History

Geography

The history of Ireland is presented in great phases.
Ancient Ireland: At dawn of prehistoric times, it was populated by immigrants coming from the British Isles. The Celts arrived from the Indo-European plain bringing the mastery of metal work. Rome never invaded Ireland.
Christian Ireland: In 432, St Patrick evangelized the pagan Gaelic people.
In 800: The first Viking raiders, Norwegians, came to plunder the monasteries located near the coasts.
In 914: The Vikings, Danes, settled on the coasts to make trade. Some of them founded lines.
In 1014: At the battle of Clontarf, the Gaelic overcame and drove out the Vikings definitively. King Brian Boru was killed during this battle.
English Ireland: In 1541: Henri VIII proclaimed himself king of Ireland. The first English colonists settled in Ireland. Laws against the Catholics were promulgated.
From 1595 to 1601: The Nine-Year War, launched by O'Neill, to try to drive the English out of Ireland devastated the country. It ended with the battle of Kinsale.
In 1649: Cromwell landed in Ireland, the oppression of the Irish started with the dispossession of the land by the landowners, the Landlords.
In 1792: The Irish Parliament was inaugurated and was independent from the British Parliament. It abrogated laws against Catholics.
In 1823: O'Connell founded the Catholic Association.
Independent Ireland: In 1829: The Act of Emancipation was voted thanks to the obstinacy of O'Connell.
In 1914: The "Home Rule", the autonomy, was voted. It came into effect only after the end of the First World War.
In 1921: The treaty of December 6 recognized the existence of a "Free State of Ireland".
In 1949: April 14, the Irish Republic was proclaimed. The whole of the Irish territory was not acquired. Six counties, Ulster, remain joined to the Crown of England.

Ireland is an island whose surface is equal to 16% that of France. It stretches 486Km from north to south and 375Km from west to east with 3,172Km of coastline. It does not border any other country, except Ulster.

The relief can be presented in three areas:

In the centre, the plain has an average altitude lower than 150m and it is partially bordered with mountains. It is crossed by rivers forming many lakes in the lowlands. Some valleys dug by the glaciers end in fjords, e.g. the bay of Killary Harbour in Mayo.
In the north, low altitude slows down the water run-off making peat bogs which cover the mountains and make a typical landscape of moors.
In the south, the mountains border the Atlantic coast in parallel folding. They rise gradually towards the west to reach the top summit of Ireland at the Carrantuohill mount 1,041m high.

Consequently on the climatic level, Ireland has a particular climate due to its maritime localization:
The winds coming from the Atlantic Ocean bring heavy precipitations partly stopped by the mountains. The West coast is rainy in any season, primarily drizzles. Whereas the East coast has a climate relatively drier. The centre receives less precipitations.
The summer months, July and August, are pleasant with a temperature varying from 14 to 16°C up to 20°C.
The winter months, from December to February, are particularly mild with temperatures ranging between 4 to 7°C seldom going down to 0°C.
Precipitations are minimal in December and maximal in August.

Little of native vegetation is left in Ireland. Heathers, moss and ferns grow in peat bogs. Alpine flora, gentian, grow on the hills of Clare. Mediterranean vegetation can be found in the south-west.
Mammals are represented by stag, marten, fox, badger, squirrel and hare. Marine birds make many colonies along the coasts, more particularly on the west coast.

Economic facts

Civilisation

Ireland did not know industrial revolution unlike England in the 18th century due to the lack of coal and iron. Only the Belfast area developed textile industry and shipbuilding.
Ireland's economy (the Republic of Ireland) was described as "a Celtic Tiger" due to the success of its policy of scientific education and its infrastructure of communication with European funds.

The Irish currency is the Euro (€)

The official name is Republic of Ireland whose capital is Dublin. The population is +4 million inhabitants. The official language of Ireland is English as well as Irish and Gaelic. The population is 99% Irish, the rest is English!

The GNP is US$26.500 per capita.

Historically, the Irish society has been shaped by religious conflicts between Catholics and Protestants. The latter settled in the North-East as of the 17th century. In 1921, the British government divided the country into two parts.
The constitution of Ireland written in 1937 granted a particular statute to the Catholic Church which was repealed in 1972. Most Irishmen are Catholic and other religions grow irremediably to the detriment of Protestantism.

Traveller's information

Sights

Nationals of the European Union and Western countries do not need visas to enter Ireland.

The traveller's budget depends on his choices, Ireland offers opportunities for small budgets.

The geographical situation of Ireland, its climatic variety offer travellers multiple possibilities of activities in archaeological sites as well as in the mountains or on the ragged western coasts.

In summer 1992, I made a tour in Ireland and in Wales driving across England.