Northern Ireland History: An Overview.
“History. You either love it or hate it”, or so the saying goes. I happen to be one of the minority who love it. Whether you love or hate history here is the bottom line: you can never really come to understand a place until you begin to understand its history.
In the part on Early, Neolithic history you will read about the megalithic monuments, court tombs, dolmens, Newgrange. They are fascinating and mysterious. Then come the Celts, this famous people who have left their bright mark on history.
If you are of western European heritage, chance are you have some Celtic blood flowing in your veins. So read on, it is about your ancestors.
Then you will read about the coming of Christianity, a turning point in the history of Ireland. In all Christendom Ireland became famous for its scholars and sages.
Here, you will get to know some of them. You will read about the Celtic Christians and the great Saints Patrick and Columba.
You will also read about savage Viking raids, the coming of the Normans and then the English, boy it gets complicated, couldn’t they have stayed at home?
And if you think you are nearly finished, think again.
In our Modern History read about Cromwell and William of Orange, about the independent thinking Irish clans and the Plantation of Ulster. And when you hear plantation, don’t think of cotton fields.
The Plantation of Ulster was probably the single most influential denominator in shaping Northern Ireland. Intrigued? It is coming soon!
And finally, the Troubles. An intense conflict, almost like an Irish civil war that left its scars yet from which Northern Ireland is in the process of healing.
Read carefully and, who knows, it is so interesting you might decide to become a history buff like me!
Go from Northern Ireland History to Neolithic History
Go from Northern Ireland History to the History of the Celts
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