England and Ireland essays

England and Ireland essays To understand this current situation, we will have to go back in history. There are three critical dates which lead to the situation today. Those dates are: 1170, 1609, and 1969. In the next paragraphs I will briefly explain what was going on in each of these years. To begin with, in 1170, Henry II ruled England. He attempted to attach Ireland to his kingdom. However, he only established control in a small area near Dublin known as the Pale. In that particular area, English citizens started moving in and adapting the English language, religion, practices, beliefs, and etc. Attempts were made to conquer the rest of Ireland, but major English expansion did not take place until the seventeenth century. In 1609, Queen Elizabeths army had established the English rule over most of the island of Ireland, with the exception of the Northern Province: Ulster. The Ulster clans (Lead by Hugh ONeil) had a very affective alliance against the English army. Unfortunately, after a long and damaging campaign, it was eventually brought under English control in 1703. By then, all the Irish leaders had left Ireland for Europe, and less than 5% of Ulster was controlled by Catholics Irish. Later on, in 1969, the restlessness in Northern Ireland really started. In this year, the minority demanded better job opportunities, accommodation, and rights for voting. In reaction to this, the British government introduced a new law which prohibited religious discrimination and cancelled the law of 1922. In reaction to that, in the 1970s, the IRA (Irish Republic Army) began their terrorist reactions. The problems in Northern Ireland are practically from the difference in religion. There are two main camps, the Unionists and the Republicans. The Unionists are Protestant Christians, and the Republicans are Catholic Christians. Northern Ireland was created by the English as an attempt to stop the fighting. The idea was that as the Protestants...