Description
Ireland is a beautiful land with a tumultuous history. Over the millennia it has been shaped by waves of immigration and invasion bringing new languages, faiths and cultures. In this SDG we will examine many of these migrations and invasions, particularly those of the Celts, Vikings, Normans, Scots and English.
As part of our journey we will learn of the Celtic migration to Ireland; he origin of the five Irish kingdoms of Ulster, Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Meith; the significance of Irish monks and monasteries not only to Ireland but to Europe in general; how the Vikings came to Ireland and why they stayed; how the Normans came to Ireland and why they stayed; the religious conflicts between Catholics and Protestants and with each other; the centuries long efforts of the English to dominate the Irish; the Scots who emigrated from western Scotland to northern Ireland; the famines, economic problems and religious conflicts that led both Catholics and Protestants to emigrate to North America; the fight for Irish self-government and independence from England; how six counties of Ulster remaining a part of the United Kingdom led to the "Troubles;" and the challenge faced by both parts of Ireland in the Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries.
Weekly Topics
8,000 BCE - 664 CE: Prehistoric Ireland; Patrick and early Irish Christianity.
664 - 1307: Vikings and Normans.
1318 - 1607: Challenges to the English colonial regime; Black Death; increased trade; Tudors.
1605 - 1691: Ulster Plantation; English Civil War; Cromwell in Ireland; English Restoration; William of Orange.
1691 - 1782: Protestant Ireland; penal laws; famine; American Revolution.
1782 - 1798: trade; French Revolution; unrest.
1798 - 1844: Union with Great Britain; Catholic emancipation; Napoleonic Wars; economic depression; O'Connell.
1845 - 1868: Potato Famine; Catholic and Protestant emigration; Fenians.
1868 - 1895: disestablishment of Church of Ireland; Parnell; land reform; home rule; Ulster unionism.
1895 - 1914: Boer Wars; dual monarchy; home rule.
1914 - 1923: World War I; Easter Rising; Connolly; Pearse; role of women; de Valera, Collins and Sinn Fein; IRA; partition; civil war.
1923 - 1969: State building; role of Catholic Church; role of women; government in Northern Ireland; Great Depression; new constitution; World War II; post-war years; Irish Republic; end of isolation.
1969 - 2011: Troubles; Anglo-Irish Agreement; Good Friday Agreement; admission to the European Economic Union; Mary Robinson; role of Catholic Church; "Celtic Tiger"; immigration replaces emigration; global financial crisis; bailout by EU and IMF.
2011 - present: economic recovery; "leprechaun economics"; continuing social change; tension in the North; Brexit; global pandemic
Bibliography
There are two core books: The Story of Ireland: A History of the Irish People by Neil Hegarty and Ireland: A History by Thomas Bartlett. We will also suggest other books, films and literature to consider as additional sources on Ireland and the Irish people.
