Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Irish History Compressed
    Irish History Compressed
    Irish History Compressed
    Ebook104 pages1 hour

    Irish History Compressed

    By Bruce Gaston

    3/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    A compact history of Ireland from the Celts to 2020, this illustrated e-book (now in a second, revised edition) was written for people who want a quick overview of the subject or want to fill in the gaps in their knowledge. Concise but comprehensive, the book can be read in a couple of sessions: ideal for people who want a summary of the key facts and don't have the time or stamina to read scholarly tomes.

    Chapter List:

    1. Celtic Ireland
    2. The Norman Invasion of Ireland
    3. Reformation and Plantation
    4. The Seventeenth Century
    5. The Eighteenth Century
    6. The Nineteenth Century
    7. Home Rule
    8. From The Easter Rising to The War of Independence
    9. Treaty and Partition
    10. The Civil War
    11. The Free State
    12. The Emergency
    13. Post-Emergency Ireland
    14. The Sixties and Seventies
    15. The Slump
    16. The Celtic Tiger
    17. The Economic Crash
    18. Recent developments to 2020

    Irish History Compressed also contains brief biographies of key figures in Irish history, a comprehensive timeline from the Celtic Era to 2012, and suggestions for further reading on the history of Ireland.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBruce Gaston
    Release dateApr 29, 2013
    ISBN9781301394111
    Irish History Compressed
    Author

    Bruce Gaston

    Bruce Gaston is originally from Northern Ireland. He studied at Oxford University and the Queen's University, Belfast, and now works at the English Studies Department of Germany's oldest university, the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität, Heidelberg, where he teaches, among other things, courses on Irish and Northern Irish history and culture.

    Related to Irish History Compressed

    Related ebooks

    European History For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Key Events

      Mar 23, 2023

      Key Events
      2 min read

    • Article

      “England Was Seen As A Pariah State, Ruled By Regicidal Rebels Who’d Publicly Executed Their King”

      Sep 30, 2021

      ON THE HistoryExtra PODCAST Devil-Land: England Under Siege 1588-1688 by Clare Jackson (Allen Lane, 688 pages, £35) Ellie CawtHorne: Devil-Land looks at England from 1588 to 1688. Why do you think this is such a fascinating 100-year period of English

      9 min read

    • Article

      The Renaissance Kings

      Feb 16, 2024

      The Renaissance Kings
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Declaration of Arbroath

      Mar 17, 2022

      The Declaration of Arbroath
      5 min read

    • Article

      CHARLES II's CURSED REIGN

      Apr 20, 2023

      CHARLES II's CURSED REIGN
      11 min read

    • Article

      HEROES & VILLAINS

      Feb 3, 2023

      HEROES & VILLAINS
      4 min read

    • Article

      Civil War Records

      Nov 16, 2021

      Civil War Records
      5 min read

    • Article

      Culture Chronicle

      Jul 4, 2021

      Culture Chronicle
      7 min read

    • Article

      The Other Princes

      Nov 1, 2019

      The Other Princes
      6 min read

    • Article

      Now What?

      Apr 25, 2023

      Q My Scandinavian (Viking) ancestors went to England, and hundreds of years later to the United States. I would like to know more about their origins in Yorkshire. A Although Viking raiders first struck England in present-day Northumberland—notably t

      2 min read

    • Article

      With God On Our Side

      Jan 23, 2020

      With God On Our Side
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Great And The Good

      Aug 18, 2023

      The Great And The Good
      5 min read

    • Article

      The People’s Republic Of Britain

      Mar 17, 2022

      On 5 March 1650, early in the life of the new Commonwealth of England, a state funeral was held. There was a stellar turn-out for Roland Wilson, army officer and politician. Almost the whole of the new political establishment was there: the head of t

      6 min read

    • Article

      The Making Of A Monarch

      Nov 24, 2022

      The Making Of A Monarch
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Bonds Of Blood

      Jul 9, 2020

      The Bonds Of Blood
      10 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Irish History Compressed

    3/5

    2 ratings1 review

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      Quick modern history of Ireland. Excellent references for further study.

    Book preview

    Irish History Compressed - Bruce Gaston

    Irish History Compressed

    Bruce Gaston

    Smashwords edition. Copyright Bruce Gaston 2012 and 2019. All rights reserved. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold, given away to other people or reproduced in any form without prior written permission from the author, except for short extracts for the purposes of reviewing. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

    For more information on this e-book or on Irish history in general, go to http://www.irishhistorycompressed.com

    Find us on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IrishHistoryCompressed

    Table of Contents

    Title Page

    Celtic Ireland

    The Norman Invasion of Ireland

    Reformation and Plantation

    The Seventeenth Century

    The Eighteenth Century

    The Nineteenth Century

    From The Easter Rising to The War of Independence

    Treaty and Partition

    The Civil War

    The Free State

    The Emergency

    Post-Emergency Ireland

    The Sixties and Seventies

    The Slump

    The Celtic Tiger

    The Economic Crash

    Recent Developments

    Appendix 1: Key Figures

    Appendix 2: Timeline of Irish History

    Appendix 3: Photo Acknowledgements

    Appendix 4: Further Reading

    Celtic Ireland

    Figure 1: This stone cross at Clonmacnoise, County Offaly, shows the sophistication of Celtic workmanship

    Some time before 500 BC the Celts arrived in Ireland from mainland Europe and built up a sophisticated society. Thanks to Ireland’s remote position on the western edge of Europe, its Celtic culture survived largely intact right into the Middle Ages, despite Viking incursions and even settlements. The country was divided up into small, occasionally warring, kingdoms and had no central authority, although various kings, such as Brian Boru in the late tenth and early eleventh century, attempted to claim the (largely nominal) title of High King of Ireland. After Christianity became established in Ireland in the fifth century, monks recorded much of the Celts’ culture — their laws, beliefs, legends and poetry —, which up to then had only been passed on orally. Ireland’s geography and lack of a political centre meant that the Irish Church was largely a monastic one, rather than having the more usual hierarchical structure based on bishoprics. The Church was therefore closer to the people and Christianity mixed with native culture and customs. Throughout the Dark Ages the Gaelic Church was famed for its learning and artistry. Irish monks became missionaries and established Christian centres across Europe.

    The Norman Invasion of Ireland

    The first English claim to Ireland actually came from the religious sphere: in the eleventh century the archbishops of Canterbury reasserted their right to hold spiritual authority over the whole of the British Isles. They had the support of a series of Popes who wished to unify the Church and its doctrines and practices. But this claim still had to be enforced. Therefore, in 1155 Pope Adrian IV (incidentally the only Pope to have been an Englishman) granted the lordship of Ireland to King Henry II of England. Henry was motivated less by religious zeal and more by the need to regain control over some of his more powerful subjects, who had conquered territory in Ireland for themselves and whose growing power and independence he viewed as a threat to his authority. Between 1169 and 1172 the Norman (i.e. Anglo-French) invasion of Ireland began, and by 1250 the English monarch could assert control over eighty per cent of Ireland.

    Figure 2: Carrickfergus Castle, Co. Antrim: one of many castles built in Ireland by the Anglo-Normans

    The conquest was a matter of who held power in Ireland: the Normans displaced the ruling Irish kings and lords, while underneath them Gaelic society continued largely unaffected by the change in masters. Effective government control was restricted to an area around Dublin known as The Pale. This situation was to continue until the fifteenth century.

    Figure 3: The Four Provinces of Ireland and the Pale

    Reformation and Plantation

    Since the invasion of Ireland no English king had been prepared to expend the money, time and military forces that would have been needed to properly enforce the English rule of law throughout Ireland. The Norman-Irish had therefore been left to deal with the situation as they thought best. This had led to a large measure of compromise, accommodation and assimilation with the native Irish. It was not until the time of the Tudors (beginning with Henry VII in 1485) that English kings began to take an interest in how Ireland was governed.

    The single most radical event of the age was the Reformation, which in England took the form of Henry VIII’s break with Rome and his founding of the Anglican Church. The Pope claimed the right to appoint and depose secular rulers, and as a result excommunicated Henry. Henry retaliated with laws such as the Act Of Supremacy (1534), which made him (and any successor) ‘the only supreme head in earth of the Church of England’. With Europe soon divided into two power blocks — Catholic and Protestant states — England’s enemies began to see Catholic Ireland as England’s Achilles Heel. Rivals such as Spain and France tried both to exploit the island’s geographical position militarily and to turn its population against their rulers.

    To ensure the loyalty of the population and lessen the chance of a rebellion in Ireland, Henry, and then his children (Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I) pursued a policy of ‘plantation’.

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1