country of reference: Ireland
Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic
Northern Ireland Republic of Ireland
Part of United Kingdom, capital: Belfast Capital: Dublin; five sixth of the land
Patron saint is St Patrick (St Patrick´s day is Patron saint is St Patrick (St Patrick´s day is
March 17) March 17)
Symbol of the shamrock: illustrates Trinity Symbol of the shamrock: illustrates Trinity
2 million people live in Northern Ireland 5 million reside in the Republic
Numbers of Roman Catholics and Protestants 78% Catholics
are similar
➔ religious conflict
➔ huge economic and political differences
➔ Bloody Sunday: British soldiers shot into a crowd of unarmed civil-rights protesters in
Northern Ireland, killing 13 people
Invasion of Ireland
• In 1169 Anglo-Normans invaded the country
• Henry II of England established English control and became Lord of Ireland
• Plantations of Ireland: Henry VII sent English settlers to the island to secure control of
the conquered territory
• Over half a million acres of the northern country were taken from the Irish earls and
given to English and Scottish settlers
• The Irish, in their majority Catholics, saw these Protestant newcomers as invaders
and occupiers
• This colonization marks the beginning of the Ulster conflict – three hundred years of
bloody and bitter hostility between the Irish and the British
Economy and waves of emigration
• Economic struggles
• Beginning of 19th century: Ireland´s population grew rapidly as a result of the
Industrial Revolution
• Living standards and health care improved
• Mechanisation generated jobs
• People earned more and were younger when they could afford to marry and start a
family
• Population increased
• Catastrophe in the mid-1840s brought a dramatic demographic shift
• For several years running the entire potato crop failed due to a fungus with
disastrous consequences
• One million Irish people died of starvation during the Great Famine and over one
million fled across the Atlantic
• Evidence that prevailing ideologies among the British ruling classes prevented to
government from helping the Irish
• Political élite and middle class were deeply prejudiced against the Catholic Irish and
many also believed the famine was a divine judgement on the inefficient Irish
agricultural system
• By the end of the decade, half of all immigration to the United States was from
Ireland
Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic
Northern Ireland Republic of Ireland
Part of United Kingdom, capital: Belfast Capital: Dublin; five sixth of the land
Patron saint is St Patrick (St Patrick´s day is Patron saint is St Patrick (St Patrick´s day is
March 17) March 17)
Symbol of the shamrock: illustrates Trinity Symbol of the shamrock: illustrates Trinity
2 million people live in Northern Ireland 5 million reside in the Republic
Numbers of Roman Catholics and Protestants 78% Catholics
are similar
➔ religious conflict
➔ huge economic and political differences
➔ Bloody Sunday: British soldiers shot into a crowd of unarmed civil-rights protesters in
Northern Ireland, killing 13 people
Invasion of Ireland
• In 1169 Anglo-Normans invaded the country
• Henry II of England established English control and became Lord of Ireland
• Plantations of Ireland: Henry VII sent English settlers to the island to secure control of
the conquered territory
• Over half a million acres of the northern country were taken from the Irish earls and
given to English and Scottish settlers
• The Irish, in their majority Catholics, saw these Protestant newcomers as invaders
and occupiers
• This colonization marks the beginning of the Ulster conflict – three hundred years of
bloody and bitter hostility between the Irish and the British
Economy and waves of emigration
• Economic struggles
• Beginning of 19th century: Ireland´s population grew rapidly as a result of the
Industrial Revolution
• Living standards and health care improved
• Mechanisation generated jobs
• People earned more and were younger when they could afford to marry and start a
family
• Population increased
• Catastrophe in the mid-1840s brought a dramatic demographic shift
• For several years running the entire potato crop failed due to a fungus with
disastrous consequences
• One million Irish people died of starvation during the Great Famine and over one
million fled across the Atlantic
• Evidence that prevailing ideologies among the British ruling classes prevented to
government from helping the Irish
• Political élite and middle class were deeply prejudiced against the Catholic Irish and
many also believed the famine was a divine judgement on the inefficient Irish
agricultural system
• By the end of the decade, half of all immigration to the United States was from
Ireland
