Thegeography of Ireland comprises relatively low-lying mountains surrounding a central plain, withseveral navigable rivers extending inland. Its lush vegetation is a product of its mild but changeable climate which is free of extremes in temperature. Much of Ireland was woodland until the end of theMiddle Ages. Today, woodland makes up about 10% of the island, compared with a European average of over 33%,[12] with most of it being non-native conifer plantations.[13][14] TheIrish climate is influenced by the Atlantic Ocean and thus very moderate,[15] and winters are milder than expected for such a northerly area, although summers are cooler than those in continental Europe. Rainfall and cloud cover are abundant.
Gaelic Ireland had emerged by the 1st century AD. The island wasChristianised from the 5th century onwards. During this period Ireland was divided into many petty kingships under provincial kingships (Cúige "fifth" of the traditional provinces) vying for dominance and the title ofHigh King of Ireland. In the late 8th to early 11th century AD,Viking raids and settlement took place culminating in theBattle of Clontarf on 23 April 1014 which resulted in the ending of Viking power in Ireland. Following the 12th-centuryAnglo-Norman invasion,England claimed sovereignty. However, English rule did not extend over the whole island until the 16th–17th centuryTudor conquest, which led tocolonisation by settlers from Britain. In the 1690s, a system ofProtestant English rule was designed to materially disadvantage theCatholic majority and Protestantdissenters, and was extended during the 18th century. With theActs of Union in 1801, Ireland becamea part of theUnited Kingdom. Awar of independence in the early 20th century was followed by thepartition of the island, leading to the creation of theIrish Free State, which became increasingly sovereign over the following decades until it declared a republic in 1948 (Republic of Ireland Act, 1948) and Northern Ireland, which remained a part of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland saw muchcivil unrest from the late 1960s until the 1990s. This subsided following theGood Friday Agreement in 1998. In 1973, both the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, with Northern Ireland as part of it, joined theEuropean Economic Community. Following a referendum vote in 2016, the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland included, left theEuropean Union (EU) in 2020. Northern Ireland was granted a limited special status and allowed to operate within the EU single market for goods without being in the European Union.[16]
The namesIreland andÉire derive fromOld IrishÉriu, a goddess inIrish mythology first recorded in the ninth century. The etymology of Ériu is disputed but may derive from theProto-Indo-European root *h2uer, referring to flowing water.[17]
During thelast glacial period, and until about 16,000 BC, much of Ireland was periodically covered in ice.[18] Therelative sea level was less than 50m lower resulting in anice bridge (but not aland bridge) forming between Ireland and Great Britain.[19] By 14,000 BC this ice bridge existed only between Northern Ireland and Scotland and by 12,000 BC Ireland was completely separated from Great Britain.[20] Later, around 6,100 BC, Great Britain became separated from continental Europe.[21] Until recently, the earliest evidence of human activity in Ireland was dated at 12,500 years ago, demonstrated by a butchered bear bone found in a cave inCounty Clare.[22] Since 2021, the earliest evidence of human activity in Ireland is dated to 33,000 years ago.[23]
By about 8,000 BC, more sustained occupation of the island has been shown, with evidence forMesolithic communities around the island.[24]
Some time before 4,000 BC,Neolithicsettlers introduced cerealcultivars, domesticated animals such as cattle and sheep, built large timber buildings, and stone monuments.[25][18] The earliest evidence for farming in Ireland or Great Britain is fromFerriter's Cove,County Kerry, where a flint knife, cattle bones and a sheep's tooth werecarbon-dated toc. 4,350 BC.[26] Field systems were developed in different parts of Ireland, including at theCéide Fields, that has been preserved beneath a blanket of peat in present-dayTyrawley. An extensivefield system, arguably the oldest in the world,[27] consisted of small divisions separated bydry-stone walls. The fields were farmed for several centuries between 3,500 BC and 3,000 BC.Wheat andbarley were the principal crops.[18]
TheBronze Age began around 2,500 BC, with technology changing people's everyday lives during this period through innovations such as the wheel, harnessingoxen,weaving textiles, brewingalcohol andmetalworking,[18] which produced new weapons and tools, along with fine gold decoration and jewellery, such asbrooches andtorcs.
Emergence of Celtic Ireland
How and when the island became Celtic has been debated for close to a century, with the migrations of the Celts being one of the more enduring themes of archaeological and linguistic studies. The most recent genetic research strongly associates the spread ofIndo-European languages (including Celtic) through Western Europe with a people bringing a compositeBeaker culture, with its arrival in Britain and Ireland dated to around the middle of the third millennium BC.[28] According toJohn T. Koch and others, Ireland in the Late Bronze Age was part of a maritime trading-network culture called theAtlantic Bronze Age that also included Britain, western France and Iberia, and that this is whereCeltic languages developed.[29][30][31][32] This contrasts with the traditional view that their origin lies in mainland Europe with theHallstatt culture.[33]
The long-standing traditional view is that the Celtic language,Ogham script and culture were brought to Ireland by waves of invading or migratingCelts from mainland Europe. This theory draws on theLebor Gabála Érenn, a medieval Christian pseudo-history of Ireland, along with the presence of Celtic culture, language and artefacts found in Ireland such as Celtic bronze spears, shields, torcs and other finely crafted Celtic associated possessions. The theory holds that there were four separate Celtic invasions of Ireland. ThePriteni were said to be the first, followed by theBelgae from northern Gaul and Britain. Later, Laighin tribes from Armorica (present-day Brittany) were said to have invaded Ireland and Britain more or less simultaneously. Lastly, theMilesians (Gaels) were said to have reached Ireland from either northern Iberia or southern Gaul.[34] It was claimed that a second wave named the Euerni, belonging to the Belgae people of northern Gaul, began arriving about the sixth century BC. They were said to have given their name to the island.[35][36]
The theory was advanced in part because of the lack of archaeological evidence for large-scale Celtic immigration, though it is accepted that such movements are notoriously difficult to identify. Historical linguists are skeptical that this method alone could account for the absorption of Celtic language, with some saying that an assumed processual view of Celtic linguistic formation is 'an especially hazardous exercise'.[37][38] Genetic lineage investigation into the area of Celtic migration to Ireland has led to findings that showed no significant differences inmitochondrial DNA between Ireland and large areas of continental Europe, in contrast to parts of the Y-chromosome pattern. When taking both into account, a study concluded that modern Celtic speakers in Ireland could be thought of as European "Atlantic Celts" showing a shared ancestry throughout the Atlantic zone from northern Iberia to western Scandinavia rather than substantially central European.[39]In 2012, research showed that the occurrence of genetic markers for the earliest farmers was almost eliminated by Beaker-culture immigrants: they carried what was then a new Y-chromosome R1b marker, believed to have originated in Iberia about 2,500 BC. The prevalence amongst modern Irish men of this mutation is a remarkable 84%, the highest in the world, and closely matched in other populations along the Atlantic fringes down to Spain. A similar genetic replacement happened with lineages in mitochondrial DNA.[26][40] This conclusion is supported by recent research carried out by the geneticistDavid Reich, who says: "British and Irish skeletons from the Bronze Age that followed the Beaker period had at most 10 per cent ancestry from the first farmers of these islands, with other 90 per cent from people like those associated with the Bell Beaker culture in the Netherlands." He suggests that it was Beaker users who introduced an Indo-European language, represented here by Celtic (i.e. a new language and culture introduced directly by migration and genetic replacement).[28]
TheScoti wereGaelic-speaking people from Ireland who settled in western Scotland in the 6th century or before.
The earliest written records of Ireland come from classicalGreco-Roman geographers.Ptolemy in hisAlmagest refers to Ireland asMikra Brettania ("Little Britain"), in contrast to the larger island, which he calledMegale Brettania ("Great Britain").[41] Inhis map of Ireland in his later work,Geography, Ptolemy refers to Ireland asIouernia and to Great Britain asAlbion. These 'new' names were likely to have been the local names for the islands at the time. The earlier names,in contrast, were likely to have been coined before direct contact with local peoples was made.[42]
TheRomans referred to Ireland by this name too in itsLatinised form,Hibernia, orScotia.[43][44] Ptolemy records 16 nations inhabiting every part of Ireland in 100 AD.[45] The relationship between the Roman Empire and the kingdoms of ancient Ireland is unclear. However, a number of finds of Roman coins have been made, for example at the Iron Age settlement of Freestone Hill nearGowran andNewgrange.[46]
Ireland continued as a patchwork of rival kingdoms; however, beginning in the 7th century, a concept of national kingship gradually became articulated through the concept of aHigh King of Ireland.Medieval Irish literature portrays an almost unbroken sequence of high kings stretching back thousands of years, but some modern historians believe the scheme was constructed in the 8th century to justify the status of powerful political groupings by projecting the origins of their rule into the remote past.[47]
All of the Irish kingdoms had their own kings but were nominally subject to the high king. The high king was drawn from the ranks of the provincial kings and ruled also the royalkingdom of Meath, with a ceremonial capital at theHill of Tara. The concept did not become a political reality until theViking Age and even then was not a consistent one.[48] Ireland did have a culturally unifying rule of law: the early written judicial system, theBrehon Laws, administered by a professional class of jurists known as thebrehons.[49]
The Chronicle of Ireland records that in 431, BishopPalladius arrived in Ireland on a mission fromPope Celestine I to minister to the Irish "already believing in Christ".[50] The same chronicle records thatSaint Patrick, Ireland's best knownpatron saint, arrived the following year. There is continued debate over the missions of Palladius and Patrick, but the consensus is that they both took place[51] and that the olderdruid tradition collapsed in the face of the new religion.[52] Irish Christian scholars excelled in the study of Latin and Greek learning and Christian theology. In the monastic culture that followed the Christianisation of Ireland, Latin and Greek learning was preserved in Ireland during theEarly Middle Ages in contrast to elsewhere in Western Europe, where theDark Ages followed theFall of the Western Roman Empire.[52][53][page needed]
A folio of theBook of Kells showing Christ enthroned
From the 9th century, waves ofViking raiders plundered Irish monasteries and towns.[56] These raids added to a pattern of raiding andendemic warfare that was already deep-seated in Ireland. The Vikings were involved in establishing most of the major coastal settlements in Ireland:Dublin,Limerick,Cork,Wexford,Waterford, as well as other smaller settlements.[57][unreliable source?]
In 1166, Mac Murrough had fled toAnjou, France, following a war involvingTighearnán Ua Ruairc, ofBreifne, and sought the assistance of theAngevin KingHenry II, in recapturing his kingdom. In 1171, Henry arrived in Ireland in order to review the general progress of the expedition. He wanted to re-exert royal authority over the invasion which was expanding beyond his control. Henry successfully re-imposed his authority over Strongbow and the Cambro-Norman warlords and persuaded many of the Irish kings to accept him as their overlord, an arrangement confirmed in the 1175Treaty of Windsor.
The invasion was legitimised by reference to provisions of the allegedPapal BullLaudabiliter, issued by an Englishman,Adrian IV, in 1155. The document apparently encouraged Henry to take control in Ireland in order to oversee the financial and administrative reorganisation of theIrish Church and its integration into the Roman Church system.[60] Some restructuring had already begun at the ecclesiastical level following theSynod of Kells in 1152.[61] There has been significant controversy regarding the authenticity ofLaudabiliter,[62] and there is no general agreement as to whether the bull was genuine or a forgery.[63][64] Further, it had no standing in the Irish legal system.
Political boundaries in Ireland in 1450, before theplantations
In 1172, PopeAlexander III further encouraged Henry to advance the integration of the Irish Church with Rome. Henry was authorised to impose a tithe of one penny per hearth as an annual contribution. This church levy, calledPeter's Pence, is extant in Ireland as a voluntary donation. In turn, Henry assumed the title ofLord of Ireland which Henry conferred on his younger son,John Lackland, in 1185. This defined the Anglo-Norman administration in Ireland as theLordship of Ireland.[citation needed] When Henry's successor died unexpectedly in 1199,John inherited the crown of England and retained the Lordship of Ireland. Over the century that followed, Norman feudal law gradually replaced the Gaelic Brehon Law across large areas, so that by the late 13th century theNorman-Irish had established a feudal system throughout much of Ireland. Norman settlements were characterised by the establishment of baronies, manors, towns and the seeds of the modern county system. A version ofMagna Carta (theGreat Charter of Ireland), substitutingDublin forLondon and theIrish Church for, the English church at the time, theCatholic Church, was published in 1216 and theParliament of Ireland was founded in 1297.
Gaelicisation
From the mid-14th century, after theBlack Death, Norman settlements in Ireland went into a period of decline. The Norman rulers and the Gaelic Irish elites intermarried and the areas under Norman rule becameGaelicised. In some parts, a hybrid Hiberno-Norman culture emerged. In response, theIrish parliament passed theStatutes of Kilkenny in 1367. These were a set of laws designed to prevent the assimilation of the Normans into Irish society by requiring English subjects in Ireland to speak English, follow English customs and abide by English law.[65]
By the end of the 15th century, central English authority in Ireland had all but disappeared, and a renewed Irish culture and language, albeit with Norman influences, was again dominant. English Crown control remained relatively unshaken in an amorphous foothold around Dublin known asThe Pale, and under the provisions ofPoynings' Law of 1494, Irish Parliamentary legislation was subject to the approval of theEnglish Privy Council.[66]
A 16th-century perception of Irish women and girls, illustrated in the manuscript "Théâtre de tous les peuples et nations de la terre avec leurs habits et ornemens divers, tant anciens que modernes, diligemment depeints au naturel". Painted byLucas d'Heere in the 2nd half of the 16th century. Preserved in theGhent University Library.[67]
This control was consolidated during the wars and conflicts of the 17th century, including the English and Scottish colonisation in thePlantations of Ireland, theWars of the Three Kingdoms and theWilliamite War. Irish losses during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms (which, in Ireland, included theIrish Confederacy and theCromwellian conquest of Ireland) are estimated to include 20,000 battlefield casualties. 200,000 civilians are estimated to have died as a result of a combination of war-related famine, displacement, guerrilla activity and pestilence throughout the war. A further 50,000[b] were sent intoindentured servitude in theWest Indies. Physician-generalWilliam Petty estimated that 504,000 Catholic Irish and 112,000 Protestant settlers died, and 100,000 people were transported, as a result of the war.[70] If a prewar population of 1.5 million is assumed, this would mean that the population was reduced by almost half.
The religious struggles of the 17th century left a deep sectarian division in Ireland. Religious allegiance now determined the perception in law of loyalty to the Irish King and Parliament. After the passing ofthe Test Act 1672, and the victory of the forces of the dual monarchy ofWilliam andMary over theJacobites, Roman Catholics and nonconforming Protestant Dissenters were barred from sitting as members in the Irish Parliament. Under the emergingPenal Laws, Irish Roman Catholics and Dissenters were increasingly deprived of various civil rights, even the ownership of hereditary property. Additional regressive punitive legislation followed in 1703, 1709 and 1728. This completed a comprehensive systemic effort to materially disadvantage Roman Catholics and Protestant Dissenters while enriching a new ruling class of Anglican conformists.[71] The new Anglo-Irish ruling class became known as theProtestant Ascendancy.
The "Great Frost" struck Ireland and the rest of Europe between December 1739 and September 1741, after a decade of relatively mild winters. The winters destroyed stored crops of potatoes and other staples, and the poor summers severely damaged harvests.[72][page needed] This resulted in thefamine of 1740. An estimated 250,000 people (about one in eight of the population) died from the ensuing pestilence and disease.[73] The Irish government halted export of corn and kept the army in quarters but did little more.[73][74] Local gentry and charitable organisations provided relief but could do little to prevent the ensuing mortality.[73][74]
In the aftermath of the famine, an increase in industrial production and a surge in trade brought a succession of construction booms. The population soared in the latter part of this century and thearchitectural legacy of Georgian Ireland was built. In 1782,Poynings' Law was repealed, giving Ireland legislative independence from Great Britain for the first time since 1495. The British government, however, still retained the right to nominate the government of Ireland without the consent of the Irish parliament.
In 1798, members of the Protestant Dissenter tradition (mainlyPresbyterian) made common cause with Roman Catholics in a republican rebellion inspired and led by theSociety of United Irishmen, with the aim of creating an independent Ireland. Despite assistance from France therebellion was put down by British and Irish government and yeomanry forces. The rebellion lasted from the 24th of May to the 12th of October that year and saw the establishment of the short livedIrish Republic (1798) in the province ofConnacht. It saw numerous battles across the island with an estimated 30,000 people dead.[citation needed]
The passage of the Act in the Irish Parliament was ultimately achieved with substantial majorities, having failed on the first attempt in 1799. According to contemporary documents and historical analysis, this was achieved through a considerable degree of bribery, with funding provided by the British Secret Service Office, and the awarding of peerages, places and honours to secure votes.[75] Thus, the parliament in Ireland was abolished and replaced by aunited parliament at Westminster in London, though resistance remained, as evidenced byRobert Emmet's failedIrish Rebellion of 1803.
Aside from the development of thelinen industry, Ireland was largely passed over by theIndustrial Revolution, partly because it lacked coal and iron resources[76][77] and partly because of the impact of the sudden union with the structurally superior economy of England,[78] which saw Ireland as a source of agricultural produce and capital.[79][80]
A depiction of theGreat Famine fromOur Boys in Ireland by Henry Willard French (1891)
TheGreat Famine of 1845–1851 devastated Ireland, as in those years Ireland's population fell by one-third. More than one million people died from starvation and disease, with an additional million people emigrating during the famine, mostly to the United States and Canada.[81] In the century that followed, an economic depression caused by the famine resulted in a further million people emigrating.[82] By the end of the decade, half of allimmigration to the United States was from Ireland. The period of civil unrest that followed until the end of the 19th century is referred to as theLand War. Mass emigration became deeply entrenched and the population continued to decline until the mid-20th century. Immediately prior to the famine the population was recorded as 8.2 million by the1841 census.[83] The population has never returned to this level since.[84] The population continued to fall until 1961;County Leitrim was the final Irish county to record a population increase post-famine, in 2006.
The 19th and early 20th centuries saw the rise of modernIrish nationalism, primarily among the Roman Catholic population. The pre-eminent Irish political figure after the Union wasDaniel O'Connell. He was elected as Member of Parliament forEnnis in a surprise result and despite being unable to take his seatas a Roman Catholic. O'Connell spearheaded a vigorous campaign that was taken up by the Prime Minister, the Irish-born soldier and statesman, theDuke of Wellington. Steering theCatholic Relief Bill through Parliament, aided by future prime ministerRobert Peel, Wellington prevailed upon a reluctantGeorge IV to sign the Bill and proclaim it into law.George's father had opposed the plan of the earlier Prime Minister,Pitt the Younger, to introduce such a bill following the Union of 1801, fearingCatholic Emancipation to be in conflict with theAct of Settlement 1701.
Daniel O'Connell led a subsequent campaign, for the repeal of the Act of Union, which failed. Later in the century,Charles Stewart Parnell and others campaigned for autonomy within the Union, or "Home Rule". Unionists, especially those located in Ulster, were strongly opposed to Home Rule, which they thought would be dominated by Catholic interests.[85] After several attempts to pass a Home Rule bill through parliament, it looked certain that one would finally pass in 1914. To prevent this from happening, theUlster Volunteers were formed in 1913 under the leadership ofEdward Carson.[86]
Their formation was followed in 1914 by the establishment of theIrish Volunteers, whose aim was to ensure that theHome Rule Bill was passed. The Act was passed but with the "temporary" exclusion of the six counties of Ulster, which later became Northern Ireland. Before it could be implemented, however, the Act was suspended for the duration of theFirst World War. The Irish Volunteers split into two groups. The majority, approximately 175,000 in number, underJohn Redmond, took the nameNational Volunteers and supportedIrish involvement in the war. A minority, approximately 13,000, retained the Irish Volunteers' name and opposed Ireland's involvement in the war.[86]
TheEaster Rising of 1916 was carried out by the latter group together with a smaller socialist militia, theIrish Citizen Army. The British response, executing 15 leaders of the Rising over a period of ten days and imprisoning or interning more than a thousand people, turned the mood of the country in favour of the rebels. Support forIrish republicanism increased further due to the ongoing war in Europe, as well as theConscription Crisis of 1918.[87]
The pro-independence republican party,Sinn Féin, received overwhelming endorsement in thegeneral election of 1918, and in 1919 proclaimed anIrish Republic, setting up its own parliament (Dáil Éireann) and government. Simultaneously the Volunteers, which became known as theIrish Republican Army (IRA), launched athree-year guerrilla war, which ended in a truce in July 1921 (although violence continued until June 1922, mostly in Northern Ireland).[87]
In December 1921, theAnglo-Irish Treaty was concluded between the British government and representatives of theSecond Dáil. It gave Ireland complete independence in its home affairs and practical independence for foreign policy, but an opt-out clause allowedNorthern Ireland to remain within the United Kingdom, which it immediately exercised. Additionally, Members of theFree State Parliament were required to swearan oath of allegiance to the Constitution of the Irish Free State and make a statement of faithfulness to the king.[88] Disagreements over these provisions led to a split in the nationalist movement and a subsequentIrish Civil War between the new government of theIrish Free State and those opposed to the treaty, led byÉamon de Valera. The civil war officially ended in May 1923 when de Valera issued a cease-fire order.[89]
During its first decade, the newly formed Irish Free State was governed by the victors of the civil war. When de Valera achieved power, he took advantage of theStatute of Westminster andpolitical circumstances to build upon inroads to greater sovereignty made by the previous government. The oath was abolished and in 1937 a new constitution was adopted.[87] This completed a process of gradual separation from the British Empire that governments had pursued since independence. However, it was not until 1949 that the state was declared, officially, to be theRepublic of Ireland.
TheGerman intelligence was also active in Ireland.[91] Its operations ended in September 1941 whenpolice made arrests based on surveillance carried out on the key diplomatic legations in Dublin. To the authorities, counterintelligence was a fundamental line of defence. With a regular army of only slightly over seven thousand men at the start of the war, and with limited supplies of modern weapons, the state would have had great difficulty in defending itself from invasion from either side in the conflict.[91][92]
Large-scale emigration marked most of the post-WWII period (particularly during the 1950s and 1980s), but beginning in 1987 the economy improved, and the 1990s saw the beginning of substantial economic growth. This period of growth became known as theCeltic Tiger.[93] The Republic's real GDP grew by an average of 9.6% per annum between 1995 and 1999,[94] in which year the Republic joined theeuro. In 2000, it was the sixth-richest country in the world in terms of GDP per capita.[95] HistorianR. F. Foster argues the cause was a combination of a new sense of initiative and the entry of American corporations. He concludes the chief factors were low taxation, pro-business regulatory policies, and a young, tech-savvy workforce. For many multinationals, the decision to do business in Ireland was made easier still by generous incentives from theIndustrial Development Authority. In additionEuropean Union membership was helpful, giving the country lucrative access to markets that it had previously reached only through the United Kingdom, and pumping huge subsidies and investment capital into the Irish economy.[96]
Modernisation brought secularisation in its wake. The traditionally high levels of religiosity have sharply declined. Foster points to three factors: First, Irish feminism, largely imported from America with liberal stances on contraception, abortion and divorce, undermined the authority of bishops and priests. Second, the mishandling of the paedophile scandals humiliated the Church, whose bishops seemed less concerned with the victims and more concerned with covering up for errant priests. Third, prosperity brought hedonism and materialism that undercut the ideals of saintly poverty.[97]
Thefinancial crisis that began in 2008 dramatically ended this period of boom. GDP fell by 3% in 2008 and by 7.1% in 2009, the worst year since records began (although earnings by foreign-owned businesses continued to grow).[98] The state has since experienced deep recession, with unemployment, which doubled during 2009, remaining above 14% in 2012.[99]
Northern Ireland resulted from the division of the United Kingdom by theGovernment of Ireland Act 1920, and until 1972 was a self-governing jurisdiction within the United Kingdom with its own parliament and prime minister. Northern Ireland, as part of the United Kingdom, was not neutral during the Second World War, andBelfast suffered four bombing raids in 1941.Conscription was not extended to Northern Ireland, and roughly an equal number volunteered from Northern Ireland as volunteered from the Republic of Ireland.
Although Northern Ireland was largely spared the strife of the civil war, in the decades that followed partition there were sporadic episodes of inter-communal violence. Nationalists, mainly Roman Catholic, wanted to unite Ireland as an independent republic, whereas unionists, mainly Protestant, wanted Northern Ireland to remain in the United Kingdom. The Protestant and Catholic communities in Northern Ireland voted largely alongsectarian lines, meaning that the government of Northern Ireland (elected by"first-past-the-post" from 1929) was controlled by theUlster Unionist Party. Over time, the minority Catholic community felt increasingly alienated with further disaffection fuelled by practices such asgerrymandering and discrimination in housing and employment.[100][101][102]
In the late 1960s, nationalist grievances were aired publicly in mass civil rights protests, which were often confronted byloyalist counter-protests.[103] The government's reaction to confrontations was seen to be one-sided and heavy-handed in favour of unionists. Law and order broke down as unrest and inter-communal violence increased.[104] The Northern Ireland government requested theBritish Army to aid the police and protect theIrish Nationalist population. In 1969, the paramilitaryProvisional IRA, which favoured the creation of aunited Ireland, emerged from a split in theIrish Republican Army and began a campaign against what it called the "British occupation of the six counties".[citation needed]
Other groups, both the unionist and nationalist participated in violence, and a period known as "the Troubles" began. More than 3,600 deaths resulted over the subsequent three decades of conflict.[105] Owing to the civil unrest during the Troubles, the British government suspended home rule in 1972 and imposeddirect rule. There were several unsuccessful attempts to end the Troubles politically, such as theSunningdale Agreement of 1973. In 1998, following a ceasefire by the Provisional IRA and multi-party talks, theGood Friday Agreement was concluded as a treaty between the British and Irish governments, annexing the text agreed in the multi-party talks.
The substance of the Agreement (formally referred to as the Belfast Agreement) was later endorsed by referendums in both parts of Ireland. The Agreement restored self-government to Northern Ireland on the basis of power-sharing in a regionalExecutive drawn from the major parties in a newNorthern Ireland Assembly, with entrenched protections for the two main communities. The Executive is jointly headed by aFirst Minister and deputy First Minister drawn from the unionist and nationalist parties. Violence had decreased greatly after the Provisional IRA and loyalist ceasefires in 1994, and in 2005, the Provisional IRA announced the end of its armed campaign and anindependent commission supervised its disarmament and that of other nationalist and unionist paramilitary organisations.[106]
The Assembly and power-sharing Executive were suspended several times but were restored again in 2007. In that year the British government officially ended its military support of the police in Northern Ireland (Operation Banner) and began withdrawing troops. On 27 June 2012, Northern Ireland's deputy first minister and former IRA commander,Martin McGuinness, shook hands with Queen Elizabeth II in Belfast, symbolising reconciliation between the two sides.[107]
The Republic of Ireland is a member state of the European Union while the United Kingdom is a former member state, having both acceded to its precursor entity, the European Economic Community (EEC), in 1973 but the UKleft the European Union in 2020 after areferendum on EU membership was held in 2016 which resulted in 51.9% of UK voters choosing to leave the bloc.
The Republic of Ireland today ranks among the wealthiest countries in the world in terms ofGDP per capita[108] and in 2015 was ranked the sixth most developed nation in the world by the United Nations'Human Development Index.[109] A period of rapid economic expansion from 1995 onwards became known as theCeltic Tiger period, was brought to an end in 2008 with an unprecedentedfinancial crisis and an economic depression in 2009. According to the 2024Global Peace Index, Ireland is the second most peaceful country in the world.[110]
Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom with a localexecutive andassembly which exercise devolved powers. The executive is jointly headed by the first and deputy first minister, with the ministries being allocated in proportion to each party's representation in the assembly. Its capital isBelfast.
Ultimately political power is held by theUK government, from which Northern Ireland has gone through intermittent periods of direct rule during which devolved powers have been suspended. Northern Ireland elects 18 of the UKHouse of Commons' 650 MPs. TheNorthern Ireland Secretary is a cabinet-level post in the British government.
Along withEngland and Wales and with Scotland, Northern Ireland forms one of the three separate legal jurisdictions of the UK, all of which share theSupreme Court of the United Kingdom as their court of final appeal.
TheBritish–Irish Intergovernmental Conference provides for co-operation between the Government of Ireland and the Government of the United Kingdom on all matters of mutual interest, especially Northern Ireland. In light of the Republic's particular interest in the governance of Northern Ireland, "regular and frequent" meetings co-chaired by the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, dealing with non-devolved matters to do with Northern Ireland and non-devolvedall-Ireland issues, are required to take place under the establishing treaty.
TheNorth/South Inter-Parliamentary Association is a joint parliamentary forum for the island of Ireland. It has no formal powers but operates as a forum for discussing matters of common concern between the respective legislatures.
Ireland is located in thenorth-west of Europe, between latitudes51° and56° N, and longitudes11° and5° W. It is separated from Great Britain by theIrish Sea and theNorth Channel, which has a width of 23 kilometres (14 mi)[111] at its narrowest point. To the west is the northern Atlantic Ocean and to the south is theCeltic Sea, which lies between Ireland andBrittany, in France. Ireland has a total area of 84,421 km2 (32,595 sq mi),[1][2][112] of which the Republic of Ireland occupies 83 percent.[113] Ireland and Great Britain, together with many nearby smaller islands, are known collectively as theBritish Isles.[114] Asthe termBritish Isles can be controversial in relation to Ireland, the alternate termBritain and Ireland is sometimes used as a neutral term for the islands.[115]
A ring of coastal mountains surrounds low plains at the centre of the island. The highest of these isCarrauntoohil (Irish:Corrán Tuathail) inCounty Kerry, which rises to 1,039 m (3,409 ft) above sea level.[116] The most arable land lies in the province ofLeinster.[117] Western areas are mainly mountainous and rocky with green panoramic vistas.River Shannon, the island's longest river at 360.5 km (224 mi) long, rises inCounty Cavan in the north-west and flows throughLimerick in the midwest.[116][118]
In the southwest, aroundBantry Bay and the mountains ofMacGillycuddy's Reeks, is an area of substantially deformed, lightlymetamorphosedDevonian-aged rocks.[121] This partial ring of "hard rock" geology is covered by a blanket ofCarboniferous limestone over the centre of the country, giving rise to a comparatively fertile and lush landscape. The west-coast district ofthe Burren aroundLisdoonvarna has well-developedkarst features.[122] Significant stratiform lead-zinc mineralisation is found in the limestones aroundSilvermines andTynagh.
The island's lush vegetation, a product of its mild climate and frequent rainfall, earns it the sobriquetthe Emerald Isle. Overall, Ireland has a mild but changeableoceanic climate with few extremes. The climate is typically insular andtemperate, avoiding the extremes in temperature of many other areas in the world at similar latitudes.[126] This is a result of the moist winds which ordinarily prevail from the southwestern Atlantic.
Precipitation falls throughout the year but is light overall, particularly in the east. The west tends to be wetter on average and prone to Atlantic storms, especially in the late autumn and winter months. These occasionally bring destructive winds and higher total rainfall to these areas, as well as sometimes snow and hail. The regions of north County Galway and east County Mayo have the highest incidents of recorded lightning annually for the island, with lightning occurring approximately five to ten days per year in these areas.[127]Munster, in the south, records the least snow whereasUlster, in the north, records the most.
Inland areas are warmer in summer and colder in winter. Usually around 40 days of the year are below freezing0 °C(32 °F) at inlandweather stations, compared to 10 days at coastal stations. Ireland is sometimes affected by heat waves, most recently in 1995,2003,2006, 2013 and2018. In common with the rest of Europe, Ireland experienced unusually cold weather duringthe winter of 2010–11. Temperatures fell as low as −17.2 °C (1 °F) in County Mayo on 20 December[128] and up to a metre (3 ft) of snow fell in mountainous areas.
Twored foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in Gubbeen, County Cork
Unlike Great Britain which had a land bridge withmainland Europe, Ireland only had an ice bridge ending around 14,000 years ago at the end of thelast ice age and as a result, it has fewer land animal and plant species than Great Britain or mainland Europe.[19][20] There are55 mammal species in Ireland, and of them, only 26 land mammal species are considered native to Ireland.[131] Some species, such as, thered fox,hedgehog andbadger, are very common, whereas others, like theIrish hare,red deer andpine marten are less so. Aquatic wildlife, such as species of sea turtle, shark, seal, whale, and dolphin, are common off the coast. About 400 species of birds have been recorded in Ireland. Many of these are migratory, including thebarn swallow.
Several different habitat types are found in Ireland, including farmland, open woodland,temperate broadleaf and mixed forests,conifer plantations,peat bogs and a variety of coastal habitats. However, agriculture drives current land use patterns in Ireland, limiting natural habitat preserves,[132] particularly for larger wild mammals with greater territorial needs. With no largeapex predators in Ireland other than humans and dogs, such populations of animals as semi-wild deer that cannot be controlled by smaller predators, such as the fox, are controlled by annualculling.
There are no snakes in Ireland, and only one species of reptile (thecommon lizard) is native to the island. Extinct species include theIrish elk, thegreat auk,brown bear and thewolf. Some previously extinct birds, such as thegolden eagle, have been reintroduced after decades ofextirpation.[133]
Ireland is now one of the least forested countries in Europe.[134][135] Until the end of the Middle Ages, Ireland was heavily forested. Native species includedeciduous trees such asoak,ash,hazel,birch,alder,willow,aspen,rowan andhawthorn, as well asevergreen trees suchScots pine,yew,holly andstrawberry trees.[136] Only about 10% of Ireland today is woodland;[12] most of this is non-native coniferplantations, and only 2% is native woodland.[13][14] The average woodland cover of European countries is over 33%.[12] In the Republic, about 389,356 hectares (3,893.56 km2) is owned by the state, mainly by the forestry serviceCoillte.[12] Remnants of native forest can be found scattered around the island, in particular in theKillarney National Park.
Much of the land is now covered with pasture and there are many species of wild-flower. Gorse (Ulex europaeus), a wildfurze, is commonly found growing in the uplands and ferns are plentiful in the more moist regions, especially in the western parts. It is home to hundreds of plant species, some of them unique to the island, and has been "invaded" by some grasses, such asSpartina anglica.[137]
The algal and seaweed flora is that of the cold-temperate variety. The total number of species is 574[138] The island has been invaded by some algae, some of which are now well established.[139]
Because of its mild climate, many species, includingsub-tropical species such aspalm trees, are grown in Ireland.Phytogeographically, Ireland belongs to the Atlantic European province of theCircumboreal Region within theBoreal Kingdom. The island can be subdivided into twoecoregions: the Celtic broadleaf forests and North Atlantic moist mixed forests.
The long history of agricultural production, coupled with modern intensive agricultural methods such as pesticide and fertiliser use and runoff from contaminants into streams, rivers and lakes, has placed pressure on biodiversity in Ireland.[140][141] A land of green fields for crop cultivation and cattle rearing limits the space available for the establishment of native wild species. Hedgerows, however, traditionally used for maintaining and demarcating land boundaries, act as a refuge for native wild flora. This ecosystem stretches across the countryside and acts as a network of connections to preserve remnants of the ecosystem that once covered the island. Subsidies under theCommon Agricultural Policy, which supported agricultural practices that preserved hedgerow environments, are undergoing reforms. The Common Agricultural Policy had in the past subsidised potentially destructive agricultural practices, for example by emphasising production without placing limits on indiscriminate use of fertilisers and pesticides; but reforms have gradually decoupled subsidies from production levels and introduced environmental and other requirements.[142] 32% of Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions are correlated to agriculture.[143] Forested areas typically consist of monoculture plantations of non-native species, which may result in habitats that are not suitable for supporting native species of invertebrates. Natural areas require fencing to prevent over-grazing bydeer and sheep that roam over uncultivated areas. Grazing in this manner is one of the main factors preventing the natural regeneration of forests across many regions of the country.[144]
Proportion of respondents to the Ireland census 2011 or the Northern Ireland census 2011 who stated they were Catholic. Areas in which Catholics are in the majority are blue. Areas in which Catholics are in a minority are red.
The population of Ireland is just over 7 million, of which approximately 5.1 million reside in the Republic of Ireland and 1.9 million reside in Northern Ireland.[11]
The population of Ireland rose rapidly from the 16th century until the mid-19th century, interrupted briefly by theFamine of 1740–41, which killed roughly two-fifths of the island's population. The population rebounded and multiplied over the next century, but the Great Famine of the 1840s caused one million deaths and forced over one million more to emigrate in its immediate wake. Over the following century, the population was reduced by over half, at a time when the general trend in European countries was for populations to rise by an average of three-fold.
Ireland's largest religious group is Christianity. The largest denomination isRoman Catholicism, representing over 73% of the island (and about 87% of the Republic of Ireland). Most of the rest of the population adhere to one of the variousProtestant denominations (about 48% of Northern Ireland).[145] The largest is theAnglicanChurch of Ireland. TheMuslim community is growing in Ireland, mostly through increased immigration, with a 50% increase in the republic between the 2006 and 2011 census.[146] The island has a smallJewish community. About 4% of the Republic's population and about 14% of the Northern Ireland population[145] describe themselves as of no religion. In a 2010 survey conducted on behalf of theIrish Times, 32% of respondents said they went to a religious service more than once per week.
Traditionally, Ireland is subdivided intofour provinces:Connacht (west),Leinster (east),Munster (south), andUlster (north). In a system that developed between the 13th and 17th centuries,[147] Ireland has32 traditional counties. Twenty-six of these counties are in the Republic of Ireland, andsix are in Northern Ireland. The six counties that constitute Northern Ireland are all in the province of Ulster (which has nine counties in total). As such,Ulster is often used as a synonym for Northern Ireland, although the two are not coterminous. In the Republic of Ireland, counties form the basis of the system of local government. CountiesDublin,Cork,Limerick,Galway,Waterford andTipperary have been broken up into smaller administrative areas. However, they are still treated as counties for cultural and some official purposes, for example, postal addresses and by theOrdnance Survey Ireland. Counties in Northern Ireland areno longer used for local governmental purposes,[148] but, as in the Republic, their traditional boundaries are still used for informal purposes such as sports leagues and in cultural or tourism contexts.[149]
City status in Ireland is decided bylegislative orroyal charter. Dublin, with over one million residents in theGreater Dublin Area, is the largest city on the island. Belfast, with 579,726 residents, is the largest city in Northern Ireland. City status does not directly equate with population size. For example,Armagh, with 14,590 is the seat of the Church of Ireland and theRoman CatholicPrimate of All Ireland and was re-grantedcity status by QueenElizabeth II in 1994 (having lost that status inlocal government reforms of 1840). In the Republic of Ireland,Kilkenny, the seat of theButler dynasty, while no longer a city for administrative purposes (since the 2001Local Government Act), is entitled by law to continue to use the description.
The population of Ireland collapsed dramatically during the second half of the 19th century. A population of over eight million in 1841 was reduced to slightly over four million by 1921. In part, the fall in population was caused by death from the Great Famine of 1845 to 1852, which took roughly one million lives. The remaining decline of around three million was due to the entrenched culture of emigration caused by the dire economic state of the country, lasting until the late 20th century.
Emigration from Ireland in the 19th century contributed to the populations of England, the United States, Canada and Australia, in all of which a largeIrish diaspora lives. As of 2006[update], 4.3 million Canadians, or 14% of the population, were of Irish descent,[152] while around one-third of the Australian population had an element of Irish descent.[153] As of 2013[update], there were 40 million Irish-Americans[154] and 33 million Americans who claimed Irish ancestry.[155]
With growing prosperity since the last decade of the 20th century, Ireland became a destination for immigrants. Since the European Union expanded to include Poland in 2004,Polish people have comprised the largest number of immigrants (over 150,000)[156] from Central Europe. There has also been significant immigration from Lithuania, Czech Republic and Latvia.[157]
The Republic of Ireland in particular has seen large-scale immigration, with 420,000 foreign nationals as of 2006, about 10% of the population.[158] Nearly a quarter of births (24 percent) in 2009 were to mothers born outside of Ireland.[159] Up to 50,000 eastern and central European migrant workers left Ireland in response to the Irish financial crisis.[160]
Proportion of respondents who said they could speak Irish in the Ireland census in 2011 or the Northern Ireland census in 2011
The two official languages of the Republic of Ireland are Irish and English. Each language has produced noteworthy literature. Irish, though now only the language of a minority, was the vernacular of the Irish people for thousands of years and was possibly introduced during theIron Age. It began to be written down after Christianisation in the 5th century and spread to Scotland and the Isle of Man, where it evolved into theScottish Gaelic andManx languages, respectively.
The Irish language has a vast treasury of written texts from many centuries and is divided by linguists intoOld Irish from the 6th to 10th century,Middle Irish from the 10th to 13th century, Early Modern Irish until the 17th century, and the Modern Irish spoken today. It remained the dominant language of Ireland for most of those periods, having influences fromLatin,Old Norse,French and English. It declined under British rule but remained the majority tongue until the early 19th century, and since then has been a minority language.
TheGaelic Revival of the late 19th and early 20th centuries had a long-term influence. Irish is taught in mainstream Irish schools as a compulsory subject, but teaching methods have been criticised for their ineffectiveness, with most students showing little evidence of fluency even after 14 years of instruction.[161]
There is now a growing population of urban Irish speakers in both the Republic and Northern Ireland, especially in Dublin[162][163] and Belfast,[164] with the children of such Irish speakers sometimes attending Irish-medium schools (Gaelscoil or Gaelscoileanna). It has been argued that they tend to be more highly educated than monolingual English speakers.[165] Recent research suggests that urban Irish is developing in a direction of its own, both in pronunciation and grammar.[166]
Traditional rural Irish-speaking areas, known collectively as theGaeltacht, are in linguistic decline. The mainGaeltacht areas are in the west, south-west and north-west, in Galway, Mayo, Donegal, western Cork and Kerry with smallerGaeltacht areas nearDungarvan in Waterford and in Meath.[167]
English in Ireland was first introduced during the Norman invasion. It was spoken by a few peasants and merchants brought over from England and was largely replaced by Irish before the Tudor conquest of Ireland. It was introduced as the official language during the Tudor and Cromwellian conquests. The Ulster plantations gave it a permanent foothold in Ulster, and it remained the official and upper-class language elsewhere, the Irish-speaking chieftains and nobility having been deposed. Language shift during the 19th century replaced Irish with English as the first language for a vast majority of the population.[168]
Fewer than 2% of the population of the Republic of Ireland today speak Irish on a daily basis, and under 10% regularly, outside of the education system[169] and 38% of those over 15 years are classified as "Irish speakers". In Northern Ireland, English is the de facto official language, but official recognition is afforded to Irish, including specific protective measures under Part III of theEuropean Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. A lesser status (including recognition under Part II of the Charter) is given toUlster Scots dialects, which are spoken by roughly 2% of Northern Ireland residents, and also spoken by some in the Republic of Ireland.[170] Since the 1960s with the increase in immigration, many more languages have been introduced, particularly deriving from Asia and Eastern Europe.
Ireland's culture comprises elements of the culture of ancient peoples, later immigrant and broadcast cultural influences (chiefly Gaelic culture,Anglicisation,Americanisation and aspects of broaderEuropean culture). In broad terms, Ireland is regarded as one of theCeltic nations of Europe, alongside Scotland, Wales, Cornwall,Isle of Man and Brittany. This combination of cultural influences is visible in the intricate designs termedIrishinterlace orCeltic knotwork. These can be seen in the ornamentation of medieval religious and secular works. The style is still popular today in jewellery and graphic art,[172] as is the distinctive style oftraditional Irish music and dance, and has become indicative of modern "Celtic" culture in general.
Religion has played a significant role in the cultural life of the island since ancient times (and since the 17th century plantations, has been the focus of political identity and divisions on the island). Ireland's pre-Christian heritage fused with the Celtic Church following the missions of Saint Patrick in the fifth century. The Hiberno-Scottish missions, begun by the Irish monk Saint Columba, spread the Irish vision of Christianity topagan England and the Frankish Empire. These missions brought written language to an illiterate population of Europe during the Dark Ages that followed thefall of Rome, earning Ireland the sobriquet, "the island of saints and scholars".
Since the 20th centuryIrish pubs worldwide have become outposts of Irish culture, especially those with a full range of cultural and gastronomic offerings.
Modern Irish literature is often connected with its rural heritage[174] through English-language writers such asJohn McGahern and Seamus Heaney and Irish-language writers such asMáirtín Ó Direáin and others from theGaeltacht.
James Joyce, one of the most significant writers of the 20th century
Music has been in evidence in Ireland since prehistoric times.[175] Although in the early Middle Ages the church was "quite unlike its counterpart in continental Europe",[176] there was a considerable interchange between monastic settlements in Ireland and the rest of Europe that contributed to what is known asGregorian chant. Outside religious establishments, musical genres in early Gaelic Ireland are referred to as a triad of weeping music (goltraige), laughing music (geantraige) and sleeping music (suantraige).[177] Vocal and instrumental music (e.g. for the harp, pipes, and variousstring instruments) was transmitted orally, but theIrish harp, in particular, was of such significance that it became Ireland's national symbol. Classical music following European models first developed in urban areas, in establishments of Anglo-Irish rule such asDublin Castle,St Patrick's Cathedral andChrist Church as well as the country houses of the Anglo-Irish ascendancy, with the first performance ofHandel'sMessiah (1742) being among the highlights of the baroque era. In the 19th century, public concerts provided access to classical music to all classes of society. Yet, for political and financial reasons Ireland has been too small to provide a living to many musicians, so the names of the better-knownIrish composers of this time belong to emigrants.
Irishtraditional music and dance have seen a surge in popularity and global coverage since the 1960s. In the middle years of the 20th century, as Irish society was modernising, traditional music had fallen out of favour, especially in urban areas.[178] However during the 1960s, there was a revival of interest in Irish traditional music led by groups such asthe Dubliners,the Chieftains,the Wolfe Tones, theClancy Brothers,Sweeney's Men and individuals likeSeán Ó Riada andChristy Moore. Groups and musicians includingHorslips,Van Morrison andThin Lizzy incorporated elements of Irish traditional music into contemporary rock music and, during the 1970s and 1980s, the distinction between traditional and rock musicians became blurred, with many individuals regularly crossing over between these styles of playing. This trend can be seen more recently in the work of artists likeEnya,the Saw Doctors,the Corrs,Sinéad O'Connor,Clannad,the Cranberries andthe Pogues among others.
The earliest known Irish graphic art and sculpture are Neolithic carvings found at sites such as Newgrange[179] and is traced through Bronze Age artefacts and the religious carvings andilluminated manuscripts of the medieval period. During the course of the 19th and 20th centuries, a strong tradition of painting emerged, including such figures asJohn Butler Yeats,William Orpen,Jack Yeats andLouis le Brocquy. Contemporary Irish visual artists of note includeSean Scully,Kevin Abosch, andAlice Maher.
The Irish philosopher and theologianJohannes Scotus Eriugena was considered one of the leading intellectuals of the early Middle Ages. SirErnest Henry Shackleton, an Irish explorer, was one of the principal figures of Antarctic exploration. He, along with his expedition, made the first ascent ofMount Erebus and the discovery of the approximate location of theSouth Magnetic Pole.Robert Boyle was a 17th-century natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, inventor and earlygentleman scientist. He is largely regarded as one of the founders of modern chemistry and is best known for the formulation ofBoyle's law.[183]
Other notable Irishphysicists includeErnest Walton, winner of the 1951Nobel Prize in Physics. WithSir John Douglas Cockcroft, he was the first to split the nucleus of the atom by artificial means and made contributions to the development of a new theory ofwave equation.[184] William Thomson, orLord Kelvin, is the person whom the absolute temperature unit, thekelvin, is named after. SirJoseph Larmor, a physicist and mathematician, made innovations in the understanding of electricity, dynamics, thermodynamics and the electron theory of matter. His most influential work was Aether and Matter, a book on theoretical physics published in 1900.[185]
Gaelic football is the most popular sport in Ireland in terms of match attendance and community involvement, with about 2,600 clubs on the island. In 2003 it represented 34% of total sports attendances at events in Ireland and abroad, followed byhurling at 23%, soccer at 16% andrugby at 8%.[189] TheAll-Ireland Football Final is the most watched event in the sporting calendar.[190] Soccer is the most widely played team game on the island and the most popular in Northern Ireland.[189][191]
Other sporting activities with the highest levels of playing participation include swimming, golf, aerobics, cycling, and billiards/snooker.[192] Many other sports are also played and followed, includingboxing,cricket, fishing,greyhound racing,handball,hockey, horse racing,motor sport,show jumping and tennis.
The island fields a single international team in most sports. One notable exception to this is association football, although both associations continued to field international teams under the name "Ireland" until the 1950s. The sport is also the most notable exception where theRepublic of Ireland andNorthern Ireland field separate international teams. Northern Ireland has produced two World Snooker Champions.
Ireland is ranked 10th in the ICC Men's Test Team Rankings 2025 with a rating of 30.[193]
Gaelic football, hurling and Gaelic handball are the best-known Irish traditional sports, collectively known as Gaelic games. Gaelic games are governed by theGaelic Athletic Association (GAA), with the exception of women's Gaelic football and camogie (women's variant of hurling), which are governed by separate organisations. The headquarters of the GAA (and the main stadium) is located at[194]Croke Park in north Dublin and has a capacity of 82,500. Many major GAA games are played there, including the semi-finals and finals of theAll-Ireland Senior Football Championship andAll-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. During the redevelopment of theLansdowne Road stadium in 2007–2010, international rugby and soccer were played there.[195] All GAA players, even at the highest level, are amateurs, receiving no wages, although they are permitted to receive a limited amount of sport-related income from commercial sponsorship.
TheIrish Football Association (IFA) was originally the governing body for soccer across the island. The game has been played in an organised fashion in Ireland since the 1870s, withCliftonville F.C. in Belfast being Ireland's oldest club. It was most popular, especially in its first decades, around Belfast and in Ulster. However, some clubs based outside Belfast thought that the IFA largely favoured Ulster-based clubs in such matters as selection for the national team. In 1921, following an incident in which, despite an earlier promise, the IFA moved anIrish Cup semi-final replay from Dublin to Belfast,[196] Dublin-based clubs broke away to form the Football Association of the Irish Free State. Today the southern association is known as theFootball Association of Ireland (FAI). Despite being initially blacklisted by theHome Nations' associations, the FAI was recognised byFIFA in 1923 and organised its first international fixture in 1926 (againstItaly). However, both the IFA and FAI continued to select their teams from the whole of Ireland, with some players earning international caps for matches with both teams. Both also referred to their respective teams asIreland.
In 1950, FIFA directed the associations only to select players from within their respective territories and, in 1953, directed that the FAI's team be known only as "Republic of Ireland" and that the IFA's team be known as "Northern Ireland" (with certain exceptions). Northern Ireland qualified for theWorld Cup finals in1958 (reaching the quarter-finals),1982 and1986 and theEuropean Championship in2016. The Republic qualified for the World Cup finals in1990 (reaching the quarter-finals),1994,2002 and the European Championship in1988,2012 and 2016. Across Ireland, there is significant interest in theEnglish and, to a lesser extent,Scottish soccer leagues.
Ireland fields a singlenational rugby team and a single association, theIrish Rugby Football Union, governs the sport across the island. The Irish rugby team have played in everyRugby World Cup, making the quarter-finals in eight of them.[197] Ireland also hosted games during the1991 and the1999 Rugby World Cups (including a quarter-final). There are four professional Irish teams; all four play in thePro14 and at least three compete for theHeineken Cup. Irish rugby has become increasingly competitive at both the international and provincial levels since the sport went professional in 1994. During that time,Ulster (1999),[198]Munster (2006[199] and2008)[198] andLeinster (2009,2011 and2012)[198] have won the Heineken Cup. In addition to this, the Irish International side has had increased success in theSix Nations Championship against the other European elite sides. This success, includingTriple Crowns in 2004, 2006 and 2007, culminated with a clean sweep of victories, known as aGrand Slam, in 2009 and 2018.[200]
Amateur boxing on the island of Ireland is governed by theIrish Athletic Boxing Association. Ireland has won more medals in boxing than in any other Olympic sport.Michael Carruth won a gold medal andWayne McCullough won a silver medal in theBarcelona Olympic Games. In 2008 Kenneth Egan won a silver medal in the Beijing Games.[201]Paddy Barnes secured bronze in those games and gold in the2010 European Amateur Boxing Championships (where Ireland came 2nd in the overall medal table) and2010 Commonwealth Games.Katie Taylor has won gold in every European and World championship since 2005. In August 2012 at the Olympic Games in London, Taylor created history by becoming the first Irish woman to win a gold medal in boxing in the 60 kg lightweight.[202] More recently, Kellie Harrington won a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.[203]
Horse racing and greyhound racing are both popular in Ireland. There are frequent horse race meetings and greyhound stadiums are well-attended. The island is noted for the breeding and training of race horses and is also a large exporter of racing dogs.[204] The horse racing sector is largely concentrated in the County Kildare.[205]
Irish athletics is an all-Ireland sport governed byAthletics Ireland.Sonia O'Sullivan won two medals at 5,000 metres on the track; gold at the 1995World Championships and silver at the2000 Sydney Olympics.Gillian O'Sullivan won silver in the 20k walk at the 2003 World Championships, while sprint hurdlerDerval O'Rourke won gold at the 2006 World Indoor Championship in Moscow. Olive Loughnane won a silver medal in the 20k walk at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin in 2009.[206]
Golf is very popular, and golf tourism is a major industry attracting more than 240,000 golfing visitors annually.[207] The2006 Ryder Cup was held atThe K Club in County Kildare.[208]Pádraig Harrington became the first Irishman sinceFred Daly in 1947 to win theBritish Open atCarnoustie in July 2007.[209] He successfully defended his title in July 2008[210] before going on to win thePGA Championship in August.[211] Harrington became the first European to win the PGA Championship in 78 years and was the first winner from Ireland. Three golfers from Northern Ireland have been particularly successful. In 2010,Graeme McDowell became the first Irish golfer to win theU.S. Open, and the first European to win that tournament since 1970.Rory McIlroy, at the age of 22, won the 2011 U.S. Open, whileDarren Clarke's latest victory was the2011 Open Championship at Royal St. George's. In August 2012, McIlroy won his 2nd major championship by winning the USPGA Championship by a record margin of 8 shots.
Recreation
The west coast of Ireland,Lahinch andDonegal Bay in particular, have popular surfing beaches, being fully exposed to the Atlantic Ocean. Donegal Bay is shaped like a funnel and catches west/south-west Atlantic winds, creating good surf, especially in winter. Since just before the year 2010,Bundoran has hosted European championship surfing.Scuba diving is increasingly popular in Ireland with clear waters and large populations of sea life, particularly along the western seaboard. There are also many shipwrecks along the coast of Ireland, with some of the bestwreck dives being inMalin Head and off the County Cork coast.[212]
With thousands of lakes, over 14,000 kilometres (8,700 mi) of fish-bearing rivers and over 7,500 kilometres (4,660 mi) ofcoastline, Ireland is a popularangling destination. The temperate Irish climate is suited to sport angling. Whilesalmon andtrout fishing remain popular with anglers, salmon fishing, in particular, received a boost in 2006 with the closing of the salmondriftnet fishery.Coarse fishing continues to increase its profile. Sea angling is developed with many beaches mapped and signposted,[213] and the range of sea angling species is around 80.[214]
Gubbeen cheese, an example of the resurgence in Irish cheese making
Food and cuisine in Ireland take their influence from the crops grown and animals farmed in the island's temperate climate and from the social and political circumstances of Irish history. For example, whilst from the Middle Ages until the arrival of the potato in the 16th century the dominant feature of the Irish economy was the herding of cattle, the number of cattle a person owned was equated to their social standing.[215] Thus herders would avoid slaughtering a milk-producing cow.[215]
For this reason, pork andwhite meat were more common than beef, and thick fatty strips of saltedbacon (known as rashers) and the eating of salted butter (i.e. a dairy product rather than beef itself) have been a central feature of the diet in Ireland since the Middle Ages.[215] The practice of bleeding cattle and mixing the blood with milk and butter (not unlike the practice of theMaasai) was common[216] andblack pudding, made from blood, grain (usually barley) and seasoning, remains a breakfast staple in Ireland. All of these influences can be seen today in the phenomenon of the "breakfast roll".
The introduction of the potato in the second half of the 16th century heavily influenced cuisine thereafter. Great poverty encouraged a subsistence approach to food, and by the mid-19th century, the vast majority of the population sufficed with a diet of potatoes and milk.[217] A typical family, consisting of a man, a woman and four children, would eat 18 stone (110 kg) of potatoes per week.[215] Consequently, dishes that are considered as national dishes represent a fundamental simplicity to cooking, such as theIrish stew,bacon and cabbage,boxty, a type of potato pancake, orcolcannon, a dish ofmashed potatoes andkale orcabbage.[215]
Since the last quarter of the 20th century, with a re-emergence of wealth in Ireland, a "New Irish Cuisine" based on traditional ingredients incorporating international influences[218] has emerged.[219] This cuisine is based on fresh vegetables, fish (especially salmon, trout,oysters,mussels and other shellfish), as well as traditional soda breads and the wide range of hand-madecheeses that are now being produced across the country. An example of this new cuisine is "Dublin Lawyer": lobster cooked in whiskey and cream.[220] The potato remains however a fundamental feature of this cuisine and the Irish remain the highest per capita[215] consumers of potatoes in Europe. Traditional regional foods can be found throughout the country, for examplecoddle in Dublin ordrisheen in Cork, both a type of sausage, orblaa, a doughy white bread particular to Waterford.
Ireland once dominated the world's market for whiskey, producing 90% of the world's whiskey at the start of the 20th century. However, as a consequence of bootleggers during theprohibition in the United States (who sold poor-quality whiskey bearing Irish-sounding names thus eroding the pre-prohibition popularity for Irish brands)[221] and tariffs on Irish whiskey across the British Empire during theAnglo-Irish Trade War of the 1930s,[222] sales of Irish whiskey worldwide fell to a mere 2% by the mid-20th century.[223] In 1953, an Irish government survey, found that 50% of whiskey drinkers in the United States had never heard ofIrish whiskey.[224]
Irish whiskey, as researched in 2009 by theCNBC American broadcaster, remains popular domestically and has grown in international sales steadily over a few decades.[225] Typically CNBC states Irish whiskey is not as smoky as aScotch whisky, but not as sweet asAmerican orCanadian whiskies.[225] Whiskey forms the basis ofcream liqueurs, such asBaileys, and the "Irish coffee" (acocktail of coffee and whiskey reputedly invented atFoynes flying-boat station) is probably the best-known Irish cocktail.
Stout, a kind ofporter beer, particularlyGuinness, is typically associated with Ireland, although historically it was more closely associated with London. Porter remains very popular, although it has lost sales since the mid-20th century tolager.Cider, particularlyMagners (marketed in the Republic of Ireland asBulmers), is also a popular drink.Red lemonade, a soft-drink, is consumed on its own and as a mixer, particularly with whiskey.[226]
The GDP of the Republic of Ireland as of 2021[update] was €423.5 billion (nominal),[227] and in Northern Ireland in 2021, it was £52 billion (GVA Balanced).[228] The GDP per capita in the Republic of Ireland was €84,049.9 (nominal) as of 2021[update],[227] and in Northern Ireland 2021 was £27,154 (GVA Balanced).[228] The Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom measure these numbers differently.
Despite the two jurisdictions using two distinct currencies (the euro andpound sterling), a growing amount of commercial activity is carried out on an all-Ireland basis. This has been facilitated by the two jurisdictions' former shared membership of the European Union, and there have been calls from members of the business community and policymakers for the creation of an "all-Ireland economy" to take advantage ofeconomies of scale and boost competitiveness.[229]
Regional economics
Below is a comparison of the regional GDP on the island of Ireland.
Below is a comparison of the goods being sold and purchased between Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom, compared with the goods being exported and imported between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland:
Prior to partition in 1921, Ireland had a long history as an economic colony – first, partially, of the Norse, via their cities (9th to 10th centuries CE), and later, to varying extents, of polities related to England. Though the climate and soil favoured certain forms of agriculture,[235]trade barriers frequently hobbled its development. Repeated invasions and plantations disruptedland-ownership, andmultiple failed uprisings also contributed to repeated phases ofdeportation and ofemigration.
Salient events in the economic history of Ireland include:
16th and 17th centuries: confiscation and redistribution of land in thePlantations of Ireland
1845–1849:The Great Famine occasioned depopulation and mass emigration
1846: Westminster's repeal of theCorn Laws disrupted Irish agriculture[236]
The Dublin region receives the most tourists[240] and is home to several of the most popular attractions such as theGuinness Storehouse and Book of Kells.[240] The west and south west, which includes theLakes of Killarney and theDingle peninsula in County Kerry andConnemara and theAran Islands in County Galway, are also popular tourist destinations.[240]
Although for most of their existence electricity networks in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland were entirely separate, the island has operated for some time as a single market for electricity.[245] Both networks were designed and constructed independently post-partition but they are now connected with three interlinks[246] and are also connected through Great Britain to mainland Europe. The situation in Northern Ireland is complicated by the issue of private companies not supplyingNorthern Ireland Electricity with enough power. In the Republic of Ireland, theESB has failed to modernise its power stations, and the availability of power plants has recently averaged only 66%, one of the worst such rates in Western Europe.EirGrid has started building aHVDC transmission line between Ireland and Great Britain with a capacity of 500 MW,[247] about 10% of Ireland's peak demand.
As with electricity, the natural gas distribution network is also now all-island, with a pipeline linkingGormanston, County Meath, andBallyclare, County Antrim.[248] Most of Ireland's gas comes through interconnectors betweenTwynholm in Scotland andBallylumford, County Antrim andLoughshinny, County Dublin. Supplies come from the Corrib Gas Field, off the coast of County Mayo, with a supply previously also coming from the Kinsale gas field off the County Cork coast.[249][250] The County Mayo field faces some localised opposition overa controversial decision to refine the gas onshore.
Turf-cutting nearMaam Cross by the road to Leenane, County Galway
Ireland has an ancient industry based onpeat (known locally as "turf") as a source of energy for home fires. A form ofbiomass energy, this source of heat is still widely used in rural areas. However, because of the ecological importance of peatlands in storing carbon and their rarity, the EU is attempting to protect this habitat by fining Ireland for digging up peat. In cities, heat is generally supplied by natural gas orheating oil, although some urban suppliers distribute sods of turf as "smokeless fuel" for domestic use.
The Republic has a strong commitment to renewable energy and ranks as one of the top 10 markets forclean-technology investment in the 2014 Global Green Economy Index.[251] Research and development inrenewable energy (such aswind power) has increased since 2004. Largewind farms have been constructed in Cork, Donegal, Mayo and Antrim. The construction of wind farms has in some cases been delayed by opposition from local communities, some of whom regard thewind turbines as unsightly. The Republic is hindered by an ageing network that was not designed to handle the varying availability of power that comes from wind farms. The ESB'sTurlough Hill facility is the only power-storage facility in the state.[252]
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