1.

PRE-NORMAN HISTORY/EARLY IRISH KINGS AND PEOPLE + CHRISTIANITY: Saints and

Kings: Ireland’s Early Years/ Early Irish History/The Viking Era (8000 BC-11th Century)
 First men arrived in Scotland. They were not originally Celtic, but Neolithic. The
Celts arrived during the second half of the millennium BC and absorbed much of
the Neolithic culture.
 Irish art began
 Christian missionaries arrived
 St. Patrick arrived as a missionary to convert the kings.
 Kings played a key role. The church backed the kings of provinces in their
dynastic struggles and the kings defended the church.
 First Vikings arrived, pirates led by aristocrats. They harassed Irish homesteads
and monasteries for more than a century, meeting no organized national
resistance. Raids became more intense.
 Viking traders brought slaves.
 Vikings began to invade and then gradually settle into and mix with Irish society.
2. MEDIEVAL HISTORY/INVADERS + ALLIANCE: Norman Invaders (12th and 13th
Centuries)/Invading English Kings (14th and 15th Centuries)
 The Normans arrived and built walled towns, castles, and churches. They also
increased agriculture and commerce in Ireland. Normans had knights, archers,
and other technology.
 Normans eventually intermarried the Irish, adopted their ways, laws, and
language.
 English language began to take root
 At the beginning of the 14th century, all native rulers were legally subject to
some Anglo-Norman baron or earl, or the English king.
 The English kings kept getting frustrated with the Irish and the Irish were unruly
and kept challenging the authority of the Crown and rebelled. The Crown tried to
control Ireland through the force of law and by using the military, but this wasn’t
always successful.
 The English royal family wasn’t stable either. There was constant court
 English wars spread to Ireland, Irish taking sides
 Visited by Richard II, Edward III, Edward IV
3. EARLY MODERN HISTORY/REFORMATION/FAMILY FEUDS/RELIGIOUS WARS: Religious
Wars and Family Feuds (16th and 17th Centuries)
 Henry VIII decided he doesn’t like Catholicism anymore. The Reformation had a
deep and lasting effect on Ireland. Henry VIII and his successors sought to
control, and eventually suppress the Catholic Church. However, the Irish weren’t
prepared to give up their Church without a fight.
 The Crown decided to send Protestants to Ireland to settle the country and hope
they would establish themselves so dominantly that Ireland would fall in line. All
the plantations did was increase the tension between the Irish Catholics and the
new Protestants.
  Elizabethan wars took place in Ireland. The English believed the Irish were
barbarians. There was a sense of missionary license to civilize. It was believed
the Irish could only be civilized by force. The Reformation failed to take effect in
Ireland because communication was extremely difficult in Ireland. It had a
scattered population of a million and almost no roads. The only place where
Protestantism was found was Dublin. Once the Reformation was established in
Ireland, all churches were given to the Protestants.
 Plantations were set up in the Ulster region, which strengthened the position of
Protestant officials.
 The Protestant religion failed to spread. Laws against Catholics were relaxed. The
Catholic Church was tacitly tolerated. Protestants were forced to realize they
would not be able to start a reform yet and their church sizes reflected that.
 Religious persecution faded. The government didn’t officially tolerate
Catholicism, but was focusing on reestablishing the Episcopal Protestant Church.
4. CENTURY HISTORY/REBELLION + PATRIOTISM: Catholic and Protestant (18th and 19th
Centuries)/The Great Famine/Union with Great Britain
 Rise of nationalism within Ireland, the Great Famine, and a campaign for the
rights of Catholics. New ideas of liberty influenced Irish thinkers and activists and
led to the first great modern rebellion against the British in Ireland. The rebellion
was rushed but left an important legacy of freedom. To try and calm Ireland, the
British would eventually concede equal rights for Catholics, but this led to
further demands for reform.
 The Irish became increasingly bitter about British rule in the middle of the 19th
century when the Great Famine struck. The population was decimated and 1
million people chose to emigrate rather than face starvation.
 All land that could be put to profitable use had been converted to farms. Ireland
entered 18th century with European structure. Powerful landlords and church
owned most of the land.
 Dublin became the political center
 More restrictions came into force against Catholics: Catholics cannot bear arms,
own horses worth more than 5 pence (?)
 Anti-Catholic legislation was being pushed more by Irish Protestants than by the
English
 Patriotism- support the priorities of landed Protestants which included placing
constraints on Catholics and implementing cheap government.
 Tempo of Patriotism increased
 Catholics gained the vote and civil rights
 National rebellion led by the United Irishmen.
 The famine deeply affected Irish consciousness. Most Irish were dependent for
survival on the potato crop. Many people died or emigrated. Government finally
decided to distribute free food.
 Rise of Fenianism
 Gaelic Cultural Movement
5. 20TH CENTURY/ CONTEMPORARY HISTORY/CULTURAL
REVIVAL/REVOLUTION/PARTITION: Divided in Two/War of Independence/Civil
War/Northern Ireland/Republic of Ireland
 In the 1880s Ireland embraced its traditional culture and tried to distinguish itself
from Britain. This was an important process and made people in Ireland feel
more Irish. The more Irish they felt, the more the argued that Ireland’s future
would be improved by separation from Britain. The demands for separation
found a political voice in early 20th century.
 1922 Ireland was divided in two. The partition of Ireland would play an
important part in Western history in the 20th century, and would lead to the
Troubles of Northern Ireland in the late 1960s. The violence in Northern Ireland
over the last three and a half decades have been bitter and divisive.
 Since the 1990s, Ireland has become wealthier, emigration has ceased, and it
has become one of the most fashionable places in Europe.
 Gaelic Cultural Movement: Gaelic League founded to encourage every aspect of
Gaelic culture that would distinguish Irishness from Englishness
 Ulster Covenant
 Easter Rising
 Class conflict became a problem.
 War of Independence
 The Civil War
 Rise of Fianna Fail
 The Troubles
6. IRELAND IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY