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🏰 Early Contacts (12th–16th centuries)

• 1169: The first Norman knights (invited by an Irish king looking for help in a local feud) landed in Ireland.

• This led to the Anglo-Norman conquest, with England’s King Henry II asserting control.

• For centuries, English rule was mostly limited to a small fortified area around Dublin, known as the Pale. Much of Ireland remained under Gaelic lords.

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⚔️ Tudor & Stuart Era (16th–17th centuries)

• From the 1500s, the Tudors (Henry VIII, Elizabeth I) sought full control.

• Henry VIII declared himself King of Ireland (1541), breaking from Rome and planting English authority.

• The Plantations began: confiscated Irish lands were settled by English and Scottish Protestants (especially in Ulster).

• Religious division hardened: Catholic Irish vs. Protestant settlers/administration.

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🌍 17th Century Upheaval

• Rebellions and wars (1641 Rising, Cromwell’s brutal conquest in the 1650s).

• Large land confiscations from Catholics.

• By 1700, Protestants (the “Protestant Ascendancy”) owned most of the land.

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📜 18th Century

• Ireland had its own Parliament, but it was controlled by the Protestant Ascendancy.

• Catholics and dissenting Protestants were excluded by the Penal Laws.

• Growing resentment among Catholics and the poor.

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💥 1798 Rebellion

• Inspired by the American and French revolutions, the United Irishmen (Protestants and Catholics united) rose against English rule.

• It failed, but it showed a new idea: Irish nationalism.

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🇬🇧 Union with Britain (1801)

• After further unrest, Ireland was formally joined with Britain in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

• Irish MPs sat in Westminster, but Ireland remained politically and socially unequal.

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🌾 The Great Famine (1845–1852)

• Potato crop failure → mass starvation, disease, and emigration.

• Population dropped by millions.

• Britain’s slow response deepened Irish resentment and nationalist feeling.

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🟢 19th Century Nationalism

• Home Rule movement pushed for self-government within the UK.

• Leaders like Parnell gained momentum, but opposition in Ulster (Protestants fearing Catholic dominance) blocked it.

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🇮🇪 20th Century Struggle

• Easter Rising (1916): Irish rebels declared a republic in Dublin. It was crushed, but it lit the flame of independence.

• War of Independence (1919–1921): Guerrilla war by the IRA vs. British forces.

• 1921 Treaty: Ireland was partitioned.

• 26 counties became the Irish Free State (later the Republic of Ireland).

• 6 counties in the northeast remained Northern Ireland, part of the UK.

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⚡ Northern Ireland Troubles (1960s–1998)

• Tensions between Catholic nationalists and Protestant unionists erupted into violence.

• “The Troubles” lasted 30 years, with bombings, shootings, and heavy British military presence.

• Good Friday Agreement (1998) brought peace and a power-sharing government in Northern Ireland.

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🌿 Today

• The Republic of Ireland is fully independent, a member of the EU, and culturally thriving.

• Northern Ireland remains part of the UK, but questions about reunification linger, especially after Brexit.

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5👉 In a nutshell: 800 years of English involvement in Ireland saw conquest, colonisation, rebellion, famine, and partition. The legacy is still visible in politics, identity, and culture today.

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