History And Geography

History

Archeological excavations suggest that the earliest human settlements in Ireland took place sometime around 6000 BC, comprising of hunters and fishers along the island's eastern coast. During the period between 600 and 150 BC, the region was occupied by the Gaels, a Celtic-speaking clan from Western Europe, which subdued previous inhabitants.

Sometime around 400 AD, the seven separate kingdoms of the region united their armies for conquering the neighboring Roman Britain and the Continent. The region's peace was disturbed again during the ninth and tenth centuries when it came under fierce attacks from the Vikings who meted out great atrocities to the local population. During this period, many Danish settlers came to the island and became a part of the local population by adapting Christianity. The English conquered the region in 1168 and introduced many reforms that dealt with the granting of land, many of which desecrated the traditional political and social structure.

In 1495, Henry VII assumed supremacy over the existing Irish parliament by extending English law over the entirety of Ireland. This resulted in many revolts that continued up to the next century until they were finally suppressed in 1560 by Queen Elizabeth, who took advantage of the situation, expropriated all lands, and settled the province with Englishmen.

The Irish renewed their claim on their homeland in 1690 when they defeated the English at Londonderry and signed a treaty with London that granted them a number of rights, only to see it rejected by the Protestant dominated Irish parliament. This widened the rift between the Catholics and Protestants and the alienation continued to rattle the region during most of the eighteenth century.

A series of revolts and uprisings starting from 1798 resulted in the dissolution of the Irish parliament and the creation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on January 1, 1801. In 1920, separate parliaments were formed for both the north and south Ireland under the ‘Government of Ireland Act'. A treaty signed in 1921 between southern Ireland and Britain resulted in the creation of the Irish Free State, a self-governing territory within the British Commonwealth of Nations. The agreements with the Commonwealth were revoked completely in 1948 and subsequently the Republic of Ireland came into being.

Geography

The island nation is situated on the western edge of Europe between latitude 51 1/2 and 55 1/2 degrees north, and longitude 5 1/2 to 10 1/2 degrees west. The longest distance between from the northern tip and the southernmost tip is 302 miles and its greatest width from east to west is approximately 171 miles.

The Alps and the Caledonian mountain range converge in Ireland, extending from Scandinavia through Scotland to the north and west of Ireland, giving rise to the rocky and precipitous landscapes of Counties Donegal, Mayo and Galway. Some of the high peaks include the Errigal in Donegal, having a height of 2467 feet, Croagh Patrick in Mayo, having a height of 2510 feet, and Twelve Bens in Galway. The country is also home to the Wicklow and Blackstairs mountains that extend for a distance of more than 62 miles, southwards from Dublin Bay. Erosion of these mountains over the years has exposed the underlying core, which now forms rounded peat-covered uplands, the crests being notched in places by glacial cirques.

The relatively younger formations such as the Armorican range stretches from central Europe to southern Ireland, where they appear as a series of east-west anticlinal sandstone ridges separated by limestone or shale-floored valleys. The hills keep gaining altitude as they stretch westwards culminating in Carrantouhill 3415 feet in the Magillycuddy Reeks, the highest mountain in the country. The eastern slopes of this range are home to the famous Upper Lake of Killarney whereas the western slopes of these mountains have been inundated by the sea, which has resulted in the formation of numerous deep inlets.

The lowlands are characterized by several slow- flowing streams, the largest of which is the River Shannon, 211 miles in length. Others rivers in the region include the Slaney, which culminates into the sea at Wexford; the Liffey, which flows near Dublin; and the Lagan, which flows into Belfast Lough.