimately defeated, their lands were confiscated and granted to Protestants from England and Scotland. The English conquest was completed with the victory of William of Orange over James II in 1690. Tragedy would strike again with the 1845 Potato Famine, which had killed nearly two million habitants by 1848. Many had little choice but to emigrate, mostly to North America.                                               

It was not until 1920 before the Government of  Ireland Act divided the island. The south became the Free State, gaining full independence in 1937, while the north became part of the United Kingdom. Ever since, Northern Ireland has become a battleground , where both Loyalist and Republican continue to fight and bomb each other, despite the 1998 Good Friday Agreement (which had hoped to pave the way for a new peace between Catholics and Protestants).

 
 

   






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