By Margaret Connor
For the breezes blowing over the seas from Ireland
Are perfumed by the heather as it blows
And the women in the uplands diggin’ praties
Speak a language that the strangers do not know
—from Galway Bay, by Arthur Colahan
The name Ireland or Eire is said to derive from the old Irish word “Eriu,” a goddess in Irish mythology. This island, off the western edge of continental Europe, enjoys a temperate oceanic climate. Its lush vegetation of wildflowers and other plants gives the country its nickname, “The Emerald Isle.” Originally heavily forested, Ireland is today only about ten percent woodland due to a long history of agricultural production and pasture. According to historical and genealogical records, the land has been inhabited for thousands of years, with evidence of Mesolithic and Neolithic settlements around the island. Traditional views are that the Celts migrated to Ireland in waves from mainland Europe around the third millennium BC. A modern theory is that the Celtic origin is Indo-European. The resulting Irish language saw its first written form following Christianization in the fifth century AD. Christianity was brought to the island by the Roman-British missionary, Patricius, who became Ireland’s primary patron saint. The monastic culture that followed flourished, with manuscript illumination and stone cross sculpture, as seen scattered around the country today. Irish monks spread Christianity, preserving Latin and Greek, to continental Europe following the fall of Rome. Their missionary and scholarly work qualified Ireland as “The Land of Saints and Scholars.”
Historical records reveal that fifth-century Ireland was segmented into several small rival kingdoms that by the seventh or eighth century had evolved into a system of provincial kingdoms and kings subject to an appointed high king. The high king also ruled over the royal kingdom of Meath, with a ceremonial capital on the Hill of Tara. The following centuries saw a series of invasions and failed uprisings disrupting land ownership and economic development. From the Viking raids of the ninth century that plundered Irish monasteries and towns to the arrival of the Normans in the twelfth century with their feudal system and to the extended English rule from the sixteenth century, Ireland represented an economic colony for its conquerors. The ensuing wars and religious struggles with Britain led to an Anglo-Irish ruling class, plantations for British settlers, and the 1801 Act of Union, uniting the two kingdoms. A rise in Irish nationalism in the twentieth century saw the failed Easter Rebellion of 1916 and the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 giving Ireland independence. Of the four provinces—Connacht, Leinster, Munster, and Ulster—and their combined thirty-two counties, the newly formed Irish Free State, known as the Republic of Ireland and officially named Ireland, was granted twenty-six counties. The remaining six counties continued as a jurisdiction of the United Kingdom. Located in the northern province of Ulster and commonly referred to as Northern Ireland, it is famous for its civil unrest among Protestant and Catholic districts. This conflict and violence, known as the “Troubles,” lasted for decades. Following a ceasefire in 1998, the governments of Britain and Ireland concluded a treaty, the Good Friday Agreement, offering power sharing and enhanced protection for both communities.