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Provinces Of Ireland

Provinces of Ireland

When under Gaelic rule, Ireland was divided into provinces to replace the earlier system of the tuatha. The four provinces are; #Leinster #Munster #Connacht #Ulster Originally there were five provinces but over the course of time the smallest one, Meath, was absorbed into Leinster. During Ireland's golden age these provinces were little more than loosely federated kingdoms with somewhat flexible boundaries, but in modern times they have become associated with groups of specific counties though they have no legal status. They are today seen in a sporting context, as Ireland's four professional rugby teams play under the names of the provinces, and the Gaelic Athletic Association has separate provincial championships. The provinces were supplanted by the present system of counties after the Norman occupation in the twelfth century. The Irish word for province, "cúige", means "portion" and/or "fifth", reflecting the original division. Six of the nine Ulster counties form modern-day Northern Ireland, which remains a part of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland is sometimes referred to as a province of the United Kingdom, usually by Unionists. These two usages of the word "province" in Ireland are often confused.

See also


- Counties of Ireland Category:Ireland Ireland
-

Gaels

The Gaels are an ethnic group in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man, whose language is one that is Gaelic (Goidelic), an Insular Celtic language. The word in English was adopted in 1810 from Scottish Gaelic Gaidheal (compare Irish Gaoidheal) to designate a Highlander (OED). Gael or Gaoidheal was first used as a collective term to describe people from Ireland; it is thought to have come from a Welsh word, Gwyddel meaning raiders.

Mythological origin

The Gaels during the beginning of the Christian era (at which time Gaelic people were mostly restricted to Ireland) believed themselves to be descendants of Míl Espáine coming from the north of Iberia, mainly Gallaecia (modern Galicia and northern Portugal), where existed also an early form of ogham script. This belief persists in the Gaelic cultures of Ireland and Scotland up to the present day, with many if not most clan leaders in either country claiming descent from their predeccesor, back to famous historical kings going back into pre-history.

Historical expansion

It is not known with any certainty when speakers of a Goidelic (or q-Celtic) language reached Ireland, or how they came to be the dominant culture. Evidence suggests Goidelic replaced some pre-existing Brythonic (or p-Celtic) language(s), but it is not known whether this represents one population displacing others, an invader becoming a new ruling caste, or simply the spread of a new lingua franca. Before and during the age of the Roman Empire there was a great deal of movement, interaction and competition among the peoples referred to collectively as the Celts; Iron Age Europe can perhaps be best understood as a cultural foment. Estimates of the arrival of proto-Gaelic in Ireland vary around the first few centuries BC, leading to (unsubstantiated) speculation that the Gaels were a culture that sought refuge in Ireland from the rapidly expanding Roman Empire. Little can be said with certainty, as the language now known as Old Irish, ancestral to modern Irish, Scots Gaelic and Manx, only began to be properly recorded with the Christianization of Ireland in about the 5th Century AD. (It is believed that pre-Christian Celtic culture disparaged written language.) However Old Irish - or more correctly, its precursor Primitive Irish - does appear in a specialized written form, using a unique script known as ogham. This is known to us now almost only in the form of messages on pillar-like stone monuments. Ogham stones are found both throughout Ireland and where Gaelic invaders settled across post-Roman Britain. They frequently encode nothing more than a name, and it is thought they may represent territorial claims. Starting sometime around the 5th century Gaelic language and culture spread from Ireland to the southwest coast of Scotland where it may have already existed since Roman times. Uncertainty over this comes as a result of the fact that there is no archaeological evidence to support the generally accepted tale of migration while there is some to suggest that there was none - the evidence also points to the population of the area (modern day Argyll) being constant during the time of the alleged Scottish invasion. This area was known as Dal Riada. The Gaels soon spread out to most of the rest of the country. Culturo-linguistic dominance in the area eventually led to the Latin name for Gaelic speaking peoples, "Scotti", being applied to the state founded by the Gaels, Scotland (Alba in Gaelic). Since that time Gaelic culture rose and, in the past three centuries, greatly diminished, in most of Ireland and Scotland. The most culturally Gaelic regions are in the north west of Scotland, the west of Ireland and Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia where the descendants of the Highland Clearances were transplanted. The Isle of Man (Manx Gaelic Ellan Vannin, "Mannin's Isle", from the pre-Christian deity known as Manannan Mac Lír) also came under Gaelic influence in its history. The last native speaker of Manx died in the 1970s, but there is now a resurgent language movement and Manx is once again taught in some schools. A large part of the island's cultural heritage is Gaelic.

Medieval and Earlier Gaelic Clothing and Fashion

Despite common misconceptions, the common clothing of Gaels in the middle ages and earlier did not at all involve a 'kilt'; the kilt did not exist until the Victorian era. Instead, clothing was generally a leine (a knee-length shirt, sometimes dyed with saffron), a brat (a very short cloak or mantle with plaid or other coloration), a belt, and sometimes trac or trews (tight trousers). Additionally, various types of coats, robes, boots, and shoes were worn. What women wore is less known; it is often suggested that it was similar, though 'dresses' existed, though these may have just been female versions of robes. Trews, that being trousers, were not worn by the middle class and higher. These were considered appropriate for the poor, slaves, and others below the middle class. This potentially developed as a way to distinguish the Ibero-Celtic population from the earlier inhabitants, after they were conquered. Additionally, colors on one cloak were limited to type and number by one's station in society; the more colors, the higher one's station. Aristocracy also had a habit of wearing artfully decorated robes, and most middle class and higher also wore a variety of both simple and complex jewelry, featuring various precious and semi-precious stones. Cleanliness was extremely important to Gaels. They bathed daily and made it a habit to remove their body hair, to make themselves easier to clean. Facial hair was rarely more than a mustache, which would be worn in, what we call today, a handlebar style. Hair was worn long and styled with braids, or styles similar to cornrows, or other elaborate hairstyles that probably took a bit of practice to develop.

Indigenous Gaelic Warfare and Exported Gaelic Warfare

A part of Gaelic culture's unique aspect versus other Celts is the reliance on a battle axe in earlier society. La Tene Celts only rarely ever used axes in battle save for a few specific tribes or demi-Celtic cultures, such as Raetians. However, Gaels did practice standard bearing in the same way as La Tene Celts, and probably had similar tactics and traditions based on it. The Gaelic battle axe is not an overly impressive affair; this is probably on purpose. It is a cheap, easy to make weapon that could be widely available. Certain variants could also apparently be thrown. The Gaels also employed many spears with flaring heads, and many early Gaelic swords had 'leaf-shape' blades to increase damage from both thrusts and slashing. Most of these swords were fairly short; longswords were the property of aristocracy and champions more often than regular soldiers. Most soldiers carried a throwing spear, militias carried short javelins, sometimes called 'darts', and at range, slings were preferred over bows, though militias sometimes offered archers, and eventually some Gaels would employ longbowmen adopted from Welsh mercenaries. As an aside, many Gaelic longswords featured an elongated grip to be used in two hands as well as one like a latter period bastard sword, and some Gaelic greatswords proceed the mass proliferation of such arms from Germany, though these earlier versions were likely the possessions of individual champions and soldiers. Armor was usually a simple affair; padded coats, the wealthier might wear boiled leather, and the wealthiest, bronze chest plates or cuirass, rarely mail (though it existed in Ireland, it was rare), or overlapping iron or bronze scales. Helmets were rather like Hallstatt helmets, even into the middle ages. That is, they were usually round, some with decorated cheekguards, and crested with horse hair, or featuring a long plume tail. Like most Celtic helmets, they were modular, so they could be decorated by their owners with such accoutrements. Shields were usually round, the early 'targe' style of shield. However, some early cavalrymen are also depicted with oval or oblong shields. Full-scale war, and not clan wars, were organized around standard bearers. A regiment of actual soldiers would be given a standard to follow and organize with. Levies, part-time soldiers, and militia, would be assigned to support specific regiments; such as levies of archers following behind, or forming a screen in front, or light cavalry acting as outrunners to harass enemies as they approach or chase down routers. Aristocracy fought alongside the regiments; in early periods, they would probably be among the many charioteers that would be on the field. Later armies, they were usually among the foot soldiers or cavalry, depending on the region and specific nobles. Romans recorded Celts, with standard bearers, as being able to quickly form into lines and reverse a rout incredibly fast; in fact, the Roman reforms incorporated Celtic-style standards because of this. Knowing their own skill, Celts would also feint a retreat, to cause their enemy to disorder and charge them, only to find the routers reorganized and capable of slaughtering the now disorganized attackers. It appears Gaels did this as well. Additionally, they used backpedal tactics; engage in a melee and slowly 'withdraw', bending inward to surround a larger enemy, with supporting regiments and men encircling the foe. All of this relied on standards. When a standard bearer died, a regiment had orders to unite with another regiment. If many died, the army suddenly became a mob and was totally disorganized; this tactic was often utilized by their enemies, but Celts, Gaels included, also made it a priority to protect their standards. Additionally, kings and other nobles were expected to fight. This often put them at the front of danger in battle, and is how many died. War was based around ceitherne; 'a warband'. In large scale terms, this is a regiment of soldiers; usually a single regiment of professional soldiers, organized on a multiple of 50, accompanied by a levy of irregulars. Ceitherne are loyal to the clan from which they are drawn, not the king. This law was in place to prevent a king from siezing excessive power via military force; his army could not be forced to fight in a war they did not agree with, so aggressive wars have a tendency to be very rare. Most war was often clan wars, fought by subjects of the same king, in a single battle, with few casualties, to determine the outcome of a disagreement that could not be settled in court. Against a foreign enemy invading, it was easy to get the many ceitherne to unite and go to war though, as it was clearly in their best interests. However, the professional army only trained 4 months out of the year in large scale manuevers, and the other 8 months were spent learning to fight in small scale manuevers for clan wars. Levies only trained 4 months out of the year entirely. This often meant that they were left at disadvantage against a more heavily trained military, but the Gaels were surprisingly capable even so. For many years, even after the Normans declared Ireland a vassal of the king of England, the Gaelic armies were effective enough to make this claim all smoke, and no fire, relegating Norman power in Ireland to the Pale. So valued were Gaelic soldiers in Scotland, that the Norman lords of the lowlands often made exceedingly large sums of payments to convince them to fight in Scotland's wars; the Norman lords practiced feudalism with an Anglo-French-style army, but in the highlands, the ceitherne laws still existed, and the highlanders could not be forced to fight if they didn't want to. Their skill-at-arms, substantial numbers, and their bravery though were extremely valuable. When the Norse came, the Gaels adapted their military accordingly. That said, there was actually surprisingly little changed. Sword designs were adopted in many places, and mail armor was proliferated more widely, but the Gaels still fought much in the same manner. They began to employ 'Ostmen' to an extent, but they really weren't much different. The Norse in Ireland absorbed a great deal of Gaelic culture, and were ostensibly Gaels themselves, culturally. Gaels did appreciate Norse axe design though, and modified their axes with beards, though, they pointed them the opposite direction, and dropped the 'horse-spike' from the back of many of their axes; a spike used for various tasks, one being to kill a lame horse. The oblong cavalry shield seems to have fallen out of wide use in this time, and cavalrymen began carrying similar targes to what foot soldiers carried. Following the Norse would be the Norman invasions, which would more effectively move the Gaels away from indigenous styles of war. The most prolific Norse legacy in general Gaelic war though is the creation of the galloglaich or galloglaidh; the Norse-Gaelic mercenaries who inhabited the Hebrides. They fought and trained in a combination of Gaelic and Norse techniques, and were highly valued; they were hired by everyone in Britain at different times, though most famously the Irish, who used them to replace their decimated heavy infantry core, and, as such, hired many more times of them than anyone else. The French also saw fit to hire them, as they often had a tendency to hire Irish and Scots to help them in their wars, this was a natural progression. Additionally, both the English and French had a habit of hiring Gaelic horsemen, called hobiguir, which became 'hobilar', and were copied by both, though the Gaelic version wore substantially heavier armor. Other exports and famous pieces include the medieval Irish and Scottish swords; different swords with such unique furnishing that they're some of the only swords in medieval Europe that can be ascribed to use by single nations or cultures. Irish swords, as well as other melee weapons, often featured open rings on the pommel. On any locally designed Irish sword in the middle ages, this meant you could see the end of the tang go through the pommel and cap the end; it also left space to braid scalps of dead enemies; an adaption of the ancient Celtic practice of head hunting. These swords were often of very fine construction and quality, and numerous foreign nobles wished to purchase one, though found it notoriously difficult (though supposedly a few French kings and nobles recieved them as gifts for having been supportive of the Irish in diplomatic talks with England). The Irish swords of this period dropped the earlier Gaelic 'V' guards in most cases, though some persisted in Ulster and Meath, such as on the Irish claidhmhor, an Irish version of the more famous Scottish greatsword. Scottish swords continued to use the more traditional V guards that had been on pre-Norse Gaelic swords, culminating in such pieces as the now famous 'claymore' design. This was an outgrowth of numerous earlier designs, and has become a symbol of Scotland. The name was later applied as well to Scottish and Irish copies of Germanic backswords and baskethilt broadswords, which the Irish and Scots adopted around the same time as they introduced the pistol as a replacement for throwing javelins before charging.

See also


- Ireland
- Isle of Man
- Scotland
- Scottish Highlands
- Canadian Gaelic
- Goidelic languages Category:Scotland Category:Isle of Man Category:Celts

Province

This article is about political regions. See geologic province for geological meanings. Province is a name for a subnational entity that is a secondary level of government in most countries. In some countries an alternative term is used, such as state (in Australia, India and the United States), prefecture (in Japan), län (in Sweden), or region (in France and in Italy where provincia is a tertiary form of government, akin to a county). Various parts of the British Empire had the title of Province such as the Province of Canada and the Province of South Australia (to distinguish it from the penal 'colonies' elsewhere in Australia). In Germany and Austria, the same sense of historical and cultural unity on a less-than-national scale is expressed as Land, the common name for states of Germany and states of Austria. In many federations (particularly those that are in fact confederations), the province or state is not clearly subordinate to the national or "central" government. Rather, it is considered to be sovereign in regard to its particular set of constitutional functions. The central and provincial governmental functions, or areas of jurisdiction, are identified in a constitution. Those that are not specifically identified in the constitution are called "residual powers". These residual powers lie at the provincial (or state) level in a decentralised federal system (such as the United States and Australia) whereas in a centralised federal system they are retained at the federal level (as in Canada). Nevertheless, some of the enumerated powers can also be very significant. For example, Canadian provinces are sovereign in regard to such important matters as law and order, property, civil rights, education, social welfare, medical services and even taxation. The evolution of federations has created an inevitable tug-of-war between concepts of federal supremacy versus "states' rights". The historic division of responsibility in federal constitutions is inevitably subject to multiple overlaps. For example, when central governments, responsible for "foreign affairs", enter into international agreements in areas where the state or province is sovereign, such as the environment or health standards, agreements made at the national level can create jurisdictional overlap and conflicting laws. This overlap creates the potential for internal disputes that lead to constitutional amendments and judicial decisions that significantly change the balance of powers. The word provincia was introduced by the Romans, who divided their empire into provinciae. The word is thought to have originated from the Latin word provincia (zone of influence), which is turn is thought to have derived from pro ("in front") and vincia ("linked"). In France, the expression en province still tends to mean "outside of the region of Paris". (The same expression is used in Peru, where en provincias means "outside of the city of Lima".) Prior to the French Revolution, France consisted of various governments (such as Ile-de-France, built around the early Capetian royal demesne) some of which were considered as provinces, although the term would be used colloquially to describes lands as small as a manor (châtellenie). Mostly, the Grands Gouvernements, generally former medieval feudal principalities (or agglomerates of such), were the most commonly referred to as provinces. Today, the expression is sometimes replaced with en région, as that term is now officially used for the secondary level of government. In historical terms, Fernand Braudel has depicted the European provinces—built up of numerous small regions called by the French pays or by the Swiss cantons, each with a local cultural identity and focused upon a market town—as the political unit of optimum size in pre-industrial Early Modern Europe and asks, "was the province not its inhabitants' true 'fatherland'?" (The Perspective of the World 1984, p. 284) Even centrally organized France, an early nation-state, could collapse into autonomous provincial worlds under pressure, such as the sustained crisis of the Wars of Religion, 1562—1598. For 19th and 20th-century historians, "centralized government" had been taken as a symptom of modernity and political maturity in the rise of Europe. Then, in the late 20th century, as a European Union drew the nation-states closer together, centripetal forces seemed to be moving towards a more flexible system composed of more localized, provincial governing entities under the European umbrella. Spain after Franco is a State of Autonomies, formally unitary, but in fact functioning as a federation of Autonomous Communities, each one with different powers. (see Politics of Spain). While Serbia, the rump of the former Yugoslavia, fought the separatists in the province of Kosovo, at the same time the UK, under the political principle of "devolution" established local parliaments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (1998). Strong local nationalisms surfaced or developed in Cornwall, Languedoc, Catalonia, Lombardy, Corsica and Flanders, and east of Europe in Abkhasia, Chechnya and Kurdistan.

Current provinces

Not all "second-level" polities are termed provinces. In Arab countries the secondary level of government, called a muhfazah, is usually translated as a governorate. This term is also used for the historic Russian guberniyas. Compare oblast. In Poland, the equivalent of province is województwo, often translated as voivodeship. In Peru, provinces are a tertiary unit of government, as the country is divided into twenty-five regions, which are then subdivided into 194 provinces. There are also provinces in New Zealand, but the country is not seen as a "federal" country. However, the provinces do have a few duties like collecting rates and each province has its own Health Board and District Prisons Board. Some provinces are as large and populous as nations. The most populous province is Henan, China, pop. 93,000,000. Also very populous are several other Chinese provinces, as well as Punjab, Pakistan, pop. 85,000,000. The largest provinces by area are Xinjiang, China (1,600,000 sq. km) and Quebec, Canada (1,500,000 sq. km). The term governorate is widely used in Arab countries to describe an administrative unit; it translates the Arabic word muhafazah. Some governorates combine more than one wilaya; others closely follow traditional boundaries inherited from the Ottoman Empire's vilayet system.

Provinces and polities translated "province"


Historical provinces

Ancient and medieval/feudal provinces


- pharaonic : see nome (Egypt)
- in Achaemenid Persia (and probably before in Media), again after conquest and further extension by Alexander the Great, and in various (mainly the larger) hellenistic successor states : see satrapy
- Provinces of the Roman empire
- in (later) Byzantium : see exarchate, theme
- the gau (a county) in the Frankish (Carolingian) 're-founded' Holy Roman Empire
- the emirate? in the (Arab-ruled) caliphate and subsequent sultanates
- the daruğa ('direction'), in the Tartar Khanate of Khazan (but there were five!)
- the subah in the Indian mughal empire
- In the Habsburg territories, the traditional provinces are partly expressed in the Länder of 19th-century Austria-Hungary.
- The Ottoman Empire's provinces had various types of governors (generally a pasha), but mostly styled vali, hence the predominant term vilayet, generally subdivided (often in beyliks), sometimes grouped under a governor-general (styled beylerbey).
- The former provinces of the Ottoman Empire

Modern post-feudal provinces


- The former Province of Canada (1840-1867)
- The former provinces of France
- The former provinces of Ireland
- The former provinces of Japan
- The former Province of South Australia (now an Australian state)
- The former provinces of Sweden
- The former Republic of the Seven United Provinces (The Netherlands)
- The former United Provinces of Central America Category:Subnational entities
- __NOTOC__ ko:도 (행정 구역) ja:省 simple:Province th:จังหวัด

Leinster

Leinster (; Irish: Laighin or Laigin, ) is the eastern province of Ireland, comprising the counties of Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Longford, Louth, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, Wexford and Wicklow. Leinster is Ireland's most populous province. The traditional flag of Leinster has a golden harp against a green background.

See also


- Kings of Leinster
- Duke of Leinster
- Leinster House
- Provinces of Ireland
- Leinster GAA Category:Provinces of Ireland Category:Leinster

Munster

:For other places with the same or similar names, and other uses of the word, see Munster (disambiguation). Munster (Irish: An Mhumhain, ) is the southernmost province of Ireland, comprising the counties of Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford. The name is derived from the Celtic goddess, Muma. The province was once divided into six regions: Tuadh Mhuman (north Munster), Des Mhuman (south Munster), Urh Mumhan (east Munster), Iar mumhan (west Munster), Ernaibh Muman (the Ernai tribe's portion of Munster), and Deisi Muman (the Deisi tribe's portion of Munster). Ultimately, these were all subsumed into the kingdoms of Thomond (north), Desmond (south), and Ormond (east), all of which were eventually subsumed by surrender and regrant as Earldoms in the Peerage of Ireland. The names exist only indirectly today, particularly in the case of Thomond. The three crowns represent these three kingdoms. This flag can easily be confused with the flag of Dublin which has three castles in a similar pattern on a blue background; it also resembles the lesser coat-of-arms of Sweden. Munster is also an Irish Rugby Football Union representative side which competes in the Celtic League and for the Heineken Cup. See Munster Rugby.

See also


- Provinces of Ireland
- Munster GAA Category:Provinces of Ireland

Connacht

:Connaught redirects here. For the racing team, visit Connaught (racing team). Connacht (; Irish: Connachta (), "(land of the) descendants of Conn", also known in English as Connaught, is the western province of Ireland, comprising the counties of Galway (Co. na Gaillimhe), Leitrim (Liatroim), Mayo (Co. Mhaigh Eo), Roscommon (Co. Ros Comáin), Sligo (Sligeach). In Irish the province is usually Cúige Chonnacht i.e. the province (literally, fifth) of Connacht. Its main urban centres are Galway in the south, and Sligo in the north. It has a population of 464,000, the smallest of the four Irish provinces. The Irish language is spoken in the Gaeltacht areas of west Mayo and west Galway, the largest being Connemara. The highest point of Connacht is Mweelrea (814 metres), in Mayo. Its largest island is Achill, the largest in Ireland. The biggest lake is Lough Corrib. Up to the early historic era, it was known as Cóiced Ol nEchmacht. Connacht-Ulster was one of Ireland's four regional constituencies for elections to the European Parliament until it was superseded in 2004 by the new constituency of Ireland North West.

See also


- Cóiced Ol nEchmacht
- Duke of Connaught
- Kingdoms of ancient Ireland
- Kings of Connacht
- Provinces of Ireland
- Connachta
- The Peoples or Nations of Ancient Ireland
- Medb (Medhbh , Maeve), Queen of Connacht in the Ulster Cycle.
- Connacht GAA

Note

The spelling Connaught reflects the former English practice -- in Ireland, though not in Scotland -- of representing the Gaelic voiceless velar fricative as ugh (compare lough for loch), (u)gh having been used in Middle English for the same sound. Although this sound later disappeared from English, the spelling of words like "thought" and "caught" remained unaltered -- and in a further Anglicization the "new" English pronunciation of -aught was even applied in England to titles like that of the Duke of Connaught. In Ireland, however, the original pronunciation having remained intact, the Gaelic-style spelling Connacht is now used more often in English. It may have gained currency by mistranslation of the Irish name into English: in Irish, the form "Cúige Chonnacht" (province of Connacht) is almost always used, and this may have led to people misunderstanding genitive case "Connacht" as the Gaelic version instead of nominative case "Connachta". Category:Provinces of Ireland

Meath

County Meath (Contae na Mí in Irish) is a county in the Republic of Ireland, often informally called The Royal County. The de facto county town is Navan, where the county hall and government is located, although Trim has a historical significance, including the location of the circuit court, Norman castle and Anglo-Norman parliament. Other major towns include Ashbourne, Dunshaughlin, Ratoath, Dunboyne and Kells with its round tower and monastic past. Slane is well known both for its castle, and the occasional rock concerts. Other less significant places are Athboy, Bettystown, Laytown and Moynalty. Meath (the "middle") was once a province of Ireland in its own right - see Kings of Mide - but now forms part of Leinster. Historically this province of Meath included all of the current county as well as all of Westmeath and parts of Cavan, Dublin, Kildare, Longford, Louth and Offaly. The High King of Ireland sat at Tara in Meath. The archaeological complex of Brú na Bóinne, including the 5,000-year-old burial site Newgrange, in the northeast of the county, is a UNESCO designated World Heritage Site.

Geography


- Rivers Boyne and Blackwater
- 16 km of coastline with the Irish Sea
- Bordered by Irish Sea and counties Cavan, Fingal, Kildare, Louth, Monaghan, Offaly and Westmeath

Economy


- Farming (cattle, potatoes, grain), although this is decreasing in importance An increasing proportion of Meath residents commute into Dublin, with a resulting shift to a services based economy in the developing dormitory towns.

Population Change

The population in Co. Meath has been characterised since 1861 as a period of significant decline in population between 1861 and 1936 (67,497 to 71,729) when the population was almost halved (110,373 to 67,497) and stablisation from 1901 to 1971, and an explosion in population since then which has seen the population almost double between 1971 to 2002 from 71,729 to 134,005. This population growth has seen divergent trends emerge in recent years, with mild depopulation in the north and west of the county being more than offset by large increases in the population of the eastern part of the county, principally due to overspill from Dublin. The county is considered part of the "Greater Dublin Area". Populatiion by census in Co. Meath since 1861:
- 1861: 110,373
- 1871: 95,558
- 1881: 87,469
- 1891: 76,987
- 1901: 67,497
- 1911: 65,091
- 1926: 62,969
- 1936: 61,405
- 1946: 66,232
- 1961: 65,122
- 1971: 71,729
- 1981: 95,419
- 1991: 105,370
- 2002: 134,005

Source


- [http://www.meath.ie/ Meath County Council]
- [http://www.cso.ie/census/ CSO Website]
- [http://meath.travelinireland.com/ County Meath History Geography map guide] Meath

Law of Ireland

The Republic of Ireland has a common law legal system with four main sources of law:
- Constitution of Ireland (Bunreacht na hÉireann)
- Legislation
  - Primary Legislation - Acts of the Oireachtas
  - Secondary Legislation - Statutory Instrument
- Case law
- European Community Law

Historical

The state became independent in 1922 as the Irish Free State, its constitution the Constitution of the Irish Free State, carried all previous British, English and Irish law forward into law. In 1937 the state proclaimed a new constitution, the Constitution of Ireland, and renamed the state as Ireland (Éire) now generally known as the Republic of Ireland. All previous law was also carried forward at this time, with it being left at the discression of the Oireachtas to reform these laws. As a common law jurisdiction Irish legal practice shares much in common with British practice. Typically Acts of the Oireachtas have a long and short title as well as an enacting formulae. The President of Ireland must sign all bills into law as passed by the Houses of the Oireachtas, but does have a number of limited powers to decline signing, generally this means referral to the Supreme Court but does include other methods of referal not yet evoked.

Irish Statute Book

The Irish Statute Book in its broadest sense is the total of all laws which are applicable the Republic of Ireland at this time, these include all British, English and Irish laws made over the centuries. All primary and secondary legislation enacted since 1922 have been made available for free access to all via the internet by the Office of the Attorney-General of Ireland.

See also


- Irish topics
  - Courts of Ireland
    - Supreme Court
- Northern Ireland

External links

Government


- [http://www.irishstatutebook.ie Irish Statute Book - main site]
- [http://acts.oireachtas.ie/index.html Acts of the Oireachtas - Irish & English]
- [http://www.www.attorneygeneral.ie Office of the Attorney General of Ireland]

Other


- [http://www.irishlaw.org Irish Law Site at UCC]
- [http://www.llrx.com/features/irish.htm LLRX.com - Guide to Irish Law] Category:Republic of Ireland

Normans

:This page discusses the people. For other uses, see Norman (disambiguation). The Normans (adapted from the name "Northmen" or "Norsemen") were a mixture of the indigenous people of France and the Viking invaders under the leadership of Rollo (Gange Rolf). Danish or Norwegian Vikings began to occupy the northern area of France now known as Normandy in the latter half of the 9th century. Under the leadership of Hrolf Ganger, who adopted the French name Rollo, they swore allegiance to the king of France (Charles the Simple) and received the small lower Seine area from him in 911. This area expanded over time to become the Duchy of Normandy. The Norman people adopted Christianity and the Gallo-Romance language and created a new cultural identity separate from that of their Scandinavian forebears and French neighbours. Norman culture, like that of many other migrant communities, was particularly enterprising and adaptable. For a time, it led them to occupy widely dispersed territories throughout Europe.

Norman characteristics

Normans should not be confused with other Viking groups, such as the Vikings known as Danes in England and the Vikings known as Varangians in Russia. Geoffrey Malaterra characterized the Normans as "specially marked by cunning, despising their own inheritance in the hope of winning a greater, eager after both gain and dominion, given to imitation of all kinds, holding a certain mean between lavishness and greediness, that is, perhaps uniting, as they certainly did, these two seemingly opposite qualities. Their chief men were specially lavish through their desire of good report. They were, moreover, a race skillful in flattery, given to the study of eloquence, so that the very boys were orators, a race altogether unbridled unless held firmly down by the yoke of justice. They were enduring of toil, hunger, and cold whenever fortune laid it on them, given to hunting and hawking, delighting in the pleasure of horses, and of all the weapons and garb of war." That quick adaptability Geoffrey mentions expressed itself in the shrewd Norman willingness to take on local men of talent, to marry the high-born local women; confidently illiterate Norman masters used the literate clerks of the church for their own purpose. Their success at assimilating was so thorough, few modern traces remain, whether in Palermo or Kiev. See also:
- Vikings
- Norsemen
- Varangians

Normans and Normandy

Geographically, Normandy was approximately the same region as the old church province of Rouen or Neustria. It had no natural frontiers and was previously merely an administrative unit. Its population was mostly Gallo-Roman with a small Frankish/Germanic admixture, plus Viking settlers, who had begun arriving in the 880s, and who were divided between a small colony in Upper (or eastern) Normandy and a larger one in Lower (or western) Normandy. In the course of the 10th century the initial destructive incursions of Norse war bands into the rivers of Gaul evolved into more permanent encampments that included women and chattel. The pagan culture was driven underground by the Christian faith and Gallo-Romance language of the local people. With the zeal of new converts they set forth in the 11th century from their solid base in Normandy. Characteristically it was younger sons, like William the Bastard who were largely dispossessed at home, that headed the adventurous raiding parties. In Normandy they adopted the growing feudal doctrines of France, and worked them, both in Normandy and in England, into a logical system. The Norman warrior class was new and different from the old French aristocracy, many of whom could trace their families back to Carolingian times, while the Normans could seldom cite ancestors before the beginning of the 11th century. Most knights remained poor and land-hungry; by 1066, Normandy had been exporting fighting horsemen for more than a generation. Knighthood at this time held little social status, and simply indicated that a man was a professional warrior. The Norman language forged by the adoption of the indigenous oïl language by a Norse-speaking ruling class developed into the regional language which survives today. See also:
- Channel Islands

The Normans in England

Main articles: Norman Conquest; Anglo-Normans In 1066, the most famous Norman leader, Duke William II of Normandy, conquered England. The invading Normans and their descendants replaced the Anglo-Saxons as the ruling class of England. After an initial period of resentment and rebellion, the two populations largely intermarried and merged, combining languages and traditions. Normans began to identify themselves as Anglo-Norman; indeed, the Anglo-Norman language was considerably distinct from the "Parisian French", which was the subject of some humour by Geoffrey Chaucer. Eventually, even this distinction largely disappeared in the course of the Hundred Years war, with the Anglo-Norman aristocracy increasingly identifying themselves as English, and the Anglo-Norman and Anglo-Saxon languages merging to form Middle English. See also:
- Norman Yoke
- Norman architecture

The Normans in Scotland

One of the claimants of the English throne opposing William the Conqueror, Edgar Atheling, eventually fled to Scotland. King Malcolm Canmore of Scotland married Edgar's sister Margaret, and came into opposition to William who had already disputed Scotland's southern borders. William invaded Scotland in 1072, riding as far as the Firth of Tay where he met up with his fleet of ships. Malcolm submitted, paid homage to William, and surrendered his son Duncan as a hostage, beginning a series of arguments as to whether the Scottish Crown owed allegiance to the English King. Normans came into Scotland, building castles and founding noble families who would provide some future kings such as Robert the Bruce as well as founding some of the Scottish clans in the Highlands. The Norman feudal system was applied to the Scottish Lowlands, but the influence on Lowland Scots language was limited. See also History of Scotland History of Scotland, County Meath, Ireland.]]

The Normans in Ireland

:See Norman Ireland The Normans had a profound effect on Irish culture, history and ethnicity. While initially the Normans in the 12th century kept themselves as a distinct culture and ethnicity, they were quickly subsumed into Ireland, and it is often said that they became more Irish than the Irish themselves. The Normans settled mostly in an area in the east of Ireland, later known as the Pale, and also built many fine castles and settlements, including Trim Castle and Dublin Castle. Both cultures intermixed, borrowing from each other's language, culture and outlook. See also: Castles in the Republic of Ireland, Hiberno-Norman

The Normans in Italy, Sicily, and the Mediterranean

See also Kingdom of Sicily Opportunistic bands of Normans successfully established a foothold far to the south of Normandy. Groups settled at Aversa and Capua, others [?] conquered Apulia and Calabria. From these bases, more organised principalities were eventually able to capture Sicily and Malta from the Saracens. Areas ruled by Normans eventually included Abruzzi, Apulia, Calabria, Campania, and Naples in Italy, Palermo in Sicily, and Thessaloníki in Greece. Normans were to become very influential in the affairs of Italy (especially Southern Italy). As a prime example, Robert Guiscard, a Norman leader, was the only support to be found for Pope Gregory VII (Hildebrand) in his conflict with Emperor Henry IV. This support was to lead to a fight, between the Normans and the Romans, in which a large part of Rome was burned down or sacked. See:
- Tancred of Hauteville
- Robert Guiscard
- Bohemund I of Antioch
- Roger I of Sicily
- Roger II of Sicily
- Roger III of Sicily
- William I of Sicily
- William II of Sicily
- Tancred of Sicily
- Constance of Sicily
- History of Palermo
- History of Naples

Sources


- Brown, Elizabeth (see Feudalism)
- Maitland, F.W., Domesday Book and Beyond: Three Essays in the Early History of England (feudal Saxons)
- Muhlbergher, Stephen, Medieval England (Saxon social demotions)
- Reynolds, Susan (see Feudalism)
- Robertson, A.J., ed. and trans. Laws of the Kings of England from Edmund to Henry I. New York: AMS Press, 1974. (Mudrum fine)
- European Commission presentation of [http://www.mondes-normands.caen.fr/angleterre/index.htm The Normans] Norman Heritage, 10th-12th century. Category:Normans Category:Ethnic groups of Europe ja:ノルマン人

Twelfth Century

As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century was that century which lasted from 1101 to 1200. In the history of European culture, this period is considered part of the High Middle Ages. See also: Renaissance of the 12th century

Events


- The Song dynasty loses power over Northern China.
- The Kamakura Shogunate deprives the Emperor of Japan of political power.
- First, Second, and Third Crusades of western European kingdoms against Islam.
- Pope Adrian IV grants overlordship of Ireland to Henry II of England.
- Suger rebuilds the abbey church at St Denis north of Paris, regarded as the first major Gothic building.
- King Coloman unites Hungary and Croatia under the Hungarian Crown (1102)
- Portugal gains independence from the kingdom of León in 1128 (recognised by León in 1143).
- Nalanda, the great Indian Buddhist educational centre, is destroyed.
- Thomas Becket is murdered in 1170.
- The Toltec Empire collapses.
- Founding of the cathedral school (Katedralskolan) in Lund, Sweden, 1185. The school is the oldest in northern Europe, and one of the oldest in Europe as a whole.
- The medieval Serbian state formed by Stefan Nemanja and continued by the Nemanjić dynasty.

Significant people


- Genghis Khan, Great Khan of the Mongol Empire.
- Pierre Abélard, one of the first scholastic philosophers; author of "Historia calamitatum mearum", a description of his love affair with Héloïse.
- Bernard of Clairvaux, French abbot influential in church politics.
- Saladin, ruler of Egypt and Syria who resisted the Crusaders.
- Hugh of St. Victor, French scholar.
- Richard of St. Victor, theologian.
- Alfonso I Henriques, first King of Portugal.
- Maimonides, leading Jewish philosopher.
- Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury.
- Minamoto no Yoritomo, first shogun of Japan.
- Omar Khayyám, Persian poet and astronomer
- Eleanor of Aquitaine, queen consort of France and later England.
- Hildegard of Bingen, first Western musical composer known by name.

Inventions, discoveries and introductions


- Beginning of the Gothic architecture style.
- First European universities founded.
- Christian humanism becomes a self-conscious philosophical tendency in Europe.
- Earliest record of a miracle play, in Dunstable, England.
- Beginning of troubador and trouvère music in France.
- Earliest account of a mariner's compass, by Alexander Neckam is "De utensilibus".
- First fire and plague insurance (in Iceland).
- First authenticated influenza epidemics.
- Start of Middle English

Decades and years

Category:12th century Category:Centuries ko:12세기 ja:12世紀 simple:12th century th:คริสต์ศตวรรษที่ 12

Northern Ireland

:For an explanation of often confusing terms like Ulster, (Republic of) Ireland, (Great) Britain and United Kingdom see British Isles (terminology). Northern Ireland is one of four constituent parts of the United Kingdom. It is situated on the island of Ireland and shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland, and is the only part of the United Kingdom with an external land border. It was created by the Government of Ireland Act, 1920. It covers 14,139 km² (5,459 mi²) in the northeast of the island of Ireland, about a sixth of the total area of the island, and has a population of 1,685,000 (April 2001) — between a quarter and a third of the island's total population.

Demographics and politics

:Main article: Demographics and politics of Northern Ireland A majority of the present-day population (59%, according to a [http://www.ark.ac.uk/nilt/2004/Political_Attitudes/NIRELAND.html 2004 survey]) wish to remain part of the United Kingdom, but a significant minority (22%) want to see a united Ireland. It is common to refer to the majority "community" as Unionists and the the minority "community" as Nationalists, though there are many who hold a position on the border that is at odds with the label of their "community" or reject these labels completely. The make-up of the Northern Ireland Assembly reflects these divisions within the population. Of the 108 members, 59 are Unionists and 42 are Nationalist (the remaining seven are classified as "other"). Although Protestants are still in the majority, the plurality by religious denomination are Roman Catholics, followed by the Presbyterian Church in Ireland and the Church of Ireland, with the Methodist Church of Ireland coming fourth. The two opposing views of British unionism and Irish nationalism are linked to deeper cultural divisions. Unionists are predominantly Protestant and often descendants of mainly Scottish but also English settlement in previous centuries, while nationalists are predominantly Catholic and usually descend from the population predating such settlement. Discrimination against nationalists under the Stormont government (1921–1972) gave rise to the nationalist civil rights movement in the 1960s. Many unionists argue that any discrimination was not just because of religious or political bigotry, but also the result of more complex socio-economic, socio-political and geographical factors. This eventually led to a long-running conflict known as The Troubles and the political unrest has gone through its most violent phase in recent times between 1968–1994. The main actors have been the Provisional IRA and other republican groups determined to end the British presence, and the Royal Ulster Constabulary, British army and various loyalist paramilitary groups who were defending it. As a consequence of the worsening security situation, self-government for Northern Ireland was suspended in 1972. Since the mid 1990s, the main paramilitary group, the Provisional IRA, has observed an uneasy ceasefire. Following negotiations, the Belfast Agreement of 1998 provides for an elected Northern Ireland Assembly, and a power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive comprising representatives of all the main parties. These institutions have been suspended since 2002 because of unionist impatience at the pace of Sinn Fein's movement away from its associations with the Provisional IRA, which reached breaking point after PSNI allegations of spying by people working for Sinn Fein at the Assembly, although nobody was convicted after a high-profile police operation. On 28 July, 2005, the Provisional IRA declared an end to its campaign and have since decommissioned what is thought to be all of their arsenal. This act was performed in accordance with the Belfast Agreement 1998, and under the watch of the International Decommissioning Body and two external church witnesses. Many unionists remain skeptical, however.

Symbols

Today, Northern Ireland comprises a diverse patchwork of community rivalries, represented in some areas by whole communities where lamp posts and some homes fly the flags of the countries to which they hold allegience. The Union Flag and former Flag of Northern Ireland therefore appear in some loyalist areas, with the Irish national flag, the tricolour appearing in some republican areas. Even the kerbstones in less affluent areas get painted red-white-blue or green-white-orange, depending on whether a local community expresses nationalist/republican or unionist/loyalist sympathies. As a constituent part of the United Kingdom, the only "official" flag of Northern Ireland is the Union Flag. The Northern Ireland Flag (also known as the 'Ulster Banner' or 'Red Hand Flag') is no longer official, due to the abolition of the Parliament of Northern Ireland in 1972. Unionists tend to use the Union flag, the 'Ulster Banner' or paramilitary flags, while nationalists typically use the Irish Tricolour. Some unionists also occasionally use the flags of secular and religious organizations they belong to. The 'Ulster Banner' is based on the flag of Ulster. Some groups, including the Irish Rugby Football Union have used the Flag of St. Patrick as a symbol of Ireland which lacks the same nationalist or unionist connotations, but even this is felt by some to be a loyalist flag, as it was used to represent Ireland during British rule and is used by some British army regiments. No universally acceptable symbol has yet been found. Foreign flags are also found, such as the Palestinian flags in some Nationalist areas and Israeli flags in some Unionist areas. The official national anthem of Northern Ireland remains God Save The Queen. At some cross-community events, however, the Londonderry Air, also known as the tune of Danny Boy, may be played as a neutral, though unofficial, substitute.

Geography and climate

Danny Boy :Main article: Geography of Ireland, Geography of the United Kingdom Northern Ireland was covered by an ice sheet for most of the last ice age and on numerous previous occasions, the legacy of which can be seen in the extensive coverage of drumlins in Counties Fermanagh, Armagh, Antrim and particularly Down. The centrepiece of Northern Ireland's geography is Lough Neagh, at 392 km² the largest freshwater lake in the British Isles. A second extensive lake system is centred on Lower and Upper Lough Erne in Fermanagh. There are substantial uplands in the Sperrin Mountains (an extension of the Caledonian fold mountains) with extensive gold deposits, granite Mourne Mountains and basalt Antrim Plateau, as well as smaller ranges in South Armagh and along the Fermanagh–Tyrone border. None of the hills are especially high, with Slieve Donard in the dramatic Mournes reaching 848 metres, Northern Ireland's highest point. The volcanic activity which created the Antrim Plateau also formed the eerily geometric pillars of the Giant's Causeway. The Lower and Upper River Bann, River Foyle and River Blackwater form extensive fertile lowlands, with excellent arable land also found in North and East Down, although much of the hill country is marginal and suitable largely for animal husbandry. The valley of the River Lagan is dominated by Belfast, whose metropolitan area includes over a third of the population of Northern Ireland, with heavy urbanisation and industrialisation along the Lagan Valley and both shores of Belfast Lough. The whole of Northern Ireland has a temperate maritime climate, rather wetter in the west than the east, although cloud cover is persistent across the region. The weather is unpredictable at all times of the year, and although the seasons are distinct, they are considerably less pronounced than in interior Europe or the eastern seaboard of North America. Average daytime maximums in Belfast are 6.5°C (43.7°F) in January and 17.5°C (63.5°F) in July. The damp climate and extensive deforestation in the 16th and 17th centuries resulted in much of the region being covered in rich green grassland. Highest maximum temperature: 30.8°C (87.4°F) at Knockarevan, near Belleek, County Fermanagh on 30 June 1976 and at Belfast on 12 July 1983. Lowest minimum temperature: -17.5°C (0.5°F) at Magherally, near Banbridge, County Down on 1 January 1979. [http://www.metoffice.com/climate/uk/location/nireland/#temperature]

The Counties in Northern Ireland

1979 Northern Ireland consists of six counties:
- County Antrim
- County Armagh
- County Down
- County Fermanagh
- County Londonderry (Political, Geographical Term) \ County Derry (Nationalist & Irish geographic usage)
- County Tyrone These counties are no longer used for local government purposes; instead there are twenty-six districts of Northern Ireland which have different geographical extents, even in the case of those named after the counties from which they derive their name. Fermanagh District Council most closely follows the borders of the county it takes its name from. Though Coleraine borough council for example derives its name from the town of Coleraine in County Londonderry.

Towns and villages

Main articles: Towns in Northern Ireland and Villages in Northern Ireland See also the list of places in Northern Ireland for all villages, towns and cities
- Ahoghill, Armagh, Antrim
- Ballycastle, Ballyclare, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Ballynahinch, Banbridge, Bangor, Belfast, Bushmills
- Carnmoney, Carrickfergus, Castlerock, Comber, Coleraine, Cookstown, Craigavon
- Derry/Londonderry, Donaghadee, Downpatrick,Dromore, Dundonald, Dungannon, Dungiven
- Enniskillen
- Glengormley
- Hillsborough, Holywood
- Larne, Limavady, Lisburn, Lurgan
- Magherafelt
- Newcastle, Newry, Newtownards, Newtownstewart
- Omagh
- Portrush, Portstewart, Portadown, Portaferry, Poyntzpass
- Strabane
- Warrenpoint

Places of interest

Warrenpoint
- The Mountains of Mourne
- Lough Neagh, the biggest lake in the British Isles, 153 square miles
- Lough Erne
- Strangford Lough
- Carlingford Lough
- The Giant's Causeway
- The Glens of Antrim
- Fermanagh Lakeland
- The Sperrin Mountains
- National parks of Northern Ireland
- National Trust Properties in Northern Ireland
- Dromore, County Down

Variations in Geographic nomenclature

Many people inside and outside Northern Ireland use other names for the entity, as part of a linguistic agenda to define the nature of the state from their historic, cultural or political viewpoint. The most common names used are

Unionist/Loyalist


- Ulster - to suggest that Northern Ireland has an older ancestry that predates its founding in 1921, dating back both to the Plantation of Ulster in the early 17th century and to the millennium-old province of Ulster, one of four provinces on the island of Ireland. The province of Ulster covers a greater landmass than Northern Ireland: 6 of its counties are in Northern Ireland, 3 in the Republic of Ireland.
- The Province - to again link to the historic Irish province of Ulster, with its mythology.
- Northern Ireland - Many more liberal-minded Protestants who reject the extreme form of Unionism prefer to use the official name of the state. Ulster is both inaccurate and, in their view, has very orangist overtones.

Nationalist/Republican


- North of Ireland - to link Northern Ireland to the rest of island, by describing the state as being in the 'north of Ireland' and so by implication playing down Northern Ireland's links with Britain. (The northernmost point in Ireland, in County Donegal, is in fact in the Republic.)
- The Six Counties - language which avoids using the name given to the state by the British-enacted Government of Ireland Act, 1920. (The Republic is similarly described as the Twenty-Six Counties.) Some of the users of these terms contend that using the official name of the region would imply acceptance of the legitimacy of the Government of Ireland Act.
- The Occupied Six Counties. The Republic, whose legitimacy is not recognised by republicans who oppose the Belfast Agreement, is described as being "The Free State", referring to the Irish Free State, the Republic's old name.

The use of language for Northern Ireland geography

Disagreement on nomenclature, and the reading of political symbolism into the use or non-use of a word, also attaches to some urban centres. The most famous example is whether Northern Ireland's second city should be called Derry or Londonderry. Choice of language and nomenclature in Northern Ireland often reveals the cultural, ethnic and religious identity of the speaker. The first Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, Seamus Mallon was criticised by unionist politicians for calling the region the "North of Ireland" while Sinn Féin has been criticised in some newspapers in the Republic for referring to the "Six Counties". Those who do not belong to any group but lean towards one side often tend to use the language of that group. Supporters of unionism in the British media (notably the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Express) regularly call Northern Ireland "Ulster" while nationalist and republican-leaning media outlets in Ireland (such as Daily Ireland) almost always use "North of Ireland" or the "Six Counties". State institutions and cultural organisations in Northern Ireland, particularly those pre-dating the 1980s, often used the word "Ulster" in their title; for example, the University of Ulster the Ulster Orchestra, and BBC Radio Ulster. Many news bulletins since the 1990s have opted avoid all contentious terms and use either the official name, Northern Ireland, or the shorter term, "the North". For Northern Ireland's second largest city, broadcasting outlets which are unaligned to either community and broadcast to both use both names interchangeably, often starting a report with "Londonderry" and then using "Derry" in the rest of the report. However within Northern Ireland, print media which are aligned to either community (the Belfast Newsletter is aligned to the unionist community while the Irish News is aligned to the nationalist community) generally use their community's preferred term. British newspapers with unionist leanings, such as the Daily Telegraph[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2003%2F06%2F16%2Fnblud16.xml], usually use the language of the unionist community, while others, such as The Guardian use the terms interchangeably [http://www.guardian.co.uk/bloodysunday/article/0,2763,184915,00.html] [http://www.guardian.co.uk/bloodysunday/article/0,2763,1394346,00.html] The media in the Republic of Ireland use the nomenclature preferred by nationalists, eg [http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/0609/northviolence.html RTÉ News]. The division in nomenclature is seen particularly in sports and religions associated with one of the communities. Gaelic games and football (soccer) use Derry in club names for example. Nor is there clear agreement on how to decide on a name. When the nationalist-controlled local council voted to re-name the city "Derry" unionists objected, stating that as it owed its city status to a Royal Charter, only a charter issued by Queen Elizabeth II could change the name. Queen Elizabeth refused to intervene on the matter and thus the council is now called "Derry City Council" while the city is still officially "Londonderry". Nevertheless, the council has printed two sets of stationery - one for each term - and their policy is to reply to correspondence using whichever term the original sender used. At times of high communal tension, each side regularly complains of the use of the nomenclature associated with the other community by a third party such as a media organisation, claiming such usage indicates evident "bias" against their community.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Northern Ireland The Northern Ireland economy is the smallest of the four economies making up the United Kingdom.

History

Main article: History of Northern Ireland; for events before 1900 see History of Ireland. The area now known as Northern Ireland has had a diverse history. From serving as the bedrock of Irish resistance in the era of the plantations of Queen Elizabeth and James I in other parts of Ireland, it became itself the subject of major planting of Scottish and English settlers after the Flight of the Earls in 1607 (when the native Gaelic aristocracy left en masse for Catholic Europe). The all-island Kingdom of Ireland (1541-1801) was incorporated into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801 under the terms of the Act of Union, under which the kingdoms of Ireland and Great Britain merged under a central parliament, government and monarchy based in London. In the early 20th century Unionists, led by Sir Edward Carson, opposed the introduction of Home Rule in Ireland. Unionists were in a minority on the island of Ireland as a whole, but were in the majority in the four counties of Armagh, Antrim, Down, and Londonderry, thereby forming a narrow majority in the northern province of Ulster. The clash between the House of Commons and House of Lords of the controversial budget of Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George, produced the Parliament Act 1911 which enabled the veto of the Lords to be overturned. Given that the Lords had been the unionists' main guarantee that a Home Rule Act would be enacted, because of the majority of pro-unionist peers in the House, the Parliament Act made Home Rule a likely prospect in Ireland. Opponents to Home Rule, from Conservative Party leaders like Andrew Bonar Law and Lord Randolph Churchill to militant unionists in Ireland threatened the use of voilence, producing the Larne Gun Running in 1912, when they smuggled thousands of rifles and rounds of ammunition from Imperial Germany for the Ulster Volunteer Force. Churchill famously told a unionist audience in Ulster that "Ulster will fight, and Ulster will be right." The prospect of civil war on Ireland was seen by some as likely. In 1914 the Third Home Rule Act, which contained provision for a temporary partition, received the Royal Assent. However its implementation was suspended for the duration of the intervening First World War, which was only expected to a few weeks but lasted four years. But the time it concluded, the Act was seen as dead in the water, with public opinion in the majority nationalist community having moved from a demand for home rule to something more substantial, independence. Lloyd George proposed in 1919 a new bill which would divide Ireland into two Home Rule areas, twenty-six counties being ruled from Dublin, six being ruled from Belfast, with a shared Lord Lieutenant of Ireland appointing both executives and a Council of Ireland, which Lloyd George believed would evolve into an all-island parliament.

Partition of Ireland, partition of Ulster

In United Kingdom law, Ireland was partitioned in 1921 under the terms of the Government of Ireland Act 1920. Six of the nine Ulster counties in the northeast formed Northern Ireland and the remaining three counties joined those of Leinster, Munster and Connacht to form Southern Ireland. Whilst the former came into being, the latter had only a momentary existence to ratify (in UK law) the Anglo-Irish Treaty that ended the Anglo-Irish War. Under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, Northern Ireland was provisionally scheduled to be included in the Irish Free State, though it could opt-out should the Parliament of Northern Ireland elect to do. As expected it did so immediately. Once that happened, as provided for, an Irish Boundary Commission came into being, to decide on the territorial boundaries between the Irish state and the Northern Ireland home rule region. Though leaders in Dublin expected a substantial reduction in the territory of Northern Ireland, with nationalist areas like Derry, Armagh, Tyrone and urban territories like Derry and Newry moving to the Free State, it appears that the Boundary Commission decided against this. The British and Irish governments agreed to leave the boundaries as they were defined in the 1920 Act.

1925 to the present

In the mid 1940s, to encourage the Irish state to join with the Allies, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill offered Taoiseach Éamon de Valera Irish unity but, believing that Churchill could not deliver, de Valera declined the offer. The British did not inform the Northern Ireland government that they had made the offer to the Dublin government. The Ireland Act 1949 gave the first legal guarantee to the Parliament and Government that Northern Ireland would not cease to be part of the United Kingdom without consent of the majority of its citizens, and this was most recently reaffirmed by the Northern Ireland Act 1998. This status was echoed in the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1985, which was signed by the governments of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Bunreacht na hÉireann, the constitution of the Republic, was amended in 1999 to remove a claim to sovereignty over the whole of Ireland (in Article 2), a claim qualified by an acknowledgement of British rule in the northeast. The new Articles 2 and 3, added to the Bunreacht to replace the earlier articles, implicitly acknowledge that the status of Northern Ireland, and its relationships with the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, would only be changed with the agreement of a majority of voters in Northern Ireland. An acknowledgement that a decision on whether to remain in the United Kingdom or join the Republic of Ireland rests with the people of Northern Ireland was also central to the Belfast Agreement, which was signed in 1998 and ratified by plebiscites held simultanously in both Northern Ireland and the Republic. However, many unionist leaders equivocate when asked if they would peacefully accept a reunited Ireland if a majority in Northern Ireland sought it. A plebiscite within Northern Ireland on whether it should remain in the United Kingdom, or join the Republic, was held in 1973. The vote went heavily in favour of maintaining the status quo with approximately 57% of the total electorate voting in support, but most nationalists boycotted the poll. Though legal provision remains for holding another plebiscite, and former Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble some years ago advocated the holding of such a vote, no plans for such a vote have been adopted as of 2005.

Culture

:See Culture of Northern Ireland, Culture of Ulster, Culture of Ireland, Culture of the United Kingdom With its improved international reputation, Northern Ireland has recently witnessed rising numbers of tourists who come to appreciate the area's unique heritage. Attractions include cultural festivals, musical and artistic traditions, countryside and geographical sites of interest, pubs, welcoming hospitality and sports (especially golf and fishing). In 1987, pubs were allowed to open on Sundays, despite vocal opposition.

Languages

The Mid Ulster dialect of English spoken in Northern Ireland shows influence from both the West Midlands and Scotland, thereby giving it a distinct accent compared to Hiberno-English, along with the use of such Scots words as wee for 'little' and aye for 'yes'. Some jocularly call this dialect phonetically by the name Norn Iron. There are supposedly some minute differences in pronunciation between Protestants and Catholics, the best known of which is the name of the letter h, which Protestants tend to pronounce as "aitch", as in British English, and Catholics tend to pronounce as "haitch", as in Hiberno-English. However, geography is a much more important determinant of dialect than ethnic background. English is by far the most widely spoken language in Northern Ireland. Under the Good Friday Agreement, Irish and Scots have official recognition on a par with that of English. Often the use of the Irish language in Northern Ireland has met with the considerable suspicion of Unionists, who have associated it with the largely Catholic Republic of Ireland, and more recently, with the republican movement in Northern Ireland itself. Ulster Scots comprises varieties of the Scots language spoken in Northern Ireland. Mac Póilin (1999: 116) states that "While most argue that Ulster-Scots is a dialect or variant of Scots, some have argued or implied that Ulster-Scots is a separate language from Scots. The case for Ulster-Scots being a distinct language, made at a time when the status of Scots itself was insecure, is so bizarre that it is unlikely to have been a linguistic argument." Chinese and Urdu are also spoken by Northern Ireland's Asian communities. According to the most recent census returns, Chinese is now the second most widely spoken language, though the 8000-strong Chinese community — while often referred to as the "third largest" community in Northern Ireland — is tiny by international standards.

See also


- List of Ireland-related topics
- List of United Kingdom-related topics

Further reading


- Jonathan Bardon, A History of Ulster (Blackstaff Press, Belfast, 1996)
- Robert Kee, The Green Flag: A History of Irish Nationalism (Penguin, 1972–2000), ISBN 0140291652

External links


- [http://www.discovernorthernireland.com/ Discover Northern Ireland: Northern Ireland Tourist Board]
- [http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/ University of Ulster: Northern Ireland Conflict Archive]
- [http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections Elections in Northern Ireland]
- [http://www.onlineni.net Online NI]
- [http://www.whiteimage.com Art gallery featuring artists and scenes from Northern Ireland]
- [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/state/nations/ BBC Nations] History of Ireland
- [http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/britishisles/ The British Isles] Independent view of Ireland and the UK
- [http://www.psa.ac.uk/cps/1996/payt.pdf Inconvenient Peripheries Ethnic Identity and the United Kingdom Estate] The cases of “Protestant Ulster” and Cornwall’ by prof Philip Payton
- [http://www.walkingtree.com/ Mercator Atlas of Europe] Map of Ireland ("Irlandia") circa 1564
- [http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/ Sutton Index of Deaths]
- [http://www.geographyinaction.co.uk/Geology%20files/Geol_index.html Geography in Action] The geology of Northern Ireland
- [http://www.victorsloan.co.uk/ Victor Sloan-Northern Ireland visual artist's works commenting on political, social and cultural concerns] Category:Disputed territories Ireland, Northern Category:History of Ireland Category:NUTS 1 Statistical Regions of Europe Category:NUTS 2 Statistical Regions of Europe ko:북아일랜드 ja:北アイルランド simple:Northern Ireland

United Kingdom

:For other meanings of the terms "United Kingdom" and "UK" , see United Kingdom (disambiguation) and UK (disambiguation). :For an explanation of terms like England, (Great) Britain and United Kingdom see British Isles (terminology). The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (usually shortened to the United Kingdom or the UK) is a country located off the north-western coast of continental Europe, surrounded by the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea, the Irish Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean. It is composed of four constituent parts: three constituent countries—England, Scotland, and Wales—on the island of Great Britain, and the province of Northern Ireland on the island of Ireland. The border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland forms the United Kingdom's principal international land border, although there is a nominal frontier with France in the middle of the Channel Tunnel. The UK has several overseas territories and the Crown dependencies of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands come under the UK's sovereignty. The UK also has close relationships with the fifteen other Commonwealth Realms, as they all share the same head of state. The UK is also one of the largest member states of the European Union and a founding partner of both the UN and NATO.

Terminology


- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: The official name for the sovereign state
- United Kingdom: an abbreviation of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
- Britain: an informal term that sometimes means United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and sometimes means Great Britain
- British: an informal term that sometimes means from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and sometimes means from Great Britain
- Great Britain (as a geographical term): the largest island of the British Isles
- Great Britain (as a political term): England + Wales + Scotland
- British Isles (as a geographical term): Great Britain + Ireland + many smaller surrounding islands. This term is disputed, please see below.
- Ireland (as a geographical term): the second largest island of the British Isles
- Ireland (as a political term): an abbreviation of the Republic of Ireland, a sovereign state on the island of Ireland
- Northern Ireland: a political region of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
- Ulster (as a geographical term): Often used to refer to Northern Ireland. It is derived from the Irish Language term 'Ulad.' It was one of the ancient Irish provinces (the others were Connaught,