Rental Cars Ireland

History of Ireland

Until the 8th century, the Celts were left largely alone to inhabit this European outpost, and without any Roman meddling were able to establish a distinctive language and culture that survives today, especially in Galway, Cork, Kerry and Waterford. Christianity did however reach the Ireland, its greatest purveyor – St Patrick becoming legendary.

Viking raiders began to plunder Ireland's monasteries, but many had stayed and formed alliances with native families and chieftains by the 9th century. They founded Dublin, which soon fell into the hands of the invading Normans.

English power was consolidated under Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, effectively colonizing Ireland. Ironically Ulster remained independent until the 17th century but was eventually thoroughly colonised with a policy of ‘plantation’ that sowed seeds for division three centuries later.

The impoverished and very angry native Irish neither mingled with their English masters nor adopted their new Protestant Christianity sect, and suffered terrible retribution for supporting the royalists in the English civil war. Further persecution of catholic rights and practices, expropriation of land and banning of traditional culture fuelled their hated of the English.

The 1800 Act of Union, proposed by the insecure protestant Irish, united Ireland politically with London. The tragedy of the Great Famine (1845-51) caused widespread starvation, prompting hordes to emigrate to the US and other countries and further formented nationalistic sentiments at home.

The bloody repercussions of the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin was a critical turning point. After winning a large majority in Britain's 1918 general election the Irish republicans under the leadership of Eamon de Valera declared independence and formed their own assembly which promptly bought on the Anglo-Irish war (1919 – 1921). Eventually a treaty recognised the independence of 26 Irish counties, while the six, largely protestant, Ulster counties chose to opt out. The Northern Ireland parliament however soon encountered religious and political division over its discriminatory policies. The south of Ireland was finally declared a republic in 1948, and left the British Commonwealth in 1949.

The North’s problems escalated into violent civil strife after a 1968 peaceful civil rights march was violently broken up by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC). In response the underground Irish Republican Army (IRA), which had fought the British during the Anglo-Irish war, re-surfaced, resulting in a seemingly endless drama of tit-for-tat killings, an urban bombing campaign, massacre of civilians, and internment without trial.

Ruled from London, Northern Ireland’s violent modern history changed for the better when Tony Blair instituted talks that eventually led to a power sharing Northern Irish government, cease-fire from the IRA and an agreement of co-operation with the South.

By the late 1990s the Republic's economy was booming, mainly thanks to an injection of EU funds and investment incentives which have seen many tech and telecoms firms setting up in Dublin. Given its miserable past, the Irish have never seen it so good, emigration has dried up and housing prices have gone through the roof. In 2002 the country joined the rest of Europe in launching the euro.