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    The History of Ireland: World History
    The History of Ireland: World History
    The History of Ireland: World History
    Ebook125 pages2 hours

    The History of Ireland: World History

    By History Nerds

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    About this ebook

    Discover the vibrant and tumultuous history of Ireland with our new book! From ancient kingdoms to modern politics, this comprehensive guide will take you on a journey through the Emerald Isle's rich past. Get lost in the stories of heroes and rebels, kings and queens, and the everyday people who shaped Ireland's identity. Our book is filled with fascinating anecdotes and historical facts that will keep you captivated from cover to cover. Explore the culture, traditions, and achievements of the Irish people with our comprehensive book on Irish history.

    From the ancient Celts to the modern republic, this volume is a must-read for anyone interested in the rich history of the Emerald Isle. Learn about the events and figures that have shaped Ireland's past and present with our engaging book on Irish history. From the Viking raids to the Easter Rising, this volume is packed with interesting stories and insights that will deepen your understanding of this fascinating country.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHistory Nerds
    Release dateNov 7, 2020
    ISBN9781393078302
    The History of Ireland: World History
    Author

    History Nerds

    History books need to be enjoyable, easy to read and educational. At History Nerds we bring you history in a way that avoids dulling it down while still bringing you all the important facts in a concise way.

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      Book preview

      The History of Ireland - History Nerds

      Introduction

      They tried over and over again to conquer the green Isle – the Vikings, the Normans, the Romans and the British. Why didn’t any one of them succeed keeping it? Kings Henry II and Henry VIII had to reconquer it. Instead of making it a union of two countries with equal rights, the two Henry’s looked upon Ireland as a place to grow crops for soldiers and service England’s own needs. For over 800 years, that was the case. 

      Ireland has never been entirely conquered. The people are sturdy and resilient. They suffered keenly through the potato famine of the nineteenth century and essentially didn’t have help from their overlord, Great Britain, which actually exported food crops while the Irish people were starving. It was the charity of other countries that helped Ireland get through the crisis, but not without losing one million people first.

      Why did England let that happen? This book reveals the reasons for that and the devastating effects for failing to remedy it. 

      Ireland has always been involved in a fight. It was a country fraught with wars but, unlike other countries, most of the wars were fought within. It is an island geographically whole, but ideologically apart. Ireland is, and was for so long, a land of division. Legend has it that the fights started at the prehistoric era of the fairies, and Ireland hasn’t known its own peace until current times. How did such a small island become so accustomed to division?

      It was, and is a land of fairies and spirits, and those who tell stories about them to the people of today can mesmerise their listeners regardless of nationality. The fairy gods and the humans created their borders, and today this is a small island with a border between the North and South. Remnants of the barricades and borders have been shrunk to include neighbourhoods in northern Ireland. Something as pedestrian as an address in Ireland makes a difference, but why and how did it come to symbolize political differences?

      No country in the world save Ireland would refer to revolutions as The Troubles. Revolutionary parties became a way of life for the people. Frantic mothers prayed that their sons and daughters would be safe at home in their beds in the morning. Three thousand six hundred of them weren’t.  It became a country where religion evolved into a beast born from the womb of difference, as if it was in the genetic make-up of the people so conceived.

      Chapter 1 –Early Ireland

      It is believed by geneticists that some of the first people to arrive in Ireland weren’t necessarily Celtic. These people came from the Pontiac steppe, that is, the steppe lands from around the shores of the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea in middle Eastern Europe.  They were the farmers who first started arriving during the Neolithic time. Archaeologists have found signs of huts made of wood and animal hides from a later period. The Mount Sandel Mesolithic Site in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, yielded artefacts of a small familial group.

      These people lived in round huts covered with reeds or animal hides, no doubt from the ferocious wild boars that inhabited the countryside. Wild buzzards competed with these early hominids, along with the smaller hen harriers – a white-breasted bird of prey who preferred the colder climates. It was said that if a hen harrier perches on your roof, three people would die!

      The grey partridge was once there in abundance, but now only thrives in the Boora Bog in County Offaly, in central Ireland where wild goats, badgers and hares dwelled, untouched by human habitation. These early Irish were hunter-gatherers, and especially fishermen. Those who hunted were forced to become nomads, forever chasing the animals for food.

      Agriculture During Neolithic Times

      The first Irish weren’t able to create settlements until they could farm. In County Mayo in Western Ireland, the archaeologists discovered remains from the Neolithic Era at Ceide Fields, a peat bog. At the time these people were there, it was forested. The settlers imported wheat, barley, and domesticated cattle from Europe, cleared the pine forests, and created farms. They bordered their farms with stone walls. As long as there was a forest canopy, portions of the land were fertile. However, these people knew little about land management. They kept chopping down the trees for housing, leaving the ground exposed to rainfall. In time, the water drained the land of its nutrients, and little would grow. Then, the moisture in the soil created peat bog, which the people could burn for heat. As there was much iron in the soil, it could later be used for bog iron, a primitive form of iron. That did come in handy when humans entered the iron age.

      Older than Stonehenge

      Many people who died were cremated, but evidence of various types of tombs were found throughout the island. There were four types: court cairns, portal, wedge, and passage tombs. Those families who built rectangular-like tombs consisted of a courtyard in front of the burial chamber itself. The courtyard was used for the funeral and memorials rites. The passage tombs, as the name implies, had a narrow stone access to multiple burial chambers, suitable for a family. The portal tombs, also called dolmens, were made of two huge vertical stones capped with a horizontal stone called a tumulus. The wedge tombs were wider at one end and tapered into an inner area where the loved one’s remains were interred. The passage tombs were the most impressive.

      In County Meath in eastern central Ireland, the Newgrange site, built circa 3200 BC, was, no doubt, erected for two dignitaries of ancient times. It predates Stonehenge and the great pyramids of Egypt. Newgrange is huge. There is a circular stone retaining wall built against a nearly round hill. In the centre, lies the passageway. The entranceway of cobblestones is aligned with the rising sun on the winter solstice. There is an opening above the doorway, called a roofbox, that allows rays of the sun to shine upon the inner chamber. Items within appear to be mementoes in honour of the deceased, and parts of human bones were unearthed within. Stones had carefully hewn carvings, most of them were spirals.

      Anthropologists have speculated that these early people venerated their ancestors. At Newgrange, the human remains of two individuals were found in cisterns.

      The Myth of Dowth

      A similar passage tomb was built at Bru’ na Boinne commonly called Dowth in County Meath. The people wished to create a mound that would reach into heaven. Their king, Bressal Bodibad, was asked by the people: to build a tower after the likeness of the Tower of Nimrod, that they might go by it to Heaven. Bodibad’s sister, who had magic powers, promised to grant the people an endless day so they could complete the task.

      More myths emerged in Ireland after this.

      Copper and Bronze Age Ireland

      Unlike other cultures during this time, the Copper and Bronze age came later to Ireland. It ran from about 2500 to 600 BCE, and the people learned how to use the natural resources at their disposal. Copper was found, and it was discovered by these early humans that – once this copper was heated and combined with tin – it could be more easily fashioned than stone. Copper was found in Counties Kerry and Cork. At Mount Gabriel in County Cork, mines were found. Tin was less common, and much of it was imported from Cornwall or France, once the people learned the technique of creating bronze. The sparsity of tin may have accounted for the delay in the arrival of the Bronze Age. Artifacts carbon-dated to 2,000 BCE were also located. Most were weapons for hunting. Besides swords and javelins, trumpets, axes, cauldrons, buckets and drinking vessels were also found.

      There is gold in Ireland as well, and it was discovered during the Bronze Age. Necklaces, earrings, bracelets, attractive twisted gold rings and the like were worn. Some of it was traded to Europe as currency.

      The early Irish liked to build artificial islands, called Crannogs. Usually a wooden walkway to the structure was built and the home itself was made of wood. In a primitive way, it resembles a resort of individual dwellings out on a lake, where people could relax and enjoy the sun in a private setting. The crannogs were retreats for the lords and kings, or for the more prosperous farmers. However, the reality may have been more somber. It was theorized that they were used for defensive purposes.

      The

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